Billikan Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I do not know if any of you are close to JJ but the soap opera continues with his play on Sat. For those of you who were not there, JJ came in for Ian as he tired--ahead of Varner-- and JJ managed to put up 2 of the worst air balls I have ever seen in the next minute. They were 2-4 feet short of the rim and each shot was from about 14 feet or so and they were like turnovers in that the other team was immediately on the fast break the other way down the floor. Brad almost jumped out of his skin and JJ went to the bench for the duration. I hope that JJ has learned a few lessons from all of all this-- 1. As a redshirt freshman he needs to understand that it is better to get his teammates shots and get in the flow as a good passer than to take open shots. 2. From "political" point of view in dealing with the coaches, the best way he can endear himself is to play tough defense, rebound strong and avoid turnovers. 3. Even if he wants to be a shooter, he must realize that when you come off the bench your muscles are stiff and it is hard in the first 5 seconds to put up a shot. I was a shooter but when I came off the bench my coach always said to run and get up a sweat before you start shooting. JJ was cold as ice and it hurt his opportunity to play. His energy level seems high so he just needs to figure out how to be part of the team in a way that does not hurt us and then he will make the coaches happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 john wooden used to say that a substitute had to have played defense at least one trip down the floor before he was allowed to shoot. i have always thought that was a great rule. as to the shot selection, nothing wrong with the shots that justin took. in fact, i would question any coach that would not want a player to take those wide open shots unless there was a clock issue involved. the crime was missing it by 4 feet! my gosh, how could you miss a shot that badly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 in particular the Arizona game. They were not bad shots, just bad misses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I want an inspection by a team of qualified experts of the film from JJ's first shot. I maintain that the shot nicked the side of the rim ever so slightly and was not technically an airball! I also maintain that the shot that killed president Kennedy came from the front and not the rear. Maybe this team can inspect both sets of film. Nothing wrong with his selection on the shot. As I recall, another of our players got boxed in underneath and kicked it out to JJ for the open look. However, he obviously was overanxious to make amends for the first brick by jacking one up the very next time he got his hands on the ball on the offensive end. I think the kid is frustrated big time at PT and wants too badly to show what he can do. Unfortunately, it all backfired on him Saturday and splinters will continue to accumulate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 The bench splinters have obviously had an adverse effect on the play of Mr. Johnson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 First shot hit rim Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I know you understand jjray, but I don't think a lot of fans understand how hard it us for a kid to go from shooting 12 times a game in high school to shooting 12 times in two months. No way for a kid to establish a rhythm offensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 I don't want the kid to lose his confidence. Maybe that leg thing is hindering him. It's a pretty big wrap. I hope Brad doesn't hide him on the bench. I'd still rather see him in there than Varner any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 We still don't know what we have in JJ, so IMHO he is the biggest enigma on the team. No one seems to question his athleticism, and unless Coach Soderberg recruits someone pretty special at the 4 then JJ figures to see his minutes increase next year. Here's hoping that he works his butt off during the off season, as we can pretty well write this one off as a big ? for many reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 >I know you understand jjray, but I don't think a lot of fans >understand how hard it us for a kid to go from shooting 12 >times a game in high school to shooting 12 times in two >months. No way for a kid to establish a rhythm offensively. I have empathy for Justin's situation (but I was never a star at any sport whereas Justin was the man in HS) and can see that he has regressed after sitting on the bench for so long. It's very understandable. I just hope his attitude does not deteriorate to the point that he fails to put in the necessary work over the summer to improve himself. I also hope that Brad is willing to take a fresh look at JJ next fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 What I don't get about him is he worked out all last year in practice. One would have thought he would gain an understanding of what was required to play at this level. UB supposedly runs hard practices and seems intolerant of little or no effort. This is where I think a coach is justified in revoking a scholarship. If a kid just won't buy into your deal, then it's time to look for a new home. I know SLU doesn't do that sort of thing, but hey maybe we should practice a little tough love on these guys. Otherwise the recalcitrant is going to be taking up valuable space and be of little or no help to the team. I don't know if that's the road JJ's heading down, but right now he's shown us nothing to prove he's our answer at the four position. Another mystery is DC. Here we are having trouble making 3's and he's supposed to be one of our better 3pt shooters. Again, we just haven't seen it. This is all speculation on our part, but one thing you can say for certain is neither of these guys has gained UB's confidence. I think it would be a fair question to ask UB what his expectations were for JJ and DC and where have they failed to meet them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 Charlotte 1 minute DePaul 7 Memphis 0 UAB 3 Charlotte 0 East Carol. 6 USF 4 S. Miss. 0 Marquette 0 TCU 0 --------------- Total 21 minutes Average: 2.1 minutes per game Did not play 5 of the last 10 games. Only received in excess of 5 minutes twice in the last 10 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 the billikens do just fine shooting the 3 or any of the other shots as well. right now the billikens rank 6th overall in conference usa for fg% and 5th in 3 pointers. their free throw % is 4th. we are leading the conference in defense and hold our own in all other categories EXCEPT rebounding and blocked shots where the billikens rank dead last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 16, 2004 Share Posted February 16, 2004 Ok, a little hip shooting on my part. But you've got to admit our recent effort at 3's appears bad. Any way you could give stats on last three-four games on 3's. I know on Saturday we didn't make many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 Darren Clarke and Justin Johnson are not busts or disappointments. They're freshmen with experienced and talented players ahead of them in the rotation. Remember, Brad Soderberg prefers to have four- and five-year players with a reasonable percentage of juniors and senior. That means underclassmen have lesser roles unless they're exceptional. I don't think Coach Soderberg has any less confidence in DC and JJ than he would have in the average freshman. Furthermore, I don't think the performances of the two frosh in question has been anything other than typical of what other freshmen do. I'm confident that in 2006 and 2007, Clarke and Johnson will be among the leaders of those Billiken squads, and they'll be playing in NCAA Tournaments after contending strongly for A-10 titles. This has been a learning year for Captial D and JJ, and the team's composition has afforded us the opportunity to see them learning on a winning team; Julian Winfield, Erwin Claggett, and Scott Highmark didn't have that opportunity when they were freshmen at SLU 12 years ago. Next year, Clarke and Johsnon will enjoy an increased role. Chris Sloan and Ross Varner are gone, so Johnson will have to play. Josh Fisher, who leads the team in minutes per game, is gone, so some new guard is going to have to play, and DC will be more familiar with the system than any of the recruits, so he'll get a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 JJ is fine. He has to take those shots. When he came in no one was scoring. JJ was wide open, no one was guarding him at all. Basically Charlotte was saying we can play SLU 5 on 4 and no team can win that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 great post thicks. it is one of the things about fans that drive me crazy. "be a star now or get the hell out." no one wants to give anyone a chance to develop. clarke, johnson, even mckinney. they all deserve the opportunity to grow up and learn. just because they arent carmello anthony doesnt mean that by the time they leave slu they will or wont be big time contributors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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