St. Joseph's Preview and Game Thread -- 01-14-2023

[JArsy_22]

Sounds like Saint needs some thoughts and prayers. Some things are bigger than basketball. Mental health is real.

[goramblers2011]

Best of luck to Saint. Hope he gets the help he needs and finds success in life, both on and off the basketball court. Much more to life than hoops! I hope the program and university remain supportive of the young man.

[ahunte1]

Best of luck to Saint. Hope he gets the help he needs and finds success in life, both on and off the basketball court. Much more to life than hoops! I hope the program and university remain supportive of the young man.

Seconded.

[Mudville21]

I find it interesting that suddenly people are saying that Braden Norris and Kennedy are not good enough for the A10....but they were plenty good enough to beat GA Tech and Illinois two years ago. I'd even say they were plenty good enough to compete with Ohio State in a game where we couldn't hit water if we fell out of a boat. They are still great players but my assumption is there is a sudden lack of confidence for whatever reason. I have to assume that they may not be up for the role of team leader the way that previous players were (Custer, Krut, Williamson, etc) and that could be altering their game.

Our lack of defense and the turnovers are the clear problem. Not sure how you coach your way out of turnovers, but they can certainly coach their way to better defense.

This team has a ton of talent....I look at Clemson game and know that there is a great team hidden in the chaos right now.

The last five years have been a blast...and if we keep the support going, I think Valentine can figure it out and get it back....maybe not this year (but there's still plenty of time to show improvement).

Go Blers!

Well no one said they weren't good players, just that they are not star players. Let's also remember who else was on those teams you cited. Cam, Lucas, Aher to name a few. Those guys were, in the college level stars. Lucas and Aher were elite defensively. On those teams as complimentary players, Beaden, Marquise and Tom were fine.

[Mudville21]

Wow in regard to Saint.

It doesn't surprise me in the sense that today's kids are not taught to work through failures. When some of us older guys were playing sports in high school, Coaches were hard on you. You had to work for everything. They did not throw platitudes and sunshine at you all day. They used harsh language. These kids today, if they have any talent, get coddled all the way up to college.

They get to college and, let's not kid ourselves, this is a business. Coaches making big money, NCAA making big money, schools spending big money, expecting big money in conference tv deals or NCAA tournament shares, Alums and students want to win, and the new element... NIL!

I hope Saint can take care of his mental health. He us clearly an emotional kid , we saw that when he had a few good moments. Hopefully he can take some time and figure a few things out.