In no particular order

1. The post game

A hell of a lot more interesting than the actual game.Pitino held court for about 40 minutes. He had Richmond and Luis with him. Richmond who is incredibly shy and Luis who is not took questions for about 15 minutes and then Pitino took the stage. Pitino is a master communicator and we'll get into that more later. Than Sha came into the room with no players and mumbled and stuttered his way for about 20 minutes or so saying little and when asked about injuries with Addae-Wusu and Jenkins said what he always says. He didn't know anything.

That in a nutshell (minus the NIL situation) is the difference in the programs.

2. Harmon

He has left the program and the school. Jerry asked the question and Sha answered in our own strange way. There were no more details. But this was the exact same situation that happened at a previous stop. Harmon's medical problems are hurting his life on and off the court. He cannot concentrate because of them and in no way should he be criticized.

Harmon deserves our compassion.

3. The good, the bad and the ugly

Dual...

The good

3-6 from the floor 1-1 from the arc, 3 assists in 27:33 minutes and 6 steals

The bad

He fumbles the ball most every time he touches it and and for a PG really struggles at the line as he shot 1-2 last night

The ugly

5 turnovers

4. Staying with Dual

It's maddening because he is by far the Pirates most talented PG. His two open court strips in the backcourt on two consecutives plays vs Richmond, one ending in a dunk and the other a layup assist were probably the highlight of the game for the Pirates. That and his -13 playing the minutes he did in a 28 point loss was impressive.

Dual is developing a nice pull up jumper and IMO Sha should stay with him next season.

5 Again

How many times has the Hall lost a game this season never taking the lead at any time. This is the worst team the Pirates have had in memory.

If this doesn't wake up the powers to be at the Hall nothing will. I see it this way...once can be forgiven but if this is a pattern then everyone must be held responsible and the appropriate action must be taken.

You can't lose Samuel, Richmond and Davis in a two year span and possibly Coleman after this season.

6. For you NBA fans

Pitino made an interesting point in the post game. He said he models his defense after the OKC Thunder and had his team watch their games on tape for a week recently noting the emphasis on fronting the man, doubling strategically, pressuring the ball and other individual things. He said last night was the team's best effort. What he didn't say is it came vs a team with no offensive plan or heart whatsoever.

7. Kudos to the fans

They came, they supported, they were loud.What else could you ask of them?

Unfortunately the product is not worth their effort and that is on SHU.

8. The bigs, or should I say the smalls

There is at this point not an ounce of Big East ability with our centers. This is the most pitiful group of bigs I can remember at the Hall. Not sure they could play at a decent MAAC program at this point.

Okorafor, Yalen and Godswell contributed 7 points on 2-9 shooting from the field, with our starter Okorafor playing 6 minutes with no rebounds, 1 point and a block. (-11)

And BTW I didn't even realize that Toumi didn't play until the game was over. That's how sad our program has become.

9. Feeling better but...

I was told pregame that Addae-Wusu wanted to play as he was feeling much better but the trainers wouldn't allow him to suit up. Players always want to play but trainers often hold them out longer than necessary for fear of reinjury. I wonder if the Powell situation has made them gunshy?

10. Pressing?

You're not going to win many games when your star player shoots 1-13 from the field.

11. The weave is killing us

NSS

You guys can try and figure that one out on your own. LOL

In the meantime......Beside the obvious waste of time off the shot clock it's so easy to scout the weave that the defenders, especially last night are starting to strip the handoff from the receiver because they don't fear the offensive player taking advantage of them being out of position if they fail. That led to a plethora of not only turnovers but breakaway baskets.

I have not seen a team as careless running the weave as this group.

12. Still busy but I had to post good news

Word is (and I trust this info BIG TIME) expect Coleman will be taken care of and not go the path of Samuel, Davis and Richmond. Nothing is 100% but I like what I heard last night.

13. More good news

Also spoke to another high value source. One again not from the school or BB program. He verified what I already posted here in the preseason but had no knowledge of that posting

He said as I was told that new coach, Andrew Francis, has major connections in the portal and will be bringing in some high quality players.

Now, and I fully understand any doubt from our readers, but to hear what I heard and knowing who said persons are this is a very good sign moving forward. Certainly not a guarantee but it's the first good news I have heard in months.

14. A Prince of a man

He's playing better and was clearly mismatched against the size of the Storm but Aligbe continues his better play and now looks like a keeper.

5. Don't give up. It's embarrassing

With SHU playing some of their better (don't laugh) players in garbage time how embarrassing was it see SJU extend the lead late to 30 points with a bunch of dunks and alley oops

16. The numbers

Sure it was hard to watch. SHU with 18 turnovers. But SJU wasn't far behind with 16. The difference was the Johnnies had 16 assists to the Pirates 7.

Then again when you shoot 26% from the floor don't look for many assists.

17. Play it again Sam

A good portion of last season Richmond led his team in +/-.Last night...

In 35 minutes, Luis +27. Kadary +20 in 29 minutes.

18 Keepers

I have never done this before but in this day and age of pay to play I feel no embarrassment for posting this.

Keepers, depending of course if they want to stay and depending who we bring in.

Aligbe

Coleman

Middleton

Dual

Felton

Godswill

19 True to form

Last night just a couple of seats away from our SHU gang was a fat SJU fan. He was loud and obnoxious and it grew worse as the game went on. He was also pounding beers all night long. Eventually some fans around us started to tell him to shut up in very colorful words. He began to challenge them to take it outside.

At the 3 minute mark a small female security officer told him to get up and leave. It was hilarious as he left as she was no bigger than his thumb.

I root for most NY teams but I also admit they are only second to the Philly fans when it come to behavior.

20. Play it again part 2

Do I really have to do this again Tuesday?

Lord give me a break, will ya. LOL