NIT Final
South Carolina 60
Saint Joseph’s 57
Hawks finish the year 24-12. Pretty good turnaround for SJU after starting the year 3-6.
I watched this game. SJU looked very familiar.
Their offense was fairly limited. They set hard screens for Pat Carroll and tried to get him open looks (he was about 2-13 from outside though - really struggled). They had a couple of other kids who were ok 3pt shooters. The Lee kid could dribble penetrate which opened some things up, but overall, they were limited. No interior offensive game to speak of.
The difference was more profound on defense. They really guard you and the Jones kid was a factor on the interior. He went after every shot that came near him and rebounded fairly well. He isnt terribly big or brawny, but he’s effective. To be honest, he looks like Iti with coordination.
If we would play D as hard as they do and set the type of screens they did, we’d have made it out of the first weekend of the NCAAs. We had more offense than they do. Shows you how much you can makeup by just playing hard doing the non-glamorous stuff.
Too bad the NIT Final turned out be an off night for Carroll. Not sure who will pick up the offensive slack for the Hawks next season with his departure. SJU does have a solid foundation with its returnees and a touted incoming class, so they should be okay.