Chatterbox Loves Mookie
An anonymous visitor to this blog, a socialite who goes by the name of Chatterbox, has demanded that I post about Mookie. Here’s what Chatterbox says: “Watkins is the key player for SU. He stunk on Sunday.” Very perceptive, that Chatterbox. Keen insights, and some weird thought processing as well. But that’s not all: “Mookie has played quite well in many games this year.“ That’s true, but he also sleep-walked through several games. Still, I assured Chatterbox that I would write about Mookie, at the same time hoping that I’d have good things to say.
So after stinking on Sunday (I think it was actually Saturday – the regular season finale at Nova), Mookie didn’t exactly light the Garden up. Over two games he scored a total of 15 points, grabbed 17 boards, committed 9 fouls, and had eight turnovers. By way of contrast, my man PH, the new PH, playing half the game against Notre Dame, scored 24 and snared 15 rebounds. In other words, in the event Chatterbox has trouble with numbers, that means PH’s output in half a game exceeded Mookie’s totals over two games. And just in case Chatterbox hasn’t noticed this fact, PH gives up at least six inches to Mookie, and his man doesn’t play in the lane.
Sorry to say it Chatterbox, but Mookie is an underachiever. I agree that he’s had his moments. And I also agree that he’s been a key ingredient in much Orange success this year. But the bad news is that we had many games where Mookie was MIA. And this on-again off-again temperament typifies this past season for the Orange. Too often he plays indifferently, like he’s going through the motions.
So now we have to wait for selection Sunday to find out: Are we in? All the pundits say yes, after the late season run, especially the big win over G-Town. But until I see Cuse in the brackets, I’m not counting on anything. And if we’re in, where are we going? Last two years, we didn’t go anywhere, and although we’re no threat to get to the Final Four, it’s not beyond imagination that we could make the Sweet Sixteen. Check back for more important details.
So after stinking on Sunday (I think it was actually Saturday – the regular season finale at Nova), Mookie didn’t exactly light the Garden up. Over two games he scored a total of 15 points, grabbed 17 boards, committed 9 fouls, and had eight turnovers. By way of contrast, my man PH, the new PH, playing half the game against Notre Dame, scored 24 and snared 15 rebounds. In other words, in the event Chatterbox has trouble with numbers, that means PH’s output in half a game exceeded Mookie’s totals over two games. And just in case Chatterbox hasn’t noticed this fact, PH gives up at least six inches to Mookie, and his man doesn’t play in the lane.
Sorry to say it Chatterbox, but Mookie is an underachiever. I agree that he’s had his moments. And I also agree that he’s been a key ingredient in much Orange success this year. But the bad news is that we had many games where Mookie was MIA. And this on-again off-again temperament typifies this past season for the Orange. Too often he plays indifferently, like he’s going through the motions.
So now we have to wait for selection Sunday to find out: Are we in? All the pundits say yes, after the late season run, especially the big win over G-Town. But until I see Cuse in the brackets, I’m not counting on anything. And if we’re in, where are we going? Last two years, we didn’t go anywhere, and although we’re no threat to get to the Final Four, it’s not beyond imagination that we could make the Sweet Sixteen. Check back for more important details.
posted by pops | 11:02 PM
1 Comments:
G,
I couldn't agree more, but am waiting for tonight's round one game, before posting at length. I hope the team is sufficiently motivated by the snub. The risk is that they feel like they can get to the Garden on auto-pilot, and let themselves get knocked off by some decent, but not well-recognized team. See what happened to Drexel last night. All year long, we played to the level of our competition, and any lack of intensity will really hurt us, because most of the NIT teams are pleased to be playing anywhere in the post-season.
Another upcoming topic will be entitled " A Long Way from Didama St." When we were in Miami last wekend, we went out with Lew and his family, and then back to Lew's place in the Grove. The best description I can think of is; Holy shit.
Berg
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