Home loss to Charleston raises two big questions for Saint Joseph’s

By AARON BRACY

aaron@big5hoops.com

December 10, 2024

There were two big questions after Saint Joseph’s dropped a 78-75 defeat to Charleston at Hagan Arena on Tuesday night:

1) How did the Hawks give up an 11-point lead at home with 11 minutes, 35 seconds remaining?

2) What is going on with Erik Reynolds II?

Before addressing them, however, let’s point out high in the story—where it belongs—another strong performance by Rasheer Fleming, who likely left NBA scouts salivating again with his versatility. Fleming scored a career-high 26 points and did so inside and outside, making 10 of 14 field goals overall and 4 of 6 three-pointers.

OK, back to the two big questions.

How did the Hawks give up an 11-point lead at home with 11 minutes, 35 seconds remaining?

First, how did St. Joe’s lose after taking a 63-52 lead on a driving layup by Dasear Haskins?

Charleston erased the advantage quickly, using a 13-2 run over the next 4:44 to tie the game. From there, the Cougars were just better. But let’s zero in on that run.

St. Joe’s continued to play its brand of basketball, which relies on analytics and features shots that are both early in the shot clock and often from beyond the arc. Charleston missed a shot after Haskins’s make. Just twelve seconds later, Anthony Finkley attempted a driving layup and missed. Derek Simpson grabbed the rebound, and only two seconds elapsed before Haskins tried and missed a three-pointer.

I asked Hawks coach Billy Lange if it would have been beneficial to slow the game down with a double-digit lead?

“No, not with eleven minutes left,” he said. “We practice that. We’ve done that in games. You trust your guys to make good decisions. Then there are open shots that you have to take. If you over-penetrate or over-pass it, then you end up with late shot-clock shots, which analytically, anything below eight seconds is a beast. They’re the lowest percentage shot in the game because it’s a tough shot. You’re generally playing one-on-one.

“I trust our decisions. I trust the way we play because (an 11-point lead) can go to 17 like that, if you take care of the ball, if you play on two feet, if you jump stop, if you pivot, if you kick it out, if you get an offensive rebound and feel there’s three guys on you and pass it out. Those are the decisions you have to make at that point.”

The Hawks continued to play quickly, for the most part, and continued to misfire. Over the game-changing stretch that ended with wide-open AJ Smith converting a layup that tied it at 65-all with 6:51 to play, the Hawks were 1 of 8 overall from the field that included one missed three-pointer.

OK, so the shots weren’t falling. What about St. Joe’s defense? Lange indicated that the misses contributed to fastbreak situations for the Cougars. For the game, Charleston made 45.2 percent (28 of 62) of its field goals, including 37.5 percent (9 of 24) from three-point range.

So not to take anything out of context, Lange’s reaction to the Hawks’ defense is in the middle of his postgame opening statement.

“Charleston played well,” Lange said. “They had some gritty moments that got them back in the game and got them the lead. I actually thought our defense, despite what the numbers say, was actually pretty good. There were some transition possessions after a miss or an untimely turnover that was like an undefendable basket, pushing the ball in transition. We missed some timely shots. We had some timely turnovers. It was just a good game. If it went another five minutes, perhaps we win. They’re a good team. We knew that coming in. We did an amazing job on number ten (Ante Brzovic, 17 points, 6 of 17 FG). We did a great job, and the rest of the guys stepped up like they needed to.”

Of defense, he later added: “Sometimes the result of it looks like it’s defense, but it starts on the offensive end.”

What is going on with Erik Reynolds II?

And, on that end of the court, Reynolds continued his season-long struggles. Whether it’s weight the preseason honors, having been selected to the Atlantic 10’s preseason first team and as a popular pick to contend for Player of the Year or his pace to break the school’s all-time scoring and three-point record, or something else entirely, Reynolds just has not looked like the same shooter as the first three years. (Note: He is healthy.)

Lange was quick to point out that he feels like Reynolds’s decision-making has gotten better. Objectively, his three-point percentage dropped to 25.3 percent (20 of 79) after missing all six of his long-range attempts against Charleston. This is a player who shot 38 percent from the arc last season, improving from 37.5 percent as sophomore, and 33.6 percent as a freshman.

So, I asked Lange what can be done when good shooters are struggling, and he mentioned three things.

“One, they have to know you love and believe in them,” he said. “It starts there because they don’t feel it likely from everywhere else. They have to know their coach still loves and believes in them. And that’s what a leader has to do.

“The second thing you say is there anything technical that you can do that doesn’t disrupt the entire mojo spirit of the person.

“The third thing is how do you help him. Can you get him an open shot on an (under the basket out of bounds play)? Can you get him an open shot (after) a timeout?”

As a follow-up, knowing that the coach is showering Reynolds with affection, I asked if there was something technically that can be changed with Reynolds’s shot, or whether the coach can do anything else to help him, as he referenced on the third point.

“For sure, we can,” he said. “That always is an answer. The answer to that question is always yes. It’s just what is the percentage that you can do it. Is it like the whole thing? Or tiny things? I’m not trying to absolve myself of being involved because this is a group, a team. I feel like we did that this week. I felt he did that the other night (in the Big 5 Classic).

“I think technically there are some things, but these things have been there before. You just have to be very, very careful about how you’re saying stuff. As you guys know, it’s the human condition. But it’s important. This can’t keep happening. He knows that; we know that.”

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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. His book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team is expected to be published on March 1, 2025. Read a summary and preorder it by clicking HERE. Contact him at aaron@big5hoops.com.