14-6 after 20 games is ....

[atlanticuse]

The defense is finally starting to catch on, the switching has become much better and you can tell that when the guards are scoring they play much better defense. The offense is still really stagnant and relies way too much on making shots versus running plays. That is what causes the team to get into deep holes against good opponents. Because of that, I don’t blame the talent (or apparent lack there of) as much as a lack of scheme in big games. GT, BC, ND, they’ve all played top teams far better than Syracuse without Syracuse's talent, so there’s still something missing.

Er… coaching?
I mean coaching is a much bigger macro thing, but it clearly doesn’t look like we’re running plays, as many have said.
Red is a good motivator and disciplinarian, but what he’s sketched out just doesn’t seem comprehensive.

 

[mark79]

Their defense in the first half last night was super. The back guys are really dropping into the lane when Brown hedges hard out top. The back guys gave Brown time to recover and they still closed out on the shooters. It seems like teams don’t realize until late they should drive the ball. The last 5-6 minutes was NCS just going by us off the dribble. It’s more focus that talent. We let up a little when we get a lead. Hubert Davis said they game planned to keep us off the line and not turn it over to get in transition. He’s correct. Getting to the line is a big part of our offense.

Their hard hedging reminded me a lot of the way UVA does it. They almost never get called for contact on their hedges tho. Malik did once. If we continue to do it a lot maybe we won’t get called much either as time goes on. I like it a lot.

 

[sufandu]

They've been much more fun to watch this year and we can definitely see improvement throughout the season. Our defensive rotations seem to have been much better lately.

 

[jncuse]

The year is a success.

1. At worse, we are in very good shape for an NIT spot, unless we do stupid down the stretch. And that in itself is a big improvement over the last 2 years where we weren't even sniffing the NIT.

2. I also really like the fact that our tempo is up from #170 to #41. I know some of that is based on our change in defensive strategy -- but that change in D systems is a good thing moving forward as well.

Yes I know some think we are above the NIT, but as a marker it shows we are making good progress.

Some may argue that the foundation (Mintz, Bell, Q, Brown) was here from last year. Maybe I suppose. I'll take a look at the positive.