Am I the only one encouraged

[JoeySimz]

by last night's game at least a little bit?

Yes, there are many things we have little control over such as our lack of size/depth which really shows against a team like UNC, our underwhelming pg play, and two 5th year guys with limited skills that don't fit our system perfectly. Just to name a few. We are far enough along now to know who we are. We just don't have enough. So to me last night was encouraging to me. I expected to get blown out but we hung in there and really fought. This is a low bar for Syracuse basketball but it is what we are this year. I think we saw some very positive things:

1. Battle was pretty terrific! Minus a bad turnover or two, he really turned it on. He was all over the floor and looked like the quickest guy on the court at times. His D was outstanding imo eventhough he got held a few times. He consistently attacked the basket with great speed and strength and ran the floor very well. Looked pretty good bringing the ball up the court too. He's going to get even better.

2. Lydon was on fire shooting. He was calling for the ball and it seemed like he scored on every single UNC player at least once. My favorite part was that he didn't disappear and he was getting after his teammates. After his two travels he really settled down and put on quite a shooting clinic.

3. White made some big shots in the second half. At this point that's all I can ask from him and that he watches tape and tries to correct his mistakes. We need his shooting so I can only pray his d gets better at this point. He is nothing like the prototypical SU wing/forward so let's stop with that nonsense.

4. Roberson hustled his fanny off for the entire game. At least that's what I saw. He was literally pushed out of the paint several times when he was in position and didn't get a call. Any of you who have ever played ball, especially in the post know how much energy it takes just to maintain position for one possession and his job was to do that every possession against much larger guys.

(Btw, what was up with those four really late whistles? It's like the refs were waiting to see if Carolina made the shot and if they missed it would be a foul on us)

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

I was encouraged, for the most part.

Problem is Lydon shot the ball at an absurd clip. Not sustainable. It happened, yet 'Cuse got crushed.

 

[Noexcuse]

I'd be more encouraged if these guys were all coming back next year. We know for a fact White and Roberson are not, Lydon is doubtful and Battle is now putting himself in the position of at least toying with the possibility of leaving early.

 

[br801]

I was also encouraged. UNC was a bad matchup, yet they hung in there despite the atrocious rebounding and some horrible defensive lapses.

This is a essentially a different team since the first BC game, with Battle expanding his offensive game and looking like the most complete player on the floor, and Lydon starting to impose his will despite playing through some physical issues.

I'm guaranteeing a victory at Notre Dame.

 

[CousCuse]

Yes JS. I see a win coming in South Bend.

 

[Noexcuse]

I was also encouraged. UNC was a bad matchup, yet they hung in there despite the atrocious rebounding and some horrible defensive lapses.

This is a essentially a different team since the first BC game, with Battle expanding his offensive game and looking like the most complete player on the floor, and Lydon starting to impose his will despite playing through some physical issues.

I'm guaranteeing a victory at Notre Dame.

View attachment 87285

I hope you're right, but Earl Morrall isn't suiting up for ND on Saturday.

 

[Briancuse]

Not really we lost by 17, are things that bad that we are taking moral victories for 17 point losses? I thought we were Syracuse.

 

[TinyManInside]

I thought they actually played really well for about 30 minutes of that game.

The other ten minutes - the first 5 minutes and last 5 minutes - were an abject disaster. The first 5 was inexcusable, the last 5 was simply because they ran out of gas.

The rest of the game was a stalemate. I never got the sense SU was going to pull even or ahead, even when they kept getting it back within 3 to 5 points, but they played pretty hard and made a lot of tough shots. That same effort over 40 minutes against the rest of our previous schedule and we'd only have 3 or 4 losses. That's the frustrating thing. I think this team has more potential than its record indicates.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I was encouraged, for the most part.

Problem is Lydon shot the ball at an absurd clip. Not sustainable. It happened, yet 'Cuse got crushed.

I don't think we got crushed. We were a transition 3 away from being down 5 with 5 to go. We got crushed on the boards but we were on the road against one of the 2 best teams in the conference (FSU is other I think).

 

[orangecuse]

by last night's game at least a little bit?

Yes, there are many things we have little control over such as our lack of size/depth which really shows against a team like UNC, our underwhelming pg play, and two 5th year guys with limited skills that don't fit our system perfectly. Just to name a few. We are far enough along now to know who we are. We just don't have enough. So to me last night was encouraging to me. I expected to get blown out but we hung in there and really fought. This is a low bar for Syracuse basketball but it is what we are this year. I think we saw some very positive things:

1. Battle was pretty terrific! Minus a bad turnover or two, he really turned it on. He was all over the floor and looked like the quickest guy on the court at times. His D was outstanding imo eventhough he got held a few times. He consistently attacked the basket with great speed and strength and ran the floor very well. Looked pretty good bringing the ball up the court too. He's going to get even better.

2. Lydon was on fire shooting. He was calling for the ball and it seemed like he scored on every single UNC player at least once. My favorite part was that he didn't disappear and he was getting after his teammates. After his two travels he really settled down and put on quite a shooting clinic.

3. White made some big shots in the second half. At this point that's all I can ask from him and that he watches tape and tries to correct his mistakes. We need his shooting so I can only pray his d gets better at this point. He is nothing like the prototypical SU wing/forward so let's stop with that nonsense.

4. Roberson hustled his fanny off for the entire game. At least that's what I saw. He was literally pushed out of the paint several times when he was in position and didn't get a call. Any of you who have ever played ball, especially in the post know how much energy it takes just to maintain position for one possession and his job was to do that every possession against much larger guys.

(Btw, what was up with those four really late whistles? It's like the refs were waiting to see if Carolina made the shot and if they missed it would be a foul on us)

Yes, all 4 numbered paragraphs noted are positive and encouraging. What isn't, and what you failed to point out, was just how abysmal our point guard play was. And, what's even more troublesome and dire is that it just isn't going to get much, if any, better. Gillon and Howard can not play the most critical position on the floor at this level, period. It's so apparently obvious that neither possess the skillset to do so...and, quite frankly, it's painful and brutal to watch.

 

[br801]

Yes, all 4 numbered paragraphs noted are positive and encouraging. What isn't, and what you failed to point out, was just how abysmal our point guard play was. And, what's even more troublesome and dire is that it just isn't going to get much, if any, better. Gillon and Howard can not play the most critical position on the floor at this level, period. It's so apparently obvious that neither possess the skillset to do so...and, quite frankly, it's painful and brutal to watch.

They've each had good moments, particularly Gillon, so I'm holding out hope. When Gillon's shot is falling, it seems to lift the rest of his game. He can get to the basket against most teams, now he just needs to start finishing better or drawing contact and getting to the line.

 

[Briancuse]

They've each had good moments, particularly Gillon, so I'm holding out hope. When Gillon's shot is falling, it seems to lift the rest of his game. He can get to the basket against most teams, now he just needs to start finishing better or drawing contact and getting to the line.

He misses way too many easy shots.

 

[br801]

He misses way too many easy shots.

He's not alone in doing so. I've seen White and Roberson miss a few at the rim this season. I think Robey airballed a putback from about two feet last night.

 

[realorange]

Agree with the positives some of you have listed.

But, I'm still not convinced there is a very good feeling within the team. Watching warmups, I don't remember seeing one smile let alone goofing around.

Given all the obstacles we've faced this year, I think we did about as good a job as we could have last night.

 

[Briancuse]

He's not alone in doing so. I've seen White and Roberson miss a few at the rim this season. I think Robey airballed a putback from about two feet last night.

No hes not, we have been leading the country in missed bunnies for years now, its the most frustrating thing in the world.

 

[orangecuse]

They've each had good moments, particularly Gillon, so I'm holding out hope. When Gillon's shot is falling, it seems to lift the rest of his game. He can get to the basket against most teams, now he just needs to start finishing better or drawing contact and getting to the line.

I have hope too...until I watch Gillon consistently miss shots at the rim because he simply can not seem to finish anything in traffic or contested. I wish he would draw more contact as you mentioned and use his body more to shield the shot blockers. Although he's obviously under 6', he appears to have a decent enough build and should be able to use what he does have to his full potential. However, he doesn't appears to not have the basketball IQ to do that. I wonder if he's even being advised/coached in that capacity?

 

[Cusefan0307]

I was encouraged, for the most part.

Problem is Lydon shot the ball at an absurd clip. Not sustainable. It happened, yet 'Cuse got crushed.

Thing Is Lydon has done that about 4 times this year. The problem is he doesn't shoot enough.

 

[br801]

I have hope too...until I watch Gillon consistently miss shots at the rim because he simply can not seem to finish anything in traffic or contested. I wish he would draw more contact as you mentioned and use his body more to shield the shot blockers. Although he's obviously under 6', he appears to have a decent enough build and should be able to use what he does have to his full potential. However, he doesn't appears to not have the basketball IQ to do that. I wonder if he's even being advised/coached in that capacity?

I don't know if it's a question of coaching for a fifth year player. It almost seems he is so hellbent on getting by his defenders that he is out of control when he releases those shots.

 

[AZOrange]

Game reminded of the F4 fromlast year. We fought hard and came back a couple times but could not get over the hump. And In reality the outcome was always preordained.

 

[bevosu]

It might help if Gillon would do what a lot of decent PG's do.

He can drive to the rim and miss a lot of shots or he could think about driving to the rim and making an occasional pass to a teammate.

He seems to have forgotten about that part of a PG's game.

 

[MikeSU02]

I thought they actually played really well for about 30 minutes of that game.

The other ten minutes - the first 5 minutes and last 5 minutes - were an abject disaster. The first 5 was inexcusable, the last 5 was simply because they ran out of gas.

The rest of the game was a stalemate. I never got the sense SU was going to pull even or ahead, even when they kept getting it back within 3 to 5 points, but they played pretty hard and made a lot of tough shots. That same effort over 40 minutes against the rest of our previous schedule and we'd only have 3 or 4 losses. That's the frustrating thing. I think this team has more potential than its record indicates.

I think this is a really great assessment. The beginning of the game was inexcusable, barring us playing a 1990 UNLV.

We knew what issues we were going to run into:
[ ] We knew we were going to get out-rebounded
[ ] We knew they were going to run and we would get gassed.

It happened. I wasn't really upset with anything, outside of the beginning of the game, especially because Lydon wasn't getting more looks. My hope coming out of halftime was that the team would make another run to get it close and be competitive and they did that.

Part of me still has this dream of running the table in the ACCT and getting into the tourney, but I'm fine with a winning season and an NIT birth. I've made my peace with the fact this team isn't great.

 

[two3zone]

I don't think we got crushed. We were a transition 3 away from being down 5 with 5 to go. We got crushed on the boards but we were on the road against one of the 2 best teams in the conference (FSU is other I think).

And we were a Lydon and White not shooting lights out away by losing by 40.

Works both ways. We didn't look close to NC.

 

[jdubs30]

And we were a Lydon and White not shooting lights out away by losing by 40.

Works both ways. We didn't look close to NC.

We're going to have to make shots to win games. We did it vs. Miami and Pitt. This team isn't going to win very many lower scoring games since our defense isn't as good as it has been. We will need to outscore teams on most nights to win. Lydon has been on fire the last 4 games or so and White has had plenty of halves this year where he shoots very well. Nothing we did last night was out of the ordinary from our offense the past few games. If Gillon was like 6/10 from 3 along with White/Lydon being hot and we still lost, then that's a huge problem. But Lydon/AW3 were par for the course last night IMO.

 

[Col. Bleep]

Not really we lost by 17, are things that bad that we are taking moral victories for 17 point losses? I thought we were Syracuse.

Not a moral victory.
No such thing in the Orange lexicon.
But...it is a reality check on where we are compared to where we were just two weeks ago when the Orange couldn't hang close with (let alone beat) some really bad teams.

We played a really good Final Four caliber team on their home court and made it a game until the last few minutes.
Far from any kind of victory.
But it does show improvement.
And that at least gives us reason for optimism.

 

[Trueblue25]

Im encouraged by the fact that it's became clear that it's not because we aren't good enough, or not talented enough.

We are losing because of mental errors and laziness. We have an incredibly efficient offense, and an incredibly underachieving defense.

Our wings need to suck it up and learn to get out to cover the 3 AND crash the boards. It's not ridiculous to ask or impossible, it requires effort. Many forwards have done it over the past few decades of the team. I see no reason why Lydon and White cannot.

Thompson needs to be more physical. Need more effort out of him on d and the boards. He's a big boy, he needs to get a mean streak and act like it.

Gillon and Lydon both need to cut down on the silly turnovers. Unforced turnovers like traveling and picking up your dribble outside the perimeter and leaving the people you pass to on islands is inexcusable. We all love to call White selfish but look at where he gets the ball passed to him, and how many people make an effort to get open after he catches the ball.

Battles emerged as a leader by example, I hope he continues to improve.

Proud of Roberson as well and hope DC can come back soon.


Edit: And for that matter, despite the continued losses i'll take back my blaming of Boeheim. He's not the magician he once was. He is what he is, but he's not to blame for even half of this in my opinion now that I've watched more games. There's clear mental lapses in our players and it's at the point where Boeheim can yell all he wants, these kids just gotta find the stones to man up and make things happen. Mental mistakes.