Notice I'm not claiming a particularly good analysis but I figured I'd mention a few observations and thoughts I had after watching these two rather inexplicable wins directly on the heels of some of the most embarrassing losses of the JB tenure. How do we reconcile it? Is it a blip or is it for real? Can we sustain it? All interesting questions, so I'll take a shot:
What's changed for the better?
1. These guys have roles now after not having any -- or at least any clearly defined roles -- early in the season.
JB takes a lot of grief on here for only playing 7 guys or 7.5 guys or, in this case, six guys with the suggestion being he refuses to play more or can't make it work. I think that's slightly misguided criticism in that it was only '11-'12 that JB played 10 guys 10 min or more per game with no one averaging as many as 33 mpg and only MCW finding pine in close games. I think the bigger point is that JB likes to play guys he trusts AND his teams function much better when roles are pretty clearly defined. Now we can criticize each of these points as well but the bottom line is JB figured out who he likes and where he wants them playing and, as a result, this team looks a bit more comfortable on the floor. White is a shooter; Lydon is the go-to guy; Gillon is the PG and controls the offense and tempo; Battle can shoot, share ball-handling duties a bit and use his frame and quickness on defense; Thompson can still be effective in certain matchups as a scorer and offensive threat; Howard can be used if needed but not relied upon; Roberson can be the energy guy.
3. Defense has improved
White at the 3 and Lydon at the 5 means Roberson can get on the floor and play the 4 and that is a drastically improved defensive lineup. The traps look better, the rotations look better. Thought white really stood out for his hustle on that end of the floor. Obviously Roby is great there and at least in the past two games Gillon's lack of height hasn't been a death knell.
2. Lydon is getting more touches and more shots.
I have argued all season that the offense needs to be forced to run through Lydon b/c, at the end of the day, he's this team's best player -- even if it didn't look that way early. If you take his breakout vs. G'town as the starting point of the 'new' Lydon, he's reached double-figures in shots in 5 of 7 games after taking as many as 10 shots only once in the first 9 games. What's more -- in the only two games he didn't reach 10, he didn't play the second half vs. E. Michigan and he was saddled with a bit of foul trouble vs. Pitt (where he still got 9 shots up). We can pick nits all day with Lydon's game but the bottom line is he is a smart player with the ball, he can score a little inside and obviously shoot well outside and, above all else, opponents have to account for him. Regardless, the Lydon that's averaging 18 ppg in the past 7 games is (yes, 3 ugly losses included) is absolutely essential for this team, IMO.
3. Roberson is playing
Another one I've beat the drum about. Dude gets a ton of criticism here but I can't ever remember a situation where a veteran player who had logged a ton of minutes for two seasons and played a huge role on a team that made an NCAA run was, for all intents and purposes, benched. I don't know the reason and I know there will be 'sleepwalk through games' comments, etc. But the bottom line is that the staff has to figure out how to get him on the floor because he is, in many ways, one of the most valuable commodities in basketball -- a guy who can influence the game without needing the ball or, for that matter, many shots. Roby has played 20+ mins in five of our last six. In those five, we're 4-1 and it's hard to blame him much for BC with his 11 and 10 in 22 minutes.
4. Post touches -- I mean, we actually got the ball into the post in a half-court set!
I loved how often we fed the ball to the post -- hi or low -- in the past two games. One absolute, undeniable plus for this team is a host of capable bigs to score and/or pass. Lydon and Thompson, obviously, but Roberson can catch and finish a bit and he's hitting enough FTs that those haven't been empty trips to the line very often. (incidentally, DC would fall into this group again if he can get healthy enough to get on the floor). But the bottom line is this team needs to get the ball to the post -- I counted 15 touches for Lydon between the hi-post, block, deep post (receiving end of a feed from the hi post) and alley-0ops vs. Pitt. Fed a cutting roberson for a bucket, hit white for a wide open three in the game vs. Miami, spun baseline for a dunk in each game, showed off a little baby hook, shot a few face-up jumpers, had a fadeaway in there. I love that.
5. Gillon
Probably not much of point in actually dissecting numbers or discussing Howard (we'll get to that in a bit) as much as simply saying that Gillon playing well is a huge difference. How a guy goes from some of the awful games he's had to putting 11 assists in each of the past two games, I don't really know. But the one thing I like is that he looks like he has the swagger of an alpha dog. A lot of folks argue pass-first vs. scoring PG, but either way, a PG who is a leader is a huge asset. Gillon has looked like that type of guy the past two. And he plays with speed which has helped get us a few easy buckets here and there -- something we haven't seen since the days of Waiters, IMO.
What are the unresolved issues (and rebounding is what it is for SU, IMO)?
1. Still too many open jumpers surrendered defensively
Thought the game against Pitt was the best game this team has played defensively all year and didn't see many open opportunities for the panthers. But when you watched the debacles vs. SJU and BC it was stunning to see how many open shots there were. Even UConn missed a ton of open shots in the first 30 minutes and Cornell -- for a completely outclassed opponent -- missed a fair number of open shots as well. Thought they cleaned this up a bit vs. Miami and did really well vs. Pitt. The question is can they replicate that effort and defensive energy that we saw vs. Pitt against the rest of the schedule?
2. Still hoping to see a bit more out of Battle slashing
I know a bunch of posters -- many of whom I respect -- were talking about how we've seen a bit more of battle putting the ball on the floor lately. I suppose we have and obviously the Pitt game is a breakout game for Battle, so that's great. What I still would love to see is Battle being able to create a look for himself inside the three-point line -- is it in an unsettled situation or on the fast break? Is it in the halfcourt getting to the rim or creating an open jumper? I am thrilled he's shooting the ball so well, he's been really solid defensively and he's just a freshman -- so I"m not hammering the kid. But there were times watching the Miami game where he drew Vasiljevic and he pounded the ball into the floor and made a move or two but went nowhere. And while he had a nice little cross-over/jumper combo vs. Pitt, he also got blocked shooting a jumper after getting completely shut down trying to get to the hoop. Not the end of the world for a young kid, but just feel like the occasional individual play from him would help avoid those awful scoring droughts we've seen in other games.
3. White and Gillon are still a wee bit trigger happy ...
I struggle with this one b/c we are in need of alpha dogs and these two clearly are alpha dogs. Also, it's tough to argue with their numbers -- White at 16+ per game with 40% from 3; Gillon 10 and 5 a game with 40% from three and both hitting 73% or better from the line. If they force a shot here or there, it's not a problem. The only thing I'd like to make sure is that they are picking good times to make those types of shots happen -- White took a couple bad threes vs. Miami and forced a really quick jumper in the middle of Syracuse's long first-half run that just made no sense with how smoothly their offense was running. Gillon is great but he loves those long 3s. Again, not the end of the world but could be improved, IMO.
Can they sustain it? (Things to watch)
1. Gillon's consistency
The weird thing is that Gillon has actually had a bunch of really impressive games this year. The problem is he's had a fair share of absolute nightmares as well. If he's playing the way they want him to -- fast and aggressive -- he's going to have the ball in his hands a lot, he's going to be running a lot and, frankly, he's probably going to be shooting a lot. How well he finishes and/or finds people when he drives to the basket and how well he shoots will be key b/c I think we're going to have to live with a few turnovers due to his style of play.
2. Do the ridiculous minutes totals catch up?
I'm not a guy who feels you have to play 9 or even 8, but when JB has had success with 7 guys he usually has some flexibility. This team looked like it had that early but really, IMO, they don't. Lydon, IMO, is much better defensively at the 5 and that allows Roberson to play the 4 and White the 3. Roby can't really play anywhere else and White can't play up top in the zone for anything more than a quick stretch. Gillon is obviously a 1 and Battle can't really play at the 3. When you look at it that way, as much as the minutes matter, you also have to wonder about what they do when they see foul trouble ... which brings us to point 3...
3. Can any of the Howard/DC/Thompson crew contribute?
Thompson feels like the most likely here given that in the past two games where basically no one has come off the bench, Thompson still managed to log 15 minutes. He also does add something when he gets on the floor given not only his shooting but his passing and overall demeanor and confidence offensively. But obviously he needs to step it up on defense. Howard seems like he'll see the floor again (we only have 3 guards) and, I saw him play in person against Carolina, which obviously nearly won the NC, last year in Chapel Hill. It's there, somewhere. We have to hope that a stint on the bench is something he handles positively instead of going into a shell b/c it's hard to imagine a scenario where we don't need some run from him in some key games.
4. Battle's development
For the reasons stated above ...
5. Can we win when we don't play well?
The one thing that keeps popping up about the past two games in my head is that they played really well. Shot better than 50% vs. Miami, hit 8 of 19 threes, 12 of 14 from the FT line. 52% from the floor and from 3 vs. Pitt. Now this is a pretty talented offensive team in some ways but there is no way they are doing that the rest of the way. So can they win an ugly game? Are they good enough defensively and on the glass to do that? Can they find a guy to go to when the offense is stagnant? My guess is that if they have any chance to get to 12 ACC wins, which feels like the goal, they're going to have to win at least two or three ugly ones.
What's changed for the better?
1. These guys have roles now after not having any -- or at least any clearly defined roles -- early in the season.
JB takes a lot of grief on here for only playing 7 guys or 7.5 guys or, in this case, six guys with the suggestion being he refuses to play more or can't make it work. I think that's slightly misguided criticism in that it was only '11-'12 that JB played 10 guys 10 min or more per game with no one averaging as many as 33 mpg and only MCW finding pine in close games. I think the bigger point is that JB likes to play guys he trusts AND his teams function much better when roles are pretty clearly defined. Now we can criticize each of these points as well but the bottom line is JB figured out who he likes and where he wants them playing and, as a result, this team looks a bit more comfortable on the floor. White is a shooter; Lydon is the go-to guy; Gillon is the PG and controls the offense and tempo; Battle can shoot, share ball-handling duties a bit and use his frame and quickness on defense; Thompson can still be effective in certain matchups as a scorer and offensive threat; Howard can be used if needed but not relied upon; Roberson can be the energy guy.
3. Defense has improved
White at the 3 and Lydon at the 5 means Roberson can get on the floor and play the 4 and that is a drastically improved defensive lineup. The traps look better, the rotations look better. Thought white really stood out for his hustle on that end of the floor. Obviously Roby is great there and at least in the past two games Gillon's lack of height hasn't been a death knell.
2. Lydon is getting more touches and more shots.
I have argued all season that the offense needs to be forced to run through Lydon b/c, at the end of the day, he's this team's best player -- even if it didn't look that way early. If you take his breakout vs. G'town as the starting point of the 'new' Lydon, he's reached double-figures in shots in 5 of 7 games after taking as many as 10 shots only once in the first 9 games. What's more -- in the only two games he didn't reach 10, he didn't play the second half vs. E. Michigan and he was saddled with a bit of foul trouble vs. Pitt (where he still got 9 shots up). We can pick nits all day with Lydon's game but the bottom line is he is a smart player with the ball, he can score a little inside and obviously shoot well outside and, above all else, opponents have to account for him. Regardless, the Lydon that's averaging 18 ppg in the past 7 games is (yes, 3 ugly losses included) is absolutely essential for this team, IMO.
3. Roberson is playing
Another one I've beat the drum about. Dude gets a ton of criticism here but I can't ever remember a situation where a veteran player who had logged a ton of minutes for two seasons and played a huge role on a team that made an NCAA run was, for all intents and purposes, benched. I don't know the reason and I know there will be 'sleepwalk through games' comments, etc. But the bottom line is that the staff has to figure out how to get him on the floor because he is, in many ways, one of the most valuable commodities in basketball -- a guy who can influence the game without needing the ball or, for that matter, many shots. Roby has played 20+ mins in five of our last six. In those five, we're 4-1 and it's hard to blame him much for BC with his 11 and 10 in 22 minutes.
4. Post touches -- I mean, we actually got the ball into the post in a half-court set!
I loved how often we fed the ball to the post -- hi or low -- in the past two games. One absolute, undeniable plus for this team is a host of capable bigs to score and/or pass. Lydon and Thompson, obviously, but Roberson can catch and finish a bit and he's hitting enough FTs that those haven't been empty trips to the line very often. (incidentally, DC would fall into this group again if he can get healthy enough to get on the floor). But the bottom line is this team needs to get the ball to the post -- I counted 15 touches for Lydon between the hi-post, block, deep post (receiving end of a feed from the hi post) and alley-0ops vs. Pitt. Fed a cutting roberson for a bucket, hit white for a wide open three in the game vs. Miami, spun baseline for a dunk in each game, showed off a little baby hook, shot a few face-up jumpers, had a fadeaway in there. I love that.
5. Gillon
Probably not much of point in actually dissecting numbers or discussing Howard (we'll get to that in a bit) as much as simply saying that Gillon playing well is a huge difference. How a guy goes from some of the awful games he's had to putting 11 assists in each of the past two games, I don't really know. But the one thing I like is that he looks like he has the swagger of an alpha dog. A lot of folks argue pass-first vs. scoring PG, but either way, a PG who is a leader is a huge asset. Gillon has looked like that type of guy the past two. And he plays with speed which has helped get us a few easy buckets here and there -- something we haven't seen since the days of Waiters, IMO.
What are the unresolved issues (and rebounding is what it is for SU, IMO)?
1. Still too many open jumpers surrendered defensively
Thought the game against Pitt was the best game this team has played defensively all year and didn't see many open opportunities for the panthers. But when you watched the debacles vs. SJU and BC it was stunning to see how many open shots there were. Even UConn missed a ton of open shots in the first 30 minutes and Cornell -- for a completely outclassed opponent -- missed a fair number of open shots as well. Thought they cleaned this up a bit vs. Miami and did really well vs. Pitt. The question is can they replicate that effort and defensive energy that we saw vs. Pitt against the rest of the schedule?
2. Still hoping to see a bit more out of Battle slashing
I know a bunch of posters -- many of whom I respect -- were talking about how we've seen a bit more of battle putting the ball on the floor lately. I suppose we have and obviously the Pitt game is a breakout game for Battle, so that's great. What I still would love to see is Battle being able to create a look for himself inside the three-point line -- is it in an unsettled situation or on the fast break? Is it in the halfcourt getting to the rim or creating an open jumper? I am thrilled he's shooting the ball so well, he's been really solid defensively and he's just a freshman -- so I"m not hammering the kid. But there were times watching the Miami game where he drew Vasiljevic and he pounded the ball into the floor and made a move or two but went nowhere. And while he had a nice little cross-over/jumper combo vs. Pitt, he also got blocked shooting a jumper after getting completely shut down trying to get to the hoop. Not the end of the world for a young kid, but just feel like the occasional individual play from him would help avoid those awful scoring droughts we've seen in other games.
3. White and Gillon are still a wee bit trigger happy ...
I struggle with this one b/c we are in need of alpha dogs and these two clearly are alpha dogs. Also, it's tough to argue with their numbers -- White at 16+ per game with 40% from 3; Gillon 10 and 5 a game with 40% from three and both hitting 73% or better from the line. If they force a shot here or there, it's not a problem. The only thing I'd like to make sure is that they are picking good times to make those types of shots happen -- White took a couple bad threes vs. Miami and forced a really quick jumper in the middle of Syracuse's long first-half run that just made no sense with how smoothly their offense was running. Gillon is great but he loves those long 3s. Again, not the end of the world but could be improved, IMO.
Can they sustain it? (Things to watch)
1. Gillon's consistency
The weird thing is that Gillon has actually had a bunch of really impressive games this year. The problem is he's had a fair share of absolute nightmares as well. If he's playing the way they want him to -- fast and aggressive -- he's going to have the ball in his hands a lot, he's going to be running a lot and, frankly, he's probably going to be shooting a lot. How well he finishes and/or finds people when he drives to the basket and how well he shoots will be key b/c I think we're going to have to live with a few turnovers due to his style of play.
2. Do the ridiculous minutes totals catch up?
I'm not a guy who feels you have to play 9 or even 8, but when JB has had success with 7 guys he usually has some flexibility. This team looked like it had that early but really, IMO, they don't. Lydon, IMO, is much better defensively at the 5 and that allows Roberson to play the 4 and White the 3. Roby can't really play anywhere else and White can't play up top in the zone for anything more than a quick stretch. Gillon is obviously a 1 and Battle can't really play at the 3. When you look at it that way, as much as the minutes matter, you also have to wonder about what they do when they see foul trouble ... which brings us to point 3...
3. Can any of the Howard/DC/Thompson crew contribute?
Thompson feels like the most likely here given that in the past two games where basically no one has come off the bench, Thompson still managed to log 15 minutes. He also does add something when he gets on the floor given not only his shooting but his passing and overall demeanor and confidence offensively. But obviously he needs to step it up on defense. Howard seems like he'll see the floor again (we only have 3 guards) and, I saw him play in person against Carolina, which obviously nearly won the NC, last year in Chapel Hill. It's there, somewhere. We have to hope that a stint on the bench is something he handles positively instead of going into a shell b/c it's hard to imagine a scenario where we don't need some run from him in some key games.
4. Battle's development
For the reasons stated above ...
5. Can we win when we don't play well?
The one thing that keeps popping up about the past two games in my head is that they played really well. Shot better than 50% vs. Miami, hit 8 of 19 threes, 12 of 14 from the FT line. 52% from the floor and from 3 vs. Pitt. Now this is a pretty talented offensive team in some ways but there is no way they are doing that the rest of the way. So can they win an ugly game? Are they good enough defensively and on the glass to do that? Can they find a guy to go to when the offense is stagnant? My guess is that if they have any chance to get to 12 ACC wins, which feels like the goal, they're going to have to win at least two or three ugly ones.
