JB appeared completely disinterested in coaching tonight...

[orangecuse]

In my view. Wiscy picked our zone apart at will and got a ton of wide open looks. Why not attempt to mix up the D a little? Maybe put some pressure on the ball, etc., it didn't appear that UW had great ball handlers. We allowed them to play to their strengths, good passing and ball moment leading to wide open shots. When they did miss, of course, we got abused on the boards as well.

Interesting that a second year coach clearly out coached are HOF'er. Placing Nigel at the high post where he constantly distributed the ball accordingly. Why JB made absolutely no adjustment to UW's and their second year coach's strategy is baffling, not to mention insanely frustrating.

That being said, 21 second half points isn't going to win too many games for us.

 

[upperdeck]

Wisc is quicker at every spot on the floor so what D would you like to mix it up too? and there is an easy adjustment to Nigel.. the 2 forwards have to actually play D . its not complicated.

 

[HoustonCuse]

FIRE HIS A$$!!!1!!!

 

[orangecuse]

Wisc is quicker at every spot on the floor so what D would you like to mix it up too? and there is an easy adjustment to Nigel.. the 2 forwards have to actually play D . its not complicated.

They are? Really couldn't tell from our putrid game plan. I already mentioned possibly putting some pressure on the ball. At least make a few attempts vs. zilch! Why not try some man to man? JB said he would experiment some this season with our alleged depth. It couldn't have hurt by trying something vs. just sitting back in the zone and getting torched. Our guys also appeared to play with no fire or passion, very complacent.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

We work on 2-3 for over 90% of practice time and as yet we're not very good at it.

You think switching to a defense we're even worse at would be better?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Wisc is quicker at every spot on the floor so what D would you like to mix it up too? and there is an easy adjustment to Nigel.. the 2 forwards have to actually play D . its not complicated.

You're right. It's actually not complicated. Get your hands up guards and stop allowing that entry pass to Hayes. It's actually really simple to do. But we didn't make that adjustment, and our forwards continued to play foul line extended despite the fact that Haap was dunking the ball every other time down the floor.

UNC will eat us alive this year. It's going to be like 120 - 50 in that game.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I saw Koenig getting by our guys with no problem. Happ getting around our guys down low the same way. I really didn't see any athletic drop off between Wisconsin and Syracuse. That was surprising. Maybe I'm wrong since I was crushing IPAs mid 2H but it didn't seem to me like there was a talent/athlete disparity.

 

[longislandcuse]

We work on 2-3 for over 90% of practice time and as yet we're not very good at it.

You think switching to a defense we're even worse at would be better?

I mean...

We could've had one of our guys switch jerseys, play 4 on 6 and would it have been much worse? They legit did whatever they wanted to all night.

 

[orangecuse]

We work on 2-3 for over 90% of practice time and as yet we're not very good at it.

You think switching to a defense we're even worse at would be better?

Yes. It's a large reason why we came back and beat UVA last year and made it to the final four.

It's so frigging exhausting repeatedly hearing how a program as supposedly elite as ours with the type of athletes we get who have played mtm their entire lives until getting to Syracuse just can't play a whiff of it. If that truly is the case, well, frankly, it says more about JB than the plethora of players/athletes that have come through our program.

 

[Brooky03]

I think JB saw this coming. His comments after the SC game made it seem like we were already running on a spare tire and he was just hoping we'd get another few miles out of it (get through Wisky) without it blowing out... It blew out.

 

[tbonezone]

"We work on 2-3 for over 90% of practice time and as yet we're not very good at it."

he's coached man before.and we did well. the zone has become an obsession. a fear his legacy may be lost. good coaches adapt and let go of their crutch.

 

[orangenirvana]

"We work on 2-3 for over 90% of practice time and as yet we're not very good at it."

he's coached man before.and we did well. the zone has become an obsession. a fear his legacy may be lost. good coaches adapt and let go of their crutch.

One of the best defensive teams in the nation year in and year out because of his zone. It's not the system - it's the players. And the players will get better.

 

[Coach Orange]

I saw Koenig getting by our guys with no problem. Happ getting around our guys down low the same way. I really didn't see any athletic drop off between Wisconsin and Syracuse. That was surprising. Maybe I'm wrong since I was crushing IPAs mid 2H but it didn't seem to me like there was a talent/athlete disparity.

You had me at crushing IPAs.

 

[Trueblue25]

We work on 2-3 for over 90% of practice time and as yet we're not very good at it.

You think switching to a defense we're even worse at would be better?

Well, they were already hitting every 3 they took and dunking the other 50% of the time. So the risk of playing 10 mins of man to man was as minimal as it'd ever be.

Will never happen though.

 

[orangenirvana]

It's so frigging exhausting repeatedly hearing how a program as supposedly elite as ours with the type of athletes we get who have played mtm their entire lives until getting to Syracuse just can't play a whiff of it. If that truly is the case, well, frankly, it says more about JB than the plethora of players/athletes that have come through our program.

What is this obsession with man to man defense? Who gives a crap. It reminds me of ball control meathead football. "That's the way I was taught and that's the way it should always be done!"

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Yes. It's a large reason why we came back and beat UVA last year and made it to the final four.

Cooney and Gbinije played together for 3 years and were in game #36 of the season with Mal.

Howard, White and Gillon played together for 6 games.

I'm sure tonight's press would have been just as effective as last year's version.

 

[NineOneSeven]

What is this obsession with man to man defense? Who gives a crap. It reminds me of ball control meathead football. "That's the way I was taught and that's the way it should always be done!"

Talk about irony!

 

[tbonezone]

What is this obsession with man to man defense? Who gives a crap. It reminds me of ball control meathead football. "That's the way I was taught and that's the way it should always be done!"

well some teams play both. you know as the situation dictates. it don't have to be either or. unless you're syracuse.

 

[Trueblue25]

Saying the Zone takes a lot of time to perfect is not a defense to stay with it in a game like this. Switching to man for 5-10 minutes is not abandoning a philosophy. It is not the end of the world. It's an adjustment a coach can make to give a team a potentially better chance to get a resumé win.

It's going to take months for our zone to click. This was a game that would look nice as a W in February, and I wouldn't have minded a 5-10 minute adjustment.

Wisconsin didn't just beat our zone. They didn't own it. They tied down our arms and legs, pulled out the scalpels and tweezers and dissected us.

A minor adjustment is not a sin.

 

[orangecuse]

Cooney and Gbinije played together for 3 years and were in game #36 of the season with Mal.

Howard, White and Gillon played together for 6 games.

I'm sure tonight's press would have been just as effective as last year's version.

And you know this with absolute certainty? The FACT is, you don't know what the results would be if you never attempt it. Maybe, the end result isn't any better, but again why not try something? Clearly what we were doing wasn't working, so what was there to lose? At least go down with a frigging fight vs. looking like we surrendered at will.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

And you know this with absolute certainty? The FACT is, you don't know what the results would be if you never attempt it. Maybe, the end result isn't any better, but again why not try something. Clearly what we were doing wasn't working, so what was there to lose?

JB knows.

 

[orangecuse]

JB knows.

Of course he does...I forgot about that crystal ball of his.

 

[Newhouser]

I saw Koenig getting by our guys with no problem. Happ getting around our guys down low the same way. I really didn't see any athletic drop off between Wisconsin and Syracuse. That was surprising. Maybe I'm wrong since I was crushing IPAs mid 2H but it didn't seem to me like there was a talent/athlete disparity.

I don't know about the athletic discrepancy but the basketball skill and IQ difference was fairly large IMHO. Combine the squads and out of the first 8 we would have Lydon and who else? They were much more talented than us in terms of basketball skill set. The fact that UNC smoked them scares the sh-- out of me.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I don't know about the athletic discrepancy but the basketball skill and IQ difference was fairly large IMHO. Combine the squads and out of the first 8 we would have Lydon and who else? They were much more talented than us in terms of basketball skill set. The fact that UNC smoked them scares the sh-- out of me.

UNC has a very realistic chance of going back to the final game. They are legit.

 

[Knicks411]

All those threads from last month or so mocking pollsters for not ranking us high enough seem pretty funny right now.

Lots of basketball to be played. I'm still optimistic.