IthacaMatt
Old Timer / Unofficial Contributor for 25+ years
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Last night was my first time seeing this season's edition of the Orangemen.
I did see some positives out there last night, compared to my expectations coming in.
First of all, Chukwu was not as uncoordinated and clumsy out there as he looked last fall, before his injury. I mean, he's still a giant praying mantis back there, but he wasn't terrible. And while it is sometimes easier to block the shots of 6-7 "big" men, other times (many times in the past) those same undersized power players are quicker than our interior defenders and create different match up problems. But it didn't look that way to me last night. Chukwu looks like he can give us some decent minutes in the middle. I saw him calling out rotations to some of the guys, and he did block a lot of shots. So he may be somewhat serviceable for 10-15 minutes per game.
Sidibe was very good for a first year player. Very good. Lots of rebounds, lots of shots blocked or altered. He even has a bit of a low post game. He's our better center of the two, but I understand why Boeheim starts Chukwu so that he can absorb the first foul or two of the game before bringing Sidibe off the bench.
Moyer is much better than he looked last fall, as well, but still does not look like the player I saw on video from high school or prep school. He seems pretty rusty still. There's not a lot to see in his offensive game right now, but if he can word hard on the offensive boards and get 2 or 3 put-backs a game, that would be very helpful.
Brissett is probably our best player right now, in large part because he's talented, and he's letting the game come to him better than Tyus Battle is right now. Brissett has all the tools to be a proto-typical SU combo forward. He rebounded well for his size, he scores at all 3 levels, and he's not afraid of the moment, so far.
Tyus was really forcing it last night. I haven't seen a box score, but I recall deep in the 2nd half he was shooting only 4-13, and was something like 0-4 from three before he finally bounced one in off the rim, the glass and the rim one more time. A couple of his drives were just awful, where he simply had no lane and flung something up there over his shoulder or whatnot, when he got bailed out on a few calls. Against better competition, he won't get those calls, and that stuff will get packed. Of course, if we started the game better offensively, maybe he wouldn't feel forced to put up more shots, just because who else is going to score.
Howard Washington looked very good to me out there. I like his game a lot. I think he is going to work his way into the rotation more than people expect right now. Geno isn't fully fit yet, and he looked like it. I was glad to see him get out on the floor though, and not injure himself. Sometimes that's the best way to build up your confidence in the bum ankle is to go out and play and not hurt it worse. So that was good. He moves the ball pretty well, but was not that effective on the drive just yet.
I didn't think Frank Howard had that bad a game. In fact, I think he was fairly good out there. His shooting was efficient, and I have to think that he cut down on his turnovers, but I missed the first 5 minutes of the game (when we fell in another hole), so maybe I missed his worst part of the game. And as I said, I haven't seen a box score yet.
Marek Dolezaj was pretty interesting. He's good in the press. He keeps the ball moving on offense. He is certainly skinny, but it didn't look that bad on him, if you know what I mean. He didn't look like a high school kid out there playing against grown men, but it was only Division 2 opposition. He didn't score a ton, and he won't be the next coming of Kristof Ongenaet, at least not for a couple more years, but the kid has talent and there will probably be some games that he helps us this year.
All in all, they looked more like a basketball team than I expected. They were not terrible, well, after that first 10 minutes or so, when they fell behind by a dozen, thanks to John Wallace's son shooting lights out early. So I guess I was spared the worst of it. I still think it's going to be very touch-and-go whether we can manufacture a winning record out of this group. But I don't think this is going to be the total disaster I was expecting. At least, not so long as these guys keep playing hard when the inevitable losses start to add up, and making the tournament looks harder and harder.
I did see some positives out there last night, compared to my expectations coming in.
First of all, Chukwu was not as uncoordinated and clumsy out there as he looked last fall, before his injury. I mean, he's still a giant praying mantis back there, but he wasn't terrible. And while it is sometimes easier to block the shots of 6-7 "big" men, other times (many times in the past) those same undersized power players are quicker than our interior defenders and create different match up problems. But it didn't look that way to me last night. Chukwu looks like he can give us some decent minutes in the middle. I saw him calling out rotations to some of the guys, and he did block a lot of shots. So he may be somewhat serviceable for 10-15 minutes per game.
Sidibe was very good for a first year player. Very good. Lots of rebounds, lots of shots blocked or altered. He even has a bit of a low post game. He's our better center of the two, but I understand why Boeheim starts Chukwu so that he can absorb the first foul or two of the game before bringing Sidibe off the bench.
Moyer is much better than he looked last fall, as well, but still does not look like the player I saw on video from high school or prep school. He seems pretty rusty still. There's not a lot to see in his offensive game right now, but if he can word hard on the offensive boards and get 2 or 3 put-backs a game, that would be very helpful.
Brissett is probably our best player right now, in large part because he's talented, and he's letting the game come to him better than Tyus Battle is right now. Brissett has all the tools to be a proto-typical SU combo forward. He rebounded well for his size, he scores at all 3 levels, and he's not afraid of the moment, so far.
Tyus was really forcing it last night. I haven't seen a box score, but I recall deep in the 2nd half he was shooting only 4-13, and was something like 0-4 from three before he finally bounced one in off the rim, the glass and the rim one more time. A couple of his drives were just awful, where he simply had no lane and flung something up there over his shoulder or whatnot, when he got bailed out on a few calls. Against better competition, he won't get those calls, and that stuff will get packed. Of course, if we started the game better offensively, maybe he wouldn't feel forced to put up more shots, just because who else is going to score.
Howard Washington looked very good to me out there. I like his game a lot. I think he is going to work his way into the rotation more than people expect right now. Geno isn't fully fit yet, and he looked like it. I was glad to see him get out on the floor though, and not injure himself. Sometimes that's the best way to build up your confidence in the bum ankle is to go out and play and not hurt it worse. So that was good. He moves the ball pretty well, but was not that effective on the drive just yet.
I didn't think Frank Howard had that bad a game. In fact, I think he was fairly good out there. His shooting was efficient, and I have to think that he cut down on his turnovers, but I missed the first 5 minutes of the game (when we fell in another hole), so maybe I missed his worst part of the game. And as I said, I haven't seen a box score yet.
Marek Dolezaj was pretty interesting. He's good in the press. He keeps the ball moving on offense. He is certainly skinny, but it didn't look that bad on him, if you know what I mean. He didn't look like a high school kid out there playing against grown men, but it was only Division 2 opposition. He didn't score a ton, and he won't be the next coming of Kristof Ongenaet, at least not for a couple more years, but the kid has talent and there will probably be some games that he helps us this year.
All in all, they looked more like a basketball team than I expected. They were not terrible, well, after that first 10 minutes or so, when they fell behind by a dozen, thanks to John Wallace's son shooting lights out early. So I guess I was spared the worst of it. I still think it's going to be very touch-and-go whether we can manufacture a winning record out of this group. But I don't think this is going to be the total disaster I was expecting. At least, not so long as these guys keep playing hard when the inevitable losses start to add up, and making the tournament looks harder and harder.
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