Quick random thoughts | Syracusefan.com

Quick random thoughts

OttoMets

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Didn't the refs send the wrong guy to the line when Roberson got fouled and Thompson shot near the end?

Thompson's too good a free throw shooter to miss three of them. We can't afford that. Same deal with Lydon, White, and Gillon (though I think they were perfect tonight).

Gillon vs. Thompson during that last timeout. Yikes.

Michael Stephens is horrible at his job. We got boned on some calls, then he followed that up with the wrong out-of-bounds call in our favor and the wrong foul call in Thompson's favor. I usually think he hurts us, but Stephens was an equal opportunity incompetent tonight.

Not such a bad loss. I don't remember specifics, but our first few games against Tech have been close wins. Buzz is too good a coach for things not to swing back his way. And we're not going to win too many games giving up 80+.

The play-by-play guy on ESPNU was an idiot, and I'm trying to be kind. Hot take after hot take, very limited grasp of the English language. And then Dino tried to one-up him with some kind of dim-witted rambling complaint about coverage of Grayson Allen. Between the two, it was a tough listen.
 
OttoMets said:
Didn't the refs send the wrong guy to the line when Roberson got fouled and Thompson shot near the end?

Thompson's too good a free throw shooter to miss three of them. We can't afford that. Same deal with Lydon, White, and Gillon (though I think they were perfect tonight).

Gillon vs. Thompson during that last timeout. Yikes.

Michael Stephens is horrible at his job. We got boned on some calls, then he followed that up with the wrong out-of-bounds call in our favor and the wrong foul call in Thompson's favor. I usually think he hurts us, but Stephens was an equal opportunity incompetent tonight.

Not such a bad loss. I don't remember specifics, but our first few games against Tech have been close wins. Buzz is too good a coach for things not to swing back his way. And we're not going to win too many games giving up 80+.

The play-by-play guy on ESPNU was an idiot, and I'm trying to be kind. Hot take after hot take, very limited grasp of the English language. And then Dino tried to one-up him with some kind of dim-witted rambling complaint about coverage of Grayson Allen. Between the two, it was a tough listen.

Play by play guy was Anish. He is an SU grad.
 
Play by play guy was Anish. He is an SU grad.

I think it was Rich something or other, I caught a Newhouse reference in there toward the end.

If so, it's a little embarrassing for the school. Get those kids out of the practice studio and into an English class. Someone who misuses the word "defense" multiple times in the same broadcast has clearly missed a few things along the way.
 
Didn't the refs send the wrong guy to the line when Roberson got fouled and Thompson shot near the end?

Thompson's too good a free throw shooter to miss three of them. We can't afford that. Same deal with Lydon, White, and Gillon (though I think they were perfect tonight).

Gillon vs. Thompson during that last timeout. Yikes.

Michael Stephens is horrible at his job. We got boned on some calls, then he followed that up with the wrong out-of-bounds call in our favor and the wrong foul call in Thompson's favor. I usually think he hurts us, but Stephens was an equal opportunity incompetent tonight.

Not such a bad loss. I don't remember specifics, but our first few games against Tech have been close wins. Buzz is too good a coach for things not to swing back his way. And we're not going to win too many games giving up 80+.

The play-by-play guy on ESPNU was an idiot, and I'm trying to be kind. Hot take after hot take, very limited grasp of the English language. And then Dino tried to one-up him with some kind of dim-witted rambling complaint about coverage of Grayson Allen. Between the two, it was a tough listen.
What was Gillon vs Thompson? What'd I miss?
 
wait dude, I think you got confused because there was football last night. this is basketball. there is no scenario where Syracuse losing to va tech is not a bad loss.
 
wait dude, I think you got confused because there was football last night. this is basketball. there is no scenario where Syracuse losing to va tech is not a bad loss.

After what happened in December, there are no more bad losses for SU this season.

What was Gillon vs Thompson? What'd I miss?

About 80 seconds left, I think, after Gillon hit a deep three. We took timeout and Boeheim stepped out to say something to Thompson. Gillon was shouting at him from about 40 feet away, walked past the two of them and sat down on the bench while still yelling at Thompson. Looked mad.

I couldn't quite figure it out. This was preceded by Thompson giving up yet another dunk and kind of taking his time going upcourt before Gillon's three, but it didn't seem like that was the trigger.
 
Couple horrible moments in a row for play-by-play guy. TT makes a layup and next time down tries a 15 Foot jumper and the guy says "Heat check!!" Uh...no. Then he follows it up with "not the shot at all boeheim would want there". Uh...TT is shooting 94.7% from that spot this year
 
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This ref crew was former Big East atrocious. We gave this one away with turnovers, poor shooting and rebounding such a shame. Could have walked out of there with a win.
 
Couple horrible moments in a row for play-by-play guy. TT makes a layup and next time down tries a 15 Foot jumper and the guys says "Heat check!!" Uh...no. Then he follows it up with "not the shot at all boeheim would want there". Uh...TT is shooting 94.7% from that spot this year

He said SU was "in big trouble" when the score was something like 18-11. He was absolutely amazed by Thompson's scoring as if this was the last guy off the bench getting a career high (the word "epic" was used). He thought Howard was a freshman. He talked about the home-court advantage in that silent gym.

And he repeatedly said something along the lines of "he defensed him."

That was the most amateur broadcast I've ever seen. It was like listening to a drunk Ralph Kiner who was totally unfamiliar with English, both teams, and the sport itself.
 
He said SU was "in big trouble" when the score was something like 18-11. He was absolutely amazed by Thompson's scoring as if this was the last guy off the bench getting a career high (the word "epic" was used). He thought Howard was a freshman. He talked about the home-court advantage in that silent gym.

And he repeatedly said something along the lines of "he defensed him."

That was the most amateur broadcast I've ever seen. It was like listening to a drunk Ralph Kiner who was totally unfamiliar with English, both teams, and the sport itself.

That's an insult to Kiner. He knew more about his sport than that dude forgot.
 
That's an insult to Kiner. He knew more about his sport than that dude forgot.

I know, I felt bad using that name, but I was scraping the barrel for someone who butchered the language and thought that Fran Healy would be too obscure.

Also, that's still insulting to Fran Healy.
 
The halftime in-studio person was the worst. I'm not sure who she was, but she had trouble speaking, and kept making idiotic points.

"Grayson Allen's redemption will be by playing every defensive possession like it's his last." Uhhh, that's great, but not sure how that redeems him in the eyes of college basketball fans.

"Grayson Allen hasn't been shooting enough, so he has to pass more." What's he doing when he's not shooting, just running about doing nothing? Sewing? Giving toys to children? Enlighten me!!!!!

Etc, etc, etc, etc......

Saw the same thing, Thompson shot free throws when Roberson was fouled. Very odd.

As soon as I saw Michael Stephens I groaned. Then I thought, man, I haven't complained about officials in so long. Maybe I've just calmed down. Nah, they were awful all-around. The calls were so inconsistent and all over the place throughout.

I also noted Gillon yelling at Thompson leaving the court for that timeout in the game thread. No clue what it was about, but he was livid and continued past him to the bench to sit.
 
Anyone notice that this VT team has 3 guys who look like Jae Crowder? Buzz creates these guys in a lab. How does Buzz get guys who are top 100 recruits yet can play?
He creates 'em, then coaches 'em up. All in the lab. That's why he can't keep a suit on. He's used to a smock. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.
 
After what happened in December, there are no more bad losses for SU this season.



About 80 seconds left, I think, after Gillon hit a deep three. We took timeout and Boeheim stepped out to say something to Thompson. Gillon was shouting at him from about 40 feet away, walked past the two of them and sat down on the bench while still yelling at Thompson. Looked mad.

I couldn't quite figure it out. This was preceded by Thompson giving up yet another dunk and kind of taking his time going upcourt before Gillon's three, but it didn't seem like that was the trigger.

Here's the understatement of the century: this SU team has major chemistry issues. During the team wins everything looks honky dory, then we look like crap again and this stuff bubbles up again.

I have no idea what happened in this case but I doubt anyone wants to be led by a newcomer. Gillon's a 5th year senior but he can't lead these guys. It's a mess. TT is great offensively for a freshman but he seriously looks like he doesn't give a crap about playing defense. He's like a turnstile in there. Maybe Gillon was barking to him about that? Or maybe TT was knocking Gillon for that shot and Gillon said, "why don't you play a little defense?" Who knows. Regardless, we have no leader. It's a major void.

Next year, it will be worse. No senior on the roster. Not one. Only senior could be a fifth year guy and we know that won't work from a leadership perspective. And no returning point guard. JB made a big mistake putting Howard in tonight. That can only hurt our chemistry. I know Gillon sucked but I wouldn't have played Camacho...err, I mean Howard.
 
Here's the understatement of the century: this SU team has major chemistry issues. During the team wins everything looks honky dory, then we look like crap again and this stuff bubbles up again.

I have no idea what happened in this case but I doubt anyone wants to be led by a newcomer. Gillon's a 5th year senior but he can't lead these guys. It's a mess. TT is great offensively for a freshman but he seriously looks like he doesn't give a crap about playing defense. He's like a turnstile in there. Maybe Gillon was barking to him about that? Or maybe TT was knocking Gillon for that shot and Gillon said, "why don't you play a little defense?" Who knows. Regardless, we have no leader. It's a major void.

Next year, it will be worse. No senior on the roster. Not one. Only senior could be a fifth year guy and we know that won't work from a leadership perspective. And no returning point guard. JB made a big mistake putting Howard in tonight. That can only hurt our chemistry. I know Gillon sucked but I wouldn't have played Camacho...err, I mean Howard.

I know - I felt like no matter how bad Gillon played that it would be best for JB just to keep Howard glued to the bench for the immediate future. For chemistry reasons if nothing else.....but Gillon kept pressing the issue. I mean, my god, he seemed like he was sleepwalking through most of the game just daring JB to take him out. By the time JB put in Howard I was kind of on-board with the decision......sadly.

So frustrating.

Edit: By the way, after watching Frank's performance, most notably the second half, I take back my being on-board with the decision! :)
 
I know - I felt like no matter how bad Gillon played that it would be best for JB just to keep Howard glued to the bench for the immediate future. For chemistry reasons if nothing else...but Gillon kept pressing the issue. I mean, my god, he seemed like he was sleepwalking through most of the game just daring JB to take him out. By the time JB put in Howard I was kind of on-board with the decision...sadly.

So frustrating.

I get that. Guess we had no other options other than to play Battle out of position. How desperate are we for a point guard? And we are literally not recruiting one!? What. We literally are not recruiting a point guard. I just felt like typing that again because I'm incredulous. So I guess we bring in another fifth year guy to pass to teammates he doesn't know?
 
I know - I felt like no matter how bad Gillon played that it would be best for JB just to keep Howard glued to the bench for the immediate future. For chemistry reasons if nothing else...but Gillon kept pressing the issue. I mean, my god, he seemed like he was sleepwalking through most of the game just daring JB to take him out. By the time JB put in Howard I was kind of on-board with the decision...sadly.

So frustrating.

Edit: By the way, after watching Frank's performance, most notably the second half, I take back my being on-board with the decision! :)

Mike Tyson a few years ago was watching UFC fighter, Jonny Hendricks, hit a heavy bag. Afterwards, Tyson said (read this using Tyson's voice), "Jonny, you have a fundamental flaw. When you punch, you're not following through. You have to throw a punch and imagine your fist going through your opponent's body and coming out the other side. Right through his insides." Well, when Frank Howard shoots, I think he envisions his shots going through the other side of the backboard. That's how hard he shoots. Maybe not a great analogy, throwing a punch and shooting a shot but I love Tyson. Such a wordsmith.

On second thought, this works here on a few levels.
 
I get that. Guess we had no other options other than to play Battle out of position. How desperate are we for a point guard? And we are literally not recruiting one!? What. We literally are not recruiting a point guard. I just felt like typing that again because I'm incredulous. So I guess we bring in another fifth year guy to pass to teammates he doesn't know?
We only recruit one guy at a time. We dont want their feelings to get hurt. You know this iommi.
 
Here's the understatement of the century: this SU team has major chemistry issues. During the team wins everything looks honky dory, then we look like crap again and this stuff bubbles up again.

I have no idea what happened in this case but I doubt anyone wants to be led by a newcomer. Gillon's a 5th year senior but he can't lead these guys. It's a mess. TT is great offensively for a freshman but he seriously looks like he doesn't give a crap about playing defense. He's like a turnstile in there. Maybe Gillon was barking to him about that? Or maybe TT was knocking Gillon for that shot and Gillon said, "why don't you play a little defense?" Who knows. Regardless, we have no leader. It's a major void.

Next year, it will be worse. No senior on the roster. Not one. Only senior could be a fifth year guy and we know that won't work from a leadership perspective. And no returning point guard. JB made a big mistake putting Howard in tonight. That can only hurt our chemistry. I know Gillon sucked but I wouldn't have played Camacho...err, I mean Howard.

Agreed. 1 though 5, the body language was horrible after they extended the lead from 51-48 to whatever it ballooned to. It's easy to look good when you're looking good, but it was too bad that none of the positivity of last week seemed to carry over when we needed a comeback. Our guys don't usually hang their heads and get chippy with each other, but this group seems quick to fall back to that stuff.
 
Agreed. 1 though 5, the body language was horrible after they extended the lead from 51-48 to whatever it ballooned to. It's easy to look good when you're looking good, but it was too bad that none of the positivity of last week seemed to carry over when we needed a comeback. Our guys don't usually hang their heads and get chippy with each other, but this group seems quick to fall back to that stuff.

Yep, no capacity to handle adversity. Bad vibes bubble up during adverse times, not when things are going well.
 
Agreed. 1 though 5, the body language was horrible after they extended the lead from 51-48 to whatever it ballooned to. It's easy to look good when you're looking good, but it was too bad that none of the positivity of last week seemed to carry over when we needed a comeback. Our guys don't usually hang their heads and get chippy with each other, but this group seems quick to fall back to that stuff.

Shot selection on this team is horrible when things start to go bad. They all try to do it on their own. Pretty sure that's why Gillon was pulled with a minute to go.
 

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