The Downside (Kennesaw State)

[SWC75]

- Can we please make some lay-ups? We struggled mightily to score against a bunch of 6-5 guys vs. Adrian and it continued in the first half of this game against a somewhat bigger and more muscular Kenesaw State. We made so many shots in the second half because we started shooting from father from the basket, (the reverse of the usual thing). It spaced us out better and forced the defense to cover people in space and created all kinds of scoring opportunities. But in the first half we decided to force it inside to take advantage of superior height and our big guys got knocked around like bowling pins buy the Owls. What’s going to happen against Duke or Virginia? Heck, what’s going to happen against California, Iowa or Texas next week?


- We won by the margin we did because we clobbered them on the boards, (56-26), just as we did Adrian, (48-34). What happens when we lose that edge on the boards? And we will. I don’t see this as being a good rebounding team vs. quality opposition.


- Kaleb Joseph had a quiet game with 4 points but he did have 6 assists and 5 rebounds, showing he can help us a lot in other ways. He did have 4 turnovers. He had only 2 in the exhibitions games.


- JB warned us that sometimes Ron Patterson makes his shots and sometimes he doesn’t. Tonight was a “doesn’t” night as he was 2 for 9, 1 for 4 from the arc and 1 for 5 inside it. It’s good to know that he’s willing to get inside the arc to shoot the ball.


- Michael Gbinijie was there but not in uniform. No explanation was given until Boeheim’s post-game press conference. “It’s a team thing. He’ll be back Sunday”. That’s all we need to know but why be so unwilling to say even that before the game? There were rumors circulating during that game that the team picture hadn’t been taken yet because somebody was no longer a member of the team. Was it Gbiniji9e? Just pass a note to the media before game time that the player is suspended for a game due to a violation of team rules. I’m also tired of getting to the first game of the season and suddenly finding out we don’t have the roster we thought we had, even if it’s temporary. Can’t we get to the season witho9ut a mess? Then we can work on getting through the season without a mess.

 

[themorey]

Nice review as always. I thought BJ was very aggressive on the boards and offense last night but he had several lapses on D. With more PT he should be able to clean that up.

 

[Col. Bleep]

-


- I’m also tired of getting to the first game of the season and suddenly finding out we don’t have the roster we thought we had, even if it’s temporary.

That's a good point.
If a significant player's "will not play" status is known substantially before game time, it's really not fair to keep fans in the dark. They go to the game and spend time wondering what's going on. Boheim should be as forthcoming as possible as soon as possible instead of acting like he's keeping national security secrets.

 

[AccuRater]

That's a good point.
If a significant player's "will not play" status is known substantially before game time, it's really not fair to keep fans in the dark. They go to the game and spend time wondering what's going on. Boeheim should be as forthcoming as possible as soon as possible instead of acting like he's keeping national security secrets.

I agree. Annoying that those of us who buy tickets and show up at the Dome are the last to know. Lots of speculation in our section. Evidently those who stayed home knew that Michael would play Sunday.

 

[wallacecuse]

Not sure I agree with this team not being good on the boards vs quality competition. The rebounding margin last night was the highest it has been in a game since 2002. That means something. How many times in the past decade with huge height advantages have we actually been out- rebounded by these low majors? More than a few, and it was a harbinger of poor rebounding in league play

Not saying we will lead the ACC in boards, but this team is crushing the little guys as they should.

 

[CusefanATL]

Not sure I agree with this team not being good on the boards vs quality competition. The rebounding margin last night was the highest it has been in a game since 2002. That means something. How many times in the past decade with huge height advantages have we actually been out- rebounded by these low majors? More than a few, and it was a harbinger of poor rebounding in league play.o

Not saying we will lead the ACC in boards, but this team is crushing the little guys as they should.

Yeah, its hard to say the team won't be a good rebounding team. But I am very confident in saying that last night gives us nothing to go on in predicting if the team will be a good or bad or average rebounding team.

And it DEFINITELY gives us a false sense of offense, especially in the 1st half. We basically played a 22ish-16 game with normal rebounding (thats without even giving KSU any points on the offensive side, so really it could have been something like a 22-20 game at the half)

The 1st half was ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS offensively. The flow, the shot selection, the shot making, the lay up making was as bad as I can ever remember. We scored almost all of our points off of "live turnovers" or 2nd chance points which 90% of those won't be there vs a quality team.

 

[Dcuse]

Sorry SWC but I have to pile on your rebounding comment. I see this potentially as a much better rebounding team than last year. CM and MG are above average rebounders on the back of the zone. Obviously we'll find out next week more accurately where we are with that but this team crashes the offensive glass with more fervor than past teams

 

[tipphill]

very happy the young guys played well. however the offense looked deja vu, really did not have an effective half court game at all. it looked like street ball at kirk park. the issues under the basket are significant that we cannot convert the rebounds. i still feel that the team will grow but must grow significantly with a half court offense. the reliance on the run and gun style will not be the answer in the acc with this team. sure it is a valuable asset, but really need the o to develope

 

[orange2win]

Interesting that the most 3's were not taken by either Patterson or Cooney, but by BJ. If he had made them all, he would have had a 30 point game. Impressive.

Also, interesting that with all the talk here that Cooney should sit after his cold shooting night against Adrain, we saw JB's response - Cooney played the most minutes of anyone. So there! Pleased too that Obokoh had 3 steals and no TO's.

 

[njcuse]

While I generally agree with most if not all of your points in most of your posts, I don't think the comment that the big guys got knocked around like bowling pins was accurate. They simply didn't go to the hoop strongly enough with the offensive rebounds in much of the first half. It wasn't the defense stopping them; it was their own lack of aggressiveness.

 

[SWC75]

Sorry SWC but I have to pile on your rebounding comment. I see this potentially as a much better rebounding team than last year. CM and MG are above average rebounders on the back of the zone. Obviously we'll find out next week more accurately where we are with that but this team crashes the offensive glass with more fervor than past teams

I hope you guys are right. I think all the missed lay-ups indicate that our big men might be too skinny to rebound well against bigger, stronger teams that will knock them around. We'll see.

 

[GonzoInMD]

Interesting that the most 3's were not taken by either Patterson or Cooney, but by BJ. If he had made them all, he would have had a 30 point game. Impressive.

Also, interesting that with all the talk here that Cooney should sit after his cold shooting night against Adrain, we saw JB's response - Cooney played the most minutes of anyone. So there! Pleased too that Obokoh had 3 steals and no TO's.

What we saw last night is that RP is just as streaky a shooter as Cooney and provides no significant improvement (at least at this point).

 

[bballbeadle]

I hope you guys are right. I think all the missed lay-ups indicate that our big men might be too skinny to rebound well against bigger, stronger teams that will knock them around. We'll see.

To that point, I was very frustrated by Chris' softness around the basket. He did not throw down, he did not emphatically use the glass to make a bucket. It was like when he got close, his hands got all floppy or something. In the second half, I remember him once going strong to the basket by doing two large strides, and then he got fouled, but that was okay. He has been touted as the best recruit since Carmelo, but Carmelo never would have been "soft" like that. I don't think I'm understanding what I saw and I am probably mistaken. Can any board members enlighten me? (Silly question!)

 

[OttoMets]

To that point, I was very frustrated by Chris' softness around the basket. He did not throw down, he did not emphatically use the glass to make a bucket. It was like when he got close, his hands got all floppy or something. In the second half, I remember him once going strong to the basket by doing two large strides, and then he got fouled, but that was okay. He has been touted as the best recruit since Carmelo, but Carmelo never would have been "soft" like that. I don't think I'm understanding what I saw and I am probably mistaken. Can any board members enlighten me? (Silly question!)

He seems to shoot a lot of layups off his palm. A couple went in. Some missed. Kind of weird.