SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
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- JB continues his mastery of these in-season tournaments. I have him as 16-11 in true tournaments away from the Dome, (this excludes “classics” that were actually double-headers and not true pyramid tourneys). In the Dome he was 20-4 in the Carrier Classic, although it must be said that after the first few years, we didn’t have nationally ranked teams in the field to really challenge SU. I always regretted that that event was expanded into something more interesting than it became. It’s amazing to think that the last CC was in December 2000, 15 long years ago. Yes, we’ve always had good teams but in these big tourneys, we’ve always played good teams, too. But we often find a way to beat them.
- I’ve always liked the way the basketball season begins, with several winnable games and some ‘big’ games that matter but aren’t really vital. It allows you to ease into the season, unlike the football season where ever game is a chapter of a book, not just a page. I also like rooting for this team. We had no expectations so there are no disappointments. That will change, of course but rooting for a team is painless what all you have is hopes, not demands.
- And it’s a fun team to root for: athletic and they can shoot. It produces atheistically pleasing games that remind one of what the game of basketball was like when we first fell in love with it. It’s nice not to have to go to the basket to score all the time. It’s also nice not to have one shooter that the other team chases around the whole game.
- Beyond that, our team is full of guys who can drive to the basket to score and guys who can make good passes. We can really carve up a defense. And those drives to the basket enable us to get to the line, even though we don’t have a post-up scorer. We shot poorly from the line against Connecticut with 15 misses, but we still outscored Huskies from the line by 10 because we got to the line 18 more times than they did. Against Texas A&M we got to the line 13 more times and made 12 more free throws. We basically won both games from the line, regardless of the shooting percentage.
- We have almost no depth, (depth being the number of players the coach really has confidence in), but the core of six guys, (let’s include DaJuan, even though he’s still a work in progress) is excellent. The heart of the team is two tall senior guards, (6-7 and 6-4) who patrol the front of the zone and have a knack for making steals. Both Gbinije and Cooney can knock down outside shots or drive to the basket to score. They run the court well. They are big enough to help out on the boards as well. In the A&M game they combined for 35 points with 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. I remember JB’s first team, which went steaming into the Sweet 16 off a victory over the Ernie and Bernie Show at Tennessee and with a gleaming 26-3 record. We had to play a Cinderella team called North Carolina-Charlotte. Who ever heard of them? Most people remember that team and think of Cornbread Maxwell. But I remember their two guards, Melvin Watkins and Chad Kinch stood 6-4 and 6-4. Our two guards, Jim Williams and Larry Kelly, stood 5-9 and 5-11. We couldn’t shoot or pass over their guards and they could do so over our guards at will. We lost 59-81 and it wasn’t that close. That was the game that showed me that height mattered in the back court as well as the front court. People say we aren’t a big team. But in the backcourt, where most college games are won or lost, we are HUGE.
- Then there is 6-6 swingman Mal Richardson, who has become Mr. Second Half for us. Against UCONN and Texas A&M he was 2 for 9 and scored 6 points in the two first halves and 6 for 11 and scored 23 points in the two second halves. And the shots he made were big ones at key points of the game. I suppose if you are going to have one great half, the second is as good as any.
- Tyler Lydon had a subdued first half himself with 5 points1 rebound and 1 block. Jimmy Satalin spent the second half describing how tired he looked, getting banged around by A&M’s big men. But he’s young and resilient and came on to score 8 points, including a couple of three pointers and grab 7 rebounds. When there was a big play, he always seemed to be in the middle of it.
- The other Tyler, Roberson had a quiet game with 6 points and 4 rebounds in 33 minutes. But he’s proven he can have big games, too, such as his 20 point 16 rebound performance against Elon.
- And let’s give DaJuan Coleman credit. He’s had 14 rebounds in 31 minutes in the two big games. He’s learning to throw his weight around. So is his team.
- Now that we've won the Battle for Atlantis, will the airline let Jim Beoheim take it back home with him on the plane? It might not fit in the overhead compartment.
- GMAC must have big smile on his face.
5-0 with 26 to go…
LET’S GO ORANGE!
- I’ve always liked the way the basketball season begins, with several winnable games and some ‘big’ games that matter but aren’t really vital. It allows you to ease into the season, unlike the football season where ever game is a chapter of a book, not just a page. I also like rooting for this team. We had no expectations so there are no disappointments. That will change, of course but rooting for a team is painless what all you have is hopes, not demands.
- And it’s a fun team to root for: athletic and they can shoot. It produces atheistically pleasing games that remind one of what the game of basketball was like when we first fell in love with it. It’s nice not to have to go to the basket to score all the time. It’s also nice not to have one shooter that the other team chases around the whole game.
- Beyond that, our team is full of guys who can drive to the basket to score and guys who can make good passes. We can really carve up a defense. And those drives to the basket enable us to get to the line, even though we don’t have a post-up scorer. We shot poorly from the line against Connecticut with 15 misses, but we still outscored Huskies from the line by 10 because we got to the line 18 more times than they did. Against Texas A&M we got to the line 13 more times and made 12 more free throws. We basically won both games from the line, regardless of the shooting percentage.
- We have almost no depth, (depth being the number of players the coach really has confidence in), but the core of six guys, (let’s include DaJuan, even though he’s still a work in progress) is excellent. The heart of the team is two tall senior guards, (6-7 and 6-4) who patrol the front of the zone and have a knack for making steals. Both Gbinije and Cooney can knock down outside shots or drive to the basket to score. They run the court well. They are big enough to help out on the boards as well. In the A&M game they combined for 35 points with 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals. I remember JB’s first team, which went steaming into the Sweet 16 off a victory over the Ernie and Bernie Show at Tennessee and with a gleaming 26-3 record. We had to play a Cinderella team called North Carolina-Charlotte. Who ever heard of them? Most people remember that team and think of Cornbread Maxwell. But I remember their two guards, Melvin Watkins and Chad Kinch stood 6-4 and 6-4. Our two guards, Jim Williams and Larry Kelly, stood 5-9 and 5-11. We couldn’t shoot or pass over their guards and they could do so over our guards at will. We lost 59-81 and it wasn’t that close. That was the game that showed me that height mattered in the back court as well as the front court. People say we aren’t a big team. But in the backcourt, where most college games are won or lost, we are HUGE.
- Then there is 6-6 swingman Mal Richardson, who has become Mr. Second Half for us. Against UCONN and Texas A&M he was 2 for 9 and scored 6 points in the two first halves and 6 for 11 and scored 23 points in the two second halves. And the shots he made were big ones at key points of the game. I suppose if you are going to have one great half, the second is as good as any.
- Tyler Lydon had a subdued first half himself with 5 points1 rebound and 1 block. Jimmy Satalin spent the second half describing how tired he looked, getting banged around by A&M’s big men. But he’s young and resilient and came on to score 8 points, including a couple of three pointers and grab 7 rebounds. When there was a big play, he always seemed to be in the middle of it.
- The other Tyler, Roberson had a quiet game with 6 points and 4 rebounds in 33 minutes. But he’s proven he can have big games, too, such as his 20 point 16 rebound performance against Elon.
- And let’s give DaJuan Coleman credit. He’s had 14 rebounds in 31 minutes in the two big games. He’s learning to throw his weight around. So is his team.
- Now that we've won the Battle for Atlantis, will the airline let Jim Beoheim take it back home with him on the plane? It might not fit in the overhead compartment.
- GMAC must have big smile on his face.
5-0 with 26 to go…
LET’S GO ORANGE!
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