Things to improve on

[swish7]

Posting about how great the win was is an obvious thing to do. I think that's covered already, so here are some areas we can improve on:

• BMK needs to channel his energy. In spaz mode, like he was last night, he is a detriment to the team. We will need him at some point this year. Will he be ready? Who coaches him anyway? His progression has stagnated.
• I post this with trepidation... Let me first say, Fair is awesome. He's Josh Pace and Lawrence Moten all rolled into one. I hope he makes 2nd team all american. As we know, JB often rewards qualified seniors by making them the focal point of the offense. It's deserved. However, sometimes I wonder if we worry a "little" too much about getting Fair his touches. And is Fair trying a ... little too hard to show off his NBA game? When he went out with 4, we seemed to loosen up and ball. We went on a 2nd run before the the goon play stopped it.
• Ennis, Fair, Cooney, and Grant are equal IMO. We will be at our best when we do not care which of the 4 gets his.
• Coleman, Christmas, and Keita need to be able to become bigger presences. At some point, I think we'll need them. Right now, they are afterthoughts to the 4 above.
• What will happen to this team when Ennis gets in foul trouble? Or Cooney for that matter?

 

[Timonen]

couple things on the post players you mention. It seems like our guards aren't having an easy time getting them touches down low (maybe based on their height vs last year? maybe based on our post players positioning?). Then two things seem to happen. 1) When coleman does get a pass, it NEVER comes back out. If he got more touches, he could probably consider other options and the D would be loosened accordingly. 2) Rak never gets entry passes...so he's been giving up on posting and then ends up getting it at the elbow. He's obviously not a fantastic pivot who can shoot/pass/direct things from there, so it's kind of no mans land.

I LOVE that we haven't lost and there's still such room to grow.

 

[FreeFries100]

couple things on the post players you mention. It seems like our guards aren't having an easy time getting them touches down low (maybe based on their height vs last year? maybe based on our post players positioning?). Then two things seem to happen. 1) When coleman does get a pass, it NEVER comes back out. If he got more touches, he could probably consider other options and the D would be loosened accordingly. 2) Rak never gets entry passes...so he's been giving up on posting and then ends up getting it at the elbow. He's obviously not a fantastic pivot who can shoot/pass/direct things from there, so it's kind of no mans land.

I LOVE that we haven't lost and there's still such room to grow.

Staying on the point. A couple interesting comments in the broadcast from last night.

In the 1st Q around the 15min mark, Dakich says about Rak after not taking a shot in the paint, "Xmas has to take that shot from the elbow, if he can't you got to get someone in there that can."

Later in the 1st Q Dakich follow's up by saying, "Somebody on the inside has to be able to score for the Cuse to be a national contender."

Even in the 2nd half when Dakich asked Tirico, "Is this Cuse team the real deal?" Tirico's response, "we need more scoring from the bigs."

Nothing really shocking to anyone, but clearly if big men continue to work on this and start getting some consistent point production, dare I say look out.

 

[OttoMets]

The post thing continues to be a concern.

With Vonleh Indiana's best offensive weapon yesterday, I hoped to see us force the ball to the block and draw fouls. Instead, Coleman got limited touches and I think Christmas never saw a pass to the low post until his alley oop at the end of the game. The guards just didn't get the ball inside.

 

[Marsh01]

Posting about how great the win was is an obvious thing to do. I think that's covered already, so here are some areas we can improve on:

• BMK needs to channel his energy. In spaz mode, like he was last night, he is a detriment to the team. We will need him at some point this year. Will he be ready? Who coaches him anyway? His progression has stagnated.
• I post this with trepidation... Let me first say, Fair is awesome. He's Josh Pace and Lawrence Moten all rolled into one. I hope he makes 2nd team all american. As we know, JB often rewards qualified seniors by making them the focal point of the offense. It's deserved. However, sometimes I wonder if we worry a "little" too much about getting Fair his touches. And is Fair trying a ... little too hard to show off his NBA game? When he went out with 4, we seemed to loosen up and ball. We went on a 2nd run before the the goon play stopped it.
• Ennis, Fair, Cooney, and Grant are equal IMO. We will be at our best when we do not care which of the 4 gets his.
• Coleman, Christmas, and Keita need to be able to become bigger presences. At some point, I think we'll need them. Right now, they are afterthoughts to the 4 above.
• What will happen to this team when Ennis gets in foul trouble? Or Cooney for that matter?

I agree about Keita. The thing with him is he seems to have this switch flip at some point in the season where he finally gets it (like he did last year) and plays very inspired ball. I am hoping that switch goes off again this season.

Silent G worries me a little. Just doesnt seem to look comfortable out there. Was really hoping he could spell Ennis a lot this season when needed but I can say I am a little gunshy about that happening. I know he is still trying to fit into the system and hope it improves.

Grant looked terrible last night. I dont know what it is. He cant create of the dribble and once again last night had a wild drive that resulted in a charge. I wish he would just clean up inside given his athleticism and stop trying to showcase the highlight reel plays. We need the good Grant against the better teams and last night (thanks to Cooney) we didnt need him.

 

[OttoMets]

...

Grant looked terrible last night. I dont know what it is. He cant create of the dribble and once again last night had a wild drive that resulted in a charge. I wish he would just clean up inside given his athleticism and stop trying to showcase the highlight reel plays. We need the good Grant against the better teams and last night (thanks to Cooney) we didnt need him.

Grant keeps taking off too early and getting caught in no-man's land. Either take the open 15-footer or drive all the way to the rim, but don't pull up after a stride and a half and take some kind of a quasi-Kris Joseph layup/floater/fling from 8 feet, because it never goes in and you don't draw a whistle from there.

Grant's good for a highlight-reel dunk every couple games, but he's overrated as a finisher right now because he's settling for very low-percentage shots.

And he's still losing guys on the baseline on his side of the zone like crazy.

That said, he's as likely as anyone to bounce back against Binghamton and score 20 on 6/7 shooting with a bunch of free throws in like 16 minutes.

 

[Marsh01]

Grant keeps taking off too early and getting caught in no-man's land. Either take the open 15-footer or drive all the way to the rim, but don't pull up after a stride and a half and take some kind of a quasi-Kris Joseph layup/floater/fling from 8 feet, because it never goes in and you don't draw a whistle from there.

Grant's good for a highlight-reel dunk every couple games, but he's overrated as a finisher right now because he's settling for very low-percentage shots.

And he's still losing guys on the baseline on his side of the zone like crazy.

That said, he's as likely as anyone to bounce back against Binghamton and score 20 on 6/7 shooting with a bunch of free throws in like 16 minutes.

I know people think he is as good as gone next season and I am smart enough to figure out how it works but man this kid could really benefit from another year in school. Put on 10 pounds work on your jumper and go in the top 10. I dont see the negative in coming back for another year seeing he will now start and really be "the" guy.

 

[pfister1]

I know people think he is as good as gone next season and I am smart enough to figure out how it works but man this kid could really benefit from another year in school. Put on 10 pounds work on your jumper and go in the top 10. I dont see the negative in coming back for another year seeing he will now start and really be "the" guy.

It's still very early in the season. I say that with respect to the criticisms of Grant, the post play and the guards getting the ball inside to the post.

If you think about the progress that the team has made since the first couple of rock fights to where we are after last night's game it has been amazing. The great thing is that we can easily continue to make that kind of progress through the rest of the season. I very much feel like this is going to be one of those teams that is much much better at the end of the year then it is now and that hasn't always been the case with SU teams.

I have a recollection that Seikaly hit his stride somewhere in the later third of his junior season. Why not Christmas or Coleman at some point during this season?

I think our offense will continue to develop. Wouldn't be surprised if JB uses some or most of these next 7 games to concentrate on feeding the post and trying to get the bigs jump started.

 

[OttoMets]

...

I have a recollection that Seikaly hit his stride somewhere in the later third of his junior season. Why not Christmas or Coleman at some point during this season?

...

Because Washington and Douglas passed Seikaly the ball sometimes.

Only half-joking. Sure, the offense will improve (and has, since our last home game). We're still prone to rock-fight basketball at times - about 15 minutes of the first half last night, for instance. The most pressing need, from where I sit, is getting the two Gs -- Grant and Gbinije -- to the point where they can consistently offer something on offense. We seem to stall out when they come in, especially when Baye's on the court.

Also, of course, we need to feed Christmas on the block.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I don't understand what Keita's trying to do rebounding the ball. He's not even attempting to grab it. He's trying to bat it around. It baffles me.

 

[asj410]

Staying on the point. A couple interesting comments in the broadcast from last night.

In the 1st Q around the 15min mark, Dakich says about Rak after not taking a shot in the paint, "Xmas has to take that shot from the elbow, if he can't you got to get someone in there that can."

Later in the 1st Q Dakich follow's up by saying, "Somebody on the inside has to be able to score for the Cuse to be a national contender."

Even in the 2nd half when Dakich asked Tirico, "Is this Cuse team the real deal?" Tirico's response, "we need more scoring from the bigs."

Nothing really shocking to anyone, but clearly if big men continue to work on this and start getting some consistent point production, dare I say look out.

Yes, we don't have a Carmelo Anthony on this team, but when I heard the announcers talking about that, it made me wonder what Craig Forth would have to say in response.

 

[asj410]

I don't understand what Keita's trying to do rebounding the ball. He's not even attempting to grab it. He's trying to bat it around. It baffles me.

I suppose it could always be worse...lol. At least he isn't Elvir Ovcina chucking 3s.

 

[Knicks411]

I don't understand what Keita's trying to do rebounding the ball. He's not even attempting to grab it. He's trying to bat it around. It baffles me.

He has to have the worst hands of anyone I've ever seen play for SU. I only go back about 10 years, but man, the dude can't catch the ball. (for the record I don't have any problem with him in his role, but wow)

For the post scoring thing, based on the guys we have, I just don't expect it to happen.

 

[kuethstheman]

I know people think he is as good as gone next season and I am smart enough to figure out how it works but man this kid could really benefit from another year in school. Put on 10 pounds work on your jumper and go in the top 10. I dont see the negative in coming back for another year seeing he will now start and really be "the" guy.

Well, he's got like 30 more games this season which is almost like a full year of school. If he has many more games like Baylor by the end of the year, he'll be on every NBA team's board. I see what you mean about being "the guy" but that'll help is draft stock only if he handles it really well.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He has to have the worst hands of anyone I've ever seen play for SU. I only go back about 10 years, but man, the dude can't catch the ball. (for the record I don't have any problem with him in his role, but wow)

For the post scoring thing, based on the guys we have, I just don't expect it to happen.

It's not just that his hands are bad when he's rebounding. It's like he's trying to rebound the same way you play tetherball.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Yeah, Keita's ceiling was in that March run last year. I wonder how much concentration and effort it takes him to physically catch the ball. MUST be lots. Has to be. Can't even fathom this.

Yeah, hard to find out what these guys are capable of if the guards aren't getting it inside. Agree with the poster who noticed how Coleman never passes it back out. JB knows this. They will keep working on it.

CJ. The over-dribbling is not his game. Make the jumpers off one or two dribbles and hit the glass. I think swish7 is probably right about how he has more of a green light from JB as well as the continued 'auditioning' for NBA. Not a big deal and Dakich is right how CJ could cut more and move more without the ball like Cooney does.

Good win. Physical game. Indiana will be good in time. Not enough good guards right now, imo. They probably should've won the UConn game, though.

 

[br801]

I know people think he is as good as gone next season and I am smart enough to figure out how it works but man this kid could really benefit from another year in school. Put on 10 pounds work on your jumper and go in the top 10. I dont see the negative in coming back for another year seeing he will now start and really be "the" guy.

I hear you. Grant is still very raw and likely won't get the chance to be the focal point of the offense this season. In a perfect world, he would play within himself and fight the urge to showcase himself for the NBA, then return for a third year where he could dominate. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[orange79]

I agree about Keita. The thing with him is he seems to have this switch flip at some point in the season where he finally gets it (like he did last year) and plays very inspired ball. I am hoping that switch goes off again this season.

Silent G worries me a little. Just doesnt seem to look comfortable out there. Was really hoping he could spell Ennis a lot this season when needed but I can say I am a little gunshy about that happening. I know he is still trying to fit into the system and hope it improves.

Grant looked terrible last night. I dont know what it is. He cant create of the dribble and once again last night had a wild drive that resulted in a charge. I wish he would just clean up inside given his athleticism and stop trying to showcase the highlight reel plays. We need the good Grant against the better teams and last night (thanks to Cooney) we didnt need him.

Re: Grant. Maybe it's just me, but I think last night he was just trying too hard instead of letting the game come to him. You could tell he was thinking "I've GOT to make something happen this time down the floor.." Or, at least that was my impression. Having said that - I hope we get him for another year.

 

[KevMonstah]

couple things on the post players you mention. It seems like our guards aren't having an easy time getting them touches down low (maybe based on their height vs last year? maybe based on our post players positioning?). Then two things seem to happen. 1) When coleman does get a pass, it NEVER comes back out. If he got more touches, he could probably consider other options and the D would be loosened accordingly. 2) Rak never gets entry passes...so he's been giving up on posting and then ends up getting it at the elbow. He's obviously not a fantastic pivot who can shoot/pass/direct things from there, so it's kind of no mans land.

I LOVE that we haven't lost and there's still such room to grow.

What I would add to this is that the gameplan for the post guys doesn't seem right. They all screen reasonably well, and after
they screen they "flash", looking for the ball. I noticed this last night. But their "flash" is so quick, they have no chance at
receiving a pass. If you take the single example of feeding the post that worked last night - Grant to Coleman for the layup - you
see it took Dajuan a few seconds to establish position, and Grant was patient enough to wait for it. Almost every other time, the
bigs would flash, hold their spot for a second tops, then spin away looking for something else to do. They need to slow that move
down, to give the ballhandler a chance to see them, and a chance to figure out how/where to deliver the ball to put the post guy
in the best place to score. As it is, the ballhandler has to throw a laser pass immediately, or the big guy moves. Take that extra
2-3 seconds to post up, show your hands, and call for the ball.

That would help.

Kev

 

[asj410]

Re: Grant. Maybe it's just me, but I think last night he was just trying too hard instead of letting the game come to him. You could tell he was thinking "I've GOT to make something happen this time down the floor.." Or, at least that was my impression. Having said that - I hope we get him for another year.

I was thinking similar things about Fair in the first few games this season. He seemed like he was forcing the issue trying to be "the man," and it very seldomly resulted in anything good. He was always able to shine by letting the game come to him, and IMO, that's exactly how he can end up being "the man." Seems like he's been much better with this in the last few games. Glad to see that it was a quick adjustment because I wasn't sure if we were going to have another junior Kris Joseph on our hands all season.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I look forward to seeing Gbinjie's development the most of anyone.

 

[swish7]

Responding to everyone in particular, great thoughts and agree with all. One thing I'd want to see out of Keita, at a minimum, and immediately, is to stop reaching and accumulating the ticky tack fouls inside. You don't need to know how to catch to stop doing that.

Ala McNeil and other great role players, we don't need him to be great, we need him to be average in areas where he currently is really bad. He will always out-energize whomever he is playing against. However, for that to matter, he's got to stop making the correctable mistakes. Focus on fundamentals and his overall impact will be great.

McNeil had stone hands for years, and at some point he just seemed to get it.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

More BCS teams, less mid-majors. Those mid-majors are tough.

 

[Orangezoo]

What I would add to this is that the gameplan for the post guys doesn't seem right. They all screen reasonably well, and after
they screen they "flash", looking for the ball. I noticed this last night. But their "flash" is so quick, they have no chance at
receiving a pass. If you take the single example of feeding the post that worked last night - Grant to Coleman for the layup - you
see it took Dajuan a few seconds to establish position, and Grant was patient enough to wait for it. Almost every other time, the
bigs would flash, hold their spot for a second tops, then spin away looking for something else to do. They need to slow that move
down, to give the ballhandler a chance to see them, and a chance to figure out how/where to deliver the ball to put the post guy
in the best place to score. As it is, the ballhandler has to throw a laser pass immediately, or the big guy moves. Take that extra
2-3 seconds to post up, show your hands, and call for the ball.

That would help.

Kev

Good Post. I really liked how hard both Coleman and Grant were working to post up yet quite a few times they were passed over. I thought I saw the SU bench motioning to run the high screen and look to attack with the dribble on some of those occasions while others it just looked like the guards either ignored or were not comfortable feeding the post. I think Coleman needs to be a weapon early in both halfs on offense. Its something we did with Arinze and I think we can do it with DC2 as well. Get him position on the same side Trevor is on to allow space and let him do some work inside or get the double and get Trevor an open 3.