Trevor Cooney the key for Syracuse Basketball in 2014-15

[Cusefan0307]

http://www.rantsports.com/ncaa-bask...y-the-key-for-syracuse-basketball-in-2014-15/

 

[bballbeadle]

What happened to Cooney last year seemed to happen to everyone after the spectacular Duke game. Cooney had one more burst in him when he salvaged the Notre Dame game. After that, it was like someone had dumped a huge bucket of water on our fire.

I understand psychodynamics, but I don't understand team dynamics very well. I know that what happens off the court is usually an "unknown" has a great effect on what happens on the court. I know we had some issues with our game that were obscured by our 25 - 0 start. It's all a mystery to me, but if anyone has an idea, hold forth! Why did Cooney fall apart after the Duke and Notre Dame game?

 

[Delmar]

My theory is that a Roman Catholic priest put a hex on him after the Notre Dame game. That's as good an explanation as any.

 

[RF2044]

What happened to Cooney last year seemed to happen to everyone after the spectacular Duke game. Cooney had one more burst in him when he salvaged the Notre Dame game. After that, it was like someone had dumped a huge bucket of water on our fire.

I understand psychodynamics, but I don't understand team dynamics very well. I know that what happens off the court is usually an "unknown" has a great effect on what happens on the court. I know we had some issues with our game that were obscured by our 25 - 0 start. It's all a mystery to me, but if anyone has an idea, hold forth! Why did Cooney fall apart after the Duke and Notre Dame game?

Think about it this way: the entire offense was anemic, every opponet knew that Cooney was the designated shooter, and we lacked the low post scoring needed to keep defenses honest. When you are facing a stagnant offense, you can scheme to take things away, because the risk of someone else burning you isn't as high. Durinig the outstanding 2012 season, teams couldn't do that as easily. If you entered a game with the plan to try to take away a Triche or Joseph [or insert player of your choice here], then Scoop, Dion, Fair, Southerland, etc. all had the capabilitiy of stepping up and picking up the slack. But when an offense is so below average, you can go all out in an attempt to overplay an individual player without having to fear that others will rise to the occasion. Uconn used to do that to us all the time with GMac--overplay him and run several guards out there to make it impossible for him to get clean looks, and take your chances with the rest of the team not being able to beat you. We got them a few times [especially in the BET], but they used that gimmick defense to devastating effect several times.

So that was one factor. Another is that Cooney was a first time starter, playing his first extended dose of minutes. He is no longer an inexperienced player, and I'd expect him to demonstrate an expanded game this year, be in better "game" shape in terms of his legs, etc. as a function of having gone through the crucible last year. Demonstrating the ability to put the ball on the floor if people come charging at him would also make him more difficult to defend. He's done that intermittently, but not consistently [even though I believe he can].

So in my mind, it's a combination of factors. The entire team played poorly down the stretch after the 25-0 start [I think we went something like 4-6 from that point]. The entire offense seemed to go in the tank; Cooney was a contributing element to that, but not the main cause. Our strange isolation offense that we used last year [compared to most other years] slowed the pace down quite a bit compared to what we're used to. Cooney himself was inconsistent. And teams schemed to take him away, because they didn't fear the others' ability to compensate. We didn't have solid complimentary shooting [yes, Ennis and Fair could make them, too] and we didn't have a low post game that other teams feared; when defenses have to collapse on a good inside scorer, it ratchets up the number of kick out opportunities, gives the shooter space to square up, etc.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I agree with RF. Combo of a limited team offense and Cooney wearing down. Those two problems were complementary. Defenses were able to iso on Cooney so much that he was running a marathon every game to just get glimpses of the basket.

 

[ORANGEsPHK]

Think about it this way: the entire offense was anemic, every opponet knew that Cooney was the designated shooter, and we lacked the low post scoring needed to keep defenses honest. When you are facing a stagnant offense, you can scheme to take things away, because the risk of someone else burning you isn't as high. Durinig the outstanding 2012 season, teams couldn't do that as easily. If you entered a game with the plan to try to take away a Triche or Joseph [or insert player of your choice here], then Scoop, Dion, Fair, Southerland, etc. all had the capabilitiy of stepping up and picking up the slack. But when an offense is so below average, you can go all out in an attempt to overplay an individual player without having to fear that others will rise to the occasion. Uconn used to do that to us all the time with GMac--overplay him and run several guards out there to make it impossible for him to get clean looks, and take your chances with the rest of the team not being able to beat you. We got them a few times [especially in the BET], but they used that gimmick defense to devastating effect several times.

So that was one factor. Another is that Cooney was a first time starter, playing his first extended dose of minutes. He is no longer an inexperienced player, and I'd expect him to demonstrate an expanded game this year, be in better "game" shape in terms of his legs, etc. as a function of having gone through the crucible last year. Demonstrating the ability to put the ball on the floor if people come charging at him would also make him more difficult to defend. He's done that intermittently, but not consistently [even though I believe he can].

So in my mind, it's a combination of factors. The entire team played poorly down the stretch after the 25-0 start [I think we went something like 4-6 from that point]. The entire offense seemed to go in the tank; Cooney was a contributing element to that, but not the main cause. Our strange isolation offense that we used last year [compared to most other years] slowed the pace down quite a bit compared to what we're used to. Cooney himself was inconsistent. And teams schemed to take him away, because they didn't fear the others' ability to compensate. We didn't have solid complimentary shooting [yes, Ennis and Fair could make them, too] and we didn't have a low post game that other teams feared; when defenses have to collapse on a good inside scorer, it ratchets up the number of kick out opportunities, gives the shooter space to square up, etc.

I just wanted to say that I really liked your analysis.

 

[RF2044]

I just wanted to say that I really liked your analysis.

Thanks!

 

[Opus]

If Trevor is the key master, who is the gate keeper?

 

[SoBristol]

It wasn't only Cooney who got worn down, or subjected to tight defenses. Fair & Ennis (the real engines in last season's team) played major minutes, every game, and were the primary ball-handler and the dependable scorers. How many guards, on any college team, had the ball in his control more than Ennis?

The key to the season, in my opinion, is not Cooney but the play we get from the play-makers/ball handlers at PG and SF. The play of our frosh PG, Johnson and Gbinije (swinging PG/SF) will determine how good this team can be.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

I agree with RF. Combo of a limited team offense and Cooney wearing down. Those two problems were complementary. Defenses were able to iso on Cooney so much that he was running a marathon every game to just get glimpses of the basket.

Kudos for correct spelling of "complementary!"