2 things we learned...

[KevMonstah]

The go to guys we have couldn't put the ball in the ocean from the beach: 8-31 between Kris, Dion, and Scoop. That's not gonna win much.

Silly me ... I commented on Axeman's show that " ... if Southerland has 15, SU wins easily... " His comment back to me was "SU won't win based on what Southerland does." Yep.

Kev

 

[Col. Bleep]

1.) Our depth is not a great as we thought it was. After Fabricio there is no one. Boeheim also refused to play MCW, I have no idea why. Waiters, Triche, and Scoop were bad.

2.) No go-to-guy, I have been mocking ESPN personalities saying we don't have one. Tonight we saw this is true though. Joseph and Scoop were no where to be seen. Waiters doesn't pass, and if he can't score in the paint. Then he has nothing else to contribute.

On the contrary...we have a lot of "go to" guys.
Waiters...Triche...KJ...Southerland.
It's just that almost every time we "go to" them they don't score.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Is it just me, or has Dion looked like last year's Dion the past few games? It seems like he's been a lot more one-on-one oriented, leading to more mistakes...

 

[realorange]

Is it just me, or has Dion looked like last year's Dion the past few games? It seems like he's been a lot more one-on-one oriented, leading to more mistakes...

The last two games he played like he was distracted. Just not the effort and attitude you usually see.
As for a go to person, when you shoot 35% from the floor as a team you aren't going to win many games.

 

[OttoMets]

I think he can be, but he didn't show it tonight. He hurt his draft stock tonight. He'll be a PG in the NBA, and he didn't pass at all. Hopefully we have him next year, and he shows everyone what he's truly capable of.

I don't think he hurt his draft stock - every area in which he struggled against Notre Dame is something the scouts were well aware of before last night.

They didn't really think that his strange knuckleball moon jumper is going to continue to fall at a 36% clip. They didn't think that his one-on-three drives were going to continue to earn baskets or trips to the foul line. And they sure weren't of the opinion that he's an above-average decision-maker or passer.

I doubt we'll have him back next year; his stock is stable, though he's got areas in which he could stand to improve.

 

[OttoMets]

Fab really ticks me off because he let this team down tonight.

This should be added to every post about last night's game. It's a little surprising that more isn't being made of this; perhaps everyone recognizes that Notre Dame should be very beatable even without Fab, or maybe everyone is just being kind.

But this is Fab's loss. Why doesn't this happen to Duke? Why didn't Stevie Thompson, Craig Forth, or Arinze ever find themselves in this situation? How does Matt Lyde-Cajuste, with the same basketball time demands as Fab, manage to get by as a Dean's List student with an aerospace engineering major?

Scholarship basketball players are allowed to take the very easiest courses, have a generously low minimum standard to meet, and are given the benefit of tutors and academic support staff to help them with everything. There's no excuse for a player losing eligibility for an academic problem. He let his teammates down in a big way.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

On the contrary...we have a lot of "go to" guys.
Waiters...Triche...KJ...Southerland.
It's just that almost every time we "go to" them they don't score.

Actually, a true go-to guy is someone who can carry the team on his back when necessary. John Wallace and Carmelo were go-to guys.

We don't have one. I thought Dion might be that guy but he didn't show it last night. Kris is very Wes Johnson-like; content to be a good role player rather than a true go-to guy. Triche doesn't remotely have the personality to be the go-to guy. I love Brandon but he's like Doug Marone; his face looks exactly the same regardless of the situation. James is some combination of all of the above.

We have any number of guys who can lead us in scoring on a given night but that doesn't make them true go-to guys.

It's hard for this team to win without Fab, without rebounding, and without their shots falling. There isn't a Plan B and we seemingly have no one guy to put on the Superman cape in true crunchtime situations.

 

[Nicknack]

This should be added to every post about last night's game. It's a little surprising that more isn't being made of this; perhaps everyone recognizes that Notre Dame should be very beatable even without Fab, or maybe everyone is just being kind.

But this is Fab's loss. Why doesn't this happen to Duke? Why didn't Stevie Thompson, Craig Forth, or Arinze ever find themselves in this situation? How does Matt Lyde-Cajuste, with the same basketball time demands as Fab, manage to get by as a Dean's List student with an aerospace engineering major?

Scholarship basketball players are allowed to take the very easiest courses, have a generously low minimum standard to meet, and are given the benefit of tutors and academic support staff to help them with everything. There's no excuse for a player losing eligibility for an academic problem. He let his teammates down in a big way.

I agree 100%! After learning about Melo's academic issues, the first thought I had was how could he do this! I was and still am upset with Melo. Every player must take full responsibility for their actions and duties on AND off the court. When they fail to do this, they hurt the team. Yes, Dion was selfish with the ball last night; however, Melo was incredibly selfish and irresponsible to put the TEAM in this position.

Last night doesn't actually bother me too much, depending on what happens moving forward. Without Melo, the team's chemistry just wasn't there. If he doesn't come back, I think our run at a final four takes a significant hit although they will learn how to play without him much better than they did last night. I really doubt we will see the team play this poorly again. If Melo returns, still some concerns about how we play in the half-court, but we should be a tough team that can and should go deep in the tourney. Oh yeah, and all this talk about a go to guy... personally I think it's all crap. The topic comes up now because everyone on the court wearing Orange shot horribly. This is an anomaly, and when we play like we usually do in which multiple players have 10+ points, who cares. For us, the go to guy is who is hot during that particular game.

 

[orangecuse]

Scholarship basketball players are allowed to take the very easiest courses, have a generously low minimum standard to meet, and are given the benefit of tutors and academic support staff to help them with everything. There's no excuse for a player losing eligibility for an academic problem. He let his teammates down in a big way.

Undoubtedly he did. However, imo, it also reflects another unfortunate negative light on SU this year. As you mention, with all the support staff rendered, where's the quality control sort of speak relative to the administrators, I think they have culpability as well. This should never happen as you've eluded. I get that notion that you can lead a horse to water, but can't make him drink, etc., but it's not like this is second semester where Melo, as others have in the past, have decided that this is their last semester and are turning pro no matter what. Oh Lord

 

[Nicknack]

Yeah, I'm still scratching my head about how the people responsible for overseeing player's academics could let this happen. Make no mistake about it, this is on Melo. However, with all the resources available, so long as you don't have a player just give up, how could this happen with everything that is at stake?

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Im hoping that JB's greatest accomplishment is appointing Hop as the next head coach.

"I would rather stay one year too late than leave one year too early."

Ill say it now. If we dont advance past the Sweet 16, this will be the year JB "stayed too late."

Tied for 4th on the all-time wins list and you are hoping that his greatest accomplishment is appointing the next head coach???

Are you serious? Considering it is Saturday night, I sincerely hope you are drunk or stoned or both.

The absolute stupidity of some of these posts is mind-boggling.

The team loses one game on the road without its starting center and when none of its key players have a good game and you are already talking about "staying a year too late".

Unless you are 12 or under, in which case I forgive you, I seriously question your intellect.

If they lose to Cinci on Monday, should he just retire immediately?

And if he refuses to, should Gross fire him on the spot and make him pay for his own ticket back to Syracuse?

And we should then definitely remove his name from the court.

After all, two losses is simply unacceptable.

 

[cspades99]

Just so I'm clear: to be a "go-to" guy, you have to be able to save the team every time they need it and never fail?

I'm seeing over and over that Dion isn't it because he played poorly. I'm pretty sure there is no great player in college hoops who hasn't suffered a bad game or two over the season.

The "go to" guy(s) had awful games (it happens), they were pushed around (it happens), and the rest of the supporting cast, one of the best in the country, didn't score (it happens).

If they don't come out swinging tomorrow, then we learn Fab is done for the year, this team will have some issues. But there's a reason that no team since '76 has gone undefeated.

 

[hoopsupstate]

People need to realize that without Fab, there is no Final Four run. He is a difference maker that other teams just don't have.

 

[Nicknack]

People need to realize that without Fab, there is no Final Four run. He is a difference maker that other teams just don't have.

I'm not sure I agree after JUST one game. I do believe that it will be much, much more challenging but we STILL have a very good team. Give our troops time to regroup and learn how to play without him and they will respond much better than what they did at ND. Melo has become a very important part of our success, but he is not the absolute difference maker. With Melo, I still have a lot of concerns about going to the promise land. However, I do agree with many others, that with him, we stand a good shot at going deep in the tourney. The concern that I have had for a while (with or without Melo) is our performance in the half court because the elite teams will not allow us to run and have nearly as many easy baskets like what we have seen for most of the season. We must learn how to execute as a team in the half court set much better no matter who is on the court.

With all that being said, I actually believe that our guys will respond at least tomorrow, and beat Cincy. I believe that our guys have too much pride, confidence and talent to do nothing but win tomorrow night. However, after tomorrow night, if we are without Melo... who knows, and I hate to think about that!

 

[Rossco123]

If the Melo thing in still up in the air I think they come out strong. If he is definitely coming back I think they take another snooze.

 

[realorange]

If the Melo thing in still up in the air I think they come out strong. If he is definitely coming back I think they take another snooze.

If they take another snooze tomorrow, we may get this year's version of the Dion soap opera.

 

[Rossco123]

 

[JohnCuse44]

With Fab in the game Cooley doesn't score even 10 points and we get a heck lot more rebounds. Without Fab well you see what happened.

The only take aways from this game are:

1 - we need fab
2 - we really need fab
3 - see one and two