77 Against Pitt...

[newmexicuse]

should = a W. D was horrid, especially in the 2nd half. No stops at the end.

Part of it because too many guys were playing w too many fouls & there wasn't much D aggressiveness. Part of it on Jimmy - I did not see any mid second half adjustments.

There was one three they hit from NBA distance near the end of a shot clock that was a real dagger. That was the one possession we played great D - at least for 30 secs.

Nuff said - that hurt.

PS - It felt all game long like we were killing ourselves at the FT line, yet we had more makes & a higher % than they did. Can't blame it on that.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Yup. Bizarre game and one we should've stolen (like many other) but just couldn't pull it out. A shame since Cameron Wright was out all 2H. The poor defense and poor PG is just killing us along with the obvious shorthanded/depth issues. The fight is there. The talent isn't. god freaking bless Rak.

Kaleb Joseph. It is exhibition game time every time he plays. The rare times he actually goes forward he turns it over. Did it a few times in some situations where we had numbers or at least opportunities to get easy baskets. Let's not sugar coat this game of this. He had a lucky 3 albeit it was good to see him make his FTs. He still is constantly picking up his dribble and almost passing it to Silent G (maybe by design?) or somebody else almost as a relief manuever. Like he is glad to get rid of it. This is Feb and that is a major red flag. Major. Nobody can convince me that they see progress or tools for him to be successful moving forward. Not as a PG. He still is moving sideways and not forward in the halfcourt. He still is leaving his man and creeping in to help in the paint leaving his guy wide open for threes. They just throw it back to a guard and KJ forgets he is there. Whoever compared him to a Monte Morris in that Freshmen PGs of last year comparison thread was doing a disservice to Morris. A comparison to Jason Hart would be a disservice to Hart. I haven't seen anything like it before from a Top 50 recruit anywhere who is actually logging meaningful minutes. I will be scolded for this but so be it. Competent not even good PG play would've help given us some more Ws. We just are so shorthanded and having another guy especially your PG do nothing on both sides of the floor constantly is a big problem. Patterson has been doing some good dirty work and actually impacting the games somewhat. Silent G has been a savior in this PG dilemma scenario. He is doing the best he can. I am just super concerned moving forward with this position. I just don't want to hear excuses anymore. We get that Ennis is gone. Next man up. This is Syracuse. It's not like he had to fill in last second due to a key injury or something. Ugh, LGO.

 

[reedny]

Yup. Bizarre game and one we should've stolen (like many other) but just couldn't pull it out. A shame since Cameron Wright was out all 2H. The poor defense and poor PG is just killing us along with the obvious shorthanded/depth issues. The fight is there. The talent isn't. god freaking bless Rak.

Kaleb Joseph. It is exhibition game time every time he plays. The rare times he actually goes forward he turns it over. Did it a few times in some situations where we had numbers or at least opportunities to get easy baskets. Let's not sugar coat this game of this. He had a lucky 3 albeit it was good to see him make his FTs. He still is constantly picking up his dribble and almost passing it to Silent G (maybe by design?) or somebody else almost as a relief manuever. Like he is glad to get rid of it. This is Feb and that is a major red flag. Major. Nobody can convince me that they see progress or tools for him to be successful moving forward. Not as a PG. He still is moving sideways and not forward in the halfcourt. He still is leaving his man and creeping in to help in the paint leaving his guy wide open for threes. Whoever compared him to a Monte Morris in that PGs of last year comparison thread was doing a disservice to Morris. A comparison to Jason Hart would be a disservice to Hart. I haven't seen anything like it before from a Top 50 recruit anywhere who is actually logging meaningful minutes. I will be scolded for this but so be it. Competent not even good PG play would've help given us some more Ws. We just are so shorthanded and having another guy especially your PG do nothing on both sides of the floor constantly is a big problem. Patterson has been doing some good dirty work and actually impacting the games somewhat. Silent G has been a savior in this PG dilemma scenario. He is doing the best he can. I am just super concerned moving forward with this position. I just don't want to hear excuses anymore. We get that Ennis is gone. Next man up. This is Syracuse. It's not like he had to fill in last second due to a key injury or something. Ugh, LGO.

I agree with many of these criticisms, but he has made progress. The 3 wasn't "lucky". He shot it with a soft touch, and it went in. Hell, if you want to talk about luck, how about the Asx-Clown bench player from Pitt?l the one with a 3 ppg average who waltzed in and put up 18 pts. on 7-9 shooting. That's just sickening. But KJ has a long way to go learning the defense, gaining strength and confidence on the floor. Yes it's painful to see some of his mistakes but that's always the case with freshmen. Remember, he wasn't recruited to be RFPT from day-1 .. he was supposed to come in and learn for a year spelling TE for 5-10 mpg.

If you're throwing around criticism, once again TYler Roberson was a net negative out there. Yes I like his potential ... his rebounding, his athleticism. But wow .. 5 rebounds and 2 field goals in 33 minutes? Once again ... for those claiming he's our answer at "PF" .. he got schooled on the glass and made a disproportionately small contribution out there on both ends of the floor. The kid's shot is MIA, along with any offensive confidence. I was amazed he was even guarded away from the basket (and FOULED) by a Pitt player. Must not have read the scouting report.

And of course, our bench -- a pathetic total of 3 points. Pitt got 33 .. on improbable shooting by Jones (6 for 9) and unconscious career-high by Jeter (who played like he was on drugs).

So as much as KJ is struggling, overall I thought he played pretty well for most of his minutes. And he definitely wasn't our biggest problem out there.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I agree with many of these criticisms, but he has made progress. The 3 wasn't "lucky". He shot it with a soft touch, and it went in. Hell, if you want to talk about luck, how about the Asx-Clown bench player from Pitt?l the one with a 3 ppg average who waltzed in and put up 18 pts. on 7-9 shooting. That's just sickening. But KJ has a long way to go learning the defense, gaining strength and confidence on the floor. Yes it's painful to see some of his mistakes but that's always the case with freshmen. Remember, he wasn't recruited to be RFPT from day-1 .. he was supposed to come in and learn for a year spelling TE for 5-10 mpg.

If you're throwing around criticism, once again TYler Roberson was a net negative out there. Yes I like his potential ... his rebounding, his athleticism. But wow .. 5 rebounds and 2 field goals in 33 minutes? Once again ... for those claiming he's our answer at "PF" .. he got schooled on the glass and made a disproportionately small contribution out there on both ends of the floor. They kid's shot is MIA, along with any offensive confidence. I was amazed he was even guarded away from the basket (and FOULED) by a Pitt player. Must not have read the scouting report.

And of course, our bench -- a pathetic total of 3 points. Pitt got 33 .. on improbable shooting by Jones (6 for 9) and unconscious career-high by Jeter (who played like he was on drugs).

So as much as KJ is struggling, overall I thought he played pretty well for most of his minutes. And he definitely wasn't our biggest problem out there.

I didn't have the energy to get to Roberson last night as it was late and I was beat. We can agree to disagree about KJ. Roberson is still completely lost on offense and the lack of rebounding from him lately is not good.

 

[HOFCeluck]

It's February and this isn't Marist. "Well, he was supposed to back up Ennis" is getting stale.

 

[reedny]

It's February and this isn't Marist. "Well, he was supposed to back up Ennis" is getting stale.

It's late in the season, true. And I wasn't trying to excuse his defensive lapses, his lack of play-making (0 assists) or his TO's (3). But he outscored Roberson, was a perfect 4-4 from the line and made a 3 (one of 2, which was the same number of 3's that TC made).

And, as you implied, Pitt is tough. They're very physical ... so my point was not that Kaleb played great (he didn't) .. but rather that, comparatively, he played better than Roberson who's a sophomore.

 

[longislandcuse]

I worry about three players moving forward.

Kaleb- Obvious reason and all have been discussed here.

BJJ- Obvious reason and all were discussed in the BJ thread.

My third player, and this might surprise people..

Roberson- CBB has evolved to the point where unless you have UK type size/talent, you can't have a 3/4 who can't shoot threes. He's an undersized 4 or a poor shooting 3 with no range. A tweener who doesn't do anything good enough to warrant a starting spot.

 

[syr14]

I worry about three players moving forward.

Kaleb- Obvious reason and all have been discussed here.

BJJ- Obvious reason and all were discussed in the BJ thread.

My third player, and this might surprise people..

Roberson- CBB has evolved to the point where unless you have UK type size/talent, you can't have a 3/4 who can't shoot threes. He's an undersized 4 or a poor shooting 3 with no range. A tweener who doesn't do anything good enough to warrant a starting spot.

Roberson just needs to keep working on that 15 ft J that teams constantly give him. Be it from the baseline or wherever. There are plenty of young guys on this team that struggle with confidence and he's one of them.
I think he'll be fine.