At this point

[Marsh01]

Seeing that we can no longer win the conference I just want to get the heck out this the conference games and see where the chips fall in the NCAA's. Past years I was so worked up about getting a top seed, the right pod, etc. Right now I want to see us finish the regular season up, see if we can do something in the BET and then take our chances in the NCAA's. proved that a team can get hot and make a run with Kemba, same goes for Louisville last year.

I am not giving up on this team as the field (aside from say Indiana) is so weak this year It would not shock me if we got picked off in the first round nor would it shock me if we made a run to the elite 8. There are going to be some crazy upsets this year and we have the talent to compete.

 

[CiceroCuse]

Seeing that we can no longer win the conference I just want to get the heck out this the conference games and see where the chips fall in the NCAA's. Past years I was so worked up about getting a top seed, the right pod, etc. Right now I want to see us finish the regular season up, see if we can do something in the BET and then take our chances in the NCAA's. proved that a team can get hot and make a run with Kemba, same goes for Louisville last year.

I am not giving up on this team as the field (aside from say Indiana) is so weak this year It would not shock me if we got picked off in the first round nor would it shock me if we made a run to the elite 8. There are going to be some crazy upsets this year and we have the talent to compete.

I know it is always said, but i believe more than ever this year that matchups will dictate how far we go. Generally, once we get out of our conference we do better as teams are less familiar with our zone and defenses generally dont play this push and grab crap thats alloweed int he BE. With that said, we need to be a heck of a lot stronger and smarter with the ball. No reason to lose that game last night.

 

[Knicks411]

Seeing that we can no longer win the conference I just want to get the heck out this the conference games and see where the chips fall in the NCAA's. Past years I was so worked up about getting a top seed, the right pod, etc. Right now I want to see us finish the regular season up, see if we can do something in the BET and then take our chances in the NCAA's. proved that a team can get hot and make a run with Kemba, same goes for Louisville last year.

I am not giving up on this team as the field (aside from say Indiana) is so weak this year It would not shock me if we got picked off in the first round nor would it shock me if we made a run to the elite 8. There are going to be some crazy upsets this year and we have the talent to compete.

Yeah I'm kind of thinking the same way. Obviously in an ideal world we'd get a 1 seed, win the conference (Saturday was really the first time, other than when Southerland was out, that I didn't think we'd win the league) but the fact of the matter anything can happen in March. Imagine what the Boneyard was like toward the end of the 11 season. We could easily get a good draw and make a run to the elite 8 or deeper, or we could lose in round 1.

I'd like to get 2 of the last 3, finish in the top 4, and then win at least one game in the BET

 

[GardenOrange]

I know it is always said, but i believe more than ever this year that matchups will dictate how far we go. Generally, once we get out of our conference we do better as teams are less familiar with our zone and defenses generally dont play this push and grab crap thats alloweed int he BE. With that said, we need to be a heck of a lot stronger and smarter with the ball. No reason to lose that game last night.

You can bet any team we play can watch film and will see we cannot throw it in the ocean. We will face zones from here on out. This could be the worst shooting team I have seen at SU.

 

[Marsh01]

Yeah I'm kind of thinking the same way. Obviously in an ideal world we'd get a 1 seed, win the conference (Saturday was really the first time, other than when Southerland was out, that I didn't think we'd win the league) but the fact of the matter anything can happen in March. Imagine what the Boneyard was like toward the end of the 11 season. We could easily get a good draw and make a run to the elite 8 or deeper, or we could lose in round 1.

I'd like to get 2 of the last 3, finish in the top 4, and then win at least one game in the BET

I remember last year we basically toyed with Louisville in the regular season finale. I remember thinking how Louisville was primed for a quick post season because Siva was playing the bad Siva role and they were a mess. Well that turned into a BET title and a FF bid. It can happen.

 

[CiceroCuse]

You can bet any team we play can watch film and will see we cannot throw it in the ocean. We will face zones from here on out. This could be the worst shooting team I have seen at SU.

I dont think any team can just say "ok lets play zone against them". You need the personnel and the defensive toughness. I don't think thats a given. If we have a team that isn't used to playing zone, I would surely hope we can move it enough to get open looks. Not saying that we can, because to me we have several passes around the zone that serve no purpose. Slow and looping passes dont move defenses. Fast crisp ones do. Our offense wasn't all that bad last night. We shot something like 47% from the field. We had some really really stupid turnovers that resulted in direct points.

Our problem was, similar to G'town, we had no answer for one guy on their team. We couldnt keep him off the boards or off the line. Whether that was our problem or a lack of officiating is for someone else to debate.

 

[jdubs30]

I remember last year we basically toyed with Louisville in the regular season finale. I remember thinking how Louisville was primed for a quick post season because Siva was playing the bad Siva role and they were a mess. Well that turned into a BET title and a FF bid. It can happen.

SWC made a good point in his topic last night. We have what, 10 losses in the last 3 regular seasons combined? We're used to being elite in the regular season (well this year's team might be better than '11), and this team just isn't as good as those other teams.

But after the Georgetown game in DC, everyone in the country will be 0-0. It's hard to look around the nation and find 10 or 12 teams with more talent than us. Hell, Kansas went to OT in Iowa State last night. Everyone has their problems right now except Indiana.

 

[Marsh01]

You can bet any team we play can watch film and will see we cannot throw it in the ocean. We will face zones from here on out. This could be the worst shooting team I have seen at SU.

The reason why we are a bad zone team isnt because we are a bad shooting team. That is only part of it yet people (not signaling you out) only point to that. To be an effective offensive team against a zone you also need to be a better than average offensive rebounding team which we are not. We are a very poor offensive rebounding team. How many possessions are we limited to a one and done situation? We had 14 offensive rebounds but 4 were on the one play where James shot about 5 three pointers in a 15 second span.

The poor shooting I can live with because we just dont have the shooters. The lack of effort on the offensive glass (Rak, especially) is what is killing this team. Marquette proved this point last night.

 

[iommi]

I just think we can dissect it all we want but we're not a very good basketball team. We can win a few games with the right matchups but there is no reason to be confident. We better beat DePaul. Serious question: if we were to lose our three games and game 1 in the BET, would we be on the bubble? I'm not joking. I know that's doom and gloom but I'm just asking.

 

[Marsh01]

I just think we can dissect it all we want but we're not a very good basketball team. We can win a few games with the right matchups but there is no reason to be confident. We better beat DePaul. Serious question: if we were to lose our three games and game 1 in the BET, would we be on the bubble? I'm not joking. I know that's doom and gloom but I'm just asking.

No on the bubble question. We would drop like a stone as far as our seed goes but that's about it.

 

[jdubs30]

The reason why we are a bad zone team isnt because we are a bad shooting team. That is only part of it yet people (not signaling you out) only point to that. To be an effective offensive team against a zone you also need to be a better than average offensive rebounding team which we are not. We are a very poor offensive rebounding team. How many possessions are we limited to a one and done situation? We had 14 offensive rebounds but 4 were on the one play where James shot about 5 three pointers in a 15 second span.

The poor shooting I can live with because we just dont have the shooters. The lack of effort on the offensive glass (Rak, especially) is what is killing this team. Marquette proved this point last night.

I'm starting to think Rak lacks some aggressiveness on both ends because he ALWAYS gets called for a ticky-tack foul within the first 2 minutes of the game. Anytime someone gets a defensive rebound when he's around he holds his hands straight up, bascailly to say "I'm not fouling!"

Maybe it's just me, but I thought Cooney was our best guard against the zone last night. He had a few nice penetrations into the gaps.

 

[jdubs30]

I just think we can dissect it all we want but we're not a very good basketball team. We can win a few games with the right matchups but there is no reason to be confident. We better beat DePaul. Serious question: if we were to lose our three games and game 1 in the BET, would we be on the bubble? I'm not joking. I know that's doom and gloom but I'm just asking.

We'd be 22-10 at that point I think. We'd be in, but probably as a 7 seed.

 

[Knicks411]

The reason why we are a bad zone team isnt because we are a bad shooting team. That is only part of it yet people (not signaling you out) only point to that. To be an effective offensive team against a zone you also need to be a better than average offensive rebounding team which we are not. We are a very poor offensive rebounding team. How many possessions are we limited to a one and done situation? We had 14 offensive rebounds but 4 were on the one play where James shot about 5 three pointers in a 15 second span.

The poor shooting I can live with because we just dont have the shooters. The lack of effort on the offensive glass (Rak, especially) is what is killing this team. Marquette proved this point last night.

We rank pretty well on the offensive glass in general though. 5th in the country in offensive rebounding %. 4th in the BE in conference play. We had 14 last night vs 17 defensive rebounds for Marquette; sure a lot of those came at the end of the game in that one possession, but we still did prertty well.

 

[Marsh01]

We rank pretty well on the offensive glass in general though. 5th in the country in offensive rebounding %. 4th in the BE in conference play. We had 14 last night vs 17 defensive rebounds for Marquette; sure a lot of those came at the end of the game in that one possession, but we still did prertty well.

I'd like to see the stats though of BE play taking the non conference games out of it. Thankfully we have good rebounding guards which is what is skewing the numbers a bit. I wish it was more front court heavy.

 

[jdubs30]

We rank pretty well on the offensive glass in general though. 5th in the country in offensive rebounding %. 4th in the BE in conference play. We had 14 last night vs 17 defensive rebounds for Marquette; sure a lot of those came at the end of the game in that one possession, but we still did prertty well.

Yeah JB said what Marsh just did in the presser last night, I didn't think we were that bad of an offensive rebounding team, and those stats kind of prove it.

UConn zoned us for a while and we had more OReb than they had DReb that game.

We can't shoot, thats the real issue.

 

[iommi]

No on the bubble question. We would drop like a stone as far as our seed goes but that's about it.

That was what I thought in '08 (was it '08?) when we had a terrible year-end slump and lost an afternoon game in the BET to 'Nova and we got shafted by the committee. If we lose to DePaul I am done with this team this year.

 

[Knicks411]

I'd like to see the stats though of BE play taking the non conference games out of it. Thankfully we have good rebounding guards which is what is skewing the numbers a bit. I wish it was more front court heavy.

In BE play we're 4th in the conference. Good, not great.

 

[Knicks411]

That was what I thought in '08 (was it '08?) when we had a terrible year-end slump and lost an afternoon game in the BET to 'Nova and we got shafted by the committee. If we lose to DePaul I am done with this team this year.

That was 08, but I don't think we got shafted. The year we probably got shafted was 07

 

[DSellers12]

Against the zone getting the ball into the top of the paint is key. A lot of good things can happen when the ball is possessed there especially if the person there is CJ. He can settle for an open jumper, drive to the basket or drive and kick for a more open set three pointer to a wing man. CJ did all these well when this happened and its what both Porter and Gardener did to us the last two games. Until Syracuse realizes that the offense will run best through CJ at the top of the paint syracuse will continue to struggle to score against the zone.

 

[Marsh01]

Yeah JB said what Marsh just did in the presser last night, I didn't think we were that bad of an offensive rebounding team, and those stats kind of prove it.

UConn zoned us for a while and we had more OReb than they had DReb that game.

We can't shoot, thats the real issue.

We didnt shoot it that bad last night thats the thing. 48% from the field? I would have taken that before the game started. I mean we average .447 so we shot it above average. Yes we missed shots but we didnt shoot it as bad as people are making it out to be.

 

[RichmondCuse]

Seeing that we can no longer win the conference I just want to get the heck out this the conference games and see where the chips fall in the NCAA's. Past years I was so worked up about getting a top seed, the right pod, etc. Right now I want to see us finish the regular season up, see if we can do something in the BET and then take our chances in the NCAA's. proved that a team can get hot and make a run with Kemba, same goes for Louisville last year.

I am not giving up on this team as the field (aside from say Indiana) is so weak this year It would not shock me if we got picked off in the first round nor would it shock me if we made a run to the elite 8. There are going to be some crazy upsets this year and we have the talent to compete.

I think this is a nice way of you saying that even though you'll continue to root for the team same as always, you really are anxious for the season to be over and to move on from this team. And for the record, I agree completely.

 

[Marsh01]

I think this is a nice way of you saying that even though you'll continue to root for the team same as always, you really are anxious for the season to be over and to move on from this team. And for the record, I agree completely.

I live for college basketball and am devastated when we lose for the last time. I'm not anxious for the season to be over I am anxious for the regular season to be over.

 

[jdubs30]

We didnt shoot it that bad last night thats the thing. 48% from the field? I would have taken that before the game started. I mean we average .447 so we shot it above average. Yes we missed shots but we didnt shoot it as bad as people are making it out to be.

No yeah last night wasn't bad, I think if we can get 48% from the field we take it every time. The offense was stagnant for sure at times last night, but it was good enough to win. The problem was at the free throw line and MU hit 2 or 3 big 3's.

By the way, has anyone brought up that Vander Blue 3 in the 1st half? I thought for sure it was up and down...

 

[longislandcuse]

We can't rebound like crazy because our only rebounder against bigger teams is Rak or God forbid Keita. Southerland is not going to outrebound guys like Gardner, CJ is a midget down low. This is also why a team like Marquette can just bully us all night.

We can't win in this conference because every team is a Butler clone and it sucks, get me the F out of here. This conference is garbage and has about 5 teams you can watch and point to as "the reason college basketball is a joke." We're athletic, long and fast, but not big or physical.

We can't shoot because Triche is a complete basketcase. You HAVE to get more out of your 2g if you want to do anything against a zone. You can't just have MCW trying to do everything with one legit shooter in Southerland who the other team just shifts the defense towards (Triche pay attention, you should have done this to Otto Porter...oh wait, I forgot, he kept moving around.)

People say just run the offense through CJ.. Yea CJ is very good but he is not Otto Porter, he's not dynamic, he's a solid player but not a star. Stars don't only go left. He needs to diversify his game if he wants to be more than just a solid player.

Grant and Cooney never get a chance anymore which blows my mind especially since Cooney has improved every game for a couple games now and Triche just keeps regressing.

 

[Knicks411]

We scored 71 points on 61 possessions last night. That should be a win.

Grant and Cooney never get a chance anymore which blows my mind especially since Cooney has improved every game for a couple games now and Triche just keeps regressing.

JB is going down with his guys for better or worse. I didn't think for a second Cooney was gonna get any run in the 2H unless there was foul trouble. ​