Flacusian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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First of all I have been a rabid Syracuse Basketball fan for 40 years. I'm still holding out hope that this team can make a deep run at season's end. But... and whenever you see the word "but" you know the nitty gritty is about to be laid down, the past 4 games have illustrated some problems that this team has that simply cannot be rationalized away by: 1. bad officiating, 2. an injured player, 3. an outlier shooting game.
Lack of depth has resulted in fatigue which has affected the team in 3 key areas.
1. offense, Teams have taken notice of how to effectively neutralize our 3 primary scorers, Cooney, Fair, and Ennis. Cooney expends so much energy trying to get open that when he does get a good look his legs, balance, and composure just aren't there.
2. Confidence. When you are not making shots and are throwing up airballs, eventually your confidence is going to start to be compromised. When the offensive sets you run become ineffective confidence is a casualty.
3. Morale. When you are out there busting your a$$ and the monkey is on your back and what had been working is now coming up a little short, it germinates the seed which is the #1 enemy of all champions, "doubt".
I'm with the other posters who have suggested that getting the team rested and healthy is the number one priority right now. Unless this team gets healthy and rested they are not going to do well in the Tournament.
At the close of the game you could see a look on the faces of our guys that I hadn't seen before. As a fan, it was disturbing to see. The better team won today and the disparity in energy was very obvious.
But... and there's that word again! as a long time fan I can remember many times when it looked like our team was dead in the water only to have them make a remarkable run. Last year was exactly that. So the agony of a painful defeat which exposes some liabilities of the team is always hard to deal with and can have a propensity to make us assume the worst...however, this team has shown us many times how determined and resilient they can be and until they are done... I'm going to keep hoping for the best.
Lack of depth has resulted in fatigue which has affected the team in 3 key areas.
1. offense, Teams have taken notice of how to effectively neutralize our 3 primary scorers, Cooney, Fair, and Ennis. Cooney expends so much energy trying to get open that when he does get a good look his legs, balance, and composure just aren't there.
2. Confidence. When you are not making shots and are throwing up airballs, eventually your confidence is going to start to be compromised. When the offensive sets you run become ineffective confidence is a casualty.
3. Morale. When you are out there busting your a$$ and the monkey is on your back and what had been working is now coming up a little short, it germinates the seed which is the #1 enemy of all champions, "doubt".
I'm with the other posters who have suggested that getting the team rested and healthy is the number one priority right now. Unless this team gets healthy and rested they are not going to do well in the Tournament.
At the close of the game you could see a look on the faces of our guys that I hadn't seen before. As a fan, it was disturbing to see. The better team won today and the disparity in energy was very obvious.
But... and there's that word again! as a long time fan I can remember many times when it looked like our team was dead in the water only to have them make a remarkable run. Last year was exactly that. So the agony of a painful defeat which exposes some liabilities of the team is always hard to deal with and can have a propensity to make us assume the worst...however, this team has shown us many times how determined and resilient they can be and until they are done... I'm going to keep hoping for the best.
