Cant be an elite program with Cooney as a starter

[Statesman1]

I think this is more about the way Boeheim managed the team than Cooney. Even last year, Cooney was a solid passer despite the fact that he couldn't make anything. This year, he and Gbinije both showed flashes of being very solid passers. But once Ennis goes into the game, neither of them are allowed to handle the ball. Even when they get a loose ball with a chance to push it for an easy fast break opportunity, they have to hold up and wait for Ennis and get him the ball. Just confusing that Boeheim trusts them enough to run things while Ennis isn't on the floor, but once he's on the floor, they can't be trusted at all.

I'm not sure you and I saw the same games this year

Cooney is a great role/bench player. A guy who can come in and hit a shot here and there. He just wasn't good enough (yet?) to start. People need to look at this from a pure, non-orange bball perspective- the guy just isn't a great player. It is what it is. I'm not personally attacking him at all, just providing facts.

When he doesn't make shots, we don't get anything. The last 9 games of the regular season, he had 4 assists. I feel bad for the kid because he obviously gets in his own head. The irony is last year I always thought he was a very good passer. Your starting guard just cannot avg 1 assist a game, especially when you're seriously struggling scoring.

If he wasn't good enough to start then perhaps you can explain why he started all year?

 

[Statesman1]

LOL RIGHT???

BTW, G's +/- last night was +7. Cooney's was -8.

Yeah no doubt, Cooney didn't play well last night but he wasn't waving his Nike's around on D

 

[Statesman1]

I'm not sure you and I saw the same games this year

If he wasn't good enough to start then perhaps you can explain why he started all year?

I'll answer that one for you myself, for better or worse Cooney was our best option and therefore started and got the lion share of minutes this season. Until someone supplants him he's our guy. Personally I'm not that wild about Silent G, I'm not sure I saw him make 2 consecutive shots all year, and he is definitely not a threat from the outside. Maybe somebody else steps up- I'm always up for playing someone better.

 

[TrickySU]

He only hit double digits twice in the last 10 games. Once against a low mid-major.

After Notre Dame he only shot 40% of better from three twice. Once against a low mid-major.

Valid point, but again now we change from people saying he played bad once conference play started to he played bad the last 10 games. Again, I completely agree that he didn't play up to par towards the end of the season, but when people say he's a bench player, that's ridiculous.

The original post said that we "can't be an elite program with Cooney as a starter." That's crazy. We can't be an elite program if we don't make shots. Plain and simple.

And for the people that say Cooney won't be any better next year, I'll let Trevor's performance next year respond to that. There won't be a harder worker than him this offseason.

 

[LennX6]

Come on. You have got to be kidding me. He averaged 12.5 points per game, 2 steals per game, and hit 90 threes this season. There were only 5 games in which Cooney did not make a three point shot. Now his shooting percentage towards the end of the year wasn't great, but he forced teams to play him tight which allowed for driving lanes for Ennis, Fair, and Grant.

The fault of this team is that there wasn't another three-point threat to take some pressure off of Cooney and help the offense. If we had one more consistent three-point shooter, we win the national championship.

Remember "Mid Major James"...he didn't statr becoming consistent until into his senior year.

 

[AZOrange]

Ignorant statement, he was second in the league in steals- hardly porous as you describe. Everybody on the Cuse should be so awful.

Steals are such an overrated defensive stat. Cooney was a bad defender in the second half of the season.

 

[Statesman1]

Yeah you're probably right- and by right I mean totally wrong. Porous defenders (now you qualify it by porous in the second half) don't average two thefts a game in conference. Bad defenders clearly average many fewer steals than that.

 

[thebigeast44]

One of the biggest problems Cooney has is the pressure he feels to get up 3's since he is the only guy we have. Reminds me of Donte Green's frosh year when he took a lot of ill advised shots since he was the only 3 point threat.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

Have you been watching this tournament? SU is no where near being an elite program. How many teams do really think SU could beat? Too much Kool Aid about this program. Given current talent and expectations for futureSU won't sniff another NCAAT final four for years to come.

 

[SUFan44]

Head case x 100000.

D1 talent for sure. D4 mental toughness.

 

[AZOrange]

Yeah you're probably right- and by right I mean totally wrong. Porous defenders (now you qualify it by porous in the second half) don't average two thefts a game in conference. Bad defenders clearly average many fewer steals than that.

Lol...which iteration are you? If you want to be excited about his 1.9 spg go ahead. He's very weak at the top. Allows a lot of easy dribble penetration, passes and collapses and gets out of position far too often. I have full faith this kid can hit threes at a high rate but his defense and his "other" category just are not acceptable right now. Gbinije is such a better top defender than cooney (and Ennis)

 

[AZOrange]

You're complaining about Cooney's lack of assists. Who can he pass it to to get an assist? CJ, Grant, and Ennis have to put the ball on the floor in order to score. There's no assists there. Did you check the box score last night. I think we had 4 assists for the total game. The problem is the total lack of motion on offense. One guy with the ball and the other four standing. The ONE time last night that we had any movement on offense was with the Silent G's dunk. We are easy to guard. We never adjusted to the way teams starting playing us in the ACC. Dayton's defense was lousy. We practically had all layups in the second half. We only had one jumper outside of the lane the entire game (Grant's wing jumper). You want to see assists go up then you had better start moving the ball and BODIES need to move too.

Part of that is cooney though...when he goes with the ball to the rim, he goes to shoot not pass. Innumerable times he got stuffed by a centers elbow...

 

[rrlbees]

Part of that is cooney though...when he goes with the ball to the rim, he goes to shoot not pass. Innumerable times he got stuffed by a centers elbow...

Sounds like all of our players. You think Ennis even goes to the hoop to pass?

 

[rrlbees]

Head case x 100000. D1 talent for sure. D4 mental toughness.

100% incorrect.

 

[ROCuse]

TC made a great jump between last season and this season. I expect his development to continue and he'll have a great year. Haven't seen anything to suggest otherwise.

 

[AZOrange]

Sounds like all of our players. You think Ennis even goes to the hoop to pass?

Ennis looks for others at times. Although I agree he doesn't pass enough either.

 

[SUFan44]

100% incorrect.

Explain then, if you will since I know nothing.

 

[Ghost]

One of the biggest problems Cooney has is the pressure he feels to get up 3's since he is the only guy we have. Reminds me of Donte Green's frosh year when he took a lot of ill advised shots since he was the only 3 point threat.

Donte Greene shot threes as a Frosh as well as Cooney as a Soph. Weird to think about.

Finished the year on a 15-32 streak, and played a ton of minutes. Poor Donte. Could have been a great one.

 

[Orangeyes]

If we are going to be successful going forward we need more than one reliable three point threat and more than one point guard.

 

[Opus]

So the Cooney hate continues even after the season is over. Who played him? Oh wait, we can't question *Him*. LOL Let's just attack the player who played his heart out.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

This is an epically bad thread that bashes multiple players, but primarily focuses on one. I'm shocked it hasn't been locked down by now. Very little constructive criticism in this 4 page monster bash.

 

[phil77]

All American chokes again Cooney's fault
All Freshman performer chokes again Cooney's fault
"Projected Lottery player" decides not to show up Cooney's fault

Cooney is the scapegoat for everything.

 

[kcsu]

Bring back Jimmy Lee one of the best 2's to ever wear orange.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Steals are such an overrated defensive stat. Cooney was a bad defender in the second half of the season.

I agree with part of this statement. There were times when Trevor would go for a steal that would leave him badly out of position on d and that kills because it could turn into a free shot from behind the arc. And steals are a great stat if you have a running team who converts a high percentage of steals/TOs into quick and easy buckets. Despite what many announcers said about us, we weren't that kind of team this year.

But I still wouldn't say he was a bad defender.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

If we are going to be successful going forward we need more than one reliable three point threat and more than one point guard.

This is the best post in this thread. Good luck today OY.