Christmas

[orangejunkie]

I thought Rakeen played his best game of the year. He looked good in both halves. Scored a few points and seemed to rebound better. Seemed to be much more in the flow of the game and didn't just take up space. As they say in the car commercials, it would be HUGE, if he started to make consistent contributions the remainder of the season. To match up with teams like Carolina and Kentucky who have big front lines, the development of Rakeem is important. I think that Boeheim is giving him the minutes he is because he realizes that Rakeem's development potentially gives them something that CJ and Southerland can't provide.

 

[JoeSU]

I was focusing on him for stretches and I thought the exact same thing. He also hustled the entire game and showed a knack for being in the right place.

 

[StopCoolio]

Really like how Rak is coming along.

This team has few issues, but defensive rebounding and half court offense are two of them. In theory, Rak could go a long way in solving both of those while giving us another shot blocker at the 4.

 

[Marsh01]

He played well.

 

[jdubs30]

Yep he's definitely less of a liability than he was even a few weeks ago. His size with Fab's at the bottom of the zone is deadly. And he's finishing better around the rim.

 

[texascpa]

He played much better after JB pulled him out at the 19 minute mark to chew him out about not getting the ball out fast enough on his two rebounds.

 

[Orangezoo]

i really like his presence on the boards when active.. might just be the best rebounder on the team. scary to think of this team with rak playinh well too. also nice in that james is a nice complement to dion and scoop when kjo needs a blow at the 3

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

You could see his natural athleticism on that dunk in the second half. Coach him up to refine his skills, but good lord is he naturally gifted athletically.

 

[Albeck43]

I thought Rakeen played his best game of the year. He looked good in both halves. Scored a few points and seemed to rebound better. Seemed to be much more in the flow of the game and didn't just take up space. As they say in the car commercials, it would be HUGE, if he started to make consistent contributions the remainder of the season. To match up with teams like Carolina and Kentucky who have big front lines, the development of Rakeem is important. I think that Boeheim is giving him the minutes he is because he realizes that Rakeem's development potentially gives them something that CJ and Southerland can't provide.

Christmas played okay at the 4, but over the last 10 minutes he was beaten on the boards and abused inside by Providence. Providence out rebounded us in the second half and when Christmas was in the 5 position in the zone, he basically watched the Friars playing volleyball--their skinny, smaller forwards were cleaning up everything.

 

[jdubs30]

Christmas played okay at the 4, but over the last 10 minutes he was beaten on the boards and abused inside by Providence. Providence out rebounded us in the second half and when Christmas was in the 5 position in the zone, he basically watched the Friars playing volleyball--their skinny, smaller forwards were cleaning up everything.

It's clear he's not comfortable playing the 5 and alluded to that in the post-game interview. However, he is a pretty serviceable 3rd center overall who will give us solid minutes if both BMK and Fab get into foul trouble.

 

[moqui]

Rak, CJ and Scoop all played their best games of the year (not counting the sloppiness in the last 12 or so minutes of the game)

Dirty, on the other hand, played his worst game of the year

I have very, very high hopes for Rak down the road. He is going to be a monster.

 

[RF2044]

Rak, CJ and Scoop all played their best games of the year (not counting the sloppiness in the last 12 or so minutes of the game)

Dirty, on the other hand, played his worst game of the year

I have very, very high hopes for Rak down the road. He is going to be a monster.

Not to mention, he got quite a bit of run tonight and produced. Starting him--even though he isn't playing big minutes--is the right move.

Two years ago, when AO went down we didn't have anyone ready to help pick up the slack. With all due respect to Dashonte Riley, who I still believe will be a solid D1 player, he just wasn't mentally / experientially ready to contribute. I'm not saying that Rak would be able to step in for someone like Fab [for example] if he were to get injured, but I do know that he'd be a lot better equipped to assume a bigger role as a function of him playing these minutes.

Fingers crossed that nothing like that happens, but bottom line: the infusion of minutes is helping him progress faster on the developmental curve.

 

['72 Orange]

I love the end of Raks post game interview:

Q: "What do you know about Pitt?

A: "Not a lot but I know they play dirty"

That's All he needs to know. Telling it like it is!

 

[OrangeCrush22]

He had a very good game. However, Providence is horrible...

 

[Ghost]

I love the end of Raks post game interview:

Q: "What do you know about Pitt?

A: "Not a lot but I know they play dirty"

That's All he needs to know. Telling it like it is!

Nice. Good to see he's looked at the scouting report already.

 

[RF2044]

He had a very good game. However, Providence is horrible...

Remind me again--how many points did they beat Louisville by?

Not bad for a horrible team.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Remind me again--how many points did they beat Louisville by?

Not bad for a horrible team.

Louisville sucks. Their fan base is calling for Pitino's head. It was more Louisville losing, than Providence winning. Every UL fan would admit it.

 

[RF2044]

Louisville sucks. Their fan base is calling for Pitino's head. It was more Louisville losing, than Providence winning. Every UL fan would admit it.

They might suck, but that was a 31 point beat down. Providence is not "horrible."

 

[pearl31]

I thought Rakeen played his best game of the year. He looked good in both halves. Scored a few points and seemed to rebound better. Seemed to be much more in the flow of the game and didn't just take up space. As they say in the car commercials, it would be HUGE, if he started to make consistent contributions the remainder of the season. To match up with teams like Carolina and Kentucky who have big front lines, the development of Rakeem is important. I think that Boeheim is giving him the minutes he is because he realizes that Rakeem's development potentially gives them something that CJ and Southerland can't provide.

Nice post, I was going to post something about Rak's game today too. He was solid today. Good to see.

 

[pearl31]

Louisville sucks. Their fan base is calling for Pitino's head. It was more Louisville losing, than Providence winning. Every UL fan would admit it.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

They might suck, but that was a 31 point beat down. Providence is not "horrible."

Providence is 1-5 in the Big East, keep in mind the Big East is bad this year. They're 12-7 overall, and are in 14th place in the Big East. The only good team they beat was UL, and like I said Pitino has sucked at coaching this year. They have lost to UNI, ISU, SJU, and SH not exactly good losses.

 

[RF2044]

Providence is 1-5 in the Big East, keep in mind the Big East is bad this year. They're 12-7 overall, and are in 14th place in the Big East. The only good team they beat was UL, and like I said Pitino has sucked at coaching this year. They have lost to UNI, ISU, SJU, and SH not exactly good losses.

And that one win came against #14 Louisville. And they played us tough at home 10 days ago, in case you've forgotten.

They're an inexperienced team that lacks depth, playing for a new coach that has them playing hard. Again, not "horrible." They'll be in strong contention for a postseason berth.

 

[Whitey23]

I wonderd why he didn't play longer. He could definitely use the experience.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Providence is 1-5 in the Big East, keep in mind the Big East is bad this year. They're 12-7 overall, and are in 14th place in the Big East. The only good team they beat was UL, and like I said Pitino has sucked at coaching this year. They have lost to UNI, ISU, SJU, and SH not exactly good losses.

Come on man. 40% of their Big East losses are to the #1 team in the country. They may not be a Final Four team, but Providence is much better than they have been.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Come on man. 40% of their Big East losses are to the #1 team in the country. They may not be a Final Four team, but Providence is much better than they have been.

I'll give them that they're better than they have been, but I still wouldn't call them a solid team.