Christmas

[jdubs30]

2pts, 2blks, 1ast, 5rebs in only 8 minutes of play. He was very active and much better than Keita has all year, he also actually CAUGHT the ball on offense and held on. Hopefully he keeps developing because I could see Fab getting into foul trouble in a few games come tourney time.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Christmas emergence over Keita today is actually the second most important fact to emerge from the game.

the first was dirty's finding his shooting in the second half.

 

[DNABB5]

much better as a 5. Like him backing up Fab.

 

[jdubs30]

Christmas emergence over Keita today is actually the second most important fact to emerge from the game.

the first was dirty's finding his shooting in the second half.

I think if Southerland has his shot back we will be seeing a lot less of CJ; Southerland is a deep threat and IMO a better rebounder.

 

[Oakland]

Was Fair starting announced ahead of time?

 

[pearl31]

Baye seems like a great kid and I hate to be negative towards him, but...
Our team is better with Rak backing up Fab at the 5.
Really liked what I saw from Rak today.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Rak has explosion. That is his deal. We've seen glimpses of it here and there but today he actually harnessed that explosion into a useful weapon in which he gathered rebounds and stuffed drummond. This is huge people. HUGE for a deep tourney run. The team actually played better with rak in there than melo

 

[Fireball Jr.]

2pts, 2blks, 1ast, 5rebs in only 8 minutes of play. He was very active and much better than Keita has all year, he also actually CAUGHT the ball on offense and held on. Hopefully he keeps developing because I could see Fab getting into foul trouble in a few games come tourney time.

The 8 minutes Rakeem and Carter-Williams played were huge. Christmas' play in the middle filled me with joy. And Carter-Williams came in and played with aplomb. Didn't feel as if I was watching a freshman who by and large doesn't get a lotta playing time. No points, but, also, no turnovers, 4 assists -- including that sweet underhand feed to Christmas -- along with a steal and a rebound. Kid's gonna be fun to watch.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Christmas emergence over Keita today is actually the second most important fact to emerge from the game.

the first was dirty's finding his shooting in the second half.

Yes. Rak was the only one who wanted to challenge Drummond during the time he was in there.

 

[moqui]

Christmas emergence over Keita today is actually the second most important fact to emerge from the game.

the first was dirty's finding his shooting in the second half.

James's scoring was critical, but his defense was superb as well - as it has been all season.

It won't show up in the box scores or the play-by-play, but I think that seal of the baseline at 53-49 might have been the play of the game

 

[DNABB5]

Was Fair starting announced ahead of time?

in the chat by orangextreme yes

 

[Corpi33]

The 8 minutes Rakeem and Carter-Williams played were huge. Christmas' play in the middle filled me with joy. And Carter-Williams came in and played with aplomb. Didn't feel as if I was watching a freshman who by and large doesn't get a lotta playing time. No points, but, also, no turnovers, 4 assists -- including that sweet underhand feed to Christmas -- along with a steal and a rebound. Kid's gonna be fun to watch.

I really liked Xmas at the 5 instead of the 4, much more active...I did think that JB was messing with Karma when CJ started over Xmas though

 

[Jasoncuse]

I think today, and the last time Xmas got extended, important minutes (Cincy, I won't include WVU), he played Center and he played well. He's not a forward in our zone, at least not yet, and his explosion/skills fit so much better in the middle. I'm really happy to see him play well today.

I just wish JB would have done this 2-3 games ago. He could have used the extra minutes and we probably would have been better off with Keita not playing...Oh well.

 

[ClamOtto]

The 8 minutes Rakeem and Carter-Williams played were huge. Christmas' play in the middle filled me with joy. And Carter-Williams came in and played with aplomb. Didn't feel as if I was watching a freshman who by and large doesn't get a lotta playing time. No points, but, also, no turnovers, 4 assists -- including that sweet underhand feed to Christmas -- along with a steal and a rebound. Kid's gonna be fun to watch.

Last year Fab finally started to emerge in the BET. i wouldn't mind seeing that history repeat with Rak.

 

[zhanjuzi]

I was very very happy for Rak. Solid minutes with great contribution .. we will definitely need more of this type of play from him to give Melo rest.

 

[OttoMets]

Better than Keita? Heck, Rakeem hit the glass better than Fab - Christmas actually goes after defensive rebounds like he wants them.

Longislandcuse and I have been saying this for months: Syracuse is a better team with Christmas getting playing time. I've been thinking of him at the four, but he's an asset at center, too.

 

[BlueCurtain]

Have not been impressed with melo of late - just seems to be softening as the season progresses. For a 7-footer with athleticism he does not rebound out of his area very well. Maybe that's because he is trying to avoid fouls... but his tentativeness is becoming a liability when the ball is in traffic.

Xmas gave the team a very solid 8 minutes and outplayed Melo today.

 

[Deano]

JB read my post
http://syracusefan.com/threads/should-rak-being-getting-bayes-minutes.19190/

 

[DallasCuse]

I think if Southerland has his shot back we will be seeing a lot less of CJ; Southerland is a deep threat and IMO a better rebounder.

If James is hitting outside, we will certainly see a bit more of him, but it really depends on the matchup. And no, he is not nearly as good a rebounder as CJ.

 

[JoeSU]

Today was just a bad matchup for CJ. He was getting pushed around underneath by UConn (last put-back by Drummond was an obvious foul, IMO), and UConn's shot blocking ability stymied Fair's usual shot selection underneath the basket. Fair will get his minutes and do some damage before the season is over.

 

[Ghost]

Christmas emergence over Keita today is actually the second most important fact to emerge from the game.

the first was dirty's finding his shooting in the second half.

I know you've been one of the people hollering about this for awhile, and you were right then, and today really nailed home the point. The work we saw him put in against Cincy, and in the few minutes today, even if he didn't have a quality minute the rest of year, warranted developing this kid as the back-up center over Keita from the jump. He's just far more talented and ultimately useful due to his size and athletism. Admittedly he seems a tad useless at the 4, but when he's been put in the middle he's shown flashes, Keita really hasn't this year, or at least not since that WVU game - and prior to that game not since last year maybe.

 

[bnoro]

I think if Southerland has his shot back we will be seeing a lot less of CJ; Southerland is a deep threat and IMO a better rebounder.

South is not even remotely close to CJ as a rebounder.

 

[moqui]

South is not even remotely close to CJ as a rebounder.

actually, on the defensive end, they are pretty close - CJ's DR% is 14.2 to JS' 13.9

the difference is on the offensive end (8.4 to 7.1), but I would think that is more due to one being an interior player and the other a perimeter player than to any other factor.

that said, James does get to a lot of boards that he lets get away . . . he needs to learn to squeeze the balls he gets his hands on

maybe that is a place where the team misses Bernie . . . badumpbump

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I think JS is a better natural fit for rebounding on the defensive end given our zone. It seems sometimes to me that the opposition purposefully takes shots opposite CJ's side knowing the odds are the ball will rebound to his side.

Dirty does let alot of boards get away, but he also is much better than CJ at creating havoc on the Defensive end..often changing players shots with his quick ups.

 

[HoustonCuse]

. . . he needs to learn to squeeze the balls he gets his hands on

That's what she said. (Sorry for the second Micheal Scott reference of the day, but it couldn't be helped).