SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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So we are 6-5 with two more games against teams we should clearly beat, (but watch-out for the ospreys: when both teams are dependent on the threes falling, anything can happen). That would leave us at 8-5 going into the full conference season which will be 18 straight games against power conference teams, against which we are 1-5, (counting the Hoyas as a power conference team). To guarantee an overall winning record in the regular season, (as opposed to a winning regular season record), we'd have to break even in those 18 games. To have a shot at the NCAA tournament, we'd probably have to go at least 10-8, maybe 11-7.
Off of what we've seen so far, both goals seem unlikely. There's always the ACC tournament but we've never made a run there, (and are 2-5 overall). obviously it will take considerable improvement to even have a shot at these accomplishments. The area where that improvement is most likely to occur and would have the biggest impact is with our big men. Sidibe isn't going to turn into Rakeem Christmas any time soon but he could at least become more consistent. Edwards could be quite a player someday. We can only hope that he'll improve enough to be an option down the stretch of this year. Guerrier passes the look test. When will he pass the play test? If we ever got a decent inside game, (defense, rebounding and scoring) to go with our outside game,w e'll be a completely different team.
But we do have a secret weapon. Joe Girard is hitting 97% of his free throws. it brings back memories of when GMAC was our "closer", our Mariano Rivera. If we could just get into the final minute with a lead, all we had to do was inbound to Gerry, he'd get fouled, make two free throws in a machine like fashion and we'd win. I used to break into a smile when the clock went 0:59 and we had a 2-3 point lead. the other team was thinking, "Hey, we just need to get a couple of stops and make a couple of shot and we win!" They were like a frog that doesn't know the water is boiling. I knew and all SU fans knew the game was over. We could do that with Joe and if the other team tried to deny him the ball we've also got Buddy (83%) and Elijah (77%).
If we ever get into a game that in doubt in the final minutes and can engineer a lead going into that final minute, we'll be very hard to beat. Even if we had to overcome such a lead, with three strong three point guys, we're also built to make a comeback in that situation. This team could have an excellent record in close game - if we can get into them.
One other thing to look for is the penultimate minute of a close game. I've felt over the years that more close games are won or lost in the 39th minute than the 40th because what happens in the 39th minute determines the strategy for the 40th minute and there can be some very different situations that result. Get it done in the 39th minute and you get to close it out in the 40th minute.
Off of what we've seen so far, both goals seem unlikely. There's always the ACC tournament but we've never made a run there, (and are 2-5 overall). obviously it will take considerable improvement to even have a shot at these accomplishments. The area where that improvement is most likely to occur and would have the biggest impact is with our big men. Sidibe isn't going to turn into Rakeem Christmas any time soon but he could at least become more consistent. Edwards could be quite a player someday. We can only hope that he'll improve enough to be an option down the stretch of this year. Guerrier passes the look test. When will he pass the play test? If we ever got a decent inside game, (defense, rebounding and scoring) to go with our outside game,w e'll be a completely different team.
But we do have a secret weapon. Joe Girard is hitting 97% of his free throws. it brings back memories of when GMAC was our "closer", our Mariano Rivera. If we could just get into the final minute with a lead, all we had to do was inbound to Gerry, he'd get fouled, make two free throws in a machine like fashion and we'd win. I used to break into a smile when the clock went 0:59 and we had a 2-3 point lead. the other team was thinking, "Hey, we just need to get a couple of stops and make a couple of shot and we win!" They were like a frog that doesn't know the water is boiling. I knew and all SU fans knew the game was over. We could do that with Joe and if the other team tried to deny him the ball we've also got Buddy (83%) and Elijah (77%).
If we ever get into a game that in doubt in the final minutes and can engineer a lead going into that final minute, we'll be very hard to beat. Even if we had to overcome such a lead, with three strong three point guys, we're also built to make a comeback in that situation. This team could have an excellent record in close game - if we can get into them.
One other thing to look for is the penultimate minute of a close game. I've felt over the years that more close games are won or lost in the 39th minute than the 40th because what happens in the 39th minute determines the strategy for the 40th minute and there can be some very different situations that result. Get it done in the 39th minute and you get to close it out in the 40th minute.
