Cooney...

[njcuse]

Cooney had an off day...a really, really off day. He had mostly open shots. He couldn't hit. It happens, no big knock on Cooney. But if he had hit 40% of his shots (all threes), SU has a comfortable win. Not only do they have those extra points, but decent shooting form Cooney opens up the Miami zone for Fair, Ennis, and everybody else.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Miami pushed him out a little further than he was used to. They played great defense against us all day. Give them credit for causing Trevor to have an off day...

 

[anglerman]

It wasn't Miami. He missed several wide open shots.

 

[alphaorange]

This how spoiled we are. If he hits 40% of his threes, that's an EFG of 60%. Most here would have cut off a limb before the season if it guaranteed TC shooting 40% from three. Now we act that is an insignificant number...

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

It wasn't Miami. He missed several wide open shots.

Which were longer shots than he's used to taking...he had an off night, but Miami had a lot to do with it...

 

[CusefanATL]

Cooney will be fine. This is still is 1st real year of playing time. He will have off nights. After 14 games, I have the confidence to say he will bounce back.

keep in mind, this is at least his 3rd "off game"

but he has had 6+ where he was awesome and another 4 or 5 where he was really good.

 

[longislandcuse]

My issue, and its not just in regards to Cooney, is we've played 2 very big/athletic teams in Miami and St Johns. While we won both games, we struggled. Baylor was long and athletic but didn't have that size in the backcourt like Miami and SJU do.

I think we'll be fine and next time we play a team like this wont have off nights from Ennis, Cooney, Fair and Grant however that seems to be the only recipe so far this season to slowing us down. Luckily, UM and SJU might be the only teams I can think of off the top of my head with that size and athleticism 1-5.

 

[albanycuse]

It wasn't Miami. He missed several wide open shots.

I think it was more Cooney than Miami. Cooney missed open shots he normally makes. I think he wasnt as in tuned as he normally is and had an off night. Its not like he didnt have open looks , he had 12 of them.

 

[two3zone]

I think it was more Cooney than Miami. Cooney missed open shots he normally makes. I think he wasnt as in tuned as he normally is and had an off night. Its not like he didnt have open looks , he had 12 of them.

I don't think he has 12 open looks, but he did have at least 7.

I don't think it's a "tuned in" thing, Cooney is one of those guys who just doesn't stop on the court, even while missing a majority of his shots, he's still running around getting open, playing solid D. He's tuned in, but every shooter. I don't care if you're Steve Novak, you're going to have off days, it just happens. Saying he wasn't tuned in just sounds to me like he was prepared or didn't care which sounds like a slight to him which I just think is unfair. I don't think there's anybody more upset about Cooney's performance than himself, I'm sure after his first miss he was "tuned in" to making his next, and the next, and the next.

 

[albanycuse]

I don't think he has 12 open looks, but he did have at least 7. I don't think it's a "tuned in" thing, Cooney is one of those guys who just doesn't stop on the court, even while missing a majority of his shots, he's still running around getting open, playing solid D. He's tuned in, but every shooter. I don't care if you're Steve Novak, you're going to have off days, it just happens. Saying he wasn't tuned in just sounds to me like he was prepared or didn't care which sounds like a slight to him which I just think is unfair. I don't think there's anybody more upset about Cooney's performance than himself, I'm sure after his first miss he was "tuned in" to making his next, and the next, and the next.

His shot wasn't tuned in not his whole game. Aka his shot was off. He still made an impact which was huge because he didnt let his off shooting night affect his whole game. You just got carried any with my use of tuned in.

 

[two3zone]

His shot wasn't tuned in not his whole game. Aka his shot was off. He still made an impact which was huge because he didnt let his off shooting night affect his whole game. You just got carried any with my use of tuned in.

My bad, when I think of tuned in I think of a guy loafing it. Like, if you talk about basketball and say somebody's not tuned in, I'd think JR Smith.

 

[Dave85]

The best part of Cooney's game was hitting the clutch free throws. This will help down the road in bigger games.

 

[doc05]

I thik Gbinje is going to have to get more run against big guards like that.

 

[Trueblue25]

Cooney had an off day everyone does.

Cooney should realize though that he's a good enough athlete where if he's cold from three he can help the team in other ways. He should have been working to create opportunities for Rak, Jerami and CJ instead of jacking up threes until he could find a streak.

Cooney shooting threes should not be what our offense revolves around. We have long, strong athletic forwards that our guard should drive and dish down low to.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I don't think he has 12 open looks, but he did have at least 7.

I don't think it's a "tuned in" thing, Cooney is one of those guys who just doesn't stop on the court, even while missing a majority of his shots, he's still running around getting open, playing solid D. He's tuned in, but every shooter. I don't care if you're Steve Novak, you're going to have off days, it just happens. Saying he wasn't tuned in just sounds to me like he was prepared or didn't care which sounds like a slight to him which I just think is unfair. I don't think there's anybody more upset about Cooney's performance than himself, I'm sure after his first miss he was "tuned in" to making his next, and the next, and the next.

The problem IMO, may be the exact opposite. That the stress and pressure adversely affected him. This was his problem last year.

Cooney has given us the most important needed improvement so far - hitting from 3. But a lot of people have of people have anointed him GMac-like status and are not paying attention to the hoped for improvements in a normal players progression. Things like in-conference, and away games are demons he still needs to slay IMO.

Obviously we can win when Cooney is off. But we have seen what SU can be when Cooney is on from 3 and we are so much more dangerous. It is the biggest in-season improvement we need.

 

[Dave85]

Cooney has given us the most important needed improvement so far - hitting from 3. But a lot of people have of people have anointed him GMac-like status and are not paying attention to the hoped for improvements in a normal players progression. Things like in-conference, and away games are demons he still needs to slay IMO.

It took James Southerland 4 years before he had his game against Arkansas. I don't think we are going to have to wait that long for Cooney to have a night like that.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

It took James Southerland 4 years before he had his game against Arkansas. I don't think we are going to have to wait that long for Cooney to have a night like that.

It is great to have the 3 pt specialists shooting with confidence. If Cooney can follow the JS example and use the warm forgiving southern rims (Ark for JS, Maui for TC) as a building block for confidence throughout the season we will be in good shape.

 

[br801]

Cooney had an off day everyone does.

Cooney should realize though that he's a good enough athlete where if he's cold from three he can help the team in other ways. He should have been working to create opportunities for Rak, Jerami and CJ instead of jacking up threes until he could find a streak.

Cooney shooting threes should not be what our offense revolves around. We have long, strong athletic forwards that our guard should drive and dish down low to.

That's correct. But where was the offense going to come from yesterday? Miami was making it tough for Fair and Grant to get touches and good looks. The center position, in the absence of Coleman, was not going to be given any sort of offensive priority. Ennis was patient and conservative in how he managed the game (likely to JB's satisfaction), and that paid off in the end; had he forced things more, they might have wound up facing an insurmountable deficit against a very good defense.

That said, I would like to see Ennis be more aggressive in putting up some 3s when he has a decent opportunity simply to keep defenses more honest, much as MCW did at times last season. If he's reluctant to take that shot, it will make it harder for Cooney to get open.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Don't forget Jerami, now a starter only scored 5 points in 38 minutes of play too. This team has to play like a team and not allow any one player be the total key to our success.

We were out rebounded with 12 of our 17 rebounds being offensive - heck with the way we were missing shots, we had plenty of available offensive rebounds. Thank heavens we took care of the ball and had so few turnovers.

That Jekiri kid #23 made our big guys look small - I'm interested in watching his progress over 2 more years - he could be a monster. His conditioning must be an issue since he only played 18 minutes.

By the way Larranaga is a very good and smart coach who's been pretty successful wherever he's been. Surprised he never got a call to coach his alma mater, Providence - they had a quite the revolving door through the years at coach. It took Larranaga till 2 years ago when he was 62 to get a major conference coaching gig and he never even got any high profile mid-major opportunities during his long career. Wonder why?

 

[NineOneSeven]

Don't over think this people. Cooney is a shooter. Cooney has had a ridiculous start to the year from three. All shooters have off nights. It happens. Nothing to see here.

 

[tee1222]

Don't over think this people. Cooney is a shooter. Cooney has had a ridiculous start to the year from three. All shooters have off nights. It happens. Nothing to see here.

Boom.
#straighttruth

 

[sufandu]

Clearly our facilities guys installed the firmer in-conference rims.

 

[LennX6]

Cooney had an off day...a really, really off day. He had mostly open shots. He couldn't hit. It happens, no big knock on Cooney. But if he had hit 40% of his shots (all threes), SU has a comfortable win. Not only do they have those extra points, but decent shooting form Cooney opens up the Miami zone for Fair, Ennis, and everybody else.

Isn't it amazing after a little over a year of consternation by the fan base, including myself, that now, opposing defenses are designing their schemes around Cooney?

 

[Trueblue25]

That's correct. But where was the offense going to come from yesterday? Miami was making it tough for Fair and Grant to get touches and good looks. The center position, in the absence of Coleman, was not going to be given any sort of offensive priority. Ennis was patient and conservative in how he managed the game (likely to JB's satisfaction), and that paid off in the end; had he forced things more, they might have wound up facing an insurmountable deficit against a very good defense.

That said, I would like to see Ennis be more aggressive in putting up some 3s when he has a decent opportunity simply to keep defenses more honest, much as MCW did at times last season. If he's reluctant to take that shot, it will make it harder for Cooney to get open.

I think it was there.

The problem was the ball movement seemed to be focused on getting Cooney an open three, which happened several times.

I think that our guards (Cooney, Gbinije and Ennis) should drive and penetrate then find someone like Christmas whose gained position in the paint to finish.

Fair, Grant and Xmas are all great down low when they are given the ball in position. Its the guards jobs to create offense/opportunities.

Cooney should be around the perimeter to kick it out to. This is much like how it was with Rautins when we had AO or Jackson.

 

[rrlbees]

Clearly our facilities guys installed the firmer in-conference rims.

Plus it was real cold out and everyone knows rims are softer in warm weather climates.