Didn't take long to shrink the bench

[jekelish]

No Southerland, Rak or MCW in the second half. Very disappointing. I know our unit that's played most of the second half has been very good, but still hate to see the bench shrink so quickly in the year.

 

[hungrychuck]

No Southerland, Rak or MCW in the second half. Very disappointing. I know our unit that's played most of the second half has been very good, but still hate to see the bench shrink so quickly in the year.

Old dogs and leopards.

 

[fanfanclubclub]

No Southerland, Rak or MCW in the second half. Very disappointing. I know our unit that's played most of the second half has been very good, but still hate to see the bench shrink so quickly in the year.

not much scoop either. Loved the short bench.

Triche
Waiters
Joseph
Fair
Melo

those are our horses imo, with BMK as our best sub. I think we'll go as far as this lineup takes us, they were dominant tonight.

 

[jekelish]

Hate the short bench this early in the year. You're telling me up 10 or so much of the second half Dirty, Rak and MCW couldn't get some experience?

 

[STEVEHOLT]

the expanded bench will be back in december..and then it will disappear again in january.

 

[jekelish]

I don't disagree that Waiters, Triche, KJ, CJ and Melo is our best lineup, but our biggest strength this year is the incredible depth and talent we have. If we don't use that depth and talent, we are really limiting ourselves in the long run.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Slow pace of the game by VT didn't require much of a bench. JB just used the guys that were playing the best.

 

[Scotch]

Hate the short bench this early in the year. You're telling me up 10 or so much of the second half Dirty, Rak and MCW couldn't get some experience?

Scoop, Rak and South didn't play well. Don't blame JB.

 

[Marsh01]

we were down and the lineup that was in there was working and ultimately broke the game open. why mess with it. I have no issue with it whatsoever.

 

[mountaincuse]

we will be back to the longer bench soon enough - they played like crap as a whole and then a group got hot so Jim rode it out. that's what he does.

If everybody plays good from the start, they all will see good time.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

MSG Nerves.

 

[jordoo]

Come on Rak was lost on defense and and the game was close most of the way.
MCW and James both got to miss a shot in first half before finding their seats.
Scoop is just keeping Dion's starting spot warm.
Baye was the bench in the second half.

 

[RF2044]

Scoop, Rak and South didn't play well. Don't blame JB.

Agreed. I have no problem with how Boeheim utilized the roster in the second half. He went with the hot hand [especially playing Dion / Triche over Scoop].

Might have been different if VT didn't shoot the lights out in building that lead, or if the players referenced above had contributed more when they were in.

 

['72 Orange]

This was a preview of the Big East rotation.

 

[MadNY3]

No Southerland, Rak or MCW in the second half. Very disappointing. I know our unit that's played most of the second half has been very good, but still hate to see the bench shrink so quickly in the year.

It's funny. I like getting wins versus winning a participation badge.

Take the win over a solid team.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Glad to see Fab being a contributor.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Come on Rak was lost on defense and and the game was close most of the way.
MCW and James both got to miss a shot in first half before finding their seats.
Scoop is just keeping Dion's starting spot warm.
Baye was the bench in the second half.

Not arguing for or against the short bench, but the idea that if you miss your first shot you deserve the pine for the remainder of the game is kind of ludicrous

 

[jordoo]

Not arguing for or against the short bench, but the idea that if you miss your first shot you deserve the pine for the remainder of the game is kind of ludicrous

It was a joke! MCW took a bad shot though. James missed a rebound he should have had and guided his only attempt rather than just releasing the ball as he has been.

 

[hungrychuck]

Scoop, Rak and South didn't play well. Don't blame JB.

Wait, I thought South was the most improved SU player ever?

I read that here, must be true.

 

[OttoMets]

Christmas needs game minutes. I don't care what he did in the first two minutes; this team is going to be worse for it two months from now if he gets the Fab treatment. Everyone saw what kind of defensive rebounding we have with Fair at the four.

The short bench was inevitable, but that doesn't make it less disappointing.

 

[jekelish]

I don't disagree that the people playing the best basketball were on the floor, and I HATE the idea of subbing for the sake of subbing. At the same time, in the grand scheme this is a pretty meaningless game and I'd have liked to give a couple of our young guys a bit more of the trial by fire to get them ready in case we need them later in the year. We have played so well with a 10 man rotation so far, after all.

 

[RF2044]

Christmas needs game minutes. I don't care what he did in the first two minutes; this team is going to be worse for it two months from now if he gets the Fab treatment. Everyone saw what kind of defensive rebounding we have with Fair at the four.

The short bench was inevitable, but that doesn't make it less disappointing.

Guys--relax. This was our first game away from home, and if I'm not mistaken we were down by 7 in the second half. Boeheim went with guys he's more comfortable with [which meant that MCW, Rak, and Southerland sat] as we fought our way back, and then rode the hot hand the rest of the way.

There is no question that our young players need developmental playing time. For that matter, so do Fab / Keita and to a lesser extent, Dion / Fair. Hopefully they will get that opportunity after Friday, when we have a slate of more favorable games [other than the road game @ NC State] to get them plenty of run.

 

[fanfanclubclub]

Hate the short bench this early in the year. You're telling me up 10 or so much of the second half Dirty, Rak and MCW couldn't get some experience?

Our best players need minutes and reps too, three of them are only sophs. In the tourney, we will only play 8.5, so investing a ton of minutes and reps in the deep bench limits our tourney upside. We only have a couple cupcakes left, so I'm glad we are investing tons of floor time in the all star lineup.

I don't disagree that Waiters, Triche, KJ, CJ and Melo is our best lineup, but our biggest strength this year is the incredible depth and talent we have. If we don't use that depth and talent, we are really limiting ourselves in the long run.

IMO, it's our all star lineup (Triche, Waiters, Joseph, Fair, Melo/BMK), and not our depth, that is our real strength this year. This lineup scares the crap out of everyone.

I don't think Jardine, MCW, Southerland, and Xmas are quite up to par as championship caliber players right now, although MCW probably will be ready really soon.

 

[billsin01]

Hate the short bench this early in the year. You're telling me up 10 or so much of the second half Dirty, Rak and MCW couldn't get some experience?

Huh? 10 or so for much of the second half? Cuse was up by 10 or more for 2 possessions until Triche's 3 officially ended things with 3:22 left. I like both MCW and Rak and think Southerland will still get plenty of minutes, if I had to guess, but there was a game to win until the 3 minute mark.

 

[JohnCuse44]

No Southerland, Rak or MCW in the second half. Very disappointing. I know our unit that's played most of the second half has been very good, but still hate to see the bench shrink so quickly in the year.

Yeah but we won the game right?

I see your point but I think JB put out the players he thought could win the game. Lets not forget we were down 7 points at one time in the 2nd half. Yeah it would have been nice to see them get a few minutes but I guess JB figured he couldn't let them in and risk a change in momentum. Old dog new tricks etc...