End of first half thoughts after rewatching

[Cuseball]

Despite not wanting to revisit I took the time to rewatch the first half while focusing on the final four minutes.

As we know a complete grind but we tied it up 20-20 on three free throws from Buddy.

- Next we had a couple stops and couple chances for the lead.
- 1st possession for the lead: Jesse travels and turns it over
- 2nd possession for lead: Buddy drives and misses an open 12 footer

- Houston hits the three after the missed travel to go up 23-20

- Jesse to the bench and he is exhausted with hands on shorts.

- Buddy misses open three
-we get a stop and Kadary drives and commits and offensive foul

- Houston passes inside and the guy who doesn’t shoot fakes and Marek leaves his feet, drives and scores and an one 26-20. Bad play by Marek as he has to make that guy shoot the jumper

- Buddy horrible pass at top of the key and breakaway layup for Houston 28-20

- Braswell weak drive and blocked

- Buddy penetrated past and alley OOP for dunk 30-20. Big guys had no choose to come out after Buddy is beat.

- Buddy misses open 3

A couple observations.
-Kadary played all this time so the arguments about him playing more don’t really make sense
- Jesse was tired and needed a rest. The one play by Marek where he was faked out was where I think Jesse would have done better, besides that I can’t point to where Jesse being in the court makes any difference.
- we got a bunch of opportunities to take the lead or tie and decent looks.
- if Buddy just makes one of those looks you have a very different game
- you can second guess subs all you want but Jimmy had Kadary and Braswell out there for this key stretch and it still happened.
Cuse!

 

[tino]

Despite not wanting to revisit I took the time to rewatch the first half while focusing on the final four minutes.

As we know a complete grind but we tied it up 20-20 on three free throws from Buddy.

- Next we had a couple stops and couple chances for the lead.
- 1st possession for the lead: Jesse travels and turns it over
- 2nd possession for lead: Buddy drives and misses an open 12 footer

- Houston hits the three after the missed travel to go up 23-20

- Jesse to the bench and he is exhausted with hands on shorts.

- Buddy misses open three
-we get a stop and Kadary drives and commits and offensive foul

- Houston passes inside and the guy who doesn’t shoot fakes and Marek leaves his feet, drives and scores and an one 26-20. Bad play by Marek as he has to make that guy shoot the jumper

- Buddy horrible pass at top of the key and breakaway layup for Houston 28-20

- Braswell weak drive and blocked

- Buddy penetrated past and alley OOP for dunk 30-20. Big guys had no choose to come out after Buddy is beat.

- Buddy misses open 3

A couple observations.
-Kadary played all this time so the arguments about him playing more don’t really make sense
- Jesse was tired and needed a rest. The one play by Marek where he was faked out was where I think Jesse would have done better, besides that I can’t point to where Jesse being in the court makes any difference.
- we got a bunch of opportunities to take the lead or tie and decent looks.
- if Buddy just makes one of those looks you have a very different game
- you can second guess subs all you want but Jimmy had Kadary and Braswell out there for this key stretch and it still happened.
Cuse!

Good post but totaly disagree, we keep Jesse in their for the last 2 min, houston dosnt score like they did.

 

[jdubs30]

In the WVU we always had an answer. Saturday night was full of blown opportunities. We rarely cashed in wheb Houston gave us an opening - they did the opposite

 

[pokercuse08]

Jesse was tired and needed a rest. The one play by Marek where he was faked out was where I think Jesse would have done better, besides that I can’t point to where Jesse being in the court makes any difference.

He'd be tougher to throw the alley oop over, for starters. What were the rebounding margins after he came out?

I also think a big part of it was just that when we went to Kadary and Edwards, Houston looked unprepared for that lineup. They looked uncomfortable, Sampson was shouting at guys, they were making mistakes.

Jesse being tired makes it more understandable, but it would have been worth using a timeout to spell him to get him through the rest of the half, then trying to manage him around media timeouts to get 16+ minutes out of him in the second half.

 

[dasher]

He'd be tougher to throw the alley oop over, for starters. What were the rebounding margins after he came out?

I also think a big part of it was just that when we went to Kadary and Edwards, Houston looked unprepared for that lineup. They looked uncomfortable, Sampson was shouting at guys, they were making mistakes.

Jesse being tired makes it more understandable, but it would have been worth using a timeout to spell him to get him through the rest of the half, then trying to manage him around media timeouts to get 16+ minutes out of him in the second half.

That is thinking after the fact. Not before. I know because I did the same thing. I was thinking we should have kept him in there even if tired, because we had the half for him to rest. Plus, we could have used a time out to keep him fresh. But in real time, no one was thinking that. We could use our starting line up and survive 2 minutes. We could think that until we couldn't. Fair is fair. Once we knew what did happen, it is really easy to say what we should have done.

 

[jdubs30]

We can nitpick all we want about the Jesse/Marek decision. Fact is with 4min left in the game, Houston only had 51pts. Our defense wasn’t the issue.

According to the stats, this was Houston’s worse offensive game all year in Points per Possesion and Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. It was their 3rd worst game all year in offensive rebounding percentage. That shot 27% from 3. They only made 9 FTs.

unfortunately it was their best defensive game of the year - Marek would be a better option to overcome that than Jesse.

Jesse was fantastic in his 19 minutes, but if he plays 25 minutes I’m not sure we win either because offensively we were awful

 

[pokercuse08]

That is thinking after the fact. Not before. I know because I did the same thing. I was thinking we should have kept him in there even if tired, because we had the half for him to rest. Plus, we could have used a time out to keep him fresh. But in real time, no one was thinking that. We could use our starting line up and survive 2 minutes. We could think that until we couldn't. Fair is fair. Once we knew what did happen, it is really easy to say what we should have done.

I mean, I was yelling at the TV when he took Edwards out. I'm not saying it was as coherent as my post above...

 

[CuseFaninVT]

That is thinking after the fact. Not before. I know because I did the same thing. I was thinking we should have kept him in there even if tired, because we had the half for him to rest. Plus, we could have used a time out to keep him fresh. But in real time, no one was thinking that. We could use our starting line up and survive 2 minutes. We could think that until we couldn't. Fair is fair. Once we knew what did happen, it is really easy to say what we should have done.

I didn't think for one second after we saw what Jesse did to them in the first half that we'd survive at any point during that game with Marek back at the 5. Ever. I was screaming from the second I saw Jesse go to the bench. We were 2 minutes from the half. Suck it up and press forward with the lineup that was working.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

We can nitpick all we want about the Jesse/Marek decision. Fact is with 4min left in the game, Houston only had 51pts. Our defense wasn’t the issue.

According to the stats, this was Houston’s worse offensive game all year in Points per Possesion and Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. It was their 3rd worst game all year in offensive rebounding percentage. That shot 27% from 3. They only made 9 FTs.

unfortunately it was their best defensive game of the year - Marek would be a better option to overcome that than Jesse.

Jesse was fantastic in his 19 minutes, but if he plays 25 minutes I’m not sure we win either because offensively we were awful

Marek did next to nothing on the offensive end. 1-6 from the floor. No free throws, and only 2 assists. In 35 minutes. Jesse had 5 points in 19 minutes. I'd like to see how that would have looked balanced out a bit more.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I didn't think for one second after we saw what Jesse did to them in the first half that we'd survive at any point during that game with Marek back at the 5. Ever. I was screaming from the second I saw Jesse go to the bench. We were 2 minutes from the half. Suck it up and press forward with the lineup that was working.

Exactly. I believe JB was following his narrative that Marek has to play X minutes at the 5 come hell or high water. JB used to be known for riding a lineup that was effective even if it meant the players were gassed. Jesse at 50% was still better than Marek. We were the better team with Jesse. The +/- differential is typically overused but the contrast in this game was obvious to everyone, even the announcers. You weren't the only once screaming.

JB's response to the reporter's question about this move is just as offensive.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Marek did next to nothing on the offensive end. 1-6 from the floor. No free throws, and only 2 assists. In 35 minutes. Jesse had 5 points in 19 minutes. I'd like to see how that would have looked balanced out a bit more.

Marek and Quincy not capitalizing meant we had to win this game with defense and keep the score in the low 50s. You play Jesse 40 minutes and if he drops dead so be it.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Marek and Quincy not capitalizing meant we had to win this game with defense and keep the score in the low 50s. You play Jesse 40 minutes and if he drops dead so be it.

Our defense often looks much better with Marek as a forward as well.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Our defense often looks much better with Marek as a forward as well.

Yes, that's part of the package deal with Jesse in the middle. Ideal length along the back-line.

 

[MikeSU02]

Despite not wanting to revisit I took the time to rewatch the first half while focusing on the final four minutes.

As we know a complete grind but we tied it up 20-20 on three free throws from Buddy.

- Next we had a couple stops and couple chances for the lead.
- 1st possession for the lead: Jesse travels and turns it over
- 2nd possession for lead: Buddy drives and misses an open 12 footer

- Houston hits the three after the missed travel to go up 23-20

- Jesse to the bench and he is exhausted with hands on shorts.

- Buddy misses open three
-we get a stop and Kadary drives and commits and offensive foul

- Houston passes inside and the guy who doesn’t shoot fakes and Marek leaves his feet, drives and scores and an one 26-20. Bad play by Marek as he has to make that guy shoot the jumper

- Buddy horrible pass at top of the key and breakaway layup for Houston 28-20

- Braswell weak drive and blocked

- Buddy penetrated past and alley OOP for dunk 30-20. Big guys had no choose to come out after Buddy is beat.

- Buddy misses open 3

A couple observations.
-Kadary played all this time so the arguments about him playing more don’t really make sense
- Jesse was tired and needed a rest. The one play by Marek where he was faked out was where I think Jesse would have done better, besides that I can’t point to where Jesse being in the court makes any difference.
- we got a bunch of opportunities to take the lead or tie and decent looks.
- if Buddy just makes one of those looks you have a very different game
- you can second guess subs all you want but Jimmy had Kadary and Braswell out there for this key stretch and it still happened.
Cuse!

Big thing to keep in mind is that was after we had clawed back from a serious deficit.

So we claw back after the initial deficit to start the game and then we fight, fight, fight... and you just can't keep doing that.

Then we run out the same starting lineup to start the second half that got us into the initial hole in the first place.

We had chances. Buddy can't score 30 a game, that's not fair to him.

 

[orangemass]

The missed travel was big... It felt big at the time and it turned momentum

 

[CU44SE]

Marek was terrible Saturday night. At the end of the half he had 2 fouls. He wasn’t going to pick up his 3rd like he did the other day against WVU. He was a sieve in the back end that last 2 mins of the first half.

offensively I agree marek gives you more on offense. But he did not this game. He couldn’t buy a bucket. He was left wide open multiple times and absolutely refused to shoot. IMO he didn’t do much for our offensive game. Edwards had more of an impact on offense in this game as well. Yes it wasn’t always pretty. He rushed a shot in the second half and traveled but he actually looked involved. Marek just was extremely timid and refused to take what the Houston defense was giving him.

 

[PauliePeppas]

The missed travel was big... It felt big at the time and it turned momentum

100%...I know its crazy to say but right after it happened I thought it was over

 

[Nicknack]

Despite not wanting to revisit I took the time to rewatch the first half while focusing on the final four minutes.

As we know a complete grind but we tied it up 20-20 on three free throws from Buddy.

- Next we had a couple stops and couple chances for the lead.
- 1st possession for the lead: Jesse travels and turns it over
- 2nd possession for lead: Buddy drives and misses an open 12 footer

- Houston hits the three after the missed travel to go up 23-20

- Jesse to the bench and he is exhausted with hands on shorts.

- Buddy misses open three
-we get a stop and Kadary drives and commits and offensive foul

- Houston passes inside and the guy who doesn’t shoot fakes and Marek leaves his feet, drives and scores and an one 26-20. Bad play by Marek as he has to make that guy shoot the jumper

- Buddy horrible pass at top of the key and breakaway layup for Houston 28-20

- Braswell weak drive and blocked

- Buddy penetrated past and alley OOP for dunk 30-20. Big guys had no choose to come out after Buddy is beat.

- Buddy misses open 3

A couple observations.
-Kadary played all this time so the arguments about him playing more don’t really make sense
- Jesse was tired and needed a rest. The one play by Marek where he was faked out was where I think Jesse would have done better, besides that I can’t point to where Jesse being in the court makes any difference.
- we got a bunch of opportunities to take the lead or tie and decent looks.
- if Buddy just makes one of those looks you have a very different game
- you can second guess subs all you want but Jimmy had Kadary and Braswell out there for this key stretch and it still happened.
Cuse!

Good recap. A few reactions...

- Disagree with the Kadary comment. He needs to play more. Just because he doesn't change the game every time on the floor doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the floor more than some guys (particularly Joe)

- Good point about Jesse. I've been critical of Boeheim this year at times but I remember watching the game live and recognizing how spent he was. That said (here comes me being critical), perhaps if he played more earlier in the season, he would have been in better game condition. Who knows.

- I think you're right about a tired Jesse not probably being better on the court. However, in my opinion, after resting during halftime, he should have started. He was a difference maker.

- Kudos to you for re-watching the game. I can't go there. Too painful.

 

[MikeSU02]

Marek was terrible Saturday night. At the end of the half he had 2 fouls. He wasn’t going to pick up his 3rd like he did the other day against WVU. He was a sieve in the back end that last 2 mins of the first half.

offensively I agree marek gives you more on offense. But he did not this game. He couldn’t buy a bucket. He was left wide open multiple times and absolutely refused to shoot. IMO he didn’t do much for our offensive game. Edwards had more of an impact on offense in this game as well. Yes it wasn’t always pretty. He rushed a shot in the second half and traveled but he actually looked involved. Marek just was extremely timid and refused to take what the Houston defense was giving him.

He kept going from an open 7 footer, instead choosing to spin move INTO the defense.

Love Marek, but that wasn't great.

 

[tino]

We can nitpick all we want about the Jesse/Marek decision. Fact is with 4min left in the game, Houston only had 51pts. Our defense wasn’t the issue.

According to the stats, this was Houston’s worse offensive game all year in Points per Possesion and Adjusted Offensive Efficiency. It was their 3rd worst game all year in offensive rebounding percentage. That shot 27% from 3. They only made 9 FTs.

unfortunately it was their best defensive game of the year - Marek would be a better option to overcome that than Jesse.

Jesse was fantastic in his 19 minutes, but if he plays 25 minutes I’m not sure we win either because offensively we were awful

but...he wsa playing so well , enough to get us back in the game before half, Merek was getting killed in the middle

 

[tino]

Good recap. A few reactions...

- Disagree with the Kadary comment. He needs to play more. Just because he doesn't change the game every time on the floor doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the floor more than some guys (particularly Joe)

- Good point about Jesse. I've been critical of Boeheim this year at times but I remember watching the game live and recognizing how spent he was. That said (here comes me being critical), perhaps if he played more earlier in the season, he would have been in better game condition. Who knows.

- I think you're right about a tired Jesse not probably being better on the court. However, in my opinion, after resting during halftime, he should have started. He was a difference maker.

- Kudos to you for re-watching the game. I can't go there. Too painful.

2 min till the half, he could have lasted , ...and your right , why was he not starting the second half

 

[tino]

Big thing to keep in mind is that was after we had clawed back from a serious deficit.

So we claw back after the initial deficit to start the game and then we fight, fight, fight... and you just can't keep doing that.

Then we run out the same starting lineup to start the second half that got us into the initial hole in the first place.

We had chances. Buddy can't score 30 a game, that's not fair to him.

so true, starting the same line up that put us in the hole, not a well coached game , saying that and loving the coach

 

[upperdeck]

Good post but totaly disagree, we keep Jesse in their for the last 2 min, houston dosnt score like they did.

yup.. leave the guy totally exhausted out there that always works out well.

 

[tino]

yup.. leave the guy totally exhausted out there that always works out well.

suck it up for 2 min, stand therein the middle put your hands up, better thn merek could have done , and who says he was so exhausted, looked fine to me, half time was a minute away

 

[upperdeck]

we had the lead at 6-7 multiple times in the 2nd half and couldnt make any shots.. just make 1-2 and the pressure is on Houston because they had no offense at all.