Exhibition Thoughts

[rrlbees]

Holy Fathers or whoever they were payed close attanetion to Cooney in there zone and shaded his way. Think about his 4 threes. 2 were sideline shots where he inbounded from the baseline to a player who screned the wing on that side of the zone and tossed it back to him. One was off a late trandsition drive from Ennis specifically to set Cooney up. The 4th was after an offensive rebound I believe. Point being we are looking to get Trevor shots from 3 and the defense is trying to stop that. Is a shooter confident? I think those two baseline inbounds plays show how confident Cooney is right now. HE also already has the offense off the pump fake but that may take some tome for him to figure out what and when to use it. Cooney has me pretty excited.

He was 6/8 at midnight madness and 3/4 last night. Not ACC competition and he's not going to shoot 75%. But it's a very positive start. Last night when he and Ennis were together early in the game, Ennis getting him in a good spot up position looked good. They have good chemistry. In the ACC games, if Cooney quickly hits his first two 3's like last night, he's not coming out 5 mins in (and Ennis 1 min later)


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[OttoinGrotto]

Last night when he and Ennis were together early in the game, Ennis getting him in a good spit up position look good. They have good chemistry.
That's part of why he's a good point. He knows that he needs to help get his shooters in to rhythm.

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[pearl31]

I don't disagree with your assesment of Rak and surely he has shown all the parts of an offensive game, played great defense at times and rebounded great for stretches. The problem IMO is that he simply doesn't play with any sense of urgency except for in short bursts and then its gone. If you aren't going to play with urgency when there are two other guys at your position what can the coach do but try one of them. I keep trhinking Rak will get it and in Canada I surely thought he showed signs but last night in a game he should have dominated as far as rebounding, blocking shots and just going hard at the rim he didn't. Coleman for all his trouble on offense had like 9 rebounds in less time. Rak skill wise and athletically probably is our best big but he has yet to show he can be relied on to really go at it consistently.

I (and a few others, I believe) have made the observation before - Rak is alot like Mookie Watkins was during his last couple of years. Great size and athleticism and flashes of greatness, but just no consistent motor. Frustrating. Hoping he can keep his motor on for longer stretches this year.

 

[jordoo]

I (and a few others, I believe) have made the observation before - Rak is alot like Mookie Watkins was during his last couple of years. Great size and athleticism and flashes of greatness, but just no consistent motor. Frustrating. Hoping he can keep his motor on for longer stretches this year.

Its most frustrating when a player has the tools and has shown them but seems to lack the drive or whatever you want to call it. Just look at how hard DC2 competes comparatively. I can live woth a guy struggling when its so obvious that he is busting his ass and trying. Same with Cooney last year on his shot, he was doing everything right except making them.

 

[pearl31]

Its most frustrating when a player has the tools and has shown them but seems to lack the drive or whatever you want to call it. Just look at how hard DC2 competes comparatively. I can live woth a guy struggling when its so obvious that he is busting his ass and trying. Same with Cooney last year on his shot, he was doing everything right except making them.

Yep.

 

[SoBristol]

As for the OP (we have an A team), it is easy to project the five who will play when the game is on the line -- the last 10 minutes.
But you can sub in Gbinije for Cooney and not lose a lot (unless of course, Cooney is getting wide open for threes); and you can sub in Rak for Keita and not lose a lot. DC is going to start, for development purposes if nothing else, so there is your 8 man rotations. The remaining guys have to prove something in the Nov & Dec games, and maybe they will. BJ and Roberson have big upsides; Patterson is a wild card. Having three guys on the margin, playing in early games, is about par for a Boeheim team.

With Rak, lack of "motor" is too easy an explanation. He works hard and can play defense. If he was as tall as Keita, he would be almost as good on defense (Keita is better on positioning and quicker to get out & recover). But on offense, he does not have the skills. Can dunk, has a move to his right. What else? Can't put the ball on the floor. No jump shot. No left hand. No drop step move.

 

[CusefanATL]

Christmas played 21 min vs marquette and 23 min in the final 4.

Not sure how that equates to little meaningful experience.

 

[OmahaCuse]

My comment is that it's hard to take away anything from a "pick up" game against D2 players. Big guys always have trouble in these games, so for us to predict how Coleman will play during the year is ridiculous. Is Coleman the next coming of Ewing, no but by the end of this year or his Jr. year a lightbulb could come on. Remember how bad Seikaly, Etan and other big guys were the first two years.

 

[SoBristol]

My comment is that it's hard to take away anything from a "pick up" game against D2 players. Big guys always have trouble in these games, so for us to predict how Coleman will play during the year is ridiculous. Is Coleman the next coming of Ewing, no but by the end of this year or his Jr. year a lightbulb could come on. Remember how bad Seikaly, Etan and other big guys were the first two years.

Depends on how the game is played (lots of run-outs, or half court sets?), and what you are looking for in particular players. We have seen 4 games in Canada and 1 exhibition game last week.

Seikaly was raw, but 6 ft 10 with high level athletic ability (could elevate, block shots, run). You could see the potential was there. Some other taller forwards came in with some skills but were thin -- and you could project normal increases in strength via S&C that would allow the potential to come out.

At this stage, DC has played a lot of basketball (unlike Seikaly), he is smallish for a center (6ft 8), not a leaper or shot blocker, and has a limited set of inside moves. When he can use power moves to his right, he can get some points, but he isn't showing a baby hook, or a move to his left. He has improved his conditioning. He is in the rotation and can contribute.

So how does that "lightbulb" come on? This is what you can see (or not) from these early November games -- what has a player added to his game? What does he need to do to add?