Hooville Postgame thoughts... | Page 10 | Syracusefan.com

Hooville Postgame thoughts...

The Mummy = the Greek Freak, compared to McLeod's mobility.
-and he didn't get pushed around.
Good thing the 2-3 mostly scrapped -McLeod defending corner 3's not ideal.
 
Hard to beat good teams being one dimensional.
Dribble drive.
We need forwards as we don't have any worth a darn and we need shooters. Taylor and Bell are average shooters at best.

They can't shoot with someone in their face or drive to the basket, that's what really hurts.

And yes, this dribble drive only works some of the time but not against good D.

It seems the spread out and drive to the hoop thus hoping to get the second D help and either drive to the basket or having 2 guys converge on the ball he passes to the corner to Bell or Taylor for a J is the thought process.
The problem is somebody drops to the corner and takes away the shot while still having 2 guys stopping the guy penetrating to the basket,
 
It’s not even that we lost…it’s how we are losing. We look lethargic. No aggression. Passive. Getting blown out by good teams and a mediocre UVA team (no Kyle guy, no London, etc. who would wipe the floor with the current UVA team).

We play sloppy. Nonstop turnovers. Bad fundamentals on defense. Something has to change or we will lose more of a fan base as we already have.
Don't be surprised when your "mediocre" UVA team wins the ACC championship.
 
I just went back and rewatched the first half.
Very close game. First sub was Maliq for Naheem at around 4 minutes.

At 8:30 (11:30 left), Benny & Copeland came in.

The reason they came in was that Red was using a quick hook on Chris Bell and Judah for about 3 bad defensive plays in a row between them, with Bell's failure to get back on D leading to a free breakaway that led to the time out. Judah had let their star guard get past him too easily on 2 or 3 prior possessions, and on one possession was just running around, guarding no one.

We still played them pretty even for 3 or 4 more possessions, and the defense remained pretty good, but the offense was getting stagnant. Then came a couple Copeland turnovers, and a phantom foul call on Maliq Brown that finally gave UVa their first lead.

Judah came back in, but became too ball dominant. The earlier motion had featured a lot of running by the forwards, switching sides, cutting diagonally across the lane, and looping along the baseline. There had been a few back cuts, a couple dives by Brown or Naheem after setting picks, but few passes to them.

We had some pretty good looks from 3, but neither Bell nor Taylor were hitting them. Autry did call a time out with 6 minutes and change left, when the margin got to 5 or 6 in favor of Virginia. But they didn't respond, the defense broke down again and again, and that kid got hot from 3 to blow it open.
Good observations. I recall in real time wondering why the offense got so indecisive and hoping someone would step up and carry them out of it.
 
The main issue is simple… no one can shoot. Once the other team gets up by 5 or so panic sets in and they revert to hero ball and the bottom falls out. The difference between the games they have won and lost is the the opponents they have beat were not good enough offensively to pull away.

Colgate is the one exception… not sure why Autry doesn’t go to the press more often when it’s clear this team cannot score consistently in a half court setting. I was excited yesterday after they picked up full court on the first possession… but even then they backed off and that was the only time they did it before I stopped watching.
 
Beekman #72 2020
Murray #74 2021
McKneely #52 2022
Bond #60 2022
Dunn #147 2022 (absolute steal)
Buchanan #82 2023
Gertrude #48 2023
Minor #40 transfer ranking 2023
Rhode #92 transfer ranking 2023

Beekman is the best of that group and Dunn is #2. Dunn is the only one that was an absolute steal. Dunn is also the best NBA prospect, likely a top 20 pick. Beekman would be a first round NBA pick if he improved his shot a bit. Rest of them were pretty highly ranked. UVA had the #14 recruiting class in 2022.
Beekman is why that team wins and he was banged up. We swap one of our guards for him that game is totally different.
 
The main issue is simple… no one can shoot! Once the other team gets up by 5 or so panic sets in and they revert to hero ball and the bottom falls out. The difference between the games they have won and lost is the the opponents they have beat were not good enough offensively to pull away.

Colgate is the one exception… not sure why Autry doesn’t go to the press more often when it’s clear this team cannot score consistently in a half court setting. I was excited yesterday after they picked up full court on the first possession… but even then they backed off and that was the only time they did it before I stopped watching.
But, but we’ve been hearing since April that we finally have athletes this year! SMH
 
This season is what it is. I compare it to FL and the womens team. She came in, like Red and was handed a team that they werent able to build themselves. Now in year 2 the womens team is showing signs of being back and the future looks pretty promising. I am confident that starting with next season the mens team will be on that same path.

anything we get this season is a bonus as far as i am concerned.
 
The failure to put in a working offense is my biggest concern with our coaching staff so far.
The O is fine. the shooting is horrible. This might be the worst shooting team I can remember. Lots of good athletes not very many shooters. Bell and Justin are just average. they are not even good shooters. We lack scoring forwards and good shooting guards. Can't win if the ball doesn't go in the basket.
 
The O is fine. the shooting is horrible. This might be the worst shooting team I can remember. Lots of good athletes not very many shooters. Bell and Justin are just average. they are not even good shooters. We lack scoring forwards and good shooting guards. Can't win if the ball doesn't go in the basket.
We also gave up 84 to Virginia. They’d been struggling to score 60.
 
The O is fine. the shooting is horrible. This might be the worst shooting team I can remember. Lots of good athletes not very many shooters. Bell and Justin are just average. they are not even good shooters. We lack scoring forwards and good shooting guards. Can't win if the ball doesn't go in the basket.
The O is bad bec it doesn’t put the shooters we have in a position to score. Watching yesterday it felt like JT is primarily out there to help move the ball when one of our guards gets stuck.
 
anything we get this season is a bonus as far as i am concerned.
I’m tired of this notion that we have to rebuild. We could’ve cleaned house with 80% of this roster and went outside the JB tree but we didn’t want to hurt feelings. I guess the feelings of the fan base don’t matter though.
 
its funny, our defense turned to crap after the announcer said he was impressed with our m2m - we had our normal end of half collapse and the team just gave up

i don't think a team led by Judah Mintz will ever be a consistent winner... just my two cents.
 
I’m tired of this notion that we have to rebuild. We could’ve cleaned house with 80% of this roster and went outside the JB tree but we didn’t want to hurt feelings. I guess the feelings of the fan base don’t matter though.
But we didnt hence comments
 
The O is bad bec it doesn’t put the shooters we have in a position to score. Watching yesterday it felt like JT is primarily out there to help move the ball when one of our guards gets stuck.
JT seems like a good shooter, but he needs help to get his shot off. My biggest criticism of this offense is they don’t run any screens off the ball to get him open. When Cuse had shooters like Shumpert, GMAC, Cooney we would move them all over the court and through a lot of screens trying to get them open looks. JB got away from that, maybe because it’s too hard to install full offense when you are turning your entire team over each off season. Autry hasn’t installed a single off ball screen from what I can tell. All the motion is at the top of the key.

If the offense relies in JT shooting the ball off the dribble we are in trouble.
 
One common thread in all the losses is that we can't take a punch. Runs are part of the game and it's hard to win on the road, but you have to be able to get off the mat. We either panic or sulk getting back and it results in bad shots and overhelping on defense and the 6-0 spurt becomes a 14-2 avalanche. That's where this season feels most like last season.

The roster is what it is but I wish we had more resilience. Hopefully Red uses these experiences to clarify the kinds of kids he wants to go after.
 
I’m tired of this notion that we have to rebuild. We could’ve cleaned house with 80% of this roster and went outside the JB tree but we didn’t want to hurt feelings. I guess the feelings of the fan base don’t matter though.
I mean most of the 2021 sweet 16 team had 3 years eligibility left if they wanted it and are still playing college basketball.

We’re getting almost nothing out of anyone who didn’t come here in the 2022 last JB recruiting class. Starling was a top 10 rated transfer and Westrys injuries were known JB would be getting killed for this past off-season if he was still in charge while Red gets a pass or even gets credit for making the quick adds after getting the job.
 
This season is what it is. I compare it to FL and the womens team. She came in, like Red and was handed a team that they werent able to build themselves. Now in year 2 the womens team is showing signs of being back and the future looks pretty promising. I am confident that starting with next season the mens team will be on that same path.

anything we get this season is a bonus as far as i am concerned.
Felisha won 20 games in year one. I HOPE Autry can do what Felisha did in year one but I seriously doubt it.
 
We have a big man talent evaluation problem if our staff wanted him over others guys and if they were really as high on him this offseason as insiders here said they were.
I remember Trilly saying that we contacted like every big man in the portal. Not sure if we had to settle for McLeod or if they actually were high on him.
 
I actually think we're getting better. But ...

Speaking of which, at the end of the 1st half against UVa., as they were starting to pull away with maybe 5 or 6 minutes until halftime, he should have rotated out 2 or 3 guys and thrown on the press. Maybe we get a couple turnovers, a couple easy baskets and stay in the game.

Sorry to reply to myself, but to be fair to Coach Autry and the criticism, he did pull Judah and Chris for lack of effort on defense right at that time of the game. He didn't press full bore, but they did pick them up man-to-man all the way down the floor.

And we still stayed pretty close, despite 3 bad turnovers and a stupid foul call that I don't think was a foul against Maliq Brown. When Judah came back in is when the lead ballooned right before half.
 
Beekman #72 2020
Murray #74 2021
McKneely #52 2022
Bond #60 2022
Dunn #147 2022 (absolute steal)
Buchanan #82 2023
Gertrude #48 2023
Minor #40 transfer ranking 2023
Rhode #92 transfer ranking 2023

Beekman is the best of that group and Dunn is #2. Dunn is the only one that was an absolute steal. Dunn is also the best NBA prospect, likely a top 20 pick. Beekman would be a first round NBA pick if he improved his shot a bit. Rest of them were pretty highly ranked. UVA had the #14 recruiting class in 2022.

Beekman is a good player. He reminded me a lot of those guards you see in the summer basketball tournament on ESPN, "TBT". Physical, old school toughness, hard working every minute they're on the floor, play all aspects of the game.
 
Even GT can upset a team. Err two teams.

And we haven’t gotten a Q1 win in a few years. Coaching folks. We lack it.
i really wanna like Red, I really do.

As a player, as a man, as a family guy...he's great.

but as far as coaching - what I would like to see - is an innovator, an X's and O's guy - someone like a shaka smart, nate oats, jay wright, tony bennett...a guy with a clear strategic vision who knows how to implement it...

and at this point i'll be shocked if Red can be that type of coach...isnt the point of staying in house the benefit of continuity? im not seeing how continuity is beneficial at this point.

he can still turn it around and be successful...but it'll be because he can get good talent ...( think he relates to players at an elite level...they want to play for him (at least come to his team)) ...not because he can outstrategize opponents, imo.

I want a mastermind coach.
 
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Hard to beat good teams being one dimensional.
Dribble drive.
We need forwards as we don't have any worth a darn and we need shooters. Taylor and Bell are average shooters at best.

I would say that Taylor and Bell are more "streaky" than average. Both have been working on the pump fake / dribble move to get past a closing defender for a look from 15 feet. That gives them more opportunity to get off their shots. Ball movement is the key.

Last game, they shot 2-11 between them from three (from memory, might be off a bit ...), but they had a lot of good looks. In past games, Taylor has put up contested threes; now he's starting to go past the defender for the midrange shot. They're getting better, more multi-dimensional.
 
Good observations. I recall in real time wondering why the offense got so indecisive and hoping someone would step up and carry them out of it.

JJ and Copeland ran the offense at that point. Benny came in for Bell at that time out, and made a steal, got a rebound, looked pretty good. Missed a three, but then went inside and made a midrange shot.

JJ made a few plays, and Copeland actually got a rebound in traffic, went up and got fouled, made a good pass to somebody, but then he started forcing it, and their packed in defense left him no room to do his thing, creating the bad decisions.
 
Red’s 4-out/1-in system is too stagnant, especially when 2 of the 4 (Bell and Taylor) can’t really drive by anyone 1 on 1. They are supposed to be the snipers on the kick outs, but that hasn’t been going well.

And most of the time when Mintz and Starling see or force an opening to straighline drive they have already made up their mind they are tossing up whatever garbage they can get off.

Finally, the guards seem to just ignore McLeod on the pick and roll or dump down after it amazingly works the first time every game. Gotta get their own.

And for the love of god every 7th grade gym teacher in America can teach how to use a screener better than apparently anyone on SU’s staff.
 

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