How good are you feeling about the Miami game?

[FrancoPizza]

I can't say I have good vibes in the pit of my stomach, simply because history doesn't paint a reassuring picture. In other bubble years, the only time we've really helped ourselves in the conference tournament was 2006. Outside of that miracle run, all I can remember is coming out flat in the first game, many of which always started at noon.

What I do know for sure is that I'll be quite unproductive that morning. But I will say that after losing to St Johns by 50 and getting emasculated by BC in January, I think many of us had pulled the plug on any emotional investment. It was a foreign out-of-body experience, and spring couldn't get here soon enough. So the fact that we have a game of significance in the ACC tournament shows how far we've come.

 

[RF2044]

I was surprised at how poorly Miami played in our first match-up. I think our play contributed to that but they didn't look like a Larranega coached team. Simple game for us, can we get open shots in rhythm and knock them down.

IIRC, that was the first game that we marched out the new starting lineup, and played differently than we had up until that point. That probably had a lot to do with it.

Not much to say that hasn't already been said in this thread. Hopefully, playing in Brooklyn will give us an advantage Wednesday. I doubt it will Thursday [if we advance]; UNC fans travel strongly.

I think we match up pretty well with Miami. Need to bring a better effort than the last time we played in the Barclay Center, against South Carolina. This would be an important win for us if we could pick it up.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Miami is good on D, which makes me nervous. I wouldn't be surprised to see them guard White the way Duke did and force Gillon/Lydon/Battle to beat them. Gillon must play well, as he did in the first matchup. We have to get out on the shooters and control the interior again. Miami is a good matchup in that area, since they don't really have a strong interior presence. We have to make sure that that is to our advantage. This is a game Lydon must step up in.

This is a must-win. I have a feeling we're going to see a lot of bubble teams pick up wins this week based on the matchups we're seeing. I don't want to fall back because of a loss and other teams wins.

 

[cuse10]

Depends on which Syracuse team shows up and the one that hasn't played well away from the Dome is likely to rear its ugly head tomorrow.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Depends on which Syracuse team shows up and the one that hasn't played well away from the Dome is likely to rear its ugly head tomorrow.

What type of road team do you think Miami is?

Hint* They have exactly 2 more road wins than us and one is against North Florida.

 

[CorduroyG]

hard to know what cuse team we're gonna see since we've been so good at home and so bad on the road.

 

[Briancuse]

A lot better than I did going into the Pitt game last year.

 

[Madbiker]

It's a 50/50 game. Depends on if White's shot is on and if we get "good" Gillon or not. Teams that live and die by the 3 ( meaning us) are always inconsistent.

 

[longislandcuse]

I'm really hoping to see a continuation of the first half defense against Georgia Tech. That was lights out.

Combine that with average rebounding and average shooting by our team and we win.

 

[cuse10]

What type of road team do you think Miami is?

Hint* They have exactly 2 more road wins than us and one is against North Florida.

It's two more than Syracuse has.

 

[Col. Bleep]

We need a win to get in.
There are too many teams with similar records as the Orange...and a few wins over top teams.

The early season out of conference losses to former Big East teams are so awful.
They put the Orange in exactly the opposite situation they were in last year when good early season wins helped them get into the tourney.

So...it's likely a battle...another must win game.
But the Orange have been pretty good at coming through in those with explosive outbursts.
Right, NC State?
Right, Georgia Tech?

As the pro wrestler Goldberg might have said back in the day, "Miami: you're next!"

 

[sugrad68]

If SU loses to Miami, the one guy I don't want to be responsible for the win for Miami is Vasiljevic. I looked at Miami's games against teams that I consider to be the defensive elite in the ACC -- Duke, NC, ND, UVA, Louisville -- and he did almost nothing against them. Against SU, 6-12 all from beyond the 3-point line. No rebounds. No assists. How hard is it to defend a guy when he can do only one thing -- shoot from long distance? Come on Syracuse. Get in his face. Know where he is when he is in the game.

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

If SU loses to Miami, the one guy I don't want to be responsible for the win for Miami is Vasiljevic. I looked at Miami's games against teams that I consider to be the defensive elite in the ACC -- Duke, NC, ND, UVA, Louisville -- and he did almost nothing against them. Against SU, 6-12 all from beyond the 3-point line. No rebounds. No assists. How hard is it to defend a guy when he can do only one thing -- shoot from long distance? Come on Syracuse. Get in his face. Know where he is when he is in the game.

Dude is gonna bang at least 4 threes. Brace yourself.

 

[jordoo]

He's very good. Underrated. I'm 50/50 on this game. To me it all comes down to rebounding. This year (and last) we have lost to some teams like UNC and UL (obviously very good ones) who killed us on the boards and won in the paint even despite stinking it up from 3. The defense seems to be getting better. If we can hold our own and at least not get killed on the boards then I like our chances. They don't have a Jekiri-type this year so that's a plus.

LOL, its sad because its still pretty bad but I have to agree. The defense has started to have some continuity. Rebounding was huge in our first match up. I think we may have actually out rebounded them. If we do that again I think we win.

 

[dollarbill44]

Bruce Brown is the one I'm worried about.

I'm more worried about our guys. We can't have our guys standing around and reaching on defense or standing around the perimeter on offense settling for threes or contested shots as the shot clock expires. Our best games have been when we are active with our feet on defense and vary our offensive sets, looking to score both inside and outside.

 

[themorey]

If SU loses to Miami, the one guy I don't want to be responsible for the win for Miami is Vasiljevic. I looked at Miami's games against teams that I consider to be the defensive elite in the ACC -- Duke, NC, ND, UVA, Louisville -- and he did almost nothing against them. Against SU, 6-12 all from beyond the 3-point line. No rebounds. No assists. How hard is it to defend a guy when he can do only one thing -- shoot from long distance? Come on Syracuse. Get in his face. Know where he is when he is in the game.

Hopefully he's guarding Battle who can take him to the rim.

 

[Orangello]

After the GT blow out at home, it's the bad team's turn. I'm not hopeful but maybe they'll surprise me and actually show up to play a road game. The crowd will definitely be in our corner.

 

[shandeezy7]

What type of road team do you think Miami is?

Hint* They have exactly 2 more road wins than us and one is against North Florida.

They do also have 2 more neutral wins than us, albeit against Stanford and Wofford.

Edit: While the Wofford game is considered "neutral," it was at the HoopHall Miami Invitational at American Airlines Arena.

 

[Cusefan0307]

They do also have 2 more neutral wins than us, albeit against Stanford and Wofford.

Edit: While the Wofford game is considered "neutral," it was at the HoopHall Miami Invitational at American Airlines Arena.

Maybe we should play Colgate at Colgate and Cornell at Cornell to game the RPI. That's what these North Florida and Wofford wins are telling me.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I think Miami crushes us on the boards. We will need to have white stay hot and lydon to actually take shots (pass him the ball john).

 

[jordoo]

I think Miami crushes us on the boards. We will need to have white stay hot and lydon to actually take shots (pass him the ball john).

Just checked and we actually out rebounded them 30-26. That was the game White had 10. Still we did give up 12 offensive boards.

 

[NKR1978]

I feel good about the game and the ACCT. This is going to be the year we finally win a game. Miami is a good team and can definitely beat us, but they aren't really a match up nightmare like UNC is and like Virginia had been up until the E8.

 

[Cuse House]

I say we win if we don't spot them 10 points at the beginning of the game. Pretty sure we jumped on them early at the Dome and never gave them a chance. We are bad about coming out with a lack of focus this year. Need to be locked in from the tip tomorrow.

 

[Oráiste]

 

[jordoo]

I say we win if we don't spot them 10 points at the beginning of the game. Pretty sure we jumped on them early at the Dome and never gave them a chance. We are bad about coming out with a lack of focus this year. Need to be locked in from the tip tomorrow.

No doubt we have put ourselves behind the 8ball quite often this season.