I Am Simply in a State of Shock......

[newmexicuse]

I have been a long time critic of the Zone, and each year as the game evolved our D has gotten relatively worse and worse.

However, even I am in shock about how much our D has deteriorated this season.

How is it possible that Jimmy doesnt see this ?

How is it possible that jimmy wont even try some M2M ???

I feel like our program has become a Twilight Zone episode, except that Twilight Zone episodes were watchable and our D is not.

 

[jgeorge322]

Were the only team in D1 that cant play m2m.

 

[Day2]

I have been a long time critic of the Zone, and each year as the game evolved our D has gotten relatively worse and worse.

However, even I am in shock about how much our D has deteriorated this season.

How is it possible that Jimmy doesnt see this ?

How is it possible that jimmy wont even try some M2M ???

I feel like our program has become a Twilight Zone episode, except that Twilight Zone episodes were watchable and our D is not.

I’m thinking of Victor Morrow.

 

[PoppyHart]

Admitting failure is very very hard for certain personality types.

 

[SoBristol]

So you are thinking this team, playing M2M, or mixing defenses, would be beating Duke, Clemson, Pitt? That this is a talented bunch if only JB was less stubborn?

I am all for M2M, for future SU teams, but this roster just isn’t that good. 8th or 9th in ACC talent - best case.

 

[81South]

Can’t put lipstick on this pig. We stink regardless of the defense you roll out there.

 

[Fanalways]

Can’t put lipstick on this pig. We stink regardless of the defense you roll out there.

For the most part, this team cannot consistently make baskets. Instead of passing the ball around, tend to take wild shots. Sometimes they're lucky and the ball goes in.

 

[SU91]

So you are thinking this team, playing M2M, or mixing defenses, would be beating Duke, Clemson, Pitt? That this is a talented bunch if only JB was less stubborn?

I am all for M2M, for future SU teams, but this roster just isn’t that good. 8th or 9th in ACC talent - best case.

Exactly. I think people are delusional like playing m2m would make a difference. It wouldn’t.

 

[Hopkins16]

Our zone defense is only effective with good defenders who understand the system. Joe is in his 4th year and still is a horrible defender. Our forwards are never in the right place and aren't elite players. It takes more than being long and athletic - you need a certain level of instincts and basketball IQ that is lacking in these 1 and 2 star athletes that are now our norm. Bottom line, we are in the best conference so we need better players. I was worried about how we would fare in the ACC, and believed we would have been better off in a much weaker Big East. In order to get better players, we will need a new brand name coach who can attract big time recruits (Miller, Pitino, Smart etc.). I used to hope for Hopkins (hence the name) or Red, but we are in such a deeply bad place that those guys should no longer be in the conversation. If Boeheim would have handed one of them a relevant and vibrant team (like Roy and Mike did) then continued success with a legacy player as coach would be easier to achieve. But, at this point we need an overhaul.

 

[Scooch]

So you are thinking this team, playing M2M, or mixing defenses, would be beating Duke, Clemson, Pitt? That this is a talented bunch if only JB was less stubborn?

I am all for M2M, for future SU teams, but this roster just isn’t that good. 8th or 9th in ACC talent - best case.

That’s not really the point though.

I agree that the talent on this team is subpar (yet again). JB the GM has absolutely stunk in recent years.

The issue is that a coach has to be creative and flexible enough to try different approaches when things go wrong. JB simply doesn’t. It’s an utter failure of leadership. I’ve literally never seen anything like it from any team I follow. And I’ve followed some awful teams (the Rod Rust 1-15 Patriots say hello).

 

[SoBristol]

That’s not really the point though.

I agree that the talent on this team is subpar (yet again). JB the GM has absolutely stunk in recent years.

The issue is that a coach has to be creative and flexible enough to try different approaches when things go wrong. JB simply doesn’t. It’s an utter failure of leadership. I’ve literally never seen anything like it from any team I follow. And I’ve followed some awful teams (the Rod Rust 1-15 Patriots say hello).

Having followed JB’s teams all his years, I can’t be shocked. This season he has tinkered with his starting line-ups and rotations more than in many seasons. He has pressed a tad more than usual. Both out of necessity, given the situation.
Different approaches and adjustments are wonderful in theory, if you have useful bench players or different styles that your guys can execute.
I am not sure it would be “better leadership” but it might be amusing to see what else Bell, Benny, Taylor and Joe can do.

 

[Scooch]

Having followed JB’s teams all his years, I can’t be shocked. This season he has tinkered with his starting line-ups and rotations more than in many seasons. He has pressed a tad more than usual. Both out of necessity, given the situation.
Different approaches and adjustments are wonderful in theory, if you have useful bench players or different styles that your guys can execute.
I am not sure it would be “better leadership” but it might be amusing to see what else Bell, Benny, Taylor and Joe can do.

JB took farrrrrr too long to start tinkering with the lineup though. He’s often done that, not make a move until very late in the season.

The press thing doesn’t move me. We rarely use it proactively.

Part of the problem is that JB doesn’t have a lot of plan B options, by choice.

 

[newmexicuse]

So you are thinking this team, playing M2M, or mixing defenses, would be beating Duke, Clemson, Pitt? That this is a talented bunch if only JB was less stubborn?

I am all for M2M, for future SU teams, but this roster just isn’t that good. 8th or 9th in ACC talent - best case.

I am thinking we dont lose by 17 plus three times in a row.

I am thinking are D wont be a source of broadcast jokes.

I am thinking maybe we arent any longer an embarrassment.

How could there be more wide open treys if we play M2M ??

How could there be fewer rebounds if we play M2M ?

How could there be more open dunks under the bucket if we play M2M ?

The point isnt necessarily beating all those teams when the roster talent is limited (another issue), but to get the most out of what u got.

 

[newmexicuse]

Our zone defense is only effective with good defenders who understand the system. Joe is in his 4th year and still is a horrible defender. Our forwards are never in the right place and aren't elite players. It takes more than being long and athletic - you need a certain level of instincts and basketball IQ that is lacking in these 1 and 2 star athletes that are now our norm. Bottom line, we are in the best conference so we need better players. I was worried about how we would fare in the ACC, and believed we would have been better off in a much weaker Big East. In order to get better players, we will need a new brand name coach who can attract big time recruits (Miller, Pitino, Smart etc.). I used to hope for Hopkins (hence the name) or Red, but we are in such a deeply bad place that those guys should no longer be in the conversation. If Boeheim would have handed one of them a relevant and vibrant team (like Roy and Mike did) then continued success with a legacy player as coach would be easier to achieve. But, at this point we need an overhaul.

The game has passed the Zone by except in games when the opponents happen to be ice cold.

Sorry, but even good defenders cant move faster than does the ball.

The Zone is a relic from the days when teams only had one or two players who could consistently make three point shots. Now everybody has three to four of those guys on the floor at all times.

Any smart team can break down the Zone.

Arent losses to Colgate enough evidence of that ???

We can only beat the dumb bunnies having bad shooting days now.

 

[Sbucketball]

The game has passed the Zone by except in games when the opponents happen to be ice cold.

Sorry, but even good defenders cant move faster than does the ball.

The Zone is a relic from the days when teams only had one or two players who could consistently make three point shots. Now everybody has three to four of those guys on the floor at all times.

Any smart team can break down the Zone.

Arent losses to Colgate enough evidence of that ???

We can only beat the dumb bunnies having bad shooting days now.

This might be the most frustrating part. We don't control our own destiny in any game. Now we only win if the other team has a bad shooting night. It's totally within our opponent's control. We just sit back and cross our fingers.

 

[Scooch]

This might be the most frustrating part. We don't control our own destiny in any game. Now we only win if the other team has a bad shooting night. It's totally within our opponent's control. We just sit back and cross our fingers.

The zone didn’t used to be this way. But it has been for several years now.

 

[Eric15]

So you are thinking this team, playing M2M, or mixing defenses, would be beating Duke, Clemson, Pitt?

Louisville beat Clemson and they're 4-25.

 

[Cusefan0307]

There’s deficiencies with the 2/3 you can point to no matter the talent. It’s always caused us to be a terrible rebounding team. That has zero to do with the talent. We are regularly one of the worst rebounding teams in the country.

It has always given up a ton of 3 point attempts. When the shooters weren’t as good that was fine. Even Battle and Brissetts last year we were getting torched. I remember UVA coming to dome and absolutely shredding us from 3 and we lost by about 35.

We’ve been torched quite about for about the past 7 seasons. We had one solid team defensively in that period, but they couldn’t score at all.

 

[jdubs30]

Per Jimmy in the post game presser, when you get your house painted you’d like for the painter to be Picasso, but it’s not realistic. That’s literally what he said when he was asked about not playing M2M.

Crazy that we are the only D1, D2 or D3 team that assembled a group of scholarship players who are incapable of playing m2m

 

[Scooch]

This thread made me remember one of the great all time unreleased songs. So our crappy hoops team has some redeeming value.

 

[Hopkins16]

The game has passed the Zone by except in games when the opponents happen to be ice cold.

Sorry, but even good defenders cant move faster than does the ball.

The Zone is a relic from the days when teams only had one or two players who could consistently make three point shots. Now everybody has three to four of those guys on the floor at all times.

Any smart team can break down the Zone.

Arent losses to Colgate enough evidence of that ???

We can only beat the dumb bunnies having bad shooting days now.

I think the zone can still be effective if used with the right players and/or situations. Other teams utilize the zone but also play man to man, not exclusively. Our downfall is solely relying on the zone and having no answers when it is ineffective.

 

[Scooch]

Every one of the best freshman class in our history played man their entire youth career.

THERE IS NO WAY WE CAN PLAY MAN WE’RE A ZONE TEAM!!!1!!11!!

 

[Scooch]

Louisville beat Clemson and they're 4-25.

Hey, every ACC team who’s lost this season has played man!!!*

*Excluding Syracuse

Also, every team in the ACC who’s won this season has played man. Excluding Syracuse.

Maybe master of implicit statistics Jim Boeheim needs a refresher on correlation and causation.

 

[gmoney44]

Louisville beat Clemson and they're 4-25.

Some act as if Clemson is all world. I mean we made them look it but they are nothing special.

 

[Sbucketball]

I think the zone can still be effective if used with the right players and/or situations. Other teams utilize the zone but also play man to man, not exclusively. Our downfall is solely relying on the zone and having no answers when it is ineffective.

I love the zone when it works. I only hate it when it doesn't. Mixing defenses is a necessity today.