I Certainly Don't Like To Lose To Georgetown, But ...

[IthacaMatt]

We ARE playing better as a team. Buddy's slump (3 or 4 games, now) has made the other guys step up a bit.

Buddy still knows how to grind out 2 pointers in the lane when his shot isn't falling and did a very good job of that in the second half. He's a good passer off those drives, too, especially out for the weak side wing three, often to Swider.

Jesse Edwards' hands are improving the more he plays. He's getting more contested rebounds in traffic. His offense has continued even against bigger opponents like Georgetown today. He's lethal around the rim, and is doing a great job for us. Better than we could have reasonably expected. I was hoping for maybe 8 and 6, and he's killing those numbers.

Frank Anselem is playing better with more playing time, too. What did he have, 5 points in the first half? He hustles, he is making fewer dumb mistakes on defense. I feel like we have a legit back up center, even if Sidibe never recovers this season. I am not very worried about our center position.

Symir is looking better at the point. He looks more confident. His handle is looking a little better. He is contributing.

Buddy can't seem to throw a 3 in the ocean from the shore right now. I have to think he's got a leg issue. He's not getting a lot of lift on his shot, which is looking a little flat. He needs a little more arc on his shot right now, and that often comes from the lift.

I like that Swider keeps bringing it. He's not all there yet, but he's getting better, I'd just like to see him and Buddy start lighting it up from 3. I get that people are game planning against Buddy, but eventually he's going to get on a tear.

It's always tough to lose to Georgetown, and that was a winnable game. I remain optimistic that we will get better. The question is how soon that translates into wins.

 

[NineOneSeven]

5-5.

 

[IthacaMatt]

5-5.

I know. The record doesn't leave a lot of room for forgiveness, at this point.

This season is reminding me of the Andrew White / John Gillon team so far - lots of offensive weapons; learning how to play defense together. We were pretty good by the end of the year.

We need to go on a tear, but I still think this team is going to win some games.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I know. The record doesn't leave a lot of room for forgiveness, at this point.

This season is reminding me of the Andrew White / John Gillon team so far - lots of offensive weapons; learning how to play defense together. We were pretty good by the end of the year.

We need to go on a tear, but I still think this team is going to win some games.

We didn’t make the tournament and lost, 15 games? I get the comparison…. Not a comparison I want.

 

[IthacaMatt]

5-5.

I know we can't take anything for granted, but our next 4 games are Lehigh, Cornell, Georgia Tech and Virginia - all at home. And then Miami on the road.

Every one of those teams has several ugly losses, just like we do at this point.

Every one of these games is winnable. We could be 10-5 heading into Wake Forest (currently 9-1, best record in the ACC right now ...) on January 8th.

 

[IthacaMatt]

We didn’t make the tournament and lost, 15 games? I get the comparison…. Not a comparison I want.

Yes, they didn't make the tournament. It took them too long to get it together.
But the ACC is very weak this year. Most of these teams are about the same as us - flawed in several ways.

 

[djorange1989]

I know we can't take anything for granted, but our next 4 games are Lehigh, Cornell, Georgia Tech and Virginia - all at home. And then Miami on the road.

Every one of those teams has several ugly losses, just like we do at this point.

Every one of these games is winnable. We could be 10-5 heading into Wake Forest (currently 9-1, best record in the ACC right now ...) on January 8th.

Definitely not a gauntlet schedule. But after losing to the 3 unranked teams we have lost to.. hard to look past Lehigh

 

[IthacaMatt]

Definitely not a gauntlet schedule. But after losing to the 3 unranked teams we have lost to.. hard to look past Lehigh

I totally agree - Lehigh is usually a tournament team. Cornell has given us some tough games. Nothing is a "given" when we've already lost to teams like Colgate and Virginia Commonwealth.

But this is a soft spot in our schedule after a ton of games away from home. Maybe shooting in the Dome will get our guys back in the groove.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

I don't know good first half seem to be followed by some terrible basketball. Weren't we up 20 on IU at halftime?

The strong play early kind of becomes irrelevant. JB is slamming our best player in the press conferences.

ACC schedule breaks in our favor at least.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I don't know good first half seem to be followed by some terrible basketball. Weren't we up 20 on IU at halftime?

The strong play early kind of becomes irrelevant. JB is slamming our best player in the press conferences.

ACC schedule breaks in our favor at least.

Yeah, we are very inconsistent.

But if the 3 guys on the bench can start doing that every night - give us 10 points as a group, give us some good energy on defense. No dumb fouls and no dumb turnovers or lazy plays.

If they can continue to do that, this team will be far less inconsistent.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Yeah, we are very inconsistent.

But if the 3 guys on the bench can start doing that every night - give us 10 points as a group, give us some good energy on defense. No dumb fouls and no dumb turnovers or lazy plays.

If they can continue to do that, this team will be far less inconsistent.

I disagree and think we have been consistent.

We have very strong first halves and then collapse in the second half while making no substitutions in the second.

The starting 5 are good players but theres not much behind them and the coach is stubborn. We somehow won the game we collapsed even more as IU was on track to be a blowout at halftime.

We're also consistent in letting teams hit a ton of threes. Stepped it up against Nova who shockingly didn't hit 50% from deep on us yet collapsed as usual 2nd half.

Yes if Buddy, Cole, and Joe are hitting shots we will score and look good. But whats going to happen at the U8 of the 2nd half?

 

[kingtidge]

5-5.

That was a bad g-town team that had players paste career-best stat lines on us (like many teams do).

Guess what? We're not very good either...

It will be interesting to see what unfolds as the acc season rolls on... Not a particularly tough conference this year, but athletically, we look more like a mid major team, not a p5 team.

We'll undoubtedly have some nights when we shoot lights out for a W, but not sure that will occur with much frequency.

Could be ugly.

You can't coach-up speed and athleticism.

 

[4evaOrange]

We ARE playing better as a team. Buddy's slump (3 or 4 games, now) has made the other guys step up a bit.

Buddy still knows how to grind out 2 pointers in the lane when his shot isn't falling and did a very good job of that in the second half. He's a good passer off those drives, too, especially out for the weak side wing three, often to Swider.

Jesse Edwards' hands are improving the more he plays. He's getting more contested rebounds in traffic. His offense has continued even against bigger opponents like Georgetown today. He's lethal around the rim, and is doing a great job for us. Better than we could have reasonably expected. I was hoping for maybe 8 and 6, and he's killing those numbers.

Frank Anselem is playing better with more playing time, too. What did he have, 5 points in the first half? He hustles, he is making fewer dumb mistakes on defense. I feel like we have a legit back up center, even if Sidibe never recovers this season. I am not very worried about our center position.

Symir is looking better at the point. He looks more confident. His handle is looking a little better. He is contributing.

Buddy can't seem to throw a 3 in the ocean from the shore right now. I have to think he's got a leg issue. He's not getting a lot of lift on his shot, which is looking a little flat. He needs a little more arc on his shot right now, and that often comes from the lift.

I like that Swider keeps bringing it. He's not all there yet, but he's getting better, I'd just like to see him and Buddy start lighting it up from 3. I get that people are game planning against Buddy, but eventually he's going to get on a tear.

It's always tough to lose to Georgetown, and that was a winnable game. I remain optimistic that we will get better. The question is how soon that translates into wins.

What’s your opinion on Joe? Didn’t see a recap in there for him?

 

[phil77]

I just don’t see how we can become a better defensive team or a better rebounding team. This team is a long shot to make the tournament even in a down ACC.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I just don’t see how we can become a better defensive team or a better rebounding team. This team is a long shot to make the tournament even in a down ACC.

I mean…. Yeah

 

[jncuse]

Definitely not a gauntlet schedule. But after losing to the 3 unranked teams we have lost to.. hard to look past Lehigh

Lehigh is 1-8 and KP #311.

If we can't look past them our problems are way beyond what we think they are. And we already think there are major problems.

 

[IthacaMatt]

What’s your opinion on Joe? Didn’t see a recap in there for him?

Sorry. I thought Joe was pretty good, again. He's having a pretty good season. I think the move to the 1-3-1, at least on occasion, leaves him and Buddy less exposed to the drive, or the guy flashing to the foul line. I think that he had some rough games earlier in the season when he was pressed. I feel all of our team has been a little soft, and has wilted under "in your face" defense. Joe hit some big shots, and had a solid game. He's been good these last few games.

And I think that if Symir continues to improve, and Joe could actually play a little more 2G, a la Trevor Cooney, we might uncork him and get his offense rolling even more. Then, there'd be less attention on the others. You can't try to take away everyone on the other team with a defense. I hope the Dome Cooking can get us hitting outside shots again.

 

[4evaOrange]

Sorry. I thought Joe was pretty good, again. He's having a pretty good season. I think the move to the 1-3-1, at least on occasion, leaves him and Buddy less exposed to the drive, or the guy flashing to the foul line. I think that he had some rough games earlier in the season when he was pressed. I feel all of our team has been a little soft, and has wilted under "in your face" defense. Joe hit some big shots, and had a solid game. He's been good these last few games.

And I think that if Symir continues to improve, and Joe could actually play a little more 2G, a la Trevor Cooney, we might uncork him and get his offense rolling even more. Then, there'd be less attention on the others. You can't try to take away everyone on the other team with a defense. I hope the Dome Cooking can get us hitting outside shots again.

Good stuff broheim.

 

[MDCuse]

I know we can't take anything for granted, but our next 4 games are Lehigh, Cornell, Georgia Tech and Virginia - all at home. And then Miami on the road.

Every one of those teams has several ugly losses, just like we do at this point.

Every one of these games is winnable. We could be 10-5 heading into Wake Forest (currently 9-1, best record in the ACC right now ...) on January 8th.

If you think those teams have ugly losses, don't look at Georgetown and Colgate's resumes...

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I know we can't take anything for granted, but our next 4 games are Lehigh, Cornell, Georgia Tech and Virginia - all at home. And then Miami on the road.

Every one of those teams has several ugly losses, just like we do at this point.

Every one of these games is winnable. We could be 10-5 heading into Wake Forest (currently 9-1, best record in the ACC right now ...) on January 8th.

Cornell will whoop our ass

 

[DCUNITED13]

Seeing them in person and with a great SU Fan turnout I saw a significant flaw. Slow footed defenders. Especially JB3. He makes the correct reads, but he cannot cover the space needed to make the play. On offence, we missed 4 shots at the end that would have made a difference. Two were back to back from Jimmy B, backdown into the lane that took too long to develop and resulted in a turnover, attempted dunk that got stuck on the rim, then Cole and Buddy missed wide open 3's that would have either given us the lead or got us to within 1 point.

Key to this team is for Cole to break out and start being agressive with his shot and light it up. In many instances it seems he hesitates and perhaps doubts his release when it needs to happen quickly. If he can get a quicker release SU would decimate everyone. (I really belive this would open up the game for us tremendously)

Lack of a quick penetrating guard hurt us against GTown. They are a tall team. In the 1st half Symir made a nice play just dribble though for a layup. Joe would not do that at all against his marker. Symir made a crucial error by allowing a guy to beat him diagnolly with a dribble into the lane and pass for an open 3. That was the last time we saw him on the floor. Right now, Coach has no confidence (outside of Frank who had a really good game once again) in his bench to help the team. He wants defence first and rebounding.

Have to say that the little play by Benny on offence was impressive to see live. He is the real deal. He needs to develop speed of thought on defence. He is watching the ball (in a zone defence) instead of reacting to what needs to happen when a shot is put up. Rotaional wise he is adequate and will get better.

In summary, Joe and Jesse had good games, Buddy needs to hit his shots, So does Cole, Jimmy has to go 6-7 from the field to compensate for his defence. Bench has to worry about playing solid defence and give starters some rest so they do not lose their legs in the 2nd half.

We game this game away in the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. We gave all the momentum to GTown and at the end we could not close even though we had significant opportunity.

Was sitting is section 203 with my son and a friends. Good seats. Lets hope for rest of December to be a winning month. Go SU

 

[CousCuse]

Seeing them in person and with a great SU Fan turnout I saw a significant flaw. Slow footed defenders. Especially JB3. He makes the correct reads, but he cannot cover the space needed to make the play. On offence, we missed 4 shots at the end that would have made a difference. Two were back to back from Jimmy B, backdown into the lane that took too long to develop and resulted in a turnover, attempted dunk that got stuck on the rim, then Cole and Buddy missed wide open 3's that would have either given us the lead or got us to within 1 point.

Key to this team is for Cole to break out and start being agressive with his shot and light it up. In many instances it seems he hesitates and perhaps doubts his release when it needs to happen quickly. If he can get a quicker release SU would decimate everyone. (I really belive this would open up the game for us tremendously)

Lack of a quick penetrating guard hurt us against GTown. They are a tall team. In the 1st half Symir made a nice play just dribble though for a layup. Joe would not do that at all against his marker. Symir made a crucial error by allowing a guy to beat him diagnolly with a dribble into the lane and pass for an open 3. That was the last time we saw him on the floor. Right now, Coach has no confidence (outside of Frank who had a really good game once again) in his bench to help the team. He wants defence first and rebounding.

Have to say that the little play by Benny on offence was impressive to see live. He is the real deal. He needs to develop speed of thought on defence. He is watching the ball (in a zone defence) instead of reacting to what needs to happen when a shot is put up. Rotaional wise he is adequate and will get better.

In summary, Joe and Jesse had good games, Buddy needs to hit his shots, So does Cole, Jimmy has to go 6-7 from the field to compensate for his defence. Bench has to worry about playing solid defence and give starters some rest so they do not lose their legs in the 2nd half.

We game this game away in the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. We gave all the momentum to GTown and at the end we could not close even though we had significant opportunity.

Was sitting is section 203 with my son and a friends. Good seats. Lets hope for rest of December to be a winning month. Go SU

As aggressive as Gtown played on D, they only had 4 fouls in the second half. Not counting the one on Girard with 3 seconds left on the clock.

 

[dollarbill44]

Lehigh is 1-8 and KP #311.

If we can't look past them our problems are way beyond what we think they are. And we already think there are major problems.

We can't look past anyone. Almost every team, even bad ones, have multiple guys who can shoot 3s. That's just the state of basketball in 2021. We are going to be in a fight against any team who is well coached and disciplined with their passing, especially if they have a couple of guys who can play pressure defense. The formula to best this year's team is pretty simple and seemingly easier to carry out than I can ever remember.
It's also not hard to understand how we are getting run through in the last 5-7 minutes of games because the guys are exhausted and can't jump at all at the end of games. It's too many minutes for our forwards.

 

[CousCuse]

We can't look past anyone. Almost every team, even bad ones, have multiple guys who can shoot 3s. That's just the state of basketball in 2021. We are going to be in a fight against any team who is well coached and disciplined with their passing, especially if they have a couple of guys who can play pressure defense. The formula to best this year's team is pretty simple and seemingly easier to carry out than I can ever remember.
It's also not hard to understand how we are getting run through in the last 5-7 minutes of games because the guys are exhausted and can't jump at all at the end of games. It's too many minutes for our forwards.

Benny's coming. If you were a coach in a nip and tuck game, would put a freshman in where he is bound to make a mistake or 2 and cost you the game? You have to go with experience in those situations. I expect Benny to pick up huge PT over the next month.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Seeing them in person and with a great SU Fan turnout I saw a significant flaw. Slow footed defenders. Especially JB3. He makes the correct reads, but he cannot cover the space needed to make the play. On offence, we missed 4 shots at the end that would have made a difference. Two were back to back from Jimmy B, backdown into the lane that took too long to develop and resulted in a turnover, attempted dunk that got stuck on the rim, then Cole and Buddy missed wide open 3's that would have either given us the lead or got us to within 1 point.

Key to this team is for Cole to break out and start being agressive with his shot and light it up. In many instances it seems he hesitates and perhaps doubts his release when it needs to happen quickly. If he can get a quicker release SU would decimate everyone. (I really belive this would open up the game for us tremendously)

Lack of a quick penetrating guard hurt us against GTown. They are a tall team. In the 1st half Symir made a nice play just dribble though for a layup. Joe would not do that at all against his marker. Symir made a crucial error by allowing a guy to beat him diagnolly with a dribble into the lane and pass for an open 3. That was the last time we saw him on the floor. Right now, Coach has no confidence (outside of Frank who had a really good game once again) in his bench to help the team. He wants defence first and rebounding.

Have to say that the little play by Benny on offence was impressive to see live. He is the real deal. He needs to develop speed of thought on defence. He is watching the ball (in a zone defence) instead of reacting to what needs to happen when a shot is put up. Rotaional wise he is adequate and will get better.

In summary, Joe and Jesse had good games, Buddy needs to hit his shots, So does Cole, Jimmy has to go 6-7 from the field to compensate for his defence. Bench has to worry about playing solid defence and give starters some rest so they do not lose their legs in the 2nd half.

We game this game away in the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. We gave all the momentum to GTown and at the end we could not close even though we had significant opportunity.

Was sitting is section 203 with my son and a friends. Good seats. Lets hope for rest of December to be a winning month. Go SU

Good write up. Guess I don’t know what you mean when you say coach wants defense and rebounding yet leaves Buddy and Joe in for the entire second half. Symir does both of those things better. He may make an occasional mistake, but the change in intensity while he’s on the floor is obvious.