I hate... | Syracusefan.com

I hate...

Zelda Zonk

2022 Iggy Winner: ACC Tourney Record
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...that we seemed to only play 'hard' for six and a half minutes. We, as ever, take far too much for granted.

While we were down, i was lamenting that we don't have The Guy. And, then Kris stepped up. And, then Dion stepped up.

Kris could be The Guy all the time. He's got the skills for it. Just not the demeanor. If he had half of Dion's swagger, he'd be a top 10 pick.

I wish we could integrate Scoop, even when the other guys are working well. Not cool to have him sitting the entire (?) half. Same with Christmas. A minute per half, strategically... With Keita in foul trouble, Melo was gassed at the end of the first half.

We're going to need more inside scoring. We can't win in the conference without converting inside and getting to the line. And, rebounding- not cool seeing a 6'5" Fair battling two Stanford guys on multiple occasions...
 
What part of SU's game did you think was strong?
 
Stanford is a quality team that brought their "A" game tonight. Seemed to also get every close call in the 1st half. The press has saved our ass's two games in a row. Not sure why Jimmie doesn't use it more/earlier, but he's calling all the right shots so far.
 
I think the team is still trying to figure out who needs to step up in crunch time. So much talent, some of them are hanging back a little bit.
 
...
We're going to need more inside scoring. We can't win in the conference without converting inside and getting to the line. And, rebounding- not cool seeing a 6'5" Fair battling two Stanford guys on multiple occasions...

Correct. People dispute this, and I don't want to be proven right, but we have one power forward on this team and he's not playing. This just can't be a great team with Fair playing the four. We need to find him minutes somewhere, but our defensive rebounding is mediocre and it's not because we play zone. Fair got outleapt down there ten times in the two games in New York. It's not his fault; he's just overmatched.
 
Stanford is a quality team that brought their "A" game tonight. Seemed to also get every close call in the 1st half. The press has saved our ass's two games in a row. Not sure why Jimmie doesn't use it more/earlier, but he's calling all the right shots so far.

Do we know he's calling the right shots? Given how Stanford melted down in two minutes of pressure, doesn't it seem plausible that we'd have led by 20 for most of the game if we'd pressed earlier?

The press was effective and Stanford's ball-handling was poor. Seems a good game to press.
 
This just can't be a great team with Fair playing the four.

IMO, this can't be a great team without Fair playing the four.
 
Do we know he's calling the right shots?

That's just it. Fans will commend JB for making that change at (near) 'desperation time.' Critics might ask why our team isn't differently constituted from the beginning, so that these jump/press contingencies aren't necessary.

If we had played more of the game like we did in those last 6.5 minutes, we would have been up and cruising throughout. Calling the right shots, in my mind, means getting the MAX out of the team from the tip, not making a late decision to save our "ass's [sic]."
 
When shots start to fall, finally, you conclude that the team started playing hard? The game doesn't work that way.
 
IMO, this can't be a great team without Fair playing the four.

Disagree, CJ does so much and plays so smart his plusses far outweigh his negatives. He rebounds by having a nose for the ball rather than being a strong box out type. Yeah, with that style & the body of a 3 rather than a 4 he will lose some board battles, but that doesn't mean he isn't a very good overall player who is only getting better & better.
 
Disagree, CJ does so much and plays so smart his plusses far outweigh his negatives. He rebounds by having a nose for the ball rather than being a strong box out type. Yeah, with that style & the body of a 3 rather than a 4 he will lose some board battles, but that doesn't mean he isn't a very good overall player who is only getting better & better.

You've misread my post. We agree.
 
Disagree, CJ does so much and plays so smart his plusses far outweigh his negatives. He rebounds by having a nose for the ball rather than being a strong box out type. Yeah, with that style & the body of a 3 rather than a 4 he will lose some board battles, but that doesn't mean he isn't a very good overall player who is only getting better & better.

You realize that when you're battling fours, you need to box out? I don't think he won half of his rebounding battles when trying to rebound in the paint. We need Rak at the four and Fair at the 3
 
Do we know he's calling the right shots? Given how Stanford melted down in two minutes of pressure, doesn't it seem plausible that we'd have led by 20 for most of the game if we'd pressed earlier?

The press was effective and Stanford's ball-handling was poor. Seems a good game to press.

Right, I get that but the game is played for only one reason, to obtain a W and to avoid an L. Mission accomplished.
 
Right, I get that but the game is played for only one reason, to obtain a W and to avoid an L. Mission accomplished.

He got that part right. Wins and putrid wins are the same as far as records and seeding are concerned.
 
Classic Syracuse. I believe playing zone just lulls the kids to sleep.

We stay in it as long as we do for all the wrong reasons - it is criminal. JB would rather win a game by 1 playing 38 minutes of zone and 2 minutes of on-the-ball pressure to the rescue... instead of winning comfortably by mixing 25 minutes zone, 15 minutes m2m/press.
 
People confuse playing 'hard' with playing well, especially on offense. If we didn't play hard for 40 mintues we'd have gotten blown out. But the defense kept us in it while the offense got sorted out.
 

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