Is it Frank or not?

[Henny & Coke]

Let’s try to answer the all important question on everyone’s minds right now:

How much is SU missing Senior PG Frank Howard these past few games?

Since I haven’t been able to watch the games yet, need help to answer these questions...

1.) Are we seeing any “Drive & Dish” opportunities?

A good veteran PG will open teammates for shots by driving to hoop & drawing defenders to him, thus leaving teammates open for kickout 3s. Is this element lacking without Frank so far?

2.) Are we seeing any “Alley-Oop” attempts?

Usually a staple of SU offenses, a normal game will see 3-5 such alley-oop attempts. Make or miss, these help to ensure the defense does not cheat up too much, and continues to pay attention to the back line. How many of these are we attempting?

3.) This one’s obvious - Are we having trouble just bringing the ball up & getting into our offense? Are we turning the ball over too much at these points?

4.) Are opponents successfully shooting over top of our zone?

Frank is listed at 6-5 & has been schooled in the art of JB’s zone D. He knows the importance of closing out hard on shooters (especially those with hot hand, like UCONN).

Frank’s replacement (Carey) is 6-2/6-3 and a Freshman learning the zone. This stuff can make a difference, especially if teams are shooting high percentages against us.

5.) And finally, this one’s little tougher to determine. But, when things start going wrong & other team starts pulling away, is the team able to battle through this? Or, when SU is making a run and getting close to evening up the score, are they able to keep their foot on the gas?

These are things that veteran leadership helps with. And Frank is the lone Senior & “floor general” (PG).

If we are answering “No” to #1 & 2 and “Yes” to #3-5, then the absence of Frank may really be a big factor in our recent poor play.

If not, then hang on to your butts...

 

[Halfmooncuse]

Not unless frank becomes 6 11 cennter

 

[Brooky03]

We can only hope

 

[SUFan44]

Carey is a legit 6-6.

 

[jgeorge322]

Frank is our leader. Did anyone else notice who was in the players huddle during halftime? It was not tyus or oshae, but frank. I think this team is missing its leader badly right now. Tyus is great but he has a subdued personality. Frank isnt afraid to hold his teammates accountable.

 

[Henny & Coke]

Carey is a legit 6-6.

Whaaat? According to whom?

Not even Roethstein agrees with that...

 

[cuseattle]

I dunno, but... we got the next one.

 

[Trueblue25]

Franks part of the equation.


Marek actually developing, oshae’s perimeter atrocities and tyus the black hole need to be fixed too.


Frank will take pressure off marek and oshae, and help get the ball in space to chukwu and sidibe.

But there’s still other problems.

 

[MadNY3]

Carey is a legit 6-6.

Noooooooooo

 

[Jasoncuse]

Frank will help but the issues are systemic. Offense is a train wreck and defensively, the effort doesn’t seem to be where it needs to be and opponents get any shot they want.

He’s likely to play at the expense of the kid who’s been our best player.

If the D gets better, wel win some games but until the offense is revamped, the ceiling is only so high.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Frank will help but the issues are systemic. Offense is a train wreck and defensively, the effort doesn’t seem to be where it needs to be and opponents get any shot they want.

He’s likely to play at the expense of the kid who’s been our best player.

If the D gets better, wel win some games but until the offense is revamped, the ceiling is only so high.

I think we’re gonna start grinding games down and JB will have them focus on defense more. Teams are gonna suffocate us. We’ll keep on taking bad shots with or without Frank. We are easy to defend.

 

[Oakland]

It can’t be Frank because we had the same “sand in your eyes” offense with him last season.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

We need him I don't think Carey had one assist over 2 games and he might have been our best player the last 2 nights. Thats just bad.

 

[teamco]

I wouldn't be surprised if MSG sends Syracuse a bill for having to fumigate the place after the way we stunk the joint up. A combination of no offense and no defense is a bad look. Taking ten to fifteen seconds to get the ball to the top of the key to run the alleged offense in the face of a token press is not acceptable. Passing the ball around the perimeter and then chucking a three point heave is not acceptable. Having no grit on defense is not acceptable; nor watching your inside guys getting swatted away like gnats. If Frank can fix all that then he should change his last name to Houdini.

Anyway, plenty of teams lose a key player to injury for a while . . . but the wheels don't come off the wagon. It looked like our wagon came apart. The team was not ready for prime time . . . and what was most concerning is they looked mentally flat both games.

Jimbo better get some Gorilla Glue and find a way to put the pieces together.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

If we had Howard, we'd have lost by less...vegas pretty good at this sort of thing...adjusted the uconn line by a couple once it was sure frank was out..

 

[tipphill]

was at the game. marik is not used at all. he does not even look to shoot. jb has onviously told him not to. if he is allowed to play to his potential and shoot it will open many other possibilities he had several open looks and did not even look to shoot. jb is lost on the use of personnel. we have no cohesion and he needs shake up the line up. i don't see frank's absence has much to do with how many of these guys are playing.

 

[HakAttack]

Paging moqui

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I wouldn't be surprised if MSG sends Syracuse a bill for having to fumigate the place after the way we stunk the joint up. A combination of no offense and no defense is a bad look. Taking ten to fifteen seconds to get the ball to the top of the key to run the alleged offense in the face of a token press is not acceptable. Passing the ball around the perimeter and then chucking a three point heave is not acceptable. Having no grit on defense is not acceptable; nor watching your inside guys getting swatted away like gnats. If Frank can fix all that then he should change his last name to Houdini.

Anyway, plenty of teams lose a key player to injury for a while . . . but the wheels don't come off the wagon. It looked like our wagon came apart. The team was not ready for prime time . . . and what was most concerning is they looked mentally flat both games.

Jimbo better get some Gorilla Glue and find a way to put the pieces together.

I feel like if you're going to roll with that avatar (which I fully support) you need to end each of your posts with "Any questions?"

 

[NorSyr66]

was at the game. marik is not used at all. he does not even look to shoot. jb has onviously told him not to. if he is allowed to play to his potential and shoot it will open many other possibilities he had several open looks and did not even look to shoot. jb is lost on the use of personnel. we have no cohesion and he needs shake up the line up. i don't see frank's absence has much to do with how many of these guys are playing.

Dolezaj is definitely not on the floor enough. I am puzzled on whether he has been instructed "not to shoot". His game turned around last year when he started taking shots. I agree he is not shooting but hope it is not because he has been told not to shoot when we have a lot of shooters on the floor but no one is making anything.

 

[orangecuse]

was at the game. marik is not used at all. he does not even look to shoot. jb has onviously told him not to. if he is allowed to play to his potential and shoot it will open many other possibilities he had several open looks and did not even look to shoot. jb is lost on the use of personnel. we have no cohesion and he needs shake up the line up. i don't see frank's absence has much to do with how many of these guys are playing.

I think's there's a lot of validity to this. JB's comfort zone has been playing 7 guys (when I say 7, 7 guys playing meaningful minutes) he has stated this over the years. So, he's clearly out of his comfort zone, and I think he's trying to figure out whom those 7 will be. Once he does, the 8 & 9 guys will get relegated to the bench, for the most part, and will only play in garbage time or a brief stint to give another a blow or if in foul trouble. With these 2 early season losses (and a bad one at that with UConn) each game gets more critical to win, especially the non-conference variety against teams that are decent, a la Buffalo, OSU, etc.

 

[SoBeCuse]

What kind of title contender or at least non-bubble teams are rolling out Chukwus/Sidibes/Mareks? Looks like none of them are improved as well as Oshae/Tyus. You have a bad offensive team last year because of the personnel and scheme. Same thing now. Frank should hopefully make things a little better. If Chukwu/Sidibe don’t improve and toughen up then JB won’t play them, IMO. He’s gotta go with the best chances to win.

 

[GooseMutt]

Win or lose I like this team and it is talented. After this weekend I now freely admit I know nothing about Syracuse basketball or football. But I’m in it for the long haul and still believe. We aren’t Cuse without drama

 

[Lucid]

It is Frank. And it isn't.

It's NOT Frank's play, so much, it's the attitude of the other players without him. They don't believe they can play, or win, without him. They don't believe they deserve to win without him. Particularly Tyus and Oshae, but the lack of belief trickles down to everyone.

I'm convinced that's what it is.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Let’s try to answer the all important question on everyone’s minds right now:

How much is SU missing Senior PG Frank Howard these past few games?

Since I haven’t been able to watch the games yet, need help to answer these questions...

1.) Are we seeing any “Drive & Dish” opportunities?

A good veteran PG will open teammates for shots by driving to hoop & drawing defenders to him, thus leaving teammates open for kickout 3s. Is this element lacking without Frank so far?

2.) Are we seeing any “Alley-Oop” attempts?

Usually a staple of SU offenses, a normal game will see 3-5 such alley-oop attempts. Make or miss, these help to ensure the defense does not cheat up too much, and continues to pay attention to the back line. How many of these are we attempting?

3.) This one’s obvious - Are we having trouble just bringing the ball up & getting into our offense? Are we turning the ball over too much at these points?

4.) Are opponents successfully shooting over top of our zone?

Frank is listed at 6-5 & has been schooled in the art of JB’s zone D. He knows the importance of closing out hard on shooters (especially those with hot hand, like UCONN).

Frank’s replacement (Carey) is 6-2/6-3 and a Freshman learning the zone. This stuff can make a difference, especially if teams are shooting high percentages against us.

5.) And finally, this one’s little tougher to determine. But, when things start going wrong & other team starts pulling away, is the team able to battle through this? Or, when SU is making a run and getting close to evening up the score, are they able to keep their foot on the gas?

These are things that veteran leadership helps with. And Frank is the lone Senior & “floor general” (PG).

If we are answering “No” to #1 & 2 and “Yes” to #3-5, then the absence of Frank may really be a big factor in our recent poor play.

If not, then hang on to your butts...

Personally, I think Carey plays well defensively at the top of the zone. I see him always pressuring the ball when its near his area, and he always has his arms out to make himself bigger to close off passing lanes. Carey got undressed early by UConn, which got us in a hole and set the tone for that game, but he scored 26 points to offset it a bit. Against Oregon, he wasn't as effective on offense, and it's hard to blame him for entry passes to a 7-3 guy at the foul line.

To me, the biggest problems are our two "best" players. Brissett is only shooting threes and not going inside-out, as many have observed. And so far, Battle is not attacking the rim enough, and not using his midrange game, which he's very good at.

Battle, I'm more concerned about, because he doesn't seem to know what to do offensively when Hughes is also out there. Brissett you can always sit down until he starts playing the right way because we've got Marek who can fill in, and we've got Hughes.

I think another really big thing so far, is that with Battle and Brissett mostly settling and missing from three, our offensive rebounding has taken a big hit. Fewer offensive rebounds hurts our shooting percentage. We're not getting nearly enough second chance points and not getting to the line. Brissett got to the line about 7-8 times per game last year. So far this year, that number is down about 40%.

Hughes looks like our best player so far, but he's streaky from three, not a pure shooter. He's a bucket-getter. To me, another big issue is Buddy. He was so good and so confident in the 2 pre-seasons, and we needed that guy who is money when he's open. Buddy has been awful since the official games have started, and he's forcing it. Buddy is better than that, but he's got to play with confidence.

So, to sum up, our 2 best returning players are playing audition ball for the NBA, shooting almost exclusively from three and not making many of them, and of the three new guys who are supposed to boost the offense, two of them are scoring but inefficient, and the third isn't scoring at all.

On the positive side, Sidibe is still a little stiff at times, but he is looking healthy so far. Paschal is playing well, too. But boy, our offense is terrible right now, and that has a lot to do with why the defense is giving up so many points. Long rebounds off of bad three attempts lead to run outs. I also think the effort has not been there so far. These guys read their press clippings too much in the pre-season. JB doesn't help by saying "we're not that good" and "we were only good for one week last year."

 

[newmexicuse]

Personally, I think Carey plays well defensively at the top of the zone. I see him always pressuring the ball when its near his area, and he always has his arms out to make himself bigger to close off passing lanes. Carey got undressed early by UConn, which got us in a hole and set the tone for that game, but he scored 26 points to offset it a bit. Against Oregon, he wasn't as effective on offense, and it's hard to blame him for entry passes to a 7-3 guy at the foul line.

To me, the biggest problems are our two "best" players. Brissett is only shooting threes and not going inside-out, as many have observed. And so far, Battle is not attacking the rim enough, and not using his midrange game, which he's very good at.

Battle, I'm more concerned about, because he doesn't seem to know what to do offensively when Hughes is also out there. Brissett you can always sit down until he starts playing the right way because we've got Marek who can fill in, and we've got Hughes.

I think another really big thing so far, is that with Battle and Brissett mostly settling and missing from three, our offensive rebounding has taken a big hit. Fewer offensive rebounds hurts our shooting percentage. We're not getting nearly enough second chance points and not getting to the line. Brissett got to the line about 7-8 times per game last year. So far this year, that number is down about 40%.

Hughes looks like our best player so far, but he's streaky from three, not a pure shooter. He's a bucket-getter. To me, another big issue is Buddy. He was so good and so confident in the 2 pre-seasons, and we needed that guy who is money when he's open. Buddy has been awful since the official games have started, and he's forcing it. Buddy is better than that, but he's got to play with confidence.

So, to sum up, our 2 best returning players are playing audition ball for the NBA, shooting almost exclusively from three and not making many of them, and of the three new guys who are supposed to boost the offense, two of them are scoring but inefficient, and the third isn't scoring at all.

On the positive side, Sidibe is still a little stiff at times, but he is looking healthy so far. Paschal is playing well, too. But boy, our offense is terrible right now, and that has a lot to do with why the defense is giving up so many points. Long rebounds off of bad three attempts lead to run outs. I also think the effort has not been there so far. These guys read their press clippings too much in the pre-season. JB doesn't help by saying "we're not that good" and "we were only good for one week last year."

Really liked and agreed with most of your post until you got to the sentence saying Paschal is playing well. He did nothing but give up a career night to UConn's smaller center and Bol just ate him alive. Now, of course, Chuk and Bol are at two different skill levels, but he is 7 feet friggin 2 inches, he should have been able to slow Bol down at least a little bit and he should have been able to at least snag a couple of boards for putbacks.