Is there anything to be done that will make this team worth watching the rest of the season?

[hoopsupstate]

Totally agree. I’ve seen most of UConn’s games—one of my fellow teachers’ grandsons plays on the team (Demary). The ball movement is excellent: purposeful cuts, well-timed screens, and the extra pass that creates quality shots. And you’re right—there isn’t some overwhelming gap in raw talent.
The difference is coaching. Coaching is what takes you to the next level. You can bring level-5 effort, but if your coaching is level-2 or level-3, the ceiling is capped. Red has clearly instilled effort and defensive intensity—but elite teams pair that with elite offensive structure. Without that, you’re not elite, no matter how hard you play. Don’t get me wrong I love the dawg mentality but we need to expand the rubric here for success.

Demary was a big pickup in the portal and he’s not really a big part of their rotation. He’s been disappointing.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

They're pretty good - much better than last year. Get Donnie back, fix some stuff, and they have a good shot at being a tourney team. I'll watch.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Every team we play this year will "do the little things" better than us like free throws and good footwork because they all have a better coach. So every game we are going to have to win with our athleticism.We see how that went against Hofstra. The ACC will be much harder especially road games. Also, if we continue to lose close games like this (which is guarunteed because we cant shoot free throws) the team may quit and be focused on their next financial negotiation. It was a big mistake to keep Autry for a third year and we are paying the price now. This was predictable...very sad

Yea. I didn’t want to go to the dark place but the quitting mentality im sure is lingering out there. Another loss to Clemson coupled with an early loss to an ACC bottom feeder may be all it takes to check this team out on defense. Sam thing if Donnie has a setback or Kyle is banged up or really if Nate George continues to be a bust. The other thread on the crowds is a problem too. People aren’t going to show and the players and opposing teams are gonna feel that too.

And if that goes then it’s losing record and blowouts the rest of the way.

 

[Scooch]

Yes. And UConn has been resilient this year too, dealing with a couple different injuries to key pieces. So we barely have even seen them at full strength yet.

That’s a part of the reason I don’t buy the “well Freeman is hurt excuse” that some members of this fanbase are using. There’s a lot of top teams who’ve dealt with injuries (Kansas, Iowa State, UConn, etc).

Agreed. If you need Freeman to beat Hofstra then you’re not good enough to begin with.

 

[Ozcuse]

They're pretty good - much better than last year. Get Donnie back, fix some stuff, and they have a good shot at being a tourney team. I'll watch.

What?

 

[CardiacCuse]

i think they should play press 40 minutes a game

for one, it makes things hectic and gets the team in transition much more often, which they excel in

for two, it causes a lot of turnovers and pressure on opponents offense

for three, it energizes the team and gets them in the right type of attacking proactive mindest with the ball...otherwise, they are passive in the halfcourt offense.

4, if they are going to constantly sub and shuffle players in and out of the game, might as well have them go level 5 pressing all game long

for 5, what do they have to lose?

 

[CardiacCuse]

Agreed. If you need Freeman to beat Hofstra then you’re not good enough to begin with.

hofstra is one of the best teams theyve played this year...i bet they make the tourney

 

[OCESIP]

I hate to admit this and come at me with the dislikes, I actually like watching UConn basketball. There talent level is slightly better, but not significantly better than ours. But they are significantly better at development, running offense, and to use terms from Red, they play with level 5 all the time and have no dips. Maybe that’s why I’m so hard on Red because I watch them and wonder why we can’t get the best out of the talent we have every night when they do.

Thinking back to our Big East days with no NIL and portal to deal with, I believe that the kids then had a sense of of pride in the program that came with being in the upper echelon of college basketball. There was some personal self satisfaction for sure, but wearing a SU uniform meant something special and carried a sense of responsibility to continue the tradition. UCONN has that in spades and Hurley builds on that.

It may be possible for that to reemerge at SU but there are challenges. The league itself never was a fit, but there was no alternative. It's not an excuse, but it was the start of the downfall.
I don't think JB gave up, but his heart was never into the move.

It'll be interesting to see, down the line, how football realignments
will impact the overall college sports scene. Big $$ are waiting for the next shoe to drop and it probably won't be long in coming.

 

[007]

i think they should play press 40 minutes a game

for one, it makes things hectic and gets the team in transition much more often, which they excel in

for two, it causes a lot of turnovers and pressure on opponents offense

for three, it energizes the team and gets them in the right type of attacking proactive mindest with the ball...otherwise, they are passive in the halfcourt offense.

4, if they are going to constantly sub and shuffle players in and out of the game, might as well have them go level 5 pressing all game long

for 5, what do they have to lose?

I agree with a lot of this. We are not good shooters or rebounders and I don't see this changing much.

The answer, if there is one this season, needs to come from the defense.

 

[Jake]

I honestly don't know how a coach can ruin a player's ability to make 3s and shoot FTs. I'd love to hear from someone who attends practice to explain what this team does every day. I have a hunch that Red's practices lack focus, structure, urgency and energy. But I'm merely guessing.

A friend of mine attended a St. John's practice earlier this season. He said Pitino was on a headset with his voice booming through the PA system, barking at players constantly. Something tells me that kind of attention to detail is lacking at SU.

I can tell you from direct observation that all of those words you used to describe Red’s practices are inaccurate. There’s a lot of energy, high energy, a lot of activity, much more movement and emphasis on conditioning. If you’re talking about a boring lackluster practice, you’re talking about a Jim Boeheim practice the final eight years of his tenure here. Those practices barely lasted 90 minutes and they were glorified shoot around. The difference in intensity between Red’s practices and Boeheim’s practices toward the end is night and day.

This isn’t where the problem lies.

 

[phreddie]

They're pretty good - much better than last year. Get Donnie back, fix some stuff, and they have a good shot at being a tourney team.

 

[phreddie]

hofstra is one of the best teams theyve played this year...i bet they make the tourney

FIFY

 

[CardiacCuse]

I agree with a lot of this. We are not good shooters or rebounders and I don't see this changing much.

The answer, if there is one this season, needs to come from the defense.

plus it solves the issue of not having an offense...just play hectic 90 feet 40 minutes a game...

 

[CardiacCuse]

FIFY

come again?

 

[phreddie]

come again?

Sarcasm font

 

[Nicknack]

I come away with lots of questions. Why does Betsey get as many minutes as he does? I think he brings some good things to the table but I don't get why Sadiq only gets around 23 minutes last night to Betsey's 20. How is our PG a different player than he was at GT? How can we be this bad at free throw shooting? How can our head coach not do the obvious... get the offense moving? I just don't get it.

 

[HyattsCuse]

I’ve said this in other threads, my silver lining is at least we are playing competitive basketball. Aside from the 2nd half of the ISU game, the games have been competitive so I’ll keep watching. If it turns into a football like dumpster fire where we start getting crushed, then I’ll probably stop watching.

Very low bar right now and zero expectations. I watch to support the team and maybe we’ll have a couple more memorable moments this season like the Tennessee game.

 

[tptcuse]

Yea when I made the post I purposefully left out the parts on coaching offense and what to do in practice with the current staff. I just don’t see that as fixable mid season with Autry.

I thought it was more likely even a slight improvement in free throw shooting could make a bigger impact overall.

Lineup shakeups too. The guard play just has been brutal to watch so in my head I’m just like out fewer guards out there ha.

It’s telling to me that in all of Red’s postgame interviews he says “we talked about that all week” and never says “we practiced that all week.” I used to think it was just semantics. Now I think maybe the coaches describe what to do instead of a million reps of doing it.

 

[tptcuse]

hofstra is one of the best teams theyve played this year...i bet they make the tourney

I actually agree that they will make the tournament. They are no Delaware State. But the ACC teams on our schedule are much better. We need a complete miracle to make the tournament.

 

[tptcuse]

I can tell you from direct observation that all of those words you used to describe reds practices are inaccurate. There’s a lot of energy, high energy, a lot of activity, much more movement and emphasis on conditioning. If you’re talking about a boring lackluster practice, you’re talking about a Jim Beeheim practice the final eight years of his 10 year here. Those practices barely lasted 90 minutes and they were glorified shoot rounds. The difference in intensity between reds practices and Beeheim‘s practices toward the end is night and day.

That doesn’t surprise me. But what about being detailed?

 

[tptcuse]

I come away with lots of questions. Why does Betsey get as many minutes as he does? I think he brings some good things to the table but I don't get why Sadiq only gets around 23 minutes last night to Betsey's 20. How is our PG a different player than he was at GT? How can we be this bad at free throw shooting? How can our head coach not do the obvious... get the offense moving? I just don't get it.

Sadiq was pulled because of his technical.

 

[Nicknack]

Sadiq was pulled because of his technical.

Yes, but it's not just yesterday's game. Betsey averages about the same amount of minutes as Sadiq (19.2 vs 19.6). I don't think he should when he's not nailing down 3s.

 

[Scooch]

I can tell you from direct observation that all of those words you used to describe Red’s practices are inaccurate. There’s a lot of energy, high energy, a lot of activity, much more movement and emphasis on conditioning. If you’re talking about a boring lackluster practice, you’re talking about a Jim Boeheim practice the final eight years of his tenure here. Those practices barely lasted 90 minutes and they were glorified shoot around. The difference in intensity between Red’s practices and Boeheim’s practices toward the end is night and day.

This isn’t where the problem lies.

Interesting to hear, I appreciate it. Are these practices merely better than JB’s, or are they at a high level of intensity compared to other coaches?

Aside from energy, is there also focus, urgency and attention to detail? Like, guys can be moving and running for 2 hours. But are they doing that with purpose?

If so then I totally cop to being wrong.

 

[Cappy3]

Yes, but it's not just yesterday's game. Betsey averages about the same amount of minutes as Sadiq (19.2 vs 19.6). I don't think he should when he's not nailing down 3s.

Well, Betsey is one of the few guys who can make 3s, and it’s really hard to make any from the bench.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Yeah when you have zero off ball movement and no off ball screens. Your going to have horrible offense.

How hard is it to watch tape of UConn and imitate that?