It's not fair to say that 1 player lost the game

[cusetown1]

G played like poop. Had he made half his free throws we win. He missed like 3 front ends of one and ones also.

 

[Briancuse]

Such as it is, this team is now dependent on Rak to be consistently (i.e., every half) elite. Anything more than solid rebounding from TR is a bonus.

Well if you can't beat a team like Miami at home with your best player giving you 23 and 9, then you aren't a very good team.

 

[jgeorge322]

Such as it is, this team is now dependent on Rak to be consistently (i.e., every half) elite. Anything more than solid rebounding from TR is a bonus.

Thats funny you say that. I think trob can develop into a 8-10 ppg player by end of year. If anyone can make a leap, hes got most potential by far.

 

[orangecuse]

Again, I would argue that his contributions in this game negated his bad plays - a wash for G.
The team - in the form of turnovers and FTs - lost the game

I agree. G, unfortunately, is always good for missing an open/uncontested dunk per game...today it was huge. Combine that with some lazy passes of his that got deflected for to's, and his continued horrendous foul shooting. For a guy whom appears to have a solid on court temperament, his struggles in crunch time are puzzling.

 

[pearl31]

Well if you can't beat a team like Miami at home with your best player giving you 23 and 9, then you aren't a very good team.

Winner winner, chicken dinner

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

I can see why K was happy to show G the door. He has a low basketball IQ and my guess is he's not very coachable. He is the opposite of a heady player. And he floats in and out of games...no focus, intensity or strong mental approach. He's very frustrating because the talent is there. And his FT shooting is a disgrace.

I said the same thing to the guy sitting next to me...the kid was a one man disaster today with the turnovers (two times when we were down 2 with the ball) and the missed FTs (too numerits to count)...he frustrates me to no end...

 

[rrlbees]

And what did he do in the 2nd half? Using the same logic as you did with Rak.

2 pts, 2 assts, 6 Rebs and 3 other balls where he kept the ball alive and Rak got the rebound. Pretty good IMO.

 

[Cheriehoop]

2 pts, 2 assts, 6 Rebs and 3 other balls where he kept the ball alive and Rak got the rebound. Pretty good IMO.

I actually thought Cooney played smart and became a force on the boards by hanging near Roberson and corralling some tough tipped rebounds. We need our guards to be active and help with boards - with McCoullogh out we are a pretty thin and smallish team.

Is it my imagination or is Rak shying away, taking himself out of plays defensively as if he's avoiding fouls? Right before half time despite having no fouls, Rak stepped away from guarding the basket allowing Miami a path to the hoop. I'm not being critical - he's had an awesome year to date but I believe I've noticed less aggression on D. He did the same thing in the 2nd half and it was even on replay, where he stepped back out of bounds on a drive again. I can certainly seeing him wanting to avoid picking up stupid fouls (yikes like Gbinje's 4th after a TO) but Rak only had 1 foul the entire game.

 

[Ghost]

I can see why K was happy to show G the door. He has a low basketball IQ and my guess is he's not very coachable. He is the opposite of a heady player. And he floats in and out of games...no focus, intensity or strong mental approach. He's very frustrating because the talent is there. And his FT shooting is a disgrace.

I'm so conflicted on G.

After last season I really didn't expect much out of him going forward to be honest. In that regard, he's been a pleasant surprise for me.

However, you watch his first half against 'Nova, or a few other games this year and you see how good could he could be. His athleticism is far superior to what I thought it was entering the year. At times though, and it's a lot of time, I would agree that he just lacks "it." I'm not even sure what "it" is, BBall IQ, focus, whatever it is I have no clue - but he drifts, goes into stretches where he plays crap defense, and is unreliable. He's a bizarre player. Nevertheless, we need him and when he's playing well the team actually resembles a tourney level squad...

I think he tends to be a nervous sort - his inbounding in pressure situations is pretty awful IMO, his free throw shooting is probably the result of nerves as well. On a team with a low margin of error, he provided that margin a couple times this year.

 

[Ghost]

I actually thought Cooney played smart and became a force on the boards by hanging near Roberson and corralling some tough tipped rebounds. We need our guards to be active and help with boards - with McCoullogh out we are a pretty thin and smallish team.

Is it my imagination or is Rak shying away, taking himself out of plays defensively as if he's avoiding fouls? Right before half time despite having no fouls, Rak stepped away from guarding the basket allowing Miami a path to the hoop. I'm not being critical - he's had an awesome year to date but I believe I've noticed less aggression on D. He did the same thing in the 2nd half and it was even on replay, where he stepped back out of bounds on a drive again. I can certainly seeing him wanting to pick up stupid fouls (yikes like Gbinje's 4th after a TO) but Rak only had 1 foul the entire game.

I've been wondering about that myself. He does seem to be less aggressive blocking shots - but teams also seem to be going inside a bit less. It could just be the opponents of late - still not sure on this one.

 

[richmondcuse03]

I actually thought Cooney played smart and became a force on the boards by hanging near Roberson and corralling some tough tipped rebounds. We need our guards to be active and help with boards - with McCoullogh out we are a pretty thin and smallish team.

Is it my imagination or is Rak shying away, taking himself out of plays defensively as if he's avoiding fouls? Right before half time despite having no fouls, Rak stepped away from guarding the basket allowing Miami a path to the hoop. I'm not being critical - he's had an awesome year to date but I believe I've noticed less aggression on D. He did the same thing in the 2nd half and it was even on replay, where he stepped back out of bounds on a drive again. I can certainly seeing him wanting to pick up stupid fouls (yikes like Gbinje's 4th after a TO) but Rak only had 1 foul the entire game.

I noticed the same thing. He was trying to avoid contact a lot, but I still saw him aggressively challenging shots by some of the guards driving...he seemed to be doing it a bit smarter.

We need him more on the offensive side then defensive so maybe it's purposeful. He also didn't complain about non-calls on the offensive side, which while I agree he gets mugged and no calls, he needs to cut it out.

 

[OttoMets]

I think Gbinije makes some boneheaded plays that are because he just lacks focus.

And, despite some other high-effort plays and rebounds, doesn't hustle.

I don't care that he's backed up by Johnson, he should've spent time on the bench after quitting on that loose ball in the backcourt in the first half.

Forget about the free throws (everyone's a culprit) and careless turnover for a moment, those lazy plays and the missed dunks kill this team. It's been a long time since I've been this consistently frustrated by an SU player.

 

[OttoMets]

I can see why K was happy to show G the door. He has a low basketball IQ and my guess is he's not very coachable. He is the opposite of a heady player. And he floats in and out of games...no focus, intensity or strong mental approach. He's very frustrating because the talent is there. And his FT shooting is a disgrace.

Minus a couple of the adjectives and the "not coachable" assumption, I agree with this.

His teammates look awfully frustrated by his play a lot of the time.

 

[OttoMets]

2 pts, 2 assts, 6 Rebs and 3 other balls where he kept the ball alive and Rak got the rebound. Pretty good IMO.

And took some defensive attention from Christmas. Roberson's quick eight points led directly to Christmas's big second half.

 

[TBCuse11]

G is my favorite player, by a mile, but this loss is 100% ON HIM. No question about it. Crowd was really good yesterday also.

His missed dunk was the pivotal play.