JB out coached Cooley and

[Capt. Tuttle]

won this game, IMHO. PC had this game there for the taking, given our foul trouble and the way way the foul calls were going. JB shortened the game by about 5-6 minutes, using his wizard mind calculations. Cooley let PC sit back instead of forcing the action, getting to the line and fouling guys out. We were really hurting with CJ playing center. Reminded me of the 6 OT game with Kris playing center.

 

[orangejunkie]

In defense of Cooley he has Providence playing much better than last year's team that was just run and gun. Cooley really shortened the game as well. They were patient and shot the ball really well. I was impressed with their improvement over the last couple seasons. If they can hold onto Ledo and his other recruits, they could be more of a factor in the Big East.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

In defense of Cooley he has Providence playing much better than last year's team that was just run and gun. Cooley really shortened the game as well. They were patient and shot the ball really well. I was impressed with their improvement over the last couple seasons. If they can hold onto Ledo and his other recruits, they could be more of a factor in the Big East.

I agree. PC played well and played hard. I just think we were ripe, under the circumstances, and he should have pressed the issue. An extra 10 possessions might have been 6 FT's, at least. Could have made it interesting.

 

[NKR1978]

won this game, IMHO. PC had this game there for the taking, given our foul trouble and the way way the foul calls were going. JB shortened the game by about 5-6 minutes, using his wizard mind calculations. Cooley let PC sit back instead of forcing the action, getting to the line and fouling guys out. We were really hurting with CJ playing center. Reminded me of the 6 OT game with Kris playing center.

I thought their game plan in the first half was great. Painfully boring, but it was incredibly effective. They really got away from that even early in the 2nd half and that made little sense.

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[General20]

I thought their game plan in the first half was great. Painfully boring, but it was incredibly effective. They really got away from that even early in the 2nd half and that made little sense.

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I thought Cooley did a great job coaching and Providence did a great job executing. Boeheim did everything right too.

Coaching the game is not like playing the game, there is not always, or even usually, a clear victor. Some times a coach does something that directly costs his team the game, but most games are simply a clash of equally effective strategies (in theory) that come down to player execution and have little to do with what the coach does.

Providence is not a very good team and they hung around the #1 team in the country all game despite Syracuse shooting nearly %60 from three. They will never get much credit for it, but that might be the greatest accomplishment Providence has all year. Have you seen their upcoming schedule? Things are going to get brutal for the Friars.

I was most impressed with their off the ball movement on offense early in the game. It was maybe the best I have ever seen. Most teams try to hold the ball against Sryacuse, but all year holding the ball longer has meant making more turnovers against our aggressive zone. Providence ran around so much they had Melo's head spinning and he had a couple early fouls after some confused and bad play early against guys he should have dominated.

Of course, in the second half Providence resorted to jumping into our big guys and praying for a foul while making a circus shot. Time after time the refs obliged (dont they know that rewarding play with no intention other than drawing a foul ruins a game?). I have no respect for that kind of basketball. But I do respect how Providence took care of the ball and hustled against us.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Does Providence have anyone who could crack our top 7? Maybe Council? Hard to say JB outcoached Cooley. I thought Prov played well.

 

[orangecuse]

Does Providence have anyone who could crack our top 7? Maybe Council? Hard to say JB outcoached Cooley. I thought Prov played well.

Completely agree. Nobody here outcoached the other. It was a good basketball game where both teams made shots along with PC making the majority of their foul shots (taking full advantage of some suspect calls). This was not a tactical game, at least not from my vantage point. JB stated in his presser more than once, if we hadn't shot the ball lights out from the field (73% or so in the 2nd half/best offensive execution of the year to date) it's a likely different outcome...his own words. Now, had the game been really close down the stretch, which incorporated the need for more strategy, tactic, etc., than one could argue a better coaching job was had by the victor...

 

[ForeverOrange]

I wouldn't say he got outcoached, I would say that the talent and depth just wasn't there for his team. That kid Batt's I believe, was a handful, but they could not recover from the amount of time he had spent on the bench.

 

[RF2044]

Here's the thing--"coaching" relies upon the execution of the players. Coaches might be brilliant tacticians, but if their players can't execute the strategy, or if the other team simply imposes it's will, then the strategy "doesn't work" even though it might be sound.

Case in point: I watched the 1996 SU / Georgia NCAA tournament game over the holidays with my father. Great game--one of the all time classics of the Boeheim era. At the end of overtime, Georgia hits a three to go up by a point with about 7 seconds to go. Clock stops. We inbound to John Wallace, who can't get it to a guard, takes it coast to coast and hits a long three to win the game.

In postgame replays, they show Boeheim on the sidelines hesitating as he almost calls timeout with his hands, but he decides to let it ride. When he was being interviewed by Al McGuire [RIP] after the game, he actually said something to the effect that he very nearly called timeout, but since JDub was a our best player he didn't. Wallace hits the shot, and Boeheim looks like a genius for not calling TO. But what if he missed? Would that have made him a bad coach, or made his decision to not call TO poor strategy?

Don't get me wrong--I think Boeheim coached well last night. I continue to be impressed by his utilization of the bench--there are a lot of posters who insisted that we will never play more than 7.5 and that you "can't teach an old dog new tricks" who are eating crow. But I think that the majority of the credit goes to the players for being so freaking good, they make Boeheim's job as a game coach relatively easy.

 

[bnoro]

Cooley was on the court outside of the coaches box ALL GAME. I wish they T'ed him up but that would have never happened last night, serious home cooking. Literally he was jumping up and down as Syracuse went down to play offense and was a full 2 feet on the court, over the coach's line too. He's a nice coach but he was acting like a buffoon.

 

[RF2044]

Cooley was on the court outside of the coaches box ALL GAME. I wish they T'ed him up but that would have never happened last night, serious home cooking. Literally he was jumping up and down as Syracuse went down to play offense and was a full 2 feet on the court, over the coach's line too. He's a nice coach but he was acting like a buffoon.

I hate that--always have. It's one thing for a coach to have a foot onto the court or something, but I can't stand when coaches are 10 feet past the coaching box or completely out onto the court during play.

Yesterday, there was a situation where Cooley was out on the court by several feet while the game was live. The ref walks right by him making his way up court and never even says anything to him.

Complete BS.

 

[JoeSU]

Agree that Providence playing zone against us in stretches didn't force the action. But it did challenge us to shoot well from the outside (which we haven't done consistently all year), and it allowed them to rest a bit on the defensive end (since they only went 6 deep).

 

[dasher]

Here's the thing--"coaching" relies upon the execution of the players. Coaches might be brilliant tacticians, but if their players can't execute the strategy, or if the other team simply imposes it's will, then the strategy "doesn't work" even though it might be sound.

Case in point: I watched the 1996 SU / Georgia NCAA tournament game over the holidays with my father. Great game--one of the all time classics of the Boeheim era. At the end of overtime, Georgia hits a three to go up by a point with about 7 seconds to go. Clock stops. We inbound to John Wallace, who can't get it to a guard, takes it coast to coast and hits a long three to win the game.

In postgame replays, they show Boeheim on the sidelines hesitating as he almost calls timeout with his hands, but he decides to let it ride. When he was being interviewed by Al McGuire [RIP] after the game, he actually said something to the effect that he very nearly called timeout, but since JDub was a our best player he didn't. Wallace hits the shot, and Boeheim looks like a genius for not calling TO. But what if he missed? Would that have made him a bad coach, or made his decision to not call TO poor strategy?

Don't get me wrong--I think Boeheim coached well last night. I continue to be impressed by his utilization of the bench--there are a lot of posters who insisted that we will never play more than 7.5 and that you "can't teach an old dog new tricks" who are eating crow. But I think that the majority of the credit goes to the players for being so freaking good, they make Boeheim's job as a game coach relatively easy.

One of the all time worst coaching moves of all time in that Ga game. With seconds remaining, Tubby has his team play man and has a guy actually guarding Otis Hill at mid court. Guy should have been back and helping any pass to a syracuse player(in this case jason cipolla).

 

[dollarbill44]

I hate that--always have. It's one thing for a coach to have a foot onto the court or something, but I can't stand when coaches are 10 feet past the coaching box or completely out onto the court during play.

Yesterday, there was a situation where Cooley was out on the court by several feet while the game was live. The ref walks right by him making his way up court and never even says anything to him.

Complete BS.

I noticed that as well and commented to my wife about that very play you referred to.

 

[bevosu]

They used the fundamental zone breaking strategy of flashing a forward (mostly) to the foul line, getting him the ball and letting him shoot a mid range shot, or drive to the basket and draw a foul, or try and dish down low.

It worked quite well. They did a better job against our zone than any team we've played so far this year. I'm sure that Cooley had something to do with that strategy...and the execution wasn't bad.