JB Presser

[Marsh01]

You mean guys like Matt Jones, Marshall Plumlee and Semi Ojeleye - two freshman and a sophomore - who average a combined 5 pts/game, but played a combined 33 minutes in the win over Virginia, taking minutes from Jabari?

Roberson averaging more mins per game than two of those three on the season, and just less than the other.

No I mean guys like Soulaimon and Dawkins who are the guys K sent in and played the most minutes off the bench for them who are, as I stated, experienced guys who have proven can score when a guy like Parker goes out.

 

[RICuse44]

or... pass the ball to Grant for the dunk.

But also Grant should have been in better position for an offensive rebound. The baby hook or wide open dunks is Rak's arsenal. Not Arvydas Sabonis passes. Grant was in perfect position then ends up under the basket with a mistimed jump. Rak still got a look with a high percentage shot with the advantage being that Jerami was in great position for a put back on a miss.

 

[AJDavCuse]

No I mean guys like Soulaimon and Dawkins who are the guys K sent in and played the most minutes off the bench for them who are, as I stated, experienced guys who have proven can score when a guy like Parker goes out.

BC didn't play a senior last night. They played a freshman (if only for a minute) whose stats and playing time are similar to TR. Two of their main contributors were soph's. They beat our more experienced lineup. The concept that younger guys can't perform if given a chance is difficult for me to grasp - even if JB says so - because I see it with my own eyes all the time.

 

[Marsh01]

BC didn't play a senior last night. They played a freshman (if only for a minute) whose stats and playing time are similar to TR. Two of their main contributors were soph's. They beat our more experienced lineup. The concept that younger guys can't perform if given a chance is difficult for me to grasp - even if JB says so - because I see it with my own eyes all the time.

My argument was to your Parker reference. K has experienced guys who contribute so that allows him to give Parker rest when needed. We dont have that

 

[GoSU96]

Kid had position all night and Fair stared at him before driving left and bricking. Honestly, how shocked do you think he was to get that pass? He makes that 7 out of 10 times, maybe more. That's his move. No problem with it.

Plus he got held, where was the foul on that?

 

[NineOneSeven]

My argument was to your Parker reference. K has experienced guys who contribute so that allows him to give Parker rest when needed. We dont have that

*side tangent*. How awful is Marshall Plumlee though. Dude got owned against us.

 

[Marsh01]

*side tangent*. How awful is Marshall Plumlee though. Dude got owned against us.

He's the worse one by far.

how about the guy they threw in last night that looked like the dude from Tenn Wolf?

 

[JeremyCuse]

Heres the big issue regarding the short bench.

If BJ, Patterson, Roberson, and Chino (clearly not ready) aren't ready for even 5-8 minutes a game then why bring in a class where at minimum 3 out of the 5 recruits are long term projects? This isn't a shot at JB but Syracuse is a blue blood selector school if we have a class where 3/4s of incoming kids can't even get token minutes as freshman then thats on the staff. I mean when did we become Auburn? Are Patterson, BJ, and Roberson really that far behind everyone else? Freshmen dont seem to have an issue getting PT at Duke, UNC, UK, Kansas.

Its one thing to bring in a guy like Chino who obviously needs a year and is far from ready, but you cant bring in a class where out of 5 guys only one can actually get on the court, thats insane.

 

[AJDavCuse]

My argument was to your Parker reference. K has experienced guys who contribute so that allows him to give Parker rest when needed. We dont have that

Guys get experience by playing, no?

Florida - likely the #1 team in the land next week - has a starting lineup far more experienced than us, with four seniors starting. They played two freshman and a sophomore off the bench last night in a come from behind victory. One of the freshman just started playing. Another freshman will be in the rotation when he comes back from injury. Forgetting about a difference in talent, how can they mix 3 freshman into a lineup more experienced than ours and it be considered a good thing, while us playing freshman is a bad thing. If most of ours aren't ready - and that seems to be a consistent message from the coach not just this year but for many years now - why is that?

 

[chlywtr]

He's the worse one by far.

how about the guy they threw in last night that looked like the dude from Tenn Wolf?

#5, right??

 

[Marsh01]

#5, right??

yep

 

[Ozcuse]

He's the worse one by far.

how about the guy they threw in last night that looked like the dude from Tenn Wolf?

 

[Marsh01]

Guys get experience by playing, no?

Florida - likely the #1 team in the land next week - has a starting lineup far more experienced than us, with four seniors starting. They played two freshman and a sophomore off the bench last night in a come from behind victory. One of the freshman just started playing. Another freshman will be in the rotation when he comes back from injury. Forgetting about a difference in talent, how can they mix 3 freshman into a lineup more experienced than ours and it be considered a good thing, while us playing freshman is a bad thing. If most of ours aren't ready - and that seems to be a consistent message from the coach not just this year but for many years now - why is that?

Chris Walker is one of the frosh. He was a top 10 burger boy who just came back from a suspension so they are most certainly going to give him time (given his talent) to see what he can do. He only played 4 minutes last night. Jacob Kurtz who also played 5 minutes hasnt seen action in 3 weeks. The other 2 guys (Finney-
Smith and Devon Walker) are the 6th and 7th men in their rotation. They basically were a 7 man team until Chris Walker came back so lets not get crazy here.

 

[AJDavCuse]

Chris Walker is one of the frosh. He was a top 10 burger boy who just came back from a suspension so they are most certainly going to give him time (given his talent) to see what he can do. He only played 4 minutes last night. Jacob Kurtz who also played 5 minutes hasnt seen action in 3 weeks. The other 2 guys (Finney-
Smith and Devon Walker) are the 6th and 7th men in their rotation. They basically were a 7 man team until Chris Walker came back so lets not get crazy here.

8 man rotation, you are forgetting about Kasey Hill who is the freshman backup pg, but out with injury.

 

[Marsh01]

8 man rotation, you are forgetting about Kasey Hill who is the freshman backup pg, but out with injury.

Fine 8 man rotation. Arizona plays 6 guys. Not a big deal. We were 7 deep in 2010 and we the best team in the country. Way overblown

 

[rrlbees]

Fwiw, I remember years ago asking JB face to face why he didn't give Derek Brower more time so as to give DC some rest. His answer was that DC at 80% was better than Brower at 100%.

 

[AJDavCuse]

Fwiw, I remember years ago asking JB face to face why he didn't give Derek Brower more time so as to give DC some rest. His answer was that DC at 80% was better than Brower at 100%.

He would have told you the same thing had you asked about Sherman in his freshman year playing more to give Pearl a break.. We know how that turned out. The General stats per 40 mins his freshman year not much different than the other three years. He didn't all of a sudden become the player he became the summer after his freshman year, he was putting up similar stats when he was given a chance. I'm not saying he should have played more over Pearl, but because some freshman don't play doesn't mean they can't.

Many of us making a nuanced argument, not asking for wholesale substitutions. Few minutes here and there for the younger guys help them develop and also help the starters mentally compose themselves at times. There is no right or wrong, teams have success doing it either way. I just don't buy or can't comprehend the consistent argument that most of our freshman are less ready than other freshman in the country.

 

[pfister1]

Fwiw, I remember years ago asking JB face to face why he didn't give Derek Brower more time so as to give DC some rest. His answer was that DC at 80% was better than Brower at 100%.

And, at the time, that was a fair answer. But, our back ups are better than Derek Brower. Brower was never good enough to become a significant part of the rotation. We recruit at a much higher level now, these guys are good enough that they are expected to be rotation players and probably earn major minutes at some point over their four years.

And, it really isn't about the number of guys in the rotation its about what the mix of guys in the rotation can bring you. If you have more dynamic guys who can be used in more ways coming off of your bench than you can narrow your rotation. I would argue that we don't have that right now. With Baye out we don't really have anyone that is an adequate sub at the forward position. With Baye we can use Rak, but he is not really the type of forward that we typically play in that he isn't going to give you much of anything more than 10 feet from the basket.

 

[SarasotaPaul]

when the guy who looked like a hybrid of chris farley and francis from pee wee's big adventure was in the game against him, rak got ZERO touches. but he's the man at the end. really strange management of things last night.

Almost. Rak was fouled by the dude with one touch and the thug was "hugging" him for the second foul by the thug. He went to the bench after that. He barely played. I use the term "play" liberally here. Not sure why a mascot is actually on the floor.

 

[realorange]

BC didn't play a senior last night. They played a freshman (if only for a minute) whose stats and playing time are similar to TR. Two of their main contributors were soph's. They beat our more experienced lineup. The concept that younger guys can't perform if given a chance is difficult for me to grasp - even if JB says so - because I see it with my own eyes all the time.

And those underclassman won how many other games this year? I'm sure our underclassman could have done that well too.

 

[tbonezone]

nick johnson leads arizona with 32.4 minutes per game.

 

[phil77]

JB probably went in on Rak because he couldn't save the team from a loss two games in a row while the rest of the starters play like crap.

 

[LennX6]

I thought it was a terrible shot. Need to power dribble, or power move, pump fake, get the foul and the dunk. To shoot a baby hook in that situation is unacceptable. Love it when JB agrees with me.

Seriously, nobody has been going STRONG to the hoop corresponding with the blase play of late. We are doing a little wilder than usual backboard shots, putting an extra *twist* on a layup, and falling backwards on 3 ft shots. Hell if we went strong lately, it would hit the back of the rim and fly out.

 

[LennX6]

Fair was moving like an old man at the end of that game. Again, the reason why Boeheim has 1 title, his lack of patience for the bench. Sometimes the energy alone is what helps turn tides in games like this along with giving starters a rest. Again, watch Fair move...or lack of moving at the end, especially on D. You can't shoot as often as Fair and not even hit/or barely hit the freakon rim that many times.

Rak should have got the ball more during this game along with Grant.

Did you see towards the end JB imploring the guys to get their hands up on D? They struggled to get them waist high, everybody!
I saw a couple times where Grant drove and had Rak open over the defender with a dump pass, Grant pause, then clanked one.

 

[swish7]

Did you see towards the end JB imploring the guys to get their hands up on D? They struggled to get them waist high, everybody!
I saw a couple times where Grant drove and had Rak open over the defender with a dump pass, Grant pause, then clanked one.

They've been quite hands down for such a good defensive team season. Seems like the 2010 team was textbook in the hands up regard.