Just checking

[Henny & Coke]

Just checking, but Syracuse did play Holy Cross tonight and won by 24 points (72 – 48)…right?

The same Holy Cross team that just 12 days prior beat #25th ranked Harvard and was 3-0 coming into their game with Syracuse…same Holy Cross team that didn’t lose by 24 points in any game last year (UNC beat them by only 8 points, and their worst loss in terms of margin was at Michigan by 22 points)…right?

And we did this even though we had a starter out in Tyler Roberson, still don’t have DaJuan Coleman, and even while enduring some pretty big slumps from 2 of the team’s most experienced/veteran players in Trevor Cooney (1-7 for 5 points in 31 mins) & Mike Gbinije (2-5 for 4 points in 23 mins) and with the team going 0-14 from behind the arc...right?

Sounds like a pretty damn impressive win to me, all things considered. Syracuse must have done many other things right to overcome all the above & not only win the game, but win by a pretty large margin against a decent team. Yet, I don’t really see anybody pointing this out? People more interested in talking up the negatives all the time, instead of the positives? Does an NIT-bound team beat a decent team like Holy Cross by 24 points like Syracuse just did?

For all the talk about what went wrong & what Syracuse doesn’t currently do well…we must have done something right tonight.

 

[CaptainJ]

Just checking, but Syracuse did play Holy Cross tonight and won by 24 points (72 – 48)…right?

The same Holy Cross team that just 12 days prior beat #25th ranked Harvard and was 3-0 coming into their game with Syracuse…same Holy Cross team that didn’t lose by 24 points in any game last year (UNC beat them by only 8 points, and their worst loss in terms of margin was at Michigan by 22 points)…right?

And we did this even though we had a starter out in Tyler Roberson, still don’t have DaJuan Coleman, and even while enduring some pretty big slumps from 2 of the team’s most experienced/veteran players in Trevor Cooney (1-7 for 5 points in 31 mins) & Mike Gbinije (2-5 for 4 points in 23 mins) and with the team going 0-14 from behind the arc...right?

Sounds like a pretty damn impressive win to me, all things considered. Syracuse must have done many other things right to overcome all the above & not only win the game, but win by a pretty large margin against a decent team. Yet, I don’t really see anybody pointing this out? People more interested in talking up the negatives all the time, instead of the positives? Does an NIT-bound team beat a decent team like Holy Cross by 24 points like Syracuse just did?

For all the talk about what went wrong & what Syracuse doesn’t currently do well…we must have done something right tonight.

Maybe they didn't cover the vegas line or something? I didn't check it.

 

[Orangezoo]

We did a lot right. BJ showed signs of being a real weapon and gave us a lil bit of CJ at times. He also is going to start dropping those 3s soon enough. Cmac and rak play really well off one another and cmac has that lamarcus aldridge mid range J working well. Kaleb is getting more aggressive. So definitely some good things out there.

 

[omniorange]

CMac and Rak do play well off one another. That is a plus. I'd say BJ took another baby step forward, but still very raw on defense.

But in addition to outside offense, not handling pressure is a big problem for this team. And CMac and Rak are not going to be much help in either of those areas.

The upcoming game against Michigan will be the next true measurement of this team.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[donniesyracuse]

He also is going to start dropping those 3s soon enough.

Why is this assumed?

 

[skurey]

Wow I didn't realize they beat Harvard. That changes everything.

 

[CaptainJ]

Wow I didn't realize they beat Harvard. That changes everything.

For what it's worth, it certainly changes the RPI.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

We did a lot right. BJ showed signs of being a real weapon and gave us a lil bit of CJ at times. He also is going to start dropping those 3s soon enough. Cmac and rak play really well off one another and cmac has that lamarcus aldridge mid range J working well. Kaleb is getting more aggressive. So definitely some good things out there.

Shooting is contagious - both good and bad shooting. As soon as one guy starts hitting, the others will, too. There's not only the psychological lift, but if one guy starts hitting, that will skew the defense toward him, creating opportunities for the others.

But somebody has to start by making some shots.

 

[orange79]

This is just what our fans do - year in and year out.

 

[SoBristol]

CMac and Rak do play well off one another. That is a plus. I'd say BJ took another baby step forward, but still very raw on defense.

But in addition to outside offense, not handling pressure is a big problem for this team. And CMac and Rak are not going to be much help in either of those areas.

The upcoming game against Michigan will be the next true measurement of this team.

Cheers,
Neil

The next 4 games will be a true measure -- St Johns, La Tech, Nova in addition to Michigan.

CMac and Rak can help against the press. They both catch well. They can finish well if the guards can break the press and attack.

 

[sabach]

For what it's worth, it certainly changes the RPI.

Oddly enough Holy Cross's RPI coming in was 5.

 

[SmilinBob]

It's a very nice win and if this team can find a way to win when the other team can match up with SU's big men and the 1-3's can step up and win the game, we will have something really brewing on the Hill. Love it when one weapon is taken away and somebody else comes through.

 

[Jack Hall]

Just checking, but Syracuse did play Holy Cross tonight and won by 24 points (72 – 48)…right?

The same Holy Cross team that just 12 days prior beat #25th ranked Harvard and was 3-0 coming into their game with Syracuse…same Holy Cross team that didn’t lose by 24 points in any game last year (UNC beat them by only 8 points, and their worst loss in terms of margin was at Michigan by 22 points)…right?

And we did this even though we had a starter out in Tyler Roberson, still don’t have DaJuan Coleman, and even while enduring some pretty big slumps from 2 of the team’s most experienced/veteran players in Trevor Cooney (1-7 for 5 points in 31 mins) & Mike Gbinije (2-5 for 4 points in 23 mins) and with the team going 0-14 from behind the arc...right?

Sounds like a pretty damn impressive win to me, all things considered. Syracuse must have done many other things right to overcome all the above & not only win the game, but win by a pretty large margin against a decent team. Yet, I don’t really see anybody pointing this out? People more interested in talking up the negatives all the time, instead of the positives? Does an NIT-bound team beat a decent team like Holy Cross by 24 points like Syracuse just did?

For all the talk about what went wrong & what Syracuse doesn’t currently do well…we must have done something right tonight.

i guess the recent FF and elite 8 went to some folks heads. Imagine if JB had won his second NC what it would be like....

 

[wallacecuse]

i guess the recent FF and elite 8 went to some folks heads. Imagine if JB had won his second NC what it would be like...

Wouldn't be any different

 

[newmexicuse]

Wow I didn't realize they beat Harvard. That changes everything.

Living out here in NM - Harvard took the Lobos out of the Dance two years ago when the Lobos were a borderline Top Ten team. Remember all those Princeton teams that could beat anybody on a given night & almost beat a #1 overall GTown squad in the tourney ? No reason to dis the IVYs, most season the top one or two IVY teams are no cupcakes.

 

[orangejunkie]

Hope it will change but even if you want to put a positive spin on the game, lack of outside shooting is a major concern for this team. If only one player was hitting consistently I would feel a lot better.

 

[690West]

Maybe they didn't cover the vegas line or something? I didn't check it.

There wasn't a line and I can't understand why. Usually when there's no line it's because the spread would be too high for action but I can't imagine yesterday's spread would have been anywhere higher than 20ish. Strange

 

[anomander]

This was a very good win. I thought there was a good chance we would lose, so a performance like that actually gave me some hope. The defense took a huge step in the right direction. imo that was more important then anything else. We aren't going to win many games this year by outscoring teams, we are going to win if our defense is strong. A win in a high scoring game could have been more of a fluke, but a great defensive effort like that is a step in the right direction.

 

[Orangezoo]

One thing thats important to note is that while we built a house shooting 3s we did a nice job hitting our 2 pt jump shots. Especially that pretty mid range J mccullough has. Also something i made a point about several weeks back is showing up and that is teams offensive execution being impacted by their need to be able to defend us pushing the ball off a miss. We are seeing less corner 3s and a big reason is if you miss that shot it is a fast break the other way for us. Its something our version of the burn last year did not do.

On D overall team speed is impressive. We are not as disciplined but reaction time is faster and mccullough is really becoming a menace shutting down passing lanes.

 

[Flacusian]

Nice post. Thanks for taking the time to chronicle all of those positives. All of that while Syracuse is beginning to show signs of establishing a pretty scary zone to try to score against. Many of the opposition points come off of What missed assignments which are going to be fewer and farther between as the season progresses.

Our offensive woes which can't last forever at their current level were at least equally offset by our defense and the ability to score down low.

This Syracuse team is going to be a different kind of beast than we are accustomed to IMHO.

 

[RF2044]

Just checking, but Syracuse did play Holy Cross tonight and won by 24 points (72 – 48)…right?

The same Holy Cross team that just 12 days prior beat #25th ranked Harvard and was 3-0 coming into their game with Syracuse…same Holy Cross team that didn’t lose by 24 points in any game last year (UNC beat them by only 8 points, and their worst loss in terms of margin was at Michigan by 22 points)…right?

And we did this even though we had a starter out in Tyler Roberson, still don’t have DaJuan Coleman, and even while enduring some pretty big slumps from 2 of the team’s most experienced/veteran players in Trevor Cooney (1-7 for 5 points in 31 mins) & Mike Gbinije (2-5 for 4 points in 23 mins) and with the team going 0-14 from behind the arc...right?

Sounds like a pretty damn impressive win to me, all things considered. Syracuse must have done many other things right to overcome all the above & not only win the game, but win by a pretty large margin against a decent team. Yet, I don’t really see anybody pointing this out? People more interested in talking up the negatives all the time, instead of the positives? Does an NIT-bound team beat a decent team like Holy Cross by 24 points like Syracuse just did?

For all the talk about what went wrong & what Syracuse doesn’t currently do well…we must have done something right tonight.

Good post.

Don't get me wrong--there is a lot for this team to continue improving on. And they are just beginning to scratch the surface of what it takes to be a top 25 ish team in that regard.

But they also have shown tangible development from two weeks ago in terms of offensive execution. Yes, the shots didn't drop, but the execution of half court offensive sets is improved. That's a great sign. [General2o, 007, Coach Orange--am I right?]

The big keys from this point on will be:

• What's the delta between how Joseph is playing now, versus where he'll be by the end of the year? Because in my mind, he's the main determinant of how far this team goes.
• Does Cooney begin playing better?
• Can Johnson step it up as a stater, and provide complimentary scoring?
• While Gbinije get his head out of his arse and regain his form?
• Is Patterson a contributor or does he fall from the rotation?
• How quickly will Roberson return, and will he begin to demonstrate improved play?

Still need a bench. Still need complimenary shooting / scoring. But we've made incremental progress from two weeks ago, in the Cal debacle. It might be just a notch of forward progress, but it is progress. Lots more room to go.


Let's Go Orange!!!

 

[realorange]

There wasn't a line and I can't understand why. Usually when there's no line it's because the spread would be too high for action but I can't imagine yesterday's spread would have been anywhere higher than 20ish. Strange

Maybe Vegas is having as difficult time as we are in evaluating our team.