just want to brain dump some early season thoughts

[orangehomer]

first is MCW. he has the unique ability, i want to say jason-kidd'ish without comparing him to jason kidd because there is no other jason kidd, but the idea is that he has an ability to control the game tempo without scoring. in fact i he seems to be generally better when he doesn't shoot at all.

cooney is wound tighter than a drum right now and needs to chill.

southerland continues the trend of seniors that play better than i think they will.

our interior defense is lacking. the zone gets beat by offensive rebounding, and good interior passing. i don't feel like the coleman/christmas experiment is working. ultimately i think that is the biggest limitation to our upside.

unfortunately, it seems that coleman/christmas/keita are centers only. that means alot of fair/southerland at the forwards. i like fair as much as the next guy, but he is a huge liability on defense. in fact i think he is awful. he routinely gets outrebounded, and seems out of position regularly. i think fair has talent, but needed to be 2-3 inches taller for his game style. he just looks undersized and lost to me.

i still think this team is going to drop some games they probably shouldn't. before, i thought this was the team that might lose a game here and there but be better in march than our last couple teams. now i am not sure, this team might be a year away.

 

[Gabjon]

I think Rak can play the 4 on both ends other than that I agree with your post

 

[obliterata]

Better hope for a deep March run this season cuz next year there'll be no Sutherland, Triche, and in all probability MCW. Without those three, scoring is going to take a major hit.

 

[dasher]

we have other guys that think they are going to come out as well.

 

[cusetown1]

It's hard to judge the front court playing against these smaller teams. I know Colgate had a 6 10 guy but for the most part they are smaller. That being said I really love what Coleman, ROC,and Keita are doing. They will only get better, they are one of the teams strengths which is crazy considering the scorers and athleticism we have on this team.

 

[alibrat66]

Better hope for a deep March run this season cuz next year there'll be no Sutherland, Triche, and in all probability MCW. Without those three, scoring is going to take a major hit.

I love MCW's game, especially his unselfishness and court vision. No telling what his ceiling is. However, I think all the talk about him being a high draft pick next season is somewhat premature. Let's wait until SU gets into the gauntlet of their season against the likes of Louisville, Connecticut, Cincy, and others. I hope he continues to be devastatingly good; however, he still has to prove himself against the best competition. He does that, he'll have NBA scouts drooling, but not until then, IMHO.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I agree that MCW is unique, Cooney is tight, and that Dirty is on fire.

I disagree with the anxiety of the center position. There are 15 fouls to give there, quality fouls. Three premium bigs. DC2 needs experience but he is improving each game and there is experience to cover him while he learns.
Fair is awful? Are you kidding me? One of the smoothest, highest Bball IQ players on the planet. How quickly we forget about SDSU.

The potential is there for this team to rival the best D of any SU team ever. Length all around and plenty of fouls to give in the middle.

I also disagree with the dropping of games they shouldn't comment. There is plenty of experience, a good floor of experience in BT, CJ, Dirty, and BMK. And MCW is a soph, coaches kid. Not a recipe for a What game.

And lastly I disagree that this team doesn't have improvement potential. I think JB is grooming DC2 to be a big contributor this year. JB is feeding the post with a purpose. It's only been 4 games and there has been improvement. And the second key piece is the development of Cooney. We need him for a run, as a backup and hopefully as another outside option. While his progression has been more variable, I believe it will happen. And I believe JB has not given up on his plan. Just adding those two pieces makes this team a NC contender and it still looks very possible to me.

 

[cusetown1]

I agree that MCW is unique, Cooney is tight, and that Dirty is on fire.

I disagree with the anxiety of the center position. There are 15 fouls to give there, quality fouls. Three premium bigs. DC2 needs experience but he is improving each game and there is experience to cover him while he learns.
Fair is awful? Are you kidding me? One of the smoothest, highest Bball IQ players on the planet. How quickly we forget about SDSU.

The potential is there for this team to rival the best D of any SU team ever. Length all around and plenty of fouls to give in the middle.

I also disagree with the dropping of games they shouldn't comment. There is plenty of experience, a good floor of experience in BT, CJ, Dirty, and BMK. And MCW is a soph, coaches kid. Not a recipe for a What game.

And lastly I disagree that this team doesn't have improvement potential. I think JB is grooming DC2 to be a big contributor this year. JB is feeding the post with a purpose. It's only been 4 games and there has been improvement. And the second key piece is the development of Cooney. We need him for a run, as a backup and hopefully as another outside option. While his progression has been more variable, I believe it will happen. And I believe JB has not given up on his plan. Just adding those two pieces makes this team a NC contender and it still looks very possible to me.

Totally agree on Fair. How soon we forget about the importance of players like him. He is Josh Pace with a jump shot.

 

[Gabjon]

Totally agree on Fair. How soon we forget about the importance of players like him. He is Josh Pace with a jump shot.

You does have to forget how he has played to acknowledge how he IS playing. 1 good game out of 4 is not a good thing. Struggling against clearly inferior competition is a very bad thing. If he just couldn't play that would be one thing, but when you are clearly better than you are playing by a mile that's a problem.

 

[orangehomer]

I agree that MCW is unique, Cooney is tight, and that Dirty is on fire.

I disagree with the anxiety of the center position. There are 15 fouls to give there, quality fouls. Three premium bigs. DC2 needs experience but he is improving each game and there is experience to cover him while he learns.
Fair is awful? Are you kidding me? One of the smoothest, highest Bball IQ players on the planet. How quickly we forget about SDSU.

The potential is there for this team to rival the best D of any SU team ever. Length all around and plenty of fouls to give in the middle.

I also disagree with the dropping of games they shouldn't comment. There is plenty of experience, a good floor of experience in BT, CJ, Dirty, and BMK. And MCW is a soph, coaches kid. Not a recipe for a What game.

And lastly I disagree that this team doesn't have improvement potential. I think JB is grooming DC2 to be a big contributor this year. JB is feeding the post with a purpose. It's only been 4 games and there has been improvement. And the second key piece is the development of Cooney. We need him for a run, as a backup and hopefully as another outside option. While his progression has been more variable, I believe it will happen. And I believe JB has not given up on his plan. Just adding those two pieces makes this team a NC contender and it still looks very possible to me.

awful might be a strong word, and while i agree that fair is a very good offensive player i was talking about defense. it just seems like way too many breakdowns are coming on his side of the zone, and i think he gets pushed around too much on defense for an experienced player.

i still think we have upside don't get me wrong. and obviously it is only november, but i'm not sure yet how the skill sets of these players will mesh when push comes to shove. one thing that is bothering me a little is ballhandling in general. mcw and triche are solid but after that is an adventure. it's obvious that cooney has been told not to bring the ball up. he's been better than expected defensively i think, but i don't see how he plays any real minutes against good teams when you need to have at least 2 ballhandlers on the floor. when cooney is playing it puts way too much strain on the other guard. anyway i agree there are alot of pieces and parts on this team with upside, i'm just not sure how they fit together yet.

 

[armory]

southerland continues the trend of seniors that play better than i think they will.

I am enjoying every morsel of crow I'm eating regarding J-So ... so far. Did not expect him to be as improved as he has been, especially on the defensive end. He seems much more comfortable on offense too and not jacking up everything Mookie-style.

Rock's offense made a giant leap forward too ... did not see that coming.

 

[Orangezoo]

Other than SDST - when has CJ had to be exceptional? Right now he is filling the Kris Joseph role. In tough games when teams are trying to shut down MCW and pack things in, CJ will be at his best. Think Louisville last year. He just gets the job done when necessary without trying to force the issue. I would much rather we be a team forcing the issue in the post and getting into the lane than having our 3, be someone who needs 18 shots a game. He needs to continue to be a silent assassin. Teams will shade away from CJ as MCW, our interior players and James become the center of attention. Then CJ will quietly re-emerge. He is doing just fine in four blowouts.

 

[br801]

Other than SDST - when has CJ had to be exceptional? Right now he is filling the Kris Joseph role. In tough games when teams are trying to shut down MCW and pack things in, CJ will be at his best. Think Louisville last year. He just gets the job done when necessary without trying to force the issue. I would much rather we be a team forcing the issue in the post and getting into the lane than having our 3, be someone who needs 18 shots a game. He needs to continue to be a silent assassin. Teams will shade away from CJ as MCW, our interior players and James become the center of attention. Then CJ will quietly re-emerge. He is doing just fine in four blowouts.

It seems some players feast on weaker teams and make their numbers in those games, while others perform more consistently against all levels of competition (or even step it up in big games) and may even defer to others in less competitive situations.

I believe CJ and Triche fall into the second category and am happy with what I've seen from them through four games.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

awful might be a strong word, and while i agree that fair is a very good offensive player i was talking about defense. it just seems like way too many breakdowns are coming on his side of the zone, and i think he gets pushed around too much on defense for an experienced player.

i still think we have upside don't get me wrong. and obviously it is only november, but i'm not sure yet how the skill sets of these players will mesh when push comes to shove. one thing that is bothering me a little is ballhandling in general. mcw and triche are solid but after that is an adventure. it's obvious that cooney has been told not to bring the ball up. he's been better than expected defensively i think, but i don't see how he plays any real minutes against good teams when you need to have at least 2 ballhandlers on the floor. when cooney is playing it puts way too much strain on the other guard. anyway i agree there are alot of pieces and parts on this team with upside, i'm just not sure how they fit together yet.

I, too, have found it interesting that Cooney is not being groomed as a ballhandler. It looks like those duties are being put squarely on MCW and BT, and Cooney will come in as the 2g.

To accomodate this strategy it looks like the plan is for SU to be a lot less of a fast break team this year and the offense will be based more on the traditional half court. It looks like our guards will contribute by getting more rebounds, but at the expense of fast breaks.

Makes sense from both the size of the guards and the shorter bench. Need to get that traditional half court O going though. The potential tools seem to be there, post presence in DC2 and now Rak, midrange CJ, 3 pt Dirty and hopefully soon Cooney, and driving in BT and MCW. Should be fun to watch it develop.

 

[longislandcuse]

Better hope for a deep March run this season cuz next year there'll be no Sutherland, Triche, and in all probability MCW. Without those three, scoring is going to take a major hit.

Don't we say this every year? Every year we have guys who step up. We lost the #4 pick Waiters, and 2 second rounders in KJO and Fab. We're currently #6 in the country.

 

[longislandcuse]

Whenever I get down on CJ he has a game against a top team that makes me realize that he is a pretty freakin good player. That being said, he just doesnt stand out to me at all and 75% of the time I would rather have someone else out there instead of him. I cant explain it.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

It seems some players feast on weaker teams and make their numbers in those games, while others perform more consistently against all levels of competition (or even step it up in big games) and may even defer to others in less competitive situations.

I believe CJ and Triche fall into the second category and am happy with what I've seen from them through four games.

Triche is the epitome of a player who does his best against crap competition. Against better teams his drives to the lane get swatted left and right. But we do get to hear Jay Bilas et al talk about how he's the most talented SU player, so it must be true . What announcers and analysts say is always true , right?

 

[Knicks411]

Don't we say this every year? Every year we have guys who step up. We lost the #4 pick Waiters, and 2 second rounders in KJO and Fab. We're currently #6 in the country.

Yeah and don't forget out starting PG.

 

[br801]

Triche is the epitome of a player who does his best against crap competition. Against better teams his drives to the lane get swatted left and right. But we do get to hear Jay Bilas et al talk about how he's the most talented SU player, so it must be true . What announcers and analysts say is always true , right?

Hey, it was just an observation and my opinion. I don't know what prompted that response. But to your point, Triche did have an awful game against that crap team Ohio St. in the regional final last season, didn't he?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Triche is the epitome of a player who does his best against crap competition. Against better teams his drives to the lane get swatted left and right. But we do get to hear Jay Bilas et al talk about how he's the most talented SU player, so it must be true . What announcers and analysts say is always true , right?

I just don't understand how some people have such blinders about Triche. I was curious about your statement so I went back and looked at last year's games.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/46156/year/2012/brandon-triche

He really did his best against those crap competition teams of Florida and Louisville. And Marquette and West Virginia.

If you are going to bring up stuff like this, at least be somewhat familiar with the facts.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

When we play Coleman and Rak at the same time, it reminds me of when OKC was trying to play Ibaka and Perkins against the Heat small lineup. It's just not a great idea...

 

[br801]

I just don't understand how some people have such blinders about Triche. I was curious about your statement so I went back and looked at last year's games.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/46156/year/2012/brandon-triche

He really did his best against those crap competition teams of Florida and Louisville. And Marquette and West Virginia.

If you are going to bring up stuff like this, at least be somewhat familiar with the facts.

This is a pretty good site that allows you to look at basic and more advanced statistics and break them out in various ways (home games, road games, conference games, v. Top 50):

http://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/team/syracuse-orange/roster

Looking back at Triche's 2012 season, he performed pretty consistently in most situations when looking at something like True Shooting % or other more traditional stats. That tells me he didn't do his best work against "crap competition."

 

[OttoMets]

I just don't understand how some people have such blinders about Triche. I was curious about your statement so I went back and looked at last year's games.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/46156/year/2012/brandon-triche

He really did his best against those crap competition teams of Florida and Louisville. And Marquette and West Virginia.

If you are going to bring up stuff like this, at least be somewhat familiar with the facts.

Triche was the guy most responsible for the win over Louisville, no doubt about it. And he's always played well against West Virginia; too bad we won't see them again.

To be fair, he racked up a lot of those numbers against Florida after the game had been put away. Shot poorly all night, got to 20 with a few late trips to the line, if memory serves.

But you're right that it's not true that he only plays well against good teams. He's been equally inconsistent against all manner of competition over the years - great games against the Ohio States and Louisvilles of the world, poor games against low-majors, great game against Oakland, poor game against Connecticut. He's shown that he's more than capable of having a great game against a great team.

One observation: Triche is crashing the offensive glass better than ever before. Half the time one of our bigs misses a shot, it seems that Triche is elevating and tipping the ball in. Will be interesting to see if this trend continues. He's always been a strong rebounder for a guard.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

But it's not true that he only plays well against good teams. He's been equally inconsistent against all manner of competition over the years - great games against the Ohio States and Louisvilles of the world, poor games against low-majors, great game against Oakland, poor game against Connecticut. He's shown that he's more than capable of having a great game against a great team.

One observation: Triche is crashing the offensive glass better than ever before. Half the time one of our bigs misses a shot, it seems that Triche is elevating and tipping the ball in. Will be interesting to see if this trend continues. He's always been a strong rebounder for a guard.

Agreed on his lack of consistency. And I wasn't trying to imply that he plays well against the better teams. I just think he gets an unfairly rough treatment around here by some. Which makes those of us who really enjoy his game have to defend him (I know - I don't "have" to defend this kid) so we look like we are apologists.

I think he's an excellent rebounder, even going against the bigger guys. When he knows he can't clear the ball himself, he tries to tip it out to his teammates. He has leaked out more in the past to get the break going, but it sounds like he's crashing offensive boards more this year than before.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Triche is the epitome of a player who does his best against crap competition. Against better teams his drives to the lane get swatted left and right. But we do get to hear Jay Bilas et al talk about how he's the most talented SU player, so it must be true . What announcers and analysts say is always true , right?

When an analyst says something good about us, he goes on the "smart" list like Bobby Knight and Jay Bilas. When you say something critical like Gottlieb, you go on the "He has no idea what he is talking about" list.