Hoov50
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On Sunday my father and I had the chance to watch the SU-La. Tech game from CTO’s courtside seats. My father and I had an awesome time and can’t thank her enough!
I am by no means a basketball expert, although I do believe I understand the game better than numerous announcers, but who doesn’t?! However, I did want to share some of my observations from sitting so close that you don’t get when watching at home or my normal third level seats.
To a man our players seem to be completely unsure what they should be doing with the ball. Kaleb Joseph, is a capable ball handler, but to look into his eyes when he is coming up court is to see uncertainty. It seems like he has no idea who is going to be where and isn’t sure what to do with the ball. This is not unique to Joseph, each player seems to second guess themselves multiple times before finally throwing a pass. The one exception was Cooney for a ten minute stretch from about 13 minutes to the 3 minute mark in the second half. During that stretch Cooney decided he was going to take matters into his own hands and take the ball to the hoop. With only a few exceptions Cooney taking the ball to the hoop ended with something positive for SU. I was kind of surprised that Joseph became the ball handler on the last possession when Cooney had been doing a pretty good job.
Another thing I noticed is that Christmas and to a lesser extent Cooney are the only ones who communicate at all while on the court. Christmas was constantly communicating while on defense helping out the wing defenders, when McCullough played the middle he didn’t say a word, even when Christmas was yelling “Chris, talk!” from the bench. Cooney also communicates but more one to one in between plays than yelling during play. The only time I head Joseph say a word was when Tyler Roberson was late shifting on defense and Kaleb yelled, “Roberson get up here!”
Overall, the inexperience of the team especially at point guard is even more painfully obvious from up close. It sounds harsh, but there were times when we would be handling the ball and trying to figure out what to do with it when I was reminded of watching high school girls play. When they get the ball and really have no idea what they are going to do with it next. Even during set plays and pick and rolls we look unsure of what we should be doing. On numerous occasions McCullough or Christmas would pick and roll to the basket and were wide open but Joseph wouldn’t even try to get them the ball.
One of the things that surprised my father and I at first was that most of the coaching during the game by the staff was focused on fundamentals. However, when we thought about it we realized that most of the in game coaching we do (my father has been a head football coach since 1976 with 306 wins and a winning percentage just under 80, I have been coaching as an assistant or head coach for past 15 years) during the games is also reminding our players of the fundamentals. Interesting that college and high school isn’t much different in that respect.
A few interesting Boeheim exchanges:
“BJ are you going to get in front of him or at least do something?”
“Catch the ball first!” (numerous times)
“Mike, there is no way…he caught the ball, turned and shot, no way it didn’t take longer.”
“Trevor, what were you supposed to do?” (after passing the ball out of bounds when trying to pass it ahead to Roberson)
It was an awesome experience, and totally different than front row seats at a football game, you are so much closer to the action and really get to see and hear tons of things you don’t on television or other seats.
Again, I can’t thank CTO enough for letting my father and I share this incredible experience!
I am by no means a basketball expert, although I do believe I understand the game better than numerous announcers, but who doesn’t?! However, I did want to share some of my observations from sitting so close that you don’t get when watching at home or my normal third level seats.
To a man our players seem to be completely unsure what they should be doing with the ball. Kaleb Joseph, is a capable ball handler, but to look into his eyes when he is coming up court is to see uncertainty. It seems like he has no idea who is going to be where and isn’t sure what to do with the ball. This is not unique to Joseph, each player seems to second guess themselves multiple times before finally throwing a pass. The one exception was Cooney for a ten minute stretch from about 13 minutes to the 3 minute mark in the second half. During that stretch Cooney decided he was going to take matters into his own hands and take the ball to the hoop. With only a few exceptions Cooney taking the ball to the hoop ended with something positive for SU. I was kind of surprised that Joseph became the ball handler on the last possession when Cooney had been doing a pretty good job.
Another thing I noticed is that Christmas and to a lesser extent Cooney are the only ones who communicate at all while on the court. Christmas was constantly communicating while on defense helping out the wing defenders, when McCullough played the middle he didn’t say a word, even when Christmas was yelling “Chris, talk!” from the bench. Cooney also communicates but more one to one in between plays than yelling during play. The only time I head Joseph say a word was when Tyler Roberson was late shifting on defense and Kaleb yelled, “Roberson get up here!”
Overall, the inexperience of the team especially at point guard is even more painfully obvious from up close. It sounds harsh, but there were times when we would be handling the ball and trying to figure out what to do with it when I was reminded of watching high school girls play. When they get the ball and really have no idea what they are going to do with it next. Even during set plays and pick and rolls we look unsure of what we should be doing. On numerous occasions McCullough or Christmas would pick and roll to the basket and were wide open but Joseph wouldn’t even try to get them the ball.
One of the things that surprised my father and I at first was that most of the coaching during the game by the staff was focused on fundamentals. However, when we thought about it we realized that most of the in game coaching we do (my father has been a head football coach since 1976 with 306 wins and a winning percentage just under 80, I have been coaching as an assistant or head coach for past 15 years) during the games is also reminding our players of the fundamentals. Interesting that college and high school isn’t much different in that respect.
A few interesting Boeheim exchanges:
“BJ are you going to get in front of him or at least do something?”
“Catch the ball first!” (numerous times)
“Mike, there is no way…he caught the ball, turned and shot, no way it didn’t take longer.”
“Trevor, what were you supposed to do?” (after passing the ball out of bounds when trying to pass it ahead to Roberson)
It was an awesome experience, and totally different than front row seats at a football game, you are so much closer to the action and really get to see and hear tons of things you don’t on television or other seats.
Again, I can’t thank CTO enough for letting my father and I share this incredible experience!
