Marek foul trouble was the difference

[shu 49]

The lack of a bench killed Syracuse. Im being nice when I say Moyer and Sidibe were awful, they had to give us something and unfortunately they didn't. Biggest thing moving forward is trying to find some sort of big for next year, cant count in Sidibe. Losing that kid to Seton Hall today hurt.

Wouldnt have made tourny if we had Thompson. Worst defender I have seen in a few years here. He left for a reason and I’m glad.

 

[sugrad68]

They have the better team. We played almost as well as we're capable of and still lost. Meanwhile, Duke did not play their best game.

I agree that man-for-man Duke is quite a bit more talented than SU. But SU did NOT play as well as they are capable of playing. Stupid turnovers. Missed dunks. Giving up offensive rebounds time after time in the 2nd half. Team was definitely tired at the end of the game. Dolezaj looked exhausted at one point. Sidibe and Moyer and even Howard for most of the night were MIA. All things considered, a close game against a team that could cut down the nets in 10 days ends a season that few of us would have predicted even a few weeks ago.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Wouldnt have made tourny if we had Thompson. Worst defender I have seen in a few years here. He left for a reason and I’m glad.

Im talking about the PF/C that commited yesterda to SH that had us in his final 2, not Thompson

 

[Col. Bleep]

He grew into a helluva player.

Offhand I can't recall another SU player who has made such a huge leap DURING a season.
Marek made several big shots against Duke that a month or two ago he never even would have taken.
Add offensive confidence to his passing and defensive ability and he's a solid all-around player.

He's even a pretty good rebounder...imagine if he adds a little bulk.

 

[pfister1]

The lack of a bench killed Syracuse. Im being nice when I say Moyer and Sidibe were awful, they had to give us something and unfortunately they didn't. Biggest thing moving forward is trying to find some sort of big for next year, cant count in Sidibe. Losing that kid to Seton Hall today hurt.

Are you out of your mind? You think have that kid would be more important to next year's team than Sidibe? Sidibe will get healthy over the offseason and he is going to be a very very good player for us.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Are you out of your mind? You think have that kid would be more important to next year's team than Sidibe? Sidibe will get healthy over the offseason and he is going to be a very very good player for us.

Sidibe has chronic knee issues, you can't count on him to be able to play 30+ games next year. We need some sort of depth behind Chukwu. I never said anything about that kid being a better play then Sidibe but we can't have another year of playing 1.5 centers.

 

[longislandcuse]

I want more Euro's. Send one of our assistants to Slovakia, Croatia, Poland or wherever and come back with a Center. Maybe we can stalk Gonzaga's foreign recruiter and just offer scholarships to whoever he's meeting with.

 

[Jake]

The offensive execution fell off a cliff when Marek was on the bench.

 

[orangecuse]

The offensive execution fell off a cliff when Marek was on the bench.

Yep, when Moyer had to come in it was back to 3 on 5 from an offensive standpoint, and it was blatantly obvious to all, most importantly to Duke.

 

[kirbivore]

refs knew Marek was the key and acted accordingly in the first half

 

[Mr. M]

The offensive execution fell off a cliff when Marek was on the bench.

Marek didn't end up fouling out.. you could argue JB sat him on the bench for too long to avoid fouls.. should have sat him less, play as much as possible instead of being so cautious about fouling out.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

I agree that man-for-man Duke is quite a bit more talented than SU. But SU did NOT play as well as they are capable of playing. Stupid turnovers. Missed dunks. Giving up offensive rebounds time after time in the 2nd half. Team was definitely tired at the end of the game. Dolezaj looked exhausted at one point. Sidibe and Moyer and even Howard for most of the night were MIA. All things considered, a close game against a team that could cut down the nets in 10 days ends a season that few of us would have predicted even a few weeks ago..

Duke's talent edge showed in the fingertip put-backs their bigs made vs. the two-handed dunks ours missed -- at least three by my count. Missing Marek may have been a big reason we lost, but this one was another. Finish, finish, finish! . . . SU was that close!-VBOF

 

[rrlbees]

The offensive execution fell off a cliff when Marek was on the bench.

You could tell they had tweaked the offense and were trying very hard to get him with the ball at the foul line.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Duke's talent edge showed in the fingertip put-backs their bigs made vs. the two-handed dunks ours missed -- at least three by my count. Missing Marek may have been a big reason we lost, but this one was another. Finish, finish, finish! . . . SU was that close!-VBOF

Very winnable game, and if Marek played the entire game I believe we would've likely pulled out a now-typical, meat-grinder slugfest.
He gave flow to the offense and was a threat to pass and/or score from that foul line spot on every possession.
He WAS a liability on the boards because of his frame, but we still outboarded Duke in that 1st half.
They were struggling to figure him out on defense, up until the time he had to sit.
All in all, the biggest frustration was that we had plenty of chances.
A month ago a moral victory might've been tolerable- but looking at things today...we shoulda won that game!
Disappointed, but not angry.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

Very winnable game, and if Marek played the entire game I believe we would've likely pulled out a now-typical, meat-grinder slugfest.
He gave flow to the offense and was a threat to pass and/or score from that foul line spot on every possession.
He WAS a liability on the boards because of his frame, but we still outboarded Duke in that 1st half.
They were struggling to figure him out on defense, up until the time he had to sit.
All in all, the biggest frustration was that we had plenty of chances.
A month ago a moral victory might've been tolerable- but looking at things today...we shoulda won that game!
Disappointed, but not angry.

All that said, we couldn't have asked for more from this young team. They played beyond expectations, especially after Geno Thorpe left and HoWash went down. One bright side: Battle, Howard and Brissett got 1.5-2 years' worth of experience in one year playing max minutes!-VBOF

 

[dasher]

The difference was Duke being better. 10 out of 10 times this Duke team would beat this Syracuse team.

I don't agree with that at all. We would win one out of 10 for sure. Duke is better but the margin isn't what it appears. The Dukies were 13-6 out of Cameron this year. That is good, not great. They are better than us. But not 10 out of 10 better.

 

[sugrad68]

Marek didn't end up fouling out.. you could argue JB sat him on the bench for too long to avoid fouls.. should have sat him less, play as much as possible instead of being so cautious about fouling out.

Marek had 3 fouls in the first half, with maybe 5 minutes to go. It would have been stupid to leave him in the game at that point in time. It's impossible to foresee the future and know he wouldn't pick up another foul the entire 2nd half.

 

[orangepassion]

We stopped putting someone at the high post for the rest of the half after Marek went out.

 

[Marty McFly]

I agree with much of what's been posted in this thread. the last couple minutes of the half we got a bit lackadaisical on offense, we missed an Oshae dunk and grayson hit a 3 to end the half. Not sure we played a full 40 minutes without a bad offensive stretch all year, not sure we could expect it in this contest, but with Marek out it was almost a foregone conclusion. He's been the glue guy on this run.

Next year I hope Hughes can help break down the defense a bit as this would add a critical dimension which this offense sorely lacked. With teams like Duke this year, who are vulnerable to the blow-by, this would help when someone like Marek is out unexpectedly, or if the offense bogs down.

 

[Sherman20]

Sidibe has chronic knee issues, you can't count on him to be able to play 30+ games next year. We need some sort of depth behind Chukwu. I never said anything about that kid being a better play then Sidibe but we can't have another year of playing 1.5 centers.

JB has said surgery in the off season should solve the tendinitis.