Me of Little Faith......

[newmexicuse]

Yes, I had predicted a seminole win in the prediction thread. In all fairness to me, this was the first Cuse win i was able to see all season long and we had looked just horrible in the losses that i had suffered through.

Great game by White who hit clutch shots and battled on the glass. Solid double-double by Tyler (Lydon type) and a great effort game by Tyler (Roberson type) who showed energy and effort when he wasn't shooting FTs.

But, all that not withstanding, John Gillon was the man and the hero of the moment. He totally took over at crunch time after doing an admirable job running the O all game long. His vision, passing, and ball control was present all game long - 11 assists !!! His driving crunch-time deuce took the heart out of the rallying Noles & he as cool as ice nailing his FTs to salt it away.

The team had a just awesome first half, and rose to the occasion when it mattered in the 2nd half. The Zone D was active and pretty effective all game long. Our guys worked hard off the glass & we actually out rebounded and out blocked a much bigger team. The Tylers combined for 8 blocks (6 of them by Lydon) & strangely enough Gillon even got in on the swat party.

All in all, I finally got to witness this team's potential. There is no question that Gillon is the key to the engine, if he can play half as well the rest of the way as he did today we will be able to compete with anybody.

 

[skurey]

Keep seeing praise for Gillon but I thought he was terrible most of the game.

 

[85SUAlum]

Sure, Gillon may have had some W T F moments during the game (what player doesn't?), but he was clutch when we needed him, especially at the end of the game.
He got it done for us today and deserves the props

 

[skurey]

How many TOs were because of Gillon's terrible passes to our forwards but credited to them?

How many times did he drive wildly into the lane with no plan of attack?

How many wide open 3s did he pass up?

He was bad but finished well.

 

[Orange Barrel]

I thought Gillon was awful most of the game. I called him names that would make Jarhead Jim blush. Then I apologized and thanked him for winning the game for us.

 

[jdubs30]

Bizarre thread. I thought Gillon was solid all game - not spectactular but definitely good enough to win

 

[Eric15]

Keep seeing praise for Gillon but I thought he was terrible most of the game.

Not sure I follow you. Gillon had two bad turnovers in the first couple minutes of the ballgame, but essentially played flawless offensive basketball from that point on.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I thought Gillon was up and down. Made some nice hustle plays/steals in the 1H. Made some nice drives and FTs, obviously. But, I thought he was grinding our offense to a freaking hault a BUNCH out there. Way before even stall ball he was pounding the ball into the floor and letting the shot clock get under 10. He took some ill-advised threes as well. We'll take this version of Gillon most games I think but to say he had a great game would be incorrect, IMO.

 

[bevosu]

I was in the chatroom and commented about my displeasure with the way he was dribbling too much and initiating offense late in the possession. But...

In retrospect I wonder if JB might have told him to do that? JB likes good D. We have a limited bench. JB might have wanted to give the team a chance to rest a bit on offense in order to maintain the energy needed to play decent defense?

Too fast a pace theoretically could have played into one of Fla State's advantages...they supposedly play 10 guys. JB may have thought that we couldn't play 40 minutes of fast paced offense without running out of gas and hurting our defensive effort.

 

[cuseattle]

I was thinking JB might have set the 2nd half tempo through Gillon too.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I was in the chatroom and commented about my displeasure with the way he was dribbling too much and initiating offense late in the possession. But...

In retrospect I wonder if JB might have told him to do that? JB likes good D. We have a limited bench. JB might have wanted to give the team a chance to rest a bit on offense in order to maintain the energy needed to play decent defense?

Too fast a pace theoretically could have played into one of Fla State's advantages...they supposedly play 10 guys. JB may have thought that we couldn't play 40 minutes of fast paced offense without running out of gas and hurting our defensive effort.

It's possible. Not a bad theory!

 

[teamco]

Two thoughts come to mind having watched the game and then reading this thread. Gillon's performance was like the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," where the good and the ugly-good outweighed the bad and the ugly-bad. And two, his game was a little reminiscent of some Scoop Jardine adventures where Scoop would run into the scrum up the middle and you would mutter to yourself, 'no, no . . . ok that worked out.' Gillon looked like he was under coaches orders to enter the lane, draw the oppo and make the dish. His shooting has been feh all year, except from the charity stripe, which was particularly exceptional yesterday. I think when Gillon reaches double-digit assists in a game, we will more than likely win. That is all, carry on.

 

[bozophobe]

I welcome Gillon's drives, because the only alternative is staying out there a la Tyler Ennis until the expiring shot clock necessitates more desperate actions. His height is a big problem, so he won't finish much. But his driving does/did lead to dish-offs, which others sometimes flubbed. And his driving does/did lead to fouls.

Boeheim simply isn't that guy with the chalkboard at every timeout with a new offensive plan. His plan has always been to get his guards to create.

 

[SoBristol]

Gillon had a few bad plays, mostly early, and mostly on plays where he made a move, and was just off on a pass. You can pick any SU player and find something comparable in that game -- Lydon and White each had a glaring fumble or two.

In the clutch, Gillon had a timely steal, with a quick pass to Roberson for a lay-in and a foul. He was the one handling the ball and drawing fouls. He was the only SU player in clutch time, in the half court, who was able to get past his man.