Monmouth Postgame

[Cuse House]

Simply put, we had a bad game. It happens, and won’t be the last one for the year. We still are way better than last year and we have some really strong pieces. I wouldn’t be surprised if we played Houston tough and beat Kansas. There are obviously some concerns, but this was game 4 with a new roster. We still have the capacity to be good. Kingz is my favorite player, he’s just fantastic.

Also, the refs were horrendous which I think made it difficult to get into a flow. This team is a fast pace run and gun type of team. Last night I’m not sure there was a single 3-4 minute stretch without a whistle.

 

[RF2044]

I think this team is immensely talented.

But right now, they seem like a group where the individual parts are struggling to fit. JJ getting injured three minutes into the opener was a setback for the team chemistry, and now they have to adjust.

I also think they have some fatal flaws -- namely, outside shooting and terrible free throw shooting -- that could bite us in the arse.

A lot to overcome with a big tournament looming on the horizon that could define the season.

 

[JoeSU]

Some observations from this absolute car crash of a college basketball game.

4.) JJ Starling is dealing with a serious case of the yips at the free throw line, and I’m terrified about what that will mean for us. I can’t believe the hitch in his free throw form is back! What the actual . He needs to see a sports psychologist stat. He was a very good shooter in high school with a good form, and his shooting form has just fallen apart in college and has gotten worse every year. Makes no sense. To quote Cher in Moonstruck, “Snap out of it!”

I looked up Starling's stats, and in 2023 he shot 71% from the FT line, and last season it was about the same (69%). I have no idea what is going on this year. I understand having him on the floor for his ball handling, but somethings has to change if he hopes to be on the floor in crunch time.

 

[sufan59]

Hopefully this is just the Syracuse vs William & Mary game in 2010-2011

 

[rocklloyd]

i feel like i'm back in the late 80's with the awful free throw shooting.

 

[baggerbob]

Mike Brey should never be allowed to see the light of day after ruining JJ. He is not the same player that I saw playing for Baldwinsville.

The team is better without JJ, it's going to be another long year. The only other reliable ball handler would be the freshman Fennell and now that JJ is back he won't play. George is going to have to play almost the whole game , all year.
JJ can not be the lead guard at any time.

 

[djorange1989]

i feel like i'm back in the late 80's with the awful free throw shooting.

Yep, kind of hard to forget that the missed FTs by Triche and Coleman(I actually think the backend miss by Triche was the killer) cost us a title

 

[orangefog]

My take on the game was that Monmouth is a decent, hard-working team that plays good defense. If they shoot hot, and that one kid went crazy, these kind of upsets can happen.

I thought we competed hard. I thought that Kingz and George were both terrific. I thought Donnie had a very good game, and although the other 3 big guys didn't have statistically their best games, we have presence inside. We play hard on defense.

On the other hand, there was JJ's mental meltdown late. And right after he made a sweet corner 3, and hit that first foul shot. And then 2 airballs and he had to be taken out of the game. Wow, shades of Chuck Knoblaugh ruined was I thought was very good comeback game by JJ.

We could have used Betsey in this game, and will need him in Las Vegas.

Don't get me started on the refs, because that always sounds like sour grapes. But my goodness some of those calls were so terrible.

I guess the glass-half-full outlook is that it's better for the team to had to execute in a late game situation to preserve the lead, and they did. Just barely. But it's still a "W".

I think this is going to be a very competitive team in the next several games. I think we have a lot of good pieces. I just wish JJ hadn't kind of ruined what was a very solid comeback game.

All that...and Okafor was terrible. He has always seemed like a very nice guy, especially for a Husky, but he should never do another game.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Yep, kind of hard to forget that the missed FTs by Triche and Coleman(I actually think the backend miss by Triche was the killer) cost us a title

If we're going back into the archives of critical missed FTs -- if my memory is correct there is the missed front end of a 1 & 1 by Derrick Coleman in the 1987 Championship game.

 

[orangemass]

Any word on freeman? He was limping noticeably

 

[atlanticuse]

JJ Starling is not 100%. I tink until he is fully recovered limit his minutes.

That may, or may never, happen.

We LOVE JJ - his attitude, his demeanor - but he's just not good.

And this game - "yeah we're 4-0 shut the front door" actually hurt us.

 

[Bulldog04]

I’ll preface this by saying JJ is a great kid, however, you can’t tell me his return didn’t play a part in this turmoil last night. Red looked like all of a sudden he didn’t know how and when to sub again, Kiyan took really forced shots because he was playing less, offense had zero flow to it compared to last 3 games. Not trying to blame him completely, but clearly something was off. I’m glad they won the game because that’s probably a game they lose the last couple of years, but now it feels like problems are back that I didn’t really see last 3 games and yeah I know it’s just 3 games

 

[Eric15]

I thought Starling played pretty well but I still can’t get my head around the two free throw airballs. I thought maybe he had an issue with his hand, but he swished a three late in the game.

 

[Eric15]

All that...and Okafor was terrible. He has always seemed like a very nice guy, especially for a Husky, but he should never do another game.

I agree. He seems like a likable person to me (and is very smart graduating with a degree in Finance in three years) and I don’t expect him to be Ian Eagle or Dan Shulman, but I don’t think he has the smoothness for this job. But then again it’s the ACC Network, not CBS.

 

[RedtheGOB]

I’ll preface this by saying JJ is a great kid, however, you can’t tell me his return didn’t play a part in this turmoil last night. Red looked like all of a sudden he didn’t know how and when to sub again, Kiyan took really forced shots because he was playing less, offense had zero flow to it compared to last 3 games. Not trying to blame him completely, but clearly something was off. I’m glad they won the game because that’s probably a game they lose the last couple of years, but now it feels like problems are back that I didn’t really see last 3 games and yeah I know it’s just 3 games

I need a rewatch cuz wasn't paying as much attention early so you might be right on the flow of the game early. Kiyan's issues were not because of JJ later on though. Cannot miss all those free throws and then sulk when he's getting hacked late. He's gotta be tougher.

 

[Eric15]

Obviously a small sample size, but we are currently 343 out of 365 nationally in team free throw shooting.

This is going to lose us games if we don’t fix it.

 

[IthacaMatt]

5.) Did Kiyan have an off game because of JJ’s return? How will he adjust to coming off the bench? He better figure it out because we’re going to need him.

When JJ was out there, and when it was Kingz & George, Kiyan kind of played SF. That was to protect him a bit on defense, I think, because guards are getting by him. But having a bigger defender on him showed that he's not physically strong enough yet.

7.) My ears, my ears! Emeka Okafor might be the worst TV analyst I’ve ever heard. A literal toddler could do a better job describing the game action. I mean, he’s a UConn guy so I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s an idiot. He was atrocious and just kept droning on and on about Monmouth—when you could actually make out what he was saying. ESPN needs to pull the plug on ever hiring that guy again.

Yeah, he was truly terrible. Not eloquent at all. And some criticize Devo! He's twice the announcer Okafor is.

 

[AngryOtto]

Because he’s our best defensive guard. That’s very obvious.

But why put him in on O. Agree on D. He was switching the first series O and D but not at the end.

 

[capeorange]

Has he tried hypnosis? Psychedelics? Half kidding…

His free throws looked like the answer to the second part of your question is a resounding yes.

 

[djorange1989]

If we're going back into the archives of critical missed FTs -- if my memory is correct there is the missed front end of a 1 & 1 by Derrick Coleman in the 1987 Championship game.

Yep that is the one I was referring to for Coleman, along with the backend by Triche that led to an easy IU layup against our ole defense

 

[cusefan88]

It doesn't mean much but the team usually posts a photo of the fighter of the game. In the photo the guys are usually smiling and playing it up.

Nobody seemed happy last night in the photo. So a small sliver I'll take is that the guys seem pissed and that's a good mentality to have.

 

[djorange1989]

Obviously a small sample size, but we are currently 343 out of 365 nationally in team free throw shooting.

This is going to lose us games if we don’t fix it.

Yep, not sure if JJ is fixable based on what Bulldog talked about, but hopefully some other guys are. JJ cannot be in the game at crunch time and that is bad

 

[Scooch]

They are certainly better than last year’s dumpster fire but are they NCAA bid better? Not so sure.

Obviously, if they’re not then it’s time to move on to a new HC. This team really does have every position covered and none of its weaknesses are bad enough to be disqualifying in terms of getting a tourney bid.

We shot 50% from the field and 41% from 3 last night. We held them to 39% from the field, forced 12 turnovers and matched them on the glass.

We were up 14 with 6 minute to go and frittered away most of the lead. It certainly wasn’t the first time we’ve seen an SU team do that.

I think there’s a lot of overreaction to how “bad” we were last night. If we hit some FTs we win comfortably. Life goes on.

 

[Sherman20]

I said in my previous post that we need to press and speed up the game. That’s how we got big leads in our first three games. It forces the team to be more active on defense. Monmouth’s weakness was turning the ball over and we only turned them over 12 times. We forced more in the first three games. Last night Red backed off of the pressure in the second half. I’m thinking it’s because we had so much foul trouble and the refs were blowing the whistle like crazy, so the game had no flow. What do people think?

 

[CuseTG2003]

Obviously, if they’re not then it’s time to move on to a new HC. This team really does have every position covered and none of its weaknesses are bad enough to be disqualifying in terms of getting a tourney bid.

We shot 50% from the field and 41% from 3 last night. We held them to 39% from the field, forced 12 turnovers and matched them on the glass.

We were up 14 with 6 minute to go and frittered away most of the lead. It certainly wasn’t the first time we’ve seen an SU team do that.

I think there’s a lot of overreaction to how “bad” we were last night. If we hit some FTs we win comfortably. Life goes on.

Spot on. Other things to consider:

• 9 p.m. Tuesday night game in an empty Dome (i.e., morgue) a week before Vegas
• Reincorporating a senior after a strong first three games w/out him

No excuses. These guys are pros, BUT some things were working against us last night.