Monmouth Postgame

[McCuse]

So I’ve avoided the immediate over reaction because my optimism took a beating last night.

A few thoughts.

1- Agreed on needing better rotations, FT shooting and that there was zero flow and just a general disaster in terms of the officiating. To me it seemed without the constant stoppages we pull away and stay 15-20 pts ahead if not for those.

2- I’m hopeful this is our bad game that counts to then correct course in Vegas. Arkansas is ranked and has had close losses to MSU then a 1 point win over Winthrop and weaker wins vs other lesser teams. They aren’t alone looking across the board. That awful Drexel team just pummeled NJIT 75-43. The results are all over the map. So is it a an anomaly? I hope

3- I hope chemistry with JJ playing gets better. He played hard and within himself but the team seemed disjointed with him on the floor and in the rotations where they just didn’t look that way otherwise.

4- I respect King Rice but no thank you to playing Monmouth anymore. Not because of the challenge but just because of this garbage foul every possession approach that only results in injuries and games that go 40 minutes too long. I get lesser teams are trying different strategies in this new world to be competitive but meh

Good take. It's definitely hard to to be a fan after the last few years. Can relate about optimism taking a hit. We will certainly know a lot more by the end of next week. Hope Betsey can get back, he's an interesting piece of the puzzle I think. Still cautiously optimistic for the season. A little at a time I guess.

 

[sufan59]

So I’ve avoided the immediate over reaction because my optimism took a beating last night.

A few thoughts.

1- Agreed on needing better rotations, FT shooting and that there was zero flow and just a general disaster in terms of the officiating. To me it seemed without the constant stoppages we pull away and stay 15-20 pts ahead if not for those.

2- I’m hopeful this is our bad game that counts to then correct course in Vegas. Arkansas is ranked and has had close losses to MSU then a 1 point win over Winthrop and weaker wins vs other lesser teams. They aren’t alone looking across the board. That awful Drexel team just pummeled NJIT 75-43. The results are all over the map. So is it a an anomaly? I hope

3- I hope chemistry with JJ playing gets better. He played hard and within himself but the team seemed disjointed with him on the floor and in the rotations where they just didn’t look that way otherwise.

4- I respect King Rice but no thank you to playing Monmouth anymore. Not because of the challenge but just because of this garbage foul every possession approach that only results in injuries and games that go 40 minutes too long. I get lesser teams are trying different strategies in this new world to be competitive but meh

Even the exhibitions and the first 3 games we've seen some gimmes that the team hasn't been fully able to take advantage of, the blowouts of the first 3 games could've easily been an even larger MOV than they were. That pretty much was the case again last night, but a better opponent that exposed some things that needs to be recognized and cleaned up for Las Vegas. Fortunately they have a larger talent advantage in that one to still pull off the win. Adversity with a win is probably not the worst thing for this team right now. What I mentioned on not fully taking advantage of the gimmes is not going to fly against the power conference teams. Will they clean it up before next week, I don't know. But with the hope of performing well enough to improve metrics last night, I'm sure this does kind of feel like a loss for them, so I think going into next Monday no matter what happens, they won't let the result on Monday affect what happens on Tuesday and the third game. If Monday was the first test of real adversity could they bounce back quick enough to still have a good week out there, it would be harder. Hopefully the response to being humbled is a team that comes out next week that plays together, relaxed, and focused on having fun out there.

 

[McCuse]

His attitude is the problem. He does not care enough about being in the right position on defense. He doesn't battle through/above screens, and he loses his guy which forces rotation. It's no coincidence they hit more 3s and scored more points than the other teams we played.

I was watching his defense last night and noticed he was trying to be aggressive on defense and rush up close to his man with the ball. His man could go around him quickly to the side. It seems he would benefit from not rushing up so close to the man with the ball, but give himself 2 or 3 feet of separation to gauge which way his man will try to drive. Armchair quarterback, I know.

 

[23Zone]

Did JJ sneak in a practice free throw as well? The broadcast guys were confused at what he was doing, like he tool shot before he was supposed to.

That was foreshadowing of what horror was to follow lol

 

[23Zone]

With Starling playing, the chemistry was off. Everything was out of balance.

 

[Orangezoo]

Even the exhibitions and the first 3 games we've seen some gimmes that the team hasn't been fully able to take advantage of, the blowouts of the first 3 games could've easily been an even larger MOV than they were. That pretty much was the case again last night, but a better opponent that exposed some things that needs to be recognized and cleaned up for Las Vegas. Fortunately they have a larger talent advantage in that one to still pull off the win. Adversity with a win is probably not the worst thing for this team right now. What I mentioned on not fully taking advantage of the gimmes is not going to fly against the power conference teams. Will they clean it up before next week, I don't know. But with the hope of performing well enough to improve metrics last night, I'm sure this does kind of feel like a loss for them, so I think going into next Monday no matter what happens, they won't let the result on Monday affect what happens on Tuesday and the third game. If Monday was the first test of real adversity could they bounce back quick enough to still have a good week out there, it would be harder. Hopefully the response to being humbled is a team that comes out next week that plays together, relaxed, and focused on having fun out there.

I finally watched the replay and came away a little less deflated than watching live ( note a little not any sort of absolution lol) 8 more free throws, no more awful ref sequences like the one they gave Monmouth 4 FTs on two bad calls when we were getting separation, the multiple momentum interruptions in the second half as well, the missed travel that led to a 3 pt play when we were creating more separation again… and that’s more comfortable win. All things that “should” get cleaned up.

The coaching staff needs to look long and hard at their own mistakes down the stretch as well. This was in many ways a trap game and shouldn’t have been with a team needing to fight for its reputation. Vegas needs to show a program that’s locked in and committed to the goal here.

 

[tptcuse]

I finally watched the replay and came away a little less deflated than watching live ( note a little not any sort of absolution lol) 8 more free throws, no more awful ref sequences like the one they gave Monmouth 4 FTs on two bad calls when we were getting separation, the multiple momentum interruptions in the second half as well, the missed travel that led to a 3 pt play when we were creating more separation again… and that’s more comfortable win. All things that “should” get cleaned up.

The coaching staff needs to look long and hard at their own mistakes down the stretch as well. This was in many ways a trap game and shouldn’t have been with a team needing to fight for its reputation. Vegas needs to show a program that’s locked in and committed to the goal here.

My biggest concern in the grand scheme is the threes we allowed. I also hope Betsey comes back 100% soon because I think he is a bigger piece of this team's success than it appears right now.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Red needs to control his emotions there because it was a massive swing while on a 9-0 run. Really amateur stuff there.

Eh, I think the call against Sadiq was so bad that he HAD to say something about it. We had already been hosed on a series of bad calls. At some point you take the T.

 

[IthacaMatt]

My biggest concern in the grand scheme is the threes we allowed. I also hope Betsey comes back 100% soon because I think he is a bigger piece of this team's success than it appears right now.

I think that's a really good observation.

 

[IthacaMatt]

That’s the thing though… it is one thing to airball. It’s another to air ball by several feet and to the side. It was like if the rim was 8’ tall, 2 feet closer, and a foot to the right.

TWICE!

 

[IthacaMatt]

Donnie hasn’t posted up guys well at all in the first four games, versus this level of competition that’s concerning. He’s very far away from being an NBA ready player but lots of tools to work with. Clutch free throws were nice.

Well, at least he was trying aggressively to get to the rim, and drew 7 or 8 fouls on Monmouth, and fouled out their center with about 3 minutes to go. So that was good.

Kiyan was fine other than those free throws. Woof. Got killed going to the hoop multiple times with no calls.

He had a tough time defending because they tended to put him on the other team's SF, not their 2G, because Kiyan had been beaten off the dribble too many times. Plus, he is a pretty tall kid.

Sadiq got screwed by the refs. 8 points in limited minutes is nice.

Absolutely. He is like freshman year Terrance Roberts - bouncy, aggressive defender who plays so hard. I hope he doesn't have problems with the refs all year.

Missed Betsy for offensive spacing especially.

Yes, until Kingz starts hitting more automatically from 3, we will miss Betsey - and his size.

Zephir and Soure are great effort guys but both probably played too much.

Upwards and Onwards!!

Zephir, maybe, but he played at the end because we gave up so many threes, and he's a very good on-ball defender. It didn't work out, but it was not necessarily a "bad" move by Red.

I like Soare a lot, and have no problem with his minutes. We were playing against a 7 footer who was doing some damage against Kyle. Soare presents a bigger profile, and is this team's Jeremy McNeil. I love what he gives us.

 

[Orangezoo]

My biggest concern in the grand scheme is the threes we allowed. I also hope Betsey comes back 100% soon because I think he is a bigger piece of this team's success than it appears right now.

Agreed on all. I am honestly expecting the results will be somewhere between Maui and Brooklyn and our best chance of a win coming in the consolation third game and having our hopes for this year come to a crashing halt and having to wait until an official reboot with an outside hire comes in to make a splash.

This was where I was after Pace and am feeling more like it again. Greatly hope I’m very very wrong.

 

[DanielA]

I’m surprised no one mentioned the absolutely terrible whistle sadiq gets. It’s pretty incredible

 

[sufan59]

I’m surprised no one mentioned the absolutely terrible whistle sadiq gets. It’s pretty incredible

He does, but the team will have to find a way to elevate above a terrible whistle.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Syracuse has played a weak schedule so far. Through 4 games, the major positive is assists to turnovers of 17.5/9.5 or 1.84 (last year was 1.08). The major negatives are FT shooting of 61.2% (last year 70.5%) and 3 PT FG % of 33.3% (last year 32.8%). Have to improve 3 PT FG % and fix the FT shooting for this to be a good season.

We have to rebound on the defensive end much better, too.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I’m surprised no one mentioned the absolutely terrible whistle sadiq gets. It’s pretty incredible

I'm concerned he's quickly gaining the reputation of a guy that doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.

Which is stupid. He's not a dirty player. He's a high energy guy. That's a critical difference.

 

[hoopsupstate]

We have to rebound on the defensive end much better, too.

Especially in the first half. It seems our guards rebound better in the second half. The entire team needs to focus on rebounding next week.

 

[bnoro]

I was watching his defense last night and noticed he was trying to be aggressive on defense and rush up close to his man with the ball. His man could go around him quickly to the side. It seems he would benefit from not rushing up so close to the man with the ball, but give himself 2 or 3 feet of separation to gauge which way his man will try to drive. Armchair quarterback, I know

His positioning is just entirely out of whack.

It's like he has no basketball IQ on defense.

 

[bnoro]

Eh, I think the call against Sadiq was so bad that he HAD to say something about it. We had already been hosed on a series of bad calls. At some point you take the T.

At some point, sure. But it wasn't while the team is on a 9-0 run, and on the precipice of blowing the game open.

There were worse calls later on (the Kingz foul) when they were on a run that could've changed momentum.

 

[DoctahLexus]

His attitude is the problem. He does not care enough about being in the right position on defense. He doesn't battle through/above screens, and he loses his guy which forces rotation. It's no coincidence they hit more 3s and scored more points than the other teams we played.

If you do not know JJ personally, then you know nothing about his attitude.

 

[Biaxtar]

My biggest concern surprisingly is not the free throws.

This is because this team consistently letting the other team gobble up rebounds. The biggest concern about that is none of the forwards we played are p5 level. If SU can’t rebound against these opponents what is going to happen against Houston, Kansas ETC

 

[torque]

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 think “it's Red's problem" instead of "JJ is the problem."

There's no perfect college player. They mature at pro level.

If Red can't figure out how to get JJ fit in the system then he's not the right one at the helm.

 

[Chip]

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.

There's a reason why some people are assigned the Tuesday 9 pm Syracuse vs Monmouth slot.

 

[baggerbob]

His positioning is just entirely out of whack.

It's like he has no basketball IQ on defense.

The one current so far this year 2 bad exhibitions, and one bad game 3 good games. JJ played the exhibitions and bad game, didn't play the 3 good games.
I won't comment anymore on JJ, until after the Vegas games.
Hopefully they at least win one and play well in the other 2.

 

[Orangezoo]

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

JJs game, as his shot has mostly turned into a liability, is better suited as being an undersized 3. He’s better off to have added another 15 lbs of muscle and just be a physical wing that can bring energy and run north/south for 15 or so mpg. He’s clearly a step behind when in that 2G or moments as the 1 and nothing about what he brings leads to the conclusion his game fits either of the primary guard slots.