sutomcat
2024 Iggy Award (ACC Tournament Record)
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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First off, let's talk about the attendance, 8733? This isn't directed at the diehards on the board from the NYC area; I know you all went. But 8733? Even discounting the unattractive opponent (who appeared to bring 17 fans to the game) and the direct conflict with the football game, this was disappointing.
I have always felt we bring 7500 locals and 7500 CNY people for big games at MSG. I am thinking most of the CNY people decided to skip the one for the UConn game instead.
Credit to USC South for playing well. Their defense was good and it disrupted our ability to run our half court stuff completely. Extremely disappointed in how poorly our PGs and the staff handled it. The way to beat this team is to get the ball inside and methodically make FTs and foul their players out. We took some steps towards doing this in the second half but our PGs and wings weren't great getting into the paint and we were really bad shooting FTs.
One of the best ways to gauge how good the freshmen are is to see how they do in their first game on a big stage on the road. If they are fearless, it is a good sign. If they are fearless and play well, you have a future AA on your hands.
Well TT played fearless but poorly. And TB looked confused and uncomfortable. If he was going to show his ability to penetrate and get to the hole in half court settings this season, this should have been a good game to do it. He had someone on him, 30 feet from the basket, everytime he touched the ball. I don't remember him even trying it once though. Maybe it is his foot. I hope so. I can say at one point in the game he went after a lob pass inside playing defense and jumped amazingly high to get a deflection. So he appeared physically capable to me. When the defense extends like that, you have to make them pay for it by exploding past them. This is really important I think because our offense needs good slashers to work. Frankie can do it. Pretty sure JG is not going to be able to do much of this against top competition, we have no one else well suited to slash...TB needs to step up here, and fast.
Thought AW struggled with a hand in his face big time. He didn't try to penetrate. Has enough athletic ability to get shots up off the dribble but his accuracy greatly decreases. Would like to see him called out in that set play SU has run for years for GMac and TC where they run all the way around the perimeter of the court to a spot on the wing where they get the ball and release the shot almost simultaneously. I wonder if AW can do that? Don't remember anyone trying that so far this year. Thought his defense was okay, am disappointed with his rebounding to date. Especially when he is playing forward on defense, which is going to happen a lot if TL is going to play a lot at center.
The player I was most disappointed at was TR. Against a defense like this, a player as limited as he is he will struggle to get shots but he again couldn't convert point blank shots, and was largely a non-factor when Syracuse had the ball. For much of the game he just seemed to stand around on the perimeter.
Without knowing better, I would have guessed JG was a frosh. He was awful, made foolIsh decIsions repeatedly, couldn't penetrate and was just an out of control mess. With TR, PC and TB all essentially non-factors on offense, JG has to get shots off and draw fouls and get the ball down low. I hope he is just going to struggle a bit playing at a higher level than he is used to,
FH had a nightmare game. Just like the Indiana (Pa) and Monmouth games, he started out badly, was not ready to play and looked lost. To his refit, he was able to get into the paint. Thought the bad call early, where he was called for charging, had a big impact on the game and discouraged him from being more aggressive. When he got inside, USC played for the pass, tried to draw bogus charge calls and FH needed to go strong to the hole. He did that more in the second half and I thought his judgement was good, except when he tried to dunk over a USC big and was almost Borg-assimilated. Heartened that he made a 3 in this game. Really disheartened by his poor FT shooting, which played a key role in the loss. Really hard to win close games when your PG can't shoot FTs. Is it possible he could shoot better from the 3 point circle than the FT line? How often has that happened for someone who regularly takes both types of shots? FH is a special player for sure.
TL did some good things and some bad things, which unfortunately is more than one can say about many on the SU team. He clearly is uncomfortable taking a lot of shots but for this team, against this style of defense, he is going to be asked to do it. Wasn't as smooth and efficient as he normally is, didn't rebound well and the tight defense helped him to make a ton of TOs. The adjustment from being a complementary player to 'the man' is a tough one and how this goes will be one of the most important story lines for this team this season.
I thought DC2 played pretty well. He is never going to be good defensively but he positions himself well and is our best defensive rebounder. And if he gets the ball in decent position, he can finish. Which is more than I can say than a bunch of others on the team. His poor FT shooting is a real problem, especially because he is really good at drawing fouls. With USC in the bonus early in the second half, this probably affected his playing time...
PC got a lot of PT ad IMHO, really hurt the team when he was in. He is a complete non-factor on offense and his repeated bad decisions/positioning woes on defense seem to offset the positives he rigs to the table there. This was Jzb doing a very un-JB like thing: Igor it the short term for the long term. Yes, giving PC extended minutes yesterday may have played a key role in the team losing. But if investing in PC with serious PT now makes him a serviceable player later, it will be worth the investment. That is the gamble: is PC going to improve or is this investment for nought? I don't know. I really don't.
I have always felt we bring 7500 locals and 7500 CNY people for big games at MSG. I am thinking most of the CNY people decided to skip the one for the UConn game instead.
Credit to USC South for playing well. Their defense was good and it disrupted our ability to run our half court stuff completely. Extremely disappointed in how poorly our PGs and the staff handled it. The way to beat this team is to get the ball inside and methodically make FTs and foul their players out. We took some steps towards doing this in the second half but our PGs and wings weren't great getting into the paint and we were really bad shooting FTs.
One of the best ways to gauge how good the freshmen are is to see how they do in their first game on a big stage on the road. If they are fearless, it is a good sign. If they are fearless and play well, you have a future AA on your hands.
Well TT played fearless but poorly. And TB looked confused and uncomfortable. If he was going to show his ability to penetrate and get to the hole in half court settings this season, this should have been a good game to do it. He had someone on him, 30 feet from the basket, everytime he touched the ball. I don't remember him even trying it once though. Maybe it is his foot. I hope so. I can say at one point in the game he went after a lob pass inside playing defense and jumped amazingly high to get a deflection. So he appeared physically capable to me. When the defense extends like that, you have to make them pay for it by exploding past them. This is really important I think because our offense needs good slashers to work. Frankie can do it. Pretty sure JG is not going to be able to do much of this against top competition, we have no one else well suited to slash...TB needs to step up here, and fast.
Thought AW struggled with a hand in his face big time. He didn't try to penetrate. Has enough athletic ability to get shots up off the dribble but his accuracy greatly decreases. Would like to see him called out in that set play SU has run for years for GMac and TC where they run all the way around the perimeter of the court to a spot on the wing where they get the ball and release the shot almost simultaneously. I wonder if AW can do that? Don't remember anyone trying that so far this year. Thought his defense was okay, am disappointed with his rebounding to date. Especially when he is playing forward on defense, which is going to happen a lot if TL is going to play a lot at center.
The player I was most disappointed at was TR. Against a defense like this, a player as limited as he is he will struggle to get shots but he again couldn't convert point blank shots, and was largely a non-factor when Syracuse had the ball. For much of the game he just seemed to stand around on the perimeter.
Without knowing better, I would have guessed JG was a frosh. He was awful, made foolIsh decIsions repeatedly, couldn't penetrate and was just an out of control mess. With TR, PC and TB all essentially non-factors on offense, JG has to get shots off and draw fouls and get the ball down low. I hope he is just going to struggle a bit playing at a higher level than he is used to,
FH had a nightmare game. Just like the Indiana (Pa) and Monmouth games, he started out badly, was not ready to play and looked lost. To his refit, he was able to get into the paint. Thought the bad call early, where he was called for charging, had a big impact on the game and discouraged him from being more aggressive. When he got inside, USC played for the pass, tried to draw bogus charge calls and FH needed to go strong to the hole. He did that more in the second half and I thought his judgement was good, except when he tried to dunk over a USC big and was almost Borg-assimilated. Heartened that he made a 3 in this game. Really disheartened by his poor FT shooting, which played a key role in the loss. Really hard to win close games when your PG can't shoot FTs. Is it possible he could shoot better from the 3 point circle than the FT line? How often has that happened for someone who regularly takes both types of shots? FH is a special player for sure.
TL did some good things and some bad things, which unfortunately is more than one can say about many on the SU team. He clearly is uncomfortable taking a lot of shots but for this team, against this style of defense, he is going to be asked to do it. Wasn't as smooth and efficient as he normally is, didn't rebound well and the tight defense helped him to make a ton of TOs. The adjustment from being a complementary player to 'the man' is a tough one and how this goes will be one of the most important story lines for this team this season.
I thought DC2 played pretty well. He is never going to be good defensively but he positions himself well and is our best defensive rebounder. And if he gets the ball in decent position, he can finish. Which is more than I can say than a bunch of others on the team. His poor FT shooting is a real problem, especially because he is really good at drawing fouls. With USC in the bonus early in the second half, this probably affected his playing time...
PC got a lot of PT ad IMHO, really hurt the team when he was in. He is a complete non-factor on offense and his repeated bad decisions/positioning woes on defense seem to offset the positives he rigs to the table there. This was Jzb doing a very un-JB like thing: Igor it the short term for the long term. Yes, giving PC extended minutes yesterday may have played a key role in the team losing. But if investing in PC with serious PT now makes him a serviceable player later, it will be worth the investment. That is the gamble: is PC going to improve or is this investment for nought? I don't know. I really don't.
