sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Last night, my wife and I sat in courtside seats provided by cto. So let me start this by thanking her for the chance to see the team so up close and personal! Here are my thoughts on what I saw, with the proviso that these conclusions are not very meaningful based on one game against a really short, slow and untalented opponent.
Our offense is not going to be very good
I see the team struggling to score points against good teams. There aren't many shooters, good coaches are going to pack the paint, take away the slashers and dare SU to beat them with 3 point shots.
To compound our offensive woes, I didn't see anyone show any signs they can run a half court offense effectively last night, though Thorpe didn't play and is surely our best hope on that front.
And then there is the problem that a few of the players in the rotation do not appear to be capable scoring threats. PC, MM and probably MD all fit in here. It makes it hard to score if the defense can almost ignore one or more players on the court most of the game. Our best scorers end up getting doubled. Not good.
On the positive side, TB is really good. He can score from the perimeter, slash and finish and is excellent in transition. He will be the guy who is going to be doubled the most, so he needs to be recognize when this happens and find and pass it to the open man. He did a nice job there last night. He had a bunch of good passes, some of which were not converted.
OB is going to be an excellent player. He is a frosh and will make some really foolish mistakes, like most of them do. But he is physically ready to play, is tough, athletic and he knows how to play. Some players have a high basketball IQ and just make a lot of good decisions from day one. I think OB is one of those guys. Should be a good rebounder, good scorer and I think he will be okay on defense too, even as a true frosh. It is a shame he is being counted on to be such a big part of the team so early in his career but I think he can handle it.
FH remains FH. I don't see a major metamorphosis happening. He is a really good athlete who is capable of playing excellent defense, he can get into the lane and finish, he even can shoot from the perimeter (this is one area he looks much improved). But his decision making remains very suspect. He tried to take one dribble too many repeatedly last night. Forced the ball into places he shouldn't have. I was most concerned that he rarely looked to pass the ball. This team needs him to contribute, to be steady, to score points, make passes, run the offense and play steady and hard on defense. I think in the end, the success of this team is tightly tied to how FD plays.
MM is an interesting guy to watch. I think he is actually maybe 6'7. Isn't really quick, doesn't jump really well. I didn't see any ability to beat his man one on one, or much of an attempt to score, or even look to score. He boxes out really well, plays really hard, will be the first guy to hit the deck for a loose ball and might well be our best rebounder. I think the team needs his fire. Couldn't really tell how he is going to be playing defense in the zone. I am sure he will rebound the ball fine. Might be a problem covering a lot of ground against teams that pass it well against our zone.
MD is cat quick, jumps well, anticipates really well, might be our best passer and I think he is another kid with a high basketball IQ. I don't see him making bad passes, forcing shots, making stupid fouls, etc.
But he is really thin, struggles to hold on to the ball when he gets bodied up and he was very deferential when he had the ball in a half court setting. Didn't look at the basket much, didn't look to drive, doesn't appear to bring much to the table in that setting. But put him in situation where he can press, and with his quickness, length and instincts, he is a monster defensively. He is also much more effective on offense, as he appears to be very good in transition (passing and finishing). Unless we become the UL of the NE and press all game long, he probably isn't going to have a huge impact this year, but this kid has a lot of potential down the road.
HW got a lot of playing time with GT out and took advantage of it. Seemed content early to just pass it around the perimeter early but got more assertive as the game went on. Looks like he is a legit outside shooter; his form is nice. My first impression is that he isn't going to be crazy good anytime soon but won't be crazy bad either. Looks like he can play both guard positions and reminds me a bit of another SU guard from WNY from long ago. A guy named Greg Monroe.
I think iommi nailed it with his assessment of BS. Skinny, going to have big problems defending against big power guys. But he is another high basketball IQ guy. Understands how to block shots in transition (he was another terror in the SU press that blew the game open), positions himself for rebounds well, and he gets how to get open and finish on the offensive end. Even made some FTs. I like smart players and I like how all these new guys 'get it' from day one.
PC got into foul trouble and was talking to the refs a lot during the game. It might be harder for him to play against little guys in that when he pushes back, it is a lot more obvious than when he gets pushed. It looks like he is trying to play more physical. His positioning in the middle of the 2-3 was noticeably better than last year. He was flying around more and not letting people get behind him. Had some nice blocks and while he doesn't present himself well down low on offense, or to get rebounds, he did have one nice little hook in the paint and drew some fouls. I expect he will have problems with fouls most games. I expect he will contribute little on offense. But I think he can give BS some rest and not hurt us on defense when he is in.
Bottom line
If this team is going to win games and be competitive in the ACC, I think it is going to have to happen based on playing excellent defense.
Battle can be really good at the top of the zone. Howard is long, gifted athletically and while he hasn't delivered fully on it yet, has great potential to be an excellent defender. JB says Geno can play defense as well. He has the size and athletic ability to succeed. The '2' in the 2-3 should be in excellent shape.
From what I saw last night, Sidibe and Chukwu are going to be reasonably good defending the interior. They will definitely block more shots and intimidate more than the centers we have seen in the last couple of years. MM and OB look like they will be good rebounding on the defensive end. They should at least be decent on the baseline on defense. Hard to tell against this team but OB is quick and with his raw athletic ability, he should be good from day one. MM is going to have to work hard on positioning. Our best defensive team probably is going to have TB on the baseline, with GT and FH up top and OB on the other side of the baseline, and BS in the middle. That should be a formidable group defensively and probably our best team on offense too. Though I have misgivings on how well TB can rebound down there.
Battle and Moyer are clearly tight. They have assumed the roles of the team leaders, though Frank does some of that as well. When the team was struggling early in the game and fell behind by a fair amount (maybe 5-7 points), Tyus just took over the game and a little later, he had 11, SNHU had 13, SU had 15 and the game was pretty much over. He looks stronger and more confident than last year. Didn't see a lot with his left hand but he didn't need to do that against this level of opposition.
Man to man?
The team played some man to man in the second half. They didn't look bad at it either. I would guess we will at least see some more of it in the next exhibition game.
What else? The support crew that makes the half time contests like 'Dress Like an Orange" work, have new uniforms (really yellow t-shirts).
The crowd was really small and quiet. Maybe 5K. Probably more like 3K. I would guess there were about 50 students there. 100 if you count the SSS.
3 tubas.
The refs were horrendous. One of them had something like a 22 inch waist.
TB's sneakers were fresh looking.
AA Jr does a good job running the pre-game intro activities.
No Matt Park. I don't think Mr Excitement was there either. Whoever was doing the PA did not know how to pronounce MD's last name.
Thanks again to cto. We had a great time enjoying the life of the rich and famous (though SU did not open the VIP lounge for this game so we had no free eats or drinks, so we had to eat nachos with the common people). This should be fun watching all the youngsters develop. Looking forward to seeing what GT brings to the table.
Go Cuse! War Damn Otto!
Our offense is not going to be very good
I see the team struggling to score points against good teams. There aren't many shooters, good coaches are going to pack the paint, take away the slashers and dare SU to beat them with 3 point shots.
To compound our offensive woes, I didn't see anyone show any signs they can run a half court offense effectively last night, though Thorpe didn't play and is surely our best hope on that front.
And then there is the problem that a few of the players in the rotation do not appear to be capable scoring threats. PC, MM and probably MD all fit in here. It makes it hard to score if the defense can almost ignore one or more players on the court most of the game. Our best scorers end up getting doubled. Not good.
On the positive side, TB is really good. He can score from the perimeter, slash and finish and is excellent in transition. He will be the guy who is going to be doubled the most, so he needs to be recognize when this happens and find and pass it to the open man. He did a nice job there last night. He had a bunch of good passes, some of which were not converted.
OB is going to be an excellent player. He is a frosh and will make some really foolish mistakes, like most of them do. But he is physically ready to play, is tough, athletic and he knows how to play. Some players have a high basketball IQ and just make a lot of good decisions from day one. I think OB is one of those guys. Should be a good rebounder, good scorer and I think he will be okay on defense too, even as a true frosh. It is a shame he is being counted on to be such a big part of the team so early in his career but I think he can handle it.
FH remains FH. I don't see a major metamorphosis happening. He is a really good athlete who is capable of playing excellent defense, he can get into the lane and finish, he even can shoot from the perimeter (this is one area he looks much improved). But his decision making remains very suspect. He tried to take one dribble too many repeatedly last night. Forced the ball into places he shouldn't have. I was most concerned that he rarely looked to pass the ball. This team needs him to contribute, to be steady, to score points, make passes, run the offense and play steady and hard on defense. I think in the end, the success of this team is tightly tied to how FD plays.
MM is an interesting guy to watch. I think he is actually maybe 6'7. Isn't really quick, doesn't jump really well. I didn't see any ability to beat his man one on one, or much of an attempt to score, or even look to score. He boxes out really well, plays really hard, will be the first guy to hit the deck for a loose ball and might well be our best rebounder. I think the team needs his fire. Couldn't really tell how he is going to be playing defense in the zone. I am sure he will rebound the ball fine. Might be a problem covering a lot of ground against teams that pass it well against our zone.
MD is cat quick, jumps well, anticipates really well, might be our best passer and I think he is another kid with a high basketball IQ. I don't see him making bad passes, forcing shots, making stupid fouls, etc.
But he is really thin, struggles to hold on to the ball when he gets bodied up and he was very deferential when he had the ball in a half court setting. Didn't look at the basket much, didn't look to drive, doesn't appear to bring much to the table in that setting. But put him in situation where he can press, and with his quickness, length and instincts, he is a monster defensively. He is also much more effective on offense, as he appears to be very good in transition (passing and finishing). Unless we become the UL of the NE and press all game long, he probably isn't going to have a huge impact this year, but this kid has a lot of potential down the road.
HW got a lot of playing time with GT out and took advantage of it. Seemed content early to just pass it around the perimeter early but got more assertive as the game went on. Looks like he is a legit outside shooter; his form is nice. My first impression is that he isn't going to be crazy good anytime soon but won't be crazy bad either. Looks like he can play both guard positions and reminds me a bit of another SU guard from WNY from long ago. A guy named Greg Monroe.
I think iommi nailed it with his assessment of BS. Skinny, going to have big problems defending against big power guys. But he is another high basketball IQ guy. Understands how to block shots in transition (he was another terror in the SU press that blew the game open), positions himself for rebounds well, and he gets how to get open and finish on the offensive end. Even made some FTs. I like smart players and I like how all these new guys 'get it' from day one.
PC got into foul trouble and was talking to the refs a lot during the game. It might be harder for him to play against little guys in that when he pushes back, it is a lot more obvious than when he gets pushed. It looks like he is trying to play more physical. His positioning in the middle of the 2-3 was noticeably better than last year. He was flying around more and not letting people get behind him. Had some nice blocks and while he doesn't present himself well down low on offense, or to get rebounds, he did have one nice little hook in the paint and drew some fouls. I expect he will have problems with fouls most games. I expect he will contribute little on offense. But I think he can give BS some rest and not hurt us on defense when he is in.
Bottom line
If this team is going to win games and be competitive in the ACC, I think it is going to have to happen based on playing excellent defense.
Battle can be really good at the top of the zone. Howard is long, gifted athletically and while he hasn't delivered fully on it yet, has great potential to be an excellent defender. JB says Geno can play defense as well. He has the size and athletic ability to succeed. The '2' in the 2-3 should be in excellent shape.
From what I saw last night, Sidibe and Chukwu are going to be reasonably good defending the interior. They will definitely block more shots and intimidate more than the centers we have seen in the last couple of years. MM and OB look like they will be good rebounding on the defensive end. They should at least be decent on the baseline on defense. Hard to tell against this team but OB is quick and with his raw athletic ability, he should be good from day one. MM is going to have to work hard on positioning. Our best defensive team probably is going to have TB on the baseline, with GT and FH up top and OB on the other side of the baseline, and BS in the middle. That should be a formidable group defensively and probably our best team on offense too. Though I have misgivings on how well TB can rebound down there.
Battle and Moyer are clearly tight. They have assumed the roles of the team leaders, though Frank does some of that as well. When the team was struggling early in the game and fell behind by a fair amount (maybe 5-7 points), Tyus just took over the game and a little later, he had 11, SNHU had 13, SU had 15 and the game was pretty much over. He looks stronger and more confident than last year. Didn't see a lot with his left hand but he didn't need to do that against this level of opposition.
Man to man?
The team played some man to man in the second half. They didn't look bad at it either. I would guess we will at least see some more of it in the next exhibition game.
What else? The support crew that makes the half time contests like 'Dress Like an Orange" work, have new uniforms (really yellow t-shirts).
The crowd was really small and quiet. Maybe 5K. Probably more like 3K. I would guess there were about 50 students there. 100 if you count the SSS.
3 tubas.
The refs were horrendous. One of them had something like a 22 inch waist.
TB's sneakers were fresh looking.
AA Jr does a good job running the pre-game intro activities.
No Matt Park. I don't think Mr Excitement was there either. Whoever was doing the PA did not know how to pronounce MD's last name.
Thanks again to cto. We had a great time enjoying the life of the rich and famous (though SU did not open the VIP lounge for this game so we had no free eats or drinks, so we had to eat nachos with the common people). This should be fun watching all the youngsters develop. Looking forward to seeing what GT brings to the table.
Go Cuse! War Damn Otto!
But that's okay.
