sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Crowd was in the 23K range. As the team progresses, the crowds are getting more likely, even without the students. I think they sense something special is happening.
Some woman sang the NA. She remembered the words. Unremarkable performance. No SSS. No cheerleaders. A slightly smaller than normal dance team was on hand and did their usual stuff. I think they have been dancing to "Roxanne" since the dance team started.
Another successful wave today. Conditions have been perfect for this...big crowds, blowout games, people a little restless and wanting to cheer for something more interesting than yet another complete dismantling of another conference opponent. Seems almost every game is the same...establish dominance, pull away even more, and soon, the only questions left to answer are 1) will Syracuse be able to double the score of the opponent and 2) will there be free tacos? I guess there is a third question...can the SU bench outscore the other team? I think that might have happened a couple of times so far this year.
We played the 2-3 all game long except for an extended period in what was up to then a very listless and mundane first half, where the score stayed at 12-12 for several minutes and SU was stuck at 12 for a long time. You knew we were about to press when KJ effected a one man press when PC inbounded after a timeout (he apparently jumped the gun one possession). As has been the case most of the season, the press sped the game up, was effective at causing Friar turnovers and was the catalyst that blew the game wide open.
Was kind of surprised that we waited so long to press given that PC was without Vincent Council, their talented PG. They do not appear to have another PG on the roster and without him, even in the half court, they struggled greatly to execute their offense. When we pressed them, it was game-set-match. Almost not fair.
Thought PC did a good job early on defense, tried to deny the ball inside with their 2-3 and entice us to shoot from the outside. We got a lot of good looks, but were ice cold with our jumpers and we didn't do much on the offensive boards early either. One of those days when we just couldn't make an outside shot. The kind of game you often end up losing. But the press caused a lot of turnovers and almost all of them resulted in easy transition baskets.
Dion was unusually subdued for most of the first half and did not do much until the press started. Thought he might have gotten a little overly concerned with getting his points, had a couple of possessions where he forced a shot when he shouldn't have. As is his wont, he usually ended up stealing the ball and getting his anyway a minute later. I think at times he might be feeling some pressure to entertain and put on a show instead of just focusing on playing good basketball. Still, he played well, especially on defense.
Thought JS played pretty well but had an awful day shooting. Fair played better than he has recently. Finished better. Really needs to use his body and pump fakes down low more...is making a run to catch PH for the most shots blocked in a season.
Speaking of not finishing well, Melo had another game were he missed a couple of point blank shots badly. Not squaring, not attacking the rim, using lame fall away scoop shots when he should be trying to dunk the ball as hard as he can. He really needs to improve in this area. I think that and his propensity to get in foul trouble are his two big weaknesses right now. Baye on the other hand does a fine job when he gets the ball down low in scoring position. But getting the ball to him in scoring position...that can be a problem. Balls bounce wildly off his hands in all directions. Even on rebounds that bounce directly to him. I wonder if he has tiny hands for his size? Maybe he is injured? Maybe it is just weak hands. It is uncanny how many balls find their way into his hands and then out again within a second or two.
Scoop quietly had a fine game. Really passing the ball well now. Not just perimeter passes, but really well done interior passing after penetrating into the lane. Good to see.
KJ has suddenly hit a bit of a slump hitting his 3 point shot attempts. He missed a couple of wide open looks he normally hits. BT did not shoot very well in limited minutes. MCW plays really aggressively, does a lot of good things when he is out there, really like his body control in the paint and his judgement with the ball. If he can shoot from the outside reliably someday, he will be an AA.
Good game from Christmas, who finished better today and appears to be getting better playing in the middle of the zone in the 2-3. When he got finally got a dunk, DW was waiting to come in at the scorer's table and I thought he was going to do a backflip he was so happy for Rak.
Impressed with Cooley, who kept his players working hard and hustling all game long, despite the major lead SU built up. He does a nice job calling plays after TOs, and has done an amazing job getting this PC team to play reasonably good defense. Their defense the last couple of years has been shockingly awful. Anyone know what is going on with his hair and the ghastly looking bald spots?
The schedule is setting up really well for SU. Playing a Monday after a Saturday is always tough, but given that the opponent is Pitt, given the huge crowd we should have for the game, and given how badly they have dominated us in the Dixon era, I think we will be ready. SU has never been 20-0. It would be great to set this record against Dixon and his crew. Let's make it happen.
War Damn Otto!
Some woman sang the NA. She remembered the words. Unremarkable performance. No SSS. No cheerleaders. A slightly smaller than normal dance team was on hand and did their usual stuff. I think they have been dancing to "Roxanne" since the dance team started.
Another successful wave today. Conditions have been perfect for this...big crowds, blowout games, people a little restless and wanting to cheer for something more interesting than yet another complete dismantling of another conference opponent. Seems almost every game is the same...establish dominance, pull away even more, and soon, the only questions left to answer are 1) will Syracuse be able to double the score of the opponent and 2) will there be free tacos? I guess there is a third question...can the SU bench outscore the other team? I think that might have happened a couple of times so far this year.
We played the 2-3 all game long except for an extended period in what was up to then a very listless and mundane first half, where the score stayed at 12-12 for several minutes and SU was stuck at 12 for a long time. You knew we were about to press when KJ effected a one man press when PC inbounded after a timeout (he apparently jumped the gun one possession). As has been the case most of the season, the press sped the game up, was effective at causing Friar turnovers and was the catalyst that blew the game wide open.
Was kind of surprised that we waited so long to press given that PC was without Vincent Council, their talented PG. They do not appear to have another PG on the roster and without him, even in the half court, they struggled greatly to execute their offense. When we pressed them, it was game-set-match. Almost not fair.
Thought PC did a good job early on defense, tried to deny the ball inside with their 2-3 and entice us to shoot from the outside. We got a lot of good looks, but were ice cold with our jumpers and we didn't do much on the offensive boards early either. One of those days when we just couldn't make an outside shot. The kind of game you often end up losing. But the press caused a lot of turnovers and almost all of them resulted in easy transition baskets.
Dion was unusually subdued for most of the first half and did not do much until the press started. Thought he might have gotten a little overly concerned with getting his points, had a couple of possessions where he forced a shot when he shouldn't have. As is his wont, he usually ended up stealing the ball and getting his anyway a minute later. I think at times he might be feeling some pressure to entertain and put on a show instead of just focusing on playing good basketball. Still, he played well, especially on defense.
Thought JS played pretty well but had an awful day shooting. Fair played better than he has recently. Finished better. Really needs to use his body and pump fakes down low more...is making a run to catch PH for the most shots blocked in a season.
Speaking of not finishing well, Melo had another game were he missed a couple of point blank shots badly. Not squaring, not attacking the rim, using lame fall away scoop shots when he should be trying to dunk the ball as hard as he can. He really needs to improve in this area. I think that and his propensity to get in foul trouble are his two big weaknesses right now. Baye on the other hand does a fine job when he gets the ball down low in scoring position. But getting the ball to him in scoring position...that can be a problem. Balls bounce wildly off his hands in all directions. Even on rebounds that bounce directly to him. I wonder if he has tiny hands for his size? Maybe he is injured? Maybe it is just weak hands. It is uncanny how many balls find their way into his hands and then out again within a second or two.
Scoop quietly had a fine game. Really passing the ball well now. Not just perimeter passes, but really well done interior passing after penetrating into the lane. Good to see.
KJ has suddenly hit a bit of a slump hitting his 3 point shot attempts. He missed a couple of wide open looks he normally hits. BT did not shoot very well in limited minutes. MCW plays really aggressively, does a lot of good things when he is out there, really like his body control in the paint and his judgement with the ball. If he can shoot from the outside reliably someday, he will be an AA.
Good game from Christmas, who finished better today and appears to be getting better playing in the middle of the zone in the 2-3. When he got finally got a dunk, DW was waiting to come in at the scorer's table and I thought he was going to do a backflip he was so happy for Rak.
Impressed with Cooley, who kept his players working hard and hustling all game long, despite the major lead SU built up. He does a nice job calling plays after TOs, and has done an amazing job getting this PC team to play reasonably good defense. Their defense the last couple of years has been shockingly awful. Anyone know what is going on with his hair and the ghastly looking bald spots?
The schedule is setting up really well for SU. Playing a Monday after a Saturday is always tough, but given that the opponent is Pitt, given the huge crowd we should have for the game, and given how badly they have dominated us in the Dixon era, I think we will be ready. SU has never been 20-0. It would be great to set this record against Dixon and his crew. Let's make it happen.
War Damn Otto!
