My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

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This has to be fast, buried at work.

I was worried before the game started, even before Buddy was ruled out. Niagara improved a lot over the course of last year, had a lot of experience returning and I think Paulus is a fine young coach.

We caught a break when they got shut down by COVID. Much like us, they did not have a chance to practice much before their first game and it really showed.

That said, I thought they did a pretty good job attacking our zone. Got a lot of open looks. But they shot the ball unbelievably poorly, especially from the outside. Some were speculating that teams might struggle to shoot in the dome without crowds in the stands. There was talk it might hurt visiting teams worse that Syracuse, since the SU players will have a lot more chances to play in front of no one in the giant facility.

We will have to monitor this more as the season progresses, but as of right now, that theory looks dead on.

I ended up not paying as much attention to the game as I normally would, given the blow out nature and the last start time (I gotta get up at 5:15 am each day for work; no one asked me but I say please let's not start games at home after 7 pm...not cool for working folks).

But I think Niagara played mostly man. Guessing if Greg knew Buddy was out, he might have tried some zone but given his Dukie background, he is probably going to man almost all the time.

As Sherman20 foresaw, this caused a major change in the way we run our offense. Marek did get the ball in the high post some, but the half court offense did not generally run through him and his role on offense was greatly diminished.

The Purple Eagles were competitive with Syracuse for a good while in the first half. I think at one point, SU only led 15-14. Around then, SU went on a huge run and got the score to something like 34-16. I think a key here was that we were able to get the ball inside some and got some of their key players in foul trouble.

Was not really happy with our shot selection early in the game, when it was close. We were content to settle for 3s too often. When we are playing against a smaller team, we have to leverage our height advantage and get the ball in the paint.

JG3 is going to get a lot of heat for another bad shooting night and some troubles on defense, but he also made some really nice passes. He is capable of making nice passes, especially in transition. It has to be hard to change from that scorer mentality he probably has had his entire life to becoming a distributor but it seems like he is making some progress on this. Wish he would look to pass it a little more, not look for his shot quite as much. This team has a lot of capable scorers. He does not have to carry most of the scoring responsibility on his shoulders. Hopefully ensuing developments will help here.

This was a key moment in the college career for Kadary Richmond and I was very interested to see how he reacted. Was worried he would try to do too much. Not need for that. He did not dominate the ball on offense. When he got it, he made a quick decision and executed it. No extended dribbling or probing to find a weakness in his defender. This is pretty rare for a young PG and very refreshing to see.

Very happy with his decision making in half court settings. He has excellent court vision and if someone gets open down low, he is going to get them the ball. He get into the paint when he wanted to and again made good decisions from there. I remember he got caught in the air one time but Quincy (I think) made a good cut to the basket and Kadary fed him just before his feet hit the ground.

Looks very capable shooting mid range jumpers or finishing and his FT shooting already looks very solid (such an important attribute for a PG). But the thing I like most about him is that he is a pass first PG. A true PG. A PG who doesn't need the ball 20 seconds a possession. It is so nice to have a true PG on the team again.

As much as I liked what he did on offense, I liked what I saw from him on defense. It appears he is going to contest every inbounds pass thrown near him. That is probably going to have to change...he is going to get in foul trouble trying to outjump players with better position in the ACC, where the athletes are bigger and better than Niagara's. But I like the aggressiveness.

He knows how to bait a player to shoot in front of him, giving him a bit of room, then closing as the shot is taken. Got a couple of blocks/steals that way. Anticipates well, has excellent agility and length. He is going to get a lot of steals during his career here. I almost hope his outside shooting does not develop fully for a while because I want to see him play here for a long time.

In short, he is a true frosh who already plays like a senior. Love players with high BB IQ like him.

When they played together, JG3 played point. I wonder if this might change in future games? I would think Joe will have a lot easier time getting open and getting good looks if he is relieved of his PG duties. Could be a good way to get his shooting going and get some confidence in his stroke. Just a thought.

Gotta mention Quincy and how well he played last night. He continues to just dominate play inside and was a rebounding machine. Finished well and I think he even hit the one 3 he took (excellent form BTW). He moves without the ball well, is blocking out and hustles his butt off. There is a lot to like. Yes, he was playing against one of the smallest teams in the country and yes, it is going to be harder for him to play like this against bigger teams, and yes, we need to pump the breaks on any conclusions in a game played against a pretty bad team like Niagara, but still, he had a ballgame for himself.

Thought Marek did not try to get open as much as I would like. It seems at times he doesn't really want the ball and is content to just hang around. Rarely saw him try and post his smaller man up down low, which is not cool. He made a couple of mistakes dribbling on the fast break, where a Niagara player stole it from behind. But he also made some nice passes, finished some plays inside well and played some stellar defense. Flashed out to the corner to close on players taking 3s a few times. Think he played a role in the low shooting percentage for NU.

Alan didn't have a great game. Made a few bad decisions. Maybe took a couple of contested shots that he shouldn't have taken. Hopefully he and the rest of the team realize there are lots of scoring options here and if you don't have a great look, you should move the ball to someone else. That said, he also made some nice plays and clearly is a very talented player. He looked comfortable playing at guard, which is good because he is going to make some minutes there in the next couple of games.

Thought Braswell kind of struggled on offense. Seems like he isn't sure of his role. Mostly just hangs around the perimeter and tries to get open for a 3. Thought he looked good on defense. Thought he got a couple nice boards. Clearly is stronger now and it is helping him here.

I think he needs to move without the ball and be willing to do more than pass it around the perimeter or shoot from the perimeter on offense.

That brings up to Woody Newton. He just seemed like a heady player who made a lot of good decisions. To me, he plays like a junior or senior. He seems to know what to do and does it. Thought his defense was terrific (on the backline and up front). More than anything, I liked his confidence. He was out there looking like he belonged. No signs of hesitating (like I see with Braswell). That bodes really well for the future. The kids that do not hesitate and seem to believe in themselves from day one just seem to have far higher ceilings and far better careers than the kids that seem reluctant to do things on the court. Very impressive young player. Good sign that JB went to him relatively early. He must be playing well in practice.

Impressive game. Lots of improvement from game 1. I think I am going to like this team.
 
Alan is an interesting player. He certainly isn't shy about hoisting shots but thus far his game has not left me wowed. Scraps on the glass and seems athletic....it's early but after 2 games he doesn't look like he can fill the Eli role of clear out and I'll get a bucket.
 
Alan is an interesting player. He certainly isn't shy about hoisting shots but thus far his game has not left me wowed. Scraps on the glass and seems athletic...it's early but after 2 games he doesn't look like he can fill the Eli role of clear out and I'll get a bucket.

In his first year Eli wasn't that guy either and that was after a whole year to redshirt. Plus this is game 2 for him in a pandemic year. It's going to take him some time.
 
Alan is an interesting player. He certainly isn't shy about hoisting shots but thus far his game has not left me wowed. Scraps on the glass and seems athletic...it's early but after 2 games he doesn't look like he can fill the Eli role of clear out and I'll get a bucket.

You’re right - that’s not AG’s game.
Yet.

It also wasn’t Eli’s game his first season in Orange. He also was more of a spot-up shooter.

I think part of what sold Alan on Cuse, was that the coaches said they’d encourage him to do more dribble-drive and on-ball parts of his game.

If he is “only” Eli from 2 years ago (but a MUCH better rebounder) then that’s still a very nice piece to the puzzle.
 
Alan is an interesting player. He certainly isn't shy about hoisting shots but thus far his game has not left me wowed. Scraps on the glass and seems athletic...it's early but after 2 games he doesn't look like he can fill the Eli role of clear out and I'll get a bucket.
I can see that right now, but I think Alan will end up being a more complete player. Better defender, much better rebounder, and willing to do much of what Eli did bringing the ball up and helping settle the team. I don't think he'll be the offensive player that Eli was, especially off the bounce, but I think his shooting will eventually settle into a really good place - somewhere around 38-40% from 3. He probably won't be the come from behind shot blocker that Eli was either, but you never know. I always felt like those were cool, but ended up with Eli out of position.
 
I can see that right now, but I think Alan will end up being a more complete player. Better defender, much better rebounder, and willing to do much of what Eli did bringing the ball up and helping settle the team. I don't think he'll be the offensive player that Eli was, especially off the bounce, but I think his shooting will eventually settle into a really good place - somewhere around 38-40% from 3. He probably won't be the come from behind shot blocker that Eli was either, but you never know. I always felt like those were cool, but ended up with Eli out of position.

Hughes could get hot but was methodical about it. Griffin looks like the type who when he gets hot he could drop 20 in a half.
 
I am not comparing them skills wise because it’s unrealistic and unFair.

But, I have not been this impressed/excited about a freshman pair (after seeing them on the court) since CJ and Dion. I remember back then I did not follow recruiting, and my first exposure to those two were the early non conference games they got into, and the post-standard articles hyping them up. You knew when they got in that the Orange had a bright future. Obviously we had freshman studs since then, but the excitement was palpable with those two. I get the same feeling watching post game coverage/breakdowns with these two and following their development. Hopefully their careers here can at least be half as special.
 
Thought Kadary looked great on D! First possession, Niagara hit a deep three from the elbow on his side and JB went nuts. For the rest of the game, Kadary challenged that shot as well or better than any SU guard in a long time!
 
Thought Kadary looked great on D! First possession, Niagara hit a deep three from the elbow on his side and JB went nuts. For the rest of the game, Kadary challenged that shot as well or better than any SU guard in a long time!
Kadary still has a ways to go, but I saw progression from the beginning to the end of the game. His arms were too low and loose when he started out, but he eventually got them more active. Which resulted in a bunch of steals. I remember at one point the camera angle showed Quincy yelling at Kadary to get his arms out on D, which Richmond promptly did. Love the leadership from Q there.

Kadary also isn't quite sure what to do when the ball goes opposite side. He ended up drifting a bit on some possessions instead of looking to get himself positioned to prevent the next pass, etc. All things you'd expect from a young guy playing this zone for the first time. And all teachable.
 
Kadary still has a ways to go, but I saw progression from the beginning to the end of the game. His arms were too low and loose when he started out, but he eventually got them more active. Which resulted in a bunch of steals. I remember at one point the camera angle showed Quincy yelling at Kadary to get his arms out on D, which Richmond promptly did. Love the leadership from Q there.

Kadary also isn't quite sure what to do when the ball goes opposite side. He ended up drifting a bit on some possessions instead of looking to get himself positioned to prevent the next pass, etc. All things you'd expect from a young guy playing this zone for the first time. And all teachable.

Yeah, my worry about Kadary was based on what was said about him in HS, that he wasn’t much of an energy guy on D, and would coast for chunks of game time.

Clearly the staff has already gotten thru to him that he needs to bring energy and effort on D, if he wants to stay on the floor.

That was a pretty ridiculous stat line he put up last night - but none more so than THREE blocks!!??!!
When was the last time a Cuse guard blocked 3 shots in a game??
(And 2 were attempted 3’s)
 
Yeah, my worry about Kadary was based on what was said about him in HS, that he wasn’t much of an energy guy on D, and would coast for chunks of game time.

Clearly the staff has already gotten thru to him that he needs to bring energy and effort on D, if he wants to stay on the floor.

That was a pretty ridiculous stat line he put up last night - but none more so than THREE blocks!!??!!
When was the last time a Cuse guard blocked 3 shots in a game??
(And 2 were attempted 3
Dion was the last guy I can remember that could block 3s like that. And certainly not in his second game on the Hill.
 
When they played together, JG3 played point. I wonder if this might change in future games? I would think Joe will have a lot easier time getting open and getting good looks if he is relieved of his PG duties. Could be a good way to get his shooting going and get some confidence in his stroke. Just a thought.

kadary brought the ball up at least once in the 2nd half on an OOB play. i didnt pay too close attention in 2nd half but noticed that.
 
MCW was the last one to do this. MCW was a bit more frenetic in how he played compared to Kadary.

That woulda been my guess.
MCW had the length and hops to be able to get after perimeter J’s and do more than just wave a hand in the general vicinity.
 
kadary brought the ball up at least once in the 2nd half on an OOB play. i didnt pay too close attention in 2nd half but noticed that.
He did a couple times in the first half, too. I remember it sticking out to me.

I think JG3 could thrive with some time off of the ball
 
I know this isn't really how its supposed to work BUT I'm kind of fine with AG taking a bad/forced shot every now and then. His effort is unreal, he deserves some slack with shot selection if he's going to work that hard every minute of every game. I get if you disagree but I feel like we haven't had a dude like that in a while so I'll take the not-so-good that comes with it.
 
I know this isn't really how its supposed to work BUT I'm kind of fine with AG taking a bad/forced shot every now and then. His effort is unreal, he deserves some slack with shot selection if he's going to work that hard every minute of every game. I get if you disagree but I feel like we haven't had a dude like that in a while so I'll take the not-so-good that comes with it.
He forced a few shots last night, but I thought he still played within himself and really like how he chipped in w/ 4 boards and 4 dimes.
 
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I know this isn't really how its supposed to work BUT I'm kind of fine with AG taking a bad/forced shot every now and then. His effort is unreal, he deserves some slack with shot selection if he's going to work that hard every minute of every game. I get if you disagree but I feel like we haven't had a dude like that in a while so I'll take the not-so-good that comes with it.

It's a bit like Russ Westbrook was (monster disclaimer about NBA players vs college, yada yada)...

Even if you know he's not an efficient player, the aggressiveness that he plays with still puts fear into the defense. He may attack, shoot, follow up for an offensive board, etc.
 
Yeah, my worry about Kadary was based on what was said about him in HS, that he wasn’t much of an energy guy on D, and would coast for chunks of game time.

Clearly the staff has already gotten thru to him that he needs to bring energy and effort on D, if he wants to stay on the floor.

That was a pretty ridiculous stat line he put up last night - but none more so than THREE blocks!!??!!
When was the last time a Cuse guard blocked 3 shots in a game??
(And 2 were attempted 3’s)

I remember the announcers at his high school game talking about that too, but weirdly, it never really seemed like an issue in the handful of games that I watched. He plays at a methodical pace and will gamble for steals and sometimes not hustle to get back in position if he misses on the steal, but he always seemed pretty active at both ends of the floor, particularly on the glass.

Woody was the one that seemed to coast in high school the vast majority of the time that I watched him play and that had me pretty skeptical about how he'd contribute in college but at least in the few minutes he played yesterday, he was hustling and that was great to see.
 

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