My Take | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

My Take

I wouldn't expect you to think Joe shoots those long 3's without the staffs permission. That's why he is playing. Has he started to hit them yet? No. But a coach will always give a shooter that he believes in a lot of rope before he tells them to stop. There are very few players who have long range ability.
Girard has now played 42 games in Orange and is shooting 34% from the field. Anyone that thinks he's some kind of great shooter is basing that on something other than what is staring them in the face. He's not good at anything but FT shooting.
 
When Joe can catch and shoot he’s significantly better. Made 2 threes last night off those plays. That’s exactly what I was expecting from him before he even got to campus. There is a clear role for him and it is not crossing over guards 40 feet from the basket.
That's exactly what he should be. 1st guard off the bench who if he's on can stay in the lineup for 30 mins on a given night. Being guaranteed 30+ mins every night when he doesn't really do anything that contributes to winning basketball is truly nuts.
 
Girard has now played 42 games in Orange and is shooting 34% from the field. Anyone that thinks he's some kind of great shooter is basing that on something other than what is staring them in the face. He's not good at anything but FT shooting.
I believe our coaching staff knows what they are doing, and I assume you don't.
 
Hating all the weird times for games this season. I have never been a nap kind of guy and losing a couple of hours of sleep in the middle of the work week is not a good thing.

Also hated seeing this Syracuse team go down to UNC last night. They were ripe for the taking. All we needed was a player or two to rebound with Quincy and the game was ours.

JB gave the keys to the offense, at least against man defenses, to Griff at the start of the season. So far, he has not been a very good driver, figuratively and literally. It is hard to be asked to be the man. It often takes some time to get comfortable in the role. Sometimes, some asked to fill the role are not up to the task. Yes, I am talking about Todd Burgan. But I digress.

Alan had a forgettable game. He makes unforced turnovers at an alarming rate. When he is covered, he also makes them. Maybe the game is moving too fast for him right now. I would have replaced him with Braswell in the second half as well, but when you start benching a key player on your team, you can destroy their confidence and run the risk of losing them completely. For now, JB is standing by his man. I hope AG rewards that loyalty with better play.

Forget his struggles to play his man one on one or all the turnovers. He was attacked relentlessly on defense for most of the game and many of the easy baskets UNC got went through him. Stanek? saw how clueless he was and just camped out in his corner and got it inside everytime he tried. Alan was also in position for at least 5 rebounds that he did not get. I know he is only 6'5 and going against guys 5 or 6 inches taller than he is, but you can try and use your body and you can try and use your superior quickness and agility. Didn't really see that.

I think his defense did get a little better late in the second half but wow, his floor game was a disaster. He looked like a true frosh in his first varsity game. He is so much better than he played last night.

Very disappointed in Marek as well. Seniors aren't supposed to play afraid, defer constantly and completely stop trying to get rebounds (when the ball came to him, he would just tap it out to the UNC guards near the top of the key). I know he is a bony kid. I know he is giving around 40 or 50 pounds to those fat bruisers in baby blue. I know he got hit hard in the face a couple of days ago and is probably still shaken up about it. But still...it looked like he didn't even want the ball on offense. When he got it, he wouldn't even look at the basket. I think him getting 2 fouls again almost immediately again played a big role in making him tentative and super gun shy. But he is a senior. We need him to play like he is a senior. He is so much more agile and athletic than those fatties they had covering him. I think he was scared of getting charging calls so he just wouldn't try and beat his guy. Almost ever.

That stretch late in first half when we came back from a big deficit to tie it up and briefly even take the lead (second game in a row we closed the first half well) was special and shows what this team is capable of when operating on all cylinders. Buddy can go off on anyone and Quincy is a warrior. Some of the other guys had nice moments as well.

In the second half, it looked to me as though UNC changed their defensive approach and extended their man defense in a major way. Like what Rutgers did. That is the way to play this Syracuse team and once they did that, JGIII was effectively taken out of the game. Buddy became a turnover prone mess with pressure right in his face. We had 5 guys with players in their faces and with rare exceptions, none of them, none of them could or would beat their guy and get to the basket, or even inside the paint. We stopped working the ball around the perimeter, went in one on one mode except we couldn't beat anyone one on one. Not good.

This is where you need a good point guard to take control, beat his man, go to the hoop and get baskets with 2 on 1s. But we didn't have that.

Kadary helped some but he is playing a lot more cautiously the last couple of games. I am pretty sure he wants to play and pretty sure he is reluctant to do something bad that will get him pulled. So he isn't doing much of anything in the half court offense.

It would help if we even even one player on the team capable of setting a screen.

Thought Edwards did surprisingly well in limited PT. No, he still has weak hands and a weak upper body and if he is breathed on, a rebound in his hands is going to pop lose. But he positioned himself well on defense and even made a good pass on offense. Again, too tentative.

We are going to see extended man to man pretty much the rest of the season. We are going to have teams sending 3 or 4 players to the offensive boards pretty much the rest of the season. All the coaches in the ACC have film and brains in their heads. Hope we can find someone to rebound with Quincy. Hope we can find a PG who can make his man, run the half court offense with pressure man and get us some decent looks at the basket. This team has some players who can shoot and score but it isn't going to happen with our guys going iso most of a half. We are crappy at iso ball and that is not going to change.

I still think our best chance to win games this year is to turn the reins of the offense over to Kadary and give him the freedom to slash and create. If we do that, it might destroy JGIII's confidence but at this point, the way I am thinking, JGIII is unlikely to ever be a really successful starting PG at the ACC level. He can still be an important part of the team and get a lot of meaningful minutes at PG and SG but I think it is time to give Kadary a chance.

One thing we might want to think about to help address the dire problems we have rebounding the ball (doesn't sound like Bourama or Frank are coming in to save the day anytime soon) is to experiment with playing backup forward (Bobby or Woody) some with Quincy, and sitting AG a little, or give him some time at SG, where he would go from a liability rebounding to an asset. Not sure Bobby or Woody would be better at rebounding than Alan. Woody in particular might. They are both a few inches taller, which can't hurt when we are getting abused in the paint like we were most of last night.

There is a lot of potential on this team. I believe they are more than capable of beating anyone on the schedule. Especially this year, when the ACC appears to be extremely weak at the top. Hope the guys keep playing hard and I hope Bourama's knee starts feeling a lot better soon. Every year we seem to have a player or two with lingering injuries that last all season. I am not sure we are handling player injuries very well.
Not sure I'm worthy of commenting after seeing some of the power brokers on this board chiming but...
Great analysis Tom. The rebounding question is a tough one. I'd like to think that Sidibe would enable Marek to slide to the 4 like he did for 3 minutes last night with Jesse in and that would help. But we can't wait and I'm not sure that is the solution. Would it surprise you that SU has 2 of the top 10 rebounders in the ACC? Griff at #10 averaging 7.3 at #10 surprised the hell out of me. Can we really expect more than 16 pts and 7 rebounds out of our SF? We can and should expect fewer turnovers and better ballhandling (not just dribbling) from our SF who professes to be a 2G. Back to Marek, simple positioning should result in more than 1 rebound in 34 minutes. Particularly on offense which is not impacted by the zone and where he had 0 last night.
Your Kadary comments are spot on. If he were to be given the keys and was not looking over his shoulder I think we would see dramatic improvement from him and the team overall. Joe is a great #3 guard but he is what he is. I doubt he will ever get quicker, faster, taller, or even shoot better. He is a high volume streak shooter. Kadary already averages more rebounds than Joe and its not even fair to compare their defensive ability.
I see the potential also. Let's hope the HOFer can unlock it. LGO!
 
Is Boeheim just being stubborn? I mean, I don't get it. I don't pretend for a second that I know better than the hall of fame coach. He obviously sees what we do but is sticking to his guns for the most part. That's why this is quite frustrating.

The way he has handled the Kadary situation is very disappointing. I don't see it as a coincidence that Kadary has regressed since being yelled at and getting little time on the court. Until Sidibe comes back, I'd roll with Edwards getting more time and giving Kadary the keys. When Woody is ready, get him in there as well. If that doesn't work, so be it. At least that would be doing what makes most sense rather than living with what we're doing now.
 
I believe our coaching staff knows what they are doing, and I assume you don't.
Sometimes unbiased outside analysis is of greater value and more accurate than the self analysis done by those closest to the situation. And always be careful when you assume. Thus concludes my free consultation, I normally get paid for such advice. :cool:
 
I believe our coaching staff knows what they are doing, and I assume you don't.
It would have been difficult for me to be a worse coach during last nights game that what occurred. I'm more than capable of standing on the sideline and making no substitutions or changes of any kind which was pretty much what the staff did last night.
 
Is Boeheim just being stubborn? I mean, I don't get it. I don't pretend for a second that I know better than the hall of fame coach. He obviously sees what we do but is sticking to his guns for the most part. That's why this is quite frustrating.

The way he has handled the Kadary situation is very disappointing. I don't see it as a coincidence that Kadary has regressed since being yelled at and getting little time on the court. Until Sidibe comes back, I'd roll with Edwards getting more time and giving Kadary the keys. When Woody is ready, get him in there as well. If that doesn't work, so be it. At least that would be doing what makes most sense rather than living with what we're doing now.
I hope JB doesn't ruin Kadary.
 
So we need to protect Joe's confidence at all costs even as he's shown that his ceiling is not a starting caliber guard... but it's ok to pull Kadary - whom has the best upside of all the guards -- when he makes one mistake and has to look over his shoulder. What a shocker that he's playing more tentative.

And people wonder what all the griping is about.
 
No coincidence the game fell apart on defense when Richmond went out. Girard's role is a bench scorer. He doesn't have the skills to be a top ACC PG. Not even close.
 
No coincidence the game fell apart on defense when Richmond went out. Girard's role is a bench scorer. He doesn't have the skills to be a top ACC PG. Not even close.
JB HAS FORGOT MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hating all the weird times for games this season. I have never been a nap kind of guy and losing a couple of hours of sleep in the middle of the work week is not a good thing.

Also hated seeing this Syracuse team go down to UNC last night. They were ripe for the taking. All we needed was a player or two to rebound with Quincy and the game was ours.

JB gave the keys to the offense, at least against man defenses, to Griff at the start of the season. So far, he has not been a very good driver, figuratively and literally. It is hard to be asked to be the man. It often takes some time to get comfortable in the role. Sometimes, some asked to fill the role are not up to the task. Yes, I am talking about Todd Burgan. But I digress.

Alan had a forgettable game. He makes unforced turnovers at an alarming rate. When he is covered, he also makes them. Maybe the game is moving too fast for him right now. I would have replaced him with Braswell in the second half as well, but when you start benching a key player on your team, you can destroy their confidence and run the risk of losing them completely. For now, JB is standing by his man. I hope AG rewards that loyalty with better play.

Forget his struggles to play his man one on one or all the turnovers. He was attacked relentlessly on defense for most of the game and many of the easy baskets UNC got went through him. Stanek? saw how clueless he was and just camped out in his corner and got it inside everytime he tried. Alan was also in position for at least 5 rebounds that he did not get. I know he is only 6'5 and going against guys 5 or 6 inches taller than he is, but you can try and use your body and you can try and use your superior quickness and agility. Didn't really see that.

I think his defense did get a little better late in the second half but wow, his floor game was a disaster. He looked like a true frosh in his first varsity game. He is so much better than he played last night.

Very disappointed in Marek as well. Seniors aren't supposed to play afraid, defer constantly and completely stop trying to get rebounds (when the ball came to him, he would just tap it out to the UNC guards near the top of the key). I know he is a bony kid. I know he is giving around 40 or 50 pounds to those fat bruisers in baby blue. I know he got hit hard in the face a couple of days ago and is probably still shaken up about it. But still...it looked like he didn't even want the ball on offense. When he got it, he wouldn't even look at the basket. I think him getting 2 fouls again almost immediately again played a big role in making him tentative and super gun shy. But he is a senior. We need him to play like he is a senior. He is so much more agile and athletic than those fatties they had covering him. I think he was scared of getting charging calls so he just wouldn't try and beat his guy. Almost ever.

That stretch late in first half when we came back from a big deficit to tie it up and briefly even take the lead (second game in a row we closed the first half well) was special and shows what this team is capable of when operating on all cylinders. Buddy can go off on anyone and Quincy is a warrior. Some of the other guys had nice moments as well.

In the second half, it looked to me as though UNC changed their defensive approach and extended their man defense in a major way. Like what Rutgers did. That is the way to play this Syracuse team and once they did that, JGIII was effectively taken out of the game. Buddy became a turnover prone mess with pressure right in his face. We had 5 guys with players in their faces and with rare exceptions, none of them, none of them could or would beat their guy and get to the basket, or even inside the paint. We stopped working the ball around the perimeter, went in one on one mode except we couldn't beat anyone one on one. Not good.

This is where you need a good point guard to take control, beat his man, go to the hoop and get baskets with 2 on 1s. But we didn't have that.

Kadary helped some but he is playing a lot more cautiously the last couple of games. I am pretty sure he wants to play and pretty sure he is reluctant to do something bad that will get him pulled. So he isn't doing much of anything in the half court offense.

It would help if we even even one player on the team capable of setting a screen.

Thought Edwards did surprisingly well in limited PT. No, he still has weak hands and a weak upper body and if he is breathed on, a rebound in his hands is going to pop lose. But he positioned himself well on defense and even made a good pass on offense. Again, too tentative.

We are going to see extended man to man pretty much the rest of the season. We are going to have teams sending 3 or 4 players to the offensive boards pretty much the rest of the season. All the coaches in the ACC have film and brains in their heads. Hope we can find someone to rebound with Quincy. Hope we can find a PG who can make his man, run the half court offense with pressure man and get us some decent looks at the basket. This team has some players who can shoot and score but it isn't going to happen with our guys going iso most of a half. We are crappy at iso ball and that is not going to change.

I still think our best chance to win games this year is to turn the reins of the offense over to Kadary and give him the freedom to slash and create. If we do that, it might destroy JGIII's confidence but at this point, the way I am thinking, JGIII is unlikely to ever be a really successful starting PG at the ACC level. He can still be an important part of the team and get a lot of meaningful minutes at PG and SG but I think it is time to give Kadary a chance.

One thing we might want to think about to help address the dire problems we have rebounding the ball (doesn't sound like Bourama or Frank are coming in to save the day anytime soon) is to experiment with playing backup forward (Bobby or Woody) some with Quincy, and sitting AG a little, or give him some time at SG, where he would go from a liability rebounding to an asset. Not sure Bobby or Woody would be better at rebounding than Alan. Woody in particular might. They are both a few inches taller, which can't hurt when we are getting abused in the paint like we were most of last night.

There is a lot of potential on this team. I believe they are more than capable of beating anyone on the schedule. Especially this year, when the ACC appears to be extremely weak at the top. Hope the guys keep playing hard and I hope Bourama's knee starts feeling a lot better soon. Every year we seem to have a player or two with lingering injuries that last all season. I am not sure we are handling player injuries very well.
"reluctant to do something that will get him pulled". That, is a thread by itself
 
Kadary helped some but he is playing a lot more cautiously the last couple of games. I am pretty sure he wants to play and pretty sure he is reluctant to do something bad that will get him pulled. So he isn't doing much of anything in the half court offense.

It would help if we even even one player on the team capable of setting a screen.

We are going to see extended man to man pretty much the rest of the season.

I still think our best chance to win games this year is to turn the reins of the offense over to Kadary and give him the freedom to slash and create. If we do that, it might destroy JGIII's confidence but at this point, the way I am thinking, JGIII is unlikely to ever be a really successful starting PG at the ACC level. He can still be an important part of the team and get a lot of meaningful minutes at PG and SG but I think it is time to give Kadary a chance.
I always look forward to your analysis, tom

Couldn't agree more about your take on Kadary. His play is clearly much more tentative and passive, and it's not simply a function of teams playing off him as some here assume. UNC played him straight up all game. He defers too much and looks like he doesn't want to make mistakes instead of just playing instinctively. I have a big problem with this from a coaching perspective. By not allowing him to free lance and function as a player maker for others you are limiting his best skill set and putting too much pressure on our shooters to make shots to win the game. One of the announcers commented that Syracuse hopes they make shots whereas UNC controls it's own fate by getting the ball inside. Exactly what was happening. The offense needs to run through Kadary if we hope to outscore teams.
 
Sometimes unbiased outside analysis is of greater value and more accurate than the self analysis done by those closest to the situation. And always be careful when you assume. Thus concludes my free consultation, I normally get paid for such advice. :cool:
Whatever your fee is, it' too much.
 
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JB has been bad this year. In other seasons we didn’t have the talent, but our late game execution and terrible substitution patterns are costing us and on the coaching. We’ve had leads in every game.

Yup. The only thing that I can think is that due to all the delays and stoppages and lost practices...he doesn’t really know this team yet or have it figured out.
 
There are so many comments on our backcourt. It obscures the main problem: we have four centers on the roster and none of them are on the court. Marek isn't a 'stretch-4'. he's a stretch-3. I agree we are better with Quincy playing center, even though he's shorter, (he's about the same size as Otis Hill). But it's going to be hard to beat teams with true centers until we get our true centers out there.
 
There are so many comments on our backcourt. It obscures the main problem: we have four centers on the roster and none of them are on the court. Marek isn't a 'stretch-4'. he's a stretch-3. I agree we are better with Quincy playing center, even though he's shorter, (he's about the same size as Otis Hill). But it's going to be hard to beat teams with true centers until we get our true centers out there.
I agree that the inability to defend the interior is the biggest issue. JB said in his PC we "don't have a plan at center" - unless and until Sidibe comes back. Based on his recent words, and sub patterns all season, it seems pretty clear that JB is not going to put the other 5s on the court unless forced to (foul trouble or injury). I think that's why there are so many comments on the backcourt. We have options in the backcourt and, apparently, no plan at center.
 
How many of the Division 1 coaches here have watched the team in practice, where they earn their playing time?
Okay if you want to go there then I will ask you how many Djvision 1 coaches have put the same team on probation twice?

Posts like this are why people like Couscuse makes this about JB.
JB is not above criticism for the team performance.
He is the man who is paid.

If people can’t have opinions then shut the board down. If you don’t like people’s opinions put them on ignore or actually try to bring an actual debate.

This post does everything short of asking everyone here how many wins do they have?
 
There are so many comments on our backcourt. It obscures the main problem
Our backcourt doesn't obscure anything. Joe is what 5'11' soaking wet with a beer gut.
 

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