My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

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This game was a good microcosm of how the season has gone for Syracuse. Some extended moments of glaringly bad defense and uninspired offense. Then some moments of excellence that tantalize us and show us small glimpses of what this team could be, when they are at their best.

Hellems did a good job at the high post in the first half. We made it too easy for him by allowing NC State to get the ball to him near the top of the box. And we had Marek fly out to cover him too quickly and our forwards this season are not very good at rotating back down low to find the void when Marek leaves the low post to cover the guy up top.

In the second half, Marek stayed back when Hellems got it up top and the guards stayed close to him. He had the low post pass take away and while he hit a shot or two and drove and finished once or twice, a key part of their offense in the first half was taken away. Good adjustment.

I was really disappointed34rteddrf. with our offense in the first half. We didn’t do a good job identifying mismatches and taking advantage of them. Beverley is one of the worst defenders in the conference. He was matched with a number of players in the first half as Keatts tried to make it hard for SU to target scoring against the little, weak and untalented tattoo model.

There was a bunch of possessions when Beverley was matched with Griffin and a bunch more where he was matched with Guerrier. Crazy not to get the ball to those guys with those kinds of mismatches. Really wanted to see Kadary get in the game because in addition to Beverley, NC State was playing a couple other 6’1 types at guard. Huge defensive liabilities. But Kadary came in the first time and was awful.

NC State slapped on the press and Kadary did not handle it well. Made a couple of big mistakes and got taken out. Not good. In the meantime, JGIII was in offensive mode, taking some questionable shots and repeatedly ignoring the crazy mismatches we were having when we had the ball. You have to be aware of what is going on when you are the point guard and you have to get the ball to the right people at the right time.

I think Kadary got in later in the half and played much better. NC State was playing those little guards and they had no chance against KR’s post up game.

Things got better early in the second half. Guerrier was paired with Beverley a few times early in the half (what was Keatts thinking) and we got him the ball and get some baskets to get us rolling. From that point onward, it looked like we made it a point to try and attack whenever Beverley was trying to cover.

Kadary came in relatively early in the second half.and kind of took over the game. Was really aggressive trying to beat his guy, post him up and shoot from the middle of the paint. Was really successful doing this but using KR as an offensive weapon meant his assist total was way down (1) and meant we needed Marek to help run the half court offense. Which he did well.

Buddy also took advantage of the little NC State guards and backed his way into the paint for easy baskets a number of times (though he was not as effective as Kadary). Good to see Buddy hitting 3s with good consistency today. Let’s hope his slump is over and he is rolling the rest of the season.

Lots of good passing from lots of players, especially in the second half (Alan and Buddy in particular), and lots of quality shots were taken. So good to see that bad iso ball one on one crap go away. We can’t win many games that way. Just not good enough at that. Gotta play like a team to win games in conference play.

Jesse got a little run, was way too aggressive flying out up top and helped give up a dunk. I think he missed a can ce for a rebound too. That was the end of his day.

Braswell had similar results. In, problems, out. Record time. Matt Park said his body language leaving the court was unusual.

Props to Alan, who despite a pretty awful defensive first half, played well on defense in the second and had a couple of terrific rotations to get big steals. He hit some big 3s, made some nice passes, got some blocks and was very active.

JGIII didn’t play that bad but with Kadary dominating, he needed to play a lot of minutes. A couple of games ago, we saw some real chemistry between Kadary and Joe, with Kadary running the offense and Joe playing on the wing at SG. Since that game, I don’t think those two have played together since. This is senseless and a real wasted opportunity. I wish JB would take Buddy out a few minutes each half to give these two a chance to play together.

I don’t know what is going on with Quincy but he has not been himself the last couple of games. 10 points and 10 rebounds is not a bad game but for him, I expect more. Part of it is that the team isn’t getting him the ball where he can score as much as they should. Too many times he was open down low and did not get the ball. But even when he did, he wasn’t as strong to the hoop as he normally is. Credit Bates, who is an excellent shot blocker. I think Q is a lot more subdued when he plays against a kid who blocks shots well. Marek also took less shots than I would have liked and surely Manny’s shot blocking played a role here.

If we are really lucky, maybe Bourama plays a few minutes soon and allows us to play Marek some at PF. Or Edwards comes in and plays well enough to allow this. At times, we need to have a couple guys taller than 6’7 in the games. We aren’t a great rebounding team and with MD at center, we have 0 shot blockers.

Good win. We get a win over UL and things start to look really good.
 
I was really disappointed34rteddrf. with our offense in the first half. We didn’t do a good job identifying mismatches and taking advantage of them. Beverley is one of the worst defenders in the conference. He was matched with a number of players in the first half as Keatts tried to make it hard for SU to target scoring against the little, weak and untalented tattoo model.
Please don't edit the bolded word. That version of the word is perfect for the way I was feeling watching us in the first half!
 
We need to hit open shots. We work the ball so well around the perimiter and need to punish teams that allow us an offensive rebound. Our Bigs do a great job of kicking the ball out to an open man on an offensive rebound. If we can punish teams with a miss and a put back 3...
 
Just like in Hoosiers, what we saw today "This is Your Team". We can win hitting the jump shots. We cant if we miss. Sidibe is our Jimmy Chitwood. There you go.
 
I don’t know what is going on with Quincy but he has not been himself the last couple of games. 10 points and 10 rebounds is not a bad game but for him, I expect more.
He also missed 2 uncontested bunnies and a tip in. Just make 2/3 (really 3/3 is more likely) his line looks a lot better. But you are 100% correct they needed to get him the ball more often with the mismatches. Should have been 20+ point night easy.
 
He also missed 2 uncontested bunnies and a tip in. Just make 2/3 (really 3/3 is more likely) his line looks a lot better. But you are 100% correct they needed to get him the ball more often with the mismatches. Should have been 20+ point night easy.
He’s great but he’s playing against at least two or three players that are as big or bigger than him. The rest of SU players are small and no where as athletic .
 
This game was a good microcosm of how the season has gone for Syracuse. Some extended moments of glaringly bad defense and uninspired offense. Then some moments of excellence that tantalize us and show us small glimpses of what this team could be, when they are at their best.

Hellems did a good job at the high post in the first half. We made it too easy for him by allowing NC State to get the ball to him near the top of the box. And we had Marek fly out to cover him too quickly and our forwards this season are not very good at rotating back down low to find the void when Marek leaves the low post to cover the guy up top.

In the second half, Marek stayed back when Hellems got it up top and the guards stayed close to him. He had the low post pass take away and while he hit a shot or two and drove and finished once or twice, a key part of their offense in the first half was taken away. Good adjustment.

I was really disappointed34rteddrf. with our offense in the first half. We didn’t do a good job identifying mismatches and taking advantage of them. Beverley is one of the worst defenders in the conference. He was matched with a number of players in the first half as Keatts tried to make it hard for SU to target scoring against the little, weak and untalented tattoo model.

There was a bunch of possessions when Beverley was matched with Griffin and a bunch more where he was matched with Guerrier. Crazy not to get the ball to those guys with those kinds of mismatches. Really wanted to see Kadary get in the game because in addition to Beverley, NC State was playing a couple other 6’1 types at guard. Huge defensive liabilities. But Kadary came in the first time and was awful.

NC State slapped on the press and Kadary did not handle it well. Made a couple of big mistakes and got taken out. Not good. In the meantime, JGIII was in offensive mode, taking some questionable shots and repeatedly ignoring the crazy mismatches we were having when we had the ball. You have to be aware of what is going on when you are the point guard and you have to get the ball to the right people at the right time.

I think Kadary got in later in the half and played much better. NC State was playing those little guards and they had no chance against KR’s post up game.

Things got better early in the second half. Guerrier was paired with Beverley a few times early in the half (what was Keatts thinking) and we got him the ball and get some baskets to get us rolling. From that point onward, it looked like we made it a point to try and attack whenever Beverley was trying to cover.

Kadary came in relatively early in the second half.and kind of took over the game. Was really aggressive trying to beat his guy, post him up and shoot from the middle of the paint. Was really successful doing this but using KR as an offensive weapon meant his assist total was way down (1) and meant we needed Marek to help run the half court offense. Which he did well.

Buddy also took advantage of the little NC State guards and backed his way into the paint for easy baskets a number of times (though he was not as effective as Kadary). Good to see Buddy hitting 3s with good consistency today. Let’s hope his slump is over and he is rolling the rest of the season.

Lots of good passing from lots of players, especially in the second half (Alan and Buddy in particular), and lots of quality shots were taken. So good to see that bad iso ball one on one crap go away. We can’t win many games that way. Just not good enough at that. Gotta play like a team to win games in conference play.

Jesse got a little run, was way too aggressive flying out up top and helped give up a dunk. I think he missed a can ce for a rebound too. That was the end of his day.

Braswell had similar results. In, problems, out. Record time. Matt Park said his body language leaving the court was unusual.

Props to Alan, who despite a pretty awful defensive first half, played well on defense in the second and had a couple of terrific rotations to get big steals. He hit some big 3s, made some nice passes, got some blocks and was very active.

JGIII didn’t play that bad but with Kadary dominating, he needed to play a lot of minutes. A couple of games ago, we saw some real chemistry between Kadary and Joe, with Kadary running the offense and Joe playing on the wing at SG. Since that game, I don’t think those two have played together since. This is senseless and a real wasted opportunity. I wish JB would take Buddy out a few minutes each half to give these two a chance to play together.

I don’t know what is going on with Quincy but he has not been himself the last couple of games. 10 points and 10 rebounds is not a bad game but for him, I expect more. Part of it is that the team isn’t getting him the ball where he can score as much as they should. Too many times he was open down low and did not get the ball. But even when he did, he wasn’t as strong to the hoop as he normally is. Credit Bates, who is an excellent shot blocker. I think Q is a lot more subdued when he plays against a kid who blocks shots well. Marek also took less shots than I would have liked and surely Manny’s shot blocking played a role here.

If we are really lucky, maybe Bourama plays a few minutes soon and allows us to play Marek some at PF. Or Edwards comes in and plays well enough to allow this. At times, we need to have a couple guys taller than 6’7 in the games. We aren’t a great rebounding team and with MD at center, we have 0 shot blockers.

Good win. We get a win over UL and things start to look really good.
Girard was poster-child terrible.

I suspect he could be sixth-man-of-the-year. And if he were at Penn State, he’d go 9-for-12 from three against us. But he’s lost and playing out of his natural position, while Richmond is defensively dominant and a need on O.
 
He also missed 2 uncontested bunnies and a tip in. Just make 2/3 (really 3/3 is more likely) his line looks a lot better. But you are 100% correct they needed to get him the ball more often with the mismatches. Should have been 20+ point night easy.
I think he missed 3 bunnies on one sequence.
 
This game was a good microcosm of how the season has gone for Syracuse. Some extended moments of glaringly bad defense and uninspired offense. Then some moments of excellence that tantalize us and show us small glimpses of what this team could be, when they are at their best.

Hellems did a good job at the high post in the first half. We made it too easy for him by allowing NC State to get the ball to him near the top of the box. And we had Marek fly out to cover him too quickly and our forwards this season are not very good at rotating back down low to find the void when Marek leaves the low post to cover the guy up top.

In the second half, Marek stayed back when Hellems got it up top and the guards stayed close to him. He had the low post pass take away and while he hit a shot or two and drove and finished once or twice, a key part of their offense in the first half was taken away. Good adjustment.

I was really disappointed34rteddrf. with our offense in the first half. We didn’t do a good job identifying mismatches and taking advantage of them. Beverley is one of the worst defenders in the conference. He was matched with a number of players in the first half as Keatts tried to make it hard for SU to target scoring against the little, weak and untalented tattoo model.

There was a bunch of possessions when Beverley was matched with Griffin and a bunch more where he was matched with Guerrier. Crazy not to get the ball to those guys with those kinds of mismatches. Really wanted to see Kadary get in the game because in addition to Beverley, NC State was playing a couple other 6’1 types at guard. Huge defensive liabilities. But Kadary came in the first time and was awful.

NC State slapped on the press and Kadary did not handle it well. Made a couple of big mistakes and got taken out. Not good. In the meantime, JGIII was in offensive mode, taking some questionable shots and repeatedly ignoring the crazy mismatches we were having when we had the ball. You have to be aware of what is going on when you are the point guard and you have to get the ball to the right people at the right time.

I think Kadary got in later in the half and played much better. NC State was playing those little guards and they had no chance against KR’s post up game.

Things got better early in the second half. Guerrier was paired with Beverley a few times early in the half (what was Keatts thinking) and we got him the ball and get some baskets to get us rolling. From that point onward, it looked like we made it a point to try and attack whenever Beverley was trying to cover.

Kadary came in relatively early in the second half.and kind of took over the game. Was really aggressive trying to beat his guy, post him up and shoot from the middle of the paint. Was really successful doing this but using KR as an offensive weapon meant his assist total was way down (1) and meant we needed Marek to help run the half court offense. Which he did well.

Buddy also took advantage of the little NC State guards and backed his way into the paint for easy baskets a number of times (though he was not as effective as Kadary). Good to see Buddy hitting 3s with good consistency today. Let’s hope his slump is over and he is rolling the rest of the season.

Lots of good passing from lots of players, especially in the second half (Alan and Buddy in particular), and lots of quality shots were taken. So good to see that bad iso ball one on one crap go away. We can’t win many games that way. Just not good enough at that. Gotta play like a team to win games in conference play.

Jesse got a little run, was way too aggressive flying out up top and helped give up a dunk. I think he missed a can ce for a rebound too. That was the end of his day.

Braswell had similar results. In, problems, out. Record time. Matt Park said his body language leaving the court was unusual.

Props to Alan, who despite a pretty awful defensive first half, played well on defense in the second and had a couple of terrific rotations to get big steals. He hit some big 3s, made some nice passes, got some blocks and was very active.

JGIII didn’t play that bad but with Kadary dominating, he needed to play a lot of minutes. A couple of games ago, we saw some real chemistry between Kadary and Joe, with Kadary running the offense and Joe playing on the wing at SG. Since that game, I don’t think those two have played together since. This is senseless and a real wasted opportunity. I wish JB would take Buddy out a few minutes each half to give these two a chance to play together.

I don’t know what is going on with Quincy but he has not been himself the last couple of games. 10 points and 10 rebounds is not a bad game but for him, I expect more. Part of it is that the team isn’t getting him the ball where he can score as much as they should. Too many times he was open down low and did not get the ball. But even when he did, he wasn’t as strong to the hoop as he normally is. Credit Bates, who is an excellent shot blocker. I think Q is a lot more subdued when he plays against a kid who blocks shots well. Marek also took less shots than I would have liked and surely Manny’s shot blocking played a role here.

If we are really lucky, maybe Bourama plays a few minutes soon and allows us to play Marek some at PF. Or Edwards comes in and plays well enough to allow this. At times, we need to have a couple guys taller than 6’7 in the games. We aren’t a great rebounding team and with MD at center, we have 0 shot blockers.

Good win. We get a win over UL and things start to look really good.
JB made an interesting comment after the game about Quincy. He stated that Quincy can be really be effective at the college level playing inside. He’s ok with him taking the occasional three. It sounds like Quincy wants to play more on the perimeter because that’s where HE thinks he can play in the NBA. I’ll say it again. Quincy is not close to being an NBA player, which is ok. Being a good college player is just fine. He has no position in the NBA.
 
Our spacing when Quincy actually gets a mismatch on the block is just horrific. Buddy needs to immediately recognize and get to the complete other side of the court or get down into the corner as far as he can. That midway crap yesterday was preventing Joe from moving over from the top of the key to get a better angle for a pass, and also allowed Buddy's defender to play half way, ready to help on any pass to Q. You can absolutely tell that they NEVER work on that play in practice.

The sad thing is if they did it well, Buddy, or Joe, or Allen, would have far more wide open looks from 3. Or we'd get an easy score on the block.
 
A few thoughts:
-Before the season i was so impressed with AG because he came across in interviews as such thoughtful, intelligent young man. He very well may be. But he makes some of the most puzzling decisions on the court. The late turnover was mind blowing, like he was dribbling out the last few seconds of a conceded win. But he also took the pedal off the medal and turned an easy dunk into a held ball. His shot selection continues to be questionable at best. Someone on the staff should show him his fg percentage when he is open versus not. He can pass but doesn't seem to want to. He could potentially play in the league if he becomes more well rounded and focused.
-Thrilled to see Buddy make some shots. But how does JB think that Buddy is best served by playing 40 minutes? Shooters need their legs. Buddy also needs his legs to play his best defense, which is already limited. Ironic that JB is not putting Buddy in the best position to succeed. Like AG I hope it occurs to Buddy that the shots he made were for the most part quality looks and not closely contested.
-Easily Quincy's worst game of the year but he had some bad luck on the rims and inexplicably the refs killed him both on offense and defense. I'm sure he'll learn from that indefensible foul on the three point shooter. But still we did not get him the ball enough. As usual he got great looks. He was 5-11 from the field and missed 3-4 bunnies he usually makes in his sleep. Marek in particular missed Q on a few occasions when he was wide open.
-Kadary was excellent obviously. The highlight lefty spin job was beautiful. I wonder if teams will start daring him to shoot from the outside and defend him accordingly. I saw a poster suggest JB doesn't play him more because he doesn't want him to declare for the draft. Insane. JB wants to win more than anyone and by the way Kadary is not near ready. Let's just enjoy watching the kid play. I will say having our best defensive player on the court for only 16 minutes is questionable at best.
-JB's postgame comments killing Braswell and Edwards were hard to fathom. They were on the court for a combined 3 minutes. Braswell should be getting at least 5-8 of AG's minutes. He defends well and can shoot when wide open. Just like Woody should be getting 5 of Buddy's minutes with JG3 or AG shifting to the 2. And Marek only comes out when he is in foul trouble. I think some breathers would do him well and hopefully Bournama will return and help with that and our rebounding and interior d.
-No softies left except maybe BC but you never know. Need to beat Louisville at home Wednesday. Our season would feel a lot different if we had not gagged away that Pitt game on insurrection day.
 
Feels like Kadary, Joe and Buddy could play 25, 25 and 30 mins a game, respectively. (Kadary takes 15 of Joe’s minutes, 5 of Buddy’s and 5 of AG’s)
 
Braswell usage is concerning

He seems to be mentally checking out with how he is handled.

J
He is shooting 27% from the field and has 18 rebounds in 104 minutes of play.
 
He is shooting 27% from the field and has 18 rebounds in 104 minutes of play.
Hard to get in any rhythm when your playing spotty minutes spread out over weeks, and you are mentally out of it knowing you'll get pulled for any mistake at all
 
Hard to get in any rhythm when your playing spotty minutes spread out over weeks, and you are mentally out of it knowing you'll get pulled for any mistake at all
He’s had quite a few long stretches of play this season.

He’s just really not that good.
 
Our spacing when Quincy actually gets a mismatch on the block is just horrific. Buddy needs to immediately recognize and get to the complete other side of the court or get down into the corner as far as he can. That midway crap yesterday was preventing Joe from moving over from the top of the key to get a better angle for a pass, and also allowed Buddy's defender to play half way, ready to help on any pass to Q. You can absolutely tell that they NEVER work on that play in practice.

The sad thing is if they did it well, Buddy, or Joe, or Allen, would have far more wide open looks from 3. Or we'd get an easy score on the block.
My kids noticed I was visibly upset yesterday when Quincy had position in the post on Beverly all alone under the basket, and Buddy waved it off and dribbled to the top of the key. He not only didn't have any urgency getting our most efficient scorer the ball on a glaringly obvious mismatch, he blew it off.

We ended up missing a three on that possession.

Dumb basketball.

I give the NC State coach credit though. He kept throwing Beverly on our bigs because he knew he could get away with it for a long time, because we're a dumb team. It took a halftime adjustment for us to make an effort to get Quincy the ball with Beverly on him. That's embarrassing.
 
My kids noticed I was visibly upset yesterday when Quincy had position in the post on Beverly all alone under the basket, and Buddy waved it off and dribbled to the top of the key. He not only didn't have any urgency getting our most efficient scorer the ball on a glaringly obvious mismatch, he blew it off.

We ended up missing a three on that possession.

Dumb basketball.

I give the NC State coach credit though. He kept throwing Beverly on our bigs because he knew he could get away with it for a long time, because we're a dumb team. It took a halftime adjustment for us to make an effort to get Quincy the ball with Beverly on him. That's embarrassing.
Yeah, the in-half adjustments never happen. I'd guess it takes an assistant coach bringing something to JB's attention at half-time to make the right move.
 
My kids noticed I was visibly upset yesterday when Quincy had position in the post on Beverly all alone under the basket, and Buddy waved it off and dribbled to the top of the key. He not only didn't have any urgency getting our most efficient scorer the ball on a glaringly obvious mismatch, he blew it off.
Funny you should say that because last night was probably the first game in 31 years where I had enough and started cursing Boeheim for not getting Kardary more minutes, too much playing time for some guys, and all of the easy baskets we were allowing on D particularly in the first half. I'm utterly disgusted with how Boeheim is managing the rotations and that finally spilled out during the game for me. I usually hold it together but last night, I just had enough.
 

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