My Take

[sutomcat]

I didn't go to this one in person. Just watched on TV. Ended up taking the dog for a walk in the second half after Paddy came in. Watched the game with my wife and spent a lot of time getting her up to date on all the new players.

"No honey. It's not Slider. Swider. Like Wider only with an S in front of it"

"Why can't it be Slider? Are you sure it isn't Slider?"

"Yes, it is definitely not Slider"

"Well, I am calling him Slider"

Limited time but some quick thoughts (prefaced by the usual disclaimer that an exhibition game against a D2 level opponent doesn't mean much and everything you see should be taken with a grain of salt).

Concerned with the extended PT for JBII at center again. He looks really uncomfortable there. He is not well suited to playing there. We give up a lot of easy scores down low and our rebounding, which is never going to be good, goes from bad to worse than bad. We don't need another scorer at center on this team. We need someone who can block shots, clog up the middle and get rebounds. That is Jesse (any maybe Frankie too).

I was really disappointed with Symir's performance in the first exhibition, where he looked really uncomfortable and maybe like he didn't belong. I was really pleased with how well he played last night. Great bounce back. Pushed the ball well, penetrated, played good defense, looked to score when he had a chance, and made some really nice passes in half court sets to get shooter open looks for 3s (really important for our PG this season).

This is going to sound weird, as Syracuse destroyed LeMoyne, but I was really impressed with their athleticism and how well coached they were. They have a big who blocked Frankie down low. Some nice quickness and solid athletics at guard. Even some shooters. They aren't big and could probably use a couple 6'5 guys who can help on the boards but they played hard all game long, have some talent and I bet they have a really good season.

Swider appears to be the terrific shooter he was reputed to be, which is great. I did not expect him to pass the ball as well as he does. Usually great shooters are not that unselfish. Their focus is on getting their shots. Cole is regularly passing up good shots to get a great shot for someone else. So is Buddy, though we all could see him developing as a passer last season. Also looks to me as though Cole will be at least adequate as a rebounder and has at least some ability to score with mid range jumpers.

JGIII is also doing a great job keeping the ball moving and finding the open man, as is Symir. And JBII and Benny are also fine passers. This might be a special team in terms of passing ability and unselfishness. So many good shots passed up for great shots. That to me has been the early hallmark of this team. You get a great shooting team that is also great at passing and finding the open man and you have a problem for opposing defenses.

Got a little worried Joe was shooting too much early in the game. A LeMoyne kid knocked the ball away from him and I think he got mad and took a quick shot a couple of time down the court (think he made them all). But he settled into the PG role and again did a really nice job managing the offense and making passes to set up teammates for quality looks.

Buddy did Buddy things. Get the feeling he is keeping things in low gear for now. Not really looking for his shot super hard.

JBIII is a garage man who seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot, and gets a lot of easy baskets. That is a skill; not luck and it is good to have a player like that on your team.

Thought Jesse played quite well. Looks like he has been working on his FT shooting, which is a good thing. It looks pretty clear Frank has improved some but is behind Jesse. Not quite the defensive force, maybe nor quite as good at rebounding but Frankie is playing harder and I think he will contribute.

I really like Benny. He does everything well (expect maybe shoot from the outside) and we need a player like him on the court with this team. There is no other player like him on the team. He can handle the ball, slash to the basket, and dish off or finish himself and I think he is the only forward we are going to see get a bunch of weak side help blocks (something we need for the 2-3 to be really effective).

Good effort, great chemistry so far. Hope the team stays healthy, Bourama joins the run and things continue to develop. Worried about rebounding. That appears to be the major weakness with this group. Guessing good passing teams with a couple of good outside shooters are going to be a problem as well.

Trivia for today: Paddy Casey is the grandson of late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey and the nephew of U.S. Senator Bob Casey.

But I also think this team might be a really fun one to watch. Personally, I would rather see games ending with scores in the 80s than the 50s. We might be transitioning to an old school high scoring team this year, and I look forward to it. The rock fights can be hard to watch and really enjoy.

 

[CusefanATL]

I was able to sit courtside with my 2 kids last night and we got there early to take in warm ups...

First shout out to JG3 and Symir for proactively coming over to the kids to give them high fives and chat for a second - that is really cool and the reason I wanted the kids there before 6pm of an exhibition game. My 5 year olds first hoops game and my 7 year old will always love those 2 players from here on out.

Anyways... I was intently watching warm ups for probably the first time since I was sitting in the student section and getting there early my frosh and soph years (gmac and dnic). As I've been tailgating or too busy or hanging on the football field side of just drinking since.

I can remember Gerry warming up and the security guard counting how many makes in a row he would get. I watched Buddy and Jimmy and JG3 last night. I have played basketball my entire life against some really good talent like from Greg Paulus, Pat Beilein to Josh Smith and Morris Almond, Patrick Ewing Jr and Dale Ellis son Chris (high school in Atlanta) and played 1x1 with demetris Nicols. Heck I have a massive black eye right now from a 6am Monday basketball elbow from literally yesterday morning. I have been playing basketball for over 30 years.

I have never... and i mean never... seen anything like Cole Swider warming up yesterday. I am not 100% sure but I think I lip read him telling someone that he had hit 57 in a row and I actually believe it could be true. And this isnt Steph sitting in a corner getting comfortable. He was all over the court.

This was the routine yelling with my kids

"buddy for threeeeee" and hed make most
"jg for threeeeeee" and hed make most
"Jimmy for threeeeeee" and hed make most
"...and cole doesnt miss" and hed make them ALL. we said this OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. and he did not miss.

I was pretty excited for Cole to transfer here... but he's going to score 30 on a few nights when he gets going.

 

[Orangezoo]

I was able to sit courtside with my 2 kids last night and we got there early to take in warm ups...

First shout out to JG3 and Symir for proactively coming over to the kids to give them high fives and chat for a second - that is really cool and the reason I wanted the kids there before 6pm of an exhibition game. My 5 year olds first hoops game and my 7 year old will always love those 2 players from here on out.

Anyways... I was intently watching warm ups for probably the first time since I was sitting in the student section and getting there early my frosh and soph years (gmac and dnic). As I've been tailgating or too busy or hanging on the football field side of just drinking since.

I can remember Gerry warming up and the security guard counting how many makes in a row he would get. I watched Buddy and Jimmy and JG3 last night. I have played basketball my entire life against some really good talent like from Greg Paulus, Pat Beilein to Josh Smith and Morris Almond, Patrick Ewing Jr and Dale Ellis son Chris (high school in Atlanta) and played 1x1 with demetris Nicols. Heck I have a massive black eye right now from a 6am Monday basketball elbow from literally yesterday morning. I have been playing basketball for over 30 years.

I have never... and i mean never... seen anything like Cole Swider warming up yesterday. I am not 100% sure but I think I lip read him telling someone that he had hit 57 in a row and I actually believe it could be true. And this isnt Steph sitting in a corner getting comfortable. He was all over the court.

This was the routine yelling with my kids

"buddy for threeeeee" and hed make most
"jg for threeeeeee" and hed make most
"Jimmy for threeeeeee" and hed make most
"...and cole doesnt miss" and hed make them ALL. we said this OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. and he did not miss.

I was pretty excited for Cole to transfer here... but he's going to score 30 on a few nights when he gets going.

I think it's great for Cole to have both Gerry and DNic on staff given his skillset.

Curious but Cole seems to be stone cold locked in. Scowls more than smiles but in a determined manner. Wondering if you picked up anything on that very locked in this is business vibe he gives off.

 

[CusefanATL]

I think it's great for Cole to have both Gerry and DNic on staff given his skillset.

Curious but Cole seems to be stone cold locked in. Scowls more than smiles but in a determined manner. Wondering if you picked up anything on that very locked in this is business vibe he gives off.

100%... lemoyne hits a 3 kind of in his face right in front of me to start the 2nd half and puts up the Boeheim 3 symbol (thumb and 2 fingers) quasi in Cole's face... he didnt even flinch. As you pointed out scowls more than smiles but in a determined business vibe manner is exactly how i saw it as he ran back down the court... Well on the very first Cuse possession Cole hits a 3 in the same guys face and without smiling or talking he pretty aggressively puts up the Boeheim 3 symbol and could tell it was his first time ever doing it that way because he forgot the thumb for a second lol. But he eventually got it right and then swiped his 3 symbol hand down to let the Lemoyne kid know what just transpired.


and that, I believe led a 17or18-0 run to officially put the game away

 

[Orangezoo]

100%... lemoyne hits a 3 kind of in his face right in front of me to start the 2nd half and puts up the Boeheim 3 symbol (thumb and 2 fingers) quasi in Cole's face... he didnt even flinch. As you pointed out scowls more than smiles but in a determined business vibe manner is exactly how i saw it as he ran back down the court... Well on the very first Cuse possession Cole hits a 3 in the same guys face and without smiling or talking he pretty aggressively puts up the Boeheim 3 symbol and could tell it was his first time ever doing it that way because he forgot the thumb for a second lol. But he eventually got it right and then swiped his 3 symbol hand down to let the Lemoyne kid know what just transpired.


and that, I believe led a 17or18-0 run to officially put the game away

Love it. Now I gotta watch the replay as I missed that lol.

 

[AlaskaSU]

LeMoyne had virtually no points in the paint. They should have gone to a total outside strategy. Makes no difference if they lose by 40 or 50, but maybe they get lucky with 3's?

 

[Orangezoo]

LeMoyne had virtually no points in the paint. They should have gone to a total outside strategy. Makes no difference if they lose by 40 or 50, but maybe they get lucky with 3's?

We somewhat dictated that by pressing again this game. While it didn't create turnovers all the time it sped them up and Jesse was intimidating. I actually like it as a strategy for just that and it can help our rebounding challenges too in the right matchup. Just our version of changing up looks from time to time.

I know we aren't a pressing team given the makeup but we also have seen the defense get shredded just by way of letting the opponent get into a rhythm against the zone and start knocking down shots.

Benny doing jumping jacks is something you see at the HS level but it absolutely works if it just makes it a tad more difficult making both the inbounder and cutter have to think or hesitate more. The next time they rush the pass to beat SU to setting up the press and everything is rushed.

 

[ar inj]

Might be coincidental or the substitution pattern, but I thought the press took SU out of its offense.

 

[kirbivore]

I didn't go to this one in person. Just watched on TV. Ended up taking the dog for a walk in the second half after Paddy came in. Watched the game with my wife and spent a lot of time getting her up to date on all the new players.

"No honey. It's not Slider. Swider. Like Wider only with an S in front of it"

"Why can't it be Slider? Are you sure it isn't Slider?"

"Yes, it is definitely not Slider"

 

[GoSU96]

I didn't go to this one in person. Just watched on TV. Ended up taking the dog for a walk in the second half after Paddy came in. Watched the game with my wife and spent a lot of time getting her up to date on all the new players.

"No honey. It's not Slider. Swider. Like Wider only with an S in front of it"

"Why can't it be Slider? Are you sure it isn't Slider?"

"Yes, it is definitely not Slider"

"Well, I am calling him Slider"

Limited time but some quick thoughts (prefaced by the usual disclaimer that an exhibition game against a D2 level opponent doesn't mean much and everything you see should be taken with a grain of salt).

Concerned with the extended PT for JBII at center again. He looks really uncomfortable there. He is not well suited to playing there. We give up a lot of easy scores down low and our rebounding, which is never going to be good, goes from bad to worse than bad. We don't need another scorer at center on this team. We need someone who can block shots, clog up the middle and get rebounds. That is Jesse (any maybe Frankie too).

I was really disappointed with Symir's performance in the first exhibition, where he looked really uncomfortable and maybe like he didn't belong. I was really pleased with how well he played last night. Great bounce back. Pushed the ball well, penetrated, played good defense, looked to score when he had a chance, and made some really nice passes in half court sets to get shooter open looks for 3s (really important for our PG this season).

This is going to sound weird, as Syracuse destroyed LeMoyne, but I was really impressed with their athleticism and how well coached they were. They have a big who blocked Frankie down low. Some nice quickness and solid athletics at guard. Even some shooters. They aren't big and could probably use a couple 6'5 guys who can help on the boards but they played hard all game long, have some talent and I bet they have a really good season.

Swider appears to be the terrific shooter he was reputed to be, which is great. I did not expect him to pass the ball as well as he does. Usually great shooters are not that unselfish. Their focus is on getting their shots. Cole is regularly passing up good shots to get a great shot for someone else. So is Buddy, though we all could see him developing as a passer last season. Also looks to me as though Cole will be at least adequate as a rebounder and has at least some ability to score with mid range jumpers.

JGIII is also doing a great job keeping the ball moving and finding the open man, as is Symir. And JBII and Benny are also fine passers. This might be a special team in terms of passing ability and unselfishness. So many good shots passed up for great shots. That to me has been the early hallmark of this team. You get a great shooting team that is also great at passing and finding the open man and you have a problem for opposing defenses.

Got a little worried Joe was shooting too much early in the game. A LeMoyne kid knocked the ball away from him and I think he got mad and took a quick shot a couple of time down the court (think he made them all). But he settled into the PG role and again did a really nice job managing the offense and making passes to set up teammates for quality looks.

Buddy did Buddy things. Get the feeling he is keeping things in low gear for now. Not really looking for his shot super hard.

JBIII is a garage man who seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot, and gets a lot of easy baskets. That is a skill; not luck and it is good to have a player like that on your team.

Thought Jesse played quite well. Looks like he has been working on his FT shooting, which is a good thing. It looks pretty clear Frank has improved some but is behind Jesse. Not quite the defensive force, maybe nor quite as good at rebounding but Frankie is playing harder and I think he will contribute.

I really like Benny. He does everything well (expect maybe shoot from the outside) and we need a player like him on the court with this team. There is no other player like him on the team. He can handle the ball, slash to the basket, and dish off or finish himself and I think he is the only forward we are going to see get a bunch of weak side help blocks (something we need for the 2-3 to be really effective).

Good effort, great chemistry so far. Hope the team stays healthy, Bourama joins the run and things continue to develop. Worried about rebounding. That appears to be the major weakness with this group. Guessing good passing teams with a couple of good outside shooters are going to be a problem as well.

Trivia for today: Paddy Casey is the grandson of late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey and the nephew of U.S. Senator Bob Casey.

But I also think this team might be a really fun one to watch. Personally, I would rather see games ending with scores in the 80s than the 50s. We might be transitioning to an old school high scoring team this year, and I look forward to it. The rock fights can be hard to watch and really enjoy.

Ditto on your last paragraph, that’s where my heads been at

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I didn't go to this one in person. Just watched on TV. Ended up taking the dog for a walk in the second half after Paddy came in. Watched the game with my wife and spent a lot of time getting her up to date on all the new players.

"No honey. It's not Slider. Swider. Like Wider only with an S in front of it"

"Why can't it be Slider? Are you sure it isn't Slider?"

"Yes, it is definitely not Slider"

"Well, I am calling him Slider"

Limited time but some quick thoughts (prefaced by the usual disclaimer that an exhibition game against a D2 level opponent doesn't mean much and everything you see should be taken with a grain of salt).

Concerned with the extended PT for JBII at center again. He looks really uncomfortable there. He is not well suited to playing there. We give up a lot of easy scores down low and our rebounding, which is never going to be good, goes from bad to worse than bad. We don't need another scorer at center on this team. We need someone who can block shots, clog up the middle and get rebounds. That is Jesse (any maybe Frankie too).

I was really disappointed with Symir's performance in the first exhibition, where he looked really uncomfortable and maybe like he didn't belong. I was really pleased with how well he played last night. Great bounce back. Pushed the ball well, penetrated, played good defense, looked to score when he had a chance, and made some really nice passes in half court sets to get shooter open looks for 3s (really important for our PG this season).

This is going to sound weird, as Syracuse destroyed LeMoyne, but I was really impressed with their athleticism and how well coached they were. They have a big who blocked Frankie down low. Some nice quickness and solid athletics at guard. Even some shooters. They aren't big and could probably use a couple 6'5 guys who can help on the boards but they played hard all game long, have some talent and I bet they have a really good season.

Swider appears to be the terrific shooter he was reputed to be, which is great. I did not expect him to pass the ball as well as he does. Usually great shooters are not that unselfish. Their focus is on getting their shots. Cole is regularly passing up good shots to get a great shot for someone else. So is Buddy, though we all could see him developing as a passer last season. Also looks to me as though Cole will be at least adequate as a rebounder and has at least some ability to score with mid range jumpers.

JGIII is also doing a great job keeping the ball moving and finding the open man, as is Symir. And JBII and Benny are also fine passers. This might be a special team in terms of passing ability and unselfishness. So many good shots passed up for great shots. That to me has been the early hallmark of this team. You get a great shooting team that is also great at passing and finding the open man and you have a problem for opposing defenses.

Got a little worried Joe was shooting too much early in the game. A LeMoyne kid knocked the ball away from him and I think he got mad and took a quick shot a couple of time down the court (think he made them all). But he settled into the PG role and again did a really nice job managing the offense and making passes to set up teammates for quality looks.

Buddy did Buddy things. Get the feeling he is keeping things in low gear for now. Not really looking for his shot super hard.

JBIII is a garage man who seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot, and gets a lot of easy baskets. That is a skill; not luck and it is good to have a player like that on your team.

Thought Jesse played quite well. Looks like he has been working on his FT shooting, which is a good thing. It looks pretty clear Frank has improved some but is behind Jesse. Not quite the defensive force, maybe nor quite as good at rebounding but Frankie is playing harder and I think he will contribute.

I really like Benny. He does everything well (expect maybe shoot from the outside) and we need a player like him on the court with this team. There is no other player like him on the team. He can handle the ball, slash to the basket, and dish off or finish himself and I think he is the only forward we are going to see get a bunch of weak side help blocks (something we need for the 2-3 to be really effective).

Good effort, great chemistry so far. Hope the team stays healthy, Bourama joins the run and things continue to develop. Worried about rebounding. That appears to be the major weakness with this group. Guessing good passing teams with a couple of good outside shooters are going to be a problem as well.

Trivia for today: Paddy Casey is the grandson of late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey and the nephew of U.S. Senator Bob Casey.

But I also think this team might be a really fun one to watch. Personally, I would rather see games ending with scores in the 80s than the 50s. We might be transitioning to an old school high scoring team this year, and I look forward to it. The rock fights can be hard to watch and really enjoy.

Be prepared to hear some additional material from our PA guy: Swider Swish and Jimmy Jam.

 

[Nicknack]

I didn't go to this one in person. Just watched on TV. Ended up taking the dog for a walk in the second half after Paddy came in. Watched the game with my wife and spent a lot of time getting her up to date on all the new players.

"No honey. It's not Slider. Swider. Like Wider only with an S in front of it"

"Why can't it be Slider? Are you sure it isn't Slider?"

"Yes, it is definitely not Slider"

"Well, I am calling him Slider"

Limited time but some quick thoughts (prefaced by the usual disclaimer that an exhibition game against a D2 level opponent doesn't mean much and everything you see should be taken with a grain of salt).

Concerned with the extended PT for JBII at center again. He looks really uncomfortable there. He is not well suited to playing there. We give up a lot of easy scores down low and our rebounding, which is never going to be good, goes from bad to worse than bad. We don't need another scorer at center on this team. We need someone who can block shots, clog up the middle and get rebounds. That is Jesse (any maybe Frankie too).

I was really disappointed with Symir's performance in the first exhibition, where he looked really uncomfortable and maybe like he didn't belong. I was really pleased with how well he played last night. Great bounce back. Pushed the ball well, penetrated, played good defense, looked to score when he had a chance, and made some really nice passes in half court sets to get shooter open looks for 3s (really important for our PG this season).

This is going to sound weird, as Syracuse destroyed LeMoyne, but I was really impressed with their athleticism and how well coached they were. They have a big who blocked Frankie down low. Some nice quickness and solid athletics at guard. Even some shooters. They aren't big and could probably use a couple 6'5 guys who can help on the boards but they played hard all game long, have some talent and I bet they have a really good season.

Swider appears to be the terrific shooter he was reputed to be, which is great. I did not expect him to pass the ball as well as he does. Usually great shooters are not that unselfish. Their focus is on getting their shots. Cole is regularly passing up good shots to get a great shot for someone else. So is Buddy, though we all could see him developing as a passer last season. Also looks to me as though Cole will be at least adequate as a rebounder and has at least some ability to score with mid range jumpers.

JGIII is also doing a great job keeping the ball moving and finding the open man, as is Symir. And JBII and Benny are also fine passers. This might be a special team in terms of passing ability and unselfishness. So many good shots passed up for great shots. That to me has been the early hallmark of this team. You get a great shooting team that is also great at passing and finding the open man and you have a problem for opposing defenses.

Got a little worried Joe was shooting too much early in the game. A LeMoyne kid knocked the ball away from him and I think he got mad and took a quick shot a couple of time down the court (think he made them all). But he settled into the PG role and again did a really nice job managing the offense and making passes to set up teammates for quality looks.

Buddy did Buddy things. Get the feeling he is keeping things in low gear for now. Not really looking for his shot super hard.

JBIII is a garage man who seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot, and gets a lot of easy baskets. That is a skill; not luck and it is good to have a player like that on your team.

Thought Jesse played quite well. Looks like he has been working on his FT shooting, which is a good thing. It looks pretty clear Frank has improved some but is behind Jesse. Not quite the defensive force, maybe nor quite as good at rebounding but Frankie is playing harder and I think he will contribute.

I really like Benny. He does everything well (expect maybe shoot from the outside) and we need a player like him on the court with this team. There is no other player like him on the team. He can handle the ball, slash to the basket, and dish off or finish himself and I think he is the only forward we are going to see get a bunch of weak side help blocks (something we need for the 2-3 to be really effective).

Good effort, great chemistry so far. Hope the team stays healthy, Bourama joins the run and things continue to develop. Worried about rebounding. That appears to be the major weakness with this group. Guessing good passing teams with a couple of good outside shooters are going to be a problem as well.

Trivia for today: Paddy Casey is the grandson of late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey and the nephew of U.S. Senator Bob Casey.

But I also think this team might be a really fun one to watch. Personally, I would rather see games ending with scores in the 80s than the 50s. We might be transitioning to an old school high scoring team this year, and I look forward to it. The rock fights can be hard to watch and really enjoy.

The first thing that stood out to me (in the first exhibition game) is that Slider looks the part. That is, he just looks like a leader and appears to me like a guy who commands respect, rather than demanding it. Just looking at his facial expression, he's a serious/focused dude. Not a guy with a facade, but just genuinely ALL IN. Love it.

Jimmy... please no more center play. I like other things he brings to the table but I just hope and pray Boeheim doesn't force him to play the position when we should have the C covered and filled.

Symir... yeah, I felt similarly in that the first game, I was a bit worried that this is our backup option. In the second game, he showed more, especially the one drive he just went in (probably looking for the pass) but decided to take the easy layup. I can see him continuing to develop IF given the continued opportunity, which I hope he does.

I like Benny too. He could have come in trying to prove how good he is, but he hasn't. I really like what I've seen so far with him fitting into what we have and doing what he can to contribute.

JBIII... I'm still salty after the Kadary situation (but that's not Joe's fault) so what I want to see out of Joe is the ability and willingness to play within himself and to understand his role as PG on the team. So far, overall, I'm okay with things. I especially like to see Joe and his passes/assists to Jesse (more in the first game).