My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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This is going to be a short one. It’s late, I’m exhausted, I need to get to sleep.

I think the player who is the key to the success of this team is Jesse Edwards. He is our best player on defense by a large margin. He is our only low post presence.

He hast to learn how to consistently play 30 or more minutes a game. If he can do that, our defense should be OK, and we might win some games. With all the shooters we have, he’s going to be in position to score some points every game. When he gets the ball down low, he has to finish like he did tonight.

I don’t think I guess ASU was a good team, and will know a lot more after tomorrow. But it’s good to see some positive signs, and a major improvement from yesterday.
 
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Yes. We still don't have a reliable in-bounds play. What is this, going on 4 or 5 years now? 3 guys casually jogging towards the inbounder is not a real good strategy.
It is baffling that our guards show zero urgency getting open to receive the inbounds pass.

I don't get it.
 
This is going to be a short one. It’s late, I’m exhausted, I need to get to sleep.

I think the player who is the key to the success of this team is Jesse Edwards. He is our best player on defense by a large margin. He is our only low post presence.

He hast to learn how to consistently play 30 or more minutes a game. If he can do that, our defense should be OK, and we might win some games. With all the shooters we have, he’s going to be in position to score some points every game. When he gets the ball down low, he has to finish like he did tonight.

I don’t think I guess ASUwas a good team, and will know a lot more after tomorrow. But it’s good to see some positive signs, and a major improvement from yesterday.


That actually was short. But to the point.
 
Yes. We still don't have a reliable in-bounds play. What is this, going on 4 or 5 years now? 3 guys casually jogging towards the inbounder is not a real good strategy.


Satalin says that we need better spacing on inbounds plays. The big guys don't need to be in the backcourt. they should be heading down to the basket and taking their men with them.
 
It is baffling that our guards show zero urgency getting open to receive the inbounds pass.

I don't get it.
Maybe they have little confidence in their ability to advance the ball under pressure.

I think both of the forwards could succeed at this, but they seem hesitant as well.
 
This is going to be a short one. It’s late, I’m exhausted, I need to get to sleep.

I think the player who is the key to the success of this team is Jesse Edwards. He is our best player on defense by a large margin. He is our only low post presence.

He hast to learn how to consistently play 30 or more minutes a game. If he can do that, our defense should be OK, and we might win some games. With all the shooters we have, he’s going to be in position to score some points every game. When he gets the ball down low, he has to finish like he did tonight.

I don’t think I guess ASUwas a good team, and will know a lot more after tomorrow. But it’s good to see some positive signs, and a major improvement from yesterday.
anslem and williams are important factors for this ream---someone tell jb
 
Jesse's aggressiveness last night was incredible. He's shooting 71% from the field so far this year. I hope he's officially turning the corner from a big body/garbage man to a guy we can consistently run plays for.
 
Jr. is alway slow and late with his passes. No ball fakes. Joe should not be up in the press. He’s too small. Put him back towards the middle. Guys up front need to take inside cuts and not just stand with their arm out. Mind boggling how poor our press execution is. Jessie is our best answer to relieve pressure. Cut and not stand when he gets the ball.
 
This is going to be a short one. It’s late, I’m exhausted, I need to get to sleep.

I think the player who is the key to the success of this team is Jesse Edwards. He is our best player on defense by a large margin. He is our only low post presence.

He hast to learn how to consistently play 30 or more minutes a game. If he can do that, our defense should be OK, and we might win some games. With all the shooters we have, he’s going to be in position to score some points every game. When he gets the ball down low, he has to finish like he did tonight.

I don’t think I guess ASUwas a good team, and will know a lot more after tomorrow. But it’s good to see some positive signs, and a major improvement from yesterday.

I wonder if last night's performance will somehow light a fire with Edwards. I'm not suggesting that he's going to approach scoring 20+ most nights, but in order for this team to perform better than we did in the two previous losses, we need Edwards to be engaged as BOTH a rebounder and a shot blocker, to help compensate for the team's athletic limitations.

Too often in those early games, he seemed like he was just drifting around. Once he got a couple of shots to drop, it was like he was playing with a little extra bounce in his step, going up more aggressively for rebounds, running the floor harder, etc.

More of this, please.
 
he just needs to be there around the basket on offense and not try to block every shot on D and get off balance and get into foul trouble. cant get 2 over the back calls every game so he has to sit.
 
Jr. is alway slow and late with his passes. No ball fakes. Joe should not be up in the press. He’s too small. Put him back towards the middle. Guys up front need to take inside cuts and not just stand with their arm out. Mind boggling how poor our press execution is. Jessie is our best answer to relieve pressure. Cut and not stand when he gets the ball.
I can't remember a defensive team of ours that allowed entry and drives up top so easily. Joe doesn't really do anything but jump up and down in about a 2 foot radius... He shows no interest in defense to me and his focus is just getting to the inbound pass for the next offensive set.
 
I can't remember a defensive team of ours that allowed entry and drives up top so easily. Joe doesn't really do anything but jump up and down in about a 2 foot radius... He shows no interest in defense to me and his focus is just getting to the inbound pass for the next offensive set.
You should have seen his defense in high school. It was laughable.
 
anslem and williams are important factors for this ream---someone tell jb
There is a huge drop off from the starters to the backups. I understand why JB opted not to play any backups in the second half until he had to. They did not play well again in the first half.

One quibble with JB regards subbing. It seems like almost every game, when he brings in a sub, he doesn’t just bring in one, but the Little 3, all at the same time. All three of these guys are a big drop off offensively. Having them play together makes it almost impossible for us to score.

Symir and Benny are probably better than the starters on defense. They are best used situationally to shut down targeted attacks on players in the 2-3.

I think you have to use Frank some each half if for no reason that to limit Jesse’s opportunities to get into foul trouble.

JB, please consider only using one of these guys at a time. We can’t afford the hit we take trying to play all of them at the same time.
 
There is a huge drop off from the starters to the backups. I understand why JB opted not to play any backups in the second half until he had to. They did not play well again in the first half.

One quibble with JB regards subbing. It seems like almost every game, when he brings in a sub, he doesn’t just bring in one, but the Little 3, all at the same time. All three of these guys are a big drop off offensively. Having them play together makes it almost impossible for us to score.

Symir and Benny are probably better than the starters on defense. They are best used situationally to shut down targeted attacks on players in the 2-3.

I think you have to use Frank some each half if for no reason that to limit Jesse’s opportunities to get into foul trouble.

JB, please consider only using one of these guys at a time. We can’t afford the hit we take trying to play all of them at the same time.

On that note -- our bench / rotation appears to be 8 guys. One backup guard, one forward, one center. Symir, Benny, and Frank.

Basically, none of them are threats to score. Yes, I know that Benny is a five-star, but right now he is doing nothing offensively.

That means that we essentially have ZERO points we can rely upon off the bench. Sure, one of them might get a bucket or hit some free throws here or there, but that is extremely disconcerting. Zero bench scoring.
 
I wonder if last night's performance will somehow light a fire with Edwards. I'm not suggesting that he's going to approach scoring 20+ most nights, but in order for this team to perform better than we did in the two previous losses, we need Edwards to be engaged as BOTH a rebounder and a shot blocker, to help compensate for the team's athletic limitations.

Too often in those early games, he seemed like he was just drifting around. Once he got a couple of shots to drop, it was like he was playing with a little extra bounce in his step, going up more aggressively for rebounds, running the floor harder, etc.

More of this, please.
Bigs need the guys that handle the ball more to help them out and reward them when they're in good scoring position as a thank you for doing the dirty work around the rim.

Girard's pass over the top on the break for a dunk was a thing of beauty. That's twice he's made that play this season, and he should keep looking for it and he should get a shout-out every time he does. Easy dunks keep bigs engaged and we need the points.

The other play that encouraged me is Edwards somehow got a great seal really, really deep in the paint and we actually got him the ball, which he immediately turned into an over the shoulder lay in.

I cringe when I see our bigs try to establish the post knowing they're going to be ignored. Hopefully Edwards is presenting the right blend of skill with a team recognition that we need to feed the ball inside once in a while.
 
Satalin says that we need better spacing on inbounds plays. The big guys don't need to be in the backcourt. they should be heading down to the basket and taking their men with them.
There are multiple ways to get the ball inbounds. JB used to have a good set of inbounds plays, but for some reason, he seems ok with the idea of just getting it in however you can.
I wouldn't send the bigs downcourt every time either. It's often beneficial to have your tallest guy set up near half court who can move to the FT line extended as a last resort safety valve.
But, the key, whatever you run, is use sharp cuts and screens to get the preferred two guys open in a place other than trapped in the corner or along the end line. It's basic, fundamental basketball that is covered pretty early at every level of play.
The big three fundamental team concepts: what defense you play, what base offense you run and getting the ball in-bounds.
 
On that note -- our bench / rotation appears to be 8 guys. One backup guard, one forward, one center. Symir, Benny, and Frank.

Basically, none of them are threats to score. Yes, I know that Benny is a five-star, but right now he is doing nothing offensively.

That means that we essentially have ZERO points we can rely upon off the bench. Sure, one of them might get a bucket or hit some free throws here or there, but that is extremely disconcerting. Zero bench scoring.
I don’t get how Benny is becoming Woody Newton 2.0.

This kid is a stud and should be able to play minutes without being worried one mistake will bench him.
The +/- comment did NOTHING to help that kid.

We need a bench. Anselem is fine as a bench big we expect no offense from.
Torrence isn’t going to give us offense but Benny should be a solid rotation player we should expect some offense but it’s like his role has been told to him and it’s the role the coach wants from him.

Our forwards are playing way to high up in the zone which makes the baseline and corner 3 open for smart teams.

We need the starters to shoot well to have a chance. Buddy wasn’t letting the team lose yesterday. He dominated the last 10 minutes of the first half yesterday and was why we won that game when halftime hit.
 
I don’t get how Benny is becoming Woody Newton 2.0.

This kid is a stud and should be able to play minutes without being worried one mistake will bench him.
The +/- comment did NOTHING to help that kid.

We need a bench. Anselem is fine as a bench big we expect no offense from.
Torrence isn’t going to give us offense but Benny should be a solid rotation player we should expect some offense but it’s like his role has been told to him and it’s the role the coach wants from him.

Our forwards are playing way to high up in the zone which makes the baseline and corner 3 open for smart teams.

We need the starters to shoot well to have a chance. Buddy wasn’t letting the team lose yesterday. He dominated the last 10 minutes of the first half yesterday and was why we won that game when halftime hit.
Oh, we're absolutely screwing Benny up, and it pisses me off.
 
This is going to be a short one. It’s late, I’m exhausted, I need to get to sleep.

I think the player who is the key to the success of this team is Jesse Edwards. He is our best player on defense by a large margin. He is our only low post presence.

He hast to learn how to consistently play 30 or more minutes a game. If he can do that, our defense should be OK, and we might win some games. With all the shooters we have, he’s going to be in position to score some points every game. When he gets the ball down low, he has to finish like he did tonight.

I don’t think I guess ASU was a good team, and will know a lot more after tomorrow. But it’s good to see some positive signs, and a major improvement from yesterday.
Yes and no. It will certainly help this team win a few more games for him to stay on the court, but if they can't cover shooters it won't matter.
 
I wonder if last night's performance will somehow light a fire with Edwards. I'm not suggesting that he's going to approach scoring 20+ most nights, but in order for this team to perform better than we did in the two previous losses, we need Edwards to be engaged as BOTH a rebounder and a shot blocker, to help compensate for the team's athletic limitations.

Too often in those early games, he seemed like he was just drifting around. Once he got a couple of shots to drop, it was like he was playing with a little extra bounce in his step, going up more aggressively for rebounds, running the floor harder, etc.

More of this, please.


This team still has considerable upside before we find out what they are really capable of. Edwards is developing into the two-way center we haven't had since Rak and could have a monster season if he realizes that he's 7 feet tall and doesn't have to be 8 feet to block shots. And I believe Williams will assert himself more as we go along.
 
You should have seen his defense in high school. It was laughable.

His defense was that he scored 50 points a game. here he's scoring more like 15 so he has to start playing some defense.
 
There is a huge drop off from the starters to the backups. I understand why JB opted not to play any backups in the second half until he had to. They did not play well again in the first half.

One quibble with JB regards subbing. It seems like almost every game, when he brings in a sub, he doesn’t just bring in one, but the Little 3, all at the same time. All three of these guys are a big drop off offensively. Having them play together makes it almost impossible for us to score.

Symir and Benny are probably better than the starters on defense. They are best used situationally to shut down targeted attacks on players in the 2-3.

I think you have to use Frank some each half if for no reason that to limit Jesse’s opportunities to get into foul trouble.

JB, please consider only using one of these guys at a time. We can’t afford the hit we take trying to play all of them at the same time.

Two 4 stars and a 5 star and we can't afford to have more than one of them on the court at a time. So much for high school ratings.
 

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