My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Couldn't post anything last night; too late. Pressed for time now but wanted to jot down a few thoughts.

The refs were really bad. Blew many calls both ways. Extremely inconsistent from play to play and even from half to half. Thought they called things fairly tightly in the first half, then allowed IU to get extremely physical trying to guard the Syracuse players, especially Buddy, in the second.

You can't call fouls when a player literally does not touch another player, then allow IU players to lower their shoulder and body slam Buddy and look the other way. The last play of what should have been the game, ended up the last play of regulation, all 3 refs had one job. Look at what happens in the scramble for the rebound of the missed FT. The lU big guy punk pulled his elbow back, coiled his body and delivered a forearm shiver to Benny and all 3 of the refs ignored it. Incompetent refs are really hurting the college game and clowns like these guys need to be fired.

Thought we moved the ball well and did a good job finding the open guy in the first half, then went into Bahama Iso mode in the second half. We don't have players talented enough to win playing that way. Really hoped we would never see that awful offensive style again but we did and it was painful to watch.

Edwards is really coming on and I think JB needs to start making him the focus of our offense. He certainly needs to get more than 7 shots in 39 minutes. Good to see him expanding his shooting range and playing with a lot of confidence. It will sound weird saying this in a game where the IU big scored a lot of points but Jesse was a big factor on defense as well. Lots of blocks, lots of shots affected and lots of steals. Impressed with how alert and active he is on defense. Very quick for his size.

That IU guy with the blond pony tails did a nice job body slamming Buddy. When he finally fouled out, it was a big key; Buddy started scoring easily and our issues getting points melted away. I think Buddy focused on two things in the off season: doing a better job drawing fouls and getting better finding the open man when doubled. Looks to me as though he has made major strides in both areas.

Benny played 19 minutes and did not take a shot. Only had 2 rebounds. That is hard to do. No question he is our best defender on the wing and he helped us there. Would suggest to him that he start focusing on getting offensive rebounds and getting scoring opportunities that way. Might get him off the schneid.

JGIII is generally doing a much better job with shot selection this season. If he only takes 3s where he is open, not moving and is within 24 feet of the basket, I am convinced he will shoot 40% from the 3 point circle. Maybe higher. He had that one late in the game that was rushed and a tough shot, and maybe one other. But I like seeing better discipline from him here. Hope he can reduce the mental mistakes that need to careless unforced turnovers. Overall though, IU had a guy in his jockstrap all game long and I thought he held up well.

Symir probably deserved more minutes. Liked seeing him see a mismatch when they put a midge on him and posting the little guy up for an easy basket. Hope he continues to be more assertive like this.

Cole, JB3 and Jesse all played big minutes and only had a handful of rebounds. We got pounded on the boards and that was a key towards keeping IU in the game. We need to play tougher down low.

Was worried JB3 was going to get lost playing big time opponents with good size and athletic ability. He held his own last night, though I would say IU was not really athletic. More brawny than anything else. He matches up well with these types of teams. It will be interesting to see how he does against FSU.

Good to see improved defense in spots. We hurt them with our trap in the first half. They hurt us on set inbound plays a number of times, always using one of their beefy forwards to hold Jesse so their loud mouthed center could get free for an easy basket. Jesse needs to be more aware and not allow this to happen.

Good win, wish we played better in the second half. Impressed with the fight in this team. 3 games in a row now away from the dome. Would really like to see us pick up wins in 2 of them.
 
  • Credit to JB for adjusting the zone. He tried to take away the pass to the foul line by playing a 1-1-3 or 1-3-1 almost. IU was not expecting this and it contributed to a lot of turnovers to stake us out to a nice lead.
  • Boy those 18 pt leads evaporate fast whey you are bad on D and are a streaky 3 pt shooting team for the most part.
  • Benny, I guess we just need to be patient with him. I'm looking for some sign of life but its hard. 19 mins, 2 rebs, 0 pts. Right now he cant shoot, cant drive, I just hope he doesn't get stripped when he goes into the lane.
  • Not a great night for Jeff Anderson and his crew. Bad foul call on Symirs and 1 and a phantom call on Buddy fouling on a 3. There were a couple other handchecking IU was getting away with that I noticed.
  • Play before regulation, should Frank have been in? Should Cole have been on TJD? Was that an offensive foul by TJD on Benny? This is why its good to have an Otis Hill or Jeremy McNeil body on the roster, those guys don't get rooted off the block like that.
  • Frank 4 for 4 at the line in 2nd OT, clutch
  • Great grit from the team and much needed win even if Jimmy Dykes didn't think we were good enough to win it.
  • Onto FSU, they are taking a little step back this year but after getting blownout by Purdue they will be playing with urgency, similar to Cuse last night.
 
Regarding the phantom call on Buddy, when they showed the replay, the ESPN analyst commented "he never touched him". To Buddy's credit, he didn't appear to complain to the refs or sulk (although it may have provided some motivation on his drives to the basket).
My approach to officiating in any sport is when you have to make a potentially game-deciding call during crunch time, you need to avoid ticky-tack and questionable foul calls.
 
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Thought we moved the ball well and did a good job finding the open guy in the first half, then went into Bahama Iso mode in the second half. We don't have players talented enough to win playing that way. Really hoped we would never see that awful offensive style again but we did and it was painful to watch.
This has been a recurring theme over the last few years. We go weeks at a time with almost no movement, save ineffectual ball screens by our center. Then we see penetration, motion, picks away from the ball (and offensive success) for a half of a game. Then it disappears for several more weeks.

One wonders why that would be and why a bench full of coaches seems unable to influence it.
 
Same. 210 lb freshman vs 245 lb junior AA candidate.
Disagree. 5 star 6-10 forward. Wants to go to the nba and wants more mins. Go get a rebound. Don’t be soft and get ridden off the block.
 
Needed that win. Liked seeing Jim throw a different wrinkle into the zone to start. They seemed to figure it out, but at least it bought us some decent defense for a little. I'm all for that type of stuff with how limited the D is this year.

Here's our full recap pod from last night. Hope you guys can check it out if you've got some time!
 
"The lU big guy punk" is too harsh. Unless you mean he punked us most of the game. Then yes. He did what he was supposed to do there. Be aggressive. If you get called for a foul, so what? And yes, Frank should have been in. Does Frank play the middle of the zone or does Benny? Frank does. Because he's bigger. Benny might have a bigger vertical leap but in that spot, it's about shielding a defender, not out jumping an opponent especially when the shot is going to likely be coming off the rim quickly.
 
"The lU big guy punk" is too harsh. Unless you mean he punked us most of the game. Then yes. He did what he was supposed to do there. Be aggressive. If you get called for a foul, so what? And yes, Frank should have been in. Does Frank play the middle of the zone or does Benny? Frank does. Because he's bigger. Benny might have a bigger vertical leap but in that spot, it's about shielding a defender, not out jumping an opponent especially when the shot is going to likely be coming off the rim quickly.
Had no problem with what the kid did at the end of the game. He did what he had to do to give his team a chance to win. Good for him on that.

Didn't like his shushing the crowd gestures, his trash talking and his crazy rant he went on when his foul on Benny was somehow turned into 2 points to tie the game and send it into OT.

That said, he is a terrific player. Can't pass, makes some bad turnovers but he can board and finish and block shots.
 
Only thing I can think of is JB wanted his best athlete against their best athlete.
Right. Consider that the ball didn't have to fall under the basket and set up what actually happened. I would guess often, maybe usually, the ball bounces harder off the rim. Maybe JB was looking for agility and athleticism over the ability to hold the spot.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Benny is more suited to that than Frank but maybe.
 
Had no problem with what the kid did at the end of the game. He did what he had to do to give his team a chance to win. Good for him on that.

Didn't like his shushing the crowd gestures, his trash talking and his crazy rant he went on when his foul on Benny was somehow turned into 2 points to tie the game and send it into OT.

That said, he is a terrific player. Can't pass, makes some bad turnovers but he can board and finish and block shots.

Uhmmm were forgetting the most embarrassing part...Don't go down and act like you have a season ending injury, throw a pity party for yourself, and then come back in the game 2 minutes later.

That was embarrassing on his part. Get up if your not hurt, grab your nuts. Wants everyone to think he is some kind of hero
 
Tom, I’ve noticed more and more of your Takes starting with the disclaimer that you don’t have much time. It’s totally not fair to us that you can’t dedicate the proper amount of time on these. I think the board should chip in and hire you a personal assistant.
 
Honestly did not understand having Frank on the bench for the free throws at the end of regulation. JB said it himself. If you foul to prevent the three you have to get the rebound on the intentional miss. Having your best available rebounder on the bench (then bringing him in to start overtime) made no sense to me at all.
 
Tom, I’ve noticed more and more of your Takes starting with the disclaimer that you don’t have much time. It’s totally not fair to us that you can’t dedicate the proper amount of time on these. I think the board should chip in and hire you a personal assistant.
I love your out of the box thinking... ;)
 
Watched the game on replay yesterday. Thought it was a microcosm of the teams play all year. First half world beaters with at least decent defense and unworldly shooting. 2nd half horrible defense and can't make a shot.

That 1st half "D" (1-1-3) seem to really work. Seen JB do it before dropping off side guard down to center of foul line. Seemed like they went away from that in the 2nd half. Ind. got passes inside the key anytime they wanted unlike the 1st half. (First time I've heard reference to "the nail". Is that a real thing?)
 
Uhmmm were forgetting the most embarrassing part...Don't go down and act like you have a season ending injury, throw a pity party for yourself, and then come back in the game 2 minutes later.

That was embarrassing on his part. Get up if your not hurt, grab your nuts. Wants everyone to think he is some kind of hero
Banging knees in INCREDIBLY painful, and probably very scary with pro asperations.
 
Banging knees in INCREDIBLY painful, and probably very scary with pro asperations.
My issue was that he acted like he was shot, zero weight on his leg, and then he was dunking over Jesse literally 30 seconds later lol
 

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