Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="sutomcat, post: 4074740, member: 27"] 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. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?