My Take

[billsin01]

Won't bother saying this one is going to be short, but I mean for it to be short.

My wife and I were privileged to have court side seats last night (profound thanks cto). It was another terrific game at home and it was really nice to get a win in one of these close ones.

Here is one story and that some random comments...

I found myself liking Terquavion Smith of NC State a lot.

Early in the game, he was standing close to where my wife and I were sitting, just before a timeout was to be lifted.

I said to my wife, (I thought very quietly), "this guy is one of the best players in the league; he is among the top in scoring, steals and assists. Probably will play in the NBA."

No response from my wife (she is a casual basketball fan).

I told her "his name is Terquavion".

This raised her interest. "Terquavion? Wow. Really?"

I nodded my head yes, aware he was close by.

She then asked me "what is his last name?"

I whispered to her "Smith".

She broke out laughing and said "that is crazy". And I look up and Terquavion is looking at us and laughing too.

He spent a lot of timeouts looking around the dome and appeared to be trying to make eye contact with fans.

Late in the game, he had to force a shot from the baseline, a little behind the basket. It somehow bounced off the edge of the backboard and went it. I said "that was garbage" and a bunch of the people around me heard and started shouting at Terq "that was garbage!". He looked at us, shrugged his shoulders and laughed. Good dude.

Jesse had a terrific game defensively and rebounding but he missed an appalling number of easy shots near the basket. I think at this point, he has the equivalent of the yips that golfers get, except with short shots near the basket. If he was on, he could have scored 25 easily. Maybe 30.

Something was wrong with Judah's nose. He had something, maybe gauze, up one nostril during the pregame warmups and I was worried he was going to play with it. I think he took it out. Maybe he got a bloody nose in practice the day before and was trying to ensure it did not restart during the game?

I think the biggest problem Benny has in games is that he has virtually no attention span. At this point in the season, I think all the ACC schools know this and know they can sneak a player being him and he can flash to the basket and get a layup or a dunk unopposed because teams attack him like this all the time. And Benny continues to space out and let this happen over and over. He is a huge liability on defense and he can't be allowed to play meaningful minutes until he addresses this. It happened all the time last year and it keeps happening all the time this season. He must have some kind of attention disorder. Agree, he checked out and was not into the game at all once he was taken out. It is a shame because he could be a decent player if he cared enough to focus.

Maliq has a couple of blown bunnies each game too. I think he still gets surprised by the length and athletic abilities of players at this level. And maybe he is a little bit too much of a nice guy. I think he needs to get a little tougher and try and dunk it as hard as he can when he gets it down low. Had a rebound slip through his fingers too. He knows how to play the game so much better than the other forwards but he could and will be a lot better down the road.

I think Taylor and Bell are pretty similar players. Both are really good outside shooters who are not good rebounding. Justin seems more comfortable slashing to the hoop. Both can shoot off the dribble a bit already. I think Bell is a little better defensively; he is longer and maybe a bit quicker and is learning the rotations for the 2-3 better). But the fundamental difference between them is that Bell can get his jumper off a lot easier than Taylor can. Bell is so long and releases it so quickly he can get his shot off with someone in his face. Taylor, at this point anyway, rarely will shoot unless he is pretty much wide open. He has to find a way to contribute more offensively or his PT will be really limited down the stretch. Bell might be shooting too many contested shots at this point.

Great to see Judah growing into his needed role as a true PG for this team. Say what you want about him but he has always played really hard and has never been afraid to make a play. He wants to be The Man and by God, at this point, he is.

Keatts took Burns out when he got his fourth and I think he left him out until there were less than 3 minutes left in the game. He is so important to that team; he really is the centerpiece that makes their half court offense work. Thought it was awful coaching to leave him out so long. They really struggled to score when he was out and things opened up right away when he went back in. Until he fouled out. JB would never leave a key player out that long in a really close game. Maybe Keatts knew Burns could not be trusted...

My wife and I left our courtside seats at a TO with 24 seconds left to watch the rest of the game from the floor in front of the main entrance for the dome where vehicles can drive in. A cool security guard was nice enough to let us watch there. When NC State bricked their shot and the follow and the ball was knocked to the other side of the court, I grabbed my wife's hand and headed out. Just in time to make eye contact with Dino Babers. We both had looks of joy on our faces. He did not have a wife with a bad back and flew out in record time. But Dino is a hoops fan. No doubt about it.

The woman that did the NA was very good. She did it quickly, stayed with the traditional treatment and hit all the notes. Solid.

A guy made the shot from the bed on his first try. I think he was the first to hit the first shot all year. Well done. He was a little cocky celebrating afterwards but hey, this was his moment of glory, so good for him.

Gary Gait sat courtside in seat 1, the closest to midcourt. When he walked in front of us to his seat, I whispered to my wife, "there goes the greatest lacrosse player who ever lived". She was not impressed.

That is all I have. Really enjoy watching this team grow, watching the youngsters learn and improve (some of them) and seeing the team develop. I think we are capable of winning or losing every game left this year. It is going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Enjoy the post as always. My comments on your comments are these:

• I'm with you on Judah. I believe he has been everything we could have reasonably asked him to be. The disappointing end-of-game moments, the learning process as a point guard and the struggles shooting the ball from deep are all things that happen to most players at this level. You've got strengths and weaknesses and I shudder to think where we'd be without Judah doing his thing this season.
• It's funny I feel like I see Taylor a bit differently. Agree on the shooting/shooting off the dribble being similar. I actually think Taylor's a better rebounder than Bell and a pretty solid defender as well, whereas I feel like Bell has had trouble picking up the zone. Taylor moves his feet well, has quick hands and I feel like his rotations have been pretty solid. To me, the difference that is giving bell more minutes, is that he's a more confident offensive player. That backfires at times with poor shot selection, but JB seems to think the gamble is worth it. He can help us win games whereas Taylor doesn't hurt us but doesn't do a whole lot to add to the mix at this point. But, yeah, both are interesting prospects with some holes and will need to make some strides in the offseason.
• Agree on Jesse offensively. Hate to criticize because he's been really an excellent all-around player for us this season. But his low post moves/finishing can be painful to watch at times. The and-one finish he had was soooo good -- controlled, strong, going straight up and then he knocked down the free throw. But so often he's leaning to try and get space and/or off-balance. I can't help but think if he was a more consistent offensive presence down there, this team could be looking at an NCAA berth as a possibility. Maybe that's off, but I find myself being left a little disappointed with his offensive performance in many games.

That's it -- nice to get a solid W.

 

[sutomcat]

One last tidbit I forgot to include. Was not able to confirm this, but a solid source told me that the letter M was put in place last yesterday. Only J is left. Believe the logo for the west side of the facility should be fully in place by the end of this week.

Last night Big Red was down and stretched over Forestry Drive again.

Expecting to see some pictures posted shortly of the progress that has been made...

 

[upperdeck]

For all the games I complain about the refs, this isn't one. The refs made a number of questionable/bad calls but certainly not in favor of NCSt. The 4th on Burns was a classic non-foul that Jessie gets called for each game (and Jessie did get his towards the end of the game).

The disparity in FTs was because we drove to the basketball a lot and they didn't.

I was surprised that we didn't get called for multiple moving screens as Judah would consistently dribble behind Jessie while Jessie was moving - maybe I don't understand the rule enough.

the refs do a horrible job of controlling these picks every game.. they like to call vague moving ones.. yet they ignore the blind side pick all the time.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Love Jesse but I think he needs more strength training so he doesn’t get so easily knocked off balance and can power his moves up to the basket. A summer of intense work with weights, balance, improving his center of gravity to maintain position would do his game wonders. Bet he missed most of it being overseas this past summer. I did notice him using his body better to hold off Burns than we would have seen last year but certainly a need for improvement. Hope he comes back so he‘s a lottery pick in 2024, earning both early meaningful playing time and mega $ in the NBA. It’s amazing the development we’ve seen with Jesse since he arrived here. (Same with Judah, cheers to both the players and the staff for their hard work)

 

[hoopsupstate]

Jesse forced Burns to go right one time last night and he drew a charge. I don’t get letting him go to his left. I wish Bell would shoot off the dribble more. He stands in the corner looking for a three too much. He made two shots off the dribble last night. I wish JB would curl him into the land for some 15 footers. He’s really good in that range. Brown received a pass right in front of the rim late last night and didn’t even think about shooting it. He has to be more of a threat. I couldn’t figure out why they let Jesse go one on one late in the game and didn‘t double off Brown. Brown was at the foul line. He hasn’t taken a jumper the entire season. It was not smart defense for State.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Thanks. I thought that was you in 9 and 10.

 

[sutomcat]

Thanks. I thought that was you in 9 and 10.

Well, it was me in 9, my wife in 10 and maybe part of me in 10 too.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Jesse is an enigma lately. He makes a decision to make a move and then shoots it regardless of where he is (or where the basket is) leading to some wildly off or short shots. It's like he just isn't aware of exactly where he is. And most of the time, if he had just a little more patience before the release, he'd have a clean look (or get fouled). It's frustrating to watch, because he does everything but finish. This has been happening for a bunch of games in a row now. He'd be having an All-American type season if he could just convert at a decent clip on the close in shots.

His season average is 58.3%. This the SECOND HIGHEST shooting % in the ACC! Higher than Babcock for example.

 

[Newhouser]

Jesse and Maliq both looked like they had snacked on a monster sized tub of pop corn with extra butter in the first half. Catching the ball cleanly was an issue for both of them last night.

 

[NorSyr66]

I have the putting yips, as in the anxiety disorder (not just a shaky day on the greens); Jessie doesn't look like he has the yips. I think that, on many of his misses, he throws the ball in the vicinty of the hoop before he is actually looking at it. He just doesn't have the coordination/foot work to always be in optimal position when he shoots.

Several opportunities in this thread to add comments on Jesse's down and up day. It seems like in several of his games he ends up missing bunnies or as you put it "throwing the ball in the vicinity of the hoop". The one game that this did not happen was against BC when he was playing his buddy 7 footer from Netherlands. Seemed like every shot hit the target. Was it being comfortable with the opponent, upping his desire to score against his buddy or what? Regardless of his off and on games scoring down close, the one thing I like very much is his consistency to hit free throws. Jesse had a great game for us against NC ST, capped off by his three pointer!

 

[NorSyr66]

One thing I meant to comment on but forgot.

Casey Morsell has been the best volume 3 point shooter for NC State. He was shooting 45% from the 3 point circle coming into the game. But during the warmups, I noticed he had a device on his right hand. It was black and had a number of straps and looked like it was designed to protect a broken or seriously strained hand.

Even during warmups, he often would hold that right hand (primary hand used for shooting for a right hander) with his left, give it a gentle squeeze and grimace.

Didn't look like his shooting was going well either. I made a mental note to watch how he shot from the outside.

I think SU must have caught on because he was left relatively unguarded a lot more than I would think a top shooting threat would normally be guarded and he passed up a number of open looks. At some point, as the NC State offense broke down and struggled, he started to take more shots but he did not have a good day. Ended up 1-9, which played a big role in the Syracuse win.

I think we caught a huge break here. About time.

Great observation from being court side. Definitely adds to why he may have had a rough night.

 

[CardiacCuse]

His season average is 58.3%. This the SECOND HIGHEST shooting % in the ACC! Higher than Babcock for example.

yeah but what is it on non-dunks?

 

[AlaskaSU]

yeah but what is it on non-dunks?

Criticizing a 58% shooter is like criticizing King Midas for not hoarding enough gold. Only one other player in the entire ACC does a more efficient job of putting the ball in the hoop. What % would make everyone happy?

Sometimes he has an off night, but who doesn't? His improvement has been as fantastic as his current performance.

Jesse, Judah and Joe are carrying this team on their backs. If we had comparable fowards we would be competing for our second NC.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Criticizing a 58% shooter is like criticizing King Midas for not hoarding enough gold. Only one other player in the entire ACC does a more efficient job of putting the ball in the hoop. What % would make everyone happy?

Sometimes he has an off night, but who doesn't? His improvement has been as fantastic as his current performance.

Jesse, Judah and Joe are carrying this team on their backs. If we had comparable fowards we would be competing for our second NC.

it's not about passing judgment on Jesse, at least to me...or any of the players...

it's not about criticizing Jesse...as a player

It is hard to be critical of any player with 18 points 16 rebounds, generally...those numbers are incredible...BUT are they really incredible if the coach calls almost every single play all game long for that player to shoot??

...he did basically get the ball in the post every single half court set in the first half, per the call of the coach, and, again had zero made field goals in the first 20 minutes...none.

he was 4 of 13 from 2 for the game...again, not trying to be critical...of Jesse...but that...isn't great.

this game really shouldve been a convincing win for SU, imo.

The reason I bring this up is not to attack or voice displeasure generally

I bring it up to question the approach of the team...THE STRATEGY

i just think there needs to be more variety to the approach on offense and not telegraph everything and do the same play for 20 minutes straight when its not working very well...that's not jesses fault ...but it is jesse-related.

it just seems to me SU almost always loses the "decision-making battle" in a lot of these games the past seasons...which has nothing to do with how good or bad any player is...which is one of my biggest gripes...precisely because it has nothing to do with how talented or untalented any player is.

 

[AlaskaSU]

it's not about passing judgment on Jesse, at least to me...or any of the players...

it's not about criticizing Jesse...as a player

It is hard to be critical of any player with 18 points 16 rebounds, generally...those numbers are incredible...BUT are they really incredible if the coach calls almost every single play all game long for that player to shoot??

...he did basically get the ball in the post every single half court set in the first half, per the call of the coach, and, again had zero made field goals in the first 20 minutes...none.

he was 4 of 13 from 2 for the game...again, not trying to be critical...of Jesse...but that...isn't great.

this game really shouldve been a convincing win for SU, imo.

The reason I bring this up is not to attack or voice displeasure generally

I bring it up to question the approach of the team...THE STRATEGY

i just think there needs to be more variety to the approach on offense and not telegraph everything and do the same play for 20 minutes straight when its not working very well...that's not jesses fault ...but it is jesse-related.

it just seems to me SU almost always loses the "decision-making battle" in a lot of these games the past seasons...which has nothing to do with how good or bad any player is...which is one of my biggest gripes...precisely because it has nothing to do with how talented or untalented any player is.

I disagree. I prefer to play the odds. 58.3% is money more times than not. Jesse missed an unusual number of shots but he fouled out their big and he sank a ton of foul shots in so doing. I go with the Vince Lombardi philosophy; you run the same play until it no longer works. His teams were built to run the sweep and he ran it play after play. I think that Jesse is better than Flip and is only bested by Babcot. We have an advantage at center and we should use it. 25 net points average is fantastic.

 

[Oakland]

Several opportunities in this thread to add comments on Jesse's down and up day. It seems like in several of his games he ends up missing bunnies or as you put it "throwing the ball in the vicinity of the hoop". The one game that this did not happen was against BC when he was playing his buddy 7 footer from Netherlands. Seemed like every shot hit the target. Was it being comfortable with the opponent, upping his desire to score against his buddy or what? Regardless of his off and on games scoring down close, the one thing I like very much is his consistency to hit free throws. Jesse had a great game for us against NC ST, capped off by his three pointer!

Yes, is Jessie SU's best FT shooting center; I can't think of anyone else who would be close.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Yes, is Jessie SU's best FT shooting center; I can't think of anyone else who would be close.

Tyler Lydon who ended up playing more at center at SU than his natural forward position shot, 80.9% ft%.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

it's not about passing judgment on Jesse, at least to me...or any of the players...

it's not about criticizing Jesse...as a player

It is hard to be critical of any player with 18 points 16 rebounds, generally...those numbers are incredible...BUT are they really incredible if the coach calls almost every single play all game long for that player to shoot??

...he did basically get the ball in the post every single half court set in the first half, per the call of the coach, and, again had zero made field goals in the first 20 minutes...none.

he was 4 of 13 from 2 for the game...again, not trying to be critical...of Jesse...but that...isn't great.

this game really shouldve been a convincing win for SU, imo.

The reason I bring this up is not to attack or voice displeasure generally

I bring it up to question the approach of the team...THE STRATEGY

i just think there needs to be more variety to the approach on offense and not telegraph everything and do the same play for 20 minutes straight when its not working very well...that's not jesses fault ...but it is jesse-related.

it just seems to me SU almost always loses the "decision-making battle" in a lot of these games the past seasons...which has nothing to do with how good or bad any player is...which is one of my biggest gripes...precisely because it has nothing to do with how talented or untalented any player is.

Riding Jesse got their big guy out of the game. Plus, he stayed engaged on defense and rebounding.

 

[JustPherU]

Yes, is Jessie SU's best FT shooting center; I can't think of anyone else who would be close.

Danny Schayes

 

[CardiacCuse]

Riding Jesse got their big guy out of the game. Plus, he stayed engaged on defense and rebounding.

it worked in the end, by the slimmest of margins, which is most important but I think it has also cost the team in other games and almost did in this one.

at the beginning of the year...i said to run the offense through jesse when they couldnt even get him the ball...but it hasnt quite become the solution to the offense I thought it would be

i think the best offense is the one that gets a lot of assists and involves a lot of passing and open shots...13 assists for the game isnt much...because they werent really moving the ball well...get the ball to jesse then if that doesnt work jack up a desperation shot...is not good offense for my eyes.


do i want jesse getting a lot of shots and looks? of course...

but there are different ways to skin cat.

 

[BBQuse]

Criticizing a 58% shooter is like criticizing King Midas for not hoarding enough gold. Only one other player in the entire ACC does a more efficient job of putting the ball in the hoop. What % would make everyone happy?

Sometimes he has an off night, but who doesn't? His improvement has been as fantastic as his current performance.

Jesse, Judah and Joe are carrying this team on their backs. If we had comparable fowards we would be competing for our second NC.

I really like Jesse and agree he is a huge plus on our team and the best center we've had in ages, but the 58% thing doesn't negate the eye test. Yes, he makes a lot of easy shots. But just because his overall percentage is good/great, doesn't mean he isn't getting spooked and taking some really bad shots (or missing bunnies that he should make). It's leaving points on the floor -- regardless of whether he is a net positive (as he surely is). I do think a lot of this is based on just being bothered by physical defense. But so much would be solved by just eyeing the basket before releasing and passing back out if he doesn't have the shot he wants.

 

[MikeSU02]

it worked in the end, by the slimmest of margins, which is most important but I think it has also cost the team in other games and almost did in this one.

at the beginning of the year...i said to run the offense through jesse when they couldnt even get him the ball...but it hasnt quite become the solution to the offense I thought it would be

i think the best offense is the one that gets a lot of assists and involves a lot of passing and open shots...13 assists for the game isnt much...because they werent really moving the ball well...get the ball to jesse then if that doesnt work jack up a desperation shot...is not good offense for my eyes.


do i want jesse getting a lot of shots and looks? of course...

but there are different ways to skin cat.

I wish the offense was more spread pick and roll with Judah and Jesse, but I don't 1) think Judah could have run it at the start of the season, 2) it seems like Jesse is actually more comfortable on the block (even tho I can't imagine his shot at getting to the NBA is that route) and 3) I'm not sure that JB wants to include it like it was run with CP3 and DJ or Harden (or CP3) and Capela.

In a perfect world, I'd love to replicate the 2014 Spurs, but that is like asking for a unicorn.

I just think we get a little complacent when Jesse gets the ball down low. It's tough to complain - his PER, his efficiency stats, etc... all are off the charts. They are ridiculously good. So it's a gamble to pivot. I get why we keep running it through him down there quite a bit.

We'd need him to be as or close to as efficient but more shots at the rim when he's bombing down the lane, but also have the expectation that would open up shots for JGIII (especially), floaters for Judah and looks for Bell with Maliq in the dunker spot getting his clean up or hand off buckets.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I really like Jesse and agree he is a huge plus on our team and the best center we've had in ages, but the 58% thing doesn't negate the eye test. Yes, he makes a lot of easy shots. But just because his overall percentage is good/great, doesn't mean he isn't getting spooked and taking some really bad shots (or missing bunnies that he should make). It's leaving points on the floor -- regardless of whether he is a net positive (as he surely is). I do think a lot of this is based on just being bothered by physical defense. But so much would be solved by just eyeing the basket before releasing and passing back out if he doesn't have the shot he wants.

The 58% thing does negate the eye test.

 

[NorSyr66]

it's not about passing judgment on Jesse, at least to me...or any of the players...

it's not about criticizing Jesse...as a player

It is hard to be critical of any player with 18 points 16 rebounds, generally...those numbers are incredible...BUT are they really incredible if the coach calls almost every single play all game long for that player to shoot??

...he did basically get the ball in the post every single half court set in the first half, per the call of the coach, and, again had zero made field goals in the first 20 minutes...none.

he was 4 of 13 from 2 for the game...again, not trying to be critical...of Jesse...but that...isn't great.

this game really shouldve been a convincing win for SU, imo.

The reason I bring this up is not to attack or voice displeasure generally

I bring it up to question the approach of the team...THE STRATEGY

i just think there needs to be more variety to the approach on offense and not telegraph everything and do the same play for 20 minutes straight when its not working very well...that's not jesses fault ...but it is jesse-related.

it just seems to me SU almost always loses the "decision-making battle" in a lot of these games the past seasons...which has nothing to do with how good or bad any player is...which is one of my biggest gripes...precisely because it has nothing to do with how talented or untalented any player is.

I hear what you are saying but not sure I agree it was a bad strategy. My view is the NC ST team is keyed around their big man and the best way to stop them is cut the head off from the snake. Keep pounding the ball down low and let him try to stop Jesse. I admit Burns may have been a factor making Jesse uncomfortable with his shot selection in the first half but the fouls on Burns did add up to five, fourth early in the 2nd half to put him on the bench. To me this was a critical factor in winning the game.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I hear what you are saying but not sure I agree it was a bad strategy. My view is the NC ST team is keyed around their big man and the best way to stop them is cut the head off from the snake. Keep pounding the ball down low and let him try to stop Jesse. I admit Burns may have been a factor making Jesse uncomfortable with his shot selection in the first half but the fouls on Burns did add up to five, fourth early in the 2nd half to put him on the bench. To me this was a critical factor in winning the game.

I never said that it was a bad strategy.