sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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This has to be short and this time it will be (kind of).
My wife and I sat in courtside seats for the game last night. Thank you cto and Cheriehoop!
It is always a treat to sit courtside. Quick discussion on the exclusive Kuhn whatever it is called area where you can eat and drink to your hearts content before the start of the first and second halves of the game. This is a fairly large area under the stands where the students sit for football and basketball. They put in blue carpet. They added a bunch of chairs to sit on. They added bathrooms right next door, and they are clean, new and quite nice. They have some TVs there too and were showing some random soccer game. I think it was an MSL game,
One suggestion: when the SU soccer team is playing an ACC tournament game on TV, it would be a good idea to show that instead of a random game no one cares about.
My wife thinks they should add more tables (all cocktail) and ditch the chairs because it would give more people more opportunity to have a place to put your food and drink while eating. It is more important now because I believe SU has opened up this area to more people than the ones sitting courtside. Might be anyone that donates above a certain level now gets in. I know this: there were 3 times the number of people in the room that there have been in past years. It was a little cozy.
Mw wife says the chairs are nice but you don't have a place to put your stuff and balancing it on your lap is a questionable strategy. She also wanted them to add tables to the sloped area that leads to big entrance to the field the football team runs out of. Kind of hard when there is a slope involved. Maybe the powers that be will level that off someday, but it will make watching the football team take the field a bit tougher (they removed the concrete wall and replaced it with plexiglass so you can see now), Rich people problems. I feel for them.
Anyway, they had chicken tenders, pizza, salad, cold cuts, rolls, delicious looking brownies (my wife confirmed they WERE delicious) and lots of beverage choices, mostly help yourself. The food was good. Nice job someone. They had some pictures of the new seating but so far no samples of the actual seats. I think they are planning to get those in place soon here and at other spots in the dome and even on the quad so people can check out what JMA Dome II is going to be all about next year.
Let's talk about the game.
Red seems very relaxed and chill looking over his shoulder from 300 feet above and 100 feet to the left. But from courtside, you can see he NOT chill. He was shouting out instructions and calling out things pretty much anytime the ball was in play. More so than JAB. When someone did something bad however, there was no scowling and rarely a quick hook. Didn't show much expression even after a bad call or a boneheaded play. Likelyhood of a heart attack or a jacket-ripoff-tantrum appears to be low.
The players didn't say much. That chatter the center usually makes calling out directions to the rest of the team is no more. Didn't hear much trash talk either. The Canisius players were also pretty quiet. Except for that unfortunate forward who landed awkwardly on his knee in front of us. He was in intense pain and we felt for him listening to his anguished cries writhing on the floor. I told my wife it looked like he blew his knee out but he was able to put some weight on it and maybe it is just a bad sprain. I hope so. Best wishes to him.
44 was their best player. Listed at 6'0, probably a bit shorter. From Sandusky Ohio (I believe). Really bad haircut. Wearing 44 as a PG. Didn't look the part. But that kid can play. Very good ball handler, nice passer, could penetrate and finish well and even looked to be a solid outside shooter. If McLeod wasn't around, he would have done a lot more damage getting in the paint but Naheem showed him it was not smart to challenge a 7'4 guy a couple of times.
The other guy who really gave us problems was #23. Believe he was listed at 6'8, 240. Think he was from the Toronto area. Probably more like 260. I bet he likes doughnuts. That said, he was surprisingly agile, very physical and was able to body his way into scoring position down low a lot. We gotta get tougher holding our position down low. Maliq and Haheem, I am talking to you.
Our man was not a disaster. At times, it was good. The first 10 minutes or so, again, was really good. Same as all the earlier games. But we lose intensity and focus and start leaving guys open. Most problematic is our willingness to let smaller players dribble all the way to the basket and get a layup without really contesting things. Just about everyone lets their guy back him down and get a gimme shot down low. At times. We gotta get tougher. As the level of competition increases, I fear this is going to be a huge issue.
JJ and Judah have established they can get into the paint and get a good shot pretty much any time they want. Surprised that JJ is actually finishing a little better right now. He is a little taller, a little stronger and maybe a little tougher and does less of the falling backwards stuff Judah sometimes does. Judah could learn from him. Both are going to draw a ton of fouls. They are going to be a problem for most anyone we play.
Surprised Canisius didn't zone up and give that a shot much. It might have been a good strategy, especially after they got in foul trouble. I am sure we will see it in future games.
The bench shortened some with this game. We never really got to the point where we were blowing them out. Judah, JJ and Justin, the J boys all played a lot of minutes. I suspect this is what we will see in conference play.
Pete didn't play at all (that I remember). I think Red was concerned Doughnuts Mackenzie would easily muscle him inside for baskets. Not a great matchup for him right now.
Bell bounced back from a weak performance with a much better one. Yes, he hit some outside shots but his defense was better, and he drove to the hoop some, was willing and able to make some pullup jumpers and while he wasn't Rodmanesque rebounding, he was adequate there. Loved that follow dunk!
A bunch of the young players have been inconsistent so far, which is expected. One guy though who has been consistent, and consistently good, is Justin Taylor. He is getting the rebounds he has to get. He is playing okay defensively. Not great but not awful. On offense, he is consistently making contributions and in a variety of ways. I think he is our most reliable outside shooter but at times he has been able to drive to the hoop and finish (got a dunk doing that last night) and he is very good when he gets the ball in the paint. His mid range jumper looks solid. Everything about him seems pretty solid right now. We really needed someone to step up as another reliable option and he has done it. So props to him.
Maliq got abused defensively by Doughnuts (even Naheem did to some extent) but was otherwise good. I like his basketball IQ. Looks comfortable and solid playing the high post. I think he is going to get a lot of assists from there. He just does a lot of things well. Suspect he was not 100% last night but he gave us some quality minutes and I think we can count on him to contribute.
People are going to say McLeod deserved to play more and I don't want to take anything away from Naheem. He played very well and probably deserved more time. It isn't his fault but when we have him in the low post, it kind of screws up our offense a bit. There is less room for our cutters to cut and we get somewhat stagnant. Maybe Neheem can pop out to the high post occasionally. Not sure how good of a passer he is from there. Suspect his shooting range is 3 or 4 feet but maybe he has more game there than I think.
Haheem did a lot of good things in the time he played. I wish when he gets an offensive rebound under the basket, he would just attack the basket and try to dunk as hard as he can. I think that is what Griff stressed with Jesse and it helped make him a better player. Right now, he is too unselfish when he gets the ball in prime position down low. Also hope he is able to improve his FT shooting. But his impact on games defensively is undeniable. At one time, I think he got 2 blocks in the span of one possession and just missed a third. Might have nicked it but it went in so no credit for it.
Cuffe had some good moments but was relatively quiet. Copeland got quite a bit of playing time and I thought was fine. He wasn't as aggressive trying to make plays but when he had an opening, he took it. Thought he was fine.
I think Canisius is pretty good. They might have finished 10-20 last year but they are picked to finish 3rd in their conference this season and I think they have a good shot to do that. Especially if the guy who got hurt does not have a serious injury.
Not many people at the game. Most seemed to be of average height bro. Hope more people come. This team is fun to watch and deserves a lot of support as they learn a new system and develop.
My wife and I sat in courtside seats for the game last night. Thank you cto and Cheriehoop!
It is always a treat to sit courtside. Quick discussion on the exclusive Kuhn whatever it is called area where you can eat and drink to your hearts content before the start of the first and second halves of the game. This is a fairly large area under the stands where the students sit for football and basketball. They put in blue carpet. They added a bunch of chairs to sit on. They added bathrooms right next door, and they are clean, new and quite nice. They have some TVs there too and were showing some random soccer game. I think it was an MSL game,
One suggestion: when the SU soccer team is playing an ACC tournament game on TV, it would be a good idea to show that instead of a random game no one cares about.
My wife thinks they should add more tables (all cocktail) and ditch the chairs because it would give more people more opportunity to have a place to put your food and drink while eating. It is more important now because I believe SU has opened up this area to more people than the ones sitting courtside. Might be anyone that donates above a certain level now gets in. I know this: there were 3 times the number of people in the room that there have been in past years. It was a little cozy.
Mw wife says the chairs are nice but you don't have a place to put your stuff and balancing it on your lap is a questionable strategy. She also wanted them to add tables to the sloped area that leads to big entrance to the field the football team runs out of. Kind of hard when there is a slope involved. Maybe the powers that be will level that off someday, but it will make watching the football team take the field a bit tougher (they removed the concrete wall and replaced it with plexiglass so you can see now), Rich people problems. I feel for them.
Anyway, they had chicken tenders, pizza, salad, cold cuts, rolls, delicious looking brownies (my wife confirmed they WERE delicious) and lots of beverage choices, mostly help yourself. The food was good. Nice job someone. They had some pictures of the new seating but so far no samples of the actual seats. I think they are planning to get those in place soon here and at other spots in the dome and even on the quad so people can check out what JMA Dome II is going to be all about next year.
Let's talk about the game.
Red seems very relaxed and chill looking over his shoulder from 300 feet above and 100 feet to the left. But from courtside, you can see he NOT chill. He was shouting out instructions and calling out things pretty much anytime the ball was in play. More so than JAB. When someone did something bad however, there was no scowling and rarely a quick hook. Didn't show much expression even after a bad call or a boneheaded play. Likelyhood of a heart attack or a jacket-ripoff-tantrum appears to be low.
The players didn't say much. That chatter the center usually makes calling out directions to the rest of the team is no more. Didn't hear much trash talk either. The Canisius players were also pretty quiet. Except for that unfortunate forward who landed awkwardly on his knee in front of us. He was in intense pain and we felt for him listening to his anguished cries writhing on the floor. I told my wife it looked like he blew his knee out but he was able to put some weight on it and maybe it is just a bad sprain. I hope so. Best wishes to him.
44 was their best player. Listed at 6'0, probably a bit shorter. From Sandusky Ohio (I believe). Really bad haircut. Wearing 44 as a PG. Didn't look the part. But that kid can play. Very good ball handler, nice passer, could penetrate and finish well and even looked to be a solid outside shooter. If McLeod wasn't around, he would have done a lot more damage getting in the paint but Naheem showed him it was not smart to challenge a 7'4 guy a couple of times.
The other guy who really gave us problems was #23. Believe he was listed at 6'8, 240. Think he was from the Toronto area. Probably more like 260. I bet he likes doughnuts. That said, he was surprisingly agile, very physical and was able to body his way into scoring position down low a lot. We gotta get tougher holding our position down low. Maliq and Haheem, I am talking to you.
Our man was not a disaster. At times, it was good. The first 10 minutes or so, again, was really good. Same as all the earlier games. But we lose intensity and focus and start leaving guys open. Most problematic is our willingness to let smaller players dribble all the way to the basket and get a layup without really contesting things. Just about everyone lets their guy back him down and get a gimme shot down low. At times. We gotta get tougher. As the level of competition increases, I fear this is going to be a huge issue.
JJ and Judah have established they can get into the paint and get a good shot pretty much any time they want. Surprised that JJ is actually finishing a little better right now. He is a little taller, a little stronger and maybe a little tougher and does less of the falling backwards stuff Judah sometimes does. Judah could learn from him. Both are going to draw a ton of fouls. They are going to be a problem for most anyone we play.
Surprised Canisius didn't zone up and give that a shot much. It might have been a good strategy, especially after they got in foul trouble. I am sure we will see it in future games.
The bench shortened some with this game. We never really got to the point where we were blowing them out. Judah, JJ and Justin, the J boys all played a lot of minutes. I suspect this is what we will see in conference play.
Pete didn't play at all (that I remember). I think Red was concerned Doughnuts Mackenzie would easily muscle him inside for baskets. Not a great matchup for him right now.
Bell bounced back from a weak performance with a much better one. Yes, he hit some outside shots but his defense was better, and he drove to the hoop some, was willing and able to make some pullup jumpers and while he wasn't Rodmanesque rebounding, he was adequate there. Loved that follow dunk!
A bunch of the young players have been inconsistent so far, which is expected. One guy though who has been consistent, and consistently good, is Justin Taylor. He is getting the rebounds he has to get. He is playing okay defensively. Not great but not awful. On offense, he is consistently making contributions and in a variety of ways. I think he is our most reliable outside shooter but at times he has been able to drive to the hoop and finish (got a dunk doing that last night) and he is very good when he gets the ball in the paint. His mid range jumper looks solid. Everything about him seems pretty solid right now. We really needed someone to step up as another reliable option and he has done it. So props to him.
Maliq got abused defensively by Doughnuts (even Naheem did to some extent) but was otherwise good. I like his basketball IQ. Looks comfortable and solid playing the high post. I think he is going to get a lot of assists from there. He just does a lot of things well. Suspect he was not 100% last night but he gave us some quality minutes and I think we can count on him to contribute.
People are going to say McLeod deserved to play more and I don't want to take anything away from Naheem. He played very well and probably deserved more time. It isn't his fault but when we have him in the low post, it kind of screws up our offense a bit. There is less room for our cutters to cut and we get somewhat stagnant. Maybe Neheem can pop out to the high post occasionally. Not sure how good of a passer he is from there. Suspect his shooting range is 3 or 4 feet but maybe he has more game there than I think.
Haheem did a lot of good things in the time he played. I wish when he gets an offensive rebound under the basket, he would just attack the basket and try to dunk as hard as he can. I think that is what Griff stressed with Jesse and it helped make him a better player. Right now, he is too unselfish when he gets the ball in prime position down low. Also hope he is able to improve his FT shooting. But his impact on games defensively is undeniable. At one time, I think he got 2 blocks in the span of one possession and just missed a third. Might have nicked it but it went in so no credit for it.
Cuffe had some good moments but was relatively quiet. Copeland got quite a bit of playing time and I thought was fine. He wasn't as aggressive trying to make plays but when he had an opening, he took it. Thought he was fine.
I think Canisius is pretty good. They might have finished 10-20 last year but they are picked to finish 3rd in their conference this season and I think they have a good shot to do that. Especially if the guy who got hurt does not have a serious injury.
Not many people at the game. Most seemed to be of average height bro. Hope more people come. This team is fun to watch and deserves a lot of support as they learn a new system and develop.
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