My Take

[OttoMets]

Huh? Fab is shooting 57% on the year, isnt he?

Last 4 games: 5-6, 5-8, 4-7, 4-7 (yesterday was 2-5), so I am not even sure I understand the "we are going away from him comment". numbers are pretty consistent all year.

Oy. Yep, .572. That's what I get for not doing my own research (saw the 48% on ESPN while he was shooting free throws yesterday, but that must have been incorrect or in reference to something else).

His field-goal attempts have been pretty even (a little low yesterday), but it has seemed to me like his touches are down in the past two games. Guess that's not long enough to constitute a trend, though.

 

[AZOrange]

He gets the bobbles sometimes, but I think he is one of the best finishing bigs we have had in a very long time. His reverse against GTown (?) was one of the better moves I have seen a big make.

 

[Dcuse]

I was at the game today. While Scoop had a pretty good performance, there is no way we sniff a W without CJ playing to the level he did.

With under 3 mins to go in the game, RU had the ball down 4 and that tool Mike Rice is squatting down on the court with at least 1 foot on "The Rac" sign in front of his bench! That has got to be a good 6 ft on the court!!!! I was screaming for him to be T'd up but I knew that was a waste of time

The student section tried to get under Fabs skin while he was shooting FTs by shouting "You Are Ugly" at him. I guess it didnt work so well.

Pretty good turnout by the Orange faithful who were very loud. Although the 300 sections were loaded with orange, I would generously estimate we had 30% total. Not as good as some prior outings.

"I was at the game today. While Scoop had a pretty good performance"

You need to get better seats. Half of CJ's points were directly BECAUSE of Scoop. CJ is fabulous but if you are calling that a "pretty good" performance(sans the free throws) you are a Scoop basher.

 

['72 Orange]

"I was at the game today. While Scoop had a pretty good performance"

You need to get better seats. Half of CJ's points were directly BECAUSE of Scoop. CJ is fabulous but if you are calling that a "pretty good" performance(sans the free throws) you are a Scoop basher.

You need to get a pair of glasses. No where in my post did I bash Scoop. If you think Scoop was the better player and was the reason we won, you are entitled to your opinion. But don't make the mistake of twisting my words to make it appear I was denigrating Scoops performance. They both played well and Scoop made some great Oop passes for easy buckets, but CJ once again has been in the right place more times than not and has become more assertive on the glass. We probably dont win if either had a bad day, but my opinion is that CJ had another great overall game.

 

[bpo57]

Your warnings regarding the basketball program are not warranted. We have arguably the most famous and iconic basketball facility in the country, at the least the largest and we have the best basketball practice facility in the country as well. The RAC, as you admit, is a dump. RU did invest an incredible amount of money trying to get relevant in football in what turned out to be the biggest waste of money in the history of college athletics. They will not repeat that mistake with basketball. They can't afford to.

I don't see why you would think Rice is a good X and O guy. His insistence on playing man was a foolish mistake that got his team in deep foul trouble and played into JB's hands. Any good coach knows the best way to play this Syracuse team is to zone them. I wasn't particularly impressed by his 'great' recruiting class either. Bunch of decent players. When he starts getting AA level players, I will be impressed. Has that happened yet? Frankly, I don't care. Rutgers is irrelevant.

I think your comments about Rice are pretty harsh. How much do you know about him that you think he can't x and o? The guy went 73-31 at Robert Morris in three seasons with two NCAA appearances. He probably didn't go zone because they don't play a lot of zone. Does JB switch to man on nights when the zone is getting shredded? Also, wasn't like SU had an offensive explosion yesterday. No doubt in my mind that the guy can coach. My concern for him is that he won't live very long with his intensity. I sat behind the RU bench at last year's BET when they played SJU. The guy must burn 3000 calories during a game. Hyper is an understatement.

 

[Chip]

I was at the game today. While Scoop had a pretty good performance, there is no way we sniff a W without CJ playing to the level he did.

With under 3 mins to go in the game, RU had the ball down 4 and that tool Mike Rice is squatting down on the court with at least 1 foot on "The Rac" sign in front of his bench! That has got to be a good 6 ft on the court!!!! I was screaming for him to be T'd up but I knew that was a waste of time

The student section tried to get under Fabs skin while he was shooting FTs by shouting "You Are Ugly" at him. I guess it didnt work so well.

Pretty good turnout by the Orange faithful who were very loud. Although the 300 sections were loaded with orange, I would generously estimate we had 30% total. Not as good as some prior outings.

Rice was so far on the court all game, the ref started counting 3 seconds on him at one point.

 

[sutomcat]

He gets the bobbles sometimes, but I think he is one of the best finishing bigs we have had in a very long time. His reverse against GTown (?) was one of the better moves I have seen a big make.

You have to look big picture. How well is position established? How ideal is position established? How well does he catch the ball? How well does he execute once he gets the ball (how often does he travel, commit charges, lose the ball on his own or miss the shot, etc.). Melo does a pretty good job is most of these areas. I wouldn't say he is really good at any of them yet (though he is much improved from last season). I think he needs the most work at establishing position and establishing good position in an area from which he can score consistently. He might get the ball down low from a pass once a twice a game. Not nearly enough for a guy with his athletic ability. No way IMHO you can consider him a solid low post presence on offense right now (on defense, things are different).

Part of it is that the offense is not focused at getting the ball to him. But even when we were trying to do this, it was hard going. And as others have pointed out, he misses a lot of easy shots right now, has footwork issues and to this point, I see no real go to move from him.

Yes, he has shown the ability to do some really impressive moves around the basket. I agree that move against the Hoyas was great. How many times have we seen that move or a move like it from him? 3 of 4 times all season? His body of work is that of a raw talent that still needs a lot of development. Don't get me wrong, I like him a lot. But right now, who would you rather have with the ball near the basket? CJ or Melo?

If you have been watching the games, the ability of each to finish successfully close to the basket should answer that question.