My Take

[sutomcat]

Okay most of the first half was really ugly. We looked like crisp on offense and our defense wasn’t great. We gave up too many offensive rebounds to the hustling Pace players and just looked lackadaisical.

George did not look like a seasoned veteran point guard.

It was not enjoyable to watch.

But there was adjustments made at halftime. Looked like we emphasized getting in the paint and specifically to Donnie and William Kyle.

Sadiq seemed to lead the comeback, setting the tone with a bunch of aggressive defensive plays. He got a few blocks and was aggressive on offence as well. It was kind of shocking to see him play such a big role in the game. His athletic ability is really impressive. If he couldn’t play tonight, I am not sure we win this game.

It should be noted that Kiyan made a bunch of nice plays to get the offense rolling when he played in the first half. He is clearly very confident and he made some veteran players on Pace look bad on defense. He struggled some in the second half but I thought overall he was impressive.

You have to be concerned when Pace outrebounds us. I am relieved though that the staff appeared to figure out what was wrong and get it mostly addressed. It was really surprising to see Souare and Zephir play extended minutes down the stretch of the game. They played good defense and I think we decided were going to win the game playing defense.

Was Fennell hurt? Even Womack played 3 minutes. That wasn’t something I expected.

Great to see Freeman demanding the ball (and getting it). He is our best player and needs to start acting like it. He scored using a variety of different moves, and I thought he looked polished and smooth.

Thought Pace was well coached and presented some problems for us. Will be interested to hear any comments their HC makes post game….

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Was Fennell hurt? Even Womack played 3 minutes. That wasn’t something I expected.

Syracuse gets one freshman back, but another will miss game vs. Pace with injury

Syracuse freshman Luke Fennell will miss the Orange's exhibition against Pace on Wednesdday.

www.syracuse.com

 

[Bill Orange]

Sean Dorcellus reported that Fennell has a hip flexor aka lower body injury. He might get his hand slapped for revealing that specific info.

 

[721Comstock]

Fennell has a hip flexor aka lower body injury, so DNP.

We all have a hip flexor.
Several, in fact.
Be hard to walk & run without them.
Probably fall over a lot.

Luke’s happens to be injured at the moment.

I always LOL at the construct of “player X has a < body part >”
as the description of an injury.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

We all have a hip flexor.
Several, in fact.
Be hard to walk & run without them.
Probably fall over a lot.

Luke’s happens to be injured at the moment.

I always LOL at the construct of “player X has a < body part >”
as the description of an injury.

Like George Carlin used to say...

"Johnny Bench has two balls on him"

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Okay most of the first half was really ugly. We looked like crisp on offense and our defense wasn’t great. We gave up too many offensive rebounds to the hustling Pace players and just looked lackadaisical.

George did not look like a seasoned veteran point guard.

It was not enjoyable to watch.

But there was adjustments made at halftime. Looked like we emphasized getting in the paint and specifically to Donnie and William Kyle.

Sadiq seemed to lead the comeback, setting the tone with a bunch of aggressive defensive plays. He got a few blocks and was aggressive on offence as well. It was kind of shocking to see him play such a big role in the game. His athletic ability is really impressive. If he couldn’t play tonight, I am not sure we win this game.

It should be noted that Kiyan made a bunch of nice plays to get the offense rolling when he played in the first half. He is clearly very confident and he made some veteran players on Pace look bad on defense. He struggled some in the second half but I thought overall he was impressive.

You have to be concerned when Pace outrebounds us. I am relieved though that the staff appeared to figure out what was wrong and get it mostly addressed. It was really surprising to see Souare and Zephir play extended minutes down the stretch of the game. They played good defense and I think we decided were going to win the game playing defense.

Was Fennell hurt? Even Womack played 3 minutes. That wasn’t something I expected.

Great to see Freeman demanding the ball (and getting it). He is our best player and needs to start acting like it. He scored using a variety of different moves, and I thought he looked polished and smooth.

Thought Pace was well coached and presented some problems for us. Will be interested to hear any comments their HC makes post game….

I would love to see Freeman set up at the foul line and have the offense run thru him. Kyle III and White seemed to be active enough down low that Freeman can get them the ball for an easy bucket.

I know this was a D2 team, but our front court looked a lot better than our backcourt.

 

[bballbeadle]

I told everyone in our section that they were going to love White, and boy, did they! Red is going to have to start him, methinks.

I was shocked by what happened in the first half and for the life of me couldn’t understand it. Just a lack of energy? Really? They looked like they didn’t know how to play.

Our fun three guys were back behind us. I just love them. One of them cracked that the new taco score may need to be 45. Interesting sidebar: one of them is running for office. He was urging us to vote for him last year. Just a few days ago I discovered to my shock that he was on the opposite team. How could such a hilarious guy be on the opposite team? It blew my mind. I was worried about how to respond if it came up but turns out that when it did I could be positive and neutral. Wished him luck.

I thought Kiyan did well. Was Melo sitting at the scorer’s table? One of the guys figured out he was watching an NBA game while watching our team. We thought that was pretty funny. Why does he not sit with the other parents? Someone suggested it was a security issue.

I thought George did a good job with the Buffalo team but certainly didn’t look very good tonight. He hardly took a shot and had no points until late in the game. I thought he was a good 3 point shooter? So far, we do not seem to have anyone we can count on to shoot the three. Hopefully, that changes.

I really need this team to do well. My mental health has been a bit shaky lately. Don’t worry: I’m on drugs. But the drug I need the most is for the Syracuse basketball team to be BACK.

 

[sabach]

I told everyone in our section that they were going to love White, and boy, did they! Red is going to have to start him, methinks.

I was shocked by what happened in the first half and for the life of me couldn’t understand it. Just a lack of energy? Really? They looked like they didn’t know how to play.

Our fun three guys were back behind us. I just love them. One of them cracked that the new taco score may need to be 45. Interesting sidebar: one of them is running for office. He was urging us to vote for him last year. Just a few days ago I discovered to my shock that he was on the opposite team. How could such a hilarious guy be on the opposite team? It blew my mind. I was worried about how to respond if it came up but turns out that when it did I could be positive and neutral. Wished him luck.

I thought Kiyan did well. Was Melo sitting at the scorer’s table? One of the guys figured out he was watching an NBA game while watching our team. We thought that was pretty funny. Why does he not sit with the other parents? Someone suggested it was a security issue.

I thought George did a good job with the Buffalo team but certainly didn’t look very good tonight. He hardly took a shot and had no points until late in the game. I thought he was a good 3 point shooter? So far, we do not seem to have anyone we can count on to shoot the three. Hopefully, that changes.

I really need this team to do well. My mental health has been a bit shaky lately. Don’t worry: I’m on drugs. But the drug I need the most is for the Syracuse basketball team to be BACK.

I think it is a security issue. Even when Kiyan played AAU, no one could get anywhere near Melo when he was at the tournaments I was at.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Thanks, Tom. I agree with your analysis.

 

[Madbiker]

This team needs to play through Donnie and White. I hope it doesn't take half the season and a lot of losses for Red to figure that out.

 

[Nicknack]

I told everyone in our section that they were going to love White, and boy, did they! Red is going to have to start him, methinks.

That is exactly what I was thinking while watching. He's the kind of player who even when he's not scoring, he's doing so many other things to impact the game positively. Reminds me in a way of Brown in that regard. Just a winning player - love me some Sadiq.

 

[Ottoman]

Yep, Sadiq sure looked like a starter to me. George did not... Please god, this can't be another "if we only had a good point guard" year. We must end the curse of Kadary!

 

[tipphill]

appreciated the first hand analysis . it appears that the team was not prepared to play and lackluster. its disconcerting that there is a lack of excitement and aggressiveness by the players. what was described sounds to be wash and repeat of lack of preparation as last year. adjustments were made at halftime which is good however, the apparent lackluster performance is disconcerting.
why is this the case? why does a team lack interest ? this is serious apathy.
hope this is addressed quickly. sounds as if some players were vey good while many were not

 

[richmondcuse03]

Yep, Sadiq sure looked like a starter to me. George did not... Please god, this can't be another "if we only had a good point guard" year. We must end the curse of Kadary!

I suspect that’s the worst George plays all year. He’s a top tier acc pg and has already shown it. zero worries about him.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think Sadiq is better than advertised, but that's exactly the type of team he should out athlete. It'll get more difficult for him in other games.

 

[RedtheGOB]

I suspect that’s the worst George plays all year. He’s a top tier acc pg and has already shown it. zero worries about him.

This is where I'm at too with George. Not worried about his shooting or his talent. More worried he let the rest of the team just play half asleep when he was out there. Wanted a floor general and didn't see that last night.

 

[AZOrange]

I think Sadiq is better than advertised, but that's exactly the type of team he should out athlete. It'll get more difficult for him in other games.

I said it this summer but Sadiq will be the best all around player we have and I’m a little surprised it was so quick. Def animal

 

[bballbeadle]

Yep, Sadiq sure looked like a starter to me. George did not... Please god, this can't be another "if we only had a good point guard" year. We must end the curse of Kadary!

George did very well at Ga Tech. He looks afraid to shoot to me. WHAT is it?

 

[bballbeadle]

I said it this summer but Sadiq will be the best all around player we have and I’m a little surprised it was so quick. Def animal

I hope Red doesn’t do a Boeheim and continue to start the guys he thinks “should” start even though the obvious is staring him in the face.

 

[CbusCuse]

I would definitely like to see a fair amount of minutes for Sadiq, but for Sadiq to start or get a lot of minutes his best position would be as a forward, and he is ultimately more like a PF offensively as I don't think he is going to be a shooter, despite what we saw yesterday. I don't think he can play many minutes at the 5 against good P4 teams at 195 lbs. I think he'll definitely struggle on the defensive end at the 5 as he is not strong enough. So he has to play mostly forward. Similarly with Freeman.

So when Sadiq is in at a forward spot, we are playing mostly Kyle and a little Souare at Center. Then Freeman and White are forwards. PG is Nate with maybe some back-up minutes from Starling or Fennell. And then SG is a combination of Starling and Kingz and Anthony. Just not much shooting on the floor if Starling is out there when Sadiq is also a forward. Especially after watching Starlings hitch in his FT's right now. That has me nervous for his shooting this season. I feel like you need a better shooter on the floor at SG which likely means Kingz or Anthony. So Starling would need to play more at SG when you have either Freeman or Sadiq at Center as we would likely also have either Kingz, Betsey or Anthony as a shooter at the SF spot in that scenario.

I guess we can probably play a limited amount of small ball where you can split some center minutes between Sadiq and Freeman trying to avoid getting either in serious foul trouble. Maybe up to 8 minutes a piece there at the 5. But I still don't know if that is going to stop the opposing Centers. Probably works better against Centers that are not offensively skilled or don't shoot fouls well as I think we'll have to foul more.

In this scenario, center minutes are probably about 18 from Kyle, 8 for Freeman. 8 for Sadiq and then 6 from Souare.

 

[mark79]

I’m a big fan of Kiyan, and he did very well against Pace offensively, especially for a freshman. I definitely see a lot of his old man in his game, and that bodes very well for him and us.

One area I’d like to see improvement in is his defense. There were several “blow-by’s” that led to pretty easy layups. His pops saw it first hand as did Red, so I’m sure it will be a prime item for discussion.

As freshman performances go though, I was impressed. Also with Sadiq. He’s got “it”.

 

[OmahaCuse]

I hope Red doesn’t do a Boeheim and continue to start the guys he thinks “should” start even though the obvious is staring him in the face.

Starling as prime example. When he gets beat on defense sub him out.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Starling as prime example. When he gets beat on defense sub him out.

You noticed last night Red pulled the entire starting five five minutes into the game.

 

[Newhouser]

We have a lot of guys who seem to play as if they have accomplished something, and can coast. None have, and they can't.

 

[DoctorBombay]

We all have a hip flexor.
Several, in fact.
Be hard to walk & run without them.
Probably fall over a lot.

Luke’s happens to be injured at the moment.

I always LOL at the construct of “player X has a < body part >”
as the description of an injury.

Likewise.
I cringe whenever I hear: "He has a knee...".
Well, duh!!