sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Going to be pretty short. Props to the girl from Manlius who did a great job with the national anthem. She got a big hand from what is typically a very apathetic crowd. That is 2 for 2 booking good singers. Someone is doing a good job.
The problems with the software for the boards have been partly addressed. They added a snazzy white outline on the board above the movable bleachers surrounding the score and the time remaining. Wasn't needed but it looks a little more professional. They also added the columns for active players, fouls and points but they botched the spacing and it needs to be redone by someone who knows what they are doing. I have attached a picture.
Bloomsburg was a lot better than Pace. They had a servicable big guy with legitimate D1 size, and a couple of talented guards, even a savvy forward as well. But on this day, Syracuse came ready to play. They played hard, they played together and they were really impressive. Lots of athletic ability, lots of good passing, good defense, good everything. Can't make solid conclusions from an exhibition game, but wow, this was an impressive showing.
Really small crowd (see picture again). Maybe 5K. Only a handful of students too. 8 tubas in the SS though. We continue to have a huge cheerleader squad. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 of them out there. Tonight was a first for me...first time I have noticed a college team with a uniform featuring a word on its butt. I don't think it was PINK...maybe it was HUSKIES. I think that was Bloomsburg's nickname. There is no excuse for this. It may be the eighth sign of the coming apocalypse.
Some general comments:
The much awaited Trevor Cooney era (exhibition version) began at 16:50. Trevor looked surprisingly good on defense, really worked at it. Hit a couple of jumpers, got a steal. I think the release on his jumper is a bit slow at this point in his career and I don't like the way he leans forward when he shoots, like BT does sometimes. Looks like he will have no problem pulling the trigger.
JB continued to rotate Christmas and DC3 on defense, sometimes playing RK at center and sometimes DC3. I think DC3 might be playing center more, he looked a little slower getting to the wings on 3s and I suspect DuJuan is going to start the real season playing center. On offense, DC3 plays the low post. Rakim plays off the paint and slashes to the hoop when he gets the ball. When he gets the ball, it is usually coming from MCW, who seems to look for Christmas a lot (it must be his favorite season). Rakim looks a lot more fluid and comfortable with the ball this year.
DC3 is very advanced at getting good position down low, uses his body well and finishes very well. As others have said, he gets the ball a lot. There seems to be confidence in his ability to convert. He is going to draw a lot of fouls. Seems to get a lot of rebounds too.
BT had a huge game. Got into the paint and to the hole at will against the smallish and slow Bloomburgers. Got some rebounds, passed the ball well, looked good. MCW is looking very confident, makes some mistakes but makes a ton of good plays too, shooting more than I thought he would, really good in the paint.
Southerland looks really relaxed, is shooting the 3 great early on, continues the improvements he showed last year in his overall game. Defense is better, anticipating well, passing the ball well, playing with a lot of confidence right now.
Fair is maybe hanging out more outside the 3 point circle now, taking more 3s, driving to the basket when there is an opening, getting some baskets on the break too. Playing in control, not forcing anything. When the Bloomies hurt us on the wing with 3 point shooting, JB moved him to the problem side and the 3s stopped (they were picking on Coleman).
When Keita plays, he plays exclusively at center. He is playing really actively on defense, making a lot of plays, quite a few away from the basket. Finishing well on offense, but mostly on offensive rebounds. Still struggles to get open and get the ball down low via a pass.
Grant continues to impress. Active, under control, really finishes nicely even with the wrong hand in awkward positions. Plays hard, dives for loose balls, there is a lot to like about him. Seems like he always dunks with one hand. Looking forward to a monster dunk, a two handed monster dunk from him, sometime soon.
Good game, the team seems a lot more ready to play than they did for Pace. I am will interested to see who the go to guy is in crunch time. I think it might be 'go to by committee'. We have had 6 and 5 players in double figures the first two games. Think that we will see a lot of balanced scoring like that this season. We will find out soon enough.
The problems with the software for the boards have been partly addressed. They added a snazzy white outline on the board above the movable bleachers surrounding the score and the time remaining. Wasn't needed but it looks a little more professional. They also added the columns for active players, fouls and points but they botched the spacing and it needs to be redone by someone who knows what they are doing. I have attached a picture.
Bloomsburg was a lot better than Pace. They had a servicable big guy with legitimate D1 size, and a couple of talented guards, even a savvy forward as well. But on this day, Syracuse came ready to play. They played hard, they played together and they were really impressive. Lots of athletic ability, lots of good passing, good defense, good everything. Can't make solid conclusions from an exhibition game, but wow, this was an impressive showing.
Really small crowd (see picture again). Maybe 5K. Only a handful of students too. 8 tubas in the SS though. We continue to have a huge cheerleader squad. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 of them out there. Tonight was a first for me...first time I have noticed a college team with a uniform featuring a word on its butt. I don't think it was PINK...maybe it was HUSKIES. I think that was Bloomsburg's nickname. There is no excuse for this. It may be the eighth sign of the coming apocalypse.
Some general comments:
The much awaited Trevor Cooney era (exhibition version) began at 16:50. Trevor looked surprisingly good on defense, really worked at it. Hit a couple of jumpers, got a steal. I think the release on his jumper is a bit slow at this point in his career and I don't like the way he leans forward when he shoots, like BT does sometimes. Looks like he will have no problem pulling the trigger.
JB continued to rotate Christmas and DC3 on defense, sometimes playing RK at center and sometimes DC3. I think DC3 might be playing center more, he looked a little slower getting to the wings on 3s and I suspect DuJuan is going to start the real season playing center. On offense, DC3 plays the low post. Rakim plays off the paint and slashes to the hoop when he gets the ball. When he gets the ball, it is usually coming from MCW, who seems to look for Christmas a lot (it must be his favorite season). Rakim looks a lot more fluid and comfortable with the ball this year.
DC3 is very advanced at getting good position down low, uses his body well and finishes very well. As others have said, he gets the ball a lot. There seems to be confidence in his ability to convert. He is going to draw a lot of fouls. Seems to get a lot of rebounds too.
BT had a huge game. Got into the paint and to the hole at will against the smallish and slow Bloomburgers. Got some rebounds, passed the ball well, looked good. MCW is looking very confident, makes some mistakes but makes a ton of good plays too, shooting more than I thought he would, really good in the paint.
Southerland looks really relaxed, is shooting the 3 great early on, continues the improvements he showed last year in his overall game. Defense is better, anticipating well, passing the ball well, playing with a lot of confidence right now.
Fair is maybe hanging out more outside the 3 point circle now, taking more 3s, driving to the basket when there is an opening, getting some baskets on the break too. Playing in control, not forcing anything. When the Bloomies hurt us on the wing with 3 point shooting, JB moved him to the problem side and the 3s stopped (they were picking on Coleman).
When Keita plays, he plays exclusively at center. He is playing really actively on defense, making a lot of plays, quite a few away from the basket. Finishing well on offense, but mostly on offensive rebounds. Still struggles to get open and get the ball down low via a pass.
Grant continues to impress. Active, under control, really finishes nicely even with the wrong hand in awkward positions. Plays hard, dives for loose balls, there is a lot to like about him. Seems like he always dunks with one hand. Looking forward to a monster dunk, a two handed monster dunk from him, sometime soon.
Good game, the team seems a lot more ready to play than they did for Pace. I am will interested to see who the go to guy is in crunch time. I think it might be 'go to by committee'. We have had 6 and 5 players in double figures the first two games. Think that we will see a lot of balanced scoring like that this season. We will find out soon enough.
