My Take

[sutomcat]

Long Beach State tried to play us straight up early. That was a disaster. We beat them off the dribble like a drum, they started 4 guards, could not match up at all. Special props to CJ Fair, who played extremely well at the start of the game (must be something about playing against Cali teams that gets him ready to go). To make matters worse, SU hit the offensive boards hard and really hurt LBS with easy followup points.

They adjusted by packing in their zone and when I say pack in, I mean pack in. Might have been the most tightly bunched set of defenders SU has faced in the JB era. Looked like they decided they were not going to get beat with slashes to the basket, that they were going to give us wide open looks from the outside all night and they dared us to beat them that way.

We will probably see this kind of defense again. This team has some players who make playing man to man a real challenge. Unless you have some real talent, your best bet might be to zone us and hope we have a bad shooting night. We obviously did not have a bad shooting night and we continued to hit the offensive boards pretty well the rest of the night. That made for a lot of points.

On the defensive side, thought we had a nice effort. Coleman is struggling some on defense playing in the middle (though I think he is slowly improving). He had a tough matchup last night...their big guy was a savvy veteran with some nice moves and some good strength. He schooled young DCII quite a few times.

But Coleman was rebounding the ball well, and hurting LBS inside, drawing a bunch of fouls, and I think JB is trying to get him playing time to get him ready for BE play. That all led to JB's decision to play him on the wing and play Christmas in the middle for quite a bit of time. Coleman did a decent job out there...LBS did not abuse him like teams did early in the season.

Given Christmas blocks a lot more shots and is more of a defensive weapon when he is playing center on defense, I look for JB to continue to try and make this work. If the two of these guys can play together, it will give us a good option for strong rebounding against big, physical team in league play.

MCW has extended periods of play where his level of play is, I suspect, as high as anyone playing college basketball right now. He is really fun to watch play, isn't he? It isn't just when he has the ball. Watching him get position on rebounds, watching him play defense, anticipate, fly around the court when we press...he is a special player. At some point this season, his teammates are going to make all the easy shots he sets them up with and he is going to get a crazy number of assists. Between missing easy shots and players getting fouled after getting a great pass from Michael, he is losing 5 or 10 assists every game.

Anyway, he played pretty well again. Brandon had another somewhat quiet, solid effort. I think he is content to be a role player on this team, play good defense, finish the break well, hit a couple of shots from the outside, draw a foul or two and make a few good passes. Sometimes good passing is contigious. BT had some really nice ones last night.

Great to see Cooney playing well. He isn't even close to the schneid anymore. Seeing him laughing and horsing around on the court, nice and relaxed, is a great sign for the future of the team. If he can't contribute, it is a huge issue.

Thought CJ had one of his best games ever. Really like him attacking the hoop from the baseline. Was a little quicker moving with the ball last night, which I think helps him. To me, the biggest thing with him is his rebounding. The nights he hits the boards hard are the nights he plays at his best. He hit the boards very hard last night.

You would think that with LBS playing so packed in, the JS would have one of his huge games but it was not to be. It didn't help him that he lost some PT with DCII playing forward and with Grant getting extended minutes. CJ playing great didn't help his playing time either.

I guess Christmas time starts on December 6th. Thought Rak played with an unusual amount of passion. Looked like everytime he got the ball on offense, that not only was he trying to dunk, he was trying to rip down the rim and and the backboard and send them into the fiery depths of hell.

JB is always harping on him being too nice. I suspect this was Rak's response. He also rebounded well, blocked some shots inside and intimidated LBS players with his play and his angry glare. I liked it. A lot.

So Young Grant had a nice game the other day in a blowout. JB noticed, gave him some extra minutes and Grant took the ball and ran with it, playing really well. This could mean the door was opened to more playing time and even, perhaps, a chance to become part of the regular rotation. Before the LBS game started, I was really interested to see how much JB would play Grant, and how Grant would respond to the extra playing time.

Well, the kid can play. The more he plays, the better he looks. At this point, it is going to be really difficult for JB to keep him off the court. The weakside blocks on defense, the great closing speed running at shooters, the excellence he has knocking balls loose in the press, his ability to hit open 3s, his ability to drive and finish (that tomahawk dunk down the baseline with subline), his passing ability...Jerami brings a lot of things to the table. It is still early in the season and LBS is not Louisville or Pittsburgh, but wow. If this continues, he is going to play a lot of minutes this season. The competition for playing time at the forward positions is going to be very fierce.

It is a great time right now to be a Syracuse basketball fan.

 

[SoBristol]

Really good comments, TomCat.
Rak and the two other bigs will each struggle at times -- but we have 3 bigs, and they can each contribute. In rotation, the inside play is effective.

Grant reminds me of CJ two years ago. Not in style of play. But our fans were saying there wasn't room for CJ, that he and Keita should redshirt, or should expect to sit once JB went to his typical 6.5 rotation. And some said trust your eyes, CJ can play and he is improving. Similar now for Grant. He is 6ft 8, with versatile skills, and can play both ends of the court. Rebounds in traffic. Good form on his shot. Drives and finishes with a flush. Trust your eyes.

 

[orange79]

Great recap. Thanks, Tom!

 

[tbonezone]

"Well, the kid (JERAMI GRANT) can play. The more he plays, the better he looks. At this point, it is going to be really difficult for JB to keep him off the court..."

UMMMM...no it's not. not based on JB's past modus operandi. we've had some really good players sitting down the stretch.
my second thought after watching these guys is that if you really want to play Rak and DC2 together underneath why not try flipping into a 3-2 or (2-2-1) zone rotation ?
always look forward to your game recounts.

 

[Upstate]

The two guys that should be guarding the ball, Jerami and James, are so athletic that they don't only force you into a bad pass, but can come off the inbounder and trap the man with the ball in an instant.

 

[zhanjuzi]

Great report. I would add that once again Keita played extremely well. The way he catches and finishes looks so natural and fluid I hardly recognize him from last year. Good times are here ..

 

[OrangeTown]

Love your recaps, Tom.

I know they will never change the stat due to historical records and other reasons, but sometimes I think a guy should get 0.5 assists for any free throws made as a result of a play which would have been an assist if made. A half-assist, sorta like a half-sack in football. I feel so bad watching so many missed opportunites go by. Funny that I've never thought this way until we have a stud PG averaging almost 10 assists per game. I guess I'm just greedy and want him to have 12.5.

 

[SoBristol]

"Well, the kid (JERAMI GRANT) can play. The more he plays, the better he looks. At this point, it is going to be really difficult for JB to keep him off the court..."

UMMMM...no it's not. not based on JB's past modus operandi. we've had some really good players sitting down the stretch.
my second thought after watching these guys is that if you really want to play Rak and DC2 together underneath why not try flipping into a 3-2 or (2-2-1) zone rotation ?
always look forward to your game recounts.

Curious who you would say were really good players who sat down the stretch.

Sure, in the back half of tight games, JB is going to go with his best. Example -- even Triche sat last year as Dion & Scoop closed games.

Usually, though, there has been a fall off between the top 7 and the rest of the bench. 2009-2010 is a good example -- Scoop & Kris always played, the others weren't going to have an impact.

The difference is that Grant is pushing the other forwards, at least in games when Southerland isn't shooting lights out. Rak contributes better when he is a center and when he is a forward, he needs to be close to the basket; CJ hasn't converted his game to the perimeter. Grant is showing he can play.

 

[armory]

Someone got into Roc's face and told him to get angry. He was a man possessed last night.

 

[tbonezone]

Someone got into Roc's face and told him to get angry. He was a man possessed last night.

or more likely he heard size 14 footsteps behind him.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

Curious who you would say were really good players who sat down the stretch.

Sure, in the back half of tight games, JB is going to go with his best. Example -- even Triche sat last year as Dion & Scoop closed games.

Usually, though, there has been a fall off between the top 7 and the rest of the bench. 2009-2010 is a good example -- Scoop & Kris always played, the others weren't going to have an impact.

The difference is that Grant is pushing the other forwards, at least in games when Southerland isn't shooting lights out. Rak contributes better when he is a center and when he is a forward, he needs to be close to the basket; CJ hasn't converted his game to the perimeter. Grant is showing he can play.

The obvious example is MCW. Grant is showing himself to be a good player and that should certainly help our confidence for SU's future. Much like MCWs performance last year alleviated our worries about our pg situation this year.

But there is no guarantee that what Grant has showed is going to amount to rotation minutes come BE time. There is a logjam of talent ahead of him. He is the 4th forward, minutes are going to be tough to get. I doubt there will be many BE games where Grant gets more minutes than JS.

Grant is being developed by JB and this is part of the process. Next year Grant will play more. And now that precedent has been set, it will not matter what our record is this year, people will say that Grant should have started this year.

 

[billsin01]

Long Beach State ...

Great recap, as always, but you've gotta give some love to my man Baye. Through 7 games he's averaging 5 and 5 on close to 80% shooting with a block per game and really consistent defense. He's also got 5 TOs total for the year and is obviously about as unselfish as it gets. Really having a great year, IMO.

 

[sutomcat]

Great recap, as always, but you've gotta give some love to my man Baye. Through 7 games he's averaging 5 and 5 on close to 80% shooting with a block per game and really consistent defense. He's also got 5 TOs total for the year and is obviously about as unselfish as it gets. Really having a great year, IMO.

You are correct, I forgot to even mention him. Hate 8 PM games...no time to post afterwards and it is hard to post at work the next day as well.

Yes, BMK is playing the best ball of his career. He is rarely going to put up big numbers in the box score but he does a lot of little things well, he is our best big guy defending the interior, does a great job hustling back on defense, is our big guy when we press, shows improved hands, is executing the pick and roll with MCW well,, rebounding better than he ever has, etc.

It is easy to like a guy who hustles like he does. He is my favorite player on the team for all these things.

 

[Quazzum69]

Great recap, as always, but you've gotta give some love to my man Baye.

He's put in his time as a reserve the past couple of years and you can tell he gives it his all. If Rak leaves after this year, I hope Baye gets the chance to play a lot of minutes next year. If he can gain some strength and keep improving, I think he could easily put up 8 pts, 6 rebs and a couple blocks in 20 minutes.

 

[SWC75]

Curious who you would say were really good players who sat down the stretch.

Sure, in the back half of tight games, JB is going to go with his best. Example -- even Triche sat last year as Dion & Scoop closed games.

Usually, though, there has been a fall off between the top 7 and the rest of the bench. 2009-2010 is a good example -- Scoop & Kris always played, the others weren't going to have an impact.

The difference is that Grant is pushing the other forwards, at least in games when Southerland isn't shooting lights out. Rak contributes better when he is a center and when he is a forward, he needs to be close to the basket; CJ hasn't converted his game to the perimeter. Grant is showing he can play.

There isn't any scholarship guy on this team who is going to "sleep with the fishes" come Big East time. But I think the comparison to MCW last year is a good one. grant looks great- against Eastern Michigan and Long Beach State. But in the big games we will surely see more of Fair and Southerland. Maybe MCW will have a conversation with him similar to the one Dion Waiters had with MCW, per SI.

 

[Gabjon]

There isn't any scholarship guy on this team who is going to "sleep with the fishes" come Big East time. But I think the comparison to MCW last year is a good one. grant looks great- against Eastern Michigan and Long Beach State. But in the big games we will surely see more of Fair and Southerland. Maybe MCW will have a conversation with him similar to the one Dion Waiters had with MCW, per SI.

I think James BE minutes from last year will be a better comparison for Grant than MCW from last year. Simply because I think we are going to play with one big for most of the game. I think DC2 loses minutes in BE play (may still start) but Roc and Baye play most of the minutes at center and CJ, James and Grant play most of the minutes at the forward spots.

 

[OrangePA]

Love MCW.