sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Great game between two well matched teams. Lots of great individual plays throughout the game. Glad we will not lose the series with UL when we move to the ACC.
As I watch this last round of Big East games for Syracuse, I can sense the fear and apprehension in Chapel Hill, Durham, Winston-Salem, Atlanta, etc. The ACC has never been weaker and they are going to get embarrassed by the Orangemen next season and beyond. UL and even Pitt and ND will do damage as well. Hopefully we can raise the level of this sorry conference back to where it belongs.
But lets focus on the game today for a bit. With JS out, and UL capable of playing a solid 2-3 zone,. there was a lot of pressure on BT to hit some jumpers early and force them to play man. SU has better athletes than UL, more size and is much better suited to playing against a man defense, as we have seen all season. Pitino panicked a bit I think, and played into JB's hands, playing a lot of man, where BT, MCW, CJ and JG were able to drive past their defenders quite easily for layups, short jumpers. FTs or easy dishes for layups by others.
MCW was also under a ton of pressure, having to play basically the whole game, getting pressured every possession. He was not perfect but I think for his experience level, he played a fine game on the road in a tough environment. I am impressed with the conditioning of Michael and Brandon. Both played a ton of minutes and had plenty left in the tank at the end of the game.
SU's zone was again very good. UL has a lot of strengths but some major weaknesses too. They have little outside shooting, which was a major problem against our zone. Smith and Siva are probably the fastest group of guards in the country, but they are both small and not very strong, and both were liabilities on defense against the taller and stronger Syracuse guards. Against a zone, Siva is almost incapable of scoring. Dieng was also pretty much a non factor on offense. I think Pitino was a fool to use him at the high post all game long, away from the basket, where we really didn't have to cover him and could play 5 on 4 against the Cardinals.
Russ Smith, despite his lack of size, is a terrific player, easily the best player on UL, and he singlehandled kept the Cards in the game. Smart,.tough, really aggressive going to the basket late. He is a handful.
Anyway, this was a great team effort. BMK played good defense and, as is his wont, got some big offensive rebounds for us that we really needed. CJ did his usual understated, solid job, getting big rebounds, playing good defense and hitting some big mid range jumpers.
Christmas had a quiet game. That happens with young big guys, especially on the road. Good to see DC2 play some real miuutes. That will help him,
Maybe the biggest X factor in the game though, was JG. Thought he played an amazing game, was all over the court, really aggressive and a huge matchup problem for UL. PFs are too slow to cover him and he is too big for SFs. Really killed UL's man today. Excellent rebounder and defender too. Might have been the best athlete on the court on a day when there were a bunch of excellent players out there. He is fun to watch. Loved the spin move and dunk attempt. The UL players looked shocked at how good he was, didn't they?
Speaking of shocked, I loved the reaction of the UL fans after the game. Complete shell shock. Stunned, couldn't move from their seats.
Big win that puts Syracuse in clear control of the Big East. What is SU's record in BE play now, have they won 29 out of the last 3o in regular season play? Pretty amazing to have such a sustained run of excellence against a conference that is consistently jacked with ranked teams. Enjoy it...this is something no team has done in the history of this conference.
As I watch this last round of Big East games for Syracuse, I can sense the fear and apprehension in Chapel Hill, Durham, Winston-Salem, Atlanta, etc. The ACC has never been weaker and they are going to get embarrassed by the Orangemen next season and beyond. UL and even Pitt and ND will do damage as well. Hopefully we can raise the level of this sorry conference back to where it belongs.
But lets focus on the game today for a bit. With JS out, and UL capable of playing a solid 2-3 zone,. there was a lot of pressure on BT to hit some jumpers early and force them to play man. SU has better athletes than UL, more size and is much better suited to playing against a man defense, as we have seen all season. Pitino panicked a bit I think, and played into JB's hands, playing a lot of man, where BT, MCW, CJ and JG were able to drive past their defenders quite easily for layups, short jumpers. FTs or easy dishes for layups by others.
MCW was also under a ton of pressure, having to play basically the whole game, getting pressured every possession. He was not perfect but I think for his experience level, he played a fine game on the road in a tough environment. I am impressed with the conditioning of Michael and Brandon. Both played a ton of minutes and had plenty left in the tank at the end of the game.
SU's zone was again very good. UL has a lot of strengths but some major weaknesses too. They have little outside shooting, which was a major problem against our zone. Smith and Siva are probably the fastest group of guards in the country, but they are both small and not very strong, and both were liabilities on defense against the taller and stronger Syracuse guards. Against a zone, Siva is almost incapable of scoring. Dieng was also pretty much a non factor on offense. I think Pitino was a fool to use him at the high post all game long, away from the basket, where we really didn't have to cover him and could play 5 on 4 against the Cardinals.
Russ Smith, despite his lack of size, is a terrific player, easily the best player on UL, and he singlehandled kept the Cards in the game. Smart,.tough, really aggressive going to the basket late. He is a handful.
Anyway, this was a great team effort. BMK played good defense and, as is his wont, got some big offensive rebounds for us that we really needed. CJ did his usual understated, solid job, getting big rebounds, playing good defense and hitting some big mid range jumpers.
Christmas had a quiet game. That happens with young big guys, especially on the road. Good to see DC2 play some real miuutes. That will help him,
Maybe the biggest X factor in the game though, was JG. Thought he played an amazing game, was all over the court, really aggressive and a huge matchup problem for UL. PFs are too slow to cover him and he is too big for SFs. Really killed UL's man today. Excellent rebounder and defender too. Might have been the best athlete on the court on a day when there were a bunch of excellent players out there. He is fun to watch. Loved the spin move and dunk attempt. The UL players looked shocked at how good he was, didn't they?
Speaking of shocked, I loved the reaction of the UL fans after the game. Complete shell shock. Stunned, couldn't move from their seats.
Big win that puts Syracuse in clear control of the Big East. What is SU's record in BE play now, have they won 29 out of the last 3o in regular season play? Pretty amazing to have such a sustained run of excellence against a conference that is consistently jacked with ranked teams. Enjoy it...this is something no team has done in the history of this conference.
