My Take

[Madbiker]

Offensively you only need two moves - a drop step and a baby hook. How hard is it?

I'd settle for him making free throws. He obviously doesn't work on it or take it seriously. Nothing is more frustrating than players who just can't make free throws. If you can't make a decent percentage then you can't be out on the floor the last 10 minutes of a game.

 

[njcuse]

This is not going to be detailed given the nature of the opponent.

Also please note that I'm experimenting with the speech recognition feature of the iPhone for the first time in a 'My Take'. If things look a bit off, I blame it on the speech recognition software.

The national anthem was sung by a student in the school of music. She did a fine job sounded a little like a young Julie Andrews. Ended her rendition with a note so high it caused both wonder and concern among the audience.

Really small crowd; not a surprise given the Friday night and the opponent. I think maybe 4000 fannies actually in the seats.

There were 32 cheerleaders tonight and 17 members of the dance team. I do not recall seeing the Sour Sitrus Society attending

This was a good chance to play the freshman and give them opportunities to play in the Dome.

Ennis was terrific. He appears to have no major weaknesses. Most mature freshman we have had in a long time. WWe are going to enjoy watching him play in a Syracuse uniform.

Fair also was extremely impressive. He rebounded well, shot well from the outside, showed improved ballhandling skills and hit a couple shots off the dribble. He has clearly been working on his game.

Grant attacked the rim well. Looked better handling the ball. He is definitely stronger than last year.

Keita was not a force on offense but rebounded and defended well.

Roberson was pretty quiet. He is not aggressive on offense. Appears to be an outstanding rebounder. Was caught napping on defense at least twice.

Patterson is a fun player to watch. He makes things happen, sometimes good things, sometimes bad things. I love his hustle. His shot selection not so much. I think he's the type of guy who will get a lot of steal,s a lot of turnovers, cause a lot of groans and a lot of cheers; he is just that type of player. But he had a couple of threes and looked quite impressive overall.

Coleman looked much like he did last year. Yes he has lost some weight and appears to be moving better. But he continues to hold the ball too low. He continues to get his shot blocked with disturbing regularity. He continues to miss free throws. He continues to get beat down the court occasionally. But he also rebounds like a demon. And he draws fouls with uncommon frequency.

Trevor did not play extended minutes but I thought he did well in the minutes he did play. He had a couple of threes early and looked very confident. Also played solid defense. I really like the way Tyler Ennis looks for Trevor and tries to set them up for threes.

Silent G struggled as the backup point guard. He turned the ball over a few times. Did not run the half-court offense well. To be fair to him, he is not a pure point guard and is playing out of position. But I am very concerned what will happen when we play good teams and he plays The point. He may struggle against the press.

He had a number of open threes and I do not believe he hit any of them so that's a concern as well.

I don't believe BJ hit any threes. But he showed a surprisingly solid overall game. Made some very nice passes. Rebounded well. Played good defense. If Silent G continues to struggle, he may well end up playing some minutes at the 2. He probably played 10 minutes at guard tonight.

I thought the team played very well tonight. They played good defense, especially in the first half. I really like the way they moved the ball. They are showing a lot of chemistry early in the season. This was a very encouraging start to the season.

Which speech program are you using?

 

[kirbivore]

Every single time Coleman brings the ball down low - he needs to sit - immediately and without exception. Not kidding here. His future bank account can thank us later.

make him do 20 push ups every time

▶ Major League (1/10) Movie CLIP - I've Been Cut Already? (1989) HD - YouTube

 

[rocklloyd]

I've only seen him play a few times but Ron Patterson's play reminds me of Paul Harris's style.

 

[Upstate]

How does the top of the zone look? It must be quite different without BT and MCW up there

 

[SoBristol]

How does the top of the zone look? It must be quite different without BT and MCW up there

Holy Family wasn't a tough opponent; Ennis & Cooney playing together were fine in this game. They work at it; good positioning. Comparing some of our elite defenders in recent years (MCW, Rautins in particular, BT had size and strength, Waiters got steals), Ennis & Cooney look like average guys as defenders, making the effort. Not going to get us a ton of steals. Made me wonder if this team will get its share of fast break points.

Defense looks more imposing when Gbinije subs for Cooney.

 

[RF2044]

Holy Family wasn't a tough opponent; Ennis & Cooney playing together were fine in this game. They work at it; good positioning. Comparing some of our elite defenders in recent years (MCW, Rautins in particular, BT had size and strength, Waiters got steals), Ennis & Cooney look like average guys as defenders, making the effort. Not going to get us a ton of steals. Made me wonder if this team will get its share of fast break points.

Defense looks more imposing when Gbinije subs for Cooney.

I'm not sure about that. Gbinije has more ideal size, but he just seems to drift around. All three of the guys rotating up top seem like a step down than what we've had recently--will be interesting to see how much they improve over the course of the season.

 

[jordoo]

The brief time I was in the chat room many were saying CJ was off tonight.

I'm guessing he silenced them in the second half?

His shot was off a bit early missed some 15'ers that are usually cash for him. But in the end he was 5-10 with two pure threes. Hwe rebiounded very well 8 or 9 and he must have had at least 4 assists in his 20minutes or so.

 

[jordoo]

I get your point but it's hard to watch. He really can't develop a baby hook? I find that hard to believe.

Arinze is really the guy he should be learning to play like. If he gets that down he can then look at Ottis and try to add that 12' range face up game that he had late in his career. I really feel that the main issue is subconsciously he is still relying in his strength to move defenders as he shoots. You can't do that at this level. Use your strength to get great position but you have to use your skills to score. He gets low and dribbles to try and move through guys even though the coaches have surely told him for 2 years not to.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Arinze is really the guy he should be learning to play like. If he gets that down he can then look at Ottis and try to add that 12' range face up game that he had late in his career. I really feel that the main issue is subconsciously he is still relying in his strength to move defenders as he shoots. You can't do that at this level. Use your strength to get great position but you have to use your skills to score. He gets low and dribbles to try and move through guys even though the coaches have surely told him for 2 years not to.

Arinze had some of the best footwork of any big men I've ever seen. Looking back, I wonder why he didn't get the ball a bit more.

 

[Upstate]

Holy Family wasn't a tough opponent; Ennis & Cooney playing together were fine in this game. They work at it; good positioning. Comparing some of our elite defenders in recent years (MCW, Rautins in particular, BT had size and strength, Waiters got steals), Ennis & Cooney look like average guys as defenders, making the effort. Not going to get us a ton of steals. Made me wonder if this team will get its share of fast break points.

Defense looks more imposing when Gbinije subs for Cooney.

Thanks. It's my big question mark going into this season, especially with how well MCW guarded against the pass into the top of the post.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yah.
I still will never be convinced he wouldn't benefit under the tutelage of an actual center. Not a guard. Hop may be divine but I'm not seeing the development at that position.

Bernie was neither a former center or player.

Sent from my SCH-I200 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SWC75]

Confession: I forgot it was on but tuned in for much of the second half. Game was already decided and it was garbage time. A to of line-ups we'll never see. Didn't tell me much. I didn't have to screw my eyeballs back in their sockets.

Other than Ennis, I'm not sure how much the new guys will play. None of them looked good enough to demand serious PT. Patterson is a good defender but he's Rock Lloyd on offense. Jack it up from all angels. Maybe some of them will go in. I can't imagine him as a pg. The three centers look exactly as they looked last year. I'm concerned about our outside shooting.

But it's one game and not much of one.

 

[jordoo]

Confession: I forgot it was on but tuned in for much of the second half. Game was already decided and it was garbage time. A to of line-ups we'll never see. Didn't tell me much. I didn't have to screw my eyeballs back in their sockets.

Other than Ennis, I'm not sure how much the new guys will play. None of them looked good enough to demand serious PT. Patterson is a good defender but he's Rock Lloyd on offense. Jack it up from all angels. Maybe some of them will go in. I can't imagine him as a pg. The three centers look exactly as they looked last year. I'm concerned about our outside shooting.

But it's one game and not much of one.

I'm not conserned anout our shooting. Cooney looks great, Ennis can make open ones, CJ looks good and we have BJ to bring in if we need shooting. Grant has better range but probably not a 3pt threat this year. MikeG looks iffy. Patterson looks streaky but will be a good shooter in a season or two. Also Roberson has a nice stroke. I worry about MikeG being a good enough shooter to play the 2G, he may not be.

 

[SUSScuse]

I thought Gbinije struggled at times but am not looking at one game and writing him off. At the game I looked at my brother after all of his silly mistakes and said it looks like he needs to get his head in the game.
After watching the game this morning I think Gbinije looked like JB left him in the game too long and he was winded and grabbing at his shorts.
He should have been pulled from the game and given a bit of rest.

 

[OttoMets]

I don't mean to be too blunt, but G didn't seem to have "it." He just wasn't impressive and looked like a true freshman. He looks rusty too, which is understandable, I guess, except for the fact that he should know our system at this point.

Buss looked good overall, both his handle and his stroke. No clue if he'll get real pt.

I think the 2 will clearly be Cooney's to lose. I'm thinking he may have to play bigger minutes than I thought and the other three will be fighting for the scraps.

Where are all the posters who were adamant that Gbinije would be the starting 2?

A redshirt year is so different than an active year, no matter how few minutes the active guy played. Between Gbinije playing out of position and his simply being rusty, it's going to take awhile to get him ready.

 

[007]

Every single time Coleman brings the ball down low - he needs to sit - immediately and without exception. Not kidding here. His future bank account can thank us later.

If that were the case, he would never be on the floor. I know your point is to use that as a teaching tool. I have to believe that hours are spent in practice working on this very thing. Hours. Have to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But, from what I have seen and continue to see...Keita will be on the floor when it matters most.

 

[sutomcat]

Which speech program are you using?

Just used the microphone that comes with Tapatalk. You have to explicitly say things like comma and period. Once you get used to that, it worked really well. I was impressed with it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[jordoo]

Where are all the posters who were adamant that Gbinije would be the starting 2?
.

I'll admit to being one of those posters. I felt that Cooney would be the 3rd guard. I am now insure where MikeG fits in.

 

[007]

I'm not conserned anout our shooting. Cooney looks great, Ennis can make open ones, CJ looks good and we have BJ to bring in if we need shooting. Grant has better range but probably not a 3pt threat this year. MikeG looks iffy. Patterson looks streaky but will be a good shooter in a season or two. Also Roberson has a nice stroke. I worry about MikeG being a good enough shooter to play the 2G, he may not be.

I think we should be concerned about our shooting. Without even the threat of an inside scoring presence, the ability to make shots from the perimeter will be one key the season, IMO.

As for MikeG, I believe that his ability as a shooter will be way down the list of factors that will impact his playing time. Defense, energy, rebounding, getting out on the break, and ball handling will determine his playing time at the 2.

 

[OrangeTown]

Confession: I forgot it was on but tuned in for much of the second half.

Your syracusefan.com awesomeness rating just took a nosedive, Steve.

I don't know what to believe anymore. I bet you've been pulling all your amazing stats and information out of your ass all these years, too.

 

[orangefan13]

Dajuan is abit of a enigma right now. Last night he ran everything out of the low post, in canada he worked in the mid with a face up dribble as opposed to a backdown like Rick and Arinze. Whenever he turned to face the basket yesterday he had a guy right on him. He still looks like a freshmen offensively though. The question is how much experience he will gain through the year?

I think Rak could almost have the best footwork off the dribble/pivot of any center/true PF forward we have had here ever. He just needs to learn to make the 8-10 footer with it.


I see alot of this in Rak, he could easily do it better then Lebron James in that video.

He makes great strides and is extremely explosive going left eyes on the rim off the dribble. He just needs to make the shot. He will be a nba playeror in the camps on potential, no doubt about it in my mind. If he doesn't develop that shot here the nba scouts are going to eat him up as a sleeper, he has a rediculous body, athleticism, a much better motor this year and is so smooth. The difference of playing preseason nba and in the actual nba is making those jumpers.

IMO he is every bit as athletic as Jeremy Grant, yet we all have given up on him as only a Jr. Scary thing is he is faster, nobody saw the full speed 100% of the time motor he had in canada last night(just a exhibition).
He needs to get out to the melo center and shoot off those moves in the melo center everyday for two hours to he is past tired, even if he does it alone.

Can we pay Olajuwon to teach Rak? Love how the ball is sholder level before he shoots (for a big).

 

[jdubs30]

PG - Ennis - 33 mpg (probably more)
SG - Cooney - 25 mpg (maybe a tad more)
SF - Fair - 35 mpg
PF - Grant - 28 mpg (maybe a tad more)
C - Keita/Coleman - 35 mpg

Bench
PF/C - Christmas - 15 mpg
PG/SG - Gbinije - 15 mpg
SF - Roberson - 7 mpg
SG - Johnson/Patterson - 10 mpg

I think by the time ACC play starts we won't see DC2 at all; except if BMK/Rak are in foul trouble.

Rak and BMK start, play about 4 minutes together, then JB uses Grant/Fair/Roberson at the wings the rest of the game with BMK/Rak splitting time at the 5.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Can't blame Hop, breaking perfected but in-effective movements is extremely hard, almost impossible. That doesn't mean that he can't contribute, its just that he's much more limited than was originally thought.

No one's blaming Hop. I'm sure he's doing all he can. But, he's just not qualified. This is like assuming a top military strategist would be an appropriate choice to teach snipers. Hop's done a lot of things, but none of them in the post. Hop might know, theoretically, how things are done, but that's just book learnin', son. He's got no street cred. If i'm a power player and want the best instruction, i want it to come from a guy who actually did that stuff against other power players at the same talent level. It's no slight on Hop. He's filling in. But, damn — we have an upper echelon program and shouldn't be relying on a 'substitute teacher.' I'm full of silly analogies today... This is like when the physics teacher calls in sick, and the vice principal steps in. Yeah, he's a vice principal. He'll be the principal some day. But, he ain't no physics teacher.

It almost seems like Hop's in that position because we already have GMac and Red working with guards. So, like, what's Hop going to do if they hire someone else for the bigs? Is there such thing as a "forwards coach?"

 

[OttoMets]

I'll admit to being one of those posters. I felt that Cooney would be the 3rd guard. I am now insure where MikeG fits in.

He'll get better, no matter where he plays. Still young.

Some of the posters predicting Gbinije as a starter were over the top with their certainty. Not you, of course.