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.