My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

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This needs to be short, have work to do.

It is too bad Maryland went bankrupt and had to hit the eject button and leave the ACC. It would have been fun to have a Rutgers South to kick around. But all is not lost: we have already scheduled an OOC football series with them and I expect we will do the same for basketball, assuming Georgetown continues to be too afraid to play us in hoops anymore. We are going to play in DC regularly, one way or another. If Georgetown wants Maryland to get the sold out houses and the national telecasts instead, fine. I don't really care.

Rak again got into foul trouble immediately, sat out most of the first half and then got in foul trouble again immediately. Thought some of the calls were questionable but RC might want to watch the tape and note that everytime the ball comes near him, something bad happens and he gestures to the officials for a call. Not a great strategy. It is a shame because Maryland had no decent big guys to cover him...just a bunch of slow, fat, unathletic cows milling around. Wasted opportunity. Moo. The freshman actually had some athletic ability but has the basketball IQ of a sturgeon (mentioned in honor of UMd's most excellent head coach).

JG played the first 10 or so minutes of the game. Watched him closely, worried about how his bad back would react after the quick turnaround from the Duke game. He was a shadow of himself, had problems just getting up from the floor, though he did get the one nice dunk on a bungled Terp man defense switch. I suspect JB saw how awful Maryland was and decided we were good enough to beat them without JG, trying to ensure he is 100% for the rest of the season.

Anyway, CJ was terrific in the first half, kept making big baskets and carrying our half court offense, which with JG gone, RC on the bench shaking his head and muttering to himself and TC struggling to hit the rim from the 3 point circle, was highly troubled.

Things were going along fine. Our offense was productive and Maryland helped out by making an astonishing number of unforced turnovers. The frequency and variety were quite brilliant; it was like playing High Point again. Then CJ picked up his 2nd foul handing a ball off on offense (strange call) and his 3rd shortly after, repaired to the bench and JB was forced to replace him with TR. The lineup at that point of the game was TE, TC, MG, TR and BMK. TE was in the midst of a bad shooting slump, TC ditto, MG was struggling, TR has scored maybe 2 points since conference play began and the offensively challenged BMK. Somehow this ragtag lineup was able to hold most of the lead, led mostly by TE, whose long 3 at the end of the half was a foreshadowing of future bad SU shots that somehow went in anyway.

The second half did not start well as RC was bad on defense and out almost before the half began. BMK came in for him and almost immediately hurt himself and limped most of the rest of the game. Not sure if it was the bad knee, but I will say that he seemed better after the first few minutes. Hope he is okay.

UMd struggled to run their offense most of the game. They have no point guard and look very disjointed out there, as though this is the first time they have ever played together as a unit. No one seemed to know their role, they were rarely on the same page, even when someone made a good pass, the recipient would not see it or just let it slip through their hands. Despite all that, SU playing with only 2 players that could score eventually took its toll and UMd crept back into the game late.

Really didn't like the way we ran the clock down late. I am down with the strategy, not down with the execution. Tyler kept finding himself with the ball, far away from the basket with only a couple of seconds left on the clock. A bunch of possessions ended with bad shots and even on the rare times we were able to score, it was on bad shots by CJ and TE at the end of the shot clock that bailed the team out. Also wanted to single out a great pass CJ made to a wide open Silent G late in the game that the silent one nailed for a big 3. For reasons unknown to me (the Maryland scorekeeper ate paint chips as a kid?), CJ was not credited with an assist on that pass.

Given the sell out crowd, the fact it was the biggest game of the season for the Terps, that they had 6 days to prepare and that it was SU's 4th game in 8 days, this was a great win. Like a number of wins this season, it wasn't pretty but the team got the job done. CJ carried the load in the first half and TE made a number of tough shots and big plays in the 2nd, providing just enough (literally) to get the win.

RC has recently made a great defensive play late in the game to seal two wins. He fouled out last night, leaving BMK to be the defensive hero last night, getting the big block on Faust's weak drive down the baseline. Thank God the refs made a good call on that play...it wasn't remotely close to a foul and I was astonished that the troubled Maryland coach thought otherwise.

His team was as disorganized and lost as any team I have ever seen. If there was a not coach of the year, uncoach of the year, worst coach of the year, whatever for the ACC, IMHO, this guy would win in a landslide/
 
Wasted opportunity. Moo.

Not sure if this is phone autocorrect, or if I'm just dense, but I found it strange and humorous in some odd way.

JG played the first 10 or so minutes of the game. Watched him closely, worried about how his bad back would react after the quick turnaround from the Duke game.

Speaking of quick turnarounds - Grant's spin move is getting more and more predictable. My conspiracy theory is that his back is hurt because he does too many of them. :)

But seriously, Bilas mentioned his use of the spin move and stated that you have to play for it as a defender. Is this something you can "play for" or "take away" reliably the way you could play CJ to make him go right? I mean, if you play off the baseline (or to the side in general) to take away a spin move, you're essentially giving the straight line to the hoop, right?
 
Agreed about the bailout buckets late.

A step back contested three from a poor three point shooter as the clock winds down, and a fading 17 footer off a spin move from our ice cold shooter. Both of them absolutely awful possessions.

And yes, MD had some of the most comical unforced TO's I've ever seen. Awful.
 
Agreed about the bailout buckets late.

A step back contested three from a poor three point shooter as the clock winds down, and a fading 17 footer off a spin move from our ice cold shooter. Both of them absolutely awful possessions.

And yes, MD had some of the most comical unforced TO's I've ever seen. Awful.

They just couldnt catch the ball. I mean how many times would they have had a layup where balls were fumbled out of their hands? 5?

Their timely three point shooting and FT's kept them in the game. I will chalk up our sluggishness in the second half to fatigue, foul trouble and Grant being out. Rest up this week and get ready for the game of the year in Virginia on Saturday.
 
Agreed about the bailout buckets late.

A step back contested three from a poor three point shooter as the clock winds down, and a fading 17 footer off a spin move from our ice cold shooter. Both of them absolutely awful possessions.

And yes, MD had some of the most comical unforced TO's I've ever seen. Awful.

Playing the role of the Washington Generals today will be the Maryland Terps.

Nice post Tom. I wonder if the players just got comfortable doing X amount of things offensively and since they were winning, they didn't change what was working? Now, it's not working as well will they be able to adapt?
 
Maryland has a habit of losing close games. We all know SU plays well late. I think SU needs to be wary of developing a habit of ending up in close games against lesser teams. This was a good win in my opinion given all the factors mentioned above. I just think one way this team can improve is in consistently making other teams pay for their mistakes. They can also work on playing the entire 40 with the same focus and confidence that they play at the end of close games. Go Cuse!
 
Not sure if this is phone autocorrect, or if I'm just dense, but I found it strange and humorous in some odd way.



Speaking of quick turnarounds - Grant's spin move is getting more and more predictable. My conspiracy theory is that his back is hurt because he does too many of them. :)

But seriously, Bilas mentioned his use of the spin move and stated that you have to play for it as a defender. Is this something you can "play for" or "take away" reliably the way you could play CJ to make him go right? I mean, if you play off the baseline (or to the side in general) to take away a spin move, you're essentially giving the straight line to the hoop, right?

It is. As the on-ball defender, a player can stay in front of him on the catch and, knowing that he uses the spin, shade to the side Grant favors to cut that move off by sliding his feet quickly, centering his own chest on Grant's lead shoulder as he begins his dribble. If I had an equally athletic player defending him, I would probably defend Grant this way.

However, the more effective method for taking this away from Grant would likely be to bring a help defender to double from the side he likes to spin. This could be done as soon as Grant catches the ball, or the double could come on his first dribble. The second version would probably be more successful--it would force JG to read the situation and make the proper decision as he is moving.

As an opposing coach, I would want to see if Grant could find his teammates under the pressure of a double team rather than concede that spin move to him. If he does it successfully a few times, then I would adjust.
 
The problem is that Grant has very few athletic equals in college. It sounds great to say take away his spin, but he's simply a better athlete and is going to beat his man time and time again. If BMK isn't in the game, which SU player are teams going to leave open to help on Grant?
 
... Also wanted to single out a great pass CJ made to a wide open Silent G late in the game that the silent one nailed for a big 3. For reasons unknown to me (the Maryland scorekeeper ate paint chips as a kid?), CJ was not credited with an assist on that pass.
...

Good observation (and funny).

After the criticism he's taken, it'd be nice if C.J. got credit for a good pass. That was an excellent one. Someone fell asleep at Statcrew last night, I guess.
 
OttoMets said:
Good observation (and funny). After the criticism he's taken, it'd be nice if C.J. got credit for a good pass. That was an excellent one. Someone fell asleep at Statcrew last night, I guess.

Stats are always messed up on the road. Another example is Cooney was credited for 1 assist. I would think his feed to Fair for the dunk and his pass to Ennis from his back were both assists.
 
Stats are always messed up on the road. Another example is Cooney was credited for 1 assist. I would think his feed to Fair for the dunk and his pass to Ennis from his back were both assists.

Good catch.

I know from experience that the stats people are looking first, second, and third to get the home team's stats correct. If they miss an opposing block or assist, so be it.
 
This needs to be short, have work to do.

It is too bad Maryland went bankrupt and had to hit the eject button and leave the ACC. It would have been fun to have a Rutgers South to kick around. But all is not lost: we have already scheduled an OOC football series with them and I expect we will do the same for basketball, assuming Georgetown continues to be too afraid to play us in hoops anymore. We are going to play in DC regularly, one way or another. If Georgetown wants Maryland to get the sold out houses and the national telecasts instead, fine. I don't really care.

Rak again got into foul trouble immediately, sat out most of the first half and then got in foul trouble again immediately. Thought some of the calls were questionable but RC might want to watch the tape and note that everytime the ball comes near him, something bad happens and he gestures to the officials for a call. Not a great strategy. It is a shame because Maryland had no decent big guys to cover him...just a bunch of slow, fat, unathletic cows milling around. Wasted opportunity. Moo. The freshman actually had some athletic ability but has the basketball IQ of a sturgeon (mentioned in honor of UMd's most excellent head coach).

JG played the first 10 or so minutes of the game. Watched him closely, worried about how his bad back would react after the quick turnaround from the Duke game. He was a shadow of himself, had problems just getting up from the floor, though he did get the one nice dunk on a bungled Terp man defense switch. I suspect JB saw how awful Maryland was and decided we were good enough to beat them without JG, trying to ensure he is 100% for the rest of the season.

Anyway, CJ was terrific in the first half, kept making big baskets and carrying our half court offense, which with JG gone, RC on the bench shaking his head and muttering to himself and TC struggling to hit the rim from the 3 point circle, was highly troubled.

Things were going along fine. Our offense was productive and Maryland helped out by making an astonishing number of unforced turnovers. The frequency and variety were quite brilliant; it was like playing High Point again. Then CJ picked up his 2nd foul handing a ball off on offense (strange call) and his 3rd shortly after, repaired to the bench and JB was forced to replace him with TR. The lineup at that point of the game was TE, TC, MG, TR and BMK. TE was in the midst of a bad shooting slump, TC ditto, MG was struggling, TR has scored maybe 2 points since conference play began and the offensively challenged BMK. Somehow this ragtag lineup was able to hold most of the lead, led mostly by TE, whose long 3 at the end of the half was a foreshadowing of future bad SU shots that somehow went in anyway.

The second half did not start well as RC was bad on defense and out almost before the half began. BMK came in for him and almost immediately hurt himself and limped most of the rest of the game. Not sure if it was the bad knee, but I will say that he seemed better after the first few minutes. Hope he is okay.

UMd struggled to run their offense most of the game. They have no point guard and look very disjointed out there, as though this is the first time they have ever played together as a unit. No one seemed to know their role, they were rarely on the same page, even when someone made a good pass, the recipient would not see it or just let it slip through their hands. Despite all that, SU playing with only 2 players that could score eventually took its toll and UMd crept back into the game late.

Really didn't like the way we ran the clock down late. I am down with the strategy, not down with the execution. Tyler kept finding himself with the ball, far away from the basket with only a couple of seconds left on the clock. A bunch of possessions ended with bad shots and even on the rare times we were able to score, it was on bad shots by CJ and TE at the end of the shot clock that bailed the team out. Also wanted to single out a great pass CJ made to a wide open Silent G late in the game that the silent one nailed for a big 3. For reasons unknown to me (the Maryland scorekeeper ate paint chips as a kid?), CJ was not credited with an assist on that pass.

Given the sell out crowd, the fact it was the biggest game of the season for the Terps, that they had 6 days to prepare and that it was SU's 4th game in 8 days, this was a great win. Like a number of wins this season, it wasn't pretty but the team got the job done. CJ carried the load in the first half and TE made a number of tough shots and big plays in the 2nd, providing just enough (literally) to get the win.

RC has recently made a great defensive play late in the game to seal two wins. He fouled out last night, leaving BMK to be the defensive hero last night, getting the big block on Faust's weak drive down the baseline. Thank God the refs made a good call on that play...it wasn't remotely close to a foul and I was astonished that the troubled Maryland coach thought otherwise.

His team was as disorganized and lost as any team I have ever seen. If there was a not coach of the year, uncoach of the year, worst coach of the year, whatever for the ACC, IMHO, this guy would win in a landslide/

That was short?
 
That was short?


I'm glad it wasn't. Always a good read.
Good catch.

I know from experience that the stats people are looking first, second, and third to get the home team's stats correct. If they miss an opposing block or assist, so be it.


An assist is the one stat that is always an opinion.
 
His team was as disorganized and lost as any team I have ever seen. If there was a not coach of the year, uncoach of the year, worst coach of the year, whatever for the ACC, IMHO, this guy would win in a landslide/

That is hilarious.
 
The problem is that Grant has very few athletic equals in college. It sounds great to say take away his spin, but he's simply a better athlete and is going to beat his man time and time again. If BMK isn't in the game, which SU player are teams going to leave open to help on Grant?

I agree that there are few athletic equals to Grant in college--that is why I said the better option is to help. :)

Teams are already leaving our players on the perimeter to help in the lane. Almost every team we have played in the ACC has done this (Duke didn't)--many of them are playing variations of the Dick Bennett pack-line defense. Teams are defending us by having at least three players with at least one foot in the paint at all times. To do that, they can't be out hugging the players on the perimeter.

This makes driving the paint much more difficult--the on-ball defender potentially has help from three teammates. That's a lot of bodies they are forcing our players to drive through and shoot over. Even on ball-screen action, teams are hedging the screen hard and supporting it with help in the lane to take the ball out of Ennis's hands.

The only player many teams have chosen to stay with on the perimeter is Cooney, and with the way he is shooting lately, some teams may not even do that as much until he proves he is out of his slump.

In short, many opponents are already daring us to shoot the ball from the outside, betting that they can contest on recoveries well enough to limit the effectiveness our scoring chances. If they brought a double to eliminate Grant's spin move, it wouldn't have to be a full trap, nor would they be "leaving" a player they are denying on the perimeter; it would just have to take away Grant's ability to use the move to create the necessary space to get his shot off.

If Grant can make shots over the double or triple teams, more power to him. The truth is that he is likely to miss more of those than he makes. People already complain that he doesn't finish as well as he should.

On top of that, leaving players open is only dangerous if Grant finds them, passes to them, and they hit the shots. If a defense helps and recovers properly, it shouldn't be impossible to challenge shots.

With SU's shooters, I would take that chance if I were an opposing coach rather than let Grant carve our defense up. :noidea:
 
i think baye was injured when wells barreled into him. wells strategy was to drive the lane and initiate contact. he was getting the calls. however, on one, it appeared he knocked the wind out of baye. baye was bent over during the foul shots. it could have been the knee, but i think it was upper body.
 
I agree that there are few athletic equals to Grant in college--that is why I said the better option is to help. :)

Teams are already leaving our players on the perimeter to help in the lane. Almost every team we have played in the ACC has done this (Duke didn't)--many of them are playing variations of the Dick Bennett pack-line defense. Teams are defending us by having at least three players with at least one foot in the paint at all times. To do that, they can't be out hugging the players on the perimeter.

This makes driving the paint much more difficult--the on-ball defender potentially has help from three teammates. That's a lot of bodies they are forcing our players to drive through and shoot over. Even on ball-screen action, teams are hedging the screen hard and supporting it with help in the lane to take the ball out of Ennis's hands.

The only player many teams have chosen to stay with on the perimeter is Cooney, and with the way he is shooting lately, some teams may not even do that as much until he proves he is out of his slump.

In short, many opponents are already daring us to shoot the ball from the outside, betting that they can contest on recoveries well enough to limit the effectiveness our scoring chances. If they brought a double to eliminate Grant's spin move, it wouldn't have to be a full trap, nor would they be "leaving" a player they are denying on the perimeter; it would just have to take away Grant's ability to use the move to create the necessary space to get his shot off.

If Grant can make shots over the double or triple teams, more power to him. The truth is that he is likely to miss more of those than he makes. People already complain that he doesn't finish as well as he should.

On top of that, leaving players open is only dangerous if Grant finds them, passes to them, and they hit the shots. If a defense helps and recovers properly, it shouldn't be impossible to challenge shots.

With SU's shooters, I would take that chance if I were an opposing coach rather than let Grant carve our defense up. :noidea:

Really good post.

With respect to the high, on ball screens, I was hoping to see JB adjust to hard hedging (teams are now doubling off this screen, not just hedging) by using Fair or even Grant to set those screens rather than BMK or Rak, with Cooney on the wing/corner to strong side. Make teams have to honesty defend 3 options instead of simply trying to get the ball out of Ennis's hands.
 
"RC has recently made a great defensive play late in the game to seal two wins. He fouled out last night, leaving BMK to be the defensive hero last night, getting the big block on Faust's weak drive down the baseline. Thank God the refs made a good call on that play...it wasn't remotely close to a foul and I was astonished that the troubled Maryland coach thought otherwise."

I rewatched that play several times. Just as Faust was getting ready to make contact with BMK he lowered his shoulders. That usually results in a charge call. I can live with a no call. In fact I prefer it. Games shouldn't be decided by close calls. But if there was going to be a call, I would expect a charge.
 
Playing the role of the Washington Generals today will be the Maryland Terps.

Nice post Tom. I wonder if the players just got comfortable doing X amount of things offensively and since they were winning, they didn't change what was working? Now, it's not working as well will they be able to adapt?

"Playing the role of the Washington Generals today will be the Maryland Terps."

THat is the most hilariously accurate analysis I have seen in a very long time. Nice Job!
 

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