My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

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Small crowd. Announced at 21K. Maybe half of that number were actually in the Dome. The students were not there...that didn't help. No SSS either. Not quite the same without them in the house. The cheerleaders were there, as they always seem to be, and they manage to scrap together a small dance team as well. Though 2 members sat out most of the numbers. Why? Are they newbies who only know a few numbers? Is there a penalty box for dancers? Inquiring minds want to know. Quiet crowd, but there wasn't a lot to roar about watching the lions eat the defenseless slaves.

The NA was sung by a teacher from North Syracuse named Becky Hall. She wore a little orange press, high boots and a dazzling smile. It was quite a look she put together. Also had some fine pipes. Solid job. She needs an encore ASAP.

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Colgate is one of the worst teams to ever play in the history of the Dome. Granted, this is a good Syracuse team but these Colgate players were soundly thrashed even late in the game, when the walk-ons, and the backup walk-ons came in. They looked like the teams that Milan played against in 1954, before nutrition, weight lifting, muscles and jumping ability were invented.

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We opened up in man, which was extremely effective, though Colgate got off to a good start and actually held a lead for a short time early. We pressed them very aggressively and I firmly believe that some of the hapless Red Raiders partly melted under the pressure. Southerland does a great job covering the guy on the other team that inbounds the ball...his long spider like arms are really effective here. Triche, Carter-Williams, CJ and Keita were all in the game during an inspired series of press defense that resulted in an explosion of Colgate turnovers and Syracuse points. Everyone played well but in addition to JS, BT and Keita was real standouts. Triche had a bunch of steals...might have had 3 in a row at one point. And Keita was again extremely mobile and aggressive, blocking shots like a complete madman. He has to be the most mobile center in the country.

Again, pretty much everyone played well. Dion again showed he can get to the basket against 5'10 flat footed monobrowed mouth breathers as well as anyone in the country. JS is shooting really well from the outside and continues to play with more confidence than he has in the past. CJ remains a smart and steady player who rebounds well, plays good defense and has a knack for getting open for and hitting the intermediate jumper. And now he is suddenly hitting open 3s consistently as well.

Melo had a bit of an off game, again getting in foul trouble early. He didn't get a lot of minutes and would eventually foul out. Keita played very well in his place, getting a lot of rebounds, blocks and regularly terrifying the talentless little Red Raider players.

Even Scoop got off the snide to some extent, driving inside for easy baskets (Colgate's philosophy once a guard dribbled the ball into the lane appeared to be to run away from the player ASAP, giving them clean access to the hoop). Maybe they don't understand that you can play defense in the paint. I am not sure Colgate brought their basketball team. They played more like a hockey team worried about icing penalties and going offsides.

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If there is a press report of Colgate losing a hockey game by a large margin today, my conjecture will be confirmed as fact.

It was weird to watch an SU game and see JB sitting there on the bench and no one sitting next to him in Bernie's seat. Hope the situation is resolved soon.

After the horrible carnage brought about by the SU press, the game was effectively over. At that point, JS, who had played maybe half the game, had 11 points and Colgate had 15. Pretty sure he could have outscored the Hamilton Skanks by himself if he was allowed to play the whole game.

SU when to the 2-3 zone from this point forward. Colgate was awful against this too, and often struggled to even get a shot off in the 35 seconds they had to work with. Given just how pathetic Colgate was, I am thinking about sending an invoice to the Colgate president for the price of my 3 tickets, as this was not a basketball game but a public execution. I think this is fair and reasonable...would appreciate any advice the legal experts on the board have to offer.

I don't think there is much that can be determined watching nuclear bombs destroy straw houses. Straw still burns, yup. I think the team is getting better on offense (Colgate actually had the temerity to try and play us man to man early...that coach is a madman). But the overwhelming sense I get is that this team is buying into the mantra of excelling on defense. They are really playing hard on the defensive end, and are playing solid defense in all areas...the zone, man and the press. When the team is playing this level of defense this early, I don't care who the opposition is, this is a very good thing and I like what I see.

One other note...SU was really really dominant on the boards. Again, playing against gnomes, this isn't an amazing achievement but I like the effort on the boards so far. We might be a lot better rebounding team than I was expecting us to be in the preseason. I hope so.

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Looking forward to a real game against a fine outside shooting VT team on Wednesday night. That one could be a real humdinger.
 
So what you're saying is that Colgate wasn't very good?

Sent from my DROIDX
 
19 players played. Holy Cow.
 
i needed a post about the actual game today to divert my attention from the other threads.

thank you
 
Blow out? Yes. Fun to watch anyway? Yes. Fun to watch a game without feeling nervous? Absolutely.
 
had the students been present at the game today they would have gone nuts for Becky!!!!!!
 
Colgate is an RPI bomb. I know they're an area team but for crying out loud they are the worst team we play every year. Can't we get this dog off the schedule and replace with a merely mediocre team that isn't like a 300 RPI.
 
I do think this was the first game in SU history (at least that I can remember) where the walk-ons got subbed in for by different walk-ons. I can rembember the days of Elimu Nelson getting to mop up the last 60 seconds and not having to worry about getting pulled.
 
Blow out? Yes. Fun to watch anyway? Yes. Fun to watch a game without feeling nervous? Absolutely.

Ditto. Really enjoyed it. Especially during that run when JS got hot in the first half
 
Colgate is an RPI bomb. I know they're an area team but for crying out loud they are the worst team we play every year. Can't we get this dog off the schedule and replace with a merely mediocre team that isn't like a 300 RPI.
RPI is not something we're going to have to worry about too much this year. We'll be fighting for a 1 or 2 seed slot all year long. RPI rarely factors into those equations.
 
Thanks for your usual excellent report but one exception. You forgot to mention that a Hokie is actually just a castrated turkey. I live about 40 miles form Blacksburg. It is surprising how many locals hate the Jokies(not a typo) and are actually eagerly awaiting seeing SU taking it it to them next week.
 
I've said this before but I'll say it again. We've played these same teams before and haven't made them look so bad. I know this season is early but this years team is special and the depth of it allows JB to do some things that he wasn't afforded with previous teams.
 
I do think this was the first game in SU history (at least that I can remember) where the walk-ons got subbed in for by different walk-ons. I can rembember the days of Elimu Nelson getting to mop up the last 60 seconds and not having to worry about getting pulled.
Morgan State last year. Lowest points scored against in the dome for a half EVER.
 
ll.

One other note...SU was really really dominant on the boards. Again, playing against gnomes, this isn't an amazing achievement but I like the effort on the boards so far. We might be a lot better rebounding team than I was expecting us to be in the preseason. I hope so.

I find it refreshing that we aren't being outrebounded by gnomes. In previous years we would consistently have trouble against little teams. Not this year. At least not so far.
 
I find it refreshing that we aren't being outrebounded by gnomes. In previous years we would consistently have trouble against little teams. Not this year. At least not so far.

Rebounds were actually only 39-35. We rebounded 39.5% of our misses. They rebounded 33.3% of theirs, not a huge difference.

But we played 19 guys.
 
Nice report as always. Your analysis of Colgate was eerily similar to your analysis of Colgate last year. Did you copy and paste:) They are just awful.
 
I've said this before but I'll say it again. We've played these same teams before and haven't made them look so bad. I know this season is early but this years team is special and the depth of it allows JB to do some things that he wasn't afforded with previous teams.

We held Colgate to 8 points in the first half last year and won by 57...
 
Nice report as always. Your analysis of Colgate was eerily similar to your analysis of Colgate last year. Did you copy and paste:) They are just awful.

I think Colgate may be better than last year because I think we may be better than last year. Maybe alot better.
 
Small crowd. Announced at 21K. Maybe half of that number were actually in the Dome.

I actually thought there was a really good crowd there, especially vs. the worst team on our schedule. Definitely not 21k but also nowhere near 11k. I would put it in the 15 to 17k range.
 
The last time I saw “what is a Hokie“ on this board they blew us up. Let’s be careful out there.
 
We held Colgate to 8 points in the first half last year and won by 57...
My comment wasn't meant to be taken as an apple to apple comparison. What I meant was that we have struggled in the past against some of these type of teams. I think the team is in great shape on both ends of the court.
 

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