sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Very small crowd, had to be less than 10K there. That was despite a strong showing by LeMoyne fans...I would guess they brought at least 500 fans to the game.
I like the new uniforms. More orange makes me happy. I would be happier still if we had a script Syracuse instead of the clumsy all caps ORANGE, but at least the duct tape look has been greatly diminished. I suspect only 3M and some pimply designer kid from Nike are saddened by this development.
Five.
That is the number of tubas that showed up in the SSS for the game.
Wow.
My reaction to the job the 13 year old girl from Chestnut Middle School in Liverpool did singing the national anthem. If she wants to pursue it, looks like the area has another youngster who is capable of competing on the national talent shows. Very poised, very smooth, very talented.
It is never a good idea to make strong conclusions after watching a single game. Especially an exhibition game. Especially an exhibition game against a D II school with no big guys (and not a lot of talented little guys either). But this post wouldn't be very interesting if all I said was 'too soon to tell anything', so I will ignore this and continue the post in an admittedly reckless manner.
Coleman looked like a player who hadn't played in two years in the first half. Didn't try much to get open on the low post, played like he had four fouls, wasn't aggressive and didn't look comfortable. On the positive side, he looks to be in excellent shape, moved up and down the court well and showed no signs of any problems with his legs. He did get visibly winded after playing a few minutes, which is not a surprise. Hope he can get better on this front so he can play more minutes.
In the second half, he was a lot more active, the team looked for him more and he was more of a force on the boards, as he should be against little ones. Even hit a 12 footer. Much like Christmas last year, he is going to get doubled a lot and needs to get better at recognizing this and finding the open man. Of course, DCII won't be featured anywhere near as much as Rak was, but this will be an important skill for him to work on.
His defense was not good. LeMoyne got into the paint a lot, aided by some really poor perimeter defense by our young players. When they did, DC2 didn't challenge them and they got off a lot of easy shots from 6-8 feet. We have no shotblocker on this team, so this is going to be a problem this season, especially if the perimeter defense continues to struggle. My biggest fear with DCII is him getting into foul trouble. He was very prone to it earlier in his career and has never shown a feel for when to try and draw a charge, or how to challenge a shot without getting called for a foul. IMHO, this will be one of the biggest keys for the season.
Roberson didn't get a lot of playing time and with the blizzard of 3s being launched around him, he didn't get many touches either. I bet he got the ball more on offensive rebounds (6) than he did from passes from his teammates. Part of that is on him; LeMoyne played man defense and he, like Coleman, should have aggressively posted his man down low from the first minute. Instead, he mostly stood around the perimeter, waited for someone to shoot and crashed the boards. Looks to be improved on defense, covers his corner of the zone noticeably better than last year. Had a couple nice steals. I like his passing, he is unselfish and does a good job finding the open man. I would say he looks like he has added the most muscle of any of the players from last season. He wasn't skinny last year but he pretty jacked these days.
Silent G had the ball a lot, as he will all year. This is his team, and as he goes, the Orangemen will go. I think he is going to stuff the stat sheet like few other players in college basketball. He had a couple really nice passes last night. Shot well from the 3 point circle, aided by some poor defense by LeMoyne, whose players lacked the height and agility to get in the face of the SU shooters much of the game.
JB said TC was going to shoot less this season and for this game anyway, he was right. Only took 6 shots in 26 minutes and only took 3 3s. Looks like he might contribute more in other ways this year. He rebounded the ball unusually well and I think his passing last night was the best I have seen from him as an Orangeman. Has he ever led the team in assists before? I suspect the answer is no. His defense was solid as well; he kept his man from penetrating and is going to get a lot of steals this year.
In the second half, he took his little man inside a lot, scored some baskets and drew a bunch of fouls, which is good to see. Hope he continues to do it all season, because it will probably be there.
The fifth starter was MR, as expected. As expected, he shot mostly 3 pointers. Didn't shoot them very well except for a brief period where he made 3 in a row, waking up a number of dozing spectators and frustrating young Beilein to no end. His high fade was resplendent and his shooting form impressive.
He played on the baseline on defense all game long. I was pleasantly surprised by his work on the defensive boards. He was pretty lost playing defense, gave up a 3 almost immediately but appeared to play his area of the zone a little better as the game went on. He does have quick hands and knocked a ball loose a couple of times. Looks like he is going to get some points in the paint or with mid range jumpers too, has the athletic ability to score in there.
TL got a lot of playing time, split between playing the four and the five on defense. Thought he played pretty well. People are going to focus on his poor shooting and yes, he didn't shoot it well (heck, he didn 't take many shots period). Mostly stood around the perimeter on offense. Like the other big guys, didn't get the ball down low a lot, didn't try to get it down low a lot either. Looked good on the offensive boards, had a couple nice, athletic, hustle type rebounds to keep possessions alive. Had a couple blocks too but he is not going to be much of a shot blocker at the college level against guys his own size. He is already a really good passer and could be a natural manning the high post someday. Could be really good at running the pick and roll down the road too.
Right now he is skinny, not really tough and not 100% ready to play at the ACC level. Was knocked down by a smaller guy going for a rebound on one play and was out muscled for a board by a 6'3 guy on another play. Still, his athletic ability and smarts are sufficient for him to be relatively successful now and I think he is going to get a lot of playing time. More on that later.
KJ got a lot of run. Played mostly off guard. Got off a lot of shots in limited minutes, forced a few, continues to try and use weak high school moves down low and continues to get embarrassing blocks...has to have better judgement and at least try to use his body to protect the ball. Thought it was interesting that when he and FH were in the game together, FH played point.
That brings us to FH. I think there is a strong competition going on right now between KJ and FH for the top backup guard position. I think whoever wins is going to get a lot of PT. Whoever loses...not so much. Last night, there was no comparison. FH looked like our best (and only true) PG on the court. He ran the offense well, made some nice passes, handled the ball well, penetrated and drew fouls, shot well from the field and just looked like a solid, experienced player out there. The best thing though was his defense. This kid is going to be an excellent defender...he is fast, tall, anticipates well, knows how to use his body, gets his hands up and boy, those hands are quick. Last night anyway, I can see why JB said what he said and I can see a scenario where FH gets a lot of playing time. His emergence might well mean Silent G is going to play a lot more at forward than expected.
The last scholarship player is CO. Really like the kid a lot, don't want to run him down unnecessarily but he doesn't understand the game at all, is completely lost on the offensive end, when we end up playing 4 on 5 when he is in and the best thing he can do is not draw a foul with the bizarre way he tries to set a pick. He played 11 minutes, did not take a shot and did not get a rebound. His defense wasn't great either...he doesn't attack penetrators like he should, doesn't challenge shots in his area and generally looks uncomfortable out there. He is quick, is capable of anticipating passes and getting steals and he runs the floor well. He has done a good job in the weight room and has the body to be successful. Hope he starts to use it to set proper picks, block out, draw charges, etc.
At this point, I don't think CO is going to play a lot against good teams. I see TL getting significant minutes at the 5 as DC2's primary backup. At least teams have to cover TL when Syracuse has the ball. At least TL has a chance to stop someone on defense. It is a shame we didn't get Bryant because we really could have used him this season.
I like the new uniforms. More orange makes me happy. I would be happier still if we had a script Syracuse instead of the clumsy all caps ORANGE, but at least the duct tape look has been greatly diminished. I suspect only 3M and some pimply designer kid from Nike are saddened by this development.
Five.
That is the number of tubas that showed up in the SSS for the game.
Wow.
My reaction to the job the 13 year old girl from Chestnut Middle School in Liverpool did singing the national anthem. If she wants to pursue it, looks like the area has another youngster who is capable of competing on the national talent shows. Very poised, very smooth, very talented.
It is never a good idea to make strong conclusions after watching a single game. Especially an exhibition game. Especially an exhibition game against a D II school with no big guys (and not a lot of talented little guys either). But this post wouldn't be very interesting if all I said was 'too soon to tell anything', so I will ignore this and continue the post in an admittedly reckless manner.
Coleman looked like a player who hadn't played in two years in the first half. Didn't try much to get open on the low post, played like he had four fouls, wasn't aggressive and didn't look comfortable. On the positive side, he looks to be in excellent shape, moved up and down the court well and showed no signs of any problems with his legs. He did get visibly winded after playing a few minutes, which is not a surprise. Hope he can get better on this front so he can play more minutes.
In the second half, he was a lot more active, the team looked for him more and he was more of a force on the boards, as he should be against little ones. Even hit a 12 footer. Much like Christmas last year, he is going to get doubled a lot and needs to get better at recognizing this and finding the open man. Of course, DCII won't be featured anywhere near as much as Rak was, but this will be an important skill for him to work on.
His defense was not good. LeMoyne got into the paint a lot, aided by some really poor perimeter defense by our young players. When they did, DC2 didn't challenge them and they got off a lot of easy shots from 6-8 feet. We have no shotblocker on this team, so this is going to be a problem this season, especially if the perimeter defense continues to struggle. My biggest fear with DCII is him getting into foul trouble. He was very prone to it earlier in his career and has never shown a feel for when to try and draw a charge, or how to challenge a shot without getting called for a foul. IMHO, this will be one of the biggest keys for the season.
Roberson didn't get a lot of playing time and with the blizzard of 3s being launched around him, he didn't get many touches either. I bet he got the ball more on offensive rebounds (6) than he did from passes from his teammates. Part of that is on him; LeMoyne played man defense and he, like Coleman, should have aggressively posted his man down low from the first minute. Instead, he mostly stood around the perimeter, waited for someone to shoot and crashed the boards. Looks to be improved on defense, covers his corner of the zone noticeably better than last year. Had a couple nice steals. I like his passing, he is unselfish and does a good job finding the open man. I would say he looks like he has added the most muscle of any of the players from last season. He wasn't skinny last year but he pretty jacked these days.
Silent G had the ball a lot, as he will all year. This is his team, and as he goes, the Orangemen will go. I think he is going to stuff the stat sheet like few other players in college basketball. He had a couple really nice passes last night. Shot well from the 3 point circle, aided by some poor defense by LeMoyne, whose players lacked the height and agility to get in the face of the SU shooters much of the game.
JB said TC was going to shoot less this season and for this game anyway, he was right. Only took 6 shots in 26 minutes and only took 3 3s. Looks like he might contribute more in other ways this year. He rebounded the ball unusually well and I think his passing last night was the best I have seen from him as an Orangeman. Has he ever led the team in assists before? I suspect the answer is no. His defense was solid as well; he kept his man from penetrating and is going to get a lot of steals this year.
In the second half, he took his little man inside a lot, scored some baskets and drew a bunch of fouls, which is good to see. Hope he continues to do it all season, because it will probably be there.
The fifth starter was MR, as expected. As expected, he shot mostly 3 pointers. Didn't shoot them very well except for a brief period where he made 3 in a row, waking up a number of dozing spectators and frustrating young Beilein to no end. His high fade was resplendent and his shooting form impressive.
He played on the baseline on defense all game long. I was pleasantly surprised by his work on the defensive boards. He was pretty lost playing defense, gave up a 3 almost immediately but appeared to play his area of the zone a little better as the game went on. He does have quick hands and knocked a ball loose a couple of times. Looks like he is going to get some points in the paint or with mid range jumpers too, has the athletic ability to score in there.
TL got a lot of playing time, split between playing the four and the five on defense. Thought he played pretty well. People are going to focus on his poor shooting and yes, he didn't shoot it well (heck, he didn 't take many shots period). Mostly stood around the perimeter on offense. Like the other big guys, didn't get the ball down low a lot, didn't try to get it down low a lot either. Looked good on the offensive boards, had a couple nice, athletic, hustle type rebounds to keep possessions alive. Had a couple blocks too but he is not going to be much of a shot blocker at the college level against guys his own size. He is already a really good passer and could be a natural manning the high post someday. Could be really good at running the pick and roll down the road too.
Right now he is skinny, not really tough and not 100% ready to play at the ACC level. Was knocked down by a smaller guy going for a rebound on one play and was out muscled for a board by a 6'3 guy on another play. Still, his athletic ability and smarts are sufficient for him to be relatively successful now and I think he is going to get a lot of playing time. More on that later.
KJ got a lot of run. Played mostly off guard. Got off a lot of shots in limited minutes, forced a few, continues to try and use weak high school moves down low and continues to get embarrassing blocks...has to have better judgement and at least try to use his body to protect the ball. Thought it was interesting that when he and FH were in the game together, FH played point.
That brings us to FH. I think there is a strong competition going on right now between KJ and FH for the top backup guard position. I think whoever wins is going to get a lot of PT. Whoever loses...not so much. Last night, there was no comparison. FH looked like our best (and only true) PG on the court. He ran the offense well, made some nice passes, handled the ball well, penetrated and drew fouls, shot well from the field and just looked like a solid, experienced player out there. The best thing though was his defense. This kid is going to be an excellent defender...he is fast, tall, anticipates well, knows how to use his body, gets his hands up and boy, those hands are quick. Last night anyway, I can see why JB said what he said and I can see a scenario where FH gets a lot of playing time. His emergence might well mean Silent G is going to play a lot more at forward than expected.
The last scholarship player is CO. Really like the kid a lot, don't want to run him down unnecessarily but he doesn't understand the game at all, is completely lost on the offensive end, when we end up playing 4 on 5 when he is in and the best thing he can do is not draw a foul with the bizarre way he tries to set a pick. He played 11 minutes, did not take a shot and did not get a rebound. His defense wasn't great either...he doesn't attack penetrators like he should, doesn't challenge shots in his area and generally looks uncomfortable out there. He is quick, is capable of anticipating passes and getting steals and he runs the floor well. He has done a good job in the weight room and has the body to be successful. Hope he starts to use it to set proper picks, block out, draw charges, etc.
At this point, I don't think CO is going to play a lot against good teams. I see TL getting significant minutes at the 5 as DC2's primary backup. At least teams have to cover TL when Syracuse has the ball. At least TL has a chance to stop someone on defense. It is a shame we didn't get Bryant because we really could have used him this season.