sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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I thought the crowd was surprisingly good for a game so early in the season. My guess is there were about 20 K who actually attended. I was disappointed in the turnout from Lehigh fans. They brought perhaps 100 to the Dome.
Another game, another excellent singer for the national anthem. This one was a former student at Wells college who came all the way from Binghamton to sing. Very nice voice, and she received a warm ovation from the fans when she was finished.
The game was not at all what I expected. Lehigh has an experienced team, and I saw they would do a good job carving up our inexperienced zone defense. That was not the case. They spent much of the first half passing the ball around the perimeter of the zone, and regularly struggled to get off a good shot. A lot of the credit goes to the Syracuse zone, which is surprising me with its early effectiveness.
I would have thought JB would have put Silent G on the baseline, and put MR at the top of the zone. Silent G is taller, stronger and has a lot of experience playing on the baseline. But it turns out JB knows what he's doing. Silent G, paired with TC at the top of the zone, were a nightmare for the Mountain Hawks to attack. Those two are very tall, very agile, and very adept at preventing penetration into the paint. And MR is doing a very good job patrolling the baseline. It is rare for a freshman to be effective playing in the zone, and early reports had Malachi pegged as disinterested in defense but he has been focused, alert, and has shown excellent anticipation thus far on defense.
Roberson is also looking sour that on his side of the baseline, and the solid play of these three has helped mask the issues with DC2 in the middle. The offense was reminiscent of the exhibition games in that when Syracuse is not hitting threes, things can get ugly very quickly. You can see this team loves to take open three-point shots, even against undersized opponents where they should be looking to score more inside.
On the positive side, there are a number of excellent pastors on the team, they are playing very unselfish, and often pass up excellent shots to make unwarranted extra passes. Still, it is very concerning to see so little attention paid to working the ball inside. DC2 and TR need to work however I getting position down low and getting the ball against teams like this. It was good to see Silent G realize he was being covered by a 5'10" guard, which led to him going down low and posting him up, which led to Lehigh switching to a two three zone.
The second half was difficult to watch. To their credit, Lehigh did a much better job getting the ball inside, where they could take advantage of the weak interior defense Syracuse has the season. We even gave up some easy baskets in transition, and gave them all the chats from the outside. I am not sure I have ever seen a bigger contrast in defense played from half to half as we saw last night.
Some miscellaneous thoughts……
DaJuan is playing like a different player right now then we saw before. He is not boxing out, he is not playing physical, and it almost looks like he is trying to avoid contact. He has gone from an outstanding rebounder to a poor one. I hope this changes soon. I suspect this is being driven because he is trying to stay out of foul trouble.
TR is also playing pretty soft right now. He is not hitting the boards, is not being assertive on offense, and just looks like he's coasting out there. Looks like JB was not happy with him, and because we were struggling to score, he was taken out, Silent G was moved to forward, and I can add capable of scoring points was moved in to help jumpstart our failing offense.
Thought CO played really well. He is very quick and anticipates quite well on defense, so he's going to get a lot of steels. Lehigh challenged him inside and he responded with some good blocks as well. He remains a complete nonfactor playing offense, where we are forced to play for on five, and I hope he doesn't make another foolish moving pick, as he is wont to do.
With DC2 and CO in foul trouble, TL was forced to play a lot at center. Thought he did a good job there. Was active on defense, got some steals and blocks, and he remains the only center we have who poses any problems defending him. Right now he looks unsure on offense, often passes up good shots, deferring upperclassman. You can see though that he is capable of scoring from the outside, is an excellent passer, and can also drive to the basket. I love his hassle. At one point, he went down to the ground on the successive possessions. He will surely lead the team in floor burns even as a true freshman.
KJ played well, did a good job finding seams in the Lehigh defense to get off mid range jumpers. Looks much improved and his good play, coupled with what Silent G and TC bring, means there isn't much playing time for FH. But FH is a player and his time will come.
This was not a pretty game to watch. Are often struggled a lot and blood for a great burst of scoring near the end of the first half, it was ugly. I think the high is a good team, and this victory will look much better come February or March. It's fun to watch a young teen working to find their roles. It should be a very interesting season.
Another game, another excellent singer for the national anthem. This one was a former student at Wells college who came all the way from Binghamton to sing. Very nice voice, and she received a warm ovation from the fans when she was finished.
The game was not at all what I expected. Lehigh has an experienced team, and I saw they would do a good job carving up our inexperienced zone defense. That was not the case. They spent much of the first half passing the ball around the perimeter of the zone, and regularly struggled to get off a good shot. A lot of the credit goes to the Syracuse zone, which is surprising me with its early effectiveness.
I would have thought JB would have put Silent G on the baseline, and put MR at the top of the zone. Silent G is taller, stronger and has a lot of experience playing on the baseline. But it turns out JB knows what he's doing. Silent G, paired with TC at the top of the zone, were a nightmare for the Mountain Hawks to attack. Those two are very tall, very agile, and very adept at preventing penetration into the paint. And MR is doing a very good job patrolling the baseline. It is rare for a freshman to be effective playing in the zone, and early reports had Malachi pegged as disinterested in defense but he has been focused, alert, and has shown excellent anticipation thus far on defense.
Roberson is also looking sour that on his side of the baseline, and the solid play of these three has helped mask the issues with DC2 in the middle. The offense was reminiscent of the exhibition games in that when Syracuse is not hitting threes, things can get ugly very quickly. You can see this team loves to take open three-point shots, even against undersized opponents where they should be looking to score more inside.
On the positive side, there are a number of excellent pastors on the team, they are playing very unselfish, and often pass up excellent shots to make unwarranted extra passes. Still, it is very concerning to see so little attention paid to working the ball inside. DC2 and TR need to work however I getting position down low and getting the ball against teams like this. It was good to see Silent G realize he was being covered by a 5'10" guard, which led to him going down low and posting him up, which led to Lehigh switching to a two three zone.
The second half was difficult to watch. To their credit, Lehigh did a much better job getting the ball inside, where they could take advantage of the weak interior defense Syracuse has the season. We even gave up some easy baskets in transition, and gave them all the chats from the outside. I am not sure I have ever seen a bigger contrast in defense played from half to half as we saw last night.
Some miscellaneous thoughts……
DaJuan is playing like a different player right now then we saw before. He is not boxing out, he is not playing physical, and it almost looks like he is trying to avoid contact. He has gone from an outstanding rebounder to a poor one. I hope this changes soon. I suspect this is being driven because he is trying to stay out of foul trouble.
TR is also playing pretty soft right now. He is not hitting the boards, is not being assertive on offense, and just looks like he's coasting out there. Looks like JB was not happy with him, and because we were struggling to score, he was taken out, Silent G was moved to forward, and I can add capable of scoring points was moved in to help jumpstart our failing offense.
Thought CO played really well. He is very quick and anticipates quite well on defense, so he's going to get a lot of steels. Lehigh challenged him inside and he responded with some good blocks as well. He remains a complete nonfactor playing offense, where we are forced to play for on five, and I hope he doesn't make another foolish moving pick, as he is wont to do.
With DC2 and CO in foul trouble, TL was forced to play a lot at center. Thought he did a good job there. Was active on defense, got some steals and blocks, and he remains the only center we have who poses any problems defending him. Right now he looks unsure on offense, often passes up good shots, deferring upperclassman. You can see though that he is capable of scoring from the outside, is an excellent passer, and can also drive to the basket. I love his hassle. At one point, he went down to the ground on the successive possessions. He will surely lead the team in floor burns even as a true freshman.
KJ played well, did a good job finding seams in the Lehigh defense to get off mid range jumpers. Looks much improved and his good play, coupled with what Silent G and TC bring, means there isn't much playing time for FH. But FH is a player and his time will come.
This was not a pretty game to watch. Are often struggled a lot and blood for a great burst of scoring near the end of the first half, it was ugly. I think the high is a good team, and this victory will look much better come February or March. It's fun to watch a young teen working to find their roles. It should be a very interesting season.
(I totally missed the game because of a commitment in CT, so really appreciated this report).
