My Take | Syracusefan.com

My Take

sutomcat

No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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i would say there were around 22.5 K actually in the Dome for the game yesterday. The student crowd was notably small, continuing a season long trend. This group of students is one of the worst in recent memory. Small in size, relatively quiet, not inventive or original either. What ever happened to big heads anyway?

The NA was sung by an all male chorus group. Orange Appeal, I think. They did a nice job.

The players again wore their smart script Pearl shirts for warm ups. Wish they were available for purchase. The ones Steiner is selling are okay but a lot of money was left on the table that could have gone to Pearl had they coordinated support efforts better. SU did give free Pearl thirst out to the cheerleaders and most of the students. They weren't as nice as the ones the team wore, but it was better than nothing. The female cheerleaders dumped them by the second half...

Some random thoughts...

Playing Franklin Howard has lots of benefits. It gives Silent G a chance to play off the ball for a while. It gives TC and MG a chance to get some rest. It gives us a guard who will having meaningful pt at guard for next season.

This team melted down late in games early in conference play but has played a lot better in recent games down the stretch. I submit giving the senior guards some rest has played a role in this.

With each passing game it gets more apparent who the go to guy us for this team. It isn't Trevor, who has had a fine career but rarely has come up big in the final minutes. Silent G has made some big plays but hasn't emerged as a reliable guy scoring in crunch time either. It hasn't helped that he is a really bad FZt shooter.

The guy who seems to step up the most when a big play is needed is Malachi. Pretty rare for a frosh to be willing to take lots of big shots. It is even rarer when he consistently makes them. He was supposed to be really good. If anything, he has exceeded expectations.

And it isn't just coming up big scoring points. He has a knack for getting big rebounds and steals too. The rebounding thing is especially impressive given he is playing out of position this season down low. The kid is really competive and scrappy, and is a born leader and winner.

When the refs have to huddle to figure out what they just called 5 or 6 times in a single game, you know there are some problems going on. They looked like they had never worked together before. They almost stole the game from Syracuse. Thank God that didn't happen.

Biggest possessions of the game happened around the 5 minute mark. GT had the ball up 4 and had an extended possession where they had a series of shots close to the basket. A number of them hung on the rim but none fell. Finally SU got a rebound and MR hit a 3 almost immediately to cut the lead to 1. It was a huge turning point in the game.

Good to see DC2 and FH contributing valuable minutes. Good to hear the Dome wake up from what has been a series of quiet and drab crowds to make some real noise and help contribute to a win.

This group of players has gone through some serious adversity but looks to be playing its best all when it is needed the most. Props to everyone involved, especially the staff and the captains. Glad the danger of actually having a listing season has pretty much been averted.

Looking forward to another game on Tuesday. Should be a good one.
 
Nice report, and I agree with a lot of it.

It is clear that Gbinije is in fact the leader of this team -- and not even close.

But, yes, there are times when Richardson shows the physical talent to make an offensive move to beat a defender, and get his shot. And, he can elevate on the boards to compete for rebounds against taller players. He was good in the clutch in the second half against GaTech, but he was not effective on offense in the first half.
 
Yeah, Malachi's the real deal. He wants the moment.

Yeah, he's been coming up big of late - kid definitely has some moxie.

I remember hearing before the season about Lydon playing above the rim - thought we were finally going to see a high-flying monster-dunk from the Frosh, but sadly he was blocked by the rim. It was a good drive along the baseline though - just wish he could have finished.

Cooooooney had one of his prettier assists of the season on that wrap-around dish to Roberson. Roberson almost had the three point play too - but almost airballed another free-throw instead. :(

As Roberson's free throw shooting has fallen apart - G seems to be getting back on track with his for the most part. That's a good sign. He could still be better though.

And, lastly, concur on DC. Good to see him have a decent night, after struggling for a few in a row - continuing his work from the second half against Notre Dame.

Great post, tomcat.
 
didn't know we were in danger of having a listing season, but I'm glad to hear that the danger has passed.
 
I like how Malachi drives and almost always draws a foul. A great weapon to up the foul count of key opposing players.
 
Yay! Tomcat is back with his cogent summaries, a fine complement to SWCs valiant ones. Now if only The General would post his more often...

My only comment is about the listing season. I've decided to try to not correct people's spelling errors anymore, ever since I caught my iPhone in the act of changing the word I pressed into one spelled substantially differently and with a totally unrelated meaning. I would just urge everyone to reread their posts carefully before hitting send to catch their errors, whether they are due to the typist or autocorrect.
 
Yay! Tomcat is back with his cogent summaries, a fine complement to SWCs valiant ones. Now if only The General would post his more often...

My only comment is about the listing season. I've decided to try to not correct people's spelling errors anymore, ever since I caught my iPhone in the act of changing the word I pressed into one spelled substantially differently and with a totally unrelated meaning. I would just urge everyone to reread their posts carefully before hitting send to catch their errors, whether they are due to the typist or autocorrect.
But you take away the thrill of reading a totally unplanned sentence. Even though most of us know what the problem is, these "self correcting" machines can give troubling or funny moments. :p
 
But you take away the thrill of reading a totally unplanned sentence. Even though most of us know what the problem is, these "self correcting" machines can give troubling or funny moments. :p
To be sure. I've seem quite a few very funny and embarrassing ones cited in Facebook posts.
 

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