My Three and Three...

[newmexicuse]

Three things I liked and disliked....

The good...

1. Cooney - he kept us in the game single handedly, my take on him posted in a separate thread.

2. Ennis - Another solid performance, but I especially liked his 5 point burst when we were down 8 and struggling to find some scoring. That is what he does best - give us exactly what we need when we need it, not to mention his 6 heists.

3. Grant - he slept walked through 30 minutes, but he sure dominated the last ten and that was playing w 4 fouls. I was amazed he was able to stay that aggressive and not foul out. His highlight reel dunk speaks for itself.

The bad......

1. The team played very soft for 30 minutes. There were at least 3 or 4 times when Grant or somebody else was in dunk position & went up soft and had the shot blocked or just plain missed. Cj failed to assert himself with a very favorable matchup.

2. Too Cocky - the team started out playing like they expected BC to just look at our #2 ranking and tremble. We then had a nice run to get to 30-23 and the cockiness syndrome struck again & didn't stop until we were down 8. We were very slow on D rotations and they got plenty of wide open trey looks.

3. Bench Development - This was the second time at least that Jimmy got away with it. Grant had 4 fouls at the 10 minute mark. There was a game earlier where the same thing happened to CJ. Both times the kids did not foul out. There will be a game down the road when we are not so lucky. We need Roberson to get some more minutes so when that happens we will be prepared. That being said - I had no quibbles with the way Jimmy substituted last night

 

[Marsh01]

The bench argument is overblown in general. We were the best team in the country in 2009-2010 and played 7 guys every game and never 8.

 

[Rocco]

3 likes:

1. The amazingly loud LGO chants in Chestnut Hill. #orangeNATION

2. Cooney showed what he is capable of with a dribble. Also had a few great telegraph steals.

3. Ennis started off rough, but as usual, put this team on his back and calmed them down.

3 dislikes:

1. Our offense was really lazy in the 1st half.

2. Our zone was getting abused up top before we really extended it out.

3. We need DaJuan back.


Another great "composure" win. I will take every one we can get.

 

[Dave85]

The bench argument is overblown in general. We were the best team in the country in 2009-2010 and played 7 guys every game and never 8.

I totally agree. Playing 7 guys will make them play better together and they will have better conditioning. If the Orange were up by 20 I would have loved to see Roberson and Paterson play so we have more options. But playing only 7 is all good as far as I am concerned. If Grant fouled out Roberson would have got more PT.

 

[2-3zone]

Three things I liked and disliked...

The good...

1. Cooney - he kept us in the game single handedly, my take on him posted in a separate thread.

2. Ennis - Another solid performance, but I especially liked his 5 point burst when we were down 8 and struggling to find some scoring. That is what he does best - give us exactly what we need when we need it, not to mention his 6 heists.

3. Grant - he slept walked through 30 minutes, but he sure dominated the last ten and that was playing w 4 fouls. I was amazed he was able to stay that aggressive and not foul out. His highlight reel dunk speaks for itself.

The bad...

1. The team played very soft for 30 minutes. There were at least 3 or 4 times when Grant or somebody else was in dunk position & went up soft and had the shot blocked or just plain missed. Cj failed to assert himself with a very favorable matchup.

2. Too Cocky - the team started out playing like they expected BC to just look at our #2 ranking and tremble. We then had a nice run to get to 30-23 and the cockiness syndrome struck again & didn't stop until we were down 8. We were very slow on D rotations and they got plenty of wide open trey looks.

3. Bench Development - This was the second time at least that Jimmy got away with it. Grant had 4 fouls at the 10 minute mark. There was a game earlier where the same thing happened to CJ. Both times the kids did not foul out. There will be a game down the road when we are not so lucky. We need Roberson to get some more minutes so when that happens we will be prepared. That being said - I had no quibbles with the way Jimmy substituted last night

"Cocky" I just don't see cocky with this team

 

[edowd26]

The bench argument is overblown in general. We were the best team in the country in 2009-2010 and played 7 guys every game and never 8.

... and then?

 

[Marsh01]

... and then?

and then we had a key injury which never happens. I hated the argument that we should have played Riley more that year to get him ready. I want to punch people in the face when I hear that.

 

[edowd26]

and then we had a key injury which never happens. I hated the argument that we should have played Riley more that year to get him ready. I want to punch people in the face when I hear that.

Pfft riley. I'm talking shawn pterdacdyl williams

 

[Marsh01]

Pfft riley. I'm talking shawn pterdacdyl williams

My bad. Williams. Sorry. Same situation.

Might as well have played me at the 5

 

[orange79]

Not sure I buy the 'cocky' argument. At all. This team is anything BUT cocky.

 

[Marsh01]

2. Too Cocky - the team started out playing like they expected BC to just look at our #2 ranking and tremble. We then had a nice run to get to 30-23 and the cockiness syndrome struck again & didn't stop until we were down 8. We were very slow on D rotations and they got plenty of wide open trey looks.

We werent cocky. I would call it a lack of focus on finding their shooters in the first half which led to them hitting 6 of their first 12 three pointers. This team is far from cocky.

 

[edowd26]

My bad. Williams. Sorry. Same situation.

Might as well have played me at the 5

I think you were right it was riley and Jackson. But we needed someone from the bench to be a more seasoned player. We lost to jar crowder and buzz Williams. I often cry about that season.

 

[Marsh01]

I think you were right it was riley and Jackson. But we needed someone from the bench to be a more seasoned player. We lost to jar crowder and buzz Williams. I often cry about that season.

Yea I thought it was Riley.

 

[edowd26]

Yea I thought it was Riley.

I just wanted to Sean Williams name drop. The opportunities are so rare.

 

[MikeSU02]

Three things I liked and disliked...

Liked:

1) Cooney getting to the rim and shooting from inside the arc

2) Ennis coming through in crunch time

3a) Jerami Grant's game after the fourth foul

3b) Roberson getting some burn

Disliked:

1) No DJC. Really need him back even if it's for 5-7 minutes a game.

2) BMK - he was really out of control. Foul waiting to happen.

3) CJ's assertiveness. When we went up 32-23, we could have finished them off right there. When we have a chance to close out a game early, CJ needs to get to the rim or the FT line or do his pump fake and pull up mid range J. We need to be able to go to him to finish off teams.

With all that said, any road conference win is a good win.

 

[OttoMets]

The bench argument is overblown in general. We were the best team in the country in 2009-2010 and played 7 guys every game and never 8.

And then our season ended when #5 got injured, #7 was hurt, #1 disappeared, and #4 had a crap game but had no one to replace him.

A bench is good. Not saying we can't win without it, but it'd be a nice thing to have and a nice thing to develop. No time like the present.

 

[Marsh01]

And then our season ended when #5 got injured, #7 was hurt, #1 disappeared, and #4 had a crap game but had no one to replace him.

A bench is good. Not saying we can't win without it, but it'd be a nice thing to have and a nice thing to develop. No time like the present.

It all spiraled from Arinze going down.

 

[NineOneSeven]

At one point in the first, we had G, Baye, and Roberson in. Strange lineup.

 

[CaptainJ]

At one point in the first, we had G, Baye, and Roberson in. Strange lineup.

A strange lineup calls for a strange brew.

 

[edowd26]

At one point in the first, we had G, Baye, and Roberson in. Strange lineup.

Boeheim was trying to make a statement to his starters for 22.7 seconds.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

One concern to make note of down the road is that BC contained CJ with a 6'2" guard. He was quick enough to get out on CJ, negating his outside shot, and when CJ put the ball on the floor, his man stayed in front of him, and he got help. CJ could stand to develop a jumper where he elevates and really extends to get a clean look, a la Michael Jordan, to better take advantage of mismatches.

 

[OttoMets]

It all spiraled from Arinze going down.

No doubt. Like Jenga - pull one piece and everything comes tumbling down.

But most teams are bound to have problems -- fatigue, injury, confidence -- after 31 games. Ideally we'd have a couple spare parts to plug in, especially this season.

Our deep bench was really thin in 2010 - only Southerland, Mookie, and Riley, if memory serves. Southerland and Mookie were deemed not ready; Riley was, I think, as ready as he was going to be (and he wasn't the problem against Butler).

This year's deep bench is stronger. In a perfect world we'd get Patterson and especially Roberson some time. I'm concerned that our season is going to come to an end when both of our forwards play badly on the same night, we stick with them for 76 minutes or so, and Grant doesn't magically come through as he did last night. It'd be terrific to prepare Roberson to jump right in when Grant or C.J. has a rough patch. That's not Boeheim's way, though, so we'll have to roll with the favored guys.

 

[OttoMets]

One concern to make note of down the road is that BC contained CJ with a 6'2" guard. He was quick enough to get out on CJ, negating his outside shot, and when CJ put the ball on the floor, his man stayed in front of him, and he got help. CJ could stand to develop a jumper where he elevates and really extends to get a clean look, a la Michael Jordan, to better take advantage of mismatches.

You weren't the only one to notice. A few teams will give that a try.

 

[NineOneSeven]

You weren't the only one to notice. A few teams will give that a try.

They will do this because CJ isn't a post player. He can hit shots from the post but only after he gets to that spot on a dribble drive.

The announcer kept saying we needed to get Fair the ball with the smaller defender, but Fair is not a back to the basket player. That job is for Rak, and we need to get him the ball more (broken record).