My two cents

[kcsu]

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

I found the games in Honolulu to be pretty much what many of us expected. Two very difficult games against very good teams that would and did expose our weaknesses. The first half of the Tennesse game was as good a half as I have seen Syracuse play in a few years. I thought our D was exceptional. We played extremely hard that game and we were in the game with less than 4 minutes left. I considered it an excellent effort. The Zags had us from the opening Tip and the kids seemed lethargic and played poorly.
Chaminade was as Bill Walton said just what you need when you need to get well. Can't take much from that game other than I really liked how Judah played. He actually looked like a PG for once. Did an excellent job distributing and getting guys involved.
This team has talent but we lack some very important tools. Namely top notch forwards. Benny and Bell are ok and i do think they will improve as the season goes on. They will never be game changers and their ceiling is limited. They and that position are the weak link that will hold us back against top teams.

I thought that Red did well. His substitutions for the most part worked, and the kids played hard. I like that he is being tough on Benny, and it is obvious that he had a chat with Judah about what he expects out of a PG.

We will finish above 500 and possibly make the dance. We need forwards and another shooter both of which signed a few days ago. This will be a fun year one that I believe will have us back on a good path.

Looking forward to next week's games.

Go Cuse!

 

[bballbeadle]

Your post was refreshing. Thank you.

 

[upperdeck]

Just improve the rebounding.. Thats the easiest fix to make.. Get 3-5 more chances on offense and removed 3-5 for the other team. Even if shooting remains at the same poor level you have gained 4-10 pts a game. Some of that is real easy. Just get 1-2 guys to actually move in the proper direction when the ball goes up..

 

[FireballPhil]

I know the team got there a couple days early but I wonder how much the time difference plus early games hurt them. I think the first game against Tennessee it might have affected both teams, but Gonzaga would not have been affected nearly as badly and perhaps that showed as well.

 

[newmexicuse]

Just improve the rebounding.. Thats the easiest fix to make.. Get 3-5 more chances on offense and removed 3-5 for the other team. Even if shooting remains at the same poor level you have gained 4-10 pts a game. Some of that is real easy. Just get 1-2 guys to actually move in the proper direction when the ball goes up..

The problem is that the only two guys we have who really go after the ball are Cope and Taylor. So, unless a couple of other guys step up and start to crash glass it will be hard to improve rebounding.

 

[upperdeck]

The problem is that the only two guys we have who really go after the ball are Cope and Taylor. So, unless a couple of other guys step up and start to crash glass it will be hard to improve rebounding.

I agree. One would think the one time Bell went to the glass and got a dynamic dunk it would dawn on him he could do it more often but it never has..

 

[DCUNITED13]

Now that we had a few days to calm down, there are a lot of positives.

1. If it was only one game (Tennessee) there would not be this much flame feeding the fire. It was a great effort that went off the rails at the end. Gonzaga exposed what we all feared and fed the flames of negativity.
2. We made a number of comebacks against good teams and were within reach had we been able to execute.
3. Chaminade game showed all our offensive abilities and that was very nice to see
4. Like the progression by some of the players.
   1. Copeland
   2. Bell
5. Like that Coach has no problem having players sit and watch while the team plays
   1. Judah Mintz
   2. Benny Williams
      1. Unlike JB there is no quick hook

I think we have a great shot to finish 8-3 on Out of Conference Games. Lets just hope the last of the losses is not against GTown as I'm heading to that game.

Go CUSE

 

[IthacaMatt]

Now that we had a few days to calm down, there are a lot of positives.

1. If it was only one game (Tennessee) there would not be this much flame feeding the fire. It was a great effort that went off the rails at the end. Gonzaga exposed what we all feared and fed the flames of negativity.
2. We made a number of comebacks against good teams and were within reach had we been able to execute.
3. Chaminade game showed all our offensive abilities and that was very nice to see
4. Like the progression by some of the players.
   1. Copeland
   2. Bell
5. Like that Coach has no problem having players sit and watch while the team plays
   1. Judah Mintz
   2. Benny Williams
      1. Unlike JB there is no quick hook

I think we have a great shot to finish 8-3 on Out of Conference Games. Lets just hope the last of the losses is not against GTown as I'm heading to that game.

Go CUSE

As for "quick hook" - maybe not instantaneous like JB would do after a bad shot. But when he sits someone down, it's for a while.

 

[kcsu]

I think that Red is going to end up being a very good coach. I'm impressed with what he has accomplished in a very short time. The comeback against Colgate was incredible and the kids played very well against Tennessee. It's a long season and we are short a few pieces. West coming back will help but next year should be a good year. Hopefully we can make the dance this march it will be close.