Oakland Thoughts

[Tony DeFranco]

Are we back?

Back where? where we've been for a long time now - I guess so - we have a realistic shot of making the NIT Tournament - the days of us being a potential bubble team seem to have passed us by

 

[HOFCeluck]

Back where? where we've been for a long time now - I guess so - we have a realistic shot of making the NIT Tournament - the days of us being a potential bubble team seem to have passed us by

I just bought my East Regional tickets.

 

[DoctahLexus]

The mvp of the game was the mic under the basket. Heard everything. Copeland , who was just coming off a run of 3 turnovers , 2 missed shots , and injuring a player in about 2 minutes , gives Hima crap about a foul to which Hima tells him to shut up and that he’s trying

Then Benny gets a rebound off a missed free throw with NO opponent within 15 feet and yells “that’s my board N word”

Good stuff

Benny learned that from the best. That is the Melo technique

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Haha the Hima one was great. "Don't yell at me! I'm trying, bro, I'm trying!"

What made it great was that it was freaking Copeland , who had been violating every tenet of basketball, who was the one to admonish him. Like , geez , have some self awareness

 

[tbonezone]

Could have turned a corner? Perhaps? Maybe?

oakland don't mean schinizzell dog.

 

[Dave]

I think the St. Bartholomew girls JV is better than our walk ons.

 

[atlanticuse]

The mvp of the game was the mic under the basket. Heard everything. Copeland , who was just coming off a run of 3 turnovers , 2 missed shots , and injuring a player in about 2 minutes , gives Hima crap about a foul to which Hima tells him to shut up and that he’s trying

Then Benny gets a rebound off a missed free throw with NO opponent within 15 feet and yells “that’s my board N word”

Good stuff

Both at/around 8:47 second half.

Three Cuse players around the rim - missed FT - and Benny goes 10 feet in the air.

Love the effort.

 

[rrlbees]

It's embarrassing when some "fans" are so critical of our student-athletes. Give these kids a break. I understand knocking the coaches but how does being critical of our players help the program going forward. Do you really think a future recruit and his family would really want to come here. How about a current player. Do you think he feels welcome. Some people really need to take a step back. Especially after a game we were winning by 42 points.

Amen.

 

[Cuse181]

The mvp of the game was the mic under the basket. Heard everything. Copeland , who was just coming off a run of 3 turnovers , 2 missed shots , and injuring a player in about 2 minutes , gives Hima crap about a foul to which Hima tells him to shut up and that he’s trying

Then Benny gets a rebound off a missed free throw with NO opponent within 15 feet and yells “that’s my board N word”

Good stuff

I was wondering who said something to hima, not sure why Copeland feels like he should be saying anything to anyone

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I think the St. Bartholomew girls JV is better than our walk ins.

Wow, I mean they were pretty bad. That one guy was throwing the ball at the rim like he was kidding around. Of course if you played them in pick up they probably seem awesome

 

[orangecuse]

Amen.

Interesting. Yet 40 years later you're still spewing your "hate" for Patrick Ewing in that thread.

 

[rrlbees]

Interesting. Yet 40 years later you're still spewing your "hate" for Patrick Ewing in that thread.

LOL. Ones our team and players. The other isn’t.

 

[NorSyr66]

I missed the game. Can anyone describe Chris Bell's rebound?

Actually one of, if not, the first rebound in the game for Syracuse. It was a shot from the left that angled of the backboard directly to Bell. He had to catch it or it would have hit him. This is from memory!!!

 

[PoppyHart]

Actually one of, if not, the first rebound in the game for Syracuse. It was a shot from the left that angled of the backboard directly to Bell. He had to catch it or it would have hit him. This is from memory!!!

So a dead man COULD have caught it!

 

[billsin01]

When did Benny become the board whipping boy ??? Due to unrealistic expectations?

JBA great vision makes great passes vitial in the offense - 3 assists tonight
Benny does nothing on the court. Terrible shouldn't play - 6 assists tonight

JBA what a great motor always in position to rebound - 6 rebounds tonight
Benny next time he gets a rebound will be his first. Terrible shouldn't play - 6 rebounds tonight

I think Benny is just frustrating b/c of the pedigree, the size, and the athleticism. Just feel like his aggressiveness comes and goes, though I will say when he shoots the ball it looks better. Not totally sure about the 3 he took, but otherwise they were good shots. On the downside, it's amazing how much he struggles to get to the rim off the bounce and how much he gets out-muscled by every opponent. Some of that is building strength, but some of that is aggressiveness and demeanor.

One point too is JBA did his damage -- for better or for worse -- in 8 minutes. Benny played 26. I don't know how viable JBA is against better opponents but his defensive instincts an all-out hustle are the types of things JB always loves.

 

[billsin01]

Huh? Didn't we do exactly this against Richmond?

This win is fool's gold against a not so great opponent. JG3 is not going to shoot this well against an average athletic D. And the answer to a team that struggles to score is to go 4 on 5 with JBA?

To me JB the JBA minutes is JB basically giving up on offense for the season and going in all in on D and rebounding. FWIW I understand and like the move... but unless the ACC is really really down I struggle to see how we get to .500.

One other observation... there's ZERO chemistry between JG3 and Mintz right now. They seem to be taking turns running the offense versus playing in one cohesive offensive strategy. It's hilarious watching them look each other off depending on who has the ball.

Sorry to be such a negative nancy after a blowout win.

Yeah, Judah and JGIII really don't do much together. I'm still holding out hope we see more Torrence/Brown. I'm convinced they may be our best all-around players outside of Edwards. Good things seem to happen when Brown is in a game and Torrence is steady brings a decent amount to the table without taking much off it.

 

[billsin01]

We’ve had WAY better walkons, that’s for damn sure.

Sparse crowd. Had some noise after some of our dunks especially the Bell poster. Refreshing having some athleticism.

Joe and Jesse did their thing. Nice to rest them most of the second half.

Brown just plays well. Hope we see more of him.

Taylor is really solid. I’ve seen people clamor for Copeland and I don’t get it. Way too erratic to play any minutes but glad he got time tonight.

Glad we won handily.

Agree on Brown but I'm not sure Taylor will get there this year. The Bryant game showed what he's capable of but he's 9-for-29 in the 7 other games he's played (18.6 mpg). He has excellent potential and they could really use his offense and scoring ability, but not sure he's got the feel and confidence just yet.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Agree on Brown but I'm not sure Taylor will get there this year. The Bryant game showed what he's capable of but he's 9-for-29 in the 7 other games he's played (18.6 mpg). He has excellent potential and they could really use his offense and scoring ability, but not sure he's got the feel and confidence just yet.

I actually think he DOES have the feel.

 

[billsin01]

I actually think he DOES have the feel.

I should rephrase, because I agree, he has a nice feel for the game offensively. But I'm not sure he's ready to be a consistent scorer even though he has the skill-level and talent. I just mean when I watch he does some nice things but then I am left wanting a bit more. Like he plays within himself but Oakland is a good example -- did a nice job defensively and on the glass more or less, but despite playing 24 minutes he got just three shots, one of which was a bucket while playing with the walkons. I'm just not sure he's quite confident and comfortable enough right now to consistently be the kind of scorer he looks like he will be eventually.

But who knows, maybe it's just reps and he starts to put together more on offense over the next couple months. Definitely like his potential as a scorer either way.