Observations

[Shoym]

I don't know that I would say Mintz thinks it's all about him. I think it's more likely he has more confidence in himself to make the play than he has in others. Sometimes he's right (lots of missed layups off of good feeds last night). Sometimes he needs to learn how to set up guys better. In the past we would get to see him learn how to do that better. In today's world he won't be working on that in college because if he sticks around past his sophomore year he is suddenly no longer a good prospect. Therein lies the demise of college basketball,

Agreed. With the caveat that he needs to stop with the trash talking. Makes him look small.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Taylor doesn’t make a ton of mistakes but he’s so passive that he doesn’t offer much offensively. If Taylor doesn’t do anything (like in the past few games) then Benny should be playing more.

Because every 10 games or so Benny will be good.

 

[Shoym]

We are toast without Judah. Toast. I get the frustration at times (please see my posts about his nba stuff), but he is our best player and definitely has the most pure talent.

I think he gets a bit of tunnel vision and his second-level decision-making has to get better... HOWEVER, when he starts a game with JJ, Bell, JT and NM... He, without question, has to be selfish. Has to be. When we get punched in the mouth, there is no one else to stand up (outside of Maliq being a good Robin to Batman).

NM was setting ghost screens, rolling to the pain, then setting up like we would pass him the ball like he was Embiid!

I hope JJ puts it together. I think he is still re-learning some stuff from his injuries.

But while Mintz may be frustrating, he has to me-first at this point.

I also believe that Mintz is taking the lead from Red. To a degree. Red wants him to take the difficult shot because he's a baller. I think the criticism some of you have towards him is over the top.

 

[Shoym]

What exactly did Taylor do that impressed you?

Our leading rebounder.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I wonder if McLeod retweet this with an “lol” feeling snubbed like he did not being named one of the top 20 centers.

Don’t forget that every one of these kids think they’d be a shoe in for a first round nba draft pick if they were just given a fair shot

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Our leading rebounder.

The tallest midget

 

[SUFan44]

Almost never do fans know what is actually being said on the court between players.

I read his lips. He said it. Would you like for me to clip the video and replay it for you?

 

[Shoym]

The tallest midget

Numbers never lie, however after last night, he is no longer #1 rebounder.

 

[Zepharus]

I’ve noticed last year and this year that teams have been much more willing/likely to openly taunt and trash talk our guys. There seems to be more bad blood than I’ve recalled from prior years.

Now, this could certainly just be perception. When we were good, maybe we talked trash and got away with it because we backed it up. But, if that were the case, I feel like I would have noticed this stuff sooner. It feels like Mintz and maybe some other guys like to talk a game that they don’t back up. Putting fuel on a fire without so much as a bucket of water nearby.

I think this is true. If you remember back to the pressers after the Tenessee and Gonzaga losses, Mintz was pretty arrogant and dismissive in beatdown losses. The guys think they are better than, at the very least, showing they are. It's a major issue. I for one cannot stomach Bell's expressions after he makes repeatedly bad errors.

 

[Cuse99&01]

Numbers never lie, however after last night, he is no longer #1 rebounder.

He wasn’t the leading rebounder prior to the Duke game

 

[Zepharus]

Yes. He has a mild case of Lydon's Syndrome

Eh no, he'd still be pump-faking as we speak if that was the case.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I get Mintz has to score for this team to be successful, but I also don’t think he’s done the greatest job getting our guys easy shots when he has them. I’m speaking on fast breaks, or when there’s 2-3 guys guarding him on the way to the hoop.

If he’s on a break and has Bell, Taylor, Starling, Copeland, and/or Benny running with him I’d prefer he pass to them to give them an easy to bucket to build their confidence. I’m not pretending they are great players, but there’s more Mintz can do to build up his guys. That’s what your best players should do. It might be a minor complaint, but that’s the next step I’d like to see him take.

Yeah, that would be nice. Then again, as has been said, he is our best player pretty easily followed by Maliq. And probably the best finisher on the team which is pretty crazy. Would love if he moved the ball a bit better, but he did finish with 6 assists and that is with a team struggling to actually shoot. If your starting PG in college gets 6 assists every game that is top 25. Obviously you can pass the ball and that pass leads to the assist (i.e. hockey assist), which is where improvement can be made. Same with some maturity at times. We will see how the season unfolds.

We know what Judah is-- he is a score first PG. And he's pretty damn good at it and it's needed on this team. I see people saying they think Symir would be a good fit on this team. Yeah, if the other starters you are playing with have the offensive ability of Rautins, Wes Johnson, CJ Fair, and Rakeem Christmas.

(I actually checked and guess who is top 5 in APG? Symir!)

 

[donniesyracuse]

The tallest midget

“Little person”

 

[two3zone]

I think this is true. If you remember back to the pressers after the Tenessee and Gonzaga losses, Mintz was pretty arrogant and dismissive in beatdown losses. The guys think they are better than, at the very least, showing they are. It's a major issue. I for one cannot stomach Bell's expressions after he makes repeatedly bad errors.

They’re almost as cringe as his reactions to his made baskets. Not to pick on Bell alone, but the entire team seems to have a lack of self awareness.

 

[NineOneSeven]

We have legitimately 4 centers on our roster and they combined for 8 minutes on Tuesday. This is funny because for many years we did not play a back up center because we did not have one.

 

[Orangeman]

I think this is a work in process. On Jan 1 we were a B+ team. Slightly ahead of where we were expected to be.

We have the following positives:

• Bench that can score and/or change the game favorably.
• Improving Defense (from beginning of season and certainly last year)
• Benny Williams contributing and playing with positive results
• Better rebounding (we outrebounded Dook!!!!)

We have the following negatives:

• Dependable scoring for starting forwards
• Consistent shooting from 3 point range to open driving lanes

If we continue to grow with our positives and get our starting forwards to score and hit the 3 pointer, we will be a #6 Seed in the NCAA's (potentially a top 25 team).

I like and liked what I was seeing against Duke for 25 minutes. We could have been up by 5-8 pts at the half had we not rushed and stupidly turned the ball over. Lots of positives, but we need the 3 pt. shooting to start falling. If that does not happen we are in the First 4, a bubble team. Goal is to make NCAA's and right now what I see is we are on track to get there. Lets see what rest of January brings.

Go CUSE.

good post

 

[two3zone]

I think this is a work in process. On Jan 1 we were a B+ team. Slightly ahead of where we were expected to be.

We have the following positives:

• Bench that can score and/or change the game favorably.
• Improving Defense (from beginning of season and certainly last year)
• Benny Williams contributing and playing with positive results
• Better rebounding (we outrebounded Dook!!!!)

We have the following negatives:

• Dependable scoring for starting forwards
• Consistent shooting from 3 point range to open driving lanes

If we continue to grow with our positives and get our starting forwards to score and hit the 3 pointer, we will be a #6 Seed in the NCAA's (potentially a top 25 team).

I like and liked what I was seeing against Duke for 25 minutes. We could have been up by 5-8 pts at the half had we not rushed and stupidly turned the ball over. Lots of positives, but we need the 3 pt. shooting to start falling. If that does not happen we are in the First 4, a bubble team. Goal is to make NCAA's and right now what I see is we are on track to get there. Lets see what rest of January brings.

Go CUSE.

I don’t think being ranked or getting into the tournament especially at a 6 seed is even possible without winning out, we’re not even a bubble team right now. We only play four games against currently ranked teams, Clemson and UNC. I don’t see how we beat either one of them twice let alone both of them.

This is a whole lot more than not hitting threes, we’re getting boatraced by 15+ against any team worth a damn, that’s a lot of extra threes to hit.

 

[two3zone]

We have legitimately 4 centers on our roster and they combined for 8 minutes on Tuesday. This is funny because for many years we did not play a back up center because we did not have one.

We didn’t even have a starting center.

 

[SWC75]

I don’t think being ranked or getting into the tournament especially at a 6 seed is even possible without winning out, we’re not even a bubble team right now. We only play four games against currently ranked teams, Clemson and UNC. I don’t see how we beat either one of them twice let alone both of them.

This is a whole lot more than not hitting threes, we’re getting boatraced by 15+ against any team worth a damn, that’s a lot of extra threes to hit.

If you have any left over champagne, you need to drink it.

 

[two3zone]

If you have any left over champagne, you need to drink it.

I didn’t think I was that inaccurate Steve!

 

[emjkay]

I see Justin Taylor as Buddy 2.0,,, would he be a good choice coming off bench at the 2 spot?

 

[tbonezone]

nobody on this team has stepped up to be a consistent threat outside. once that happens lookout.

 

[5OutFred]

I see Justin Taylor as Buddy 2.0,,, would he be a good choice coming off bench at the 2 spot?

Buddy averaged 15 points a game his sophomore year, compared to 6 currently for Taylor. Not a fair comparison.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Autry bet heavily on Starling, who I think was the number one ranked portal player. Still a work in progress, but if the team is going to make the tournament Starling needs to live up to his prospect profile.

Autry also bet on Westry, another highly rated portal guy, and he got hurt.

Autry bet on Benny, Mintz making significant improvements to their game and I would say they are also works in progress.

I don’t think Bell/Taylor were intended starters.

Losing Edwards was the final kick to the crotch Autry couldn’t overcome,

From a roster construction perspective I don’t see any huge mistakes from a coaching perspective. Sometimes injuries happen and players don’t progress.

I am curious what changes Autry makes moving forward… this team can beat anyone on their schedule outside of UNC or Duke or lose to any of them.

I would move Cuffe to the starting lineup but we would get destroyed on the boards. Not a lot of answers to be honest.

Very good post. Lots of quality thought and insights in there.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Buddy averaged 15 points a game his sophomore year, compared to 6 currently for Taylor. Not a fair comparison.

They ran screens for Buddy, and then they taught him that back-down game that he used to very good effect as a junior and senior.

Taylor is learning to use his body for defense and rebounding. He has good effort in those areas. We need to run screens for him, and he has to move more, trying to find open spaces.

Where Chris Bell just parks where he likes to shoot from, he has a quicker release than Justin. So, he sometimes gets away with it. Both of them need to move more without the ball.