Okay, that was bad...

[Jake]

and by bad, I mean that was awful. The only good thing about the last few games is that we're making plays when it counts.

Saw something tonight that I think might help though. After Dion came out, JB ran consecutive baseline screens to isolate Kris on the blocks. Its taken 3 years and 29 games, but Kris finally abandoned his Marcus Haines immitation and went to business inside of 8 feet with his back to the basket. Voila', decent shots and conversions. Kris would be all Big east if he made this a staple of his game along catch and shoot threes within the offense. He's got excellent footwork in tight spaces, and he shows tremendous feel for playing with his back to the basket. I REALLY want to see more of this going forward.

As an aside, I think what got Dion pulled was not only his bad fallaway shot, but JB had called the Kris ISO play on that possession, but Dion drove the other direction.

Not sure what to do about James. I might tell him to take a couple of days off and have he and Gerry go fishing. He is thinking WAAAAAY too much out there. Looks completely lost.

There should be a Fab rule - he only gets to shoot 15 foot jump shots on possession that he grabs and offensive rebound.

For as many shoes I've tossed watching Scoop play for 5 years...dude has been straight up solid when we really needed him. He's having a great year.

 

[swish7]

Since I apparently can no longer creat threads, I get a "you are trying to post a poll answer without posting a poll question error, I'll post here.

Great win, but these 4 moments blew my mind.

Fab's two bullet passes to nobody but the stanchion in particular. I can understand once, but twice? Know your role (hint: you are not the point guard).

Brandon making two really sweet drives into the lane, only to choke on the resulting two easy layups. I can understand once, but twice? Get it together dude. You are a fantastic player. Believe it.

I marvel at JB letting BT attempt to play through his issues. Hope it bodes well come March.

Fab, we really need him to un-funk. I wonder if Bernie would have kept him on track?

 

[iommi]

I said in the thread I started below that Fab making those UConn jumpers were fool's gold.

Great point on the back-to-the-basket moves by Kris. I wonder if that was a point of emphasis in practice...

 

[44cuse]

Brandon making two really sweet drives into the lane, only to choke on the resulting two easy layups. I can understand once, but twice? Get it together dude. You are a fantastic player. Believe it.

This is exactly dead on. I remember BT going to the rack HARD early in the season his FR year. I had hoped that was the player we were going to see. I still hope he can become that player.

Can't believe he missed those two layups. It's great to see him finally going to the hoop...but then the misses. Ugh.

44cuse

 

[orangenirvana]

I think more credit should be given to USF. They are a good team with a very good point guard and head coach. They win ugly. So does Syracuse. Hence, an ugly game.

Scoop was great. Waiters not so much. I'm hoping the light went on for KJ.

Triche had an awful night. Just attrocious. I've never seen him so selfish and out of control. Hopefully he bounces back.

I can't help but think SU's best play is ahead of them. Southerland's shot, Waiters' and Triche's play, Melo's offense, Fair's emergence, etc. I've been waiting for it to all come together, and it may hit all at once in around a month or so. I may be wrong, although I hope I'm not.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

We haven't played 'really well' for a few weeks. And, yet, we still have to acknowledge that past SU teams would have lost some of these games. So, on one hand, we're fantastic and have only one loss, and would probably be undefeated if we had Fab in every game.

On the other hand, it's sorta like the guy stumbling out of the bar, saying, "Naw, dude. It's cool. I can totally drive drunk. Done it a million times and never hit anyone."

I can so see us winning the rest of the regular season games, then losing the first BET game and then the first or second NCAA game. This ridiculous rebounding issue is going to bite us on the ass. Some random team will be hot from outside, and they'll also capitalize on the few misses, and it will be quick and ugly.

 

[JackBauer44]

I think more credit should be given to USF. They are a good team with a very good point guard and head coach. They win ugly. So does Syracuse. Hence, an ugly game.

Scoop was great. Waiters not so much. I'm hoping the light went on for KJ.

Triche had an awful night. Just attrocious. I've never seen him so selfish and out of control. Hopefully he bounces back.

I can't help but think SU's best play is ahead of them. Southerland's shot, Waiters' and Triche's play, Melo's offense, Fair's emergence, etc. I've been waiting for it to all come together, and it may hit all at once in around a month or so. I may be wrong, although I hope I'm not.

Great post. If everything starts to click in a month, I think every Syracuse fan would be a very happy fan.

 

[billsin01]

After Dion came out, JB ran consecutive baseline screens to isolate Kris on the blocks. Its taken 3 years and 29 games, but Kris finally abandoned his Marcus Haines immitation and went to business inside of 8 feet with his back to the basket. Voila', decent shots and conversions. Kris would be all Big east if he made this a staple of his game along catch and shoot threes within the offense. He's got excellent footwork in tight spaces, and he shows tremendous feel for playing with his back to the basket. I REALLY want to see more of this going forward.

Nice point on KJ. I have been waiting for KJ to take advantage of his athleticism and quickness inside forever as well. Never understood in the off-season why so many here were talking about him increasing his range. The key to his game is that 12-15-foot area. I think he could dominate from there.

I know there are two very distinct camps on this but I tend to think Scoop's play has been pretty good for three straight years but he's had some poorly timed bad/careless/out-of-control plays that were magnified due to time/situation. But he's basically having the exact same statistical year he had two years ago and while he struggled at times last year, it's hard for me to put much of those struggles on circumstance. no one else steps up to take the lead offensively and it falls to Scoop.

 

[Francis03]

I remember when I saw KJ in a few of his HS games. The most impressive aspect about him was his inside/outside game. He had a really nice back to the basket game and it's really puzzling how it's taken him nearly four years to showcase that skill.

 

[SouthCampusHero]

Im cautiously optimistic about this team. Look at the schedule...its perfect.

We have the defending champs on GameDay on their home court. Thats obviously a big game.

We have UL at home on Senior Day and bad things happen when we play them.

Then its the BE tourney.

Honestly, ARE THERE TWO OTHER TEAMS YOU WOULD RATHER PLAY THAN THE TWO COMING UP? These two teams (under the scenarios in which we are playing them) will be the BEST tests for March. Couldnt ask for anything more, quite frankly. Forget tonight. Throw it away. March starts on Saturday.

 

[mark79]

KJ reminded me a little bit of Otis Hill last night. I was pleasantly surprised by less out of control attempts and more crafty footwork-oriented duck-unders ala Otis or Kevin McHale. I would love to see alot more of that.

 

[arbitragegls]

This game was won ugly and that is actually a positive for 'Cuse as in years past we lose thie kind of games. The BIG question is which team did we play today: the USF team that won four in a row by holding opponents to averagely under 50 points those four games...or an USF team that was whipped by GT by 30; by Marquette by 20 and ND by 11. (note that in these losses USF scored no more than 49 points).
The troubling aspect of this game remains the following:
1. Poor overall shooting by 'Cuse
2. Aside from Scoop, not good play from either of the two "other guards--Waiters and Triche"
3. Continued lack of rebounding...although USF does match our length well
4. Defensive superiority as measured by steals, blocks and TOs--maybe we should be going to the B1G instead of ACC--and still just winning by "that much"
It is looking like Scoop, KJ and Fair are the scorers...and we need them to be consistently good to win because:
1. Triche hasnt been good in last several games
2. Dion is not matching his strong performances from earlier in season
3. Dirty is shooting...BLANKS
4. BENCH is becoming non existent passed #7 insofar as contributions are concerned although Keita does provide respite for Fab.

The upside is if 2 or even 1 of the above snaps out of their non-productive stupor, 'Cuse will be a very tough team to beat in the Dance...and if 1 of the four above doesnt get back to what we typically saw in the first half of the season, it will be a GRIND for 'Cuse to win the NC.

 

[arrow2arinzesknee]

Since I apparently can no longer creat threads, I get a "you are trying to post a poll answer without posting a poll question error, I'll post here.

Great win, but these 4 moments blew my mind.

Fab's two bullet passes to nobody but the stanchion in particular. I can understand once, but twice? Know your role (hint: you are not the point guard).

Brandon making two really sweet drives into the lane, only to choke on the resulting two easy layups. I can understand once, but twice? Get it together dude. You are a fantastic player. Believe it.

I marvel at JB letting BT attempt to play through his issues. Hope it bodes well come March.

Fab, we really need him to un-funk. I wonder if Bernie would have kept him on track?

Ya Bernie was always anal about Fab's development....

to soon...?

 

[Kevind13]

I was glad to see them finally run some sets other than the double high pick and roll and there normal pick and roll set. i know our rebounding sucks but at some point you have to give it up and realize we win becasue of forced TO's, steals, and blocks. The team plays good defense and they force a lot of bad shots. They will go as far as scoop and kris take them. Fair coming on only helps. If dion can get back to playing how he did early and fab can stop touching the ball everytime it hits the rim they will be good. They are 27-1 and #2 in the country. Now lets get this win vs the UCONNvicts.

 

[texascpa]

Concerns with the bench. We still have the best bench in the country. :bat:

 

[Knicks411]

Saw something tonight that I think might help though. After Dion came out, JB ran consecutive baseline screens to isolate Kris on the blocks. Its taken 3 years and 29 games, but Kris finally abandoned his Marcus Haines immitation and went to business inside of 8 feet with his back to the basket. Voila', decent shots and conversions. Kris would be all Big east if he made this a staple of his game along catch and shoot threes within the offense. He's got excellent footwork in tight spaces, and he shows tremendous feel for playing with his back to the basket. I REALLY want to see more of this going forward.

Agree with this times a million. That was the best takeaway from the game. (not that there were a lot of other contenders...)

Concerns with the bench. We still have the best bench in the country.

If you don't count CJ, since he is basically a starter, then our bench is Dion.

 

[pfister1]

I can so see us winning the rest of the regular season games, then losing the first BET game and then the first or second NCAA game. This ridiculous rebounding issue is going to bite us on the ass. Some random team will be hot from outside, and they'll also capitalize on the few misses, and it will be quick and ugly.

The thing that bugs me most about the rebounding is it seems like an effort issue. As much as people want to pin it on things like "its tough to rebound out of the zone" or "Melo is a shot blocker so he's not in position to grab defensive rebounds" etc. etc.

It seems like the last few games we start the first 10 minutes of the game getting absolutely slammed on the boards. I think they showed us losing the battle of the boards 14+/- to 2 at one point in the first half last night. Despite that, we finished the game only -9 on the boards, which means we technically out rebounded them the rest of the game, or at least played roughly even with them on the boards the remainder of the game. I feel like its been that way in a couple of games...... Opponent says "Let me completely embarass you on the glass for a bit, then we finally say Hey this is embarassing and pick it up. Why is it that our guys can't rebound from the start?

 

[pfister1]

Another observation from last night that doesn't really show up in the box score, I thought Keita gave us the best seven minutes he's given us in a long time. He was very active including going to the floor for a loose ball. He didn't do a lot statistically while he was in but I thought he really busted his a$$ ...... and it didn't seem like everyone was doing that from the start last night.

 

[Millhouse]

and by bad, I mean that was awful. The only good thing about the last few games is that we're making plays when it counts.

Saw something tonight that I think might help though. After Dion came out, JB ran consecutive baseline screens to isolate Kris on the blocks. Its taken 3 years and 29 games, but Kris finally abandoned his Marcus Haines immitation and went to business inside of 8 feet with his back to the basket. Voila', decent shots and conversions. Kris would be all Big east if he made this a staple of his game along catch and shoot threes within the offense. He's got excellent footwork in tight spaces, and he shows tremendous feel for playing with his back to the basket. I REALLY want to see more of this going forward.

As an aside, I think what got Dion pulled was not only his bad fallaway shot, but JB had called the Kris ISO play on that possession, but Dion drove the other direction.

Not sure what to do about James. I might tell him to take a couple of days off and have he and Gerry go fishing. He is thinking WAAAAAY too much out there. Looks completely lost.

There should be a Fab rule - he only gets to shoot 15 foot jump shots on possession that he grabs and offensive rebound.

For as many shoes I've tossed watching Scoop play for 5 years...dude has been straight up solid when we really needed him. He's having a great year.

i've never seen such a great season contain so many terrible games.

it's really remarkable

they are earning a good enough draw where they might be able to rockfight their way by the first weekend which reduces the number of games where we need to somehow will jumpers in. joseph and fair are encouraging. scoop has been tremendous. ride those guys and don't get too desperate hoping for anything out of fair and triche. outcome will depend on which waiters we get.

 

[reedny]

and by bad, I mean that was awful. The only good thing about the last few games is that we're making plays when it counts.

Saw something tonight that I think might help though. After Dion came out, JB ran consecutive baseline screens to isolate Kris on the blocks. Its taken 3 years and 29 games, but Kris finally abandoned his Marcus Haines immitation and went to business inside of 8 feet with his back to the basket. Voila', decent shots and conversions. Kris would be all Big east if he made this a staple of his game along catch and shoot threes within the offense. He's got excellent footwork in tight spaces, and he shows tremendous feel for playing with his back to the basket. I REALLY want to see more of this going forward.

As an aside, I think what got Dion pulled was not only his bad fallaway shot, but JB had called the Kris ISO play on that possession, but Dion drove the other direction.

Not sure what to do about James. I might tell him to take a couple of days off and have he and Gerry go fishing. He is thinking WAAAAAY too much out there. Looks completely lost.

There should be a Fab rule - he only gets to shoot 15 foot jump shots on possession that he grabs and offensive rebound.

For as many shoes I've tossed watching Scoop play for 5 years...dude has been straight up solid when we really needed him. He's having a great year.

Exactly right, Scoop has been money lately. And I also like KJ with his back to the basket. He and scoop showed some heart, and Fab's defense was sweet in the second half.

I don't entirely blame SU for the quality of play -- some of that is on Stallball-Stan. His team has athleticism, length and balance. They don't have to play like mid-major puss*es and wait 34.5 seconds to take a shot. That doesn't mean that they try to play an uptempo game and take premature shots. But there is a balance point ... I think he's overcoaching them.

 

[orangecuse]

Exactly right, Scoop has been money lately. And I also like KJ with his back to the basket. He and scoop showed some heart, and Fab's defense was sweet in the second half.

I don't entirely blame SU for the quality of play -- some of that is on Stallball-Stan. His team has athleticism, length and balance. They don't have to play like mid-major puss*es and wait 34.5 seconds to take a shot. That doesn't mean that they try to play an uptempo game and take premature shots. But there is a balance point ... I think he's overcoaching them.

Yeah, supported by their several easy fast break gimme buckets on both their second half runs. Though, I'm not sure if that was just some of their altheticism being displayed or just our own laziness.

 

[reedny]

They cherry-picked us a couple of times ... that was "Mr. Extendo" (Robinson), getting runouts because Scoop didn't get back. I'm giving Scoop a pass.

 

[AZOrange]

joseph and fair are encouraging. scoop has been tremendous. ride those guys and don't get too desperate hoping for anything out of fair and triche. outcome will depend on which waiters we get.

?

 

[rstone7727]

This game is about "want & hustle. Close your eyes and try to picture a 'Cuse player diving on the floor for a loose ball. Chances are you'll see Brandon. Nobody else is interested in getting a floor burn.

 

[Millhouse]

?

typed too fast. joseph and fair are encouraging. scoop has been tremendous. ride those guys and don't get too desperate hoping for anything out of fair southerlan and triche. outcome will depend on which waiters we get.