on howard

[MikeSU02]

its the 3rd game of the conference season.

your point might make sense 10 games from now.

If what you are saying is true, by the time the conference season nears its end, our guys are going to be using canes, walkers, and motorized scooters to get up and down the court

We can agree to disagree. no other P5 team has three key players close to the mpg that we have. It's not close at all. We're in a different galaxy.

 

[orange79]

absolute disgrace. they stop at half court and watch the final play, white dude on nd hustles his butt off and gets the rebound and easy layup for the win.

dolezaj always hustles? yea ok.

that was 1 of the worst plays ive ever seen watching cuse hoops. for 2 guys to literally quit on a play with 5 seconds left while the opponent hustles and wins the game is inexcusable.

hello nit

Why did it have to be noted that it was a 'white dude' on ND that hustled his butt off? Just curious.

 

[MikeSU02]

It's has been JB's style for years, he's not changing now. He believes and has said so on many occasion that the college game gets enough breaks with TV timeouts, team to's, etc. that playing 6-7 guys isn't an issue. I, personally, don't agree with that, only that today's result had nothing to do (imo) with tiredness, etc. but with desire and just getting totally abused on the glass. ND on several possessions had multiple opportunities and chances, they looked/gave the effort of a team the wanted the win more.

"Wanted the win more" is coach speak.

Our guys are dead.

I don't care if JB has done it one way. He has to be able to change.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Marek looks like he's regressed severely the last couple games

 

[007]

Chukwu and Dolezaj could both fit through a mail slot. They were absolutely manhandled today, especially Dolezaj on the offensive end when he had scoring opportunities inside. Moyer might have helped today if he hadn't played his way into JB's doghouse early. Sidibe was actually a revelation with a couple of nice finishes, especially since he was supposedly permanently hobbled and should have been taking a medical redshirt.

Agreed. To me, the sudden lack of rebounding is more a function of the lack of strength and body mass. Marek and PC (and Sidibe) are going to continue to get manhandled in the ACC. Brissett will hold his own. Moyer has to step up, Battle and Frank have to go to the boards.

But...this game was lost on the other end. Not sure JB can "fix" that.

 

[pearl31]

But...this game was lost on the other end. Not sure JB can "fix" that.

it was lost because of both factors - horrible offense and horrible rebounding

 

[DoctorBombay]

It's the beginning of conference play, the guys just came off Christmas break, etc. Saying they are too tired now to finish these games is not why we are losing...

It’s the cumulative affect, IMO.
This is my biggest pet peeve with JB. He insists on riding his 6-7 players, who inevitably wear out, and he simply refuses to let kids grow into their roles.
After Geno left there’s really no excuse why HW hasn’t gotten more run to get him more prepared for where the team is now.This whole “he’s not ready” canard is both shortsighted and stupid, IMO. You don’t become “ready “ by riding the bench and only playing in desperate situations.
At this rate, these guys will be mincemeat by mid-February. We’ve seen this movie before, and we know the ending.

 

[orange79]

Marek looks like he's regressed severely the last couple games

He had a nice step-in for a steal in the lane, and a couple nice boards. But yeah, other than that, not a stellar game from Marek.

 

[HakAttack]

Marek looks like he's regressed severely the last couple games

And gotten a lot lazier.

 

[br801]

it was lost because of both factors - horrible offense and horrible rebounding

But the horrible rebounding prevented SU from building what should have been a 20-point lead which would have been nearly insurmountable in a low possession game. So I'm blaming that a bit more.

 

[tbonezone]

We can agree to disagree. no other P5 team has three key players close to the mpg that we have. It's not close at all. We're in a different galaxy.

i can remember him running jonny flynn into the ground. came back the next fall and acknowledged he had to give jonny more rest and then played him even more mpg. coach is either too stubborn or lazy to ever work up a rotation that rests the starters and develops some depth. with JB it's all about the W in front of him. he's extremely shortsighted.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Hey, can I just say, Howard was the only guy who went strong on the inside today? That offensive rebound he had and put back, he went straight up and into the defender, far better than any of our bigs did today.

And what does that say about our squad?

 

[pearl31]

Hey, can I just say, Howard was the only guy who went strong on the inside today? That offensive rebound he had and put back, he went straight up and into the defender, far better than any of our bigs did today.

And what does that say about our squad?

yep

 

[Zelda Zonk]

This photo sums it up. One player running, two jogging.

My eyes!!!!

 

[007]

it was lost because of both factors - horrible offense and horrible rebounding

Yeah, I hear you pearl. And I don't disagree. I think the prevailing theme of the season will be how poorly this team plays on offense.

 

[pearl31]

Yeah, I hear you pearl. And I don't disagree. I think the prevailing theme of the season will be how poorly this team plays on offense.

Yep, I would definitely say big-picture wise the fatal flaw with this team is the inability to score efficiently - but the last two games the ugly trend of bad rebounding has emerged

 

[Newhouser]

There's no way I'm putting this on Frank.

OB was 3-15 from the floor. His anemic offense game after game after game is killing us. Marek and Moyer were 0-4 combined. Our rebounding was incomprehensibly bad by our big men.

Marek and Moyer are afraid to shot as they know they'll be yanked. Our team is mentally fatigued at end of games. Combine that with a bad offense. Ugly. It wasn't talent today as ND executed fine. Imagine us minus battle and OB. Jb gets a pass but his stubborn streak is hurting us

 

[br801]

Yep, I would definitely say big-picture wise the fatal flaw with this team is the inability to score efficiently - but the last two games the ugly trend of bad rebounding has emerged

I think this team can score efficiently enough when the offensive rebounding is there. But if that is to happen consistently, the good Moyer needs to show up most nights and Sidibe needs to be able to contribute.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

It’s the cumulative affect, IMO.
This is my biggest pet peeve with JB. He insists on riding his 6-7 players, who inevitably wear out, and he simply refuses to let kids grow into their roles.
After Geno left there’s really no excuse why HW hasn’t gotten more run to get him more prepared for where the team is now.This whole “he’s not ready” canard is both shortsighted and stupid, IMO. You don’t become “ready “ by riding the bench and only playing in desperate situations.
At this rate, these guys will be mincemeat by mid-February. We’ve seen this movie before, and we know the ending.

I get your point, and traditionally, I've also wished we would develop players differently, but seriously — there have been zero instances this season where I've wanted Howard Washington in the game over battle or Franklin or felt like we would be improving our chances. Aside from foul trouble, a tired battle or Franklin are better than a fresh HW. Maybe it's different if we had seen some indication of a high ceiling on HW and felt there was a real reason to move toward his potential sooner, but I haven't seen it. At best, he's been competent in stretches. I kinda even question how long he will be with the program. I think he can contribute down the line, but wonder how dissatisfied he is/will be with the same or even fewer minutes next year. If battle stays, Carey takes HW's minutes plus a few from the current starters.

 

[orangecuse]

It’s the cumulative affect, IMO.
This is my biggest pet peeve with JB. He insists on riding his 6-7 players, who inevitably wear out, and he simply refuses to let kids grow into their roles.
After Geno left there’s really no excuse why HW hasn’t gotten more run to get him more prepared for where the team is now.This whole “he’s not ready” canard is both shortsighted and stupid, IMO. You don’t become “ready “ by riding the bench and only playing in desperate situations.
At this rate, these guys will be mincemeat by mid-February. We’ve seen this movie before, and we know the ending.

It has been of pet peeve of mine all these years too, but the reality is that JB has coached this way forever, and he's not changing now, he an old dog. Speaking specifically of this game however, I believe tiredness, etc. had absolutely nothing to do with this game. We were up 28-19 at the half, and really should have been up like 38-19 or more, considering the fact that this was ND's first game without their point guard and leader, Ferrell, as well as another 100% effort and leader guy in Colson.

What was our issue there, certainly not tiredness? What about the start of the second half when instead of us simply putting ND away once and for all, we allow them momentum and belief that they can pull this game out, regardless of their two top guys out as they closed the gap to one at 28-27 with 17 + minutes left in the game forcing JB to call timeout. Were our guys tired at that point, right out of the half? I don't know, I don't believe that that was the case. Battle buried that 3 at the end to make it a 49-49 game, he didn't look tired at all on that shot. But moments later, it was an issue? Again, I just don't believe it was, not in this particular slow as molasses paced game.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Marek and Moyer are afraid to shot as they know they'll be yanked. Our team is mentally fatigued at end of games. Combine that with a bad offense. Ugly. It wasn't talent today as ND executed fine. Imagine us minus battle and OB. Jb gets a pass but his stubborn streak is hurting us

I think Marek is afraid to shoot because he's afraid to shoot. I don't recall him being yanked for shot selection—has he? I just think he knows his limitations. Took a couple today because he knows he has to show some reason to defend him, but for a guy of his experience and 'provenance,' I expected more skills in that respect.

Matt knows he's on a leash in terms of area of the court and where the play is on the shot clock. Not good for a player's confidence to have the Evil JB cartoon on his left shoulder, screaming negative stuff into his ear as he's rising for a shot. We've just seen how a player's confidence affects his shooting with Franklin finally not having to worry about getting yanked over a small mistake.

 

[007]

Yep, I would definitely say big-picture wise the fatal flaw with this team is the inability to score efficiently - but the last two games the ugly trend of bad rebounding has emerged

I just now listened to JB's PC. I thought his comment that the belief we are a good rebounding team is a "myth" is telling. And yet, it is very clear that JB puts the offense as the heart of the issue for this team.

I agree, the offense is the bigger issue. We should be able to score 52 points at home by accident. Especially when you hold the other team to 30% shooting.

 

[20Plus]

 

[pearl31]

lol "with the steal"

 

[tbonezone]

damn that fleagle...