Our PGs appear

[CuseMan4]

Should have let Battle handle the PG duties a little today once Howard got 3 fouls see how he does with the ball in his hands

 

[SoBeCuse]

Yeah, this was my concern back against the cupcakes. He seems to just drive and then worry about the creativity later, but against bigger, longer, more athletic teams not having a plan seemed like it may not translate to success.

His passing/vision looked subpar then, he was just hitting shots against crap teams...I said it when it happened, when we went to press in the first half with Lydon and Howard having two fouls, JB needed to pull them both. Or just not press.

Having Howard pick up his third, and being stuck with Gillon at PG was pretty much signing our death warrant for that half. Not sure why we took the risk at that point.

It seemed like they both were taking too long in the game to START driving though. They both were making bad passes too as South Carolina was playing good D and cutting off passing lanes. I think my biggest takeaway was both their timid and 'scared' play in the 1H.

 

[Eric15]

Gillon was 1-1 from the field today. That is shocking to me. I would have guessed like 1 for 6 or something.

 

[two3zone]

Tend to agree. Throw in Lydon and Silva and probably 3 out of the 4 best players were from South Carolina.

Lydon had 6 turnovers and was 5 for 12 from the field. Don't think he had a great game.

 

[jdubs30]

Really worried about our ability to breakdown tough man to man defense.

Gillon is a turnover machine.

White and Lydon can't do it.

Howard can but can't make free throws.

Battle is apparently red shirting.

Gillon can get past his man, he struggles after that though.

We won't see many M2M D's as tough as SC this year, but that's not excuse

 

[jdubs30]

Lydon had 6 turnovers and was 5 for 12 from the field. Don't think he had a great game.

Comparetively, no one else on our side was even close to him

 

[DoctorBombay]

And this is why national championships aren't won in November. Way too much chest-thumping on this board about what a great team we had, etc.
They are...who we thought they were: a team in transition, with many moving parts, trying to mesh into a cohesive unit.
I HAVE no doubt that come March we'll be clicking on all cylinders, especially on defense. But this was a much needed wake up call, for both the team and the fans.

 

[sugrad68]

I was totally disappointed with Chukwu on defense. I don't expect anything on the offensive end but he did little defensively either. Stupid fouls. Out of position. Kotsar scores 16 points!!! Double his average.

 

[Ghost]

It seemed like they both were taking too long in the game to START driving though. They both were making bad passes too as South Carolina was playing good D and cutting off passing lanes. I think my biggest takeaway was both their timid and 'scared' play in the 1H.

I thought Howard was okay - and was one of the only players that didn't look overmatched. Was it a great performance? Absolutely not.

That first basket was clearly a defensive foul - take that away his first half looks slightly different. I don't know, he seemed to get around the corner on his guys pretty well, tad shaky a couple times early, but overall I thought he was fine for his first big challenge against a tough team. I thought he wilted very little compared to some others.

That being said, the missed free throws sucked, but that'll come along. Upside!

 

[pearl31]

Should have let Battle handle the PG duties a little today once Howard got 3 fouls see how he does with the ball in his hands

Did u see Battle in the first half? "Deer in headlights" comes to mind

 

[SoBeCuse]

Lydon had 6 turnovers and was 5 for 12 from the field. Don't think he had a great game.

He did something, though.

 

[pearl31]

I thought Howard was okay - and was one of the only players that didn't look overmatched. Was it a great performance? Absolutely not.

That first basket was clearly a defensive foul - take that away his first half looks slightly different. I don't know, he seemed to get around the corner on his guys pretty well, tad shaky a couple times early, but overall I thought he was fine for his first big challenge against a tough team. I thought he wilted very little compared to some others.

That being said, the missed free throws sucked, but that'll come along. Upside!

Yep Howard played fairly well other than FTs down the stretch

 

[jdubs30]

Yep Howard played fairly well other than FTs down the stretch

He was the one guy who could get into the paint do something with it. We have so many weapons on the outside - a big key this year will be Frank getting into the paint and finding AW3 or Lydon on the outside

 

[wallacecuse]

Such an overused worry on this forum - what're you gonna do? We can't have this guy on the floor...that guy on the floor. We've never been the best FT shooting program, yet we survive. You adjust if it remains an issue. I don't think we've ever seen a 30 win team go to 15 because of a poor foul shooting PG.

He missed 4 FTs when we had a chance to close within 1 possession. I don't think you can overstate how big those were.

 

[JoeySimz]

Can't have Chukwu on the floor and expect our guards to be able to drive the lane. There's no need to defend him, so whenever a guard does actually get by someone, he runs into a center ready to send the ball to the other end.

I agree. Unless he is dominating defensively and grabbing hella boards, he is just clogging up the lane. That's why I say give TT more time!

 

[longislandcuse]

He missed 4 FTs when we had a chance to close within 1 possession. I don't think you can overstate how big those were.

That was game.

...along with Robersons missed point blank lay up.

 

[wallacecuse]

SC has played a lot better competition than we have so far. They were much more aggressive than us.

Outside of the game vs Mich, we have played nearly an identical sked.

 

[pearl31]

I agree. Unless he is dominating defensively and grabbing hella boards, he is just clogging up the lane. That's why I say give TT more time!

I hear you but TT was a timid, awkward frosh in this game

 

[Ghost]

He missed 4 FTs when we had a chance to close within 1 possession. I don't think you can overstate how big those were.

Well, Lydon missed a couple open threes, and a short runner, Frank missed a short runner, Roberson missed a bunny, Thompson missed a bunny.....I don't know. He missed. Oh well. He picked up a few fouls on their guys that could have been huge (4th on big white dude, and I think 4th on that other dude) and got us into the double bonus.

I'm not excusing it - it sucks. Some kids hit their free throws, some don't. You live with it. I'm not going to go too crazy, if he was a 90% shooter and missed them I'd be more upset.

 

[sugrad68]

The good news is that last year SU lost to Georgetown and St. John's. Unlike them, SC is a quality team. Lots of room for improvement.

 

[NorSyr66]

We have a PG that you basically cant have on the floor in close games.

Basically the case till you look at his replacement and he is not any better. The PGs really got exposed today by a much beter set of guards.

 

[longislandcuse]

The good news is that last year SU lost to Georgetown and St. John's. Unlike them, SC is a quality team. Lots of room for improvement.

Flip side - We weren't that good last year. We got hot in the tourney and yelled at the right time but last years regular season pretty much sucked.

I was really hoping to not have a regular season repeat performance.

 

[tbonezone]

i thought the backcourt looked a mess right from the tip but those damn missed bunnies underneath are really killing us.

 

[jdubs30]

The good news is that last year SU lost to Georgetown and St. John's. Unlike them, SC is a quality team. Lots of room for improvement.

Yes sir.

Let's remember that we only have 4 returning players from last year - only one of whom was relevant on offense. We are trying to fit in 3 transfers and 2 freshman into a group that lost their best 3 players, including a 1st round pick and 2 5th YR guards.

It will take some time. But we will have to AT LEAST split the Wisconsin/UConn games because we need something to hang our hat on OOC besdies Monmouth

 

[jdubs30]

Flip side - We weren't that good last year. We got hot in the tourney and yelled at the right time but last years regular season pretty much sucked.

I was really hoping to not have a regular season repeat performance.

Right and history has shown us that whoever plays the best 6 games in March/April wins the ship.