PITT Postgame

[Sbucketball]

It’s fun to win, so i likes it. That Kyle dunk was insane.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

The Good: we can build big leads vs inferior teams on the road

The Bad: we struggle to hold onto those leads due to questionable in game changes by Red and poor ball control from George

It’s a learning process, for the team and the staff. Getting better every day

 

[tbonezone]

yeah the lead shrunk but it never felt to be In real danger. coasted to the finish and won .

 

[JDubbin]

Solid win! Leading by double digits most the game, solid shooting %’s, William Kyle highlight reel dunks, Freeman being the best player on the court by a wide margin. Starling played the best he has for essentially the whole season, though the awkward right handed finish while going left was… something, so much so it had to be acknowledged by the commentators as awkward. George & Sterling also filled the inexplicable just fumble the ball away turnover quota as well

All & all SU was the far superior team the majority of the game, I’ll take that every time.

 

[SU94]

It’s a learning process, for the team and the staff. Getting better every day

I known those with the agendas won’t acknowledge it, but we ran some choice offensive sets today. George is playing much better.

 

[newmexicuse]

Nice win, if we could ever put together two first halves into one game we could play with anybody.

I thought Red did a nice job switching up the D's in the second half. Almost every time he did that they had to do a reset that slowed their momentum.

Wasnt thrilled with the substitution pattern, particularly not getting Betsey some more run. He was on fire when in there.

It was the Donnie and Kyle show out there today. Donnie was clutch whenever we needed a key hoop in addition to having an overall well rounded game and Kyle was intimidating with monster plays. JJ also put together a solid game. Today, he earned his minutes.

As positive as many things were out there today, the elephant in the room is that George continues to have way too many TOs for a PG. Six will not cut it against better teams. Also, though the trey shooting was good overall, Kingz lagged in that department. He hasnt shot well for a couple of games now. If those two guys could step up a bit, it would make a big difference when the competition toughens. I get that not everybody is going to play well every game, but these two guys are key to consistency IMHO.

However, any W in the Pete is a great thing !!!

 

[DomeHolmes]

George and Kingz have had too many games where they both disappear. George making high risk passes two games in a row now. Hes got to be better.

Not sure why Souare got so much run. Played ok though.

Kiyan seems passive the last few games.

Lazy passing and lack of focus was the biggest team issue.

Last few games invincible Michigan came back to earth. Things change. Maybe if we clean up the dumb stuff we can rise. You can see the potential. Just no consistency.

 

[richmondcuse03]

There shouldn’t be any possessions where Donnie doesn’t touch the ball in the second half. They gotta find him.

 

[HyattsCuse]

I known those with the agendas won’t acknowledge it, but we ran some choice offensive sets today. George is playing much better.

Our offense has looked much improved for the first 25-30 minutes of the game for sure. Guys moving/passing. It looks like an actual offense.

Hoping they can figure out how to sustain that. Seems like a combination of tightening up and the other team adjusting / upping the effort level. Whatever it is, we can’t rely on Donnie to be our crutch to get us through the end of every game, especially against better teams.

 

[AZOrange]

Maybe effort is the wrong word, but it is like a lack of focus and attention to detail that they have for the first 25-30 minutes of the game

The guys were gassed and red stopped subbing again

 

[sufan59]

There shouldn’t be any possessions where Donnie doesn’t touch the ball in the second half. They gotta find him.

I don’t want to over exaggerate, but when is healthy and with the muscle he has put on his body since last year…..I’m very happy he is on Syracuse.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Never take your foot off the gas when you're pummeling a team and increasing your lead. In the 1st half we were having our way and then Red makes wholesale substitutions taking out Kyle, Donnie and George and presto ... the run stops and Pitt starts cutting the deficit.
#1 Coaching Rule -- Don't break your own momentum during a run.
But we did enough things right to hold on at the end for the win. So used to getting bullied by Pitt so this was a nice change.

it was also about what it did to the pitt players - they got their confidence and it made it harder for the starters too

if you are DOMINATING a team - why change anything until they show they can put a fight?

 

[jdubs30]

Our offense has looked much improved for the first 25-30 minutes of the game for sure. Guys moving/passing. It looks like an actual offense.

Hoping they can figure out how to sustain that. Seems like a combination of tightening up and the other team adjusting / upping the effort level. Whatever it is, we can’t rely on Donnie to be our crutch to get us through the end of every game, especially against better teams.

That’s what happens when you make shots … that’s all it really was

 

[newmexicuse]

George and Kingz have had too many games where they both disappear. George making high risk passes two games in a row now. Hes got to be better.

Not sure why Souare got so much run. Played ok though.

Kiyan seems passive the last few games.

Lazy passing and lack of focus was the biggest team issue.

Last few games invincible Michigan came back to earth. Things change. Maybe if we clean up the dumb stuff we can rise. You can see the potential. Just no consistency.

Kyle had two early fouls and since we had a big first half lead, no reason to get him back in. Souare did fine in his minutes.

 

[tbonezone]

i generally like to see the starters no more than 30-35 minutes a game. george tipped out a bit heavy at 38 today and i believe his play suffered for it down the stretch.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

There shouldn’t be any possessions where Donnie doesn’t touch the ball in the second half. They gotta find him.

It’s a two way street. He has to make himself available and demand the ball. Too often he stands out on the wing and puts his hand up as if he wants the ball kinda sorta . Watch how KD (similar size, build and denied the ball much harder) forces himself into positions to get the ball. It’s an effort thing. Not something you need crazy talent for .

 

[CardiacCuse]

I known those with the agendas won’t acknowledge it, but we ran some choice offensive sets today. George is playing much better.

george fell apart second half of the 2nd half.

6 turnovers is just way too sloppy. pitt wasnt even playing that crazy on defense.


that whole scheme of giving it to george and letting him dribble for 10 seconds and then trying to improvise a last second shot late in the shot clock was ABYSMAL

is there some unwritten law of syracuse bball that the last stretch of the game can only be iso 1 on 1 plays???

 

[Sherman20]

Good to get 2 road wins this week, even if they were against the bottom of the conference. Although in fairness to Georgia Tech they’ve been pretty pesky lately.

Need another 2 wins this week with decent margin of victories. If that happens I’ll allow myself a little bit of optimism this team can get back into the bubble discussion at some point this season.

Exactly. BC and FSU might be the worst teams we play the rest of the way. We have to win these two and win big. And then the following week is also key. We have to beat Virginia Tech and Miami at home. Both of those teams are around the same talent level as Cuse, but they’re MUST WIN games at home. Both would be Q2 wins. So if we can win the next four, we’d be 15-5 and in a better position going into the more difficult portion of the schedule. We’ll be playing very good teams in February, but a lot of those games present key Q1 opportunities in order to burnish our tourney resume. Games at NC State and Wake, at home vs North Carolina and SMU, and on the road vs Duke, Louisville and Virginia are all huge opportunities to get resume wins.

 

[CardiacCuse]

It’s a two way street. He has to make himself available and demand the ball. Too often he stands out on the wing and puts his hand up as if he wants the ball kinda sorta . Watch how KD (similar size, build and denied the ball much harder) forces himself into positions to get the ball. It’s an effort thing. Not something you need crazy talent for .

donnie obviously was mvp of the game and played great but had 2 or 3 horrific turnovers late that were just sloppy not even caused by pitt...just being careless and that has to stop

 

[HyattsCuse]

That’s what happens when you make shots … that’s all it really was

It was more than that. Yes, we were making shots, but we were working for good quality shots. That’s a product of good offense movement and sets.

As opposed to the end of the game when shots get harder, guys standing around, several shot clock heaves to avoid violations, Donnie iso ball, etc.

 

[Orangezoo]

Good win lots of little things that were frustrating to watch. Pitt has some guys who are really strong individually but team play is atrocious at times. Cummings and Siulepa are really solid.

Outside coaching the biggest issue is when the pressure is on the only person who is calm and very intentional on the ball is Donnie. Nait gets nervous, JJ gets too sped up and the other Nate isn’t quite good enough to be on the ball in those spots.

Our two best offensive performances in a while have come on the road but also against weaker ACC comp. In either case GT had just taken Duke to the wire at Cameron and Pitt has good wins just too many losses as well.

 

[tbonezone]

good news. Ibra 2 o-boards and just 2 fouls in 17 minutes. bad news. who was guarding cummings ?

 

[upperdeck]

I think people gloss over the dumb plays that build a lead and then wonder why it goes bad late. Pitt kid kept them in the game making shots. We still made dumb plays and missed shots. Leads go way.

 

[grepal]

Red’s substitutions are baffling. Betsey NEEDED more 2nd half run today. He has no feel for who has the hot hand.

I also don’t understand why Kingz and Betsey cannot be on the floor together. Not sure it’s happened once this year

Main reason is rebounding and post defense. I suppose Nate can get some time at the two but that could cut into Kiyans time which would not be good for his development.

 

[powdersmack]

Our offense has looked much improved for the first 25-30 minutes of the game for sure. Guys moving/passing. It looks like an actual offense.

Hoping they can figure out how to sustain that. Seems like a combination of tightening up and the other team adjusting / upping the effort level. Whatever it is, we can’t rely on Donnie to be our crutch to get us through the end of every game, especially against better teams.

They've built up a big lead the past two, and then slow down and stop doing what got them there in the first place. As opposed to, for example, what NC St did today, keeping their foot on the gas to the end even with a yuuuge lead.