Postgame Thoughts… Wake Forest game 2

[NorSyr66]

Torrence should have played more. We are so much quicker with him in

99 times out of 100 I would agree but tonight with the lead, let Symir rest. Another 4 days will do him a world of good with his injury healing.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Weird not mentioned yet .. but we only had 5 turnovers . That’s fairly incredible considering the issues we’ve had

 

[kingtidge]

Great overall performance and the defense really clicked for an entire game, which was great to see.

Shots were dropping our way all game and turnovers were really the difference. We stole their lunch money repeatedly.

Thought the subs played well in first half too and Frank had a solid game. Would have liked to see some more Benny in second half.

 

[kcsu]

Great win. Students were fantastic. I have to think JB taking some blame helped the team. Symir being able to play is super news. Smart to sit him. Benny should have played some in the second have. Really happy for the team as they and the entire community needed this one.

 

[Newhouser]

Great win and everyone played well when given the opportunity. Guy at Wake seems to be good but if we play another team this year that doesn't pressure us the coach should be fired.

 

[Cuse181]

Huh? Where is “here?” Who told the students not to come?

I believe the “locked on syracuse” Twitter account had some choice words about how they hoped only 10k showed up to help push JB out the door. Ya know, fan stuff.

 

[CousCuse]

It's taken more time than anyone would like, but the team is now performing at the highest level and is poised for a strong late season run. Really like what Benny was doing, force contact, draw fouls, play physical. Hope to see more of that.

 

[81South]

Super happy for the players…they needed this badly. Whether it propels them onto bigger things is TBD.

 

[Nicknack]

Great win. If we used our bench more, this team might have Wake's record.

Fify

 

[Manleymen]

Not the best City Rocks team tho.

All kidding aside, at the end of the day it’s going to be February and we’re still under .500. It was nice of him to say that but it makes zero sense. Nothing wrong with being hyped with a big win, he played a great game, but this team still has a lot of work to do. The defense needs to play for 40 minutes and not just one half like we’ve seen. If JB made this comment he’d be laughed out of town.

I agree, we now have at least a punchers chance to get in the ACC top 5 if we can get on a roll. The league is in a shambles. That was a big exhale at the end of the game with the bench scoring never expected baskets. We can get on a role, but as you say the defense needs to pick it up. Wake Forest is a pretender to the crown. I hope JB did a lot of introspection watching the sheer joy of all his players celebrating last night. You can get a lot more out of them with encouragement instead of berating IMHO. Play the bench, definitely give Anselem more time, and for the umpteenth time get Benny more minutes instead of showing up a glimpse of 1 percent of his potential every game. Not a political slogan but "Keep hope alive."

 

[CousCuse]

I agree, we now have at least a punchers chance to get in the ACC top 5 if we can get on a role. The league is in a shambles. That was a big exhale at the end of the game with the bench scoring never expected baskets. We can get on a role, but as you say the defense needs to pick it up. Wake Forest is a pretender to the crown. I hope JB did a lot of introspection watching the sheer joy of all his players celebrating last night. You can get a lot more out of them with encouragement instead of berating IMHO. Play the bench, definitely give Anselem more time, and for the umpteenth time get Benny more minutes instead of showing up a glimpse of 1 percent of his potential every game. Not a political slogan but "Keep hope alive."

Roll.

 

[hoopsupstate]

To see the body language last night compared to Pitt was awesome. This team really needed this. Great job by everyone last night. It was good to see Symir play. It was better to not use him much. It will give him some time to heal for NCS on Wednesday. Rotating players from the bench really provides energy for the team. It’s also great for team moral. My only complaint was getting Frank in earlier in the second half to avoid Jessie’s fourth foul. It was great to see Swider take smaller players into the paint and score over them. He has a really nice fade away and he used it as a weapon last night. We saw transition. They must have watched the old UCONN tape!!!!!

 

[Orangezoo]

So let's look at some numbers. It's actually quite interesting looking at our games this year a bit deeper considering our offensive prowess and defensive issues.

Using a rudimentary unadjusted calculator on pts allowed per possession:

Wake 2 .93 pts per poss
Pitt(2) .80 pts per poss
Duke .97 pts per poss
Clemson 1.02 pts per poss
FSU2 1.14 pts per poss
Pitt (1)- .85 pts per poss.
Wake 1 - .94 pts per poss
Miami 1.03 pts per poss
UVA 1.04 pts per poss
Cornell .75 pts per poss
Brown .73 pts per poss
Gtown 1.05 pts per poss
Nova .7 pts per poss
FSU 1 - .75 pts per poss
IU- 1.01 pts per poss
Auburn 1.12 pts per poss
ASU 1.00 pts per poss
VCU .85 pts per poss
Colgate 1.11 pts per poss
Drexel .80 pts per poss
Lafayette .79 pts per poss.


It's interesting when you look at this. To me it's very clear that we did enough defensively against VCU, Nova, Wake 1, Duke and Pitt 2 that we should absolutely have had those wins but couldn't get it done on offense.

We currently are on the longest stretch of keeping teams below 1.00 pts per possession all season. Last night our numbers were 1.25 pts per poss. With a near equal number of possessions we would be undefeated with that metric this season. There is still margin.

Hopefully we found something as a team last night. Time will tell.

 

[newmexicuse]

Shooting comes and goes, but tonight Buddy put together the complete game. He had assists, more boards than a dead man (LOL), steals, deflections, and he took care of the ball with only one TO. He had good shot selection......I thought he only forced a couple and one of those actually went in for a three.

This is how he needs to play every game whether or not the shots are falling.

I had previously made a post criticizing Buddy for selfish play and lack of assists. Last night he was the epitome getting his while simultaneously being unselfish and finding his teammates. This is how he should be playing basketball and leading his team. It is now been proved that he can do that, so we as fans should not settle for less.

I liked the combined play of Jesse and Frank at the five.....Swider was also taking and making good shots.

Good to see Symir back and looking healthy.

A nice recovery game for Joe after a couple of abysmal outings.

Lastly, we finally got a glimpse of what Benny might be able to bring to the table. Loved his energy. he still needs to find some O. His situation is interesting, most players need to earn court time w D, but Benny needs to become just enough of an O threat to keep em honest. I thought he did that today with some nice board crashing and a nice drive or two to the hole even though he didnt finish. The finishing will come.

 

[tptcuse]

I believe the “locked on syracuse” Twitter account had some choice words about how they hoped only 10k showed up to help push JB out the door. Ya know, fan stuff.

I believe they got rightfully trashed for that opinion. I didn't see anyone else asking for people to stay home.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

How much you think it cost to get Giannis to come?
25k or 50k?
Whatever it was well done by Mr. Weitsman they brought excitement and energy to the atmosphere.

I think that’s the reason Buddy showed out as well

 

[rrlbees]

 

[bballbeadle]

While that’s true, the portion of the crowd that wasn’t in white out was fairly quiet

Yes, with so many students there, I thought the roars would sound louder. But they didn’t. I then realized that because there were not a heck of a lot of people in the rest of the Dome (although the most there’s been) that the student’s noise couldn’t compensate for the relative quiet of the rest of the crowd. It was weird, because the non-student crowd was up on its feet and cheering quite vigorously, but it didn’t come across.

 

[tptcuse]

Yes, with so many students there, I thought the roars would sound louder. But they didn’t. I then realized that because there were not a heck of a lot of people in the rest of the Dome (although the most there’s been) that the student’s noise couldn’t compensate for the relative quiet of the rest of the crowd. It was weird, because the non-student crowd was up on its feet and cheering quite vigorously, but it didn’t come across.

Masks?

 

[orangepassion]

Buddy may have earned himself a contract with the Milwaukee Bucks last night

 

[Orangezoo]

I believe they got rightfully trashed for that opinion. I didn't see anyone else asking for people to stay home.

They did. No one supported that comment. Telling folks to not support the program is pathetic. It's a choice and performance can impact that choice- that is a conversation this year. But not showing up being promoted- yeah that's just awful.

 

[bballbeadle]

Masks?

Hey hey hey, I wonder if that is it??D’oh!

 

[Trueblue25]

Yes, with so many students there, I thought the roars would sound louder. But they didn’t. I then realized that because there were not a heck of a lot of people in the rest of the Dome (although the most there’s been) that the student’s noise couldn’t compensate for the relative quiet of the rest of the crowd. It was weird, because the non-student crowd was up on its feet and cheering quite vigorously, but it didn’t come across.

I was in a different section than I normally am, but it seems like people are abiding by the mask mandate much better recently than earlier in the season. Perhaps that contributed? I don’t know. It was a fun game and happy I came.

 

[MSOrange]

 

[Sherman20]

The Syracuse team that beat Wake is the team I thought they could be coming into the season if all the pieces came together and our offense was clicking and our defense was at least decent. I felt we had a chance to go on a good run after the Clemson win and the near Florida State loss. Then there was the mystifying second half no-show loss to Pitt, and I have no explanation for the two-game disappearance of the offense and sudden inability to shoot the ball. The difference in the win was the movement on offense, exploiting mismatches, and the active, hands-up defense (and making the correct rotations) in the second half and for portions of the first half. This team can win some games going forward and finish a few games above .500 if they play with some confidence on offense and play smart and with intensity on the defensive end. And I agree with others that JB needs to play the bench more. You need other players to provide a spark. Frank played well. He played solid D, grabbed boards and got into the right place on offense to receive a pass and was aggressive. I love his potential. Benny looked much more active and confident as well. I hope he can build on this.