Puck Fitt

[Orangezoo]

I hear you and understand the issue. Every game we end up digging ourselvers out of a hole. It has to be addressed in the game planning. I agree we need to start different players. Our starters so far this year are not getting it done. Period. I agree we handed Pitt a ton of opportunities, they had a very good three point shooter we seemed to enjoy watching but they were lucky to win. Tell me that wasn't a travel on the big guy that ended up hitting two free throws. I can not explain away why Judah missed the slam dunk, or why he tried to take it. I can not explain away our missed free throws but Pitt hit 13 0f 32 threes. That is not normal.

In today's game against a passive defense many teams can hit open 3s. It's why the zone is so much harder to run for 40 mins. Pitt came in shooting 34 pct from 3 for the year. That's solid- we made it easy with our soft zone. 13/32 is basically two more threes than their average on the year based on pct. The zone has shown to do that and benefit the opponent consistently. It was not an anomaly.

Pitt doesn't have a true PG and it showed when we pressed. That's the kind of scouting and game planning you can work with and put them under pressure from the start. If we can run it late no reason we couldn't run it early.

 

[djcon57]

I don't agree with the first part of that. I think these guys like each other. And because all of them are getting chances to play (unexpected chances maybe, but they are getting their opportunities), the players seem engaged to me. It's just that we are starting two or three low-effort guys on defense. That's what repeatedly digs the holes.

...and rebound watchers. The worst.

Jesse has to be sick of it. Even Joe was boxing from the outside on one play and Bell just watched his guy tip it away.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I also agree with the takes about Joe getting a look late. If ever a game I would have been fine with Joe getting the last shot, that was it. I also do agree we needed Judah to be the one to handle the ball though.

Unfortunately, just no confidence in any out of timeout plays these days. Especially considering who we have executing them, where it can be hard to separate the actual play from what happens.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Glad I hooped tonight and hit the bar with the boys after.

 

[Orangezoo]

Glad I hooped tonight and hit the bar with the boys after.

Good call

 

[NineOneSeven]

I’m calling this the official postgame thread…

When we got down 20 was obviously fully expecting a loss, but then to lose how we did just is way more irritating for me.

 

[Oakland]

Pitt owns us in everything.

The one school I want to beat the most and we consistently lose in both sports.

 

[Oakland]

Yep. Why does he always wait until we're behind by a lot to change things up? I would like to see the half-court traps that we did late, or a bit of press, or just picking up full court to make them use time before starting the play. He does some of that, but he often waits too long.

Remember about 15 years ago, we would be losing multiple games and we'd get down 10 pts with 8 min or so to go, and JB would slap on the press, and we would go on to win a bunch of those games. We saw it many times. And in the press conferences, he would be asked, 'why do you wait until the team is down 10 to put the press on', and JB would deny that he went to the press when we were down 10 late in the game.

 

[Day2]

OK, so this is that thread. Should have known from the title.

 

[Cusefan0307]

It might be, but it is also occurring at a time where you’ve seen teams like Gonzaga, Baylor, Virginia, and Alabama rising up the ranks with great classes and great seasons. You’re fighting 2x as many decent programs and then you factor in NIL for the factories. Like I said, I’d love for it to be just because of JB but there’s a lot of other things that could keep cuse from those 80s to early 10s level

Anything to absolve JB of blame….

 

[Red Holzman]

We are so predictable and easy to prepare for and easy to play against.

How many times did Pitt have a player get to the corner in front of their bench while pushing the ball up, make the quick pass, then splash the 3 from there? Watching that got old.

 

[Trueblue25]

2 and 31 were just the worst to watch.

What a bad loss. Some of our lineups make no sense.

I know some of you think Chris Bell’s scoring is great, but often times he’s unplayable.

Benny was too last night.

Jesse’s still committing brainless fouls

 

[Orangezoo]

2 and 31 were just the worst to watch.

What a bad loss. Some of our lineups make no sense.

I know some of you think Chris Bell’s scoring is great, but often times he’s unplayable.

Benny was too last night.

Jesse’s still committing brainless fouls

Imagine a starting lineup with Brown at least that pressured from the start getting guys revved up, brings in Copeland, Symir and Mounir earlier for fresh legs maybe even brings Ajak too for fouls.

Instead of letting them shoot 11 open 3s to start the game.

 

[MSOrange]

The starting lineup is not working and hasn’t worked. We can’t continue to get behind. Again, feels like deja vu from 2020

Agree. There is a lot of talk about the execution at the end of the game and I agree - there were some issues. But if we hadn't barfed all over ourselves for the first 30 minutes and made it so there was zero margin for error, that would have been helpful.

 

[Orangezoo]

So the Syr.com article on the players talking about effort is interesting. I like they called it out and admitted it. Maybe, just maybe between players and coach changes will take place and we see a hungrier team. Benny and Bell have a decision to make. Get your ass in gear or watch the game from the bench.

Everything I saw from the other guys in the last 10 minutes is what we need for 40. Quadir would have had 10 boards over 30 minutes. Right now Benny and Bell need to be working their asses off to prove they are here to win not just feel good about their own performances.

Hopefully what JB saw forces him to shift the starting lineup and the players come to work every night going forward. We shall see.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Right now Benny and Bell need to be working their asses off to prove they are here to win not just feel good about their own performances.

I'm not sure that either would get 5 mpg at any other mid-to-high D1 program. They are not productive players in any sense of the word. I'm sure Mintz will leave for the draft after the season and if that means that these two will be portal candidates then I'm struggling to be concerned about that.

 

[Trueblue25]

Every year the lineups make no sense. Its exhausting

 

[Fly Rodder]

Jesse’s still committing brainless fouls

I remain convinced that the C position at SU is just foul prone because they're are asked to do so much on defense that it leaves them in poor position constantly. Add in that the guards and wings aren't helping much, and the C is always reaching and swatting and reacting too late to the ball. It's going to result in bad fouls.

ETA: I just looked at bbref quick and Jesse averages the most minutes and blocks plus the fewest PF per 40 minutes of any recent (09-10) SU C. This season (without last night's game, stats aren't updated yet) he's averaging 3.9 blocks and 3.0 PF per 40 mpg. For comparison, Senior Chukwu was 3.4 blocks and 6(!) PF per 40. Soph Fab had him in blocks at 4.6(!) per 40 and 4.5 PF per 40. Only senior Rak beats him in minutes, but had fewer blocks (2.8) and slightly more PF (3.9).

 

[Cusefan0307]

After sleeping for about 5 hours I'm even more annoyed with last nights game today.

We start out slow every game. This is not new. The lineup needs to be changed. I'd remove Bell for Brown starting with BC. If you want to give Benny more rope that is fine, but if he doesn't have it go to Taylor or Copeland.

We had so many non winning plays last night too. As good as Mintz was he left way too much meat on the bone.

 

[Orangezoo]

After sleeping for about 5 hours I'm even more annoyed with last nights game today.

We start out slow every game. This is not new. The lineup needs to be changed. I'd remove Bell for Brown starting with BC. If you want to give Benny more rope that is fine, but if he doesn't have it go to Taylor or Copeland.

We had so many non winning plays last night too. As good as Mintz was he left way too much meat on the bone.

We need a commitment to having more than one defense as well. We have 11 guys who can play. That's the perfect recipe for using pressure consistently. I just don't get it.

 

[dollarbill44]

Pitt owns us in everything.

Not futbol.

 

[Fly Rodder]

We start out slow every game. This is not new

My least favorite recent trend in SU Basketball. They just can't give every team a 10 point head start.

 

[Orangezoo]

OK, so this is that thread. Should have known from the title.

Those cocky bums don't deserve a formal thread title.

 

[Trueblue25]

I remain convinced that the C position at SU is just foul prone because they're are asked to do so much on defense that it leaves them in poor position constantly. Add in that the guards and wings aren't helping much, and the C is always reaching and swatting and reacting too late to the ball. It's going to result in bad fouls.

ETA: I just looked at bbref quick and Jesse averages the most minutes and blocks plus the fewest PF per 40 minutes of any recent (09-10) SU C. This season (without last night's game, stats aren't updated yet) he's averaging 3.9 blocks and 3.0 PF per 40 mpg. For comparison, Senior Chukwu was 3.4 blocks and 6(!) PF per 40. Soph Fab had him in blocks at 4.6(!) per 40 and 4.5 PF per 40. Only senior Rak beats him in minutes, but had fewer blocks (2.8) and slightly more PF (3.9).

Jesse’s length gets him a lot of blocks, yeah.

It’s not his role that’s causing fouls in my opinion. He’s just not making the mental adjustments. Fouling a three point shooter in the corner is hardly justifiable for a freshman. Jesse’s got finetune his craft if he wants a sniff of the draft.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I remain convinced that the C position at SU is just foul prone because they're are asked to do so much on defense that it leaves them in poor position constantly. Add in that the guards and wings aren't helping much, and the C is always reaching and swatting and reacting too late to the ball. It's going to result in bad fouls.

ETA: I just looked at bbref quick and Jesse averages the most minutes and blocks plus the fewest PF per 40 minutes of any recent (09-10) SU C. This season (without last night's game, stats aren't updated yet) he's averaging 3.9 blocks and 3.0 PF per 40 mpg. For comparison, Senior Chukwu was 3.4 blocks and 6(!) PF per 40. Soph Fab had him in blocks at 4.6(!) per 40 and 4.5 PF per 40. Only senior Rak beats him in minutes, but had fewer blocks (2.8) and slightly more PF (3.9).

Go check Sidibe’s fouls per 40.