Pump fakes

[Brooky03]

What's the point of pump faking your guy out of his shoes if you don't do anything positive with the ball after?

I ask because I don't think I've ever seen somebody do so little with a well-executed pump fake as Tyler Lydon. We all knew this game was going to be a bad one, so this doesn't really have anything to do with the game today, just something that's bothered me for a while this season. It's gotten to the point that a Lydon pump fake and drive is one of the worst things that can happen in our offensive set. It has a negative result half the time, no result 49% of the time, and a positive result 1% of the time. I'd rather just see him shoot.

 

[shandeezy7]

He doesn't have a quick enough first step to utilize the pump fake effectively. Even if the defender bites, he's not fast enough to blow by him without the defender recovering and getting back into defending him. Additionally, he's not a very good passer, so if he does get into the lane, he doesn't really seem to know what to do with the ball once he is covered. Finally - he pump fakes so often, that less and less defenders are biting on it. It's become a completely ineffective tool for him.

 

[Cuse House]

why pump fake at all when you're open? He's 6'9, he doesn't have to worry about a guard blocking his shot. He's a funny player.

 

[Digger]

Didn't shoot

 

[orangenirvana]

People laughed when I said Lydon has the potential/talent to average close to 25 ppg but if those countless pump fakes are shot attempts he wouldn't be far off. He's better than he thinks he is.

 

[MSOrange]

Didn't shootView attachment 90362

If I have 9 basketball watching lives, I lost one on that play.

 

[AZOrange]

Didn't shootView attachment 90362

I mean...I was screaming out loud there

 

[orangenirvana]

I wish I had a gif of when Lydon pump faked on one single possession.

 

[JoeySimz]

Didn't shootView attachment 90362

Maddening. We just looked so hesitant in general.

 

[Cuse House]

I feel like he shot the ball with more confidence last season.

 

[jdubs30]

Pump faking in itself isn't an issue. But any time Lydon catches it on the perimeter he ALWAYS pump fakes - it doesn't matter if there is a defender there or not.

I just watched the UVA highlights from the E8 last year; we were down 55-49 and Lydon caught the ball and shot a 27fter over Gill without hesitation to make it 55-52. He didn't take a pause to think about it. That's what he needs to do this year

 

[BludOrange]

Need to shoot it more from out there to get the pump fake to work better. Then use the pump fake to get the defender in the air that is closing in, and either jump into him and draw the foul, blow by him or side step the defender and shoot the three.

 

[JRHEETER]

Lydon plain and simple plays timid. He scared to shoot, scared to pass, scared to foul when it's a 1 on 1 and the foul is neeeded.

 

[OttoMets]

Glad I didn't have to start this thread myself.

Since Lydon didn't do this last season, there are two possibilities:

1) Someone's coaching him to make a ridiculous ball fake on every catch, regardless of its effectiveness; or
2) He picked up the bad habit himself and either no one cares or no one's successfully coached him not to do it.

His positive numbers were fine today and he was far from the biggest liability, but the faking is a total disaster that holds back his offensive game.

 

[andyw715]

Even my 8yo daughter was yelling at the TV to "shoot the ball 'Cuse!"

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I feel like he shot the ball with more confidence last season.

Last year he shot 40.5% from three. This year he is shooting 42.5% from three but he is only 6 for 23 in his last six games. Last year in the same six game stretch he was 12 for 27. I'm not sure it is a confidence thing as he has never been a volume shooter.

Last year he only took six or more threes in a game four times. This year he has done it seven times. I know it seems we all want him to shoot more but in actuality he is shooting more (from 2, from 3 and from FT) and has a better percentage. He also has more rebounds and more assists than last year. So stat wise he has definitely improved over last season.

I just think we all expected this huge breakout All American season from him but I think Tyler plays somewhat of a conservative game. Doesn't have a great floor game so he never really tries to do anything crazy. Yes, he passes up open shots, but in his mind, he is doing the right thing.

Hopefully the coaches do a great job breaking down the film with these kids. Some kids benefit greatly and some kids don't no matter how many times they are shown. I guess we would call Lydon a fairly cerebral player but another year of coaching should help him greatly. There are definitely a lot of things he could work on that would help him to get stronger, mentally and physically, and with his ball handling and his lateral quickness so that he can put the team on his back if need be. Hopefully we see him next season.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Even my 8yo daughter was yelling at the TV to "shoot the ball 'Cuse!"

I think all of Orange Nation was screaming at that one really open look he passed up.

 

[Ghost]

Frank Howard takes that shot 100% of the time.

48% of Syracuse fans wouldn't even have an issue with it he's so open.

100% of the world would have no issue with Lydon shooting that. But he won't.

 

[shandeezy7]

Last year he shot 40.5% from three. This year he is shooting 42.5% from three but he is only 6 for 23 in his last six games. Last year in the same six game stretch he was 12 for 27. I'm not sure it is a confidence thing as he has never been a volume shooter.

Last year he only took six or more threes in a game four times. This year he has done it seven times. I know it seems we all want him to shoot more but in actuality he is shooting more (from 2, from 3 and from FT) and has a better percentage. He also has more rebounds and more assists than last year. So stat wise he has definitely improved over last season.

I just think we all expected this huge breakout All American season from him but I think Tyler plays somewhat of a conservative game. Doesn't have a great floor game so he never really tries to do anything crazy. Yes, he passes up open shots, but in his mind, he is doing the right thing.

Hopefully the coaches do a great job breaking down the film with these kids. Some kids benefit greatly and some kids don't no matter how many times they are shown. I guess we would call Lydon a fairly cerebral player but another year of coaching should help him greatly. There are definitely a lot of things he could work on that would help him to get stronger, mentally and physically, and with his ball handling and his lateral quickness so that he can put the team on his back if need be. Hopefully we see him next season.

He is shooting more this year than he did last year, but part of that is that he is playing more minutes (all of the minutes in recent games). His per-40 shooting numbers are not as greatly improved, however:

2015-16 2016-17
Field Goal Attempts: 9.4 10.7
3 Point Attempts: 4.3 4.2
Free Throw Attempts: 3.3 3.6

Additionally, if you look at advanced stats, there isn't much improvement year over year there, either:

2015-16 2016-17
Player Efficiency Rating: 20.2 20.9
True Shooting Percentage: .606 .611
Effective FG Percentage: .572 .571

Tyler Lydon College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Now I'm not really trying to pile on to Tyler here, and I don't think that he's the biggest reason the team has struggled this year. I do, however, think that it was reasonable to think that he would make a bigger jump from freshman to sophomore year than he has. In order for this team to have any sort of success, it needs Tyler to do more than he is currently doing. Maybe that's asking too much though; I don't know.

 

[kidorange]

 

[STEVEHOLT]

He's not a killer. We need some flat out murderers, on this team, in the basketball sense of the word. Lydon is an accomplice type. He might help in the murder, but he's not the guy that's going to pull the trigger.

 

[TheGov3304]

Didn't shootView attachment 90362

SMH, LET IT FLY

 

[TheGov3304]

This is all between the temples, a combination of fear and lack of confidence

 

[TheGov3304]

He's not a killer. We need some flat out murderers, on this team, in the basketball sense of the word. Lydon is an accomplice type. He might help in the murder, but he's not the guy that's going to pull the trigger.

At least AW3 pulls the trigger

 

[Fat tire 13]

He's not a killer. We need some flat out murderers, on this team, in the basketball sense of the word. Lydon is an accomplice type. He might help in the murder, but he's not the guy that's going to pull the trigger.

So you're saying he's our Ray Lewis?