Quick takes, plus espn3 and OAA bonus coverage

[CaptainJ]

I looked at a few other threads quickly, but far from everything, so some of this is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

You don't need me to tell you Malachi looked confident, although it's nice that now it's in actual NCAA games. The step back jumpers are something I love watching, and also used to love doing back in the day. Calmly creating your own separation instead of flying wildly around a screen is something refreshing to watch. Sadly, the latter isn't used better by a coach who has been around as long as Boeheim.

Lydon, was not quite as confident looking, but he really surprised me with his defensive game tonight. Both of these kids look like they're going to be special, regardless of when that is.

Chino reminds me of a poor man's BMK. I mean that in a nice way(mostly, lol), as BMK was one of my all time favorites. I don't find Chino's animated antics to be quite on par with BMK's yet, but some folks might consider that merely a bonus. I love his effort on defense, and at times he looked quite fundamentally sound, dare I say talented. Before all is done, he may end up being a grenade we are glad to have covered, for Bryant.

Coleman didn't surprise me, really. A good performance would have. I still dont find that indicative of what the rest of his career may hold, as it's likely to take time for him to get back into rhythm in real game action. That sounds obvious you say? Apparently not on here. What I'm getting at is that I think some of the comments about him elsewhere on here may be premature, and we know what JB thinks about premature. Regardless, I can empathize with those who have a hard time associating McDonalds All American, and Mr NY with what they see on the court(when he's on the court).

Roberson: ??? Was he ill as someone suggested elsewhere? That rumor makes as much sense as anything for him this evening. It seemed like a bit of a letdown after seeing his new, offensive mindset during the exhibitions.

Joseph: Nice to hear JB say his confidence has improved the most of anyone. Even nicer to see him back it up with his play. KJ took even more abuse from some on here last year than I did, and sometimes that makes his attainments feel extra good for me.


BONUS coverage, about the coverage:

ESPN3 - During the game I was wondering about those replays during live action. I'm glad to see I wasn't alone with those thoughts. Were Newhouse students put in charge during SU games as some sort of internship?

As for the announcers, I'll reserve judgment for now. There have certainly been other announcers whom I've liked much less. As I'll get to later, I got to hear these guys speak, "off camera". And after the game, they congratulated one another, which made me feel a bit of brotherhood with them. I like sharing in the joy of those who are "just arriving", and don't take their lives for granted.

Off the beaten path(no pun intended), I remember lamenting the fact that I wouldn't get to check out the cheerleaders and dancers like I could during the preseason. But then the question occurred to me, "Why the heck not?!", as I still had:

Orange All Access (which I hope to remember to cancel on time, this season)- So I switched over to this, kind of eager to see what difference was, other than the nubile bevvy of babes instead of commercials. Sadly, it was the same broadcast, except with the aforementioned bonuses. However, the announcers were still miced(is that how one spells a made up word?) up during the down time. As a former (one year) communications major, I found this very interesting. Our team of announcers was practicing what they were going to talk about after returning from the break, and even requesting things like, "a generic shot of the Carrier Dome". Classic.

I didn't check OAA out until after much of the game was in the past, so who knows what gems I may have missed. One I did catch was Rosie saying he would not give the refs any water. While he didn't sound like he was on the edge of capillary-bursting bitterness, it seemed to me like he was at least somewhat serious. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to have access to his commentary of the Final *** game vs Michigan, except that I don't think I'd enjoy being a fly.

 

[bballbeadle]

I'm glad you cut Coleman some slack. Man, it is so easy to get down on these players, and I can do it, too. I think that after the exhibition games, I felt so excited about our great offense, and then we get to the first real game and the offense is as flat as . . . . (pick whatever metaphor you want). So, it was a letdown and a concern. For me. I'll get over it.

 

[CaptainJ]

I'm glad you cut Coleman some slack. Man, it is so easy to get down on these players, and I can do it, too. I think that after the exhibition games, I felt so excited about our great offense, and then we get to the first real game and the offense is as flat as . . . . (pick whatever metaphor you want). So, it was a letdown and a concern. For me. I'll get over it.

I share the same concern as you, but for now would rather focus on the positive. I guess the worst that can happen by that is that we let our expectations get to high? If we go the other direction, we're immediately feeling miserable, although possibly to a lesser extent.

I'm really hoping Hop can earn his paycheck with his work with Coleman. I've joked around, maybe more than anyone in recent years, about the effect of the loss of Bernie Fine. I'm guessing some of the experts may be more qualified to answer that than myself, but I'm not exactly sure how I'd rate the upcoaching of the bigs we've had since Bernie's last days. I'm also not necessarily suggesting Bernie could make the current Coleman into a fine player(tm), but it interests me to consider. I'm just hoping it's a mental issue where something can just click in his head, maybe his amygdala or something. If Coleman could get closer to what he was supposed to be when other premier schools were recruiting him than where he is now, it would be the majority of what this team needs to play at a reasonably high level. I'm glad that you haven't given up on the kid either. At some point we have to be honest and ask ourselves if more successful teams would have a different answer to how they'd face this situation with him. Maybe in this case it is all a matter of time? We heard a number of good things about him before the season, and need to ask ourselves if what we've seen already is all we require to write the big guy off.

 

[orangefan13]

We got 4 guys who are capable of taking the game over and hitting 5 threes in a 6-7 minute span. I know that sounds like a very rare sight but it puts alot of pressure on opponents and will rile up the team big time.

I also hate the word Heat Check sometimes you can tell a release isn't as smooth or jerked when announcers use it. And its not as much a heat check as it is they jerk a shot after burying 2-3 in a row. Smooth release is going to be a huge emphasis this year and Malachis got it.

I don't want to see anyone jerk a three after hitting two or three in a row once this season or they should be benched for three games .

 

[Orange Barrel]

announcers were still miced(is that how one spells a made up word?)

It's mic'd. I'm basing that on 30 years as a soundguy. Not surprising that they remain mic'd, but very surprising that they don't kill their audio during breaks. Especially after the Paulie/sweaty balls incident several years ago.