Quick Thoughts

[Brooky03]

Overall, not a terrible game. It was about as ugly as we expected. Pitt got away with a lot of fouls where our big men weren't allowed to be too physical and Pitt outrebounded us badly. That's to be expected. I'm not one to overreact to games, so I'll try to keep this somewhat brief.

- Lydon has to do more. No excuses. Since he can't defend the paint or rebound, he has to be a threat on offense. He's at the point now where he won't take any shot that isn't wide open. He needs to get to the point where he sees a defender in his face and recognizes that he's 6'8" and the defender doesn't have a chance in hell of blocking his shot and let it fly.

- Malachi and Roberson played very good games today. Coleman can be added to this list too, along with Cooney. These guys showed up and gave us what we needed. I thought Coleman got screwed on some of his fouls, but that's how it goes when you're in legal guarding position most of the time I guess.

- G played like trash. His D was good but this was his worst outing of the season. It's excusable because of what he's given the team so far this season, but he can't do this again. He didn't finish well and obviously didn't make his free throws (Shaq would have done better).

- I'm usually the last person to criticize the coaching staff, and this might be the first time I've done it here, but Frank Howard needs 15 minutes per game... minimum. He's the only PG we have, in a very literal sense. JB wasn't giving him PT either, so I'm not just ripping on Hop. Our guards were incredibly gassed at the end of this game and that's why Pitt pulled away. The coaching staff is seriously ing this up.

 

[bballbeadle]

Lydon. Lydon. Lydon. Help us!

 

[Shawn91111]

Kids don't get tired

 

[doc05]

Malachi and Roberson played very good games today. Coleman can be added to this list too, along with Cooney. These guys showed up and gave us what we needed. I thought Coleman got screwed on some of his fouls, but that's how it goes when you're in legal guarding position most of the time I guess.

Coleman had 1 rebound and 2 points.

 

[pearl31]

Overall, not a terrible game. It was about as ugly as we expected. Pitt got away with a lot of fouls where our big men weren't allowed to be too physical and Pitt outrebounded us badly. That's to be expected. I'm not one to overreact to games, so I'll try to keep this somewhat brief.

- Lydon has to do more. No excuses. Since he can't defend the paint or rebound, he has to be a threat on offense. He's at the point now where he won't take any shot that isn't wide open. He needs to get to the point where he sees a defender in his face and recognizes that he's 6'8" and the defender doesn't have a chance in hell of blocking his shot and let it fly.

- Malachi and Roberson played very good games today. Coleman can be added to this list too, along with Cooney. These guys showed up and gave us what we needed. I thought Coleman got screwed on some of his fouls, but that's how it goes when you're in legal guarding position most of the time I guess.

- G played like trash. His D was good but this was his worst outing of the season. It's excusable because of what he's given the team so far this season, but he can't do this again. He didn't finish well and obviously didn't make his free throws (Shaq would have done better).

- I'm usually the last person to criticize the coaching staff, and this might be the first time I've done it here, but Frank Howard needs 15 minutes per game... minimum. He's the only PG we have, in a very literal sense. JB wasn't giving him PT either, so I'm not just ripping on Hop. Our guards were incredibly gassed at the end of this game and that's why Pitt pulled away. The coaching staff is seriously . . . . . . . this up.

Good post.

 

[wallacecuse]

Overall, not a terrible game. It was about as ugly as we expected. Pitt got away with a lot of fouls where our big men weren't allowed to be too physical and Pitt outrebounded us badly. That's to be expected. I'm not one to overreact to games, so I'll try to keep this somewhat brief.

- Lydon has to do more. No excuses. Since he can't defend the paint or rebound, he has to be a threat on offense. He's at the point now where he won't take any shot that isn't wide open. He needs to get to the point where he sees a defender in his face and recognizes that he's 6'8" and the defender doesn't have a chance in hell of blocking his shot and let it fly.

- Malachi and Roberson played very good games today. Coleman can be added to this list too, along with Cooney. These guys showed up and gave us what we needed. I thought Coleman got screwed on some of his fouls, but that's how it goes when you're in legal guarding position most of the time I guess.

- G played like trash. His D was good but this was his worst outing of the season. It's excusable because of what he's given the team so far this season, but he can't do this again. He didn't finish well and obviously didn't make his free throws (Shaq would have done better).

- I'm usually the last person to criticize the coaching staff, and this might be the first time I've done it here, but Frank Howard needs 15 minutes per game... minimum. He's the only PG we have, in a very literal sense. JB wasn't giving him PT either, so I'm not just ripping on Hop. Our guards were incredibly gassed at the end of this game and that's why Pitt pulled away. The coaching staff is seriously . . . . . . . this up.

Lydon passed up a completely wide open lane drive or jumper to pass to a well guarded G when we down 3 late...was the turning point for me. G was far too invisible during the collapse imo.

 

[pearl31]

G made some nice plays, and played good D as Brooklyn mentions above, but he really didn't have a very good game on the offensive end.

I thought Roberson on offense in the 2nd half was a bright spot

 

[jekelish]

Agree pretty much entirely. Your quick thoughts line up pretty well with my own: http://.com/syracuses-struggles-continue-at-pittsburgh/

 

[CusefanATL]

Overall, not a terrible game. It was about as ugly as we expected. Pitt got away with a lot of fouls where our big men weren't allowed to be too physical and Pitt outrebounded us badly. That's to be expected. I'm not one to overreact to games, so I'll try to keep this somewhat brief.

- Lydon has to do more. No excuses. Since he can't defend the paint or rebound, he has to be a threat on offense. He's at the point now where he won't take any shot that isn't wide open. He needs to get to the point where he sees a defender in his face and recognizes that he's 6'8" and the defender doesn't have a chance in hell of blocking his shot and let it fly.

- Malachi and Roberson played very good games today. Coleman can be added to this list too, along with Cooney. These guys showed up and gave us what we needed. I thought Coleman got screwed on some of his fouls, but that's how it goes when you're in legal guarding position most of the time I guess.

- G played like trash. His D was good but this was his worst outing of the season. It's excusable because of what he's given the team so far this season, but he can't do this again. He didn't finish well and obviously didn't make his free throws (Shaq would have done better).

- I'm usually the last person to criticize the coaching staff, and this might be the first time I've done it here, but Frank Howard needs 15 minutes per game... minimum. He's the only PG we have, in a very literal sense. JB wasn't giving him PT either, so I'm not just ripping on Hop. Our guards were incredibly gassed at the end of this game and that's why Pitt pulled away. The coaching staff is seriously . . . . . . . this up.

We were looking at different Malachi's

Imagine if you talked about Lydon like that earlier this year... you would be CusefanATL.

We are looking at different Colemans. I saw 2 stupid travels and a lot of non-existence.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Good post. I didn't see any PITT muggings in the paint at all. I saw our guys standing around or them just getting to them sooner. I agree with much of your post though. I thought Tyler could've pulled the trigger on some mid-range stuff or maybe one 3 pointer but I felt he was pretty well guarded on the perimeter though. He made some nice passes because of that. He's not going to take guys like Young or Jeter off the dribble yet.

 

[longislandcuse]

Part of the reason G might not look so great is because everyone he passes it to, passes it right back.

Lydon went from an asset to a liability. No clue what is going on with him but he's not helping us at all and since (by no fault of his own) he weighs about 25 pounds and has to play the 5, he's really hurting us. He has NBA talent but is playing like a 14 year old Craig Forth.

Roberson is money in ISO.. Why does he only get cleared out for this once a game?

Cooney and Richardson were good but surprise, surprise, Cooney got tired at the end and daggered us with that turnover.

DC is showing potential but once the refs got scared of the crowd, his game was effectively over.

Howard made some kind of cameo.

Chino, yea, whatever.

 

[pearl31]

just checked out the box score...

G shot 4/12 from the field, 1/4 from three, 5/10 FTs and had 4 TOs - just not a good game at all...
Lydon took 3 shots. 3.
Pitt was shooting about 40% from three as a team coming in and tonight they were only 26%...

One thing I find odd/amusing on here after this game, in all the outrage about timeouts and the zone there has essentially been no mention of the fact that Pitt has 3 very good upperclassmen in Young/Artis/Robinson and all three of them (especially Artis, all game long really) made big plays down the stretch. Pitt is a good team that has had our number for pretty much 10+ years and they were playing at home and we were without our coach. Game was ours to win with 5 mins to play and we crapped the bed a bit in those closing minutes, but we lost to a good team on the road.

 

[Jack Hall]

I agree w your last paragrapgh to a degree. Great coaching staff overall but this bench thing is killing SU...theres no coincidence that since 25-0 has been JBs worse stretch. Its been mostly due to the lack of a bench imo. Im not saying its the only issue, but its a glaring one and it needs to be addressed at some pt. hopefully by next season...Go Cuse

 

[SoBeCuse]

just checked out the box score...

G shot 4/12 from the field, 1/4 from three, 5/10 FTs and had 4 TOs - just not a good game at all...
Lydon took 3 shots. 3.
Pitt was shooting about 40% from three as a team coming in and tonight they were only 26%...

One thing I find odd/amusing on here after this game, in all the outrage about timeouts and the zone there has essentially been no mention of the fact that Pitt has 3 very good upperclassmen in Young/Artis/Robinson and all three of them (especially Artis, all game long really) made big plays down the stretch. Pitt is a good team that has had our number for pretty much 10+ years and they were playing at home and we were without our coach. Game was ours to win with 5 mins to play and we crapped the bed a bit in those closing minutes, but we lost to a good team on the road.

Great post. Artis and Young have really become good players. Artis's well rounded game is impressive. He's like a poor man's Draymond Green out there this season. It's unfortunate how many posters just automatically assume muggings and refs cost us games vs them the past 10 years or so. The ball didn't stick at all when Pitt had it. When they missed they simply got to the rebound and then scored.

 

[pearl31]

Great post. Artis and Young have really become good players. Artis's well rounded game is impressive. He's like a poor man's Draymond Green out there this season. It's unfortunate how many posters just automatically assume muggings and refs cost us games vs them the past 10 years or so. The ball didn't stick at all when Pitt had it. When they missed they simply got to the rebound and then scored.

yeah I was already impressed at times w/ Artis last year and this year he's better - he can really do it all, and is such a good passer. I feel confident in saying he's one of the best all around players I've seen play this year, would love to have him

 

[Brooky03]

Coleman had 1 rebound and 2 points.

There was a noticeable difference in our interior defense and rebounding when Coleman was in the game. I didn't look at the stats, I was going by what I saw. Pitt looked for other options on offense when Coleman was in the game before taking it inside. When Lydon was in at Center, Pitt went down low practically every time with very good results. Coleman also did a good job boxing out and making it tougher for Pitt bigs to grab boards. Coleman might not have grabbed the boards himself but he would take up a body or two and free out forwards for some rebound opportunities.

 

[two3zone]

- Malachi and Roberson played very good games today. Coleman can be added to this list too, along with Cooney. These guys showed up and gave us what we needed. I thought Coleman got screwed on some of his fouls, but that's how it goes when you're in legal guarding position most of the time I guess.

So 4 out of our 6 guys had very good games and we lost by double digits?

 

[Brooky03]

So 4 out of our 6 guys had very good games and we lost by double digits?

That's a little disingenuous and I think you're aware of that. The final score was ballooned by late fouling; this was a tie game until something like the 2 minute mark.

 

[two3zone]

That's a little disingenuous and I think you're aware of that. The final score was ballooned by late fouling; this was a tie game until something like the 2 minute mark.

With 2 minutes to go I think everybody watching knew the game was over.

 

[Kowbelkat]

When we were up by 3, i think, and Cooney bricked that 25 footer that was the beginning of the end

 

[NYCorange]

Roberson is money in ISO.. Why does he only get cleared out for this once a game?

I agreed with a lot of your post, but this is simply not true at all. Roberson gets the ball isolated against one defender on almost every possession. Half of the time, his man is waiting for him under the basket or guarding someone else entirely. Roberson takes two hesitation dribbles with no one within 10 feet and then turns his back to the basket looking for someone to pass to. Once in a while, Roberson actually makes an assertive move and these generally have very good results. But 90% of the time, Roberson is forcing the offence to play 4 on 5.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Lydon passed up a completely wide open lane drive or jumper to pass to a well guarded G when we down 3 late...was the turning point for me.

Yeah, not putting the game on Lydon, but he whiffed on that one and it slipped away after that.

 

[Briancuse]

Lydon. Lydon. Lydon. Help us!

It would be nice if he actually took a shot.

 

[MikeSU02]

G, Mal and Lydon all play out of position.

G and TC play almost full games.

We play one defense that we can't switch out of (save a terrible press when it's too late).

I'm not going to blame freshman that aren't playing their natural positions. And, I'n going to give Hop a pass because, I believe, he is trying to run JB's program, not his own. When he has full ownership, I think things will be different.

This year is going to be tough. JB said that if we aren't making shots, we wouldn't beat anyone. First, I agree with that assessment, but second, it's that way because of the structure of the team/coaching style.

Is what it is.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

G, Mal and Lydon all play out of position.

G and TC play almost full games.

We play one defense that we can't switch out of (save a terrible press when it's too late).

I'm not going to blame freshman that aren't playing their natural positions. And, I'n going to give Hop a pass because, I believe, he is trying to run JB's program, not his own. When he has full ownership, I think things will be different.

This year is going to be tough. JB said that if we aren't making shots, we wouldn't beat anyone. First, I agree with that assessment, but second, it's that way because of the structure of the team/coaching style.

Is what it is.