RAK

['72 Orange]

He gave us what we needed 6 pts, 7 boards 2 blocks 1 steal 1 TO. If I have to pick on one thing he was boxed out too easily.

Throw in Baye with 4 pts and 1 board and we have pretty good production without FAB.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

our centers were fine. they basically equaled fab...rak missing that dunk though was sort of a confidence killer for him. if that goes down, i think he is much more active on the offensive end

 

[armory]

guards need to feed him the ball with a mismatch like that. much respect for Rak, he was busting his ass in the post, his teammates showed him no respect. he missed that little dunk, but he could have made that move ALL. DAY. LONG... but we feed the post at most once a game. pathetic.

 

[KingOtis]

His positioning (on defense) was mostly awful. Keita was only slightly better.

We lose to K-State.

 

[SmilinBob]

His positioning (on defense) was mostly awful. Keita was only slightly better.

We lose to K-State.

We might be able to pack in the zone vs KState and the guards can help on D.

 

[Bortukal]

His positioning (on defense) was mostly awful. Keita was only slightly better.

We lose to K-State.

It looked to me he was caught out of position a few times because Kris Jo decided he didn't want to play his part in the zone and Rak had to slide over to compensate.

 

[kingtidge]

His positioning (on defense) was mostly awful. Keita was only slightly better.

We lose to K-State.

Yeah - he was horrendous on baseline drives... wasn't sure where he was supposed to be and lollygagging late after his guy is already by him...

 

[Tony DeFranco]

His positioning (on defense) was mostly awful. Keita was only slightly better.

We lose to K-State.

What do u mean mostly? It was entirely awful - please start Keita who can contest shots and clog the middle on d

 

[Ghost]

guards need to feed him the ball with a mismatch like that. much respect for Rak, he was busting his ass in the post, his teammates showed him no respect. he missed that little dunk, but he could have made that move ALL. DAY. LONG... but we feed the post at most once a game. pathetic.

I don't know that he would have put up huge number, or even be successful with more opportunities, but I don't think it hurts to feed the big man when he's working hard underneath. I was shocked the number of times we turned down an easy entry into the post so we could shoot a ed three. It keeps him involved, and if he catches fire it's certainly a better option than watching everyone else do nothing.

It would have been nice to get Stephenson out earlier, god, I can't believe I'm talking about getting UNCA in foul trouble...lol

 

[Madbiker]

Rak is much more active than Keita. 6 points, 7 rebs in 25 minutes.He was out of position on a couple baseline drives but he gave us more than expected today.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Im still trying to comprehend the missed dunk...

 

[Tony DeFranco]

If Melo was playing here is how we start the 2nd half - Melo dunk - defensive stop - Scoop 3 - defensive stop - Melo put back (yes Rak dropped the rebound and it went ob) with a flush - UNCA's weak bank off the back board ends up in the second row - I know we dont have Fab but Rak does not cut it - PERIOD - just like Melo did not cut it last year - I really think we need Keita - he blocks shots and is a presence - our forwards and guards r set up to rebound on defense and the Center's job is to contest anything in the middle and to board outside shots - Rak cannot contest the middle

 

[GFTakedown]

I was worried he was going to get so frustrated out there he was going to make some dumb mistakes. At one point I thought he as going to get a technical for throwing the ball into the air after a foul he got. I was so happy that Keita was in the game when the loose ball towards the end of the game. He probably would have thrown an elbow or caused a scrum on the ground. Great game for what he did do!!

 

[armory]

The only player showing any effort isn't given the ball. Makes sense... if this were a team of government employees.

 

[OttoMets]

If Melo was playing here is how we start the 2nd half - Melo dunk - defensive stop - Scoop 3 - defensive stop - Melo put back (yes Rak dropped the rebound and it went ob) with a flush - UNCA's weak bank off the back board ends up in the second row - I know we dont have Fab but Rak does not cut it - PERIOD - just like Melo did not cut it last year - I really think we need Keita - he blocks shots and is a presence - our forwards and guards r set up to rebound on defense and the Center's job is to contest anything in the middle and to board outside shots - Rak cannot contest the middle

There's no way - no possible way on this Earth - that Fab would've finished that second-half and-one that Christmas made. Not a chance. Fab never had the focus for plays like that; he'd have thrown up a wild layup and missed by four feet. It's nice to pretend that Fab was some kind of automatic finisher around the rim, but he missed more layups this year than any Syracuse center since Craig Forth. Christmas, on the other hand, has the actual post moves, touch, and concentration needed to be an offensive presence.

Christmas's defense leaves a lot to be desired. He spent too much time on the court in the second half; he was clearly dragging and should have been subbed out three minutes earlier than he was. But he gave us everything we needed and performed pretty well. Baye did, too. They're the least of our concerns. If each gives us that performance, we've got a serviceable center platoon.