Rak's hands/effort...

[MyMeloMyMan]

After his 4th lazy attempt to grab a loose ball that was in his hands, Hopkins goes, "Thats FOUR Rak!!!!!! Come on!!"

The coaches must be driven to drink by his lack of effort out there. One handing rebounds? What man? Is this kid ok?

 

[Flacusian]

Or JB imploring him by saying "Two Hands!, Two Hands!"

 

[NineOneSeven]

Just doesn't seem to have the fire. Not sure what else needs to be said. It's odd. When he dunks, he dunks very aggressively. I think we need to try to feed him more in the post to get him going.

 

[bpo57]

After his 4th lazy attempt to grab a loose ball that was in his hands, Hopkins goes, "Thats FOUR Rak!!!!!! Come on!!"

The coaches must be driven to drink by his lack of effort out there. One handing rebounds? What man? Is this kid ok?

Every few years there is an SU player that drives me nuts yet seems to stay on the floor longer than warranted. That would be Mr. Christmas.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I remember watching the high school clips thinking, "I dont really like his demeanor out there."

Man, its only gotten worse. The 5 minute lapses of jogging up and down the court, little effort. Very hard to swallow.

 

[jgeorge322]

He played well against nova. He was awful this game. He's still a sophomore and big guys take longer. However, what drives me nuts is his inability to set a decent pick. Talk about basketball 101. Jeez.

 

[OttoMets]

That one-handed rebound that Elmore made such a deal about shouldn't really support this argument - his left arm was wrapped up. He only got one hand on the ball because he was held.

 

[RICuse44]

Did anyone read the article on Rak in the PS? Originally from the Virgin Islands. Came to Philly and lived with an aunt who was a 20 something year old grad student. The only other athlete I know of from the Virgin Islands is tim Duncan. People have always questioned his fire. What you can't question about Duncan though is his work ethic. I think Rak just needs time. I also think he is insanely athletic and really has no idea how good he will be. Sometime in the next two years that light will eventually go off.

 

[Madbiker]

His motor needs a major tuneup. That's his biggest problem. And it's really hard to change that.

 

[SU in Hershey]

Is it possible something is wrong (injury-wise) with one of his hands or wrists? He doesn't have it wrapped like Keita did, but his handling reminds me of Keita's issues as a freshman. Only difference is the dunking which seems unhindered. So I am probably FOS on the injury idea.

 

[cuserulesall]

Every few years there is an SU player that drives me nuts yet seems to stay on the floor longer than warranted. That would be Mr. Christmas.

Next year , the guy will be an animal !!!! I really want Him to be an animal by the big East final Madison Square Garden Game this year !! Then NCAA Championship . I will always hope for a great run . Remember 96 !!

 

[bevosu]

Burr and Higgins are modding today.

 

[CuseCrew08]

As a fellow "big man" it can be hard hustling for rebounds and loose balls and jostle for position when don't ever feed you the ball.

How many times did Rak get the ball on the block when he had position today?? I didn't see any, it gets pretty frustrating, and impossible to get in an offensive rhythm.

As for the one handed rebound, a Pitt guy was holding his left arm.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ghost]

I still think the composition of this team does very little to help the bigs excel. Christmas seems to play well when he's involved a bit on offense - I find that type of player endlessly infuriating because it shouldn't be necessary - but it is what it is and nobody makes any effort to get them the ball early in the halves or much at all.

You see it all the time, well, once in awhile, but when they do get post position, nobody will pass the bigs the ball anyway. BT is slightly better than MCW, especially earlier in the year, but he always seemed far more focused on trying to get Coleman the ball.

They'll do the same progression each time, "I'm thinking about it...thinking about it...they're posting up, hmmmmm, nope, I'm driving into a clogged lane and kicking it back out or throwing up a floater!!!!!" Which they're not all that great at.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Our big men always seem to be "one year away from being a monster"

 

[orangemass]

Very disappointed in Mr X-mas... Offers very little on the offensive end, not a great rebounder, and the Pitt bigs abused him inside... 2 years in and I don't see any improvement...

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Rak is soft. Has been soft. Is going to always be soft. He lacks basketball talent. He has crazy athletic ability but he has minimal actual basketball skill and certainly doesnt make up for it with "intangibles"

I hope they prove me wrong..but the last three "big men" signings of melo, rak, and coleman are heading towards something much worse than the darryl watkins / terence roberts era. ...and the big downside here is that we have other parts now that actually are good.

 

[Ghost]

Rak is soft. Has been soft. Is going to always be soft. He lacks basketball talent. He has crazy athletic ability but he has minimal actual basketball skill and certainly doesnt make up for it with "intangibles"

I hope they prove me wrong..but the last three "big men" signings of melo, rak, and coleman are heading towards something much worse than the darryl watkins / terence roberts era. ...and the big downside here is that we have other parts now that actually are good.

I disagree with this - a lot.

 

[CuseEffectWarning]

He hurt his wrist early in the second half against Nova after having a big first half, hasn't been the same sense. Hopkins mentioned during Syracuse Sidelines that it was pretty bruised and banged up last week. I've noticed he hasn't caught the ball well since that injury.

 

[cuserulesall]

He hurt his wrist early in the second half against Nova after having a big first half, hasn't been the same sense. Hopkins mentioned during Syracuse Sidelines that it was pretty bruised and banged up last week. I've noticed he hasn't caught the ball well since that injury.

figured

 

[SouthCampusHero]

He hurt his wrist early in the second half against Nova after having a big first half, hasn't been the same sense. Hopkins mentioned during Syracuse Sidelines that it was pretty bruised and banged up last week. I've noticed he hasn't caught the ball well since that injury.

Rak's new nickname...<drumroll>...Dorn!

 

[ORRange]

He hurt his wrist early in the second half against Nova after having a big first half, hasn't been the same sense. Hopkins mentioned during Syracuse Sidelines that it was pretty bruised and banged up last week. I've noticed he hasn't caught the ball well since that injury.

His wrist hasn't been hurt for past season and a half. Now what's the excuse. Some players always get a free ride. He only brings the effort a few times a year so I guess his wrist has always been affecting his play. He got the collar today. We need him to step up against ND and quit being a wuss. Look at his boxscore today. Unacceptable play with his talent. No one should make excuses for that. I wish he had half of Kristof's heart.

 

[KingOtis]

That one-handed rebound that Elmore made such a deal about shouldn't really support this argument - his left arm was wrapped up. He only got one hand on the ball because he was held.

I thought that's what happened at the time. But nothing was called, the announcers didn't say anything and there wasn't a replay. And then JB was imploring him to use two hands.

 

[KingOtis]

Rak's new nickname...<drumroll>...Dorn!

Yeah, but we don't have a Ricky Vaughn on this team.

 

[KingOtis]

Rak is soft. Has been soft. Is going to always be soft. He lacks basketball talent. He has crazy athletic ability but he has minimal actual basketball skill and certainly doesnt make up for it with "intangibles"

I hope they prove me wrong..but the last three "big men" signings of melo, rak, and coleman are heading towards something much worse than the darryl watkins / terence roberts era. ...and the big downside here is that we have other parts now that actually are good.

Melo was fine last year on the court.

I think Coleman will make the leap next year. The difference between him and everyone else mentioned is that the offense is already there. He just needs to understand what to do in the zone and gain some confidence overall. It doesn't seem to take much to get him going, though. I remember him getting really excited over routine plays in earlier games this season.