Rak's turn to pledge the Boeheim fraternity?

[SUintheVille]

This analogy is a bit of a stretch but seems to fit in some demented capacity. Almost every year, there is a player who plays a little, but is on an extremely short leash and gets pulled at the first missed rebound, bad shot, turnover, missed assignment, etc. It's almost like pledging a fraternity (without the hazing). It's an initiation that some (obviously not all) new players must suffer thru to be accepted into Boeheim's fraternity and good graces the following year. I'm sure it's not a lot of fun for Rak (is pledging ever fun?), but next year when he is fully initiated, he will blossom and be able to exhibit more of his talent and athleticism with the shackles of riding the pine for one mistake removed.

OK, maybe it was a dumb analogy, but I tried. Or maybe it's Rak just not being ready yet (duh)...

 

[zhanjuzi]

It looks like MCW might have joined this dubious club .. against Pitt, he was yanked in less than a minute after missing a shot and then immediately committing a touch foul on the other end leading to a 3 pt play.

 

[OttoMets]

It looks like MCW might have joined this dubious club .. against Pitt, he was yanked in less than a minute after missing a shot and then immediately committing a touch foul on the other end leading to a 3 pt play.

That was just an egregious display of matador defense - Boeheim was essentially saying "This is going to wind up a close game and we're not going to have you playing through mistakes if you're giving up three points per trip."

Ordinarily Williams will get a much longer leash, but not stopping the ball on that drive and then committing the foul just about sent Boeheim through the roof.

 

[orangefan13]

Rak has averaged 3.7 points and 3.1 BPG per game and 1.0 Blocks in averaging 10.2 mpg the last 9 games. And about 2.2 fouls in 10 minutes also.

Thats not bad. Thats about 14.5 points and 12 Boards and 4 blocks per 40 minutes of course he would foul out halfway through.

He had 5 rebounds and 8 points at providence in 16 minutes .
He had 3 rebounds and 5 points against Nova in 8 minutes of play.
He had 2 rebounds and 7 points against Shall in 7 minutes of play.
He had 5 rebounds and 10 points against Bucknell in 13 minutes of play.
He had 5 boards against Tulane in 15 minutes.

If it wasn't for his three bad games in that stretch Deapaul (first big east road game) marquette (best team we have played so far) and Pitt(rumors he wasn't going to play) his stats would be much better to.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I think JB is making substitutions with the intent to win a game. Duh. When players are not doing well, they need to be pulled, and remember, he sees a lot more about what they are doing right and wrong than any of us see. That said, even if Rak is playing well, CJ will come in within 4-5 minutes just to keep things rolling, as will Dion.

 

[cytolliver]

xmass is getting better, next year with an offseason he will be able to play more and contribute.

 

[Marsh01]

I think JB is making substitutions with the intent to win a game. Duh. When players are not doing well, they need to be pulled, and remember, he sees a lot more about what they are doing right and wrong than any of us see. That said, even if Rak is playing well, CJ will come in within 4-5 minutes just to keep things rolling, as will Dion.

Its been pretty consistent after the first 8ish games or so. Again they have won 20 straight by keeping the same style of substitutions. I dont want to see a guy getting minutes "just because". Cue Herm Edwards...

 

[Garbs]

I think Rak has been showing improvement at times, obviously against teams like Pitt/Ville/Conn he probably won't, but this kid is going to be a beast next year and will have some good games down the stretch