Niastri
Two Time Iggy Award Winner: Edwards for Three!
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- Aug 28, 2011
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I needed a game off, I guess, after recent losses. These are much more fun when we don't get embarrassed the night before.
Sadiq White had an enormous number of highlights for a guy who only played 9 minutes, 5-5 2pt, a steal, a block, a turnover, 2 rebounds 2 fouls, a missed 3pt shot. I was sure I saw an assist, but he wasn't credited with one. He is inconsistent, but still very high upside. I like his willingness to shoot 3s, maybe he'll soon be able to hit them with our crack development staff that improves shooters annually.
In the battle of "Old Chris Bell" vs. "New Chris Bell," Nate Kingz crushed that other loser. Not that Cal's Chris Bell was terrible, he was just more of the same. 4-8 from 3pt range, missed 4 2pt shots, went 6-10 from FT in a foul plagued game, and didn't do much to help his team besides scoring 18 points. Kingz on the other hand, stuffed the stat sheet in a way Chris Bell hasn't dreamed of doing. 27 points on very efficient 8-14 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block. The difference between the two was the difference in the game.
William Kyle battles like crazy, even against much bigger players. Yesterday he didn't have to... Cal's biggest regular, Dort was out, so Kyle was actually one of the biggest guys on the court. The result was a solid 15 pt, 16 rebound game, with 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists as well. We barely outrebounded Cal, giving up 14 offensive rebounds, but it felt nice after a few games getting smoked on the boards.
I don't need to mention it, because NineOneSeven has already (
) in about 5 threads, but Syracuse now has their first 100 point game under their belt for the season. I fully expect them to average 101 points the rest of the season, and get to the SIX I predicted before the season starts. It would help if we could continue to shoot .696 from 2pt range like last night. Maybe if we added some additional 3pt percentage, instead of going 6-25, this game would have been an easier victory.
The highlights show numerous times our guys got fouled and were no called. Instead of playing defense, on a few occasions, they watched Cal play offense to complain. But we still drew 26 fouls. I think we probably should have drawn 30, but officials are hesitant to call that many, especially ACC officials against Syracuse opponents.
It felt like a super sloppy game, but both teams combined for 28 turnovers in 50 minutes of play which isn't a huge amount. Maybe so many fouls, both called and uncalled, and rebounds bouncing around all over instead of getting grabbed quickly made it feel that way? Maybe it is just that Syracuse turns it over in the dumbest possible way sometimes?
Freeman is so good, I can't understand why he doesn't more consistently impact games.
George had a double double, but 5 turnovers and 7 missed shots, several of the obvious over dribbling variety... He needs to figure out how to dribble out of the area under the basket instead of turning it over or weakly getting blocked. At this point in the season, that feels like a hard evolution to make between now and the end of the year.
Looking ahead, we have some amazing opportunities to get ourselves back on the bubble, but we really can't afford too many losses. Looking ahead, are there ANY games you feel confident about winning? Maybe Pitt?
On the other hand, other than Duke, are there any games where you would be flat out astonished we won? Maybe Louisville on the road, but they got smoked by Tennessee, and have a couple other bad losses that make that game feel at least a possible victory...
The season isn't over yet, though the clock is very much ticking. Finishing 5-1 and going into the ACC tournament at 19-12 means we need 2 wins in the ACC tournament to get an at large? 3?
It improbable, but nothing seems impossible when we held Chris Bell to only 18 last night!
Sadiq White had an enormous number of highlights for a guy who only played 9 minutes, 5-5 2pt, a steal, a block, a turnover, 2 rebounds 2 fouls, a missed 3pt shot. I was sure I saw an assist, but he wasn't credited with one. He is inconsistent, but still very high upside. I like his willingness to shoot 3s, maybe he'll soon be able to hit them with our crack development staff that improves shooters annually.
In the battle of "Old Chris Bell" vs. "New Chris Bell," Nate Kingz crushed that other loser. Not that Cal's Chris Bell was terrible, he was just more of the same. 4-8 from 3pt range, missed 4 2pt shots, went 6-10 from FT in a foul plagued game, and didn't do much to help his team besides scoring 18 points. Kingz on the other hand, stuffed the stat sheet in a way Chris Bell hasn't dreamed of doing. 27 points on very efficient 8-14 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block. The difference between the two was the difference in the game.
William Kyle battles like crazy, even against much bigger players. Yesterday he didn't have to... Cal's biggest regular, Dort was out, so Kyle was actually one of the biggest guys on the court. The result was a solid 15 pt, 16 rebound game, with 2 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists as well. We barely outrebounded Cal, giving up 14 offensive rebounds, but it felt nice after a few games getting smoked on the boards.
I don't need to mention it, because NineOneSeven has already (
) in about 5 threads, but Syracuse now has their first 100 point game under their belt for the season. I fully expect them to average 101 points the rest of the season, and get to the SIX I predicted before the season starts. It would help if we could continue to shoot .696 from 2pt range like last night. Maybe if we added some additional 3pt percentage, instead of going 6-25, this game would have been an easier victory.The highlights show numerous times our guys got fouled and were no called. Instead of playing defense, on a few occasions, they watched Cal play offense to complain. But we still drew 26 fouls. I think we probably should have drawn 30, but officials are hesitant to call that many, especially ACC officials against Syracuse opponents.
It felt like a super sloppy game, but both teams combined for 28 turnovers in 50 minutes of play which isn't a huge amount. Maybe so many fouls, both called and uncalled, and rebounds bouncing around all over instead of getting grabbed quickly made it feel that way? Maybe it is just that Syracuse turns it over in the dumbest possible way sometimes?
Freeman is so good, I can't understand why he doesn't more consistently impact games.
George had a double double, but 5 turnovers and 7 missed shots, several of the obvious over dribbling variety... He needs to figure out how to dribble out of the area under the basket instead of turning it over or weakly getting blocked. At this point in the season, that feels like a hard evolution to make between now and the end of the year.
Looking ahead, we have some amazing opportunities to get ourselves back on the bubble, but we really can't afford too many losses. Looking ahead, are there ANY games you feel confident about winning? Maybe Pitt?
On the other hand, other than Duke, are there any games where you would be flat out astonished we won? Maybe Louisville on the road, but they got smoked by Tennessee, and have a couple other bad losses that make that game feel at least a possible victory...
The season isn't over yet, though the clock is very much ticking. Finishing 5-1 and going into the ACC tournament at 19-12 means we need 2 wins in the ACC tournament to get an at large? 3?
It improbable, but nothing seems impossible when we held Chris Bell to only 18 last night!
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