Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Niastri, post: 5657091, member: 722"] Notre Dame isn't as bad as everybody seems to think. Ranked 85th by the NET, 79th by SRS and 81 by Pomeroy. A team you expect to beat, but it isn't like ND is one of the real dregs of the ACC. They also have 4 top100 recruits, freshman and sophomores all... Including 6'7 220lb Jalen Haralson, the 17th RSCI rated freshman this year. Markus Burton is better, a tiny guard who can't shoot the three, but is shooting .557 from 2pt range despite being listed at 5'11. Haralson and Burton score 15 and 18 respectively, and that is a lot considering ND takes about 58 shots per game and averages 74ppg (243rd in the country). Notably, Burton didn't play against Syracuse. In their best win of the season so far, ND beat Jamie Dixon coached TCU (54 in the NET today) on the road. So, it was either very brave or very stupid for Red to bench his best player before a game that literally could be the difference between losing his job or not. Aside from the silly/funny REDemption thread, the fanbase is starting to consider a coaching change a foregone conclusion at the end of the season (if not sooner). A lot of the game thread for this game, at least early, was about how stupid it was to bench Freeman. Some even implied it was for show, or a psychological gambit. One poster said "Red is daring them to fire him!" But not disciplining your best player is a good way to lose the team for the third season in a row. The quotes after the game indicated it wasn't a discipline issue, but a "matchup" issue. Whatever happened, they didn't control the narrative very well. On the other hand, Freeman said all the right things. In fact, he managed to sound like he was happy to be taken out of the starting lineup. [URL unfurl="true"]https://dailyorange.com/2026/01/syracuse-mens-basketball-notre-dame-donnie-freeman-benched/[/URL] Whatever the reasoning, Syracuse played a much better game than they had been playing. They held ND below their season average, holding them to 3.6 shots fewer than their average this season. Syracuse shot a few less shots, ND keeps pace low. But we increased our TS% .99 above our season average. Several players had terrific games in Freeman's absence. Starling went 7-7 in the first half, including 3-3 from 3pt range. He cooled down in the second half, but still ended the game with 21 points on 9-13 shooting and had 5 assists to 0 turnovers. Was Starling's hot start a result of Freeman being out? Kingz was even better, 11-17 for 28 points, including 5-10 from 3pt range. Did Kingz shoot more because Freeman was on the bench? He actually started slow, only 2-5 in the first half, but 9-12 in the second, including 5 made layups. George, who has gotten some criticism for his loose passing leading to TO lately, was credited with 10 assists to 0 TO as well. ND doesn't try to steal the ball, so you pretty much have to pass it right to them to get a turnover, but George was actually doing that a bunch lately. It was nice to have him find his targets. Freeman, predictably, had his worst game since his return from injury. Hopefully whatever message Red was sending to the team was received? Syracuse beat ND on the boards, by 6, and Freeman had 6 rebounds in his abbreviated minutes. With no Souare, White and Freeman both got to 4 fouls, and Kyle playing well was necessary. Kyle delivered good defense and enough rebounding to win that battle. In the end, this game did look like a get right game for the team, against a decent opponent. My thought is that we are definitely not a better team with Freeman missing, he is clearly our most talented player. But maybe he learned something about playing in the team concept that he had been missing? Freeman, in particular, seems to come and go in his defensive intensity. He blocked shots in his first six games of the year, including recording 3 against Georgia Tech. Since then, he blocked one shot the next 6 games, including four in a row in losses with no blocks. Perhaps Red wanted to remind him to play good defense? We expected to have a very difficult time winning more than 6 games in this brutal 12 game stretch against top NET teams. right now we are 1-3 in that 12 game stretch. If we get very hot, we still could get back to even, or conceivably get above .500 in those 12 games. A victory tonight with an invigorated Freeman might be a strong sign we can accomplish it. As is often said during baseball season "It's nothing a 10 game winning streak won't take care of..." [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?