Random Pittsburgh Thoughts

[RedtheGOB]

Just a quick thought on us going zone against Pitt. While we're not executing it well enough either way, I think the goal was at least to get Cummings to stop shooting or get him moved off his spots a little.

It clearly didn't work because Cummings pretty much took a shot from anywhere he touched the ball and they were going in. Maybe that wasn't the end of the world though.

We should know from prior years that when an offense tuns into a 1 man show in the 2nd half it usually is a loss for the weaker team. That was us and JJ last year, he scored alot points and we lost alot of games.

 

[tbonezone]

the idea of syracuse not being able to switch out of zone defense is one of the biggest loads of bullcrap ever sold to any fan base anywhere. and we (well most) bought it for years. no more.

 

[Oakland]

Funny thing about turnovers, the team only had 11, which is a good total. George having 6 of them might be a problem, but he is handling the ball more than everybody, and usually his turnovers are of the aggressive kind, not the "dribbling the ball off his leg in response to token pressure" sort. I will live with George happily.

Surprised that we only had 11 TOs and George was credited with 6 of them. It was a little strange that 5-6 TOs occurred in the middle of the court, several of them being rather odd in nature.

 

[Oakland]

Weak side rebounds while we were in Zone almost single handedly was the reason for this. I like we have a zone to use but if the offensive glass and second chance points are that much of a gimme it’s not worth it outside of a possession or two. Capel immediately saw that Siulepa would have a field day on the boards and Red took too long to adjust out of it at times. Luckily Siulepa was struggling on defense and collecting fouls to limit his time.

If you watch how the zone was setup there was almost always no one on the weak side down by the short corner. It happened at least 5-6 times if not more.

Rebounding, especially defensive rebounding, is the second most important reason that the zone had to go.

 

[Orangezoo]

We hit a bunch of 3 pointers early. Opened up the inside as Pitt was hedging more. We still missed a SIGNIFICANT NUMBER of wide open 3 point shots.

When we are shooting hot we are very difficult to defend as it gives William Kyle and Donnie Freeman more room to operate.

So Close, No matter How Far
NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

if we dont hit our 3 pointers.

Kingz is going to come back to the mean soon enough. The more game with teams having to put more and more attention on Donnie the better for Nate.

 

[Sherman20]

I thought we really saw in this game how much better SU is when Starling is playing up to his potential.

I've seen so many people on this board talk about Red's loyalty to JJ as if Red is more interested in being JJ's friend than keeping his multi-million dollar job. It has always sounded ridiculous to me.

What I think Red sees is what I see. Syracuse's only chance to make a real splash on the college basketball landscape this year is if Starling is playing well, playing with confidence, unafraid to knock down a jumper when open and drive to the basket and draw a foul when its there.

JJ has all the tools needed. He needs to get his mind right. If I was Autry Id put everything into making sure that happens as well. Let's hope it pays off.

I think about JJ’s incredible game against North Carolina as a sophomore. He and Judah dominated that night and got to the basket at will against a very good team. He is capable of being an elite player, but he seems to lack the mental fortitude and focus. Is he mentally tough enough and focused enough to do it night after night and to block out the negative thoughts in his head and to focus and make good decisions? I really hope he’s turning a corner with Donnie back, but who knows.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Kingz is going to come back to the mean soon enough. The more game with teams having to put more and more attention on Donnie the better for Nate.

Yea I know people were frustrated with Pitt making to close down the stretch but what really bugged me was we had a 15 point lead with the ball and under a min left. They gave Kingz a wide open look and he missed it. Should've went into the half up 16-18 points. Instead it was 11.

 

[General20]

I think about JJ’s incredible game against North Carolina as a sophomore. He and Judah dominated that night and got to the basket at will against a very good team. He is capable of being an elite player, but he seems to lack the mental fortitude and focus. Is he mentally tough enough and focused enough to do it night after night and to block out the negative thoughts in his head and to focus and make good decisions? I really hope he’s turning a corner with Donnie back, but who knows.

I think we know Starling cant be the #1 guy on a good team, but now with Freeman finally taking that role. I am hopeful Starling can be a more consistently good productive role player.

 

[Orangezoo]

Yea I know people were frustrated with Pitt making to close down the stretch but what really bugged me was we had a 15 point lead with the ball and under a min left. They gave Kingz a wide open look and he missed it. Should've went into the half up 16-18 points. Instead it was 11.

His misses are very often soft on the rim and off by very little. It will click soon enough.

 

[CardiacCuse]

im really liking the offense last couple games - for the first 30 minutes

i think these guys play so much better when they attack quickly and take the first thing they can get...more aggressive, less overthinking

theyre like dancers that can freestyle but struggle to "follow steps" (even though they also do better when they run plays - the off ball screens in particular seem to be opening up a lot of things)

with that, though, some very lame turnovers have occurred...so its a bit of an issue that comes with playing fast but shouldnt be, with a bit more attention to just being more careful with the ball and when to pass

that said, i hate the offense last 10 minutes

its like they throw out everything that works for this insistence on a style that doesnt

they slow it down, get passive, settle for forced shots at the end of clock...super inefficient

its because "thats what you do at the end of games" not bc it actually works

i wish they would just play the exact same way they do for first 30 mins for the last 10...

whatever the case, red really needs to figure this out bc there are teams way better than GT and Pitt that wont let them get away with totally crapping the bed the last 10 mins of the game

 

[IthacaMatt]

I said in the pregame thread that Syracuse would win because we were the better team. The major question is whether we would win in a grind it out game, or if we would finally put it all together and blow their doors off. As has been a tradition with Red coached teams, we did a little bit of both.

At 14:36 in the first half, Starling made a layup to put us up 11, at 13-2. We were clearly the better team, Pitt was showing their offensive versatility (read: nobody can score), and Syracuse their defensive intensity. Syracuse was on pace to win a 96-15 blowout. Not that anybody would have expected that end result, but it looked like we finally might be actually blowing out a bad conference opponent. Instead, we went into what I am starting to call "Autry mode," where we play nice for a while. We never really put the screws to Pitt in the first half, pushed the lead as high as 15, but ended the half at that same 11 point margin.

The second half was more of the same, but a little worse. At 14:14, we expanded the lead to 18, winning the first ~6 minutes of the half by 7 points. After that we coasted to a mere 11 point victory of a team that is probably a 25 point underdog by raw talent. Pitt eventually cut the lead to 6 at 6:33, before Syracuse pushed the lead back to 13 and settled for a final margin of 11. Letting lessor teams hang around is a weakness that will continue to bite us if we don't clean it up.

This team, led by a really nice guy, just doesn't have the @hole in them needed to crush a bad team. Even the Mad Mouse, S&C coach Rob Harris, has been less visible on the bench showing his unique brand of intensity. They just don't get excited by killing teams. I remember a legend of Kobe Bryant beating his best friend 101 to 0 in pickup basketball. Can you imagine the heartless competitor you have to be to do that to your best friend? We could use some of that in the program.

Speaking of guys with killer instincts, William Kyle is just amazing to watch play basketball. At 18:16 in the first half, Kyle had a steal and dunk on 6'10 235lb Cameron Corhen that would have been the best dunk in about 95% of Syracuse games in history. Absolutely put him on a poster. It was the second best dunk of the game for Kyle. The kid is just amazing. If he had the ability to shoot, he would be a lottery pick, no doubt. As it is, he went 5-7, scored 11 points and 4 steals and 4 rebounds after sitting most of the first half with foul trouble. Kyle getting his second foul forced him to the bench for the last 15 minutes of the first half, and Syracuse lost its vim and vigor with Kyle gone. Souare isn't a bad player, but he is a decent rotation player on an average ACC team, not a guy who is going to win games for you.

Kyle had the best dunk in a generation at 19:04 in the second half, a putback monster that defies description. It is a sign of the decline of society that there aren't more clips of Kyle making this dunk on the internet. I won't post a tweet. I am sure you have seen it. It was so good it gave a Pitt cheerleader under the basket an "O" face.

But my favorite part is Kyle celebrated less than anybody in the building. The man just "killed 'em" and went back to play defense. After watching NFL players dance after making routine tackles all weekend, I am developing a man crush for how Kyle goes about his business. Act like you aren't surprised you succeeded, I say.

While Kyle will be the highlight that everybody remembers, Starling and Freeman were the stars of the game. Freemand scored a cool 22 in 30 minutes on .763 TS% (True Shooting% for those who don't love advanced stats), Starling was even better scoring 19 in 32 minutes on .795 TS%. Starling shot 3-4 from 3pt range in this game and looked as good as we get to see him. In addition to insane offensive efficiency shooting, he passed for 4 assists with only a single turnover, and pulled down 4 rebounds. He was As somebody said in the game thread, it is games like this that make you so mad at Starling for his stinkers... He just seems like he should be better, more consistently, than he is. That said, this was a great game for him. Freeman seems to have established a baseline of performance not unlike Achilles or Hercules of legend.

One thing I was disappointed with is us getting outrebounded again. Pitt isn't a great rebounding team, they aren't particularly big, either. Yet we gave up 39% of their missed shots as offensive rebounds. I really thought Freeman's return would have helped with this problem, he is at times an elite defensive rebounder, but didn't do much today.

Considering how well we shot, both from the 3pt range (10-22) and from the FT line (15-18), it actually is disappointing we only won by 11. I don't think this team is good enough to play in second gear for extended periods, but it seems like that is their psychology.

Nobody can complain about a double digit victory on the road against a conference opponent (exact quote from a similar post against Georgia Tech a few days ago) but I would love to see Syracuse actually blow out an overmatched opponent. Against the cupcakes, they looked like they had a bit of that killer instinct, but aren't demonstrating that now.

Georgia Tech and Pitt are 111 and 146 in the NET rankings, and our next two opponents are Florida State and Boston College, 133 and 176, respectively. They are the cupcakes of our conference schedule. After that, the real games start up again.

One thing to consider: other than Tennessee, Pitt is our best victory according to the NET this season. After a couple more dangerous conference cupcakes, we play 12 conference opponents, and every single one of them is better than our second best victory this year.

Assuming we handle Florida State and Boston College, even a .500 record in the next 12 will put us in a very good position to make the NCAA tournament, which is a bare minimum expectation for this team. Anything above that would be putting us into a conversation about seeding, not about being on the bubble.

If Freeman can continue to play like he has been playing against better teams, and Starling has turned the corner (seems unlikely after 95 games, but players do suddenly get better sometimes) in his consistency, things look really good.

I think a team of Kyle, Freeman, Kingz, Starling and George, with our depth, can go 8-4 or even 9-3 against the upcoming murderer's row of opponents. I would love to be proven right.

Terrific post. One thing I will say in Starling's favor is that he and Freeman haven't really played many games together.

I think with the "center of gravity" and attention that Donnie draws as he begins to blossom makes it more possible for JJ (and George and Kingz) to have consistently better games.

I have not seen any signs of ego from JJ and I'm really pleased by that. It bodes well for this team if people don't start counting shots (looking at you, Anthony ...).

 

[FrancoPizza]

I said in the pregame thread that Syracuse would win because we were the better team. The major question is whether we would win in a grind it out game, or if we would finally put it all together and blow their doors off. As has been a tradition with Red coached teams, we did a little bit of both.

At 14:36 in the first half, Starling made a layup to put us up 11, at 13-2. We were clearly the better team, Pitt was showing their offensive versatility (read: nobody can score), and Syracuse their defensive intensity. Syracuse was on pace to win a 96-15 blowout. Not that anybody would have expected that end result, but it looked like we finally might be actually blowing out a bad conference opponent. Instead, we went into what I am starting to call "Autry mode," where we play nice for a while. We never really put the screws to Pitt in the first half, pushed the lead as high as 15, but ended the half at that same 11 point margin.

The second half was more of the same, but a little worse. At 14:14, we expanded the lead to 18, winning the first ~6 minutes of the half by 7 points. After that we coasted to a mere 11 point victory of a team that is probably a 25 point underdog by raw talent. Pitt eventually cut the lead to 6 at 6:33, before Syracuse pushed the lead back to 13 and settled for a final margin of 11. Letting lessor teams hang around is a weakness that will continue to bite us if we don't clean it up.

This team, led by a really nice guy, just doesn't have the @hole in them needed to crush a bad team. Even the Mad Mouse, S&C coach Rob Harris, has been less visible on the bench showing his unique brand of intensity. They just don't get excited by killing teams. I remember a legend of Kobe Bryant beating his best friend 101 to 0 in pickup basketball. Can you imagine the heartless competitor you have to be to do that to your best friend? We could use some of that in the program.

Speaking of guys with killer instincts, William Kyle is just amazing to watch play basketball. At 18:16 in the first half, Kyle had a steal and dunk on 6'10 235lb Cameron Corhen that would have been the best dunk in about 95% of Syracuse games in history. Absolutely put him on a poster. It was the second best dunk of the game for Kyle. The kid is just amazing. If he had the ability to shoot, he would be a lottery pick, no doubt. As it is, he went 5-7, scored 11 points and 4 steals and 4 rebounds after sitting most of the first half with foul trouble. Kyle getting his second foul forced him to the bench for the last 15 minutes of the first half, and Syracuse lost its vim and vigor with Kyle gone. Souare isn't a bad player, but he is a decent rotation player on an average ACC team, not a guy who is going to win games for you.

Kyle had the best dunk in a generation at 19:04 in the second half, a putback monster that defies description. It is a sign of the decline of society that there aren't more clips of Kyle making this dunk on the internet. I won't post a tweet. I am sure you have seen it. It was so good it gave a Pitt cheerleader under the basket an "O" face.

But my favorite part is Kyle celebrated less than anybody in the building. The man just "killed 'em" and went back to play defense. After watching NFL players dance after making routine tackles all weekend, I am developing a man crush for how Kyle goes about his business. Act like you aren't surprised you succeeded, I say.

While Kyle will be the highlight that everybody remembers, Starling and Freeman were the stars of the game. Freemand scored a cool 22 in 30 minutes on .763 TS% (True Shooting% for those who don't love advanced stats), Starling was even better scoring 19 in 32 minutes on .795 TS%. Starling shot 3-4 from 3pt range in this game and looked as good as we get to see him. In addition to insane offensive efficiency shooting, he passed for 4 assists with only a single turnover, and pulled down 4 rebounds. He was As somebody said in the game thread, it is games like this that make you so mad at Starling for his stinkers... He just seems like he should be better, more consistently, than he is. That said, this was a great game for him. Freeman seems to have established a baseline of performance not unlike Achilles or Hercules of legend.

One thing I was disappointed with is us getting outrebounded again. Pitt isn't a great rebounding team, they aren't particularly big, either. Yet we gave up 39% of their missed shots as offensive rebounds. I really thought Freeman's return would have helped with this problem, he is at times an elite defensive rebounder, but didn't do much today.

Considering how well we shot, both from the 3pt range (10-22) and from the FT line (15-18), it actually is disappointing we only won by 11. I don't think this team is good enough to play in second gear for extended periods, but it seems like that is their psychology.

Nobody can complain about a double digit victory on the road against a conference opponent (exact quote from a similar post against Georgia Tech a few days ago) but I would love to see Syracuse actually blow out an overmatched opponent. Against the cupcakes, they looked like they had a bit of that killer instinct, but aren't demonstrating that now.

Georgia Tech and Pitt are 111 and 146 in the NET rankings, and our next two opponents are Florida State and Boston College, 133 and 176, respectively. They are the cupcakes of our conference schedule. After that, the real games start up again.

One thing to consider: other than Tennessee, Pitt is our best victory according to the NET this season. After a couple more dangerous conference cupcakes, we play 12 conference opponents, and every single one of them is better than our second best victory this year.

Assuming we handle Florida State and Boston College, even a .500 record in the next 12 will put us in a very good position to make the NCAA tournament, which is a bare minimum expectation for this team. Anything above that would be putting us into a conversation about seeding, not about being on the bubble.

If Freeman can continue to play like he has been playing against better teams, and Starling has turned the corner (seems unlikely after 95 games, but players do suddenly get better sometimes) in his consistency, things look really good.

I think a team of Kyle, Freeman, Kingz, Starling and George, with our depth, can go 8-4 or even 9-3 against the upcoming murderer's row of opponents. I would love to be proven right.

If we're going to make the tournament, we need to make a serious run and not just squeak in. I shudder at the possibility of red getting extended if we sneak in as an 11 seed given his body of work.