Reality Check......

[phil77]

Harrison did not help off of Cooney. That is game-planning. He tagged him all game long, creating openings for guys like Ennis to exploit. SJU absolutely game planned for Cooney. If they were playing defense like Cooney was any other guy, we don't see guys getting to the rim as easily as they did.

I agree with this. It was clear there plan was too not leave Cooney at the expense of there team defense. It opened the lane and floor for anyone else. Cooney play good? No he has to learn to do other things to help. Step up more on defense. Crash the glass things like that. But his threat on the offensive end held the person guarding him from helping in the team defense concept.

 

[SoBristol]

Will be interesting to see what JB tries to get Cooney some shots against a M2M defender as good as Harrison.

Cooney has to do something other than run a great circle route, then make a quick return pass to Ennis when Cooney has no shot. Need to share some of the ball handling as Triche could do last season -- give Ennis an occasional break.

 

[Doc5120]

My man, I played high school and college ball. I know the game as well. Cooney primarily runs the baseline. If Ennis starts to drive there is close to zero chance that Harrison would have been the one helping. Im sorry you dont agree, but its the truth. Tell Trevor i saisd Hi, because your unwavering loyalty to him indicates you must be a relative or close friend.

I don't know Trevor at all. I'm defending him in this case, because I believe he deserves it. He's been solid all year. He has 1 off game and out come the haters. I can't say that I played college ball like yourself. High school is as far as I made it. What or where we played makes no difference here. What matters is that fact that Cooney was occupying a defender far from the hoop creating driving lanes. Yes, he does run the baseline at times...but he moves from baseline up to the wing on curl cuts. He'll also run around the arc, keeping his defender away from the play & not allowing him to help.

 

[TBCuse11]

I don't know Trevor at all. I'm defending him in this case, because I believe he deserves it. He's been solid all year. He has 1 off game and out come the haters. I can't say that I played college ball like yourself. High school is as far as I made it. What or where we played makes no difference here. What matters is that fact that Cooney was occupying a defender far from the hoop creating driving lanes. Yes, he does run the baseline at times...but he moves from baseline up to the wing on curl cuts. He'll also run around the arc, keeping his defender away from the play & not allowing him to help.

I agree 100% he has been solid all year. I think you just have thin skin when it comes to Trevor. There are no "haters". everyone here, for the most part, obviously loves SU and wants them to win it all. For that to happen, Trevor needs to be a factor. But, he was awful yesterday. he did not "open lanes" for Ennis, and Lavin did not game plan for him. he simply guarded him. I do believe this will be the ONLY game all year that Cooney gets a goose egg. At least it better be...

 

[bnoro]

He also made more tough shots than any player in recent memory. he also won games for us by himself and is a top 15 SU player ever. Cooney will never be half that. Get over it. jeez.

Based on what? Trevor still has two and a half years left...

 

[Doc5120]

I agree 100% he has been solid all year. I think you just have thin skin when it comes to Trevor. There are no "haters". everyone here, for the most part, obviously loves SU and wants them to win it all. For that to happen, Trevor needs to be a factor. But, he was awful yesterday. he did not "open lanes" for Ennis, and Lavin did not game plan for him. he simply guarded him. I do believe this will be the ONLY game all year that Cooney gets a goose egg. At least it better be...

Trevor did not shoot it well, although he only got 3 attempts up. This was due to game-planning. I'm not saying Trevor had a great game. I'm saying he impacted the game in a positive manner even when his shot wasn't falling. That's the point I'm trying to make.

 

[pfister1]

Cooney played HORRIFIC yesterday. He didn't move without the ball at all. I questioned if he was sick or something?

That being said... Cooney will not be that bad the rest of the season. I'll bet on that.

That simply isn't true. There may have been spots in the game where he was stagnant, but there were also times in the game where he was moving. If I were to guess I would say he got frustrated not being able to get free for shots and that led to him moving less as time wore on.

 

[longislandcuse]

You can't say a team better than St Johns will take advantage of those weaknesses because there are no complete teams in CBB.

St. Johns is probably the most athletic team we will face all year and they were supercharged for this game. Another team may have 3 point shooters but will lack the athletes St Johns has or will lack the penetration ability of Harrison/Jordan.

Baylor is the second most athletic team we will see all year and Cooney did just fine in that game.

Every team presents a different set of strengths and weaknesses. What we proved yesterday is that we are good enough to adjust and win game in a crazy atmosphere, against a solid team while going with a different strategy based on a skillset St Johns presents that many teams dont have (Athletes/dribble drive capability without turning it over)

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

SJU decided to take away Cooney. Any good college player can be shut down. Future pros, not so easily. I find it to be a great sign that a team took away our best shooter, at all costs, and we still won, away from the Dome.

If CJ makes his FTs, which he usually does, its a double digit game.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Remember steve alford? He was no great athlete yet he got off quite a few three's against a very athletic player in steven thompson in the ncaa finals. How? because they ran a ton of plays designed to do just that. We didnt run much specifically to get Trevor looks. We didnt need Trevor to take a bunch of three's to score, so I figure that is why they did not run those types of plays. If we want him to get looks, we'll get him looks.

 

[AlaskaSU]

I agree with this. It was clear there plan was too not leave Cooney at the expense of there team defense. It opened the lane and floor for anyone else. Cooney play good? No he has to learn to do other things to help. Step up more on defense. Crash the glass things like that. But his threat on the offensive end held the person guarding him from helping in the team defense concept.

What Cooney needs to work on is how to create his own space once he gets the ball so he can get his shot off regardless of the defender. at the beginning of the season i was worried about Cooney's accuracy but i have never been worried about his athleticism. Some of our players need a shot of self-confidence to push their envelope, namely Cooney and XMAS. They both have the potential.

 

[Trueblue25]

I agree that the freshman aren't seeing nearly enough time. 5 minutes a game would make a massive difference by the way.

 

[Jack Hall]

Trevor did not shoot it well, although he only got 3 attempts up. This was due to game-planning. I'm not saying Trevor had a great game. I'm saying he impacted the game in a positive manner even when his shot wasn't falling. That's the point I'm trying to make.

It's all semantics fellas, we won a tough game . We have a bunch of team players on this team. Cooney did his job for most of the game and we built a 14 pt lead. When he was no longer effective (both coaches made constant adjustments), JB put Gbinje in and we took the lead back. All is good . The Villanova game should be a great one. Go Cuse!!

 

[CusefanATL]

That simply isn't true. There may have been spots in the game where he was stagnant, but there were also times in the game where he was moving. If I were to guess I would say he got frustrated not being able to get free for shots and that led to him moving less as time wore on.

I was referring to the 2nd half. I didnt watch for it in 1st half... but 2nd he was pretty much standstill.

 

[rrlbees]

That simply isn't true. There may have been spots in the game where he was stagnant, but there were also times in the game where he was moving. If I were to guess I would say he got frustrated not being able to get free for shots and that led to him moving less as time wore on.

You are correct that it's not true. I watched the replay last night because I missed a bit of it due to carting some kids around. Cooney moved just fine in the 1st half and in the 2nd wasn't much different except for a few sets where we spread the floor some and ran some iso's for CJ. Those times he did just spot up on the wing. He actually played longer to begin the 2nd half than he sometimes does. He didn't come out until under 10 mins. G came in like he always does, though usually a little sooner, and played very well. So Cooney didn't come back in till late. Cooney will often also come back in after a few minutes for Ennis and we move G to PG, but Ennis was playing to damn well. But Cooney was not just standing around planted like a tree and thus got yanked and hardly played. Some people just see what they want.

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[Eric15]

The only thing from yesterday that really bothered me was CJ's carelessness with the ball. He had 4 unforced turnovers from lack of concentration - which I find unacceptable from our senior leader. But, he made up for it with some clutch buckets.

 

[Jack Hall]

You are correct that it's not true. I watched the replay last night because I missed a bit of it due to carting some kids around. Cooney moved just fine in the 1st half and in the 2nd wasn't much different except for a few sets where we spread the floor some and ran some iso's for CJ. Those times he did just spot up on the wing. He actually played longer to begin the 2nd half than he sometimes does. He didn't come out until under 10 mins. G came in like he always does, though usually a little sooner, and played very well. So Cooney didn't come back in till late. Cooney will often also come back in after a few minutes for Ennis and we move G to PG, but Ennis was playing to damn well. But Cooney was not just standing around planted like a tree and thus got yanked and hardly played. Some people just see what they want.

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I agree altho what I noticed is on the last play before he was subbed for MG he was unusually stagnant. For what it's worth, as you probably know, JB said he was subbed due to ineffective defense, not because of his ineffective offense. I am paraphrasing but listen to JBs presser for his exact words...

 

[jordoo]

St. Johns did nothing other than guard Cooney man to man with Harrison. They did not double, they did not help. He got completly shut down by simple man to man. its ok, we dont need Cooney to win, but can we please face reality.

I'm not sure how putting your best perimeter defender on Cooney and instructing him not to leave him isn't a defensive sceme. It leaves Ennis our best penitrator with a lessor defender. It also means that no one is helping off Cooney so they are either chasing him on the baseline or glued to him on the wing or in thecorner. Meanwhile your best forward defender is doing the same on CJ so once Ennis gets the advantage there is little resistance until he us almost at the bucket plus it leaves no help on our big guys who collectively did well offensively in their 1on1 situations.

 

[Jack Hall]

The only thing from yesterday that really bothered me was CJ's carelessness with the ball. He had 4 unforced turnovers from lack of concentration - which I find unacceptable from our senior leader. But, he made up for it with some clutch buckets.

I agree it was a good team effort. I was also more concerned w CJs silly TOs (altho I think the CJ charge call was crap) than with Trevor not scoring. But that's just me

 

[TerryM]

Cooney played HORRIFIC yesterday. He didn't move without the ball at all. I questioned if he was sick or something?

That being said... Cooney will not be that bad the rest of the season. I'll bet on that.

Dude HAD to have been ill. at one point I watched him stand on the weak side at the three line hands on knees DURING a possession. I have never seen him do that to this point. Guy is a ball of energy out there and my guess is that he was under the weather.

 

[Jack Hall]

Dude HAD to have been ill. at one point I watched him stand on the weak side at the three line hands on knees DURING a possession. I have never seen him do that to this point. Guy is a ball of energy out there and my guess is that he was under the weather.

JB did put him back in at end after Gbinje missed a one n one. But I agree I don't think he was 100 prcnt. Will be interesting to see how he does against nova...

 

[pfister1]

The only thing from yesterday that really bothered me was CJ's carelessness with the ball. He had 4 unforced turnovers from lack of concentration - which I find unacceptable from our senior leader. But, he made up for it with some clutch buckets.

This also bothered me. He dribbled the ball off his foot at least twice. There were also two really weak passes that he made that did not result in turnovers, but were damn close. I was screaming at the TV for him to put a little muscle behind his passes.

 

[SarasotaPaul]

He also made more tough shots than any player in recent memory. he also won games for us by himself and is a top 15 SU player ever. Cooney will never be half that. Get over it. jeez.

You have no idea and obviously have blinders on. GMac single handily killed rally after rally with jacking up shots (bad, forced shots) coming off the bench after a short rest. He also won games single-handedly. Gmac doesn't even come close athletically. GMac couldn't drive at all. By the way, Cooney has 2 1/2 more years left. He is shooting over 50 % from three so far this year. Yet you think somehow it isn't half of what GMac was. ?????????

Your loyalty is commendable but your blinders need to come off. I'll wait to see what Cooney's final contributions are. He could just as easily far outpace GMac.

 

[dollarbill44]

He also made more tough shots than any player in recent memory. he also won games for us by himself and is a top 15 SU player ever. Cooney will never be half that. Get over it. jeez.

You must be pretty good at seeing the future. GMac was a great player at SU, no doubt, and he was as clutch a player as any we've had. But I think you also may have selective memory and you're projecting his senior year over his entire 4 years. GMac did not play like an All-American every game. He got shut down from time to time and/or had a bad night. Cooney still has the rest of this year and then 2 more - give him a chance! You also need to keep in mind that not every team is going to be able to smother him like SJU was able to. If it was that easy, he wouldn't be having the season that he has.

Anyone who says what a player will or won't be able to do over a 4-year career is being silly.

 

[two3zone]

You have no idea and obviously have blinders on. GMac single handily killed rally after rally with jacking up shots (bad, forced shots) coming off the bench after a short rest. He also won games single-handedly. Gmac doesn't even come close athletically. GMac couldn't drive at all. By the way, Cooney has 2 1/2 more years left. He is shooting over 50 % from three so far this year. Yet you think somehow it isn't half of what GMac was. ????????? Your loyalty is commendable but your blinders need to come off. I'll wait to see what Cooney's final contributions are. He could just as easily far outpace GMac.

Just to add to this because this is pretty much what I was going to post. Gmac also had CRAP teams around him minus his freshman year. I say crap because the talent level on this squad and the next two coming during Cooney's time here is far greater than what Gmac had around him. You put Cooney in Gmac's spot and you see similar 3pt percentage and probably the same amount of game ending 3s. I also think that if Gmac were coming out of HS the same year Cooney did, I think JB recruits Cooney over Gmac. The athleticism between the two isn't even close, shooting is probably about the same, and I think Cooney gets it in the size department as well. I'll look down at what Gmac has done and currently bringing to the program, but I don't think a freshman coming in Gmac would start over Cooney this year.