Rewatching the Cal Game

[swish7]

I chatted last night that I would never suffer through this game again, would permanently scrub it from memory, both biological and digital. However, like a good S&M freak, I'm rewatching it.

On a positive note, I'm impressed with how good our offense was for a three minute stretch from about 8:30 to 5:00 in the 1st. And again at the 1:45 mark with a JS bomb.

Besides this stretch, my theory is that after a full rewatch I'll be reminded how abnormally bad Syracuse's offense was last night. Bad, even by their abnormally bad standards this season. Bad, as in 35 minutes of MCW jump passes, Triche lobs to nobody, or doing more "go" than "give" off the give and go, Fair going 1 on 3, not handling basic passes, etc.

Can anything be done, at this stage of the season, to result in this team flooring a serviceable offense?

JB loves to rip on Rak. I think it's time for MCW to get some of this treatment. His mistakes (on offense) are basic and correctable. If left uncorrected, they will be what separates us from the sweet 16 and the elite 8. Southerland's bombs and Fair's heroics mask what is really poor offensive play.

Don't get me wrong (board parents), I'm very happy to be in the sweet 16. Despite our recent run of sweet 16s, getting here is a rare treat. Also, given our walking dead routine of a few weeks ago, getting here is the cherry on the Sundae. At one point this team had a 1st round blowout by an FGCU written all over it.

But now that we're here, let's hope MCW, Triche, and the offensive leaders do all they can to get us further. Our defense is so incredible that with a serviceable offense, and this field, this season's possibilities are limitless.

 

[CusefanATL]

I chatted last night that I would never suffer through this game again, would permanently scrub it from memory, both biological and digital. .

My exact thoughts when I saw your title.

Was going to chastise you... but decided against it since you basically admitted your mistake in the 1st sentence.

 

[Orangezoo]

last night i honestly think our bad offense was in part because of how bad cal was.. they were just lost and we played down to their level at times. Cal , unlike montana wasnt just jacking shots they were desperately trying to find holes in the zone and with that there were a lot of odd bounces. also the misses cal had inside did not lead to runouts. Finally cal is not a bad defensive team- they really stick to their man and worked hard to keep james from getting open looks. I give them credit for playing tough on d given they could not stay in front of us.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I said it before about a week before before the BET, that, if JB could get this bunch to play better heading into postseason play that it would be one of his better coaching jobs ever.

We are still pretty offensively challenged with turnover prone and streaky shooting guards. We can be good or bad from the foul line. Still, we are playing much better than a month ago and I will take it! It's great to be in the Sweet 16. Temple/IU will be a BIG step up from Cal.

 

[upperdeck]

if you look at the BPI Cal is ahead of Temple. Indiana is the big step up.

 

[Toga]

One thing about Triche last night is that he drained his first open look only to pass up 2-3 open looks over the next few minutes. Later in the game he would pass up open 18 footers to try get in the lane.

 

[swish7]

Finally cal is not a bad defensive team- they really stick to their man and worked hard to keep james from getting open looks. I give them credit for playing tough on d given they could not stay in front of us.

This is a great point, and something to consider. Their defense is certainly not on par with Louisville, and despite of their weak on-guard skills, they have one of the better team defenses we've seen. Magnitudes better than Montana.

 

[themorey]

Even the announcers were commenting on how our guys were basically just trying to dribble too much and not run offense. It was painful to watch MCW or BT try to run isolation plays only to turn it over or throw up bricks. Or MCW would make a nice pass to BMK and he would fake himself out.

Anyway, it was a win and I'm happy for our guys to get to another Sw16. I really hope I'm wrong but I think the team has reached its ceiling.

 

[GardenOrange]

One thing about Triche last night is that he drained his first open look only to pass up 2-3 open looks over the next few minutes. Later in the game he would pass up open 18 footers to try get in the lane.

Agreed. Thought SU passed up several more open looks to take it into traffic for a contested look. This is why we drew so many fouls on Cal though.