Roberson and DC were good today

[pearl31]

nm

 

[RF2044]

Hopefully something that both can build on [especially DC]. Would be great for him to give us consistent 6 and 6 or 7 and 7.

 

[jdubs30]

if DC played more on Wednesday we beat Wisconsin. He's getting better every game.

 

[CuseTG2003]

Loved DC knocking down those free throws confidently. He's gotta keep getting to the line.

 

[orangejunkie]

I think DC finally showed that he can really contribute to this team. We are a much better team if he is playing like we know he can. It didn't hurt that Howard and others were able to get him the ball in good spots. I've been complaining all year that we don't get the ball inside enough. Also liked the play where Lydon went to the top of the key area, received a pass and got it outside for a nice shot. Lydon can not only knock down jumpers, but he has good hands and passing ability out of the high post. May be reading to much into a few plays, but with Howard in the game we have much better penetration and ability to open it up for the bigs...

 

[pearl31]

still baffled/PO'd that DC didn't leave the bench in the 2nd half vs Wiscy

 

[BostonOrange]

If DC can play like he did in the 2nd half it would free up JB to play a bigger lineup. I like the idea of Lydon, DC, and Roberson at the bottom of the zone for at least some stretches. It takes us down to 2 ball handlers, which JB is not a huge fan of, but having it as an option would give the team a lot more flexibility.

 

[br801]

still baffled/PO'd that DC didn't leave the bench in the 2nd half vs Wiscy

JB went all in on playing them small and were it not for a bunch of missed free throws down the stretch, it would have worked. I suspect he would do it again if he thought the strategy gave him the best chance of winning.

 

[pearl31]

JB went all in on playing them small and were it not for a bunch of missed free throws down the stretch, it would have worked. I suspect he would do it again if he thought the strategy gave him the best chance of winning.

yeah I know but with the way Lydon was being abused by the Happ dude and Roberson pretty much useless due to fouls I think DC should have been in there for at least a couple stretches

 

[br801]

yeah I know but with the way Lydon was being abused by the Happ dude and Roberson pretty much useless due to fouls I think DC should have been in there for at least a couple stretches

I don't disagree with you at all. But when JB commits to a specific strategy in-game and it's working, he usually doesn't budge. And most of the time he comes out with the win, which is seemingly his sole motivation.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

JB went all in on playing them small and were it not for a bunch of missed free throws down the stretch, it would have worked. I suspect he would do it again if he thought the strategy gave him the best chance of winning.

of course he would. and that still would not make it the correct choice. Look at what Coleman did a against a bigger team with wider bodies when his leash was longer than Trumps 911 memories

 

[JayCuse]

Coleman had 0 defensive rebounds in 20 something minutes. How is that even possible?

 

[igor]

nc stand being yelled at. he's not demonstrative like etan, but sensitive nevertheless.

 

[HoustonCuse]

yeah I know but with the way Lydon was being abused by the Happ dude and Roberson pretty much useless due to fouls I think DC should have been in there for at least a couple stretches

I still say the Happ kid was hurting them more than helping them for most of the game and JB was justified in that case of taking the offensive boost of Lydon over DC.

 

[pearl31]

I still say the Happ kid was hurting them more than helping them for most of the game and JB was justified in that case of taking the offensive boost of Lydon over DC.

possibly, and I'd agree with that for the 1st half. But for most of the 2nd half he killed us

 

[General20]

I still say the Happ kid was hurting them more than helping them for most of the game and JB was justified in that case of taking the offensive boost of Lydon over DC.

This is my thinking. Syracuse got killed on the boards, but so what? Unless you turn those rebounds into points it doesn't matter. Wisconsin missed more layups than they made, and missed layups are fast break opportunities.

The defense was fine in that game (best of the season actually) Syracuse lost because they missed shots (both free throw and other). They are going to have a few bad losses this year that they normally don't have, simply because there is less margin for error.

 

[pearl31]

This is my thinking. Syracuse got killed on the boards, but so what? Unless you turn those rebounds into points it doesn't matter. Wisconsin missed more layups than they made, and missed layups are fast break opportunities.

The defense was fine in that game (best of the season actually) Syracuse lost because they missed shots (both free throw and other). They are going to have a few bad losses this year that they normally don't have, simply because there is less margin for error.

I'd say 1st half defense vs Wisconsin was good but 2nd half they got pretty much whatever they wanted

 

[General20]

I'd say 1st half defense vs Wisconsin was good but 2nd half they got pretty much whatever they wanted

I suppose everything is relative, but Wisconsin only scored 26 points in the second half and 53 points in regulation. That's a lot less than Syracuse has been giving up. Also our turnovers were down. If Syracuse hadn't shot 35% from the field, 29% from 3, and 55% from the free throw line they win that game easily.

I think Syracuse's two best games of the season were Wisconsin and Georgetown as far as the things you can control (defense, turnovers, hustle, avoiding mental mistakes) unfortunately they were the two worst shooting days Syracuse has had all season. This Syracuse team is a flawed one, and they need to shoot the ball well to overcome some of those flaws. While they will never be an elite team, they can improve on some of those flaws, and it seems to me like they are moving in the right direction. Unfortunately its not an overnight process, this will take the whole season to change and in the mean time we are going to suffer a few losses we shouldn't.

The hope is that we make the tournament, and when we do Coleman is capable of playing 20+ minutes a game, and one of the back up guards has stepped up. If we do that AND we stay hot from 3 for a few games you never know what may happen.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I suppose everything is relative, but Wisconsin only scored 26 points in the second half and 53 points in regulation. That's a lot less than Syracuse has been giving up. Also our turnovers were down. If Syracuse hadn't shot 35% from the field, 29% from 3, and 55% from the free throw line they win that game easily.

I think Syracuse's two best games of the season were Wisconsin and Georgetown as far as the things you can control (defense, turnovers, hustle, avoiding mental mistakes) unfortunately they were the two worst shooting days Syracuse has had all season. This Syracuse team is a flawed one, and they need to shoot the ball well to overcome some of those flaws. While they will never be an elite team, they can improve on some of those flaws, and it seems to me like they are moving in the right direction. Unfortunately its not an overnight process, this will take the whole season to change and in the mean time we are going to suffer a few losses we shouldn't.

The hope is that we make the tournament, and when we do Coleman is capable of playing 20+ minutes a game, and one of the back up guards has stepped up. If we do that AND we stay hot from 3 for a few games you never know what may happen.

General - I felt like they had poor shooting days against Wisconsin and Gtown because they were taking tougher shots. Do you think that is true and if so, was it the defense that caused the poor shots or was it a lack of focus by our offense on exploiting the defense?

 

[orangefan13]

Defensively we forced 20 turnovers against wisconsin as well, that is pretty darn good.
Those made up for all the missed rebounds.

This team has youth, when you have youth like Lydon, Malachi, Howard, DC, Joseph, Obokoh there is a ton of potential to get much better. The strength department isn't fixing itself this season, but it isn't going to bury us.
Just look at the ny giants, the ne patriots and a couple of 8-9 basketball seeds that ended up winning it recently, beauty is we don't need to ride a single player.

 

[FrancoPizza]

JB went all in on playing them small and were it not for a bunch of missed free throws down the stretch, it would have worked. I suspect he would do it again if he thought the strategy gave him the best chance of winning.

It might have worked... yes, we might have eeked out a win against one of the worst wisconsin teams in this century. If losing to a bad wisky team makes us rethink that kind of strategy, it might be worth it in the long run. Sort of like hoping Shafer gets to 5 wins so we can retain his staff.

 

[General20]

General - I felt like they had poor shooting days against Wisconsin and Gtown because they were taking tougher shots. Do you think that is true and if so, was it the defense that caused the poor shots or was it a lack of focus by our offense on exploiting the defense?

I do think the defense against us was better (its usually the worst its going to get in those early season tournaments). Teams have a scouting report on us now - stick with the shooters and try to take charges under the basket. I don't think it was 20% different in three point shooting better however, pretty much everybody on Syracuse other than Gbinije missed makeable shots.