Some disturbing points

[Flacusian]

Based on some of the things I've seen in the last few games I think there are some disturbing trends beginning to emerge. The team seems to have lost it's focus on several fronts. The free throw shooting... well I'm sure I don't need to expound on that very much. Briefly, players who should be knocking down free throws are missing with increased regularity. Could be a problem in a close game. Some of the missed shots aren't just missed shots, they are really bad misses. No rim, no net, no chance at all of going in. The fast break for which we are so heralded for is not looking very sharp at all. Lack of taking care of the ball and looking out of control at times.
The lack of even any effort at establishing an inside game will, in time, have an adverse affect. It's just a matter of time. Inconsistentcy by pretty much everybody. One good game, one holiday. Rebounding should be better especially against smaller teams. Certainly when you are extended out in the zone it is going to allow for rebounds by the opposition.. but come on!
Syracuse teams historically have a tendency to play to the level of thier competition but if this team has aspirations of being one which will contend for a National Championship I would hope to see them develop a killer insinct to put teams away when they have them on the edge of being blown out. College basketball is oftentimes a game of runs but Syracuse has the talent and ability to put some of these teams away early and decisively instead of letting them chip their way back into it.
Thankfully the zone has been effective and has allowed the team to win but as the season progresses the offense is going to have to improve. The hype of Marshall being such a good team is overblown in my opinion and a team ranked 3rd should have blown their doors off. Last, I have to wonder if all the off court events aren't beginning to manifest themselves as diminished performance on the court. For me it's hard to imagine that all of the negativity associated with the scandal is completely insulated from the team dynamics. What's up with James Southerland? The team enigma. I'm beginning to think that his name is Southerland because once the competition stiffens up his great shooting goes "South". I love the kid and he seems to be developing some of the other areas of his game but sheesh! he has had wide open looks that he shoots like I do! Trust me, not good. I'm hoping these are all just developmental growing pains of the team but I'd be lying to say that I'm not worried that some bad trends are beginning to emerge.

 

[rstone7727]

Agree on the free trows, I played basketball a lot in my youth (a lot) but not at a big time level. I don't think I ever had an air ball on a free throw. Seriously, how can a division one athlete shoot an air ball on a ft?

 

[bleeding orange]

To make an additional point here I would like to call shananagans on our shot selection at times. We seem to settle for shots that we could get anytime with 25 seconds on the shot clock. There are times when I just know scoop is going to take the shot and sure enough he does. I do not want to be negative because we are a great team and are going to win 26 games this year, but team discipline on the offensive end would do a long way. If there is 5 seconds on the shot clock... chuck it up!! If not, be patient and let one of your 8 players whom can score in double figures work to get open for a good shot. With opponents seemingly hell bent on keeping the game in the 60's against us these possessions are going to make a big difference when the Big East schedule rolls around.

 

[mountaincuse]

Agree on the free trows, I played basketball a lot in my youth (a lot) but not at a big time level. I don't think I ever had an air ball on a free throw. Seriously, how can a division one athlete shoot an air ball on a ft?

It happens at all levels of play - I'm sure you have had one too if you think hard enough.

Guys need to relax, we didn't play well but still won. Quite a few teams this year haven't played well and lost. Came off a big win, bound to be a little let down especially with all that is going on. This really is no different that any other Syracuse team in many of the regards mentioned by the OP.

 

[HoustonCuse]

The deep end: you have gone off it.

Point 1: We shot 17-21 from the FT line in the previous game, including 8-9 in crunch time.
Point 2: We have been crushing teams on the offensive glass. This is one of the best rebounding SU teams I can remember (although I admit they are tapping the ball too much vs grabbing it)
Point 3: Our fast break has been a deadly force. They had a few miscues tonight. That is not a trend.

Now onto what I agree with you on:

They have not done a good job feeding the post. Its a combination of poor positioning by Melo and a lack of interest by any G except MCW. 4 out of our last 5 games were not "cupcakes" so I will give them a pass on practicing this during game action. Hopefully they can work on it some in the cupcake games coming up.

I don't think you said this, but shot selection in the half-court has been poor. When we run a real play to get an open shot, we shoot about 70% on those possessions. When we don't (which was a lot of tonight) we shoot about 30%...

 

[mountaincuse]

Lead on SC, for the right reasons too.

Calmer than you are...

 

[RoysRunts]

Anybody Notice when Time is taken to concentrate on FT's vs Just throwing it up?.

 

[Cusedan25]

I thought Marshall was terrible, comically bad at times even. We played better when we lost to Lemoyne, than we did last night.

The guys were screwing around last night, and had no focus. That is a bad sign.

However, we still got the W, which is most important. I'd lke to see our offense flow better, we just don't make enough passes. The big guys never get a touch inside, and the ball stops in Scoop and Kris's hands. These are things we can improve, we have the tools to have a special season, just need to put it all together.

 

[SU2NASA]

Also disturbing, Einhorn is Finkell, and Finkell is Einhorn.

 

[Jake]

What has happened to Scoop 45% from the FT line. 9-20. He looks mentally lost at the line.

 

[reedny]

Foul-shooting is an old woe and has (IMO) little to do with our malaise in the half court.

It comes down to two things: 1) we're not feeding the post. This makes us unbalanced and we have to rely on penetration or rebounding to get inside offense; and 2) we're not shooting the ball well from the outside ... mostly because the shots are contested, and they're contested because we don't feed the post and defenders can get away with cheating out on us.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen Melo (despite doubles) and X-mas put their defender on their hip and get NO PASS... Why is this happening? It makes our half court two - dimensional... we take a long (often contested) jumper, or wait for DW to come in to penetrate and dish.

Sooner or later, this will loose us games. In the meantime, it's depriving our bigs of the rep's they need to develop their post games.

 

[OttoMets]

Point 3: Our fast break has been a deadly force. They had a few miscues tonight. That is not a trend.

Transition has been effective, but by no means great. We've been giving up points every game so far. I don't know if I'd call it a trend, per se, but this year's group of guys is way to inclined to make two dribbles after getting a rebound rather than making the quick outlet pass. That lost second can be all it takes to turn a transition opportunity into another half-court set.

Also, Scoop and Triche are filling their lanes well. Dion, not so much. He's drawn to the rim as if he were a magnet, regardless of open teammates in their lanes.

Our break is always good, but we've left a lot of points out there. We're not executing terribly well right now; we'll see where we end up.

 

[BlueCurtain]

we're not feeding the post.

Sooner or later, this will loose us games. In the meantime, it's depriving our bigs of the rep's they need to develop their post games.

JB says they need to be more efficient on offense - but he has never made a point of saying they need to feed the post -- so I don't think he has any confidence in the big men - which of course means the bigs won't have a chance to develop. It's a cliched sound bite "we need to get better" but there's a sense of complacency at this point. Maybe they will re-evaluate the need for offensive balance and ball movement when they lose a few games.

 

[orangefan13]

We shot 40 and 41% the last two games and 17 and 27% from three.
And don't get to the line a ton.

Top 25 teams usually don't do that. Yet we still won the last two against good teams and pretty easily.
Im not to worried right now. We don't have as far to go as Florida does to be ready for March. Therefore, Our ball movement and offensive balence hasn't been all that bad. Players are taking what they are capable of.

Furthermore, out defense has been phenominal outside of rebounding. Especially our guard defense extending out more and getting a hand up. Love to see that.