Somebody on the team must read the board | Syracusefan.com

Somebody on the team must read the board

IthacaMatt

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Credit to Rak for playing much better defensively yesterday. On the first few possessions, in particular, he aggressively bodied the man who set up in the low post, or guys cutting thru the lane. He had lulls in his game, and he could have done more on the defensive boards, and yes, these guys were all midgets around him, but that was a good start. Keita played pretty well, too.

Except for James, everyone else was actually pretty terrible yesterday. But survive and advance.

For me, the big takeaway was that Rak was much more fundamentally sound on defense, which is what I've been critical of in his game. Nice improvement, now let's keep building on it.
 
This is a good analysis.

Personally believe that our major problem is that ironically our two mentally tough players (at least recently) start the halves on the bench...Southerland and Waiters.

The starters are basically all too soft both emotionally and mentally. Our seniors both started the game with sloppy passing turnovers which weren't even necessary. Scoop, Joseph and Fair are all guilty of this...what, is it not "cool" to be fired up to play in the NCAA tournament? You can have a guy like that, but your starting five can't have a majority like this...

Triche is a tweener, I actually think he showed up ready to play and the shots just weren't falling...

It's been a great season, but the tournament is another level...some respond, some don't. I've got a feeling that our guys are going to look really cool gliding all over the court but get knocked right out of the tournament.

Hope like heck I'm wrong...I also believe opening up in 2-3 zone is a major problem, just sets the wrong tone with these guys and allows bad habits to settle in (lack of personal responsibility on D, no blocking out, etc)...I think they'd be better served starting out in man to set the tone. Love JB but it's amateur-hour to continually believe you can play one zone defense for 40 mins against tournament quality teams.
 
This is a good analysis.

Personally believe that our major problem is that ironically our two mentally tough players (at least recently) start the halves on the bench...Southerland and Waiters.

The starters are basically all too soft both emotionally and mentally. Our seniors both started the game with sloppy passing turnovers which weren't even necessary. Scoop, Joseph and Fair are all guilty of this...what, is it not "cool" to be fired up to play in the NCAA tournament? You can have a guy like that, but your starting five can't have a majority like this...

Triche is a tweener, I actually think he showed up ready to play and the shots just weren't falling...

It's been a great season, but the tournament is another level...some respond, some don't. I've got a feeling that our guys are going to look really cool gliding all over the court but get knocked right out of the tournament.

Hope like heck I'm wrong...I also believe opening up in 2-3 zone is a major problem, just sets the wrong tone with these guys and allows bad habits to settle in (lack of personal responsibility on D, no blocking out, etc)...I think they'd be better served starting out in man to set the tone. Love JB but it's amateur-hour to continually believe you can play one zone defense for 40 mins against tournament quality teams.

Something to give Triche credit for - he is playing like a forward lately, absolutely pounding the boards, and getting some really great "effort" offensive rebounds. Kris did a very nice job on the defensive boards, too.

As for the zone, well, I think we should have trapped more out of it.

And one last comment about Charles Barkley saying we needed to play more uptempo - in his defense, we do leave the zone when we press, and we probably should have done that in the first half against Ashville, just to get them running, winded, and throwing sloppy passes.
 
The starters are basically all too soft both emotionally and mentally.

Just curious what qualifies you to make this judgement. You know these guys well? You spend a lot of time with them? Or can you just tell?

This has to be the toughest team I've seen in 35 years of watching. Nothing gets them to put their heads down and they never stop fighting. Bad games? Yep. Lots of 'em. And they find a way to tough it out. Calling these guys soft after the season we are witnessing is baffling to me.
 
I know its just one game but yesterday showed me that next year Southerland should start over CJ and Rak is going to be a player.

Southerland single handedly saved us from the biggest embarassment in a season including plenty of embarassing moments.

I thought Rak played great for having hardly any playing time.
 
As for the zone, well, I think we should have trapped more out of it.

And one last comment about Charles Barkley saying we needed to play more uptempo - in his defense, we do leave the zone when we press, and we probably should have done that in the first half against Ashville, just to get them running, winded, and throwing sloppy passes.
Using the trap out of the zone right from the start would have speeded up the game and could have gotten our transition game going. Pinning a smaller player in the corner or along the baseline seems like a no brainer. At worst you get the opposing team to burn timeouts.

While our press at times has been effective, it seems to me that we get beaten a fair amount of time when we use it - which is always when we are behind. During the game I was deathly afraid that JB would be forced to use the press down 8-10 points and it would quickly get to a 15-20 point deficit as the smaller ball handler for UNCA would dribble rings around our lethargic defense. I have to believe that JB was afraid of Rak picking up quick fouls once our press was broken. If that's the case - at the first time out sub Baye and turn on the press.
 
I know its just one game but yesterday showed me that next year Southerland should start over CJ and Rak is going to be a player.

Southerland single handedly saved us from the biggest embarassment in a season including plenty of embarassing moments.

I thought Rak played great for having hardly any playing time.
CJ has been terrible the last few games, but overall he had a good year, shot a higher FG% than Southerland, and really improved his FT shooting from last year. We'll need both to play well to do well in the tourney. And Yes, JSouth saved the day yesterday!
 
I didn't mean it to be an overly harsh critique, just a view on the personal make-up of the team and how they seem to start games lately. It's not "bad" to be laid-back, but do you really want to have 5 laid-back guys on the floor at once?

I don't know these players personally, but I do watch the games. And a senior losing possession on one of the first 5 possessions during a simple exchange pass is not demonstrating mental toughness. There have been some nice step-ups by Kris Joseph this season when the team needed, it but that has rarely come at the beginning of a game, only when they're down 10 or something. I'm talking about starting off the game strong, not waiting until push comes to shove. In my opinion we haven't been getting that, but it's just my opinion.

It has been a great season, without question. But, we've also been more talented than 100% of the teams that we've faced so far. That will change (hopefully!) in this tournament.
 
CJ has been terrible the last few games, but overall he had a good year, shot a higher FG% than Southerland, and really improved his FT shooting from last year. We'll need both to play well to do well in the tourney. And Yes, JSouth saved the day yesterday!
I just think Southerland makes more sense starting. Hes a shooter who we need on the starting unit with MCW/Triche/Rak/DC2 then we bring in Cooney as the shooter off the bench and Fair as the main backup at the 3/4. Bringing Cooney and South off the bench just seems redundant to me.
 
Credit to Rak for playing much better defensively yesterday. On the first few possessions, in particular, he aggressively bodied the man who set up in the low post, or guys cutting thru the lane. He had lulls in his game, and he could have done more on the defensive boards, and yes, these guys were all midgets around him, but that was a good start. Keita played pretty well, too.

Except for James, everyone else was actually pretty terrible yesterday. But survive and advance.

For me, the big takeaway was that Rak was much more fundamentally sound on defense, which is what I've been critical of in his game. Nice improvement, now let's keep building on it.

Help me understand. Are you really trying to take taking credit for Rak's defensive "improvement" because you have suggested he needed to on this board?

That's bizarre.
 
I would love to see Rak get fed in the post a little more. He worked hard for position several times, but Scoop will not pass it in. He clearly does not trust the big boy to do something positive with it. This one of the main reasons the offense is struggling.
 
Just curious what qualifies you to make this judgement. You know these guys well? You spend a lot of time with them? Or can you just tell?

This has to be the toughest team I've seen in 35 years of watching. Nothing gets them to put their heads down and they never stop fighting. Bad games? Yep. Lots of 'em. And they find a way to tough it out. Calling these guys soft after the season we are witnessing is baffling to me.
i don't recall the year exactly,but the toughest su team i ever saw was the one with cipola,janilus,etc that went to the championship game.they had the least talent and the most will. it was also jb's finest coaching year imo
 
I didn't mean it to be an overly harsh critique, just a view on the personal make-up of the team and how they seem to start games lately. It's not "bad" to be laid-back, but do you really want to have 5 laid-back guys on the floor at once?

I don't know these players personally, but I do watch the games. And a senior losing possession on one of the first 5 possessions during a simple exchange pass is not demonstrating mental toughness. There have been some nice step-ups by Kris Joseph this season when the team needed, it but that has rarely come at the beginning of a game, only when they're down 10 or something. I'm talking about starting off the game strong, not waiting until push comes to shove. In my opinion we haven't been getting that, but it's just my opinion.

It has been a great season, without question. But, we've also been more talented than 100% of the teams that we've faced so far. That will change (hopefully!) in this tournament.
How many close games has this team won? That is toughness.
 
i don't recall the year exactly,but the toughest su team i ever saw was the one with cipola,janilus,etc that went to the championship game.they had the least talent and the most will. it was also jb's finest coaching year imo
1996. They also had John Wallace and a 5th year point guard named Lazarus Sims.
 
Credit to Rak for playing much better defensively yesterday. On the first few possessions, in particular, he aggressively bodied the man who set up in the low post, or guys cutting thru the lane. He had lulls in his game, and he could have done more on the defensive boards, and yes, these guys were all midgets around him, but that was a good start. Keita played pretty well, too.

Except for James, everyone else was actually pretty terrible yesterday. But survive and advance.

For me, the big takeaway was that Rak was much more fundamentally sound on defense, which is what I've been critical of in his game. Nice improvement, now let's keep building on it.


Solid post, Matt. The highlighted post above is a sad commentary of the play of the entire team [except for James].

I'm not quite as bully on Rak's defensive play--he made some bad mistakes [like when he ran out at the guy on the wing at the end of the first half and got blown by]. Seems like he floats too much and is frequently out of position, but I agree that he did some good things as well. Hopefully, a performance to build on like you say.
 
yeah rak needs to just make that guy shoot the mid range j from the wing( not an easy shot) or stand his ground downlow ... give up a jumper or 3 pt attempt before a layup.
 
Help me understand. Are you really trying to take taking credit for Rak's defensive "improvement" because you have suggested he needed to on this board?

That's bizarre.

Yes. Absolutely. It's all about me. I am the guru. (Somehow I think JB observed the same thing, and worked with him on it.)

But seriously, I did call Dion as the break-out star of this year's team after the first exhibition game or two, if you recall. Bees responded with surprise - did you watch the same game I did. I have a pretty good track record when it comes to talent evaluation and game observations.
 
Solid post, Matt. The highlighted post above is a sad commentary of the play of the entire team [except for James].

I'm not quite as bully on Rak's defensive play--he made some bad mistakes [like when he ran out at the guy on the wing at the end of the first half and got blown by]. Seems like he floats too much and is frequently out of position, but I agree that he did some good things as well. Hopefully, a performance to build on like you say.

RF, I agree that Rak wasn't great, but in recent games where he actually got some run, that was his biggest problem, IMO - he ran back on defense and camped under the rim. Just stood there and kind of watched as big men sought post position. Didn't use the knee into the small of the back tactic to keep a guy from backing you down, like Baye does.

Yesterday, I saw him bump a guy or contest his post position on the first 3 or 4 possessions very aggressively. He did let up after that, but he wasn't terrible on defense. He's still not over the hump. I shudder to think what Sullinger would do to him, for instance. But it's a small improvement.
 
I would love to see Rak get fed in the post a little more. He worked hard for position several times, but Scoop will not pass it in. He clearly does not trust the big boy to do something positive with it. This one of the main reasons the offense is struggling.
they actually tried to feed him at least six times. He got a couple, he dropped a couple, and he was fouled two times. The first time, he was tripped by his defender (no call), another time he was hooked and held as he tried to roll to the hoop and the pass went over his head and out of bounds (no call).
 
From what I saw yesterday, James was obviously huge in the 2nd half, but Kris Joseph played very well in the 2nd half as well. He was the first guy to really start attacking the defense instead of settling.

The most haunting thing from yesterday was:
1. The fact that we tried to turn it into a 3 point contest/looked like we didn't have an offensive set to attack the same defense that we actually play.
2. Christmas sealed off one of the defenders for easy dunks/layups on literally almost every single possession and we only hit him once if I recall correctly. I think Christmas did a great job yesterday, and he should have had around 50 points if our guards were looking for him more/at all. It was really pretty refreshing to see a big guy do such a great job of sealing.
 
The starters are basically all too soft both emotionally and mentally.
The best thing this team has going for it is that it is mentally tough. They have playing these types of games all year long and have found ways to win them over and over again. Many previous editions of the Orange would have had at least half a dozen losses by the end of the year, would have lost that BET game vs. UConn, and would have lost yesterday.

You know who is emotionally soft? Our fanbase, so many of whom are unrealistic about the talent on this team and are not emotionally capable of weathering the difficult games that this team is going to have to play to advance.
 
The best thing this team has going for it is that it is mentally tough. They have playing these types of games all year long and have found ways to win them over and over again. Many previous editions of the Orange would have had at least half a dozen losses by the end of the year, would have lost that BET game vs. UConn, and would have lost yesterday.

You know who is emotionally soft? Our fanbase, so many of whom are unrealistic about the talent on this team and are not emotionally capable of weathering the difficult games that this team is going to have to play to advance.


Preach on.
 
I have a pretty good track record when it comes to talent evaluation and game observations.

But you're not in Tristy's league. And if he were here he would tell you. :)
 

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