Somebody on the team must read the board

[RF2044]

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.

Agreed. Rak's footwork / defensive positioning needs a LOT of work.

Too bad we don't have a big man guru on the coaching staff.

 

[br801]

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.

Oh, so now we're soft too? Just for demanding 40 minutes of flawless play and complete domination game after game? Listen, compared to every other team in the country we have vastly superior talent at every position. Unfortunately our dinosaur of a coach is holding us back and it's business as usual. I'm so sick of the underachievement. Take out 1987, 1996 and 2003 and Boeheim, with all this talent at his disposal, has NEVER been to a Final Four.

 

[RF2044]

Oh, so now we're soft too? Just for demanding 40 minutes of flawless play and complete domination game after game? Listen, compared to every other team in the country we have vastly superior talent at every position. Unfortunately our dinosaur of a coach is holding us back and it's business as usual. I'm so sick of the underachievement. Take out 1987, 1996 and 2003 and Boeheim, with all this talent at his disposal, has NEVER been to a Final Four.

And if the queen had balls she'd be the king.

 

[rrlbees]

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.

Except that he jumps at every fake and gets caught out of position which happened several times in the 2nd half and got him pulled. Keita did a far better job and stayed in for a long stretch. But Baye doesn't rebound and Rakeem does.

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[rrlbees]

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

Apologies but this made me LOL.

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[longtimefan]

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.

There are a bunch of NBA scouts out there who would disagree with you.

 

[IthacaMatt]

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.

I saw that too. Unfortunate, because let Rak go against a 6-5 guy with his back to he basket, and I think he's going to score most of the time.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Apologies but this made me LOL.

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Yeah, fine. I never saw you at ABCD all those years. And you're the one who said that Triche was better than Dion and questioned me calling him a star in the making after the first exhibition. Go look it up. But laugh away.

Let me also add that you (Bees) had an almost belligerent attitude about Gerry over Billy Edelin the whole time he was here, and (a) we never would have won the title in 2003 without Edelin; and (b) GMac never brought us anywhere again in the NCAA's once Edelin was gone. Gerry was an all-time great player for us, but he was way more of a 2 guard than a pure point.

You were also one of the guys who defended the 2003 old guard over the new recruits - Nichols v. Pace and Watkins v. Forth, especially their senior year, when the young sophomores clearly deserved more time on the floor.

So, sure, laugh away. Tell me the last guy I was wrong about. You won't find any Ethan Cole fan posts from me.