Stall ball

[br801]

Some will argue this, but that's my assessment, too. Stall ball lost the Butler game (with the help of, among other things, a WWE officiating crew, a grotesque offensive drought to start the game, a snoozer of a performance from our center, and a last-minute change to an odd high-low combination).

Having a 3 fall through after an improbably lucky bounce helped Butler as well, or SU might have overcome all of the above.

 

[OttoMets]

Having a 3 fall through after an improbably lucky bounce helped Butler as well, or SU might have overcome all of the above.

For sure. Nearly nothing went our way in the last three minutes (except for Wes's missed free throw that dropped directly to Ricky on the block). Dumb luck for the opponent + poor execution by us = sad Thursday night.

 

[br801]

Also, I'll never get why Paul Harris gets blamed for the Pittsburgh game. Let's see: he takes an inbounds pass under the Pitt basket while the whole bench is screaming for him to be fouled, two Pitt players mug him, no whistle is blown, the ball comes free, Sam Young gets a bucket.

Other than not setting up to take the pass there, I don't know what people think Harris should've done differently. Guy got fouled, lost the ball. Cut him a break.

Good points. But in general, Paul Harris is a convenient scapegoat and it seems a lot of posters like to minimize what he actually accomplished on the court here. I do know Jim Calhoun loved him as a player and hated facing him, but what does that guy know anyway?

 

[OttoMets]

Good points. But in general, Paul Harris is a convenient scapegoat and it seems a lot of posters like to minimize what he actually accomplished on the court here. I do know Jim Calhoun loved him as a player and hated facing him, but what does that guy know anyway?

I guess the arm-flailing routine and the off-court fussing really bugged a lot of people.

This can be said of any of the immature guys on the 2008 team, but I'd love to have seen Harris come up on one of our stronger, veteran-led clubs. If he'd come in as a freshman and had, say, Scoop or Rautins as a mentoring senior, he could've stayed focused and become a real asset (for one, he could have been a Butler-beater in 2010).

Yet another consequence of our poor recruiting classes after the national championship - we didn't have good role models for the 2006 and 2007 kids to follow.

 

[RF2044]

I guess the arm-flailing routine and the off-court fussing really bugged a lot of people.

This can be said of any of the immature guys on the 2008 team, but I'd love to have seen Harris come up on one of our stronger, veteran-led clubs. If he'd come in as a freshman and had, say, Scoop or Rautins as a mentoring senior, he could've stayed focused and become a real asset (for one, he could have been a Butler-beater in 2010).

Yet another consequence of our poor recruiting classes after the national championship - we didn't have good role models for the 2006 and 2007 kids to follow.

This probably belongs in the other thread where Scoop is being discussed, but one of the most important things he brought to the team this year--in addition to solid lead guard play--was leadership. Around mid-season, he had an interview where he talked about how when he was a freshman, there was no veteran leadership on the team, and consequently the frosh all lapsed into bad habits. He went on to explain how he was taking it on himself to not only set an example of the team's young players, but how he also was cognizant that what he did set the tone for the others and why it was important to lead by example, not just talk. Example from the interview was that he would get up for 6am workouts. At first, he was the only one. Then after about a week, MCW started showing up, then others on the team. His example showed the younger players how hard they have to work in order to excel at this level, and I'm willing to bet that those guys will now carry that forward because it is ingrained in the team's culture.

He also set the tone for unselfishness when it came to minutes distribution--an important factor on a team that had 10 very good players, all jockeying for PT. I'll never forget after the Stanford game, when he got benched for a significant portion of the second half including the end of the game, when he was questioned about it in the post-game press conference. Boeheim started to answer the question, to protect the player, but Scoop interrupted: "I've got this one, coach. Just win."

Just win.

Scoop was a guy who deserved to have his leadership questioned earlier in his career, but what a senior year the guy had--on and off the floor.

 

[br801]

I guess the arm-flailing routine and the off-court fussing really bugged a lot of people.

This can be said of any of the immature guys on the 2008 team, but I'd love to have seen Harris come up on one of our stronger, veteran-led clubs. If he'd come in as a freshman and had, say, Scoop or Rautins as a mentoring senior, he could've stayed focused and become a real asset (for one, he could have been a Butler-beater in 2010).

Yet another consequence of our poor recruiting classes after the national championship - we didn't have good role models for the 2006 and 2007 kids to follow.

It seems you need both the high-level talent and the right team chemistry in place for a special season to occur. That's why I'm excited about next year's team. The talent is level there, and while some of the key players will be relatively inexperienced, I believe the chemistry will be good and we will see a minimum of drama.

 

[OttoMets]

It seems you need both the high-level talent and the right team chemistry in place for a special season to occur. That's why I'm excited about next year's team. The talent is level there, and while some of the key players will be relatively inexperienced, I believe the chemistry will be good and we will see a minimum of drama.

Love that the local guys have teamed up with Carter-Williams and Fair for the summer league. Stuff like that is a good sign.

 

[moqui]

Good points. But in general, Paul Harris is a convenient scapegoat and it seems a lot of posters like to minimize what he actually accomplished on the court here. I do know Jim Calhoun loved him as a player and hated facing him, but what does that guy know anyway?

I am of two minds on Paul Harris. On the one hand, I acknowledge that he actually had a pretty remarkable career here, particularly in the rebounding department. If he had come back for his senior year, he almost certainly would have topped 1000 rebounds for his career (something only five players have accomplished) and very possibly would have finished 2nd all time behind only Derrick Coleman. He also probably would have finished in the top 20 all time scorers. But, to me, his memory is forever tainted by his perpetual diva act - leaving the team, going home, etc. - and his (and Flynn's) occasional insubordination, especially when it came to playing defense.

 

[br801]

I am of two minds on Paul Harris. On the one hand, I acknowledge that he actually had a pretty remarkable career here, particularly in the rebounding department. If he had come back for his senior year, he almost certainly would have topped 1000 rebounds for his career (something only five players have accomplished) and very possibly would have finished 2nd all time behind only Derrick Coleman. He also probably would have finished in the top 20 all time scorers. But, to me, his memory is forever tainted by his perpetual diva act - leaving the team, going home, etc. - and his (and Flynn's) occasional insubordination, especially when it came to playing defense.

He seemed like a basically good kid who was somewhat misguided (more of a follower than a ringleader), so I have a hard time working up a lot of animosity toward him. I really enjoyed watching him play and will remember him most for the rebounding. He would have had a very nice NBA career if he were 3-4 inches taller or if he had found a time machine to transport him back to 1965.

 

[OttoMets]

He seemed like a basically good kid who was somewhat misguided (more of a follower than a ringleader), so I have a hard time working up a lot of animosity toward him. I really enjoyed watching him play and will remember him most for the rebounding. He would have had a very nice NBA career if he were 3-4 inches taller or if he had found a time machine to transport him back to 1965.

I'll second that; Harris was such a genuinely nice kid. I have a lot of sympathy for his dissatisfaction. There's no doubt that he was Boeheim's go-to guy for yelling (in the Duany/Scoop mold) but Harris didn't take it as well as many players do. Couple that with his perception that he was constantly screamed at while nearly everyone else on the team was involved in some sort of car-kicking, girl-hitting, meal-card-stealing, (Scoop/Rick/Flynn incident)-ing without the same reaction and one can understand why he felt overly persecuted.

I didn't like that he seemed to go at half-speed and that he never seemed eager to improve his shooting, but his drama - while immature and counterproductive - was at least understandable.