Syracuse basketball is a finesse program

[Alsacs]

I am okay with this as JB is a HOF coach and it works. However when we face tougher, gritty teams we struggle more than we do against teams like to play fun basketball.

Teams that muck the game up and want it to be physical and crash the boards do well against us.

Pitt beats us on the glass. They outwork us and play tough man to man defense and don't give up much easy offense.

I really don't hate Pitt I just can't stand their coach and his douchyness. The program is just a bad matchup for ours. Virginia does the same things Pitt does against us but I like them an their coach/program.

 

[Cuse'91]

I am okay with this as JB is a HOF coach and it works. However when we face tougher, gritty teams we struggle more than we do against teams like to play fun basketball.

Teams that muck the game up and want it to be physical and crash the boards do well against us.

Pitt beats us on the glass. They outwork us and play tough man to man defense and don't give up much easy offense.

I really don't hate Pitt I just can't stand their coach and his douchyness. The program is just a bad matchup for ours. Virginia does the same things Pitt does against us but I like them an their coach/program.

So do we play fun basketball?

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I'd accept the finesse argument if we had any finesse . We are more a program without an identity other than we play a zone .. Which in my opinion robs Peter to pay Paul

 

[Jack Hall]

I am okay with this as JB is a HOF coach and it works. However when we face tougher, gritty teams we struggle more than we do against teams like to play fun basketball.

Teams that muck the game up and want it to be physical and crash the boards do well against us.

Pitt beats us on the glass. They outwork us and play tough man to man defense and don't give up much easy offense.

I really don't hate Pitt I just can't stand their coach and his douchyness. The program is just a bad matchup for ours. Virginia does the same things Pitt does against us but I like them an their coach/program.

This team could be more physical if DC played 30 mins a game and TRob got a mean streak. Doubt either happens. I will say i am impressed the way Lydon battled vs bigger guys the last 2 games. Hes improving but he is still more of a "finesse" player imo

 

[Brooky03]

I miss having a mean guy on the team. Kinda like an enforcer in hockey, it's nice to have that guy that pisses off every single opponent on the court. I don't think we've had that in a while. We recruiting any kids from the heart of Detroit?

 

[iommi]

I miss having a mean guy on the team. Kinda like an enforcer in hockey, it's nice to have that guy that pisses off every single opponent on the court. I don't think we've had that in a while. We recruiting any kids from the heart of Detroit?

Matt Moyer is a nice kid but he plays with a scowl.

 

[rhcuse]

We need DC1 to make babies with Rhonda Rousy and throw them our way for the 2030s.

 

[anglerman]

Dixon just dominates JBb. It's embarrassing as an SU fan that JB just can not come up with a game plan that will beat this guy. Amazing that he's 7-2 in the Dome.

 

[Jack Hall]

Dixon just dominates JBb. It's embarrassing as an SU fan that JB just can not come up with a game plan that will beat this guy. Amazing that he's 7-2 in the Dome.

I dont know, JB has had much more success in ncaas and imo thats where you really see great coaching. Dixon just consistently has more physical teams than JB and i think that wont change. JB just doesnt want teams like dixons imo. But if the refs dont call the physical play, which they havent been, gonna be tough for a finesse team to win. Altho imo thats not what happened today, they just shot well, we didnt, and they were more active/wanted it more on boards. I really cant blame the refs today in how they called the game, it was fine imo

 

[NineOneSeven]

We need DC1 to make babies with holly holm and throw them our way for the 2030s.

Fixed

 

[HoustonCuse]

What is interesting is that no other teams have really been able to replicate the success of Pizz. I mean other coaches must be looking at the film of any game we have had with Pitt since about 2000. They are all the same and whatever it is that Pitt does allows them to win regardless of personnel, location or anything else. They clearly have an almost perfect blueprint. Yet other teams haven't been able to translate that into a blueprint against us.

 

[44cuse]

I am okay with this as JB is a HOF coach and it works. However when we face tougher, gritty teams we struggle more than we do against teams like to play fun basketball. Teams that muck the game up and want it to be physical and crash the boards do well against us. Pitt beats us on the glass. They outwork us and play tough man to man defense and don't give up much easy offense. I really don't hate Pitt I just can't stand their coach and his douchyness. The program is just a bad matchup for ours. Virginia does the same things Pitt does against us but I like them an their coach/program.

Dixon or Hop? Just curious.

44cuse

 

[dasher]

Dixon or Hop? Just curious.

44cuse

Hop. He might not get us there but Dixon has made one final 8 and no final fours. No thanks.

 

[Alsacs]

Dixon or Hop? Just curious.

44cuse

Hop as I couldn't root for my time if we had a coach that looks as unhinged as Jamie Dixon does over EVERY call. It gets annoying. If I were a ref I would T Dixon up every game as he bitches about every little thing.

 

[Alsacs]

Syracuse doesn't change things up and thus if you are a physical, tough, hard working team you have a good chance especially if the talent is close.

If we have more talent it can overcome these differences but we are just a finesse team. We could also use a Jeremy McNeil type of big for the bench.

 

[AlaskaSU]

This team could be more physical if DC played 30 mins a game and TRob got a mean streak. Doubt either happens. I will say i am impressed the way Lydon battled vs bigger guys the last 2 games. Hes improving but he is still more of a "finesse" player imo

TL hauled down one rebound.

 

[Madbiker]

JB's system works and has produced a great record over a long period of time. If you've followed the program over a long time, you can see that there are defined roles in the system and the players change but they are recruited to fill those roles. JB likes wiry, agile players over beefy physical players. So physical teams like Pitt, UVa, and Georgetown always push our guys around. When JB has the ultra high talent level guys -- like Coleman, Seikaly, Douglas, Wallace, Carmelo, Warrick, Wes Johnson, Waiters, MCW, etc. he has outstanding teams. With ordinary talent (like this year) it doesn't work so well. For whatever reason we are getting fewer and fewer of those ultra talent guys. Maybe JB just doesn't go out and recruit like he used to. Maybe other reasons. But missing the tourney consecutive years is bad and there's a pretty good chance it happens.

 

[Jack Hall]

TL hauled down one rebound.

You are correct, and that was worse than i thought. My bad. But still in two games TL had what 27 pts and 8 rebounds. What did TR have? 5 pts and 8 rebounds. TR has to do better for this team to have any chance at success. Altho yes abso you could also argue TL has to rebound better for this team to have any chance at success. I agree. But at least TL played physical enough to score 27 pts, a heck of a lot more than TR. Its also worth noting that during much of the last 2 games TL was playing out of position at the C position, which meant he was likely going up against bigger guys than TR...i like TR, think he is VERY capable but he has to play better and more consistent.when i heard what JB said in presser unfort it did not surprise me one bit

 

[Jack Hall]

JB's system works and has produced a great record over a long period of time. If you've followed the program over a long time, you can see that there are defined roles in the system and the players change but they are recruited to fill those roles. JB likes wiry, agile players over beefy physical players. So physical teams like Pitt, UVa, and Georgetown always push our guys around. When JB has the ultra high talent level guys -- like Coleman, Seikaly, Douglas, Wallace, Carmelo, Warrick, Wes Johnson, Waiters, MCW, etc. he has outstanding teams. With ordinary talent (like this year) it doesn't work so well. For whatever reason we are getting fewer and fewer of those ultra talent guys. Maybe JB just doesn't go out and recruit like he used to. Maybe other reasons. But missing the tourney consecutive years is bad and there's a pretty good chance it happens.

Many people felt Chris McC would be in ultra high talent category. I certainly hoped he would. You could argue injury prevented it (which i dont nec agree w) but it didnt pan out that way. Many , myself included hope that Kid Mamba will be in that category. We shall see.

I do think we slip into the tourney, at least i think the odds are reasonable. If so not convinced we sniff the second weekend. My own gut instinct is if this team got the same seed from Ennis' team 2 yrs ago (which they wont get that seed) they would have about the same chances and same impact as that team...but thats just me.

 

[Jack Hall]

JB's system works and has produced a great record over a long period of time. If you've followed the program over a long time, you can see that there are defined roles in the system and the players change but they are recruited to fill those roles. JB likes wiry, agile players over beefy physical players. So physical teams like Pitt, UVa, and Georgetown always push our guys around. When JB has the ultra high talent level guys -- like Coleman, Seikaly, Douglas, Wallace, Carmelo, Warrick, Wes Johnson, Waiters, MCW, etc. he has outstanding teams. With ordinary talent (like this year) it doesn't work so well. For whatever reason we are getting fewer and fewer of those ultra talent guys. Maybe JB just doesn't go out and recruit like he used to. Maybe other reasons. But missing the tourney consecutive years is bad and there's a pretty good chance it happens.

And i will also say you can lament JBs recruiting all you want. There have been some disappointments and then you look at the pure studs uk, duk, ku, etc are landing. Thats just sour grapes. But then you look at Mal and TL . Those two both have turned out better than their unbiased press clippings. They have outperformed even my biased Orange expectations so far. Lets just hope those 2 come back next year. You can argue all you want about how good next years team will be, but at the very least there will not be nearly as many mins being spent on the court w guys playing out of position as there is w this years team. I do expect Battle to spend many mins slightly (maybe) out of position at point but unlike this year we should have a true C for all 40 mins, and have a rim protector. And also Mal should spend more time at his true 2 spot. Which he basically never plays this year.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Finesse teams usually play good offense, so I'm not sure we can be considered that.

It seems like we've become a program that wants to slow EVERYTHING down and hope you make mistakes against us.

 

[dollarbill44]

This team could be more physical if DC played 30 mins a game and TRob got a mean streak. Doubt either happens. I will say i am impressed the way Lydon battled vs bigger guys the last 2 games. Hes improving but he is still more of a "finesse" player imo

It could also be more physical if DC played up to his size. He tends to be very tentative, although he is improving. He gets the ball taken away too easily, though. I wish he would play every game with the attitude of the original DC.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Finesse teams usually play good offense, so I'm not sure we can be considered that.

It seems like we've become a program that wants to slow EVERYTHING down and hope you make mistakes against us.

Compared to how we used to run even as recently as 2012, we're like that before-and-after picture of Tonya Harding.

 

[Ward]

Compared to how we used to run even as recently as 2012, we're like that before-and-after picture of Tonya Harding.

This isn't meant to be an attack on Cooney, though I know some will take it as such, but is just an observation. We used to have two combo guards who when we got a turnover you could find either one and they would get out and lead the break with others filling their lanes. Past years it didn't matter if Triche, MCW, Dion, Scoop, Rautins, Devo, Flynn, etc started the break those guys could flip the floor on a team quick and get us a bucket. To me, Cooney is much more a catch and shoot guy than a true combo guard. Leading a fast break doesn't really play into Cooney's skill set, further as a coach I'd much prefer Cooney filling a lane and spotting up behind the arc in transition than leading a fast break, so recently off a turnover we need to find Ennis or Gbinije/they have to come back to the ball to get it. That extra second or two gives the other team a wider window to get back and even out numbers.

Just a thought but hopefully in the future years we're able to fast break again because it takes a lot of pressure off your half court offense when you can manufacture points in transition.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

We're one Diagne short of having a:
1) tougher team
2) better foul protection for DC
3) a way of putting Lydon in his proper position
4) an alternative for the days when Robo zombies

I think that loss was pivotal for saving this year, even moreso than the NCAA schollie reductions and the JB hiatus.--VBOF