Syracuse Plays Iowa St on Wednesday 1pm

[tptcuse]

Fennell was sloppy with the ball against low major teams. I see him being a turnover machine against high major defense. He might become really good, but he's rightfully been beaten out by Zephir for spot minutes so far.

Edit : I will admit that I spent several posts complaining about Zephir beating out Fennell for minutes in the two exhibition games, but I've kind of changed my tune on this after the first four cupcake games. Maybe it will flip back during the season, as Fennell had much bigger upside... But Zephir helps us more in those limited minutes right now.

But with the way we're shooting, wouldn't putting in someone who can make a shot or foul shot be worth a try?

 

[Eric15]

Every single Iowa State HORSE shot would be a free throw. It's a solid strategy.

 

[tptcuse]

Beyond ISU losing out being in the top 4 by 1 point, it was due to a late game garbage basket by St. John's. I also read that ISU at the end of one of their games (maybe Creighton) just held the ball rather than scoring another basket which would have put them in the top 4. You have to coach these games differently and get every point you can.

Which is why Bill Self was having his players hoist up multiple three point shots against us in the last twenty seconds.

 

[Newhouser]

Point differential goes against every sportsmanship idea ever conceived. It's dumb.

 

[Sherman20]

Tough opponent, great opportunity - we really need to win it.

You have to be realistic. We’re not going to beat Iowa State after two straight tough games. This was a terrible draw and the tourney organizers did us wrong.

 

[MikeSU02]

Players Era was created by EverWonder Studio and Seth Berger. The first ever festival was hosted by partner MGM Resorts International at the iconic MGM Grand Garden Arena. EverWonder is a new independent content studio led by Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer Ian Orefice – the former President of TIME and TIME Studios – and backed by RedBird IMI and Jeff Zucker – the former President of NBCUniversal, CNN, and Turner Sports. Seth has been the CEO of four consumer businesses, including being the Founder and CEO of AND 1 Basketball. MGM Resorts International is a global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife, and retail offerings.

 

[FloridaCuse]

Following the seeding format for the third game would have led to a St. John’s - ISU rematch. Couldn’t do that but don’t understand taking the best team not in the Final Four and matching them up with the worst team not relegated to a Thursday bottom four game.
Iowa State’s issue is that the Final Four participants receive additional NIL money and using a tiebreaker of point differential to determine those teams when level of competition is significantly varied cost them that money. And did so by one point.
Plan next year is to have a bracket style tournament with 4 8-team pods. What happens beyond that largely depends on whether the NCAA approves an appeal that would allow a full 5 game schedule to count as a single MTE and not exceed the maximum number of games rule.
At this point Syracuse is contracted to play in the 2026 and 27 tournaments.

So this game is the #5 from the top team vs. the #5 team from the bottom. Or, said another way, the worst 2-0 team vs. the best 0-2 team.

 

[Sherman20]

Playing the number 2, 6, and 9 defenses according to kenpom. Solid

Solid? That’s a murderer’s row. We could easily get smoked and everyone on here is gonna be mad about it. We need a confidence building win. They could have easily paired us with Maryland, Baylor, Creighton, SDSU, Oregon, etc. Also, have our fans totally forgotten that we’re missing our best player and top scorer?

 

[RedtheGOB]

Playing the number 2, 6, and 9 defenses according to kenpom. Solid

Now this is a post I agree on ha. Not to mention we're speedrunning it. We will have played all 3 in ~45 hours.

*With a gimpy leg (Freeman)

 

[tbonezone]

I'm fine playing Iowa State, but this "tournament" is very bizarre and confusing. I like the simple Maui-type format with 8 teams and a straight-forward bracket.

you mean you'd rather be playing Chaminade instead of the Cyclones ?

 

[Consigliere]

Solid? That’s a murderer’s row. We could easily get smoked and everyone on here is gonna be mad about it. We need a confidence building win. They could have easily paired us with Maryland, Baylor, Creighton, SDSU, Oregon, etc. Also, have our fans totally forgotten that we’re missing our best player and top scorer?

We would have been playing Maryland following the announced seeding formula. Likely still a Q1 game but a bit more manageable.

 

[FloridaCuse]

We would have been playing Maryland following the announced seeding formula. Likely still a Q1 game but a bit more manageable.

That game probably would have been at midnight tonight ET. NO eyeballs on it. Not what TNT would have wanted.

 

[MSOrange]

We would have been playing Maryland following the announced seeding formula. Likely still a Q1 game but a bit more manageable.

Definitely would have been more manageable. I forgot Buzz Williams coaches there now incidentally.

 

[Sherman20]

We would have been playing Maryland following the announced seeding formula. Likely still a Q1 game but a bit more manageable.

Exactly. And I’d say it would have been ALOT more manageable. There’s a big difference between a KenPom top 10 team like Iowa State and a fringe top 50-60 team like Maryland or even a 25/30-ish team like Baylor. We’d have a chance against those teams. This team needs a confidence building win, not a third straight devastating loss.

 

[phil77]

Exactly. And I’d say it would have been ALOT more manageable. There’s a big difference between a KenPom top 10 team like Iowa State and a fringe top 50-60 team like Maryland or even a 25/30-ish team like Baylor. We’d have a chance against those teams. This team needs a confidence building win, not a third straight devastating loss.

And don’t forget we get Tennessee next

 

[Niastri]

But with the way we're shooting, wouldn't putting in someone who can make a shot or foul shot be worth a try?

Yes and no... George turned it over six times against Houston. Would you really want a freshman backup point guard who has proven a little shaky with the ball out there in a close game, under those circumstances? Zephir is better defensively and at least gets the ball moving to the right people.

Both Zephir and Fennell have hit exactly one three this year... I don't know if Fennell being a better shooter is likely to offset the other things Zephir brings to the table.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Exactly. And I’d say it would have been ALOT more manageable. There’s a big difference between a KenPom top 10 team like Iowa State and a fringe top 50-60 team like Maryland or even a 25/30-ish team like Baylor. We’d have a chance against those teams. This team needs a confidence building win, not a third straight devastating loss.

Yes but also a team reeling and shorthanded that potentially drops a game to bubble teams like Maryland or Baylor might as well put the season in the toilet. I'm not so sure if we lose to Iowa St we're in the toilet, in bad shape for sure but maybe not us as eF'd as people want to make it here.

 

[tbonezone]

the announced seeding formula.

right. the formula...

 

[sufan59]

So Iowa State will be without there starting PG, Tamin Lipsey. Looks like Killyan Toure who had 20 points against Creighton is filling in for Lipsey scoring and Heise filled in for assists with 6 against Creighton. Guards need to step up to win these games.

Or maybe not

 

[Niastri]

Now this is a post I agree on ha. Not to mention we're speedrunning it. We will have played all 3 in ~45 hours.

*With a gimpy leg (Freeman)

The benefit of blowing out Creighton yesterday is their starters played a lot fewer minutes than our guys did.

Combine that with an earlier game for Iowa State yesterday and everything concerning fatigue is stacked against Syracuse.

The only advantage I can think of is that neither team was able to spend much time watching video and making game plans, which might be an advantage to Syracuse.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Yes and no... George turned it over six times against Houston. Would you really want a freshman backup point guard who has proven a little shaky with the ball out there in a close game, under those circumstances? Zephir is better defensively and at least gets the ball moving to the right people.

Both Zephir and Fennell have hit exactly one three this year... I don't know if Fennell being a better shooter is likely to offset the other things Zephir brings to the table.

No one is asking for Fennell to play pg. We need shooting. The shooting guard position was a black hole of nothing yesterday. Kansas just packed the paint because they know we haven’t shot the ball well at all this year. They weren’t trying to turn us over.

 

[nycfan]

Beyond ISU losing out being in the top 4 by 1 point, it was due to a late game garbage basket by St. John's. I also read that ISU at the end of one of their games (maybe Creighton) just held the ball rather than scoring another basket which would have put them in the top 4. You have to coach these games differently and get every point you can.

And here is the irony as I happened to be watching this game. St. John's was down 3, so was yelling at the TV "what are you doing" (since the only play there is a 3 pt shot). This 2 point meaningless garbage shot that screwed Iowa St and subsequently gave us the terrible match-up never should have even happened.

 

[FloridaCuse]

And here is the irony as I happened to be watching this game. St. John's was down 3, so was yelling at the TV "what are you doing" (since the only play there is a 3 pt shot). This 2 point meaningless garbage shot that screwed Iowa St and subsequently gave us the terrible match-up never should have even happened.

I think I was watching the end of that game also (or saw higjlights). I thought St.Johns did try a 3 but missed it and their player who got the rebound under the basket just chucked in. Where ISU messed up was not scoring more at the end of their game with Creighton. But as someone pointed out here their relationship with the Creighton coaching staff prevailed.

 

[Oakland]

Seems like they have no format.

 

[Dinkyspond]

did the same, it's a joke