Team is starting to look dead tired.

[OrlandoCuse]

That's a complaint I just don't understand. The games aren't longer on the road. The courts are exactly the same. The baskets are at ten feet. If anything, because they're away from their friends, the team gets decent rest. The only reason to play differently on the road is an unfamiliarity with the background. Shut it out and it's the same.

Traveling takes energy. Flights, hotels, etc. It's never been a big problem for JB teams but it has the possibility to add to the team's fatigue.

 

[normaliswear]

BMK needs to come back soon. If he does we can use RAK some at the 4 and spell CJ and Grant 7 min apiece or so. That would be enough. But if BMK doesn't come back soon we could be in real trouble.

 

[OttoMets]

Problem, ghost, is that Roberson doesn't look ready. He played about :40 today and all he did was fumble a ball when he was wide open in front of the basket. He's a freshman and has played like one.

Can't think of a Syracuse player who knows he's on the 30-second-hook treatment and responds favorably.

Boeheim's putting him in a position to fail right now.

Dribbling on that break was foolish, no doubt. I don't think Cooney gave Roberson the ball in a particularly good position, though (he was too far away to take off; better for Cooney to take one more dribble and give him a lob).

And if we're benching players on the basis of one mistake, I think we'd have had a revolving door with four of the five starters this evening. But that's not the way to get consistent play out of a guy.

 

[OttoMets]

Playing :40 seconds and getting yanked doesn't help any. Give him a little run. He was starting to play well a few weeks ago.

I guess I don't see the harm in throwing him enough minutes to break a sweat in a game like this, where most of our team is not playing well.

Yeah. Roberson came in at 11-9. We were up, 11-10, when he came out.

With both forwards playing so poorly (Grant's rebounding aside, of course), there was no harm in giving Roberson five minutes. Take a teaching moment and remind him not to dribble on the break, maybe, but get him back out there.

 

[normaliswear]

Makes ya wonder how bad BJ can be looking in practice to not even get a chance to get a quick hook.

 

[two3zone]

Makes ya wonder how bad BJ can be looking in practice to not even get a chance to get a quick hook.

I don't think it's a case of looking bad but he isn't going to get time over SilentG or Roberson.

 

[cuseguy]

JB better start developing Roberson because he may very well be starting next year.

 

[anomander]

If there is 1 concern i have with this team it is the amount of minutes being logged. We better come to accept it though because it's not going to change. JB has said countless times he doesn't feel college players these days get tired. Feels with all of the tv timeouts, and other timeouts there is enough breaks where kids can play the whole game without a rest. I have to disagree with Boheim on this one. If the games are played in a vacuum sure that may fly, but when you play upwards of 40 games a season all that wear and tear on the body can catch up to you at the end of the season. I am just worried about someone sustaining an injury. Long minutes, equal tired muscles, which could increase chance of an injury.

 

[perdurabo]

If there is 1 concern i have with this team it is the amount of minutes being logged. We better come to accept it though because it's not going to change. JB has said countless times he doesn't feel college players these days get tired. Feels with all of the tv timeouts, and other timeouts there is enough breaks where kids can play the whole game without a rest. I have to disagree with Boheim on this one. If the games are played in a vacuum sure that may fly, but when you play upwards of 40 games a season all that wear and tear on the body can catch up to you at the end of the season. I am just worried about someone sustaining an injury. Long minutes, equal tired muscles, which could increase chance of an injury.

Or not.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Let's just be honest when it comes to Roberson. He isn't going to play (yet) when the outcome of the game is in question, which was pretty much the entirety of tonight's match up. If we can pull our heads out of our butts and beat down BC like we should on Wed, then our key guys can rest.

 

[tbonezone]

ideally i'd like to see our starters avg. around 34-36 min. per contest. i think right now we're in the red zone.

 

[anomander]

Or not.

confused

 

[DoctorBombay]

JB's "play em till they drop" philosophy is simply baffling, IMO. But what do I know...he's the HOF'er.

 

[pfister1]

Problem, ghost, is that Roberson doesn't look ready. He played about :40 today and all he did was fumble a ball when he was wide open in front of the basket. He's a freshman and has played like one.

It's the age old question. Does he fumble the ball because he's not ready, or does he fumble the ball because of the pressure in JB's substitution system where he knows he'd done for the day at the first sign of a hiccup on the court.

 

[pfister1]

Makes ya wonder how bad BJ can be looking in practice to not even get a chance to get a quick hook.

I think JB only plays the quick hook game with one player at a time because Roberson is the guy, BJ isn't eligible.

 

[pearl31]

Look people get tired. The coach need to understand that.

 

[Libero2]

JB better start developing Roberson because he may very well be starting next year.

Which is what everybody was complaining about last year with Cooney. He turned out fine. Cooney worked his butt off in the offseason, and made serious strides that forced JB to play him. Roberson (or BJ or Buss) has the ability to do the same thing this offseason. The majority of development takes place in practices, so that a player can put their newfound skills into action in a game.

 

[tptcuse]

Which is what everybody was complaining about last year with Cooney. He turned out fine. Cooney worked his butt off in the offseason, and made serious strides that forced JB to play him. Roberson (or BJ or Buss) has the ability to do the same thing this offseason. The majority of development takes place in practices, so that a player can put their newfound skills into action in a game.

And MCW the previous year...and Waiters...etc, etc. I'm okay with it.

 

[CorduroyG]

It's simple. We need bmk back. End of story.

 

[tptcuse]

It's simple. We need bmk back. End of story.

This!!!

 

[pfister1]

Which is what everybody was complaining about last year with Cooney. He turned out fine. Cooney worked his butt off in the offseason, and made serious strides that forced JB to play him. Roberson (or BJ or Buss) has the ability to do the same thing this offseason. The majority of development takes place in practices, so that a player can put their newfound skills into action in a game.

Not truly worried about it for his development for next year, rather worried about it because I think the team needs another forward now.

 

[ForeverOrange]

Let's just be honest when it comes to Roberson. He isn't going to play (yet) when the outcome of the game is in question, which was pretty much the entirety of tonight's match up. If we can pull our heads out of our butts and beat down BC like we should on Wed, then our key guys can rest.

Then honestly, he's just not going to play much this season, because it doesn't matter who we play, we are just not dominating games this season in ACC play. We don't get a lot of easy fast break baskets from turnovers. I am not saying it is an awful thing, as you can't argue with results, but it's making these games a little too close for comfort.

 

[Crusty]

hey i'm a nascar fan. and to use a rather weak analogy the fastest car doesn't always win. sometimes you get passed by teams with fresher tires.

And sometimes the car that doesn't make that last pit stop wins with an empty tank at the finish.

 

[swish7]

The 'dead tired' crowd is dead right. I'm rewatching the game now and I've never seen a better argument for playing Roberson, and shoot, one more player beyond that (until BMK comes back). A couple mistakes stand out, and all are rooted in being tired.

• dead-rimming wide open shots
• applying incredible pressure to cause a loose ball, or bad shot, but our second level defense is not there to grab the loose ball or rebound.
• not boxing out. not doing so is partly from being tired, but also partly from the fact we never seem to do it well (awareness)
• sloppy turnovers (that inbounds play @ around 15:-- in the second, etc)
• Cooney's movement w/out the ball seemed less intense.

Our D is ridiculously good. It takes a ton of energy to play it the way JB wants it played. You need fresh legs to play it right. We would only be doing ourselves a solid by giving everyone 5-6 minutes of rest a game.

All that said, the shots Washington was hitting last night were crazy. He reminded me of Fair on one of his 'on' nights.

 

[orangecuse]

It's the age old question. Does he fumble the ball because he's not ready, or does he fumble the ball because of the pressure in JB's substitution system where he knows he'd done for the day at the first sign of a hiccup on the court.

I would lean towards the later, but realistically, he simply doesn't get enough run time to make a true assessment. JB isn't going to change, he has used this annoying tactic with so many frosh his entire HOF career, it's certainly something I'm not a fan of. I don't see how such a constant short hook does any player any favors and has to really wane on one's confidence.