The Downside - Albany | Syracusefan.com

The Downside - Albany

SWC75

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- So we were up 66-42 with 12:21 left in the game and everybody was feeling good. The rest of the game was 36-43, (42 points in 27 minutes then 43 in 12), with visions of this team blowing a colossal lead to Albany to add to their woes. (I still remember losing a 24 lead to UMASS in the 2008 NIT and not bothering to read the board until the opening of the next season. Albany kept playing hard, getting rebounds and loose balls and making shot after shot. Fortunately, we were making shots, too and the game never got closer than 11 points. But the bloom was off the rose and the good feelings had mostly evaporated.

- Red said he’d put some guys in who didn’t play hard down the stretch, so it’s his fault. I looked up the substitutions during that period to see who specifically he may have bene talking about. At 11:24 Lucas Taylor replaced Chris Bell. At 7:55 Jyare Davis came in for Donnie Freeman. At 6:21 Taylor and Cuffe came out for Bell and Moore. At 5:00 Freeman replaced Davis. At 2:16 Davis replaced Lampkin. I don’t really see a pattern there.

- Donnie Freeman and Kyle Cuffe were 6 for 6 from the three point arc. The rest of the team, including our best outside shooters, Chris Bell and Elijah Moore, were 0 for 9. That doesn’t solve our shooting problem. Lucas Taylor last year at Georgia State was 64 for 181 from three, 35.4%. This year he’s 1 for 13. “Yeah but he’s not at Georgia State any more!” But how much difference does that make on an open three?

- Chance Westry seemed unable even to dribble a basketball properly. He’s not the answer to anything right now.

- The fancy numbers don’t mean a lot against Albany, a game team with no size. And they are almost completely offensive numbers. We gave up 85 points to Albany. What will we give up to Duke or even Wake Forest?
 
It was a tale of 2 halves. First half energy, good D. Rebounding. A lot of movement on offense and defense. 2nd half low energy, standing around, poor rebounding, poor D.
 
The inability to force turnovers is still a red flag. Despite what seemed like a solid defensive effort until the 12:21 mark, Albany only had 5 TOs the entire game. That’s not good.

We also take way too many long 2’s for my liking. Worst shot in basketball.
 
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We don’t seem to have any one player whom we can count on to score. Donnie will probably become that player and I hope Moore will but yikes!
 
- So we were up 66-42 with 12:21 left in the game and everybody was feeling good. The rest of the game was 36-43, (42 points in 27 minutes then 43 in 12), with visions of this team blowing a colossal lead to Albany to add to their woes. (I still remember losing a 24 lead to UMASS in the 2008 NIT and not bothering to read the board until the opening of the next season. Albany kept playing hard, getting rebounds and loose balls and making shot after shot. Fortunately, we were making shots, too and the game never got closer than 11 points. But the bloom was off the rose and the good feelings had mostly evaporated.

- Red said he’d put some guys in who didn’t play hard down the stretch, so it’s his fault. I looked up the substitutions during that period to see who specifically he may have bene talking about. At 11:24 Lucas Taylor replaced Chris Bell. At 7:55 Jyare Davis came in for Donnie Freeman. At 6:21 Taylor and Cuffe came out for Bell and Moore. At 5:00 Freeman replaced Davis. At 2:16 Davis replaced Lampkin. I don’t really see a pattern there.

- Donnie Freeman and Kyle Cuffe were 6 for 6 from the three point arc. The rest of the team, including our best outside shooters, Chris Bell and Elijah Moore, were 0 for 9. That doesn’t solve our shooting problem. Lucas Taylor last year at Georgia State was 64 for 181 from three, 35.4%. This year he’s 1 for 13. “Yeah but he’s not at Georgia State any more!” But how much difference does that make on an open three?

- Chance Westry seemed unable even to dribble a basketball properly. He’s not the answer to anything right now.

- The fancy numbers don’t mean a lot against Albany, a game team with no size. And they are almost completely offensive numbers. We gave up 85 points to Albany. What will we give up to Duke or even Wake Forest?
Really good summary. It is very concerning that this group of players and the entire team has not been able to maintain intensity and focus for the full 40 minutes. When you are a mediocre team you have to be able to do well at the controllable areas. Effort and intensity are controllable and we are mediocre at that too.
 
Not sure why Autry went to zone defense last night but it did not work. Layup after layup for Albany with no enforcer in the middle for Syracuse. Albany getting 1 or 2 offensive rebounds every time down court. And I thought our man-to-man defense was bad. As SWC75 stated, I hate to think what solid offensive teams will do against us in the coming weeks. This team has talent but is not putting it together on the court.
 
I've been waiting on Chance to see what he can give us, but from what I've seen so far, he can't give us anything this year. His dribbling, court sense, and body language definitely reflect that he is rusty and hasn't played competitive basketball in a while. He must still get playing time, preferably in blowouts (sadly it will most likely SU being blown out).
 
I've been waiting on Chance to see what he can give us, but from what I've seen so far, he can't give us anything this year. His dribbling, court sense, and body language definitely reflect that he is rusty and hasn't played competitive basketball in a while. He must still get playing time, preferably in blowouts (sadly it will most likely SU being blown out).
His attempts to get the ball in the front court via the dribble last night were...a struggle might be too kind.
 
His attempts to get the ball in the front court via the dribble last night were...a struggle might be too kind.
How he can help instantly is bringing up the ball. The team should practice this with ball pressure to get him ready for games. This will also help work on his ball handling and vision to be able to pass out of trouble.
 
His attempts to get the ball in the front court via the dribble last night were...a struggle might be too kind.

How he can help instantly is bringing up the ball. The team should practice this with ball pressure to get him ready for games. This will also help work on his ball handling and vision to be able to pass out of trouble.
Its got to be frustrating to him. You can tell by his body language he is an above average ball handler that just isn't game sharp. He's very confident with the ball, but the ball isn't always where he expects it to be. I think where he can help with his ball handling is at the 3 where even rusty he will likely be a better ball handler than most small forwards or big guards. 6'6", rusty with a 5'10" (ain't no way!) guard getting in your drawers is a tough gig.
 

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