SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- Scott Shafer loves to talk about “controlling the controllables”. We didn’t do that and that, in the end, is why we lost. The one-sided refereeing turned a comfortable win into a game that was in doubt. Our ineptitude at getting the ball in at the end of regulation turned the game that in doubt into a loss.
- It’s been a while since I’ve felt we were going 5 on 8 in a game. I hope it will be along while before I feel that way again. We are the team dependent on our front line for scoring. They may have a better inside game than they have in the past but they are still primarily a perimeter team. Usually it’s the inside team that gets fouled more. In this game, we took more two point shots, (by a small margin 49-46). They did outscore us in the paint, (by only 36-38). That should have produced approximately an equal number of fouls and free throw attempts. We got called for 27 fouls to their 17 and went to the line 18 times to their 32. That includes some intentional fouling by us at the end but we were the team ahead until the final four seconds of regulation. They were doing the intentional fouling before that. 8 of the first 9 fouls of the second half, with the home team’s undefeated record on the line, were called against Syracuse. At the end the only one of our players who played who didn’t wind up with three fouls was Chinoso Obokoh, who played only the last minute of overtime.
- Beyond that there’s the images of Chris McCullough getting knocked down whole attempting a dunk with 5:24 left in the first half, (no call) and then getting undercut while going up for a rebound and ridden out to the foul line like he was crowd surfing in a mosh pit with 3:03 left in overtime, only to find himself being called for an “over the back” foul. Then there was the first of the two disastrous inbounds plays at the end of regulation, where Trevor Cooney, the guy we wanted to get the ball to, was thrown to the floor with no call. On the radio Jim Salatin several times pointed out fouls not called on Villanova that were “the same play” as fouls that had just been called on Syracuse. And Jim is not a “homer” in his broadcasting style. He would not be saying that if it weren’t true. At the end we were trying to beat a top ten team with our entire front line fouled out. That’s an impossible mission. We’re going to hear a lot about Villanova’s “great comeback” to win this game and wince each time we hear it.
- Another “controllable” was making all our foul shots at the end of regulation. Gbinije missed one with 24 seconds left that could have allowed us to pull it out at the end, (nova would have passed it back out for three pointer).
- I know it will have no impact on the decisions made but anyone who thinks Chris McCullough is ready for the NBA need sot look at this game. He just lost battle after battle against the stronger Wildcats inside. He would up 0 for 4 from the field while 235 pound Jayvaughn Pinkston was 9 for 19 and 7 for 8 from the line for 25 points. He also had 10 rebounds, twice as many as McCullough. Pinskton looked like a bowling ball and McCullough like a ten-pin. The ‘4’ is as significant as the “0”- in a game where everybody was hitting, McCullough couldn’t get shots off. McCullough is now 1 for 9 in our last two games.
- To quote Gertrude Stein: “A loss is a loss is a loss is a loss.” (At least I think that’s what she said.) Yeah, we played a lot better. Hopefully we can keep it up, (or were we just “up” for Villanova?). But in the end, we’re 6-4. We’ve given away two of those games: one to a team that’s ina free fall that makes our loss look worse and worse, another a chance for a marquee win of the sort that the NCAA committee will be looking for in March. Only one Jim Boeheim team has ever been 6-4: the 1996-97 team, a team that this team has been compared to. They lost in the first round of the NIT. To quote Bill Parcells: ”You are what your record says you are.”
- It’s been a while since I’ve felt we were going 5 on 8 in a game. I hope it will be along while before I feel that way again. We are the team dependent on our front line for scoring. They may have a better inside game than they have in the past but they are still primarily a perimeter team. Usually it’s the inside team that gets fouled more. In this game, we took more two point shots, (by a small margin 49-46). They did outscore us in the paint, (by only 36-38). That should have produced approximately an equal number of fouls and free throw attempts. We got called for 27 fouls to their 17 and went to the line 18 times to their 32. That includes some intentional fouling by us at the end but we were the team ahead until the final four seconds of regulation. They were doing the intentional fouling before that. 8 of the first 9 fouls of the second half, with the home team’s undefeated record on the line, were called against Syracuse. At the end the only one of our players who played who didn’t wind up with three fouls was Chinoso Obokoh, who played only the last minute of overtime.
- Beyond that there’s the images of Chris McCullough getting knocked down whole attempting a dunk with 5:24 left in the first half, (no call) and then getting undercut while going up for a rebound and ridden out to the foul line like he was crowd surfing in a mosh pit with 3:03 left in overtime, only to find himself being called for an “over the back” foul. Then there was the first of the two disastrous inbounds plays at the end of regulation, where Trevor Cooney, the guy we wanted to get the ball to, was thrown to the floor with no call. On the radio Jim Salatin several times pointed out fouls not called on Villanova that were “the same play” as fouls that had just been called on Syracuse. And Jim is not a “homer” in his broadcasting style. He would not be saying that if it weren’t true. At the end we were trying to beat a top ten team with our entire front line fouled out. That’s an impossible mission. We’re going to hear a lot about Villanova’s “great comeback” to win this game and wince each time we hear it.
- Another “controllable” was making all our foul shots at the end of regulation. Gbinije missed one with 24 seconds left that could have allowed us to pull it out at the end, (nova would have passed it back out for three pointer).
- I know it will have no impact on the decisions made but anyone who thinks Chris McCullough is ready for the NBA need sot look at this game. He just lost battle after battle against the stronger Wildcats inside. He would up 0 for 4 from the field while 235 pound Jayvaughn Pinkston was 9 for 19 and 7 for 8 from the line for 25 points. He also had 10 rebounds, twice as many as McCullough. Pinskton looked like a bowling ball and McCullough like a ten-pin. The ‘4’ is as significant as the “0”- in a game where everybody was hitting, McCullough couldn’t get shots off. McCullough is now 1 for 9 in our last two games.
- To quote Gertrude Stein: “A loss is a loss is a loss is a loss.” (At least I think that’s what she said.) Yeah, we played a lot better. Hopefully we can keep it up, (or were we just “up” for Villanova?). But in the end, we’re 6-4. We’ve given away two of those games: one to a team that’s ina free fall that makes our loss look worse and worse, another a chance for a marquee win of the sort that the NCAA committee will be looking for in March. Only one Jim Boeheim team has ever been 6-4: the 1996-97 team, a team that this team has been compared to. They lost in the first round of the NIT. To quote Bill Parcells: ”You are what your record says you are.”
