The Downside

[SWC75]

- Uglyball. Neither team could really play to their capabilities with the sun in their eyes and the wind working on the ball. They were a combined 2 for 22 from three point range. Both were good defensive teams and there were a combined 34 turnovers.

- That said, I felt we played too fast. There were not a lot of passes before shots, many of the passes we had and the shots we got off seemed forced. Fast breaks are great but in the half court set in a game where we needed to go to the basket to score, one would think we could have been more patient.

- My view of Brandon Triche’s roll on this team is similar to Kueth Duany’s on the team ten years ago: the senior who is good at everything, great at nothing that provides some veteran leadership and does what is needed to win. I think we especially need that with a talented but inexperienced point guard who it going to try to make a lot of plays and fail sometimes. We need steadiness in the other guard spot. Triche looked like he wants to be the star of the team this year. Both he and Carter Williams seemed out of control, trying to out-do each other in forcing plays to happen. I can forgive MCW because it’s a point guard’s job to get things going but I want Triche to let the game come to him more.

- How does a bigger team that wants to go to the basket to score and maintains a double-figure lead throughout get called for 8 more fouls than the trailing, perimeter oriented team and go to the foul line 14 fewer times?

- How do you win when attempts 6 fewer field goals, 14 fewer free throws, get out-rebounded, have two more turnovers and commit 8 more fouls? I guess it just comes down to putting the ball in the basket better than the other team but those better not be trends.

- I thought we would beat this team by getting the ball inside to our big men but Christmas, Keita and Coleman only attempted 8 of our 56 shots. The problem of course, is that the only one who can score on anything but dunks and follow shots is Coleman and he’s a freshman on a short leash.

- The three freshmen, Coleman, Grant and Cooney, played a total of 19 minutes and I didn’t see anything in the way they played that suggested they deserved more. We’ll see more of all of them in coming games against lesser opponents but if they want to see action against the better teams, they’ve got to improve considerably.

 

[Ghost]

- I thought we would beat this team by getting the ball inside to our big men but Christmas, Keita and Coleman only attempted 8 of our 56 shots. The problem of course, is that the only one who can score on anything but dunks and follow shots is Coleman and he’s a freshman on a short leash.

I was a bit surprised at how reluctant our guards seemed to get the ball inside even when the bigs did establish position. Considering the type of game it was even if they're not great scoring options, it makes sense just to move the ball around and maybe open things up a bit.

 

[jdubs30]

I didn't like that we didn't feed the post, hope we work on that, we can't rely on just the perimeter guys to score all year. I think Cooney will be eased into everything, he'll get more PT vs. the weaker opponents to get him ready for LBSU/Temple/Big East. We're going to need him this year not only for his range, but to give Triche and MCW some rest.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Triche might be in line for a Duany kind of role, but he's a better player than Duany I think.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[HoustonCuse]

I really think the lack of a low post game was the fact that both defenses were daring the other team to fire away from outside. So while it is a little unnerving to see the lack or organization in our offense and no interest in feeding the post, it is equally impressive that both MCW and Triche got to the rim anytime they wanted with the dribble. SDSU is a good, guard heavy defensive team who didn't have to worry about our guys shooting AT ALL, and they still got to the basket.

 

[Orangezoo]

I really think the lack of a low post game was the fact that both defenses were daring the other team to fire away from outside. So while it is a little unnerving to see the lack or organization in our offense and no interest in feeding the post, it is equally impressive that both MCW and Triche got to the rim anytime they wanted with the dribble. SDSU is a good, guard heavy defensive team who didn't have to worry about our guys shooting AT ALL, and they still got to the basket.

Great points - SDSU will win a lot of games this year. They played mtm but packed it in. Dajuan was quickly doubled when he got the ball and hacked a couple times as well. He will need to do a better job identifying the double team. I think that the dribble drive was going to be the only play in this type of setting with the wind and vision. You can't see the court quite as well and need to make plays. SDSU tried to move the ball against the zone and turned it over on the pass while we turned it over on the dribble. When teams are forced to play MCW and Brandon for their perimeter shot- things will open up a lot.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I wonder when our last game was with this few 3-pt attempts? Or possibly this was a record.

 

[SWC75]

I wonder when our last game was with this few 3-pt attempts? Or possibly this was a record.

1986?

 

[Room 914]

I think the environment/hype was the major root of our problems, and if we see them then so does Boeheim.

The ball needs to go inside, our height advantage should be something we use to exploit teams weaknesses. Developing these front court guys is the most important part of this squad.

 

[mark79]

In my view, besides the fact that SDSU could not hit free throws the difference in the game was the performance of CJ. CJ has dramatically improved his strength and now has the ball handling and driving skills to be a mismatch. They really had no one to check him.

 

[Noexcuse]

In my view, besides the fact that SDSU could not hit free throws the difference in the game was the performance of CJ. CJ has dramatically improved his strength and now has the ball handling and driving skills to be a mismatch. They really had no one to check him.

I thought the same thing. A stronger version of KJ maybe.

 

[mark79]

I thought the same thing. A stronger version of KJ maybe.

I'm really liking what I'm seeing from him thus far. One game only, but he looked really explosive and much more confident and aggressive. I think he will be a really difficult match-up for teams because of his ball-handling, shooting and strength. He played yesterday with the skills of a small forward and the strength of a power forward. Love it.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I kept waiting for our guards to calm us down... it didn't really happen until late. MCW's stat line looks pretty good, but I thought he was out of control most of the game.

I'm not sure DC came here to just be a decoy underneath. He is going to want the ball 6-8 times per game. Hopefully we learn how to feed the post.

 

[newmexicuse]

I kept waiting for our guards to calm us down... it didn't really happen until late. MCW's stat line looks pretty good, but I thought he was out of control most of the game.

I'm not sure DC came here to just be a decoy underneath. He is going to want the ball 6-8 times per game. Hopefully we learn how to feed the post.

It was hard to do that in this particular game - with no outside threat the middle was packed. That will come.

 

[DallasCuse]

- Uglyball. Neither team could really play to their capabilities with the sun in their eyes and the wind working on the ball. They were a combined 2 for 22 from three point range. Both were good defensive teams and there were a combined 34 turnovers.

- My view of Brandon Triche’s roll on this team is similar to Kueth Duany’s on the team ten years ago: the senior who is good at everything, great at nothing that provides some veteran leadership and does what is needed to win. I think we especially need that with a talented but inexperienced point guard who it going to try to make a lot of plays and fail sometimes. We need steadiness in the other guard spot. Triche looked like he wants to be the star of the team this year. Both he and Carter Williams seemed out of control, trying to out-do each other in forcing plays to happen. I can forgive MCW because it’s a point guard’s job to get things going but I want Triche to let the game come to him more.

.

Always enjoy your posts, and agree with most of this as well. However, I think Brandon is a far better player than Keuth was at his absolute peak (and I liked Kueth). We will need Triche to play a much larger role than Duany was ever asked to do.

Just too windy to really tell if it was their interaction or simply the elements. Either way, we'll need Brandon and MCW to both play team ball.