SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 32,612
- Like
- 62,882
- 26-8, then a 20-39 trip to the dentist’s chair, then an 18-5 ending. One poster said that we needed to get off to a good start “to prove to Miami that they suck”. I think our guys thought they had done that but MiamI refused to admit it.
- I’ve always loved Steven Wright’s famous like: “Those indestructible black boxes….Why don’t they make the plane out of that?” We were down 46-47 in this game and outscored the Canes 18-5 in the last 6:06 to win it. In the first game against Miami we were behind 35-40 but outscored them 14-4 in the last 6:11 to win. Against BC we were down 37-45 but closed it out with a 32-14 run in the last 15:15. Against Pittsburgh we were down 49-52 but out-scored the Panthers 10-2 in the last 2:39 to come out on top. Why don’t we play the whole game that way?
- A caller named Gus, who is something of a glass-half-empty guy, called into The Score’s post game show complaining about our offense. We’ve scored 49, 72, 57, 69, 59 and 64 points. In fact, our offensive efficiency in those games has been 1.131 points per possession. For the season we are 1.162. We are 15th in the country of 351 teams in that stat. The problem is tempo. We are averaging 123 possessions, (for both teams) per game. It was 132 last year, 147 in 2008-09, 153 in in1994-95 and 163 in 1982-83. Those games Gus was talking about had 99, 111, 119, 113, 107 and 102 possessions. I’ve always thought great teams impose their will on the opposition. We let them play their game and try to beat them at it. Can we do that all the way to Dallas?
- Trevor Cooney hit a big-time shot at the end but for much of the game he was just a decoy. Our “shooting guard” got off only 6 shots while our “point guard” attempted 11. Our two centers, who aren’t supposed to be offensive threats attempted 9 shots between them, three more than our shooting guard. Cooney’s 6 shots were all from beyond the arc. That’s his job, but it’s not all he can do.
- CJ Fair, the conference preseason player of the year, had 10 points and 5 rebounds at halftime. But he had only 3 points and 2 rebounds in the second half. He hit a big two pointer with 4:09 left to put us up by four. That means he scored one point in the first 16 minutes of the second half. For a versatile scorer who can hit threes, medium range jumpers, dunk the ball and was first known for his floaters from the top of the key, he tends to disappear for surprisingly long periods. He wouldn’t have had to hit a big 2 with four minutes left if he’d hit some before that.
- We had only 5 turnovers but we forced only 5 as well. Actually, I’ve got to credit Miami for this: all five of their turnovers were Syracuse steals. They never turned the ball over on their own, (at least according to the box score: I seem to remember a pass that went through a Miami player’s hands in the late going that must have counted as a Syracuse steal). Miami had only one steal so 4 of our 5 turnovers were our own carelessness. We rely on getting turnovers to make up for the rebounding deficits we often face with the zone. Getting only 5 of them would be a problem in another game and is another symptom of not imposing our will on the other team.
- Six guys played 191 of our 200 minutes. In the other 9 minutes, Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson were 0 for 1, with one rebounds, a turnover, a steal and a foul.
- That alley-oop three may have been offensive goaltending. It’s something they ought to be able to review.
- I’ve always loved Steven Wright’s famous like: “Those indestructible black boxes….Why don’t they make the plane out of that?” We were down 46-47 in this game and outscored the Canes 18-5 in the last 6:06 to win it. In the first game against Miami we were behind 35-40 but outscored them 14-4 in the last 6:11 to win. Against BC we were down 37-45 but closed it out with a 32-14 run in the last 15:15. Against Pittsburgh we were down 49-52 but out-scored the Panthers 10-2 in the last 2:39 to come out on top. Why don’t we play the whole game that way?
- A caller named Gus, who is something of a glass-half-empty guy, called into The Score’s post game show complaining about our offense. We’ve scored 49, 72, 57, 69, 59 and 64 points. In fact, our offensive efficiency in those games has been 1.131 points per possession. For the season we are 1.162. We are 15th in the country of 351 teams in that stat. The problem is tempo. We are averaging 123 possessions, (for both teams) per game. It was 132 last year, 147 in 2008-09, 153 in in1994-95 and 163 in 1982-83. Those games Gus was talking about had 99, 111, 119, 113, 107 and 102 possessions. I’ve always thought great teams impose their will on the opposition. We let them play their game and try to beat them at it. Can we do that all the way to Dallas?
- Trevor Cooney hit a big-time shot at the end but for much of the game he was just a decoy. Our “shooting guard” got off only 6 shots while our “point guard” attempted 11. Our two centers, who aren’t supposed to be offensive threats attempted 9 shots between them, three more than our shooting guard. Cooney’s 6 shots were all from beyond the arc. That’s his job, but it’s not all he can do.
- CJ Fair, the conference preseason player of the year, had 10 points and 5 rebounds at halftime. But he had only 3 points and 2 rebounds in the second half. He hit a big two pointer with 4:09 left to put us up by four. That means he scored one point in the first 16 minutes of the second half. For a versatile scorer who can hit threes, medium range jumpers, dunk the ball and was first known for his floaters from the top of the key, he tends to disappear for surprisingly long periods. He wouldn’t have had to hit a big 2 with four minutes left if he’d hit some before that.
- We had only 5 turnovers but we forced only 5 as well. Actually, I’ve got to credit Miami for this: all five of their turnovers were Syracuse steals. They never turned the ball over on their own, (at least according to the box score: I seem to remember a pass that went through a Miami player’s hands in the late going that must have counted as a Syracuse steal). Miami had only one steal so 4 of our 5 turnovers were our own carelessness. We rely on getting turnovers to make up for the rebounding deficits we often face with the zone. Getting only 5 of them would be a problem in another game and is another symptom of not imposing our will on the other team.
- Six guys played 191 of our 200 minutes. In the other 9 minutes, Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson were 0 for 1, with one rebounds, a turnover, a steal and a foul.
- That alley-oop three may have been offensive goaltending. It’s something they ought to be able to review.
