ORANGEsPHK
2nd String
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2011
- Messages
- 815
- Like
- 553
Say what you want, but as far as I'm concerned this team FAR exceeded the expectations I had for this season. CJ is consistent but not a go-to player IM-Humble-O - what I will say is that he remains pretty darn consistent over all in his O/D output (one method for evaluating consistency that I have not seen in sports is to look at the mean scoring, rebounds, blocks, etc and then assess the standard deviation (SD), or standard error from mean (SEM) to understand what the average actually means - Fair's +/- SEM has been fairly close to the mean which indicates game-to-game consistency. Compare this with Cooney, who's average is reasonable but SD (or SEM) has a wider spread, which indicates he is streaky). Cooney can get hot but is pretty streaky but he's become a real threat this year compared to last season and draws defenders out to him - it's a shame that our forwards/guards can't take advantage of this with any consistency. Ennis is a freshman and exceeded anything I could have expected at the start of this season. Grant - many expected him to explode this season and he has in some games, but he's a sophomore that had limited minutes last year (most minutes due to Southerland's suspension) - he's got a high ceiling and what I recall from last season is that he hit jump shots ... kinda like I expect Fair to hit his jump shots (whether I'm disappointed or not, Fair has historically been money in his mid-range game). Christmas is way ahead of where I thought he would be - I honestly thought he was a lost cause due to his passive play but he has improved way more this season than I expected.
Who am I missing here? Fair - check. Cooney - check. Grant - Check. Christmas - Check. Ennis - Check.
Oh yeah, the bench play.
I don't think its unreasonable to expect that Fair and Ennis, who play a ridiculous amount of minutes, will not have muscle recovery issues, which can drastically effect shot accuracy. Also, I am completely surprised by the game plan that Jimmy B. has stuck to all year: play half-court offense in lieu of transition opportunities. I get that Ennis is a pretty darn impressive court general, but I don't get that JB favors Ennis pulling the ball out to set up a half-court set (especially since we have ridiculous athletes on the floor). A lot of our games have been close, and in my personal and humble opinion, this is an indication of expecting losses against teams that have energy/fire/motivation in the last few minutes of a game, where, our starters begin to show symptoms of tired legs/stamina. (My personal assessment is that Wichita State, and Greg M., have their team playing with such fire and motivation that they are going to be very dangerous in the NCAAT - they are consistent in their approach and execution).
I'm usually not one to critique JB because I can not fathom having the knowledge base that his 35+ years of coaching has given him. However, I can't help but think "What If" JB did allow the freshmen to play through their mistakes, learn and progress in game situations.
Alas - such meanderings don't amount to much as our current situation is the reality of our season. And really, I ask you this: after our loss in the Final Four (and who expected us to make a run to the FF last year?) and loss of our starters, who expected us to perform as remarkably as we have this year?
Yes, the streak spoiled me as well, but based on my expectations of what this year's team could accomplish I have no perspective to take other than this team has exceeded what I expected this year.
I can not wait for the ACC Tournament and NCAAT. I love CBB, but what I love more than that are the players that suit up as representatives of the Syracuse University Basketball Team - I love watching the players progress through the years.
LET'S GO SU!
Who am I missing here? Fair - check. Cooney - check. Grant - Check. Christmas - Check. Ennis - Check.
Oh yeah, the bench play.
I don't think its unreasonable to expect that Fair and Ennis, who play a ridiculous amount of minutes, will not have muscle recovery issues, which can drastically effect shot accuracy. Also, I am completely surprised by the game plan that Jimmy B. has stuck to all year: play half-court offense in lieu of transition opportunities. I get that Ennis is a pretty darn impressive court general, but I don't get that JB favors Ennis pulling the ball out to set up a half-court set (especially since we have ridiculous athletes on the floor). A lot of our games have been close, and in my personal and humble opinion, this is an indication of expecting losses against teams that have energy/fire/motivation in the last few minutes of a game, where, our starters begin to show symptoms of tired legs/stamina. (My personal assessment is that Wichita State, and Greg M., have their team playing with such fire and motivation that they are going to be very dangerous in the NCAAT - they are consistent in their approach and execution).
I'm usually not one to critique JB because I can not fathom having the knowledge base that his 35+ years of coaching has given him. However, I can't help but think "What If" JB did allow the freshmen to play through their mistakes, learn and progress in game situations.
Alas - such meanderings don't amount to much as our current situation is the reality of our season. And really, I ask you this: after our loss in the Final Four (and who expected us to make a run to the FF last year?) and loss of our starters, who expected us to perform as remarkably as we have this year?
Yes, the streak spoiled me as well, but based on my expectations of what this year's team could accomplish I have no perspective to take other than this team has exceeded what I expected this year.
I can not wait for the ACC Tournament and NCAAT. I love CBB, but what I love more than that are the players that suit up as representatives of the Syracuse University Basketball Team - I love watching the players progress through the years.
LET'S GO SU!
