The problem with young / inexperienced teams...

[RF2044]

...is that they generally have poor focus defensively. We have lots of lapses--need to tighten up on the defensive end.

 

[jekelish]

And on the offensive end, they tend to lack patience. Several trips with quick shots or guys getting a little out of control. It hasn't been too bad, but it's there.

 

[OrangeFoo]

The D has some issues as you say but its exciting to see a team that can actually put the ball in the hoop... After watching our team the last few years I had almost forgotten that was dr naismiths objectibd when he invented the game.

 

[wallacecuse]

Offense became stagnant once McC left...thought the team responded with an uptick in intensity when Rakeem sat.

 

[Alsacs]

Our defense is going to be fine because of the system. Our offense is a problem. We barely scrapped 60 points against a mid-major. We were never losing this game but our offense outside of Christmas straight beasting was not good. I liked Joseph looked to push but Cooney/Gbinjie/Johnson/Roberson were average and Christmas just won us this game.

Whoever called Rak Christmas as Patrick Young 2.0 nailed it.

 

[pearl31]

Our offense is a problem.

Yes. A couple of these guys are going to have to hit jump shots at a much better clip than they've showed so far

 

[AlaskaSU]

And on the offensive end, they tend to lack patience. Several trips with quick shots or guys getting a little out of control. It hasn't been too bad, but it's there.

They will eventually learn to sprint back on D after every play and always look for the best shot on O, but will get their act together by next week? If they do, anything is possible, especially if we get fancy sweater back for the ACC.

 

[Jamesvillecuse]

...is that they generally have poor focus defensively. We have lots of lapses--need to tighten up on the defensive end.

they have shown flashes of being really good defensively and I hope the better competition in NYC will help keep their attention better focused. There definitely will be some growing pains early that I feel will lead to a much better team come March.

 

[dyedorange]

They will eventually learn to sprint back on D after every play and always look for the best shot on O, but will get their act together by next week? If they do, anything is possible, especially if we get fancy sweater back for the ACC.

"Fancy Sweater".

They will eventually learn to sprint back on D after every play and always look for the best shot on O, but will get their act together by next week? If they do, anything is possible, especially if we get fancy sweater back for the ACC.

Fancy Sweater, man that is superb! Best nickname I've heard for Coleman so far. It would work really well after an aggressive dunk too, to contrast with his not-so-fancy game...as in "Fancy Sweater gets the rebound, goes up hard, slams it home...and the foul!" I'd like to see a few of those plays this season, hope his Fancy Knee is healing well.

 

[AlaskaSU]

"Fancy Sweater".


Fancy Sweater, man that is superb! Best nickname I've heard for Coleman so far. It would work really well after an aggressive dunk too, to contrast with his not-so-fancy game...as in "Fancy Sweater gets the rebound, goes up hard, slams it home...and the foul!" I'd like to see a few of those plays this season, hope his Fancy Knee is healing well.

Board Nomenclature. 'He Gone' means the NBA. That way we can say in speaking of XMAS - he gone, and not be redundant even though he is a senior and will be gone anyway. Only by going to the NBA do we get to say 'he gone'; a far more prestigious term than, hes graduating.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I gotta say I am really impressed with Rak. McCullough too. Both are ahead of where I thought they would be. I hope McCullough has the desire to throw down some hammers when he's around the rim. This could be an annoying trend if he keeps settling for weak layup attemps. I am not really seeing it as a strength issue. He is just choosing not to dunk. That is the ONLY thing that bothers me about him. He is way more active and alert out there generally than I thought he would be.

Too early but I would like to see better plays being run for Cooney to get him free. Seems like other teams can get their shooter/sniper good looks pretty much at will except when you start playing against good defensive teams.

I thought this would be a tough game based on what Autry said in the scouting video and that, also, it seems like teams (at least against us) do well with crazy travel scenarios. Somebody last year (NC St?) or the year before came into Syracuse a few hours before tipoff and we barely escaped. Those teams dealing with the travel delays come in and play good basketball. Nothing to lose I guess. SU showed some grit and toughness. Good win but again, I can't really tell where we are. We'll know more after MSG. I think Cal is going to be a very tough game. Cuonzo Martin was running a VERY aggressive M2M defense if I remember correctly at Tennessee.

 

[Delmar]

Remember last year: Syracuse 56 St. Peter's (Brooklyn) 50.

This team will have growing pains, but it will be fun to watch.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

...is that they generally have poor focus defensively. We have lots of lapses--need to tighten up on the defensive end.

this team might give up 120 to a running team like North Carolina. They didn't stop 1 break today. Kaleb and BJ were the worst practitioners of the Ole defense. They need to learn to take away lanes, and the others need to get back to help. Way too many easy routes to the basket.

 

[OttoMets]

this team might give up 120 to a running team like North Carolina. They didn't stop 1 break today. Kaleb and BJ were the worst practitioners of the Ole defense. They need to learn to take away lanes, and the others need to get back to help. Way too many easy routes to the basket.

The end result wasn't good, but I was impressed with Joseph's knowledge of where to be.

He'd often rotate back on a jump shot and at least attempt to be in defensive position. He seemed a little surprised by the quickness of Hampton's players on the break. There were a few instances in which he got spun around and couldn't really get himself squared to defend. He's going through the right motions, but the quickness and muscle memory aren't there yet. Glad to see the right fundamentals, though - that's half the battle.

 

[SoBeCuse]

this team might give up 120 to a running team like North Carolina. They didn't stop 1 break today. Kaleb and BJ were the worst practitioners of the Ole defense. They need to learn to take away lanes, and the others need to get back to help. Way too many easy routes to the basket.

This should be a good lesson. Getting back on D was pretty much the main factor in the Autry scouting video. He said that Hampton have good guards who push it more often than not.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

The end result wasn't good, but I was impressed with Joseph's knowledge of where to be.

He'd often rotate back on a jump shot and at least attempt to be in defensive position. He seemed a little surprised by the quickness of Hampton's players on the break. There were a few instances in which he got spun around and couldn't really get himself squared to defend. He's going through the right motions, but the quickness and muscle memory aren't there yet. Glad to see the right fundamentals, though - that's half the battle.

Kaleb drew a charge in the first half, that was encouraging. And Hampton attacked the zone well in the 2nd half, finding the seam right around the block several times. More than once it was well defended with a trap, but they were able to finish against the slight forwards. Guys like CMac, TRob and BJ have to be tougher and create some contact for them to become a great defensive team. Looking forward to see how they fare against big conference schools in NYC.

 

[pfister1]

The D has some issues as you say but its exciting to see a team that can actually put the ball in the hoop... After watching our team the last few years I had almost forgotten that was dr naismiths objectibd when he invented the game.

I'll be interested to see that team that you speak of that can actually put the ball in the hoop. Clearly you didn't watch the 1st half of the Kennesaw State game or signifcant portions of yesterday's game. I think this team will be better, but it struggles as much on offense right now as our team last year did through most of the ACC season.

 

[OttoMets]

Kaleb drew a charge in the first half, that was encouraging. And Hampton attacked the zone well in the 2nd half, finding the seam right around the block several times. More than once it was well defended with a trap, but they were able to finish against the slight forwards. Guys like CMac, TRob and BJ have to be tougher and create some contact for them to become a great defensive team. Looking forward to see how they fare against big conference schools in NYC.

Yes, this is true, and it was a real contrast from the Kennesaw game. Those guys made it very easy on our young defenders; they didn't seem to understand how to move the ball and shift the zone. Hampton was a lot better at this. Good learning experience for our young guys. I see a lot of effort out there, just not a lot of experience. I think this will be a very good defensive team in February and March (unless Christmas is in foul trouble or injured, in which case the whole thing's going to fall apart).

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

I'll be interested to see that team that you speak of that can actually put the ball in the hoop. Clearly you didn't watch the 1st half of the Kennesaw State game or signifcant portions of yesterday's game. I think this team will be better, but it struggles as much on offense right now as our team last year did through most of the ACC season.

The struggles I saw were: Roberson was short arming wide open jumpers, he can fix that, and I think he will. Cooney had 2 threes go half way down only to bounce out, he was very close to having a great game. BJ took some bad shots out of rhythm for him, but with his stroke you don't mind him being aggressive and looking for shots, and Rakeem needs to eliminate the dribbling and just finish strong with either hand. When they have games where all of that comes together and shots fall, they will score in bunches. Just like last year, I think the season hinges on jump shooting, but was is different is the number of guys who will be asked to make a shot this year.