The Upside- Cornell | Syracusefan.com

The Upside- Cornell

SWC75

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- With 8:03 left in the first half we were down 14-25, having scored 14 points in 12 minutes. I was wondering how I’m going to come up with an upside out of this. The rest of the game was 64-38. We’ve now won 5 in a row will be favored to get to 11-4, (4-0 in the conference) before we are an underdog. We could then split the rest of the season and wind up 19-12 (12-8), with a new streak of winning seasons begun and a good shot at getting into the NCAA despite those early disappointments. So it was a good day.

- Cornell’s coach is a close friend of Colgate’s coach and he had his team, which was 7-2 and had lost to U of Miami 105-107, ready to beat us just like his pal did. We last lost to Cornell on 12/4/68.

- We gave up 25 points in 12 minutes, (2.08), then 38 points in the last 28 minutes, (1.36). Cornell shot 5 for 12 from three (41.7%) and 3 for 6 inside the arch in those first 12 minutes. After that they were 8 for 36 from three (22.2%) and 9 for 23 inside (39.1%) after. Coach Boeheim said in his presser that Cornell just missed open shots, that our defense wasn’t really any good. Cornell did miss a lot of open shots- enough to have made this a different game. But I saw our players do a lot of good things on defense, playing the passing lanes, double-teaming, letting the guy at the top of the key alone, just making sure he couldn’t pass to an open man, maintaining contact with shooters well during the period when the lead was really built up. I was impressed. But December is not a time for basketball coaches to be satisfied. This team has great potential and they won’t reach it if the coach has a smile on his face.

- Joe Girard had maybe his best all-round game of the year. He kept us in it and got us going with 15 first half points. He has the reputation a poor defender but he was active throughout the game, getting in shooter’s faces and getting his hands on balls, (he was credited with just one steal but several other balls became loose due to joe’s hands). His passing was excellent, quick and at sharp angles.

- Jesse Edwards, per Boeheim, was ill. In the early going he got pushed out of his normal shooting and rebounding positions. But he got back into the game in the second half, literally and figuratively and wound up with 11 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double. He had five blocks and was 5 for 6 from the field. I hope, whatever he had, the other guys caught it.

- Despite JB’s unrelenting criticism, our forwards, Chris Bell and Benny Williams as well as Maliq Brown off the bench, were very active. Chris scored 13 points, grabbed 5 rebounds made a steal and passed for an assist. He got beat on defense a couple times but it was usually because he was playing another player aggressively. A lighter moment occurred when the video board had the team’s starters asked what superpowers they wish they had. Chris said he’d like “invisibility: I’d like to go incognito”. I thought about that. You changed your name. Your number is ‘0’. And you’ve certainly disappeared in some game. Chris, I think you achieved your dream. But not tonight. You were there for us.

- Benny Williams was all over the court. What he was doing where he was wasn’t always good but he did a lot of good things. He had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. He even made a three pointer.

- Maliq Brown subbed in when it was 14-25 and immediately made a lay-up on one end and grabbed a rebound at the other end, then an offensive rebound, a dunk and defensive rebound. At that point JB sent Benny back in with the score 23-27. Later Maliq subbed effectively for Jesse when Jim wanted to go ‘small’. He wound up with 4 points, 4 rebounds a block and a steal in 13 minutes.

- Juudaahh Mintz….Juuudaahh Mintz….It was the Illinois game all over again for Judah – getting tangled up in the defense and hoping the refs will bail him out until the media time-out at 3:42 of the first half. The entire time-out was an earnest discussion between Jim and Judah. At first Judah pled his case, even getting up at one point to demonstrate something in his defense. But JB kept talking to his face and Judah sat back down and slumped against the chair, getting smaller and smaller. I wondered how he would respond. He got the ball, drove into the lane and, instead of fading from the basket or falling to the floor, he went up strong, scored and was fouled. He made the free throw Then he made a steal and a lay-up. The score went from 23-32 to 28-32. He wound up with 14 points, 2 rebs and 3 assists and steals. The kid’s going to be OK.

8-4 with 19+ to go

LET’S GO ORANGE!!!
 

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