The Upside

[SWC75]

- Miami can sure play defense but we were even better. This was the second straight game we held a team to under 50 points and we’ve held two other teams to exactly 50 and another to 52. Only Fordham and California have reached 70 points against us, (and we won both games easily). In that horrible 10 ½ minutes stretch we went without a field goal, we only gave up 14 points, which allowed us to stay in the game. Nobody runs away and hides on Syracuse.


- This was similar to the St. Francis game in that the opposition was playing terrific defense through most of the game but just didn’t have the energy to keep it up and we were able to get a run at the end that won the game for us. In this case it was an 8-0 burst from 6:11 to 3:20 that turned the game around from 35-40 to 43-40 and gave us control of the game down the stretch.


- We didn’t get big numbers but the numbers we got were big in a 49-44 game. CJ Fair scored 15 points but it seemed more like 30. Tyler Ennis had 10 points, 7 assists and 3 steals vs. only 2 turnovers. Even Trevor Cooney with his 2 for 12 from the field made 5 of 6 free throws for 11 big points. There were three double-figure scorers in this game and we had all of them.


- Rakeem Christmas had 8 big points and 7 rebounds, 4 of them after it was 35-40. He also cut off an alley-oop to get us the ball back.


- Jerami Grant blocked a shot on one end and then made that 15 footer to get us to within 39-40.


- Not everybody is going to be able to defend us like that. And not every team is going to drain the clock like that either. This was the first game we’ve had all year with less than 100 possessions. They aren’t all going to look like this one.


14-0 with 17+ to go


Let’s Go Orange!

 

[AlaskaSU]

Miami is very well coached and they have incoming talent. In the future they will be a factor in the ACC, maybe almost to the the level of Pitt and Notre Dame which would be above the rest of the ACC except the obvious top 4 teams.

 

[two3zone]

Miami is very well coached and they have incoming talent. In the future they will be a factor in the ACC, maybe almost to the the level of Pitt and Notre Dame which would be above the rest of the ACC except the obvious top 4 teams.

If I was a big time basketball recruit, Miami would be my first choice of schools. The weather, South Beach, and the women. Woooooooooooo. I love my Orange but holy hell what are these players thinking.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Miami is a lot better than their record. They played stifling defense and really hung tough. I agree that it looked like they ran out of steam. I'm glad we got out of the dome with a win...

 

[ThePoint]

Kind of ironic that our first ACC game turned out to be a typical Big East rockfight.

You have to tip your hat to Miami - they had a good game plan and they stuck to it.

 

[Orange87]

If Cooney hits just 2 of the 10 3's he missed, SU wins by 11.

If that happens, is anybody even concerned? Bad games happen. He had one.

 

[shermstheman]

If Cooney hits just 2 of the 10 3's he missed, SU wins by 11.

If that happens, is anybody even concerned? Bad games happen. He had one.

My fear is that some teams that focus on Cooney can stop him- we've see this a few times. When that happens Cuse needs others to fill the void. That's tough to do against a D like was played yesterday. When Cuse faces teams with better talent that are also well coached it could be big trouble.

 

[IthacaMatt]

My fear is that some teams that focus on Cooney can stop him- we've see this a few times. When that happens Cuse needs others to fill the void. That's tough to do against a D like was played yesterday. When Cuse faces teams with better talent that are also well coached it could be big trouble.

That's why one of the bench guys has to be a scoring threat other than Grant.

If Silent G won't make himself a scoring threat, one of the 3 sons is going to have to step up.

 

[SU_Fan_in_VA]

I thought this was "The Upside".

 

[Sgt Cuse]

My fear is that some teams that focus on Cooney can stop him- we've see this a few times. When that happens Cuse needs others to fill the void. That's tough to do against a D like was played yesterday. When Cuse faces teams with better talent that are also well coached it could be big trouble.

I don't think Miami focused on Cooney.

This was different than St John's who I thought did game plan specifically to take Cooney out. I think that is also why TC shot 12 times. He had good looks in the flow of our offense. Against St John's TC didn't shoot as much because he was letting others take advantage of the byproducts of the strategy to take him out.

Cooney was just off. And it looks like JB does not trust anyone else on the bench to try and fill the role of 3 pt shooter. I think we will just have to live with that this year.