Two Observations

[SaltLakeOrange]

Hi Everybody,

Two quick observations:

1) Southerland is a beast. Much more comfortable in all aspects of the game.

2) CJ looks tentative in the half court. Looking for a better mid range game from him.

I'm glad basketball season has started. Sure beats what I saw Thursday at MetLife! Let's Go Orange!!!!

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

One more quick observation - Trevor Cooney is struggling again against a pretty crappy team.

Our guard depth is of concern once conference play rolls around.

 

[cuseguy]

Cooney will be fine.

 

[bozophobe]

Remember, even Southerland has had bad droughts - even well after his freshman season.

 

[pearl31]

at least some got to actually see the game

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

Cooney will be fine.

I hope he will be, but right now, he clearly is not even close.

 

[bballbeadle]

Boeheim kept Cooney in a long time. Eventually Trevor went for drives to the basket and had some success. But he must have missed, what, 8 three's? Instead of yanking him, Boeheim let him play.

 

[orangefan13]

Rak deserves a shoutout. He made a few highpost buckets. Love fair and triche but IMO MCW, James and Rak were the cornerstones of this team the last two games.

 

[Orangezoo]

personally i think cooney will see time when jsouth is off.. and out of the game. Cooney can do more than shoot but for now its probably best he just play good d and spot up.. the shots will come.. andy was off a lot his frosh year.

 

[ORRange]

I hope he will be, but right now, he clearly is not even close.

What has he done that is so bad? He plays "D", hustles, and hasn't had terrible turnovers, handles the ball fine but just hasn't hit threes yet. Let's let him get his feet wet before we claim that he is second coming of Louie.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

What has he done that is so bad? He plays "D", hustles, and hasn't had terrible turnovers, handles the ball fine but just hasn't hit threes yet. Let's let him get his feet wet before we claim that he is second coming of Louie.

All of which is fine, and I really do hope he comes around. But he is now 2-15 from 3, so far, and 4-19 overall.

The issue is that, unless we play Southerland or Fair at SG, we have no other option at G. It's MCW, BT, and we need a third guard. We have no "natural" other third guard option at this point.

 

[ORRange]

All of which is fine, and I really do hope he comes around. But he is now 2-15 from 3, so far, and 4-19 overall.

The issue is that, unless we play Southerland or Fair at SG, we have no other option at G. It's MCW, BT, and we need a third guard. We have no "natural" other third guard option at this point.

If his shooting doesn't improve by the end of our non-conference schedule, then I will be concerned. I'm optimistic the shots will drop and he certainly has more to his game than most give him credit for. Too much concern about our new guys. The sky isn't falling, all three are going to be good. BTW, our defense will keep us in almost all the games we play this year, it's stifling. Way better than I thought it would be at this time. Way better.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Boeheim kept Cooney in a long time. Eventually Trevor went for drives to the basket and had some success. But he must have missed, what, 8 three's? Instead of yanking him, Boeheim let him play.

Trevor needs to take and make a 10-12 footer before taking a three.

 

[SoBeCuse]

CJ needs to stop these weak layup attempts and go up strong. He was packed in the previous game at least once. Southerland is quicker and has way better springs. The 3 ball is becoming a weapon. I personally believe he is morphing into a better player than CJ but having JS come off the bench is gold...just like Dion. Rak is definitely more active this year and playing well. Cooney will be fine.

 

[jordoo]

Even if Cooney struggles with his shot all season he can still spell our guards because he plays good defense and hasn't seemed to have any issues handling the ball and passing. From what we hear it seems that he is too good of a shooter to sruggle the whole season. Even if he is streaky this year it will at least make teams get out on him.

 

[OttoMets]

Trevor needs to take and make a 10-12 footer before taking a three.

Yeah, South must be telling him that; he's had that experience in the past couple years. When the threes aren't falling, get a couple shots to fall inside. It was good to see Rakeem find Cooney on the break and then have Cooney drive on his own a couple minutes later. Would like to see more of that.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Even though he has been missing his 3's,I'm not at all concerned about Cooney. He is very solid on defense and can do much more than shoot the deep ball on offense. I see him as a cross between GMac and Triche. I think he'll contribute even if his shot is not falling - especially if he pressed into action by an injury to one of the other guards.

 

[br801]

Boeheim kept Cooney in a long time. Eventually Trevor went for drives to the basket and had some success. But he must have missed, what, 8 three's? Instead of yanking him, Boeheim let him play.

JB really has little choice but to play Cooney in these situations, regardless of performance. He needs to give him game experience in advance of the conference schedule because at some point Cooney will need to contribute in important games. Plus it would be silly to have Triche and MCW playing big minutes in these blowouts.

 

[cuseattle]

[quote="... especially if he pressed into action by an injury to one of the other guards.[/quote]
Why would you write such a thing? Knock on some wood now, please.

 

[bozophobe]

It's also a relief that Cooney isn't getting mixed messages from coaches and teammates about the solution. They all seem pretty united on the 'keep shooting' advice. Of course, nobody's competing with TC for the #2 2, but if he could make about 37% the rest of the way this year, that would be huge.