Va Tech Thoughts...

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Orangezoo]

One thing I have noted is that Bell doesn't seem to pout much with the early benching. He also is clearly not an All Madden guy lol

 

[OrangeDW]

I don't think JB bails on Benny despite that as we know from that Devo podcast guys talking about how he wants and likes that fighting spirit.

Yup. We all probably remember the story of Dion cursing at him on the bench his freshman year, and he was ready to leave after that year.

Scoop talked on Devendorf’s podcast about throwing the soap bar at the wall or something while swearing at JB, and they patched it up.

McCroskey was never heard from again, but he couldn’t shoot, pass, or dribble, and played guard.

 

[sugrad68]

Best game of the year so far for Syracuse. Only complaint is the interior defense in the first half which
kept Tech in the game. If the opponent can't hit 3s, we will probably win.

 

[CousCuse]

There’s only one thing left to do, Cous. Win the whole effin thing!

Not really impressed with any team in the league. UVA looks like top dog but they have flaws too. I gotta believe there is a chance,

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Bulldog04]

Boeheim just can’t help himself in the pressers. I can’t believe how rude he is to Donna for no reason. Always has been. She’s the nicest person ever. Didn’t say Malik had a good game. Said he’s doing what he’s suppose to. I gotta stop watching these lol

 

[OrangeDW]

Boeheim just can’t help himself in the pressers. I can’t believe how rude he is to Donna for no reason. Always has been. She’s the nicest person ever. Didn’t say Malik had a good game. Said he’s doing what he’s suppose to. I gotta stop watching these lol

It’s such a stale scene. I can’t believe it’s still going, lol.

 

[Oakland]

When someone other than Mintz CAN become unstoppable, without a shadow of a doubt in second halfs we go from tough, to very tough. Joe was that guy today, He was Awesome!

Great job against the press just don't throw the lob too far under their basket unless it's Brown.

Great team effort by everyone!!

Joe was so good he only got thrown under the bus just a few times in the game thread!

 

[Oakland]

I would have liked to see Symir get a bunch of minutes in the second half. It didn't seem like Judah was having a good game and Symir was very productive in the minutes he got in the first half.

BTW, he is our 3pt % leader.

 

[SWC75]

Justin Mutts: 22NP
Judah Mintz: 7NP.
But we overcame that.

Williams-Bell: -3NP in 18 minutes
Brown-Taylor 32NP in 62 minutes

JB had Benny sit next to him his whole time on the bench. Even when Bell got hurt and wanted to sit there, JB motioned him away and told Benny to sit back down. talk about a hot seat!

Jesse and Malik have great two man game going’s, The best since Arinze and Rick.

Do we have the best backcourt in the conference? Joe is the senior and Judah the sophomore but I think Judah has influenced Joe’s game more than ha influenced Judah’s
When Judah starts hitting jumpers, who can stop them!

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Brown is the starter now and will be for the next couple years. Exactly the type of player that just wins games with smarts /toughness

Rick Jackson but more of a wing.

Its not a bad team just a young one that will leave some games on the table. Sucks we didn't ride Brown and Taylor more early and have 2 less losses.

Probably end up with a respectable W-L but needing too deep an ACCT run to get in.

 

[Carduccib]

Boeheim just can’t help himself in the pressers. I can’t believe how rude he is to Donna for no reason. Always has been. She’s the nicest person ever. Didn’t say Malik had a good game. Said he’s doing what he’s suppose to. I gotta stop watching these lol

It is extremely uncomfortable. I feel awful for Donna.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Also this is a good win but it was at home and isn't a great win VT has lost to a bunch of bad teams its not like we beat them on a Saturday at their place in a huge game for them.

We still have to go out and beat someone good it hasn't happened yet this year if it does the season can change for the better.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Winning the rematch against them will be huge.

 

[phil77]

I will be very interested what happens with Benny going forward especially the next game but as far as Syracuse we are better with Brown and Taylor on the floor and we are by far better with the forwards of Brown, Taylor and Benny.

Bell IMO should be the one not playing and being bench for good.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I know they're missing a 3 point shooter, but I never thought Va. Tech was that great in hoops. Those 2 big men are pretty good, and yes, having that guy who is out would have balanced the floor better for them.

But when we have 4 or 5 guys all play well, like we did tonight, we can beat reasonably good teams. That stretch in the last 8 minutes of the first half where we held them scoreless for almost 3 minutes got us a working margin that we carried to half time.

Then, in the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half, we outscored them 18-4 to take a 20 point lead, and after that it was pretty much game over with 13 minutes left to play. I would like to have seen a bit more of the bench tonight (Copeland or JBA in the 2nd half), but I guess Boeheim didn't want to risk it.

Solid win. That makes 8 out of 10. We are about a 75% favorite at home vs. Notre Dame. We are heavy underdogs at Miami, and then a small road underdog vs. Georgia Tech, despite their 8-8 (1-5) record. That would leave us 13-7 (6-3) if we beat both ND and GT, when North Carolina comes to town on the 24th, also looking like a beatable team. With our schedule, we might wind up a decent seed in the ACC tournament for once.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I'm still high on Quadir. He has some things to work out but he came in ready vs Pitt. He can help in spots and has the raw skills to be a player for us long term.

When qadir decides to make the easy play instead of the “cool looking” play, he’ll be a force. He’s quick with some legit size

 

[Orangezoo]

When qadir decides to make the easy play instead of the “cool looking” play, he’ll be a force. He’s quick with some legit size

I think he will. Also hope he doesn't lose that edge too. Choose when to bring the flair as well.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I thought Griff was gonna pop a blood vessel in the first half. Jesse kept getting cooked on D and Griff was not pleased.

Not sure what Jesse is supposed to do. If he plays up in the zone they dump it down to the guy running baseline for a layup

If he plays back, it’s a wide open shot from the FT line. Most teams are too stupid to exploit this.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

are

I think he will. Also hope he doesn't lose that edge too. Choose when to bring the flair as well.

I don’t see why he won’t. He’s got time and it’s actually easier to do the more effective thing.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I’ll take 16 points from Taylor and Bell every game.

 

[longtimefan]

Not sure what Jesse is supposed to do. If he plays up in the zone they dump it down to the guy running baseline for a layup

If he plays back, it’s a wide open shot from the FT line. Most teams are too stupid to exploit this.

A triple threat at the foul line does major damage against the SU zone (against any zone, really). And Mutts is an excellent all-around player.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So, Benny just has to understand that he hasn’t separated himself from anyone at that position. JB is probably still going to play the hot hand at both forward positions the rest of the year.

I still think JB will start Benny - but the leash is getting shorter. If we get good active Benny- he’ll play more. If he comes out and plays defense the way he did tonight early, we’ll see Brown more.

It’s that simple. It’s hard for a five star to accept that role, but the tape doesn’t lie.

It looked to me like Benny was mad he didn’t start the second half. Then JB put Benny in and Benny immediately took a very tough turnaround shot that he got fouled and JB wasn’t thrilled. Benny made 1-2 from the line.

Next timeout JB puts Taylor in on offense and I think he was about to go offense defense with Justin and Benny…but Benny throws a fit and JB sat him the rest of the game.

Also note that the first rebound after Benny pouted, Taylor got jumped over on the defensive glass for a rebound that I bet Benny gets.

We’ll need them both.

Yeah, we're not good enough to exclude contributions from guys. We need all of them (even Bell), and we need them to remain engaged.

 

[capeorange]

Held Pedulla to 10 pts or 59% of his season average.
We out rebounded the Hokies.
I loved the J4M lineup.
Copeland and the rest of the bench for the most part had excellent body language!