Virginia Postgame

[CardiacCuse]

Kline did not assemble a good team…I will say that much. He will follow the rest of these castoffs in the offseason.

lol

you realize this isnt fantasy football right?

you think he wouldnt have taken dybantsa, etc? but he just preferred this roster?

its almost as clueless as holding gerry macnamaras results against him at siena...i mean what do you people expect?

the talent isnt the issue...but the talent isnt also just open choice, either

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Watching Duke at Carolina right now.

When Red says there’s nothing wrong with our offense… I’m seeing similar stuff from both Duke and NC. The difference seems to be that they both have players with enough skill and strength to still be able to execute efficiently. Example: They can execute guard to post passes, and their post player takes a dribble or two and completes a competent move. Our center dribbles ten times and pivots three times and then has to chuck it out. And that’s IF he can even field the entry pass.

Teams without the pure NBA talent have to do things differently.

[Oof. Just saw Maliq make two consecutive turnovers on crappy, overambitious entry passes, so maybe they haven’t washed the SU completely out of him yet?]

 

[atlanticuse]

One thing I noticed was that Donnie let guys get past him far more times that JJ did. Small consolation, but they kept it close for a while.

Donnie let more people pass by without caring than a bouncer at Chuck's.

 

[Dcuse]

I’d think if this was a decision that could impact Melo’s relationship with Syracuse long term, Red should be fired tomorrow. I’m close to 100% certain he won’t be fired even if that is the case.

He should be fired tomorrow for not playing a guy who can’t guard anybody, can’t handle the ball and can’t make free throws. That makes sense.

 

[phil77]

He should be fired tomorrow for not playing a guy who can’t guard anybody, can’t handle the ball and can’t make free throws. That makes sense.

He should be fired tomorrow because he is a terrible coach who is 1-22 against top 80 KenPom the last two years and has 23 double-digit losses in his head coaching career already. That is why he should be fired already. I don't care who he benches or what he tries, the results don't change, he is a terrible coach and that is why he should be fired. If that makes sense.

 

[orangepassion]

And a much better team. Backcourt, forwards, centers, bench, shooting, toughness, effort, knowing how to play oh and coaching. Better across the board. Our talent is overrated and well we know about our coaching.

Our talent was good enough to beat Tennessee and almost beat Houston w/o our best player

 

[IthacaMatt]

And a much better team. Backcourt, forwards, centers, bench, shooting, toughness, effort, knowing how to play oh and coaching. Better across the board. Our talent is overrated and well we know about our coaching.

I don't agree with that. Toughness is missing. Execution is inconsistent. Effort is inconsistent.
That's not a talent deficit. That's team culture, and that starts with the head coach.
You don't see top teams quit on a game as often as our guys have done this past couple years.

 

[IthacaMatt]

He should be fired tomorrow because he is a terrible coach who is 1-22 against top 80 KenPom the last two years and has 23 double-digit losses in his head coaching career already. That is why he should be fired already. I don't care who he benches or what he tries, the results don't change, he is a terrible coach and that is why he should be fired. If that makes sense.

Let him coach the rest of the season. Maybe he can get us on a winning streak, and have a chance to coach in the Patriot League or something like that in a year or two. He needs to finish the season with some pride. They're trying not to shame him, but it was clear after the North Carolina game that he would not be retained. You could tell from his post-game comments.

 

[IthacaMatt]

It’s gonna suck losing Freeman but if it means a new era of Syracuse basketball then I guess I’m good with it

Doesn't have the heart of a winner. He's a show horse. He has to have an entirely different personality - much tougher, like a hungry dog - or he has zero shot of making the league. He has the tools but not the mentality.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I’m not sure how you spin this if you’re Kline. Might need to jump back to the NBA to rehab. Outside looking in, I feel like people will be way harder on the talent then we are

Kline did fine. He's not the coach, and we don't get to pick every top player that we want.

 

[IthacaMatt]

At this point, the team isn’t losing because of talent. They’re losing because they don’t play like a team. No fight, no fire, just lackadaisical play and coaching. ...

The effort gap was just as embarrassing. Syracuse grabbed 6 offensive rebounds. Virginia had 17. That’s getting worked over mentally and physically. Extra possessions come from commitment and awareness, and Syracuse showed neither. Again nothing new with this team.

I totally agree. If you look at Donnie's stats, in particular, he gets a lot of rebounds, but they are almost exclusively defensive ones. Same thing with Will Kyle. For all his hops, he gets very few offensive rebounds.

Now, part of that is the structure of the offense. I've seen him play a half dozen possessions of hi-low post for the entire season, the game when Donnie started on the bench. Sadiq and Kyle had some nice passes with White in the low post.

Doesn't happen with Donnie in there, because he's mostly up high, or at the elbow. Kyle up high setting screens, too. We have nobody down low to get offensive rebounds.

As for the effort gap, I thought the point of having a squad that is deep and athletic (and we do have that ...) is that you have to use effort as the minimum ante to get in the game. You don't hustle, you turn away from a guy running to the hoop on a fast break, then sit the hell down.

Red just doesn't seem to be tough enough to be a head coach. You have to break some eggs to make an omelet.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Many people said back in the summer that he wasn’t ready to be a star in his first year. All the limitations in his game that were talked about have proven true.

If he wasn’t Melo’s kid he’d have stopped getting minutes a month ago.

That's the truth. He started out very well for his first month, but then the physicality and speed of P5 guys turned out to be more than he was ready for. He needs serious physical training this summer, has to get much stronger, quicker, better handle. The offensive skills are there, but the fitness, athleticism and judgment are not.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Kiyan is going to be a great player in a couple of years. You can see the skill/potential. He needs to be coached. Ain’t gonna happen with Red.

He plays in slow motion. He needs Marines boot camp.
He needs to dribble a ball for a couple hours a day, while he walking around from place to place in his everyday life.

When I was at that basketball playing age, I used to play pickup games on the South Side and in the Valley. I would dribble the ball as we walked many blocks to the court where we were going to play. I dribbled sitting on the curb, practicing close, fast dribbling with just my fingertips. You have to have the ball in your hands all the time, not just shooting, not just practicing your offensive moves. The ball needs to become an extension of your hand.

He just doesn't have that feel for his dribble. He gets the ball taken from him almost every time he drives the lane. It's just a question of whether the ref is going to bail him out with a call.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Plenty of freshmen out there that also need to get stronger still contributing on good teams as well….

He became a black hole on offense, and even Red breaking out the 2-3 zone to try to protect him defensively didn't work.

 

[hungrychuck]

It’s unfathomable, how many possessions where it looks like we have zero concept on offense of how to create good shot opportunities. When I count how many times I saw ‘movement’ that wasn’t just a player running around outside the 3pt line just to receive the ball from someone else at the 3pt line who had just struggled to get inside the 3pt line, the number is None. None times. It’s as if when something that resembles a play happens, it was entirely accidental. I like Kyle, but I’m entirely sick of seeing him with the ball at the top of the arc with decision making and ball handling responsibilities.

On defense, I don’t know what happened. We had fantastic defense in early season games, against higher-ranked teams. And now the zone today… like, the first three VA possessions were layup, three, dunk.

For the first time since 1985, I no longer care if I finish watching a game or not. Never thought I’d say that.

The only thing that is heartening is seeing that we may just be in the in-between stage before becoming good again. A number of programs went from successful coaches to a lame replacement and then to a new successful coach. As I used to say back when I wanted JB to retire, it is going to be a process, and there’s no way to know whether the first step in the process will be happymaking, but we have to go through it to find out and then to advance to the next step.

It’s up to the AD to minimize the duration of pain.

And the most important tack for the AD, please, for the love of god, is to move far away from the JB coaching shrub.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

He should have played Anthony a couple minutes in the first half just to avoid the crap show that has ensued. Instead of fading quietly into the loser night, now it’s a thing and headlines.

 

[IthacaMatt]

He should have played Anthony a couple minutes in the first half just to avoid the crap show that has ensued. Instead of fading quietly into the loser night, now it’s a thing and headlines.

That's good advice.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

That's good advice.

Even if he plays him 20 seconds , it eliminates the “Anthony benched” angle. Even though he’s was still effectively benched

 

[Newhouser]

I don't agree with that. Toughness is missing. Execution is inconsistent. Effort is inconsistent.
That's not a talent deficit. That's team culture, and that starts with the head coach.
You don't see top teams quit on a game as often as our guys have done this past couple years.

We lack basketball talent. We have no good ball handlers, we have limited quickness, we can't shoot, we can't post. What basketball skill are we so talented at?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Our talent was good enough to beat Tennessee and almost beat Houston w/o our best player

Somewhere over winter break we lost our intensity on defense and started going through the motions. Once we started to tailspin guys stopped playing as a team and it looked like we’ve quit at times.

 

[Cusefan0307]

We lack basketball talent. We have no good ball handlers, we have limited quickness, we can't shoot, we can't post. What basketball skill are we so talented at?

A bunch of these issues would have been rectified had we have a different shooting guard.

 

[atlanticuse]

Kline did fine. He's not the coach, and we don't get to pick every top player that we want.

I’ve changed my tune and agree with this sentiment now.

The ingredients were good; the meal was poorly prepared and now spoiled.

 

[Goin' Deep]

I’ve changed my tune and agree with this sentiment now.

The ingredients were good; the meal was poorly prepared and now spoiled.

Yup... and our chef can't scramble an egg...

 

[atlanticuse]

Yup... and our chef can't scramble an egg...

was that another shot at Lampkin?

 

[RedtheGOB]

I don't agree with that. Toughness is missing. Execution is inconsistent. Effort is inconsistent.
That's not a talent deficit. That's team culture, and that starts with the head coach.
You don't see top teams quit on a game as often as our guys have done this past couple years.

This is where I'm at. Building a program around JJ and Donnie and George was always a dangerous proposition especially when things start going the wrong direction. We not see Both the mental and physical toughness is not there.

I think we would see a whole different team down the stretch if we make an extra FT against Houston, and wouldn't have dropped Hofstra and BC. Autry and our team leaders couldn't get an extra bucket in those games so here we are.

The coaches and players just don't know how to pull out of a tailspin. Some of the top coaches and players in the league do but we don't have that.

Honestly it's for the best Autry is not improving and his players under him aren't either. It's a scary prospect to think we played our best basketball in November.