We almost have to go zone when Kiyan checks in

[Cuse_NYC]

Love Kiyan, think he is all we could have asked for as a freshman, however, he is extremely slow footed. It’s not that he doesn’t try on defense, he just cannot keep up with most guards off the dribble. He really, really needs to work on foot speed with his trainer in the off season. Hopefully he can get better defensively? For now, we need to play zone, more times than not, when he is in. Cummings looked like Jordan against him Saturday. In Kiyan’s defense, he went by Kingz a ton too. But, we’ve seen guards blow by Kiyan all yr. Thankfully, Red did play zone much more on Saturday than he has all yr. But ya, zone with Kiyan seems like the best recipe for success. Thoughts?

 

[Lame-0]

Love Kiyan, think he is all we could have asked for as a freshman, however, he is extremely slow footed. It’s not that he doesn’t try on defense, he just cannot keep up with most guards off the dribble. He really, really needs to work on foot speed with his trainer in the off season. Hopefully he can get better defensively? For now, we need to play zone, more times than not, when he is in. Cummings looked like Jordan against him Saturday. In Kiyan’s defense, he went by Kingz a ton too. But, we’ve seen guards blow by Kiyan all yr. Thankfully, Red did play zone much more on Saturday than he has all yr. But ya, zone with Kiyan seems like the best recipe for success. Thoughts?

I don't think he's trying that hard. Like many freshmen, he was probably never asked to play defense at the level expected in D-1 and is still not quite understanding the effort necessary.
In any event, if we have to play zone whenever he's in the game, it's going to really limit his playing time. I think most, including Red, are in agreement that the zone is okay for a couple of trips as a change of pace, but should not be used any more than that.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He does need to improve there, but not every team has a guy that can take advantage of his shortcomings on that end of the floor.

 

[Tony DeFranco]

I don't think he's trying that hard. Like many freshmen, he was probably never asked to play defense at the level expected in D-1 and is still not quite understanding the effort necessary.
In any event, if we have to play zone whenever he's in the game, it's going to really limit his playing time. I think most, including Red, are in agreement that the zone is okay for a couple of trips as a change of pace, but should not be used any more than that.

He's trying - he has to turn and run parallel and he still gets blown by - compared to Kingz who know one can get by him

 

[upperdeck]

He really struggles to decide when to slide and when to run so he gets that step behind and isn't strong enough to get back into the play once he trails.

About the opp on offense.. He get gets that step but cant hold his position often and has to settle for bail out fouls or tough angle shots.

 

[2B20Again]

Love Kiyan, think he is all we could have asked for as a freshman, however, he is extremely slow footed. It’s not that he doesn’t try on defense, he just cannot keep up with most guards off the dribble. He really, really needs to work on foot speed with his trainer in the off season. Hopefully he can get better defensively? For now, we need to play zone, more times than not, when he is in. Cummings looked like Jordan against him Saturday. In Kiyan’s defense, he went by Kingz a ton too. But, we’ve seen guards blow by Kiyan all yr. Thankfully, Red did play zone much more on Saturday than he has all yr. But ya, zone with Kiyan seems like the best recipe for success. Thoughts?

 

[2B20Again]

Don’t disagree that Kayian is not the fastest guard, however SU has no one to keep up with Cummings. Not a fair comparison. Kayian is having a very good freshman year. I feel that he’s is the only guard that can answer at all three levels. And no he is not Melo, he’s not 6’9” 185 lbs. Melo was the best player in college basketball. K is an excellent frosh. Let him get stronger. He will be better by the end of the year and take a huge step next year. Out

 

[Cuse_NYC]

Don’t disagree that Kayian is not the fastest guard, however SU has no one to keep up with Cummings. Not a fair comparison. Kayian is having a very good freshman year. I feel that he’s is the only guard that can answer at all three levels. And no he is not Melo, he’s not 6’9” 185 lbs. Melo was the best player in college basketball. K is an excellent frosh. Let him get stronger. He will be better by the end of the year and take a huge step next year. Out

I love him. I’m not worried about the offense. Even the sloppy turnovers at times. The defense just really isn’t up to par. Why can’t we keep up with Cummings? Looks like every other power conference team did.

 

[Tony DeFranco]

He really struggles to decide when to slide and when to run so he gets that step behind and isn't strong enough to get back into the play once he trails.

About the opp on offense.. He get gets that step but cant hold his position often and has to settle for bail out fouls or tough angle shots.

He’d probably be ok if he just got stronger which he will - he definitely is a good basketball player - lacks high level athleticism

 

[Orangezoo]

I love him. I’m not worried about the offense. Even the sloppy turnovers at times. The defense just really isn’t up to par. Why can’t we keep up with Cummings? Looks like every other power conference team did.

Cummings is just a streaky iso oriented guard. About 1/3 of his points were really difficult shots. Not excusing our defense but Cummings is just one of those guys who gets really hot and makes everything, horse shots included.

 

[cuseattle]

I've learned to accept people spelling Souare incorrectly, but Kiyan should be pretty ingrained by now.

 

[AlaskaSU]

He really struggles to decide when to slide and when to run so he gets that step behind and isn't strong enough to get back into the play once he trails.

About the opp on offense.. He get gets that step but cant hold his position often and has to settle for bail out fouls or tough angle shots.

He plays as if he has strength but at this level he is a weakling. He needs to adjust his game to fix his shooting percentage and he needs to be physically stronger next year.

 

[Cuse_NYC]

I don't think he's trying that hard. Like many freshmen, he was probably never asked to play defense at the level expected in D-1 and is still not quite understanding the effort necessary.
In any event, if we have to play zone whenever he's in the game, it's going to really limit his playing time. I think most, including Red, are in agreement that the zone is okay for a couple of trips as a change of pace, but should not be used any more than that.

We looked most complete as a team when we mixed in m2m and zone this past wknd. Would like to see more of the same going forward (as long as it keeps working )

 

[IraSez]

Great article in the NY Times sports section today about Kiyan and Carmelo.

 

[grepal]

He really struggles to decide when to slide and when to run so he gets that step behind and isn't strong enough to get back into the play once he trails.

About the opp on offense.. He get gets that step but cant hold his position often and has to settle for bail out fouls or tough angle shots.

more experience and weight room needed but he is talented with the ball. A lot of freshmen need physical development and experience. we could do worse than Kiyan off the bench and we have done worse for many years. We have to learn to live with the deficiency while he improves

 

[Nicknack]

Like most of you, I'm really happy to see us mix our defense. That said, I hope we do a better job rebounding than what we did against Pitt. I'm not sure if our poor rebounding came during our zone defense, but there were moments that we allowed Pitt way too many second chance opportunities. They had 14 of them.

 

[OmahaCuse]

Like most of you, I'm really happy to see us mix our defense. That said, I hope we do a better job rebounding than what we did against Pitt. I'm not sure if our poor rebounding came during our zone defense, but there were moments that we allowed Pitt way too many second chance opportunities. They had 14 of them.

Same would like to see us press more and use the backup up PGs for a few minutes a game to put the heat on and give starters a rest

 

[Lame-0]

Same would like to see us press more and use the backup up PGs for a few minutes a game to put the heat on and give starters a rest

The trade-off in doing that is a greater risk of foul trouble for the bigs.