We are way too easy to defend

[Alsacs]

Stick a defender on Cooney, don't let Christmas catch it deep in the paint and boom the Syracuse offense becomes all ISO and picks.

I honestly don't know what the hell we do in practice. Cooney being nothing more than a catch and shoot SG kills our spacing on the floor. Our offense is just building houses with all the bricks they are throwing up.

 

[billsin01]

Stick a defender on Cooney, don't let Christmas catch it deep in the paint and boom the Syracuse offense becomes all ISO and picks.

I honestly don't know what the hell we do in practice. Cooney being nothing more than a catch and shoot SG kills our spacing on the floor. Our offense is just building houses with all the bricks they are throwing up.

Agreed. Offense is absolutely abysmal.

 

[Madbiker]

Joseph is not ready for prime time against quality opposition. He races down court and when he gets there he has no idea what he's doing. The offense has no flow. And the lack of perimeter shooting is abysmal. If we playa team we can't get 20 offensive rebs against we are going to have a lot of trouble getting 60 points.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I was praying for decent offense today a few days ago. Fail.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

This is a carryover from last year guys. Until McCullough and Kaleb grow up a little, and Roberson learns to play to his potential, we're gonna suffer on offense and on defense. They are a really young team. We need to give them some time...by January JB will have them ready...

 

[SmilinBob]

You could see this vs the weak competition in the first two games, SU could just over power those teams but it doesn't work vs bigger teams. These guys have to rebound, get the free balls/steals and go fast breaking hard. If this team has to wait for Cooney to get hot for this ship to sail there is going to be a lot of water flowing over the sides this year. Props to Cooney and BJ for playing hard on D and struggling on offense but at least one of them has to hit that J. This team still uses/rubs off picks worse than a group of 12 year olds.

 

[TheCusian]

We've been so spoiled we've forgotten what it's like to play with a young PG and a suspect defense.

I'm not worried. This is the kind of loss that makes the team ask the coaches "How do we get better?" Wake up calls are good for young teams - need to shake off any high school swag.

 

[Coach Orange]

Stick a defender on Cooney, don't let Christmas catch it deep in the paint and boom the Syracuse offense becomes all ISO and picks.

I honestly don't know what the hell we do in practice. Cooney being nothing more than a catch and shoot SG kills our spacing on the floor. Our offense is just building houses with all the bricks they are throwing up.

Watching this team, it seems it is loaded with several "B" to "B+" players if and when they reach their potential. This means two things:

1. many of the players haven't reached that potential yet; there is plenty of room for development.
2. this year's team likely has a lower ceiling than many fans would like to admit

Teams with fundamentally sound, athletic "B" and "B+" players can make runs in the tourney if they play well together, they make shots, and things break right. However, not many teams win championships without an "A"-level stud that can make plays when the team needs one against a tough defense. Unfortunately, I don't see that type of player emerging this season.

 

[Orangeman]

This is a carryover from last year guys. Until McCullough and Kaleb grow up a little, and Roberson learns to play to his potential, we're gonna suffer on offense and on defense. They are a really young team. We need to give them some time...by January JB will have them ready...

Not sure I agree. We have good players relative to most of college basketball. Most all teams can set picks, feed the post, create separation, get open wing jumpers, drive & dish etc. I don't see much of any of that from our team the last couple years.

We seem to run a pro-isolation set, only that requires guys who are pros.

I'm not talking about the play that sets up the alley-oop, that can't be relied upon...I'm talking about an offense that has the ability to adjust depending on what's going on...

Also, and I hate to start this, but you simply can't give adequate Div 1 basketball players wide open threes like we did 4 times in a row last night. They had our zone figured out, which was very clear to see from my vantage point.

It is imperative that an upper-echelon Div 1 basketball team have different defensive looks to throw at their opponent depending on game situations. Cal had (from memory) one driving basket last night, the rest were due to moving the ball faster than our zone defense. If you're playing a team that can't beat you off the dribble but is adept at passing and shooting, I'd probably try man-to-man just to see what happens...

That said, the primary problem with the team right now is offense and players' confidence on offense.

Looking for big rebound tonight