I will be honest about how I feel we roll the dice...... alot.
we lack a strong physcial defense that is all over you at times, Especially our guards up top. We read the passing lanes, but don't force them to make stupid passes, instead we sit back and hope they will, we sit back and anticipate. sometimes they do sometimes they dont.
On the offense end we often have 3 good scorers but sometimes are missing the 4th 5th, I prefer to lose forcing good shots earlier in the shot clock to working around and trying to outsmart opponents, while the other teams is getting confident buckets, every time. I think a look of confidence is so important to offensive momentum even if it means you are being outscored it leaves you with the feeling you are going to start breaking out and go on runs. The end of the ncstate game last night was a great example of this.
I guess what I am trying to say is I feel there our ball clubs that sit back and play the wisdom and smart game and there are clubs that just go out and get it and win with hustle, inviting physicallity and oozing confidence. Teams that take it to physical defense instead of trying to be smarter then the other team. I love a smart run play that works, but smart ball can put you in the tentative losing train very fast in a hard fought game. Teams like Ville, Michstate, duke and Uconn Kentucky understand this as more of the later.
I wish we could beome more like aggressive in JB's last few seasons. But you have to have the right chemistry for that. We just had our second best on the ball defender transfer in Buss I think that could be a bigger loss then BJ.
Looking at Virginia, and Villinovas early exit, even NCstate(who I thought had more talent then ville honeslty) I got the same feeling from them. Try to play smart ball, and don't score over a physical defense and you will get burnt.
Act instead of react it takes good guard play especially in a 2-3 zone defenselivly up top to accomplish that. I want us to be smell blood team, that blows evenly matched teams out once in awhile.
I will always be a diehard syracuse fan but just the way I view our ballclub, plenty of emotion, but I hope we aren't leaning towards a constant trend more towards water then fire in JB's last few seasons. MCW, CJ, Triche and Southerland had the fire a few years ago, Dion and Scoop had the fire, and those teams went to the elite 8 and beyond. The ennis, Fair, jeremy grant, cooney team was more the opposite.
In this day and ago smart ball tends to get knocked out early all to often. Need to take risks and look like the dominant team with swag play such a huge part of college ball, and a massive impact on momentum, imo. Need to dig deep down inside not just make the confident shot or rotate and grab a simple rebound.
I hope JB can bring that back in his last few seasons and we are all praying for a championship (and that wouldn't be sneaking up under the radar anymore, not with JB's coaching legacy).
just my two cents.
