What merits playing time?

[Cuse House]

This first half is making my point. Why is Frank not in for Cooney?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

This first half is making my point. Why is Frank not in for Cooney?

Because. And that's really all you need to know.

 

[SarasotaPaul]

This first half is making my point. Why is Frank not in for Cooney?

How about now? Do you now see why Cooney is in there? Different second half for him. He doesn't know how to quit. His sheer drive to win got us two crucial loose balls at the end. He sank a shot in OT that I wondered why he took it. That is until the post game interview where JB stated he called that play for him and really didn't know why. But that is what you expect from 5th year seniors. Howard does make some great passes but he struggled a little with the VATech guards pressuring him tonight. As he gets stronger and improves his shot he should be a fabulous player for us. He is seeing now what it takes all game long to succeed at this level.

There is a reason those who played at that level and those who coach at that level love to have 5th year seniors.

 

[Ajflood12]

It is so difficult to have Howard on the court with DC/Lydon and Roberson. Nobody wants/can shoot. Only options to consistently score are Cooney and G. Howard seems to be getting better and once he has a jump shot...he will be great.

 

[OttoMets]

How about now? Do you now see why Cooney is in there? Different second half for him. He doesn't know how to quit. His sheer drive to win got us two crucial loose balls at the end. He sank a shot in OT that I wondered why he took it. That is until the post game interview where JB stated he called that play for him and really didn't know why. But that is what you expect from 5th year seniors. Howard does make some great passes but he struggled a little with the VATech guards pressuring him tonight. As he gets stronger and improves his shot he should be a fabulous player for us. He is seeing now what it takes all game long to succeed at this level.

There is a reason those who played at that level and those who coach at that level love to have 5th year seniors.

Boeheim designed a 25-footer for Cooney off a curl?

 

[Cuse House]

How about now? Do you now see why Cooney is in there? Different second half for him. He doesn't know how to quit. His sheer drive to win got us two crucial loose balls at the end. He sank a shot in OT that I wondered why he took it. That is until the post game interview where JB stated he called that play for him and really didn't know why. But that is what you expect from 5th year seniors. Howard does make some great passes but he struggled a little with the VATech guards pressuring him tonight. As he gets stronger and improves his shot he should be a fabulous player for us. He is seeing now what it takes all game long to succeed at this level.

There is a reason those who played at that level and those who coach at that level love to have 5th year seniors.

Right, so 38 minutes of awful play doesn't matter? Seems logical. Once again, I am not saying play Frank in crunch time, but throughout the game he needs more run. He gets the ball to open shooters. Cooney was a waste of space for the majority of the game last night. Trust me, I am a Cooney fan, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't sit more.

 

[realorange]

Boeheim designed a 25-footer for Cooney off a curl?

Yes, but it was with a pick that Cooney decided not to wait for.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Right, so 38 minutes of awful play doesn't matter? Seems logical. Once again, I am not saying play Frank in crunch time, but throughout the game he needs more run. He gets the ball to open shooters. Cooney was a waste of space for the majority of the game last night. Trust me, I am a Cooney fan, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't sit more.

Cooney was awful in the first half last night, but it's hard to argue with JB's decision to keep him on the court. He was 2-4 in the second half and 3-4 from the line with 9 points. He also had 3 assists and 3 steals. Frank came in early and turned it over twice, and that sealed his fate. Plus he's just not there defensively yet.

At one point in the first half Frank was going to come in for Trevor and then G committed his second foul so Trevor stayed in and G came out.

 

[Dave85]

Pass the dutchie on the left hand side if you think Howard's getting minutes in the waning moments of a close game. He got good run today and is doing well as our third guard.

Yeah, when JB subbed FH for G I was thinking maybe he was resting G for the final minute. FH played a pretty good game. He did not make any particularly spectacular passes like we saw in the GT game. But FH is showing a lot of promise in orchestrating offensive success at times. We need every player we have who actually playing to be at their best. FH's contribution will be considered HUGE if we have any success in the tournaments.

 

[Dave85]

There should be no doubt, Howard doesn't play limited minutes because he is young, he plays limited minutes because he is a FAR inferior basketball player to Cooney and Gbinije and this team has a very small margin for error.

So many people look at Cooney's 3 point % and seemingly nothing else, and judge his game based solely on that, which is ridiculous. This Georgia Tech game was a well played game, it just wasn't a well played offensive game. Defense is HALF the game, and Cooney and Gbinije played about as well on defense as it is possible to play. They won this game. If Howard scored 30 points offensively that would have made him about the equal on offense of what Cooney did on defense . . . he scored zero. The minutes were distributed properly and because they were distributed properly, we won.

Why do I even try to post anything. I should just wait for you to respond.

 

[Cuse House]

Cooney was awful in the first half last night, but it's hard to argue with JB's decision to keep him on the court. He was 2-4 in the second half and 3-4 from the line with 9 points. He also had 3 assists and 3 steals. Frank came in early and turned it over twice, and that sealed his fate. Plus he's just not there defensively yet.

At one point in the first half Frank was going to come in for Trevor and then G committed his second foul so Trevor stayed in and G came out.

That is a reasonable analysis. Frank did make a bad pass that was stolen, but then again, Cooney made a few as well. I guess my view is that I would rather have someone who will get the ball to others in spots to score when Cooney is off because he isn't the creater that FH is.

 

[Dave85]

Boeheim designed a 25-footer for Cooney off a curl?

In the post game interview JB was asked about going to TC after his dismal first half. He just shrugged his shoulders and said it was a designed play for TC. Maybe when they practice it though it's not from 25 feet!

 

[SarasotaPaul]

Boeheim designed a 25-footer for Cooney off a curl?

Not sure he wanted a 25 footer but he told the post game interviewer he called for that play for Cooney. He also said laughingly that he doesn't know why he called for it. Guess he suddenly remembered how off Cooney was in the first half. He also said it wasn't a good look either as the defense played it pretty well.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Cooney
+ Defense
+ Has the ability and has already proven to get us back in games as a streak shooter.
+ Foul shooting
+ Leadership and intangibles. Played a ton of minutes and had a red shirt. He's seen plenty of college basketball and been part of some big games.
- When he's cold and not making up for it by getting in the lane, pulling up or finishing on the right side, etc, hurts our percentages to get points.
- Not known to get his teammates easy looks. All or nothing most of the time when the ball is in his hands.

Howard
+ Natural PG
+ Been a great passer since high school. Makes people around him better.
- Defense
- Shooting, scoring

It's a tradeoff. Cooney still deserves the bulk of the minutes and if he's shooting the ball well, he is more important in a tight game. But for Howard, he's clearly shown that he deserves run. I trust his ability to make plays and handle the ball as a PG. And even with the current limitations, I don't think he's completely lost on defense and he should learn what other underclassmen learn eventually: go as far inside as you can to get your shot and work your way out after you get your percentages up. Dribble all the way into the paint and either pass or take your shot. Roberson slowly learned this lesson. Even Cooney, Richardson and G drive when they get cold. The fact remains that JB is going to value the guy who plays better on the defensive end. But if Cooney is ice cold and his defense effort and whatever else he's doing right isn't enough to keep us in the game, play the kid. We need another guard for this reason alone. Sometimes you need a spark. He was a spark today.

I agree with this. I think Howard is getting run. I'm a big fan but don't want him playing in the last 5 minutes of any game. I want Cooney and Silent G out there.

 

[cuseinseattle]

That is a reasonable analysis. Frank did make a bad pass that was stolen, but then again, Cooney made a few as well. I guess my view is that I would rather have someone who will get the ball to others in spots to score when Cooney is off because he isn't the creater that FH is.

I would rather have Cooney out there since he will pull a defender close even when he is cold which opens up a driving lane.

 

[Ghost]

Cooney was awful in the first half last night, but it's hard to argue with JB's decision to keep him on the court. He was 2-4 in the second half and 3-4 from the line with 9 points. He also had 3 assists and 3 steals. Frank came in early and turned it over twice, and that sealed his fate. Plus he's just not there defensively yet.

At one point in the first half Frank was going to come in for Trevor and then G committed his second foul so Trevor stayed in and G came out.

How about now? Do you now see why Cooney is in there? Different second half for him. He doesn't know how to quit. His sheer drive to win got us two crucial loose balls at the end. He sank a shot in OT that I wondered why he took it. That is until the post game interview where JB stated he called that play for him and really didn't know why.

This isn't meant to deride Cooney, who I think has been much better of late, but I do like to over-analyze TC's game to frustrate people!

A whole bunch of people were hustling their ass off to keep that play alive as you would expect (on TC's big rebound), it went up, Cooney grabbed it. If that's Richardson, it's not really going to be cited as a game-changing notable accomplishment to the any degree. That's one of those plays where "the intangibles" guy gets extra credit because he's valued for intangibles. HUGE play, Cooney is a fighter, loved it - but I think it's a bit overboard the way it's been cited a few times in various threads. He was in an area he should have been, and grabbed a ball he should have. I'm not sure how "sheer will" accomplished anything on that one. What was the other crucial loose ball?

All 5 guys were going after a ball in a scrum. It shook out in our favor.

Two of those free throws came on a 2-on-1 fast break where he should have seen the trailer, but never looked to make the play. Kind of risky at the time since he could have been blocked clean quite easily - and was missing free throws like it was his job. Worked out though.

He had some steals, Frank had one, and tipped a couple passes as well. He even dove on the floor! Cooney gets bonus points for stuff like that. The zone lends itself to guards getting lots of steals - they're guarding an area, not a man. Compared to most of our starting guards I would guess he's below average in that regard (steals). Maybe Triche would be worse? I'm sure Joseph would be if you want to count him...Steals aren't everything with defense though - obviously.

I thought FH should have seen the court for a few minutes in the first half late, maybe from the 6 or 7 minute mark down to the 2 or 3 minute mark, but otherwise, no issue with the way the PT shook out. When the offense stagnates, it's not a bad thing to have someone that is probing the defense - he had a couple nice passes, the one Lydon failed to finish most notably. It seems weird to be so dismissive of his turnovers which are passes that would lead to easy opportunities, while accepting bad shots as if it's just a necessary part of the offense. Oh, ho-hum, gotta take those shots!

In tight games like this, in the second half, most coaches are going to go with the guys they're comfortable with - and who have earned the PT. It would be hard not to. I wouldn't have pulled TC either - no chance. 5th year senior - do it up, TC!

/rant

 

[rrlbees]

Boeheim designed a 25-footer for Cooney off a curl?

25 footer?