U16 down 48-39. Butler killing us. We arent getting back and turnovers. Make it easy on them and we will get torched

Surprised Butler was out there out of the timeout

Cuse defense has visibly picked up and we haven't adjusted. The easy baskets could end up being the difference in the game.

U12 timeout down 55-45. Cuse is now 7-12 from 3. Butler needs to stay out. Amari is making stuff happen when in and helping break their zone.

U8 down 61-50. We are doing ok. We can't defend them when they get out and run. We are turning it over more and cuse is making us pay. Some of our passes are now too predictable.

2:53 remaining. We are back to looking poor on defense and Cuse opened it up. 71-52

Game has gotten away. Just not crisp enough in the second half.

Amari has really shown well. This team is loaded with depth. Thats exciting.

1:13 left down 75-56. Turnovers got us in the 2nd half. There is a lot to like though.

Forced a couple of turnovers to cover the spread. We fell 75-60

Yep, hard not to be happy overall. Going up to Syracuse for their first D1 game of the season is a tough ask, and it should provide some good lessons for the team going forward with some other tricky OOC games coming up.

We relied on the 3 too heavily. I hope when we don't play a Syracuse type team we would be more balanced and go inside more.

Just got home and watched the first half. I'll just pretend that the 2nd half didn't exist, so I'm going to sleep after watching Cam Wynter win the game on a buzzer beater.

(11-14-2021 08:00 PM)Dragon For Life Wrote:  We relied on the 3 too heavily. I hope when we don't play a Syracuse type team we would be more balanced and go inside more.

Against a zone with length you have no choice. We created many open looks with great passing, which is all you can ask for. We dont have the athletes to get to the rim fast to beat a lengthy 2-3 zone. unless you want a block fest from Syracuse. Our game plan was solid and well executed in the first half. Then we got careless with the ball in the 2nd half.

With that said, We are guard heavy in a 4 out offense. We have good shooters, expect over 20 3 pointers a game. As Boeheim said in the post game, we have 4 shooters on the court at a time. It will be tough to defend with that many threats at a time. This game give me hope that the hype we all have in this team, may actually be realized this season

I'm also expecting that to be Butler's worst game of the year. Syracuse has to be the worst matchup for him on the schedule. He'll get his going forward.

Butler is slow against big teams. He was a nightmare out there yesterday. So I was glad to see Spiker and company realize this and gave Amari as much run as he possibly could. When you are at the top of the key against a zone, you have to either be able to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket or be an excellent passer. You cant be turning it over from that spot, or else it becomes a disaster as they run out. Amari had 21 minutes to Butlers 19. Amari had a heck of a game for us and looks the part that is potentially ready to dominate the CAA.

Edit: FWIW Cam struggled too. Both guys have struggled against good competition. However, we wont be playing Syracuse type teams often, so thats the good news.

i can't add much to what's already been said. it's disappointing on one hand to say wynter and butler had tough games. on the other...it shows spiker is bringing in more talent since we were able to go to the bench and stay afloat at least in the first half.

there was a comment made somewhere that all butler did during the offseason was work on a midrange game. we need a post presence...not another shooter. hopefully he can be more effective under the basket starting wednesday. we're going to be really tough if we can go inside/outside.

it's just nice to be looking forward to games again. first time in a long time.

Mid range game is fine because it forces the defense to defend you further out. It helps spread the defense. With that said, use it to draw the defender and then beat them with a pump fake or getting to the basket. Or pass out from under to the shooters. Being a non-threat from mid range isnt all the helpful since he isnt going to just bang down low. The game of basketball as a whole doesnt really do that anymore.

i did want to mention i like what i see from melik martin...more in some intangibles than anything else. we've brought in some transfers who were closer to cancers than leaders. he strikes me as the opposite. i feel like he's going to provide some good leadership as the season goes on. he seemed to communicate well with everyone and was off the bench giving support. little thing...but can go a long way to keeping the team together through a long season.

(11-15-2021 02:52 PM)dan10 Wrote:  The game of basketball as a whole doesnt really do that anymore.

i was thinking about this during the game and on the way home since i had visions of frank elegar hitting that sky hook all night back in 2006 when we beat them. hard as it is to believe...that was 15 years ago. quite a bit has changed since then including how basketball is played like you mentioned.

i don't think it has changed for the good unfortunately. i miss the days of the big bodies banging down in the post. it doesn't mean we can't play that way though assuming we can get the players who can do that. i'd like to see williams play with his back to the basket. there have been some great undersized big men like butler (givens, that guy from gmu on their final four run) who were crafty enough to be a threat.

otherwise we're relying on the three point shot and undersized guards to get to the rim. i like cam...but i don't see him as a physical player like bashir mason who will go at contact. we also don't have these combo type guys with good size who can get into the paint...unless martin becomes that type of player.