Syracuse Game Thread

It would also be great if when Syracuse was about to take a 3 point shot instead of watching them shoot it we actually tried to make it hard for them. I know that's not what this group of players likes to do, but maybe the coaching staff will consider giving it a try.

I hate Syracuse. Seton Hall, UConn, the Red Sox, and the Lakers don't sniff my disdain for them. Last year I literally felt stress leave my body as Phil single handedly buried them into the ground. Here are my keys to victory:

1) Moose, Ron, and Durand must snap out of their respective shooting spells. These 3 need to regain their confidence, that's the biggest key.

2) Yakwe needs to get out in the fast break lanes and be found in transition. He needs to sprint end to end ala Karl Marlone/Charles Barkley, and start using his length and athleticism to his advantage. It's time that we start seeing these infamous fast break alley oops.

3) The defensive intensity needs to be amplified. CJ has been on an island, the rest of the team needs to follow suit.

4) Sima has to stay out of foul trouble, won't be easy against the likes of Dajuan Coleman.

5) We need the good Felix on Sunday. Keep the turnovers low and the +/- in our favor.

I hate Syracuse. Seton Hall, UConn, the Red Sox, and the Lakers don't sniff my disdain for them. Last year I literally felt stress leave my body as Phil single handedly buried them into the ground. Here are my keys to victory:

1) Moose, Ron, and Durand must snap out of their respective shooting spells. These 3 need to regain their confidence, that's the biggest key.

2) Yakwe needs to get out in the fast break lanes and be found in transition. He needs to sprint end to end ala Karl Marlone/Charles Barkley, and start using his length and athleticism to his advantage. It's time that we start seeing these infamous fast break alley oops.

3) The defensive intensity needs to be amplified. CJ has been on an island, the rest of the team needs to follow suit.

4) Sima has to stay out of foul trouble, won't be easy against the likes of Dajuan Coleman.

5) We need the good Felix on Saturday. Keep the turnovers low and the +/- in our favor.

Hopefully on Sunday also

game will be decided on the boards. need Yakwe playing 25.

Right now, Yakwe is the backup 5.  Him getting more minutes means Sima is on the bench.  He could possibly take a few of CJ's minutes at the 4, but CJ has been pretty productive and we need his experience on the court.  And I can't believe I'm saying this but we need his toughness against the Cuse front line.  I'm looking for a good game from Felix driving to the basket and hopefully a good shooting day from Mussini.

I'm encouraged to hear all the names of recruits who will visiting SJU for the Syracuse game.  I am also concerned that the magnitude of the beat down will discourage them from enrolling at SJU.  This is not a great Syracuse team, but this is also a pretty weak SJU team.  Oh well, we have a competent staff and I have to trust they know what they are doing.  There is a reason I'm not in charge.

Last year I literally felt stress leave my body as Phil single handedly buried them into the ground. 

We all did.  That was about as big and enjoyable a regular season win as you can have. 

Shout out to Phil for delivering it.

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Quote from: Moose on December 11, 2015, 12:13:58 PM

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Bonheim isn't trapping anything. He's suspended.

Quote from: Moose on December 11, 2015, 12:13:58 PM

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Niagara played a bunch of zone on us and our guys were lost. This is not a favorable matchup at all. It's going to be like the Vanderbilt game in Maui

Quote from: Marillac on December 11, 2015, 01:50:50 PM

Quote from: Moose on December 11, 2015, 12:13:58 PM

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Bonheim isn't trapping anything. He's suspended.

Me too.

Quote from: WillieG on December 10, 2015, 04:20:48 PM

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on December 10, 2015, 02:42:45 PM

Positives-  Not a great cuse team.
                   only play 6 guys
                   Will not pressure us
                   Should be a good crowed

Negatives - Cuse is better than us
                     60/40 cuse fans? Worse?

Don't be so sure Cuse won't pressure us.  Boeheim has pressured us under similar circumstances in the past, when we had better teams, like in 90' when we started three Frosh.  He always has a full court press in his pocket, plus he usually has a zone "extension' in his pocket.  They'll try it out on us, I'm pretty sure of it.  Especially if we do well against their standard 2-3.  And don't think just because he is not allowed to have any contact with the program during his suspension, he won't.  If you believe that I've got some swampland to sell you.

No depth. They will extend as you mentioned but I would be really surprised if they pressed except for end of game situation, which god I hope happens.

Your point about them not having depth is certainly true. If they had their normal depth we'd have seen  full court pressure for at least 30 minutes.  BTW, I still think we will see them try a press out on us at some point in this game.  Will be very surprised if they don't.  And we'll definitely see some kind of half court pressure, which will be bad for us, at least until we get ML.

As far as the recruits being at the game, I couldn't think of a worse situation to have them.  But, as Moose said, they will probably try to spin it something like "you can be the drive behind the evolution of the program.  The worst thing about it to me will be the overwhelmingly pro Syracuse crowd.  How do you spin that?  "When you're here we'll turn the orange into red."  I'm sure they know what they are doing, though.

Quote from: Poison on December 11, 2015, 02:44:06 PM

Quote from: Marillac on December 11, 2015, 01:50:50 PM

Quote from: Moose on December 11, 2015, 12:13:58 PM

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Bonheim isn't trapping anything. He's suspended.

Me too.

I truly believe that JB  abided by the rules and did not talk to Hopkins this week.  What a joke.  You know he did.

Any coach that doesn't press us should be fired. Syracuse may only play  6 guys but they have more. If I were coaching against us I would hound mussini from the opening tip off.

Quote from: Marillac on December 12, 2015, 06:48:31 AM

Quote from: Poison on December 11, 2015, 02:44:06 PM

Quote from: Marillac on December 11, 2015, 01:50:50 PM

Quote from: Moose on December 11, 2015, 12:13:58 PM

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Bonheim isn't trapping anything. He's suspended.

Me too.

I truly believe that JB  abided by the rules and did not talk to Hopkins this week.  What a joke.  You know he did.

Why would he even bother to do that for a game against this St.John's team? We're going to completely ignore their three point shooters, and the game will be over in the first 5 minutes. There is no preparation that Boeheim would need to assist with. We do nothing well.

Quote from: WillieG on December 12, 2015, 12:27:00 PM

Quote from: Marillac on December 12, 2015, 06:48:31 AM

Quote from: Poison on December 11, 2015, 02:44:06 PM

Quote from: Marillac on December 11, 2015, 01:50:50 PM

Quote from: Moose on December 11, 2015, 12:13:58 PM

Maybe its all part of the process.
Come see us get smoked and tell the recruits they can change it.

I think this is as favorable a matchup as we can ask for from a decent ACC team. Our guys seem to do well with space and passing. They were built to torch zones. They just can't guard anyone and can go for 25 turnovers any given night. Boeheim will trap occasionally at half court and traps everything in the short corner.

Bonheim isn't trapping anything. He's suspended.

Me too.

I truly believe that JB  abided by the rules and did not talk to Hopkins this week.  What a joke.  You know he did.

Why would he even bother to do that for a game against this St.John's team? We're going to completely ignore their three point shooters, and the game will be over in the first 5 minutes. There is no preparation that Boeheim would need to assist with. We do nothing well.

A lot of truth to what you say poison, but that's just not how coaches think.  He's going to put pressure on us and that's just how it's going to be.  It will not be a close game in my opinion, although I hope I am wrong.

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on December 10, 2015, 08:06:08 PM

Quote from: WillieG on December 10, 2015, 04:20:48 PM

Quote from: Amaseinyourface2 on December 10, 2015, 02:42:45 PM

Positives-  Not a great cuse team.
                   only play 6 guys
                   Will not pressure us
                   Should be a good crowed

Negatives - Cuse is better than us
                     60/40 cuse fans? Worse?

Don't be so sure Cuse won't pressure us.  Boeheim has pressured us under similar circumstances in the past, when we had better teams, like in 90' when we started three Frosh.  He always has a full court press in his pocket, plus he usually has a zone "extension' in his pocket.  They'll try it out on us, I'm pretty sure of it.  Especially if we do well against their standard 2-3.  And don't think just because he is not allowed to have any contact with the program during his suspension, he won't.  If you believe that I've got some swampland to sell you.

No depth. They will extend as you mentioned but I would be really surprised if they pressed except for end of game situation, which god I hope happens.

Your point about them not having depth is certainly true. If they had their normal depth we'd have seen  full court pressure for at least 30 minutes.  BTW, I still think we will see them try a press out on us at some point in this game.  Will be very surprised if they don't.  And we'll definitely see some kind of half court pressure, which will be bad for us, at least until we get ML.

As far as the recruits being at the game, I couldn't think of a worse situation to have them.  But, as Moose said, they will probably try to spin it something like "you can be the drive behind the evolution of the program.  The worst thing about it to me will be the overwhelmingly pro Syracuse crowd.  How do you spin that?  "When you're here we'll turn the orange into red."  I'm sure they know what they are doing, though.

Hand out rose colored glasses to the recruits.

We are underdogs by 8.5 points. That line makes no sense to me. We were underdogs to Fordham by 6.5 and didn't even come close to covering. Even though that was a road game, this game should be treated more like a neutral site game than a home game. Not sure why Syracuse would only be favored by 2 more points against us than Fordham was