Syracuse @ Georgia Tech, Saturday February 27th @ 12pm

  • Thread starter Deleted member 2897
  • Start date

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
Featured Member
Messages
14,332
Location
Atlanta
Lot of context missing here.

blah, blah, blah ....

Having said all that, I recognize there's no place for defending our upcoming opponent in this thread. I may be giving @kg01 the confidence to share his support as well. He talks about Boeheim and Cuse more than anyone and it gets exhausting.

*gasp*

Did you just out ourselves as a kg burner?
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
18,898
X-Factor to watch: Moses vs Dolezaj

Since Cuse plays exclusively 2-3, there isn't really a head-to-head here on both ends. This is entirely about foul trouble and lack of viable replacements. Both teams play a 4 at the 5 for the same reasons. No capable replacements (Cuse starting center Sidibe is out for the season). If either team can force the other's de facto big man into foul trouble, the odds of success greatly increase.

If I'm Cuse, I drive at Moses and pump fake him down low and pray it somehow gets him in foul trouble. There's no significant evidence to believe this will work, other than Dolezaj is actually good with the ball and a capable driver, but a couple happy whistles is all it takes. Even if Moses picks up a few fouls, it might force us into zone defense which will open up Cuse's offense. Potentially Moses slides to guarding Guerrier, then that creates other match-up scenarios (Dolezaj can post too).

Defensively, Cuse isn't good. It's not worth the time/mental space to talk about who plays high post, etc. on offense. We should be fine provided we have constant movement and don't default to a single attack strategy. Last year was the least athletic Cuse team I could remember, and this year's team is less athletic than last year's (replace Hughes with Griffin/Richmond).
 

kg01

Get-Bak! Coach
Featured Member
Messages
14,332
Location
Atlanta
Yes. We'd be favored on a neutral court for good reason.

Wait .... which one is 'we'?

huh.gif


(C'mon Cuse, I haven't bother you all year. I owe you. :D)
 

augustabuzz

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,401
"I said, ‘Sir, couple things: first of all, this is not intramurals … nor is it the Love Boat, where everybody gets served cocktails at 4 p.m.’ I said this is men’s college elite basketball.

And I said the ‘air ball’ chant has been going around since Dr. James Naismith invented the game. I said I guarantee you if one of our guys air-balled the ball at the Carrier Dome at Syracuse, 30,000 people would be chanting air ball for the entire game.”

The Man, The Myth, The Sideburns and FaceShield Himself
No, we were chanting, "Hairball!" The cat was making a mess on the floor.
 

Deleted member 2897

Guest
Lot of context missing here.

First, I agree he didn't need to respond to the question on his radio show the way he did. That's it and probably the most important point if nothing else is read. So I agree that he could have presented his opinion in a way of coach speak that doesn't say anything. Of course, it's not reported that the context of the conversation was around why Duke was playing better. Boeheim was Boeheim in his response, for better and for worse.

Second, his point wasn't that Jalen Johnson was a cancer. His point was that the team's roles are better defined and it's a better mix for success. And, he was right. They knocked off Virginia the next game too.

He does this with everything. I assume your comment about "STILL" picking fights is related to his comments immediately after the Syracuse vs. Duke game. Seems like a relevant forum. He's not picking fights with Bilas - they are great friends - and Bilas said as much during his color commentary of the Duke Syracuse game. He attempted to clarify for those who only read/hear Twitter and ESPN soundbites and didn't listen to his radio show, which is basically 99% of everyone as far as I can tell. And he mostly failed in his attempt to clarify as he just rambled and mixed in a comment or two that didn't make sense.

Having said all that, I recognize there's no place for defending our upcoming opponent in this thread. I may be giving @kg01 the confidence to share his support as well. He talks about Boeheim and Cuse more than anyone and it gets exhausting.

Yea good points. I mean, he's not a cheating rat bastard like Coach K or an aw shucks I'm too dumb to know how to cheat Roy Williams - he's just a salty old grumpy (tired out) bastard.

jim-boeheim-asleepjpg-8aa34069cbbf8b69.jpg
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
18,898
From the 'Cuse board: ACC Games for Feb 22-24
Ga. Tech is a team I think could end up in the tournament that bracketlogists just ignored the entire season.

They are sneaky solid.

They pounded Va. Tech.
Moses Wright is going to destroy us inside.
A UVA fan then chimed in:
Watch out for Alvarado as well!
With another adding:
And devoe
 

JDjacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
626
From the 'Cuse board: ACC Games for Feb 22-24

A UVA fan then chimed in:

With another adding:
It’s pretty crazy to me. Watched a decent amount of college ball this season considering the amount of games postponed and we look like a tournament team from the eye test. But those 2 early season losses are hanging around our neck. Not being able to close out @ UVA @ Duke and @Clemson did not help us build our case either.
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
18,898
It’s pretty crazy to me. Watched a decent amount of college ball this season considering the amount of games postponed and we look like a tournament team from the eye test. But those 2 early season losses are hanging around our neck. Not being able to close out @ UVA @ Duke and @Clemson did not help us build our case either.
Beating Syracuse and Duke at home would give us two more quad 2 wins. That would put us at 6-0 in quad 2 games, assuming nothing else changes, which would be one of the best in the country in that category. That would be a very nice offset to a bubbly quad 1 profile.

 

YlJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,167
I expect we'll play more man this game. Realistically Syracuse's only path to success is to rain 3's, and they have enough weapons to hit from deep and make it a factor.

In a m2m defense we have the advantage at most every position. The only possible advantages Cuse can take advantage of in the half court if we're playing man, none of which I see as surefire issues:
  • Buddy Boeheim may still be able to get his shot off around Devoe
  • Guerrier is going to be tough for either Usher or Moore if he plays in the paint due to strength/size
  • Back-up frosh guard Kadary Richmond is going to be real good and can drive/use his size. He'll be the solution assuming Jose or someone shuts down Girard, which should be easy enough for Jose.
If Bubba plays and we go man, I expect Syracuse will attack that size advantage relentlessly. They really do a good job isolating on match-up advantages particularly when it comes to size. Boeheim is actually one of the better back-to-the-basket players too, which I see him going to in m2m.
I am worried that Boeheim will back whoever is guarding him into the paint around the foul line and simply shoot over them. he's been doing that all year though most people don't realize it because they just watch him shoot threes. He has developed the ability to dominate a game offensively either way.

if we play man I don't expect to see much of bubba. while not incredibly athletic Syracuse is long and bubba would have issues. and to your point about getting Moses and foul trouble, Dolezei does a lot of ball handling including driving to the basket (usually looking for kicks). That is going to put a lot of pressure on Moses to not reach all the way from the 3 point line to the paint.

Syr is going to score so we will have to make sure we run our stuff against the zone and make shots. Do that and we should win. If we have to depend too much on D, I get worried.
 

lv20gt

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,546
I am worried that Boeheim will back whoever is guarding him into the paint around the foul line and simply shoot over them. he's been doing that all year though most people don't realize it because they just watch him shoot threes. He has developed the ability to dominate a game offensively either way.

Our recent starting line up is pretty well suited to deal with that. Devoe, Usher, Moore, and Moses are all 6-5 plus and Jose has shown the ability to defend bigger guards anyways. Plus, while I don't doubt Buddy is capable of it in ACC play he has 75 made shots and 36 of them are threes. That is he's scoring 48% of his FGs from behind the arc. Hauser at UVA is 48.8% and Devoe is at the exact same 36 of 75. Nobody else really comes close to that %. Again, that isn't to say he can't do it. He can, and might get a couple of baskets that way. But it's probably closer to Mike being able to score off the drive. Can he do it? Sure. Can it really hurt? If the match up is right (I would try to keep Bubba off him). But if he has a big night it will almost certainly come from damage from behind the arc.
 

CuseJacket

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
18,898
I am worried that Boeheim will back whoever is guarding him into the paint around the foul line and simply shoot over them. he's been doing that all year though most people don't realize it because they just watch him shoot threes. He has developed the ability to dominate a game offensively either way.

if we play man I don't expect to see much of bubba. while not incredibly athletic Syracuse is long and bubba would have issues. and to your point about getting Moses and foul trouble, Dolezei does a lot of ball handling including driving to the basket (usually looking for kicks). That is going to put a lot of pressure on Moses to not reach all the way from the 3 point line to the paint.

Syr is going to score so we will have to make sure we run our stuff against the zone and make shots. Do that and we should win. If we have to depend too much on D, I get worried.
Our recent starting line up is pretty well suited to deal with that. Devoe, Usher, Moore, and Moses are all 6-5 plus and Jose has shown the ability to defend bigger guards anyways. Plus, while I don't doubt Buddy is capable of it in ACC play he has 75 made shots and 36 of them are threes. That is he's scoring 48% of his FGs from behind the arc. Hauser at UVA is 48.8% and Devoe is at the exact same 36 of 75. Nobody else really comes close to that %. Again, that isn't to say he can't do it. He can, and might get a couple of baskets that way. But it's probably closer to Mike being able to score off the drive. Can he do it? Sure. Can it really hurt? If the match up is right (I would try to keep Bubba off him). But if he has a big night it will almost certainly come from damage from behind the arc.
I think you're both right in ways. @YlJacket - you obviously have watched quite a bit as your takes are on point.

I'd rather us take our chances on Buddy back-to-the-basket than play zone D and give him the opportunity to scorch us from deep. He's listed at 6'7" and is improving in the post by using his body/angles, and therefore has proven he can protect the ball well against most guards. Outside of stand-still threes, it's his next best weapon since he's... unathletic.

Only thing I'd slightly correct is that Dolezaj hasn't been taking many threes this year even when unguarded. So if Moses draws that assignment, he doesn't need to extend much beyond the foul line extended to alleviate some of Dolezaj's ability. Might make sense to put Moses on Guerrier so that Moses can play even closer to the basket and assign someone like Usher or Moore to guard Dolezaj. He might be able to post up better as a result though (6'9"/6'10").
 
Top