Five Takeaways: Colgate 100 Syracuse 85


ThePearl

Well-known member
Good points. I am more concerned with rebounding than defense. Our forwards aren't rebounding. Benny hasn't shown any ability to rebound yet. In the last two games, he's played 38 minutes and gotten 1 rebound. Not sure why he doesn't rebound, he's an athletic 6'8". Swider had 2 rebounds in 24 minutes yesterday. That's 46 minutes for Benny and Cole with three rebounds. Brutal. There's no one guy we can rely on to grab a lot of rebounds every game, like Quincy. We can't win without all of our frontline guys hitting the boards and fighting for every rebound.

Not the biggest concern, but I was surprised that Buddy didn't try more to take over the game. He might be emphasizing putting it on the floor for mid-range shots too much. That should complement his three-point shooting, not the other way around. He was 2-6 from three. He should be taking ten threes a game and making four of them. At his size, he should be able to get more shots over defenders. If Colgate can stop him from being a spot-up three point shooter, then so will every other team we face, and that's supposed to be the strongest part of his game. As a team, we only made seven threes yesterday, and that's with Joe going off again for five of them. We're not beating too many good teams with only seven threes. On the positive side, Buddy did not have a strong game but he still scored 19 points. That's what scorers are supposed to do, put up points every game, not dip down into the single digits when they have an off game.

In good news, it is very unlikely we play another team this season that is as well-equipped to attack our zone as Colgate is. They did to us what I hope we do to a lot of teams this year--space the floor with a lot of shooters and move the ball quickly to get them an open look. A pass can move twice as fast as a dribble and it exposes our lack of quickness. As we got more desperate in the second half, we were increasingly scrambling after the ball but couldn't catch up to it in time. I'd rather play an athletic iso team that stands around confused against our zone.

I still expect us to play well at Atlantis. I would hate to be VCU on Wednesday.
 

MikeMcAllister

Administrator
Staff member
Good points. I am more concerned with rebounding than defense. Our forwards aren't rebounding. Benny hasn't shown any ability to rebound yet. In the last two games, he's played 38 minutes and gotten 1 rebound. Not sure why he doesn't rebound, he's an athletic 6'8". Swider had 2 rebounds in 24 minutes yesterday. That's 46 minutes for Benny and Cole with three rebounds. Brutal. There's no one guy we can rely on to grab a lot of rebounds every game, like Quincy. We can't win without all of our frontline guys hitting the boards and fighting for every rebound.

Not the biggest concern, but I was surprised that Buddy didn't try more to take over the game. He might be emphasizing putting it on the floor for mid-range shots too much. That should complement his three-point shooting, not the other way around. He was 2-6 from three. He should be taking ten threes a game and making four of them. At his size, he should be able to get more shots over defenders. If Colgate can stop him from being a spot-up three point shooter, then so will every other team we face, and that's supposed to be the strongest part of his game. As a team, we only made seven threes yesterday, and that's with Joe going off again for five of them. We're not beating too many good teams with only seven threes. On the positive side, Buddy did not have a strong game but he still scored 19 points. That's what scorers are supposed to do, put up points every game, not dip down into the single digits when they have an off game.

In good news, it is very unlikely we play another team this season that is as well-equipped to attack our zone as Colgate is. They did to us what I hope we do to a lot of teams this year--space the floor with a lot of shooters and move the ball quickly to get them an open look. A pass can move twice as fast as a dribble and it exposes our lack of quickness. As we got more desperate in the second half, we were increasingly scrambling after the ball but couldn't catch up to it in time. I'd rather play an athletic iso team that stands around confused against our zone.

I still expect us to play well at Atlantis. I would hate to be VCU on Wednesday.
Can’t argue with your points my man. Well said.
 


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