Arrasian Foolishness - Threat Level: Orange
It is time for me to tell you about my beloved Syracuse. You can learn the most about a team by looking at its defeats, its weaknesses. Syracuse did not lose to an unranked team all year, the only Division 1 program that can claim this.
Loss #1: OK St in MSG, 74-60
This one was incredibly intense for 35 minutes. Having watched more OK St games, I think the cowboys played the game of their year, hitting us with Big East-like physicality. In the end we lost because OK St went on a little run at the right time, and because the defensive intensity was so high, we immediately panicked.
Loss #2: at Pitt, 76-69 AND Loss #4: v. Pitt 68-64
In both games, we led and even dominated for large stretches. The second game required a pretty insane performance by Krauser to close the gap. Bottom line is we couldn't handle Pitt's defense, which is the epitome of Big East's intensely physical D. (Side note: Pitt can make a run in the Albuquerque region because they are the only ones who play any defense. They will be stopped if the non-Big East refs call a tight game and put them in foul trouble.)
Loss #3: UConn 74-66 AND Loss #6: at UConn 88-70
The first game marked The Leap for Terrance Roberts, to borrow an SG term. Mookie played well too, which allowed us to stay in the game. We would have won if the game had been played 5-on-5 instead of 8-on-5 (SU had 9 more fouls than UConn). The second game was tied at half. Then the 2nd half was the only time the whole year, besides the final 5 minutes of the OK St game, when we were not in a basketball game. Both games UConn won with their great frontcourt and their physical play. Also, Calhoun owns Gerry.
Loss #5: at BC 65-60
This game and the 2nd Pitt game, Hak had 12 points. Since those two games he hasn't scored any less than 20. He only went to the line 4 times in those two games. Since then, he's been in double figures for FTAs in 5 of the 6 games. I think we can all agree he's played the best basketball of his life over that stretch. Overall, our frontcourt stunk in the BC loss. We lost on the boards by 9, and we only made 8 ASTs. That's a tribute to BC's good, physical interior D.
Key word: physical
So how do you beat us? Be physical with Hak like dirty ol' Chevon Troutman is. Have forwards and/or centers who are more physical than Forth-Watkins-Roberts like UConn does. Clog the lane and put your best defender on Gerry to make all his shots tough like Calhoun does. Basically, watch the tapes from the UConn games.
And then watch the tape from the last UConn game and be afraid, because UConn did all that and still got blown out of the water for most of the game. What happened? Watkins and Roberts got better. They can match UConn's frontcourt physicality now. Roberts can score a little, maybe a lot if he had the chance. Watkins is a force on the glass. McCroskey looks comfortable with his minutes off the bench and can hit a 3. So can Hak (don't laugh). Suddenly, Gerry isn't our only shooter. Even D-Nic finally got one to fall against WVU, and who knows if he can carry that into the tourney. Our sophomores arrived. That's why we beat UConn. Finally, they are playing like Jim said they would. And if they keep doing that, we're going to be a tough out.
Prediction:
I am afraid of Coppenrath having a special ending to his great career PLUS the fact that VT's coach is retiring, which ALWAYS is a clue for an upset in March. But coming from the green mountains of Vermont, Coppenrath has only seen creatures like Darryl Watkins in his nightmares. I say he gets squashed.
Michigan St just lacks the talent.
Duke will be the game of the region. I picked Duke with my initial gut pick on Monday, but my official pick will probably be SU.
And I think both Kentucky and OK are over-rated. No way OK is better than OK St. And Chuck Hayes will be stymied by our zone.
Overall, there is a chance Hak is the best player in the entire region right now, which is always a good thing to have in basketball. If Terrance and Mookie keep playing strong, and Gerry doesn't have to do it all as our #2 guy, we can make the final 4.
That's where the run stops, because we won't beat UConn again, and UNC or Kansas has the big guys to thwart us as well. Florida is getting beaten by Ohio, as I'm sure Dan is picking. We'd beat Nova, if they made it that far. We wouldn't beat Bucknell, because they did something we couldn't: beat Pitt in Pitt.
Whatever happens, I'll always love Craig Forth.
Loss #1: OK St in MSG, 74-60
This one was incredibly intense for 35 minutes. Having watched more OK St games, I think the cowboys played the game of their year, hitting us with Big East-like physicality. In the end we lost because OK St went on a little run at the right time, and because the defensive intensity was so high, we immediately panicked.
Loss #2: at Pitt, 76-69 AND Loss #4: v. Pitt 68-64
In both games, we led and even dominated for large stretches. The second game required a pretty insane performance by Krauser to close the gap. Bottom line is we couldn't handle Pitt's defense, which is the epitome of Big East's intensely physical D. (Side note: Pitt can make a run in the Albuquerque region because they are the only ones who play any defense. They will be stopped if the non-Big East refs call a tight game and put them in foul trouble.)
Loss #3: UConn 74-66 AND Loss #6: at UConn 88-70
The first game marked The Leap for Terrance Roberts, to borrow an SG term. Mookie played well too, which allowed us to stay in the game. We would have won if the game had been played 5-on-5 instead of 8-on-5 (SU had 9 more fouls than UConn). The second game was tied at half. Then the 2nd half was the only time the whole year, besides the final 5 minutes of the OK St game, when we were not in a basketball game. Both games UConn won with their great frontcourt and their physical play. Also, Calhoun owns Gerry.
Loss #5: at BC 65-60
This game and the 2nd Pitt game, Hak had 12 points. Since those two games he hasn't scored any less than 20. He only went to the line 4 times in those two games. Since then, he's been in double figures for FTAs in 5 of the 6 games. I think we can all agree he's played the best basketball of his life over that stretch. Overall, our frontcourt stunk in the BC loss. We lost on the boards by 9, and we only made 8 ASTs. That's a tribute to BC's good, physical interior D.
Key word: physical
So how do you beat us? Be physical with Hak like dirty ol' Chevon Troutman is. Have forwards and/or centers who are more physical than Forth-Watkins-Roberts like UConn does. Clog the lane and put your best defender on Gerry to make all his shots tough like Calhoun does. Basically, watch the tapes from the UConn games.
And then watch the tape from the last UConn game and be afraid, because UConn did all that and still got blown out of the water for most of the game. What happened? Watkins and Roberts got better. They can match UConn's frontcourt physicality now. Roberts can score a little, maybe a lot if he had the chance. Watkins is a force on the glass. McCroskey looks comfortable with his minutes off the bench and can hit a 3. So can Hak (don't laugh). Suddenly, Gerry isn't our only shooter. Even D-Nic finally got one to fall against WVU, and who knows if he can carry that into the tourney. Our sophomores arrived. That's why we beat UConn. Finally, they are playing like Jim said they would. And if they keep doing that, we're going to be a tough out.
Prediction:
I am afraid of Coppenrath having a special ending to his great career PLUS the fact that VT's coach is retiring, which ALWAYS is a clue for an upset in March. But coming from the green mountains of Vermont, Coppenrath has only seen creatures like Darryl Watkins in his nightmares. I say he gets squashed.
Michigan St just lacks the talent.
Duke will be the game of the region. I picked Duke with my initial gut pick on Monday, but my official pick will probably be SU.
And I think both Kentucky and OK are over-rated. No way OK is better than OK St. And Chuck Hayes will be stymied by our zone.
Overall, there is a chance Hak is the best player in the entire region right now, which is always a good thing to have in basketball. If Terrance and Mookie keep playing strong, and Gerry doesn't have to do it all as our #2 guy, we can make the final 4.
That's where the run stops, because we won't beat UConn again, and UNC or Kansas has the big guys to thwart us as well. Florida is getting beaten by Ohio, as I'm sure Dan is picking. We'd beat Nova, if they made it that far. We wouldn't beat Bucknell, because they did something we couldn't: beat Pitt in Pitt.
Whatever happens, I'll always love Craig Forth.
posted by Prof. A at 11:24 a.m.
3 Comments:
What about the poor free throw shooting in the OK St. game?
I nodded throughout your post, Paul, it was good. You got the losses down. But, while you touched on the key to beating us, I don't think you hit the nail on the head. This is the nail: We cannot shot. This is hitting it: Guard only Gerry, put everybody else in the lane. Don't let Josh drive, contest all offensive boards. Let Hakim "prove" those threes he hit against UConn.
It's not exactly a "physical" issue. Every time Darryl Watkins steps on the court, we have the most intimidating physical presence out there. The guy is a monster. Combined with Roberts and Warrick, our frontcourt can bang with anybody. Anybody. It's only foul trouble that threatens our supremacy.
But, shooting? Damn. We cannot.
I agree with Fyall. That's why our emerging depth on offense is important in so many ways.
Anonymous, I'd be naive not to think our FT shooting woes could cost us. But I'm actually comfortable with Hak shooting a FT late in the game. I might be wrong, but he seems to be a little better. And Gerry is a weapon late in the game when we get him the ball and force the D to foul him.
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