Two Thoughts from UConn Game...
by Nebkreb on Feb 11, 2012 3:44 PM EST
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Besides the obvious storylines, I loved two things about this game. One, how aggressive the team was consistently. Joseph led the way in that he drove to the basket and tried to finish. Drew fouls, hit layups. So much better than constantly kicking it outside for three pointers. Our half court offense isn't THAT bad, its just that we settle for three pointers too much.
The second thing was closeouts on three point shooting. The entire game, Cuse closed out HARD on jump shots. Waiters actually caused a 4 point play which is dumb, but still. I remember one where a UConn guard had a wide open three pointer because 4 of the Orange defenders were in the paint. He was expecting a guard to close out as he is gearing up to shoot when all 7 feet of Fab Melo comes flying at him, leaping straight up with TWO hands extended up. Needless to say, the shot clanked off. Zone defense is all about rotation and activity. Stay active and rotate and the defense is successful.
Also, how awesome were Fab's jump shots today? If he can do that 2-3 times a game, he will find the paint that much more open. Quality win all around, great play from wire-to-wire. On to Louisville!
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Also, how awesome were Fab's jump shots today? If he can do that 2-3 times a game, he will find the paint that much more open.
If he can do that 2-3 times a game, it will open up the baseline for someone else to cut across for a layup.
Go Cuse!
....And Georgetown still sucks!
CRS/HST '05
fab's jumpers
if he returns for his jr. season (my feeling is he will) then he’ll likely do that 3-4 times every other game just to keep teams really honest, which will mean he’ll be double/triple teamed at times, leaving open Coleman/Christmas/Fair along the baseline or Triche/Waiters/Cooney on the perimeter. if he can hit it consistently, this team just became that much more dangerous.
why would he come back?
He is a defensive presence, a true 7 footer, with good hands who is learning how to rebound very quickly. He has shown a great potential for improvement and has gads of “potential” which NBA GMs drool over. Now he has Nowitzski range to go along with it (hyperbole intended – but damn, those were nice jump shots) – A deep SU run and continued play like this from Fab and he is a lottery pick…
Agree
I don’t think Fab will be back. It’s pretty obvious school isn’t for him and he is oozing potential right now. His timing on the block shots is so good that it makes Keita look like a JV player when Melo sits. A legit 7’1 big man with good hands and a good feel for the game? He’s going to be in the first round definitely and wouldn’t surprise me if he was a lottery pick. Enes Kanter was a lottery pick without playing one game.Derrick Favors only averaged 12 and 8 his one season at GT and went in the top 5.
He let a few of those fly last season too
He needs more practice to remain consistent, but his stroke has always been good looking. If he can keep it up, he’l be the first big man Syracuse has had in a long time that was a threat outside of 6 feet (Matt Gorman doesn’t count). That’s a very valuable commodity.
As for Fab’s draft stock, it’s hard to argue that he’s not a likely first round pick. He’s big, athletic, plays smart defense, works hard and has some semblance of an offensive game. He’d be a project in the NBA for sure, but one that would have a better chance of panning out than, say, Hasheem Thabeet. If he went, I wouldn’t hate him for it.
But, as it stands right now, he’s a mid-first rounder. Another summer with the Brazillian national team and another college season to showcase his improvement, and he could end up a top 5 pick. So, not only will be be more ready to play, but they way the rookie wage scale is set up, the difference between top 5 pick and mid-first rounder is significant.
"If I ain't gonna be part of the greatest, I gotta be the greatest myself." Busta Rhymes
by FeloniousPhunk on Feb 13, 2012 9:45 AM EST up reply actions
Backdoor cuts all day
Assuming Fab’s defender plays him up top a little tighter…
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
Not to mention
Fab was posting Up well, we just weren’t feeding him.
Noticed that too
Love to see them try to post him up every once in a while, especially if he is being guarded by an undersized big. Would bring a new dimension to the offense.
Also how about the rebounding,
it seemed like they were more focused on rebounding in this game than in the last few?
Bubba Army
by AdirondackOrange on Feb 11, 2012 4:23 PM EST reply actions
The all around effort from everyone was great, but I think everyone missed the play of BMK
He didn’t light up the scoreboard, or have any highlight plays. He was a monster on defense though. He was out sized by a lot against Drummond(40-50lbs) and stood his ground. He was fighting his ass off trying to deny him and did so for the most part. It’s small things like that that help win games in the tourney.
A Georgetown degree is life's technical foul. - H/T HoyaSuxa
Follow @theNYsportsguy
You are correct.
His hands are….poor, I mean, they just are. But his positioning was crucial in the middle of the zone. He didn’t really let any easy ones in there.
Born in '87, Orange fan since '86
by StealthTurkey on Feb 11, 2012 6:38 PM EST up reply actions
I want to buy him 2 years worth of stick-em
but putting cream cheese on a bagel is a violation so that has to be too.
A Georgetown degree is life's technical foul. - H/T HoyaSuxa
Follow @theNYsportsguy
by theNYsportsguy on Feb 11, 2012 7:08 PM EST up reply actions
Gotta disagree
I thought BMK was working really hard (as he always does), but he always leaves his feet and continually got bullied inside.
Fab should have given BMK the 35 pounds he lost during the offseason.
by Rocklionheart on Feb 11, 2012 9:22 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed
Its interesting to watch the Cuse big men. Most of Melo’s blocks come from help defense (someone else is beat but Melo swats the shot), except the jump shots he blocks (which I LOVE). I think Cuse big men are taught, when guarding a guy in the post, not to jump for the block but rather to just be as big as possible and make him shoot OVER you. BMK does this a lot especially against guys who physically are bigger, like the UConn bigs. Multiple times I saw him just put his arms up and wait, and the UConn big missed the layup. No chance of a foul and its surprisingly successful.
But definitely, BMK played his sort of game today. Hustle, rebounding, solid defense. That’s what we need out of him.
Also, player injuries are never a good thing...
but Drummond rolling his ankle came at a really convenient time for us. You could tell he got fired up after Fab embarrassed him with that profane block, and with Fab’s foul trouble there was no way BMK could handle him.
They shouldn't have put him back in
he was still limping, and could have done damage that might prevent him from playing for a while.
I think it took their mojo away a little bit
But he would have picked up his 4th foul pretty soon anyway. He would have had to sit for an extended stretch regardless of the injury.
But that's precisely the point....
Our half court offense isn’t THAT bad, its just that we settle for three pointers too much.
That is a major reason why our half court O struggles more often than it should. We settle for a 1 or 2 pass possession ending in a launched 24 footer far too often. That’s bad offense. I really, really, really wish we’d see a lot more movement, both with the ball and screens, but that’s not a JB offense. It’s predicated on one-on-one play, so we aren’t likely to see many possessions with 6-8 passes like other teams do, unfortunately.
Part of me hopes Fab can start knocking those down, but part of me hopes he stops shooting them altogether. I find it hard to believe he can consistently knock it down, but if he can, it’s even less likely he comes back next year. Selfishly, I hope he stop shooting them…
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
Ranking Top 10 Offense Options +1
1. Dion taking the ball to the rack
2. CJ taking a mid-range jumper
3. KrisJo getting the ball 10-12 feet from the basket and taking his guy off the dribble
4. Scoop taking it to the rack
5. Scoop driving and dishing to KrisJo on the perimeter for a 3
6. Triche coming off a screen and immediately shooting
7. Feeding that Big Bastard in the paint.
8. Finding a wide-open or relatively open Southie
9. Lobs, Lobs, Lobs
10. Scoop shooting (this moves up the list in clutch situations)
.
.
.
.
Option 3095672. Passing the ball to brick hands Baye
Cuse fan in ACC country.
I'll take a shot at this
1. Scoop driving- Scoop is a great finisher for a guy with sub-par size/atheticism.
2. Scoop drive and dish- either for a 3 or a dump off for a layup.
3. Dion drving- He’s a finisher, but when he drives he always shoots. He needs to dish more.
4. KJ getting the ball in the mid-range- He’s got enough moves to get to the rim, create an open shot or draw a foul, so long as he doesn’t have to dribble too much.
5. CJ in the high post/paint/baseline- He kills it there
6a. Triche off a screen for 3
6b. KJ/Southie catch and shoot for three
7. Fab in the post- He has a move or two now and is a good passer out of the post.
8. Scoop throwing lobs- The ’Cuse is Lob City East.
9. Dion trying to create offense 1-on-1
10. Southie doing anything but dunk or shoot spot up 3s
"If I ain't gonna be part of the greatest, I gotta be the greatest myself." Busta Rhymes
by FeloniousPhunk on Feb 13, 2012 9:58 AM EST up reply actions
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