Alright all, sorry for the mass 10 month hiatus. It was a blast in Alaska, a great spring with a Cuse Lax Championship, and so far a dismal fall football season...
But alas! Its hoops time again. I'll be back at it this year, as I have a little extra time on my hands. The last half of last year I couldn't spare the time to think about blogging at all. Anyway I'll be back at it, most likely in conjunction with CuseOrange.com (great set of forums if I do say so myself), and will keep updated with the usual pregame breakdowns and post game analysis. Might even fit some liveblogging in.
Anyway, I did blog a bit during my trip to the northern regions, and it can be found here: Preab San Ol! I'll be back later in the week with a full preseason breakdown and what not.
~Steve
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
John Wallace vs. Marcus Camby?
Sorry I've been slacking, but I'm back again.
Well, UMass started out 4-5 from three and haven't been able to score since. Devo and Greene both have their touch, Jonny is seeing the court well, and go figure... Harris is crashing the boards as always.
Luke Bonner for UMass, brother of former Gator and current Spur Matt Bonner, is 7'1" and can stroke like Greene.
UMass is on another run, we need to get back on D better. I think any team that makes or lets us run this year will be in for a rough time. Transition ball has been huge this game.
10:30 in the half. We need to limit turnovers from sloppy passes still. It's amazing how one pass will look like a highlight reel worthy play, and the next will be out of bound by 20 feet. I don't know what we're doing about that. Defense is still in my opinion the main liability on this team. We just fell asleep on an inbounds and let their point run the floor for an easy layup.
Devo seems to have all facets of his game working. He's been solid driving, good in transition and hitting his threes. He's also not been looking bad on D. Of course he misses a good look three as I'm typing this.
Flynn is making things happen. He's dishing well and driving well, while still looking inside out to pass. Overall our D is still looking sloppy, we need to get back and get out on shooters. On a good note, the rebounding is definitely there.
GREENE THROWS IT HOME!!! Of course its off a dish from Flynn.
Harris hit a three... I think Hell hath frozen over!
Flynn with 6 dishes so far, Harris with 12 pts, Greene with 12, this is a fun team to watch.
Come out at the half with some solid D, and were up by 12.
Flynn is seeing everything tonight. The D is looking solid as hell. We have only seen minimal minutes from the bench with Scoop, KO and Ricky getting about 3 minutes each.
AO just gets tackled, UMass is still hitting threes. Scoop's floater reminds me of Josh Pace, that little floater around the rim, so pretty. D definitely looks a lot better this half, has allowed us to open up a bit of a cushion
So it's 76-71 Cuse right now. We're on pace for over 100, problem is they almost are too. We need to get out on shooters, stop playing so loose and buckle down on defense. If you can't tell, its a recurring theme here tonight.
Scratch what I said about defense, we're getting tired out there. You can tell...
So it's a one point game out there. Mass has the ball. These last few posessions our O has settled down. Onuaku is a beast. I'll have more about him tomorrow. I don't know what the deal is, the D has looked better, and now Mass is hitting everything even with the world in their face. This Brower kid can shoot.
Well, UMass started out 4-5 from three and haven't been able to score since. Devo and Greene both have their touch, Jonny is seeing the court well, and go figure... Harris is crashing the boards as always.
Luke Bonner for UMass, brother of former Gator and current Spur Matt Bonner, is 7'1" and can stroke like Greene.
UMass is on another run, we need to get back on D better. I think any team that makes or lets us run this year will be in for a rough time. Transition ball has been huge this game.
10:30 in the half. We need to limit turnovers from sloppy passes still. It's amazing how one pass will look like a highlight reel worthy play, and the next will be out of bound by 20 feet. I don't know what we're doing about that. Defense is still in my opinion the main liability on this team. We just fell asleep on an inbounds and let their point run the floor for an easy layup.
Devo seems to have all facets of his game working. He's been solid driving, good in transition and hitting his threes. He's also not been looking bad on D. Of course he misses a good look three as I'm typing this.
Flynn is making things happen. He's dishing well and driving well, while still looking inside out to pass. Overall our D is still looking sloppy, we need to get back and get out on shooters. On a good note, the rebounding is definitely there.
GREENE THROWS IT HOME!!! Of course its off a dish from Flynn.
Harris hit a three... I think Hell hath frozen over!
Flynn with 6 dishes so far, Harris with 12 pts, Greene with 12, this is a fun team to watch.
Come out at the half with some solid D, and were up by 12.
Flynn is seeing everything tonight. The D is looking solid as hell. We have only seen minimal minutes from the bench with Scoop, KO and Ricky getting about 3 minutes each.
AO just gets tackled, UMass is still hitting threes. Scoop's floater reminds me of Josh Pace, that little floater around the rim, so pretty. D definitely looks a lot better this half, has allowed us to open up a bit of a cushion
So it's 76-71 Cuse right now. We're on pace for over 100, problem is they almost are too. We need to get out on shooters, stop playing so loose and buckle down on defense. If you can't tell, its a recurring theme here tonight.
Scratch what I said about defense, we're getting tired out there. You can tell...
So it's a one point game out there. Mass has the ball. These last few posessions our O has settled down. Onuaku is a beast. I'll have more about him tomorrow. I don't know what the deal is, the D has looked better, and now Mass is hitting everything even with the world in their face. This Brower kid can shoot.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Gametime at the Garden
Sorry I've been slacking off lately, but a few other things have required my time. Now to the issue at hand. Tonight, Weds. November 21st, the 'Cuse heads to NYC to take on Ohio State at Madison Square Garden.
The Syracuse Orangemen vs. The Ohio State University Buckeyes
It looks to be another rumble, and a good test for our young kids. Seeing some top competition this early in the season can only be a good thing and I'm sure we'll learn from it win or lose.
First off a recap of our season stats:
Overall, we distribute points fairly evenly over the five starters. All five are in double figures. Its also good to have some low post guys who can score in Onuaku and Jackson. If we can maintain the scoring diversity we should be able to go a ways this year. Also, the A:T ratio shows that Flynn after his one bad 5TO game seems to alleviating that issue and is now at a 4:1 clip almost. People wonder why I have so much confidence with the ball in his hand (Sorry Josh)...
Now OSU's Season Stats. I'm going 3 deep on the bench based on playing time for comparison's sake.
As you can see, Koufos, this years version of Greg Oden for them, is their leading scorer. Contrary to the Cuse though, they rely primarily on Koufos, Butler and Lighty to make their buckets. Butler is their shooter, at 9-18 from behind the arc. Hopefully the zone stretches to him, and AO, Rick and Greene don't get out of position down low on Koufos.
Lighty is the slasher/scorer/midrange guy (Think Devo, but more apt to pull up).
Koufos is my major concern though. Rick and Arinze give up 3 inches to this guy, though both weigh as much as he does. If one of them can stay bodied up on him at all times, and use the physical game on both ends of the court that I have seen out of them so far, I think we may be able to get him in foul trouble early. Jackson and Onuaku have not shyed away from the physical game yet, and if they bang hard down low on Offense, they will both be getting to the stripe, as Koufos will have to go over them to defend anything.
Overall the post will be the key to this game, along with the obvious limiting of turnovers. If we can handle Koufos down low, while getting production out of our two big men, we come away victorious.
The Syracuse Orangemen vs. The Ohio State University Buckeyes
It looks to be another rumble, and a good test for our young kids. Seeing some top competition this early in the season can only be a good thing and I'm sure we'll learn from it win or lose.
First off a recap of our season stats:
Player | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | TO | FG % | 3PT % | A:TO Ratio |
Donte Greene | 19.0 | 8.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 0.553 | 0.421 | 0.4 |
Eric Devendorf | 16.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 0.500 | 0.385 | 1.2 |
Arinze Onuaku | 13.7 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.667 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
Jonny Flynn | 13.0 | 3.3 | 7.7 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.538 | 0.700 | 3.8 |
Paul Harris | 12.7 | 11.7 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 0.444 | 1.000 | 1.0 |
Rick Jackson | 6.3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.750 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
Scoop Jardine | 1.7 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.250 | 0.000 | 0.8 |
Kristof Ongenaet | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.250 | 0.000 | 0.3 |
Now OSU's Season Stats. I'm going 3 deep on the bench based on playing time for comparison's sake.
Player | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | TO | FG % | 3PT % | A:TO Ratio |
Kosta Koufos | 18.5 | 7.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.619 | 0.667 | 1.0 |
Jamar Butler | 17.5 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.550 | 0.500 | 6.5 |
David Lighty | 17.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.625 | 0.333 | 2.7 |
Othello Hunter | 12.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.579 | 0.000 | 1.0 |
Evan Turner | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.250 | 0.333 | 3.0 |
Kon Diebler | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.100 | 0.111 | 1.0 |
PJ Hill | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.250 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
Matt Terwillinger | 2.5 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.0 |
As you can see, Koufos, this years version of Greg Oden for them, is their leading scorer. Contrary to the Cuse though, they rely primarily on Koufos, Butler and Lighty to make their buckets. Butler is their shooter, at 9-18 from behind the arc. Hopefully the zone stretches to him, and AO, Rick and Greene don't get out of position down low on Koufos.
Lighty is the slasher/scorer/midrange guy (Think Devo, but more apt to pull up).
Koufos is my major concern though. Rick and Arinze give up 3 inches to this guy, though both weigh as much as he does. If one of them can stay bodied up on him at all times, and use the physical game on both ends of the court that I have seen out of them so far, I think we may be able to get him in foul trouble early. Jackson and Onuaku have not shyed away from the physical game yet, and if they bang hard down low on Offense, they will both be getting to the stripe, as Koufos will have to go over them to defend anything.
Overall the post will be the key to this game, along with the obvious limiting of turnovers. If we can handle Koufos down low, while getting production out of our two big men, we come away victorious.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
1-0, Best way to start the Season...
It's gonna be brief tonight folks, as I have some non-SU things needing my attention. We beat Siena last night. Not a big surprise, but watching it, there were a few moments I thought it would roll downhill. The sharpshooting and general poise of Jonny Flynn, who dropped a Syracuse Rookie First Game Record of 28 points, kept us in it.
Overall on O we need to settle into the offense more, some things looked forced or rushed.
On D we need to get that back line in the zone to learn how to stay home. Also, the trap out of the zone looked lackadaisical at best.
Be back with more tomorrow hopefully.
SU is on ESPN2 at 7pm. against St. Joseph's tonight.
It won't be an easy game, as this is a veteran club with talented athletes, and we all know they can shoot year in and year out.
Overall on O we need to settle into the offense more, some things looked forced or rushed.
On D we need to get that back line in the zone to learn how to stay home. Also, the trap out of the zone looked lackadaisical at best.
Be back with more tomorrow hopefully.
SU is on ESPN2 at 7pm. against St. Joseph's tonight.
It won't be an easy game, as this is a veteran club with talented athletes, and we all know they can shoot year in and year out.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Let the Games Begin!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages...
Syracuse University
proudly presents, the 2007 'Cuse Hoops season!!
Overdone? Yes. Corny? Yes. Am I still pumped about tonight? Hell Yes. Jordoo on the RealCuseFans forum summed it up best. Today was like Christmas Eve, and tonight we get to open the presents and see what we've got...
Tonight we take on the Siena Saints, another young team, well coached, and are preseason favorites to win the MAAC. Granted they lost on Friday to James Madison, 100-88.
Starting Line-ups:
Syracuse Orange vs. Siena Saints
J. Wright/J. Flynn - PG - Ronald Moore 6'0" 149
Eric Devendorf 6'4" 178 - SG - Kenny Hasbrouck 6'3" 192
Paul Harris 6'5" 228 - SF - Edwin Ubiles 6'6" 197
Donte Greene 6'11" 226 - PF - Cory Magee 6'7" 223
Arinze Onuaku 6'9" 258 - C - Josh Duell 6'7" 259
Syracuse Orange vs. Siena Saints
J. Wright/J. Flynn - PG - Ronald Moore 6'0" 149
Eric Devendorf 6'4" 178 - SG - Kenny Hasbrouck 6'3" 192
Paul Harris 6'5" 228 - SF - Edwin Ubiles 6'6" 197
Donte Greene 6'11" 226 - PF - Cory Magee 6'7" 223
Arinze Onuaku 6'9" 258 - C - Josh Duell 6'7" 259
Except I'm more excited about tonight than I am during the Yuletide season.
Some questions I'm looking to answer tonight:
- Will Wright be back in the starting lineup after his ankle injury, or did Flynn secure his spot?
- Will the young guns get the jitters in their first actual game?
- Is Devo going to show the poise and knowledge of the flow of the game that he did in the preseason?
- Does Arinze not foul out after the first 3 minutes?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Syracuse vs. LeMoyne: Round 2
Obligatory Halftime Rant:
Well, its a whole different team than we saw on Sunday in a lot of ways. AO has shown some offensive prowess, Greene can be legitimized as being damn good, Harris is back to playing his game (erratic at times, but hits the boards hard and hustles). One thing that concerns me is Flynn's A:T ratio tonight. 2:3 right now. He's definitely bringing an aspect of hustle and playing some tenacious D (Yes, I had to say it).
All in all, the zone looked fine, we weren't collapsing as well as you would expect, but that will come with time. The trap out of the zone is something they will need to get accustomed to. We have big men that can score. I would like to see Donte in the post more, but he is showing a Warrick like game tonight, with some mid-range post moves and also made the masses realize his 3 point shooting is not a fluke.
On to the action:
Looking good after the half. Came out with a great deal of hustle, everyone running. One thing I'm noticing this half is that it's been a while since we've had this much chemistry this early. Everyone seems to be willing to dish. No one is afraid to take the shot. They're playing with a poise I wouldn't expect out of a squad this young, and you can tell they're having a great time doing it.
Also, Greene has 21...
Greene is up to 26, Williams is now in. Granted I can't really give any feedback on him other than he needs to work on some offensive positioning. He hasn't been involved in any sort of plays at all. Devo with 4 fouls, so it looks like we'll be going young for a while. Also, its now 78-44...
Williams with his first statistic as an Orangeman! An assist to Jackson!
Team assist to turnover right now is 19:11.
The Hyphen is now noted as being the worst dancer on the team according to the TW26 announcers... Harris throws down a hard oop from Devo in transition. From what I see the zone could use a touch of work, but thats what the non-conference schedule is for right?
Double double now for Devo, showing his distribution ability. Presutti is checking in, good to see him get some court time. Flynn's ability to hit the three will really open up some possibilities for us this year. Jackson also has a double double.
Presutti finishes the game off with a 3, a fitting ending.
Final: Syracuse, 109 - LeMoyne, 59
Well, its a whole different team than we saw on Sunday in a lot of ways. AO has shown some offensive prowess, Greene can be legitimized as being damn good, Harris is back to playing his game (erratic at times, but hits the boards hard and hustles). One thing that concerns me is Flynn's A:T ratio tonight. 2:3 right now. He's definitely bringing an aspect of hustle and playing some tenacious D (Yes, I had to say it).
All in all, the zone looked fine, we weren't collapsing as well as you would expect, but that will come with time. The trap out of the zone is something they will need to get accustomed to. We have big men that can score. I would like to see Donte in the post more, but he is showing a Warrick like game tonight, with some mid-range post moves and also made the masses realize his 3 point shooting is not a fluke.
On to the action:
Looking good after the half. Came out with a great deal of hustle, everyone running. One thing I'm noticing this half is that it's been a while since we've had this much chemistry this early. Everyone seems to be willing to dish. No one is afraid to take the shot. They're playing with a poise I wouldn't expect out of a squad this young, and you can tell they're having a great time doing it.
Also, Greene has 21...
Greene is up to 26, Williams is now in. Granted I can't really give any feedback on him other than he needs to work on some offensive positioning. He hasn't been involved in any sort of plays at all. Devo with 4 fouls, so it looks like we'll be going young for a while. Also, its now 78-44...
Williams with his first statistic as an Orangeman! An assist to Jackson!
Team assist to turnover right now is 19:11.
The Hyphen is now noted as being the worst dancer on the team according to the TW26 announcers... Harris throws down a hard oop from Devo in transition. From what I see the zone could use a touch of work, but thats what the non-conference schedule is for right?
Double double now for Devo, showing his distribution ability. Presutti is checking in, good to see him get some court time. Flynn's ability to hit the three will really open up some possibilities for us this year. Jackson also has a double double.
Presutti finishes the game off with a 3, a fitting ending.
Final: Syracuse, 109 - LeMoyne, 59
Syracuse vs. LeMoyne
Alas, I will not be able to live blog this, as my laptop has decided to be a satan-spawned pile of trash and not work anymore. I will be back at the half with highlights and updates though...
Flynn's hustle will be what wins games for us this year. I just had to put that in writing. 2 steals on back to back plays, hustling for boards. The kid is a trooper.
Post D is sloppy. We're slacking off our man. It's mostly Jackson who is at fault, saw AO do the same thing. And Paul hasn't learned not to shoot a 3 yet...
2nd Timeout: So far it seems like were showing more affinity for the mid-range game, something I like. Solely man so far, but that's expected in the exhibitions. Ongenaut is showing some serious potential, seems to be a very fundamental player, though he needs to finish harder. I like to see people making the right cuts though.
Greene with 13 points so far. We're moving in transition, court vision and speed are greatly improved from last year. Devo is still a liability in the man sets. Overall this team will be a blast to watch.
All five frosh on the court, someone needs to take some leadership role on the court. You can tell theyre all young when they're on the court together.
Saw the zone for the first time, looked ok, forced a 3. Moved to a press, Pressure D looks solid, Post feeds look phenomenal. AO with 7 straight points.
Williams got in just before the half. That wingspan is as gangly as it sounds. His arms touch his knees when he walks.
Flynn's hustle will be what wins games for us this year. I just had to put that in writing. 2 steals on back to back plays, hustling for boards. The kid is a trooper.
Post D is sloppy. We're slacking off our man. It's mostly Jackson who is at fault, saw AO do the same thing. And Paul hasn't learned not to shoot a 3 yet...
2nd Timeout: So far it seems like were showing more affinity for the mid-range game, something I like. Solely man so far, but that's expected in the exhibitions. Ongenaut is showing some serious potential, seems to be a very fundamental player, though he needs to finish harder. I like to see people making the right cuts though.
Greene with 13 points so far. We're moving in transition, court vision and speed are greatly improved from last year. Devo is still a liability in the man sets. Overall this team will be a blast to watch.
All five frosh on the court, someone needs to take some leadership role on the court. You can tell theyre all young when they're on the court together.
Saw the zone for the first time, looked ok, forced a 3. Moved to a press, Pressure D looks solid, Post feeds look phenomenal. AO with 7 straight points.
Williams got in just before the half. That wingspan is as gangly as it sounds. His arms touch his knees when he walks.
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