One very important take-away from the SU game | The Boneyard

One very important take-away from the SU game

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As much as we are all disappointed with the loss, especially the last 6 1/2 minutes when they had it down to just 2 points, there is one significant silver lining I see with this game.

They had some long stretches of success in the SU game that the coaching staff can now point the players to and get them to focus on executing on a more consistent basis. I didn't feel that way throughout many of the prior games leading up to the SU game. I guess they had a few stretches in the UL game, but IMO, not nearly as sustained as in the SU game.

UConn has a bad stretch during the middle of the first half where they went down by 10, then battled back to get it to down to 3 with 1:40 to go, before hitting wall #2 allowing SU to go on a 7-0 run to close the half up by 10. I thought they played very well in the 2nd half, getting to one-possession-down at the 6:30 mark. But Scoop Jardine's back to back 3s, which stretched the lead out to 8, were like two hard lefts to the head that staggered UConn from which never recovered. I think that's when the TV went haywire. If Tyler hit that 2nd FT, allowing our D to set up, or maybe even forcing SU into a TO (I don't recall them calling a TO after the 2nd miss), maybe UConn gets another stop and the last 6 1/2 play out differently, thought that's not the point of this post. Tyler didn't help matters by immediately turning it over, leading to Jardine's 2nd 3 pointer.

On a side note, it's amazing how important it is to have shooters who you can count on to knock down a 3-point dagger or two. We had that back in the day with Shad and I wish Lamb and Boatright, and even Bazz could do that for UConn. Early in the season we were getting that from Bazz & Lamb, but our 3 pt shooing has been MIA till Saturday where they went 8-19. Note that SU countered that big time shooting the 3, 10-16...wow, that's stroking it an incredible clip (%).

Getting back to my original point here, I believe there is a lot that this team can take from the SU game and build on.

Having two in a row at home, against a struggling DePaul team and hot Marquette team, gives them a shot at building some critical momentum. If they can get their BE record to 7-7 and begin to feel good about themselves, the coaching staff and team can really focus on just 4 games to make their NCAA statement.
 
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I'm pretty sure TO missed the 1st and made the 2nd free throw. The turnover by TO after the 1st 3 by Jardine was pretty costly. After the 2nd 3 by Jardine, Bazz go fouled and missed the 2nd, which led to the Waiters drive +1 (AD foul).

Not saying that that miss was as big as the turnover, but that 2nd free throw could've cut the lead to 6, but instead it was 10.

Didn't matter really I guess.

I agree with you about the way the team played. If they played like this over the past month, they could've beaten many of those teams, except probably gtown and louisville.

I think the whole season is riding on these next two games - get some momentum with Depual and then beat a ranked opponent in Marquette
 
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I'm pretty sure TO missed the 1st and made the 2nd free throw. The turnover by TO after the 1st 3 by Jardine was pretty costly. After the 2nd 3 by Jardine, Bazz go fouled and missed the 2nd, which led to the Waiters drive +1 (AD foul).

Not saying that that miss was as big as the turnover, but that 2nd free throw could've cut the lead to 6, but instead it was 10.

Didn't matter really I guess.

I agree with you about the way the team played. If they played like this over the past month, they could've beaten many of those teams, except probably gtown and louisville.

I think the whole season is riding on these next two games - get some momentum with Depual and then beat a ranked opponent in Marquette
Thanks for the correction on the FTs. Between the feed going in-and-out and the horrible ending to that game, it's all a big fuzzy horrible memory.

You gotta hand it to SU. Just when UConn had turned the momentum, they plunged the dagger and never let UConn get back up.

SU is going to be very hard to beat in the tournament. Not only do teams need to handle their crazy zone, they have the ability to beat you offensively in so many ways. If you don't get back, they'll make you pay. If you don't have size, they'll drive it and pound it inside. If you can't guard the perimeter, they'll torch you from outside. Maybe I'm wrong, but the only way a team is going to beat them is to limit their transition game, take away their interior game (which IMO is their weakest part of their arsenal), and hope they have a poor 3 pt shooting night, making them beat you from outside.

You can't afford to have a bad shooting night against SU if you expect to beat them. Their ability to counter missed opportunities with points at the other end is among the best in the country. Appart from the total collapse at during the last 6 1/2, I thought the game could have turned out differently if UConn had not missed some critical shots close to the basket, something they continue to struggle with. UConn tends to give up some critical points after their guards take it to the basket and the team fails to convert. The defensive rotation to fill in behind the guards has been very poor most of the season. If they had scored on some of those drives (via the shot or dish) they not only get points but it allows them a little more time to get back and set up their D. I can recall at least a couple times they missed easy shots and SU came back and made them pay on the next possession, making it a 4 to 5 point swing. You just can't do that against good offensive-counter teams like SU.

I'd like to see them jump all over DePaul early and win that first one with a well sustained and executed game, setting them up for a tough battle against Marquette. In addition to being a momentum win, it would give them a W over a top 25 team, a definite boost to their fledgling resume.
 
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The one that killed me was Giffey's wide open 3 at Syr. Man, it was at a point where it would have given us a big charge, there was nobody near him . . . Just missed.
 
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Sorry to disagree but as I have said for YEARS JB gets the best material and has little to show for it. 1. He wins with Melo after the NCAA allows him 2 home games in ALB. 2. Has not made the Elite 8 except for Melo since 1990.3. NO one will win the Big Dance with a chicken manure zone that most good teams can break .4. Recall the noise 2 years ago when they had Wes Johnson--- defeated on the 2nd weekend. Help me out ---the Cuse lost to #15 Richmond in the Dance. Great guy great friend of JC and Uconn but an under achiever . Admittedly he has won a lot of games,most of them against inferior opposition at Manley and the Dome. Old timers (like me) recall JC's first team that beat the Cuse at THE DOME 51-50!!!!!
 
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husky1964, I have to say that I agree with you on Boeheim and Syracuse. I think he and they are remarkably overrated for the results they've produced over the years. the one national championship saves him from being Jamie Dixon with a bad haircut. I see some relatively unknown team that lives and dies by the 3 beating the orange by hitting a bunch of them early. That oddball zone works in the regular season, but when you go up against those crazy mid-majors who figure their only chance is to hit from their own end, it suddenly doesn't hold up too well. It's funny but if you look at some of the teams they've lost to shows that it is one thing to be under pressure form a conference peer. But it is somehow different when you are in a pressure game against Richmond or Vermont. It is easy to panic and Syracuse has done paniced time and time again.
 
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Has not made the Elite 8 except for Melo since 1990.3. quote].

They were in the National Championship game in 1996, with a team that was nowhere near as good as uconn, so they definitely overachieved that year.

I think Cuse is good enough to beat anyone this year, but I still am not convinced that they have the smarts to do it
 
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