Why do you hate me?Once again it is a tail of two teams in the Carrier Dome. The first team playing lights out in the first half leading by as much as 19, and the second team allowing Cincinnati to go on a 10-0 run and not score a field goal in the last four minutes in the game. Disgusted is about the only word for it. It is a good thing I was busy, otherwise I would have needed to get hammered.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new ATM on the team. Taking the coveted spot from former Orange player Louie McCroskey, Josh Wright is the new Automatic Turnover Machine for Syracuse. Committing five in the previous contest against Villanova, and another five against Cincinnati, I think he easily earns the title. In 19 games so far he is averaging 3.2 turnovers a game. Coupled with the fact he is only averaging 4.9 assists a game, this is not good. In addition to averaging just over 31 minutes, he is only gaining 8.8 points a game. This, for the starting point guard for the Orange, is unacceptable.
Turnovers in general were a huge problem for the Orange last night. Syracuse committed 21 turnovers, while Cincinnati only committed eight. The big stat of the night, however, is Cincinnati gained 22 points off Syracuse turnovers, while Syracuse only gained seven. This, combined with the fact that we didn’t hit a field goal after the clock ticked to 4:27 in the second half, equals a scary night for the Orange.
The good news is that Demetris Nichols continued his good Big East play going 7-12 on field goals, 4-9 on three pointers, and 4-4 from the charity stripe on his way to 22 points. We can only hope this trend of scoring continues later in the season.
The team shot well from the free throw line making 17 of 21 for an 81% day. The Orange also outrebounded Cincinnati 37 to 35. As long as the team can match or beat other teams in rebounding there is a chance to win (or in this case blow) the game.
Team defense is improving despite the second half as well. Syracuse held Cincinnati to 36.4% shooting on the day. Previously, they held opponents to close to 30% the last 3 games. If this continues they put the team in a good position to win the games as well.
In summary, Syracuse blew this game hardcore and should be lucky to have escaped with a win, because we really didn’t deserve it. I’d love to make a prediction on personal and what the scheme will be for the next game but after this I have no clue with Boeheim will do. Stay tuned to the daily disaster that is our basketball team.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new ATM on the team. Taking the coveted spot from former Orange player Louie McCroskey, Josh Wright is the new Automatic Turnover Machine for Syracuse. Committing five in the previous contest against Villanova, and another five against Cincinnati, I think he easily earns the title. In 19 games so far he is averaging 3.2 turnovers a game. Coupled with the fact he is only averaging 4.9 assists a game, this is not good. In addition to averaging just over 31 minutes, he is only gaining 8.8 points a game. This, for the starting point guard for the Orange, is unacceptable.
Turnovers in general were a huge problem for the Orange last night. Syracuse committed 21 turnovers, while Cincinnati only committed eight. The big stat of the night, however, is Cincinnati gained 22 points off Syracuse turnovers, while Syracuse only gained seven. This, combined with the fact that we didn’t hit a field goal after the clock ticked to 4:27 in the second half, equals a scary night for the Orange.
The good news is that Demetris Nichols continued his good Big East play going 7-12 on field goals, 4-9 on three pointers, and 4-4 from the charity stripe on his way to 22 points. We can only hope this trend of scoring continues later in the season.
The team shot well from the free throw line making 17 of 21 for an 81% day. The Orange also outrebounded Cincinnati 37 to 35. As long as the team can match or beat other teams in rebounding there is a chance to win (or in this case blow) the game.
Team defense is improving despite the second half as well. Syracuse held Cincinnati to 36.4% shooting on the day. Previously, they held opponents to close to 30% the last 3 games. If this continues they put the team in a good position to win the games as well.
In summary, Syracuse blew this game hardcore and should be lucky to have escaped with a win, because we really didn’t deserve it. I’d love to make a prediction on personal and what the scheme will be for the next game but after this I have no clue with Boeheim will do. Stay tuned to the daily disaster that is our basketball team.
You might need this game to help you cope with these close/terrible games.
Labels: Basketball
With Wright fumbling the ball more often than Tiki Barber circa 2003, you have to wonder who's going to be running the point next year. Could it be Jonny Flynn? The Cuse Country crew was fond of saying during the national championship season that "offense and freshman leadership" would lead us to the Promised Land. We weren't wrong. Maybe it'll work next year too.
I think that is a very valid point. Freshman, along with some other great players, led us to dancing in New Orleans. With such a fantastic recruiting class coming in, as well as one on deck I have a feeling Syracuse will be very good in the near future. I just hope that this NBA rule preventing kids from entering from high school doesn't create all these kids that leave after year 1. I like the career players like Gerry that are maybe not the best on earth, but always contribute and are the glue guys.
Either way, something has to be better then Wright right now.
If I'm not mistaken, this blog was in love with Josh Wright a few games ago. In all actuality if you look, he's always been playing this horrible just some games he got away with it. He plays sloppy, stupid, and selfish his entire career. I hope Jimmy doesn't play him and he takes a cue from Louie and transfers. I've hated both since the moment they stepped on the court.
JC,
Your research might be a bit cursory. If you notice in the Rutgers and 'Nova Postgame Reactions I merely talked about his free throw shooting, good or bad. I know I have criticized his decision making ability, much like Matt Glaude has. In the Marquette analysis we both commented that it is good to see Josh Wright see some more minutes on the floor, both to relieve Devenforf from having to do everything, but also because this meant that Paul Harris would not be on the floor then, as he has been an offensive black hole in the Big East.
Moral of the story is when Wright has played well we gave him a good review, for lack of a better term. Same for when he was playing bad. Over the last few games, however, I've stated his performance has been unacceptable at best, and gave him the prestigious title of ATM for the team. For me, this makes him Public Enemy #1.
On Wright --
Unlike most writers, I have no problem adjusting my opinion of a player as performances aggregate. To maintain a constant criticism or optimism is foolish; relevant facts and circumstances obviously dictate a proper appraisal.
The fact of the matter is that despite Wright's penchant for dribbling into difficult situations and making poor decisions distributing the basketball, he has not really done a poor job overall on the season.
His offensive rating is over 100.00 on the season, he has an effective field goal percentage just north of 50, and has solid assist rate (27.6) and free throw rate (81.8) numbers. Plus, he's knocking down 74.1% of his charity stripe attempts.
That is not that bad.
What he really needs to do is cut down on the turnovers (his turnover percentage is a mind-boggling 30.4 -- almost 8 points higher than Devendorf). The more Wright gets adjusted on the floor, the more he will improve. This is basically his first year logging significant minutes. When he has time to develop he should play pretty functionally.
But if you hate him, you hate him. And if your opinion is that concrete, the above is probably nonsense.