bigappleram wrote:DH is no different than most coaches. They have a philosophy and system and stick to their guns, even through adversity. That was the point. Maybe the Cuse could have 5 national titles if Boeheim played more man-to-man, or maybe they would have 0 and he would have been fired a long time ago. Hindsight is 20/20 and the easiest job is to sit back and second guess after knowing the outcome.
2nd easiest job = just maintain constant pessimism and 'or else'ishness.
The defensive approach they prefer here isn't straight up man to man. There's a little more to it than that, and when it's executed correctly with the right personnel, it's literally one of the best defenses in the country. So why make major changes? He also said before the season and all the injuries that they were going to play some zone and they did.
bigappleram wrote:DH is no different than most coaches. They have a philosophy and system and stick to their guns, even through adversity. That was the point. Maybe the Cuse could have 5 national titles if Boeheim played more man-to-man, or maybe they would have 0 and he would have been fired a long time ago. Hindsight is 20/20 and the easiest job is to sit back and second guess after knowing the outcome.
2nd easiest job = just maintain constant pessimism and 'or else'ishness.
OOOOOH-HA-HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boeheim didn't always play a 2-3 zone defense full-time until the Carmelo Anthony NCAA Championship squad.
Boeheim said he realized that if the Orange was going to play zone, it had to do it all the time.
"So finally it dawned on me,'' said Boeheim, "after about 27 or 28 years, finally, takes me a while, that if we played zone all the time and didn't waste time playing man to man and put some wrinkles in the zone because we had more time to practice it, that our defense would be better.''
It's not second guessing if you're saying it in the moment.
I can't tell you how many times I lost my voice at
Keaney yelling "GET OUT OF THE ZONE!" to
Brendan Malone.
Penders showed with the same players, going man
to man with uptempo offense, got the best out of
his players.
That said, a situational zone to keep out of foul trouble or
if a team is short handed, is smart.
Cooley did that exclusively three years ago for those reasons.
Flexibility over rigidity works every time.
I like to think the syracuse zone is a numbers game. They play it the whole game and basically say "We like the odds that you can't hit enough shots to beat us" and ignore streaky shooting thorughout the game. Basically gaming teams into shooting towards an average rate and lose. And sure enough, the year everyone says is a "Down" year, the teams they are playing cant beat them.
That zone just doesn't sit back and let guys fire up uncontested 3's.
If players want to shoot 25+ ft. shots, then yes.
When it comes to tourney time, teams not in their league have a hard time against it.
Even league teams do, when they turn up the pressure. Look what happened to Virginia, one of the best at not getting rattled, did.
It's not just their defense. They are making shots too. Good time to do it.
They remind me of UConn when they won their last 2 titles. Defense steps up, and the shots that didn't always fall during the regular season, start to when it counts.
That being said, I expect their magical run to end against UNC. But under pressure, UNC has been known to wilt. So who knows?
Virginia could have won the game.
How many times did they easily break the press,
only to mess up on the way to the basket?
They just flubbed on finishing.
I agree...VA should've won the game. When Syracuse started to press, I thought it was going to go the same way VA's previous game went...layup city, end of ballgame. But, much to my great surprise..they kept botching the finish at the basket. Am still amazed....
I don't think I've seen that many breaks
messed up in one game.
Easily 10 or more points could have resulted.
UVA kids will see those in their nightmares.
Speaking of Elite 8 nightmares....am still having those.........
It was all my fault. I was watching the end of another program that day, and switched back to the game just as fucking Arthur Lee started our downfall with that lucky 3 pt. shot.
I had switched away from the game a couple minutes earlier, thinking "we got this!".
Wait. You turned off at the end of a
game that would have sent URI to it's first Final Four?
Wow!
As a fan, anyone would want to savor the moment.
Unless Jesus was making a live appearance on TV,
nothing would have made me switch stations.
I was in a daze for days after that.......went to Casey's the day after....was a morgue......couldn't and wouldn't read anything about it....or listen to the radio....
Turn off the Stanford game? I recall Al Maguire scolding Tyson for prematurely celebrating and being scared that Al was right. He was.
I don't get the idea we were robbed in 1978. It was a great game that came down to a few missed freebies and a John Nelson missed jumper.
The 1988 game was a different story.
^ I would say Frank would have to be odds-on favorite to be the next guy to go "Woody Hayes" on a player....wouldn't even have to be an opponent necessarily....
As exciting as the first two rounds were, and maybe a couple of other good games later on, this has been one of the worst in terms go good basketball. The games last night were like watching the last couple of split-squad exhibition baseball games.....
Anyone notice the between-games thing about the special-needs game? They showed pre-game locker-room talks and the coaches were Tan-o-rama Tom and St. Daddy-o the Great.
Proudly supplying the Internet with online wisecracks, impertinent comments and loathing of all things mental hospital since 1996.
I still think Villanova takes it all. They're playing better with every game.
Besides, how else could this season for A10 ( and URI) fans end but with a Big East national champion?
the ncaa womens final has Syracuse playing UConn.the uri women lost 67-54 at Syracuse this past season.imo the team seemed to underperform the rest of the year with a sub 500 record
OT, but Auriemma hasn't had the top recruiting class
in 3 years.
Everyone plays by the same rules.
Nobody has accused UConn of cheating.
Players are fine in academics and do well after
graduation, outside of basketball.
Maybe Geno is just better than everyone else?
People keep wanting Geno to move to a men's team. Why would he?. Anything he does would seem disappointing compared to his UCONN career.
He's comfortable coaching women and doesn't have to worry about players bailing after a season.
Geno will retire as the UConn coach. It's a pretty cushy gig.
Just like K. People have said why not coach in the NBA? Why would he?
Besides, he's coached the national team, made up of pros. He's done it all......and I don't think he'd want to coach guys day in and day out who make more than he does.....
BTW, anybody been to Storrs lately? The place is a shrine to UConn basketball.....the facilities are light years ahead of anything URI could ever do....