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bearcat18 said:
Syracuse's lack of depth is going to hurt them in the tournament. They basically play 5 or 6 guys. Yeah they have a nice starting 5 but you need more than that.

Florida-Auburn was tied with 20 seconds with Auburn shooting one free throw. The guy missed it, and an Auburn player thought they were still losing so he intentionally fouled Patric Young. He knocked both down, and Auburn proceeded to turn it over next possession. Brutal way to lose and an absolute gift to Florida.
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That was one of the more humiliating finishes I've seen in a while. Guy had no idea the game was tied and fouls, then they throw the inbounds pass straight out of bounds after Florida took the lead.
 
Bearcat04 said:
I think depth is overrated in the tournament, especially for a zone team like Syracuse. They have only had 5 guys foul out all year and I believe they have the lowest fouls per game average in the country. Also, in the tournament you have longer TV timeouts and teams don't often hang on to timeouts in do-or-die games.
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I should have clarified what I really meant by lack of depth. I'm not so much talking about fatigue, but rather having different options to come off the bench to contribute. In ACC play, Ennis, Cooney, Fair, and Grant basically play 35-37 minutes a game. In multiple games, players haven't come out at all.

If Cooney and Fair have an off night, they have nobody to come off the bench to give them a lift or even give the opposing defense a different look. Boeheim has zero confidence in the freshmen he recruited.

You can never undervalue the importance of your bench in March IMO. I'm not saying you have to be 10 deep, but playing 6 or 7 guys when 2 or 3 of them aren't offensive threats isn't ideal.

It's tough for me to explain, but every time I watch Syracuse, I always just ask myself the same question - "how are they struggling with this mediocre ACC team?" It's happened in almost every game the last month or so. Yes I may sound like an idiot considering they're 26-1, but I just don't see them advancing too far this year. I'll certainly eat my crow if I'm wrong.
 
bearcat18 said:
I should have clarified what I really meant by lack of depth. I'm not so much talking about fatigue, but rather having different options to come off the bench to contribute. In ACC play, Ennis, Cooney, Fair, and Grant basically play 35-37 minutes a game. In multiple games, players haven't come out at all.

If Cooney and Fair have an off night, they have nobody to come off the bench to give them a lift or even give the opposing defense a different look. Boeheim has zero confidence in the freshmen he recruited.

You can never undervalue the importance of your bench in March IMO. I'm not saying you have to be 10 deep, but playing 6 or 7 guys when 2 or 3 of them aren't offensive threats isn't ideal.

It's tough for me to explain, but every time I watch Syracuse, I always just ask myself the same question - "how are they struggling with this mediocre ACC team?" It's happened in almost every game the last month or so. Yes I may sound like an idiot considering they're 26-1, but I just don't see them advancing too far this year. I'll certainly eat my crow if I'm wrong.
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That's a fair point, no pun intended. It does seem like they are missing that other really good guard. The Ennis/Cooney backcourt isn't nearly as good as some of the recent combos. The beauty of the tournament is that you can have a guy like Tim Henderson hit two gigantic 3's in the Final Four, despite making only 5 shots in the regular season last year. How about Spike Albrecht in the championship game last year? You just never know who's going to step up.

Around this time you often hear so-and-so isn't advancing too far in the tournament. I'm guilty of it myself. How many teams are we actually sold on though? Outside of Florida and a healthy Michigan State, assuming they aren't in the same half of the bracket, I can't definitively point out any other teams that I'm confident that'll even make the Elite Eight! This thing is wide open.

Just like our Cats, we have to give credit to Syracuse for finding ways to win close games up until tonight, regardless of how ugly some of the wins have looked. I do share a lot of your concerns about them though.
 
Bearcat04 said:
The beauty of the tournament is that you can have a guy like Tim Henderson hit two gigantic 3's in the Final Four, despite making only 5 shots in the regular season last year. How about Spike Albrecht in the championship game last year? You just never know who's going to step up.
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This is pretty much my point. Boeheim simply refuses to play anyone else. Beilein at least played Albrecht a little bit throughout the Big Ten season and NCAA Tournament. If Boeheim doesn't play his freshmen reserves in a regular season ACC game, he sure as hell won't play them in a close tournament game. Another great example is Luke Hancock. 16 points in the first half of the championship game off the bench when Louisville was down 10+.

Bearcat04 said:
Around this time you often hear so-and-so isn't advancing too far in the tournament. I'm guilty of it myself. How many teams are we actually sold on though? Outside of Florida and a healthy Michigan State, assuming they aren't in the same half of the bracket, I can't definitively point out any other teams that I'm confident that'll even make the Elite Eight! This thing is wide open.

Just like our Cats, we have to give credit to Syracuse for finding ways to win close games up until tonight, regardless of how ugly some of the wins have looked. I do share a lot of your concerns about them though.
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You're exactly right. As I was typing that, I knew there was a lot of critiquing - some maybe undeserved. Every team, especially this year, has flaws. I guess it was just borderline venting how Cuse has been winning in the 50s quite a bit recently, and the media doesn't say anything. But if we do the same, all you hear are criticisms about our offense and players.
 
bearcat18 said:
This is pretty much my point. Boeheim simply refuses to play anyone else. Beilein at least played Albrecht a little bit throughout the Big Ten season and NCAA Tournament. If Boeheim doesn't play his freshmen reserves in a regular season ACC game, he sure as hell won't play them in a close tournament game. Another great example is Luke Hancock. 16 points in the first half of the championship game off the bench when Louisville was down 10+.



You're exactly right. As I was typing that, I knew there was a lot of critiquing - some maybe undeserved. Every team, especially this year, has flaws. I guess it was just borderline venting how Cuse has been winning in the 50s quite a bit recently, and the media doesn't say anything. But if we do the same, all you hear are criticisms about our offense and players.
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Although UC and Syracuse play at similar tempos, Syracuse's offense is much more efficient.
 
Nebraska is blowing out Penn State at home. They are starting to look like a tournament team to me.

Middle Tennessee is leading Charlotte in the second half. They are 19-7 and 9-2 in the league. Should be the favorite to win that league, and the tournament.
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
Nebraska is blowing out Penn State at home. They are starting to look like a tournament team to me.

Middle Tennessee is leading Charlotte in the second half. They are 19-7 and 9-2 in the league. Should be the favorite to win that league, and the tournament.
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Penn State player just dove for a ball into Walter Pitchfords leg. Hope for the best, but he went down like a torn ACL. That'd be a tough loss for this surging team as he was averaging 9 and 5.
 
Rutgers played Memphis tough tonight. Wasn't enough through.

UConn is up a basket with about 7 min to go in the 1st half. I like watching Pepper play, his game is smooth.
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
Nebraska is blowing out Penn State at home. They are starting to look like a tournament team to me.

Middle Tennessee is leading Charlotte in the second half. They are 19-7 and 9-2 in the league. Should be the favorite to win that league, and the tournament.
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Nebraska is looking real good lately, they seem to have a god system in place and a bright future. Glad we got them on contract it will be a good ooc game for next year and hopefully years to come
 
Bearcat Rob said:
Nebraska is looking real good lately, they seem to have a god system in place and a bright future. Glad we got them on contract it will be a good ooc game for next year and hopefully years to come
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Tim Miles is a good coach. I was expecting them to be this good next year. A lot of mock drafts have Pettaway going in the first round, will be interesting to see if he leaves...especially if Nebraska makes the tournament.
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
North Carolina beats Duke and then the fans storm the court. Interesting...
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Not as big of a deal as some are making it out to be, but I thought it was weird. UNC is way too storied and has far too many talented players to do that. That's a Cinderella thing.

Liked seeing Duke go down though. #5 isn't looking so far away after all!
 
UConn on the ropes at home, down by 8 vs SMU with 11:12 left. UConn struggling to score; just 36 points on 10/35 shooting.
 

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