College Hoops Thread '09-'10

The Poet · 03-02-2010, 02:30 PM

Well Vic (and Bryan, for that matter), I was gonna wait on this until the pairings came out, but lemme give you a preview now:

The Orange has sufficient talent and experience to make a good run in The Dance. Plus, Boeheim certainly has plenty of tourney experience himself - albeit too much of it negative to suit most 'Cuse fans - and has also become a better coach since he's gotten older, gotten the monkey off his back, and calmed down considerably. Syracuse will not be easy to knock out, but their biggest strength is also their biggest area of concern - that vaunted 2-3 Zone. True, many teams do not see that very often, at least not for more than a few possessions at a time, but a good coach will have his players ready for it because he will know exactly what to expect. And here's also where the potential pairings come into play too. A team that has good outside shooters (Duke, Vandy, Vols, New Mexico mebbe), or has a guard who can penetrate the seams and create havoc in the lane (Spartans, 'Nova, Kentucky, Terps) can quite quickly turn that "advantage" into a distinct liability. There's where problems can start for The Orange, for if the zone is NOT working, and they fall behind, they are not nearly as comfortable playing D any other way. If they fall 'way behind, or are down several possessions with the clock running out, they may not have the ability to force the action fullcourt to force necessary turnovers, or just merely to speed their opponent out of their preferred gameplan.

Hey, I've seen it before, and if you've been around as long as I have . . . well, pity on you, but more to the point, so have you.

Regular update to follow.

03-02-2010, 02:30 PM	#11
The Poet Il megglior fabbro Join Date: Jun 2009 First Name: Thomas Location: Hickory, NC Posts: 8,420 Trading: (2)	Re: College Hoops Thread '09-'10 Well Vic (and Bryan, for that matter), I was gonna wait on this until the pairings came out, but lemme give you a preview now: The Orange has sufficient talent and experience to make a good run in The Dance. Plus, Boeheim certainly has plenty of tourney experience himself - albeit too much of it negative to suit most 'Cuse fans - and has also become a better coach since he's gotten older, gotten the monkey off his back, and calmed down considerably. Syracuse will not be easy to knock out, but their biggest strength is also their biggest area of concern - that vaunted 2-3 Zone. True, many teams do not see that very often, at least not for more than a few possessions at a time, but a good coach will have his players ready for it because he will know exactly what to expect. And here's also where the potential pairings come into play too. A team that has good outside shooters (Duke, Vandy, Vols, New Mexico mebbe), or has a guard who can penetrate the seams and create havoc in the lane (Spartans, 'Nova, Kentucky, Terps) can quite quickly turn that "advantage" into a distinct liability. There's where problems can start for The Orange, for if the zone is NOT working, and they fall behind, they are not nearly as comfortable playing D any other way. If they fall 'way behind, or are down several possessions with the clock running out, they may not have the ability to force the action fullcourt to force necessary turnovers, or just merely to speed their opponent out of their preferred gameplan. Hey, I've seen it before, and if you've been around as long as I have . . . well, pity on you, but more to the point, so have you. Regular update to follow.