Sunday, January 17, 2010

Syracuse Preview

Added a new blog to the roll, On the Banks of the Raritan is a brand new Rutgers site. Check it out.

Quick turnaround now after a week between games. Syracuse comes to the JACC tomorrow night. If the Irish can bounce back with their second big home upset in a row, we'll be back on track.

Syracuse-
Pomeroy Ranking- 5th
Record- 17-1 (4-1)
Best Win- West Virginia (ranked 7th)
Worst Loss- Pittsburgh (ranked 24th)
Pomeroy Prediction- Syracuse 87-77

Key Players-

#4 Wesley Johnson-16.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 44.6% 3PA- The fantastic transfer from Iowa State is playing very well in his first year wearing orange. He's skinny at just over 200 lbs., but has enough athleticism to get to the basket. He will give us the same problems as Cincy's Darnell Wilks (8 rebounds in just 12 minutes)
#1 Andy Rautins- 10.4 PPG, 5.3 APG, 40.6% 3PA- The fifth year senior point guard exploded for 23 points against Rutgers, but is typically pass-first with a good three-point shot. Has also pulled down 15 rebounds in the last two games.
#25 Brandon Triche- 10.5 PPG, 3.1 APG, 44.9% 3PA- Tough to pick out the third-best player on the team because Boeheim spreads out the minutes very evenly, but this freshman has made a big impact with a great shooting ability on limited playing time. Scored 27 in 20 minutes against Oakland.

Scouting Report-

Very good on both ends of the floor (ranked 6th and 15th in offensive and defensive efficiency).
Own the paint, 2nd in the country in two-point shooting percentage and 5th in blocked shots.
Biggest weakness is turning the ball over. Only about 20 teams in the NCAA allow more steals.

4 comments:

Bryan said...

Season lost all it's juice on Saturday. Sorry, but it's 'over'...Same Brey shit every year: can't get a stop when it's needed. I know beating Cuse tonight would 'undo' the damage from Saturday, but even so, they can't beat the middling BE teams (the ones they NEED to beat out) an NCAA berth isn't happening...

Just need to admit it: ND is never getting back to the Sweet 16 with Brey still here

Doc Hoople said...

That's about as good as we can play against a quality team. We just don't have the talent or the coach to match up.

BlackandGreen said...

I agree that West Virginia was the exception. I'm willing to guess tonight will prove to be the rule.

I'm not disappointed with the performance against Syracuse, but it seemed pretty clear all game that we were the lesser team. I'd much rather build a program worthy of consistent top-15 status than one that goes into these games hoping for an upset.

biggreen23 said...

The short bench, inadequate recruiting and unwillingness to use and develop his young guys point to an NIT bid if ND gets lucky with some of their remaining home games.

I'm looking at a 6-12 for the remainder of the year, and have been scolded by the usual apologists on this blog. As they always look to launch about 20 treys, maybe the home rims are kinder, and Coach Brey can brag about his "senior leadership". But this group ain't getting it done anywhere in this league.

You stay too long and the pro scouts will carve you up. Gody may fall to the second round now. Did he really come back for this?

ND will always be a second tier BE program as long as Brey continues his ways! I applaud Scott for calling out the coach on his sub patterns, and it looks like perhaps Scott and his parents are continuing to harp on it resulting in his "benching". The results are all the more startling when you see his talent and the unwillingness to use and develop him on this height-challenged, rebound-challenged club.