I agree Bum, outside shooting is a major concern at the moment. AP is the only guy we have who is a consistent threat.
DC not a good outside shooter, awkward left-handed shot
KL does not have a developed jumper, yet
KR is OK, but not great from 3
JRG is more comfortable down on baseline or paint
TJ doesn’t look like a great shooter
Our guards are more quicker, penetrator types, not stand still jump shooters.
I got to Syracuse game very early and watched the warm ups pretty closely. Outside of AP, JC probably was the best of the others from distance. JRG was better than expected.
On another note, I think this team has the capability to be a decent defensive team, but we are not there yet. We have some quickness on the perimeter, but we gave up a ton of uncontested looks vs. Orange. Guys wide open and no hand in the face and no close out. We were lucky that Syracuse shot it so poorly, and they are not a very good team. Just because we only gave up 57 points and held Syracuse to a low %, doesn’t mean we caused it. Outside of Malachi Richardson, who shot it OK, and got wide open looks whenever he wanted, nobody on Syracuse shot it very well. Cooney and Gbinije didn’t make a ton of 3’s, but they were wide open looks for the most part. With that huge dome and virtually open ends, it would be difficult to shoot it really well there ever, with that background.
Who on this team is a lock up defender on the perimeter? I think KL could be that guy, he has quick feet and is a very good (+) athlete. KR is quick but slight and small. AP is adequate, but not super quick laterally.
We struggled with the zone and the short shot clock, but Syracuse pretty much ran anything they wanted and got open looks within 5 or 10 seconds into the shot clock. So, I am far from convinced we are some defensive shutdown juggernaut. We rebounded well, and held them to one shot, but Syracuse was small, and Coleman was in foul trouble early. This Syracuse team is a jump shooting team. Live by the jumper, die by the jumper.
sundayamqb.
