Point guard Jonny Flynn has been most impressive, scoring 28 points in the first game against Sienna (on 10-13 shooting).
He scored only one basket in the win of St. Joe's but what a basket it was.
Flynn's 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left gave the Orange a 71-68 lead.
Fellow freshman Donte Greene added 18 points and 8 rebounds.
And super sophomore Paul Harris (who played with Flynn in high school in Niagra Falls) is proving to be a great and versatile player. Harris had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.
Eric Devendorf played a solid game and sophomore Arinze Onuaku played the best game of his career.
SU has three other freshman (Scoop Jardine, Rick Jackson and Sean Williams) and I worry that Boeheim's propensity to play a short bench will force Jardine and Jackson (who played together in high school in Philadelphia) to transfer, if they continue to get short minutes.
Some other thoughts on the St. Joseph's game:
Bad move: Boeheim electing to kill 10 more seconds with a 2 point lead and just over a minute left. That resulted in a bad shot by Flynn which got blocked and almost turned into a game-tying layup.
Bad move: Fouling the shooter on a layup with 25 seconds giving St. Joe's a chance to tie the game, they did.
Bad move: Taking a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in a tie game.
Good move: Making a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in a tie game.
Good move: Fouling the ball handler before he can shoot a game tying 3-pointer.
Bad move: Making a free throw to take a 3-point lead with .8 seconds left. The chances of a 90 foot heave to beat you are much less than a 30 foot heave to tie.
Good move: Winning!
Next up: Ohio State in Madison Square Garden.
For some reason, I was never nervous and felt we were in control the whole game except for the first 5 min and last 2.
ReplyDeleteWe have promise, but are very young.
I like our big man Owaku(sp). He has height and you can't teach that.
Greene is going to get better as he perfects his shot.
Flynn is awesome. Needs a J, but I love his creativity and handle. I'd also like to see more dribble penetration, but I'm convinced that's a Boehiem thing.
Our D was awful, but a lot of that was on the players I think.
Paul Harris is weird, he doesn't have any basic fundamentals but fills a stat sheet.
Joe Lunardi's reasoning behind why we didn't go to the Dance last yr makes sense, although that's the way our schedule has been for the last 20 years. The program should recognize the change in criteria like every other school in the country has. I also don't fully buy the theory that you need to have more non-conference road games because we've played in those early tourneys (Coaches vs Cancer, Maui, Alaska Shootout, etc) every year to build strength of schedule. But I do agree with the theory somewhat in principle to give mid-majors a shot to build their resume.
I LIKE their uniforms now while in the past I desisted them
ReplyDeleteThis team is going to be fun to watch. They are going to frustrate me from time to time. I like how they share the ball but they also need to make better decisions. Our transition D really needs to improve from the Siena game. I am excited for this season
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