Here's my take:
1. Don't turn the damn ball over. Got to keep it under ten give aways.

2. Get back in transition. If the transition D we had against Marquette can show up tonight, I'm feeling good. Syracuse ain't so good in the halfcourt, where they tend to dribble-drive iso and not involve their big men.

3. Crash the offensive glass, and when you get it, go up strong and convert! Got to get a few easy buckets on the interior of that zone, and the best time to do it is after a board.

4. Don't shoot a lot of threes, but make the ones you take. I'd like to see us shoot no more than 15 and make 6 or 7. This is what worries me the most, because we have been ice cold.

5. Dribble penetrate and make that zone move! Although Syracuse loves to swipe at the ball and get steals when opponents try to dribble through the top of the zone. We can't just sit there and toss it back and forth to the wing.

6. JJ and to a lesser extent, Parker have to make good decisions in the high post. If JJ can make some nice passes- and then when they sag off of him after getting burned- take it to the basket or hit a jumper- we start looking real good against the zone. Jackson's play could be an absolute key to the game.

Last time we played them, we had hot shooting to start the game, and played respectable defense- until we let them score like 6 or 8 straight during a stretch in the second half and got down and could not come back. We need to play solid defense against their dribble drives and rebound the missed shots. We need to keep the game in the 60's, but take fast break opportunities when we can get them.

Done.

The top three are absolutely crucial. We need to penetrate the zone as well, but be careful not to get too deep as that can be no man's land against Syracuse's length inside. I think little eight foot pull up and floaters will be key. And of course we have to make some outside shots.

Make Syracuse take contested jumpshots. They are bigger at just about every position. If they get to the rim they can just play volleyball until they put it in.

No prolonged scoring droughts.

Yancy can't get in foul trouble and keep feeding him in the zone. It was working against Georgetown.

Kilpatrick needs to start hitting some shots as does Dixon but they can't be trigger happy from three.

Contain Jardine off the pick and roll and force him to shoot jumpers off of it.

Pray we hit shots and they don't...or pray for food poisoning from the Cuse breakfast buffet.

Play our style of play and not let them dictate things.

(03-09-2012 05:41 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Pray we hit shots and they don't...or pray for food poisoning from the Cuse breakfast buffet.

Mr. Positivity strikes again!

FYI, UC is a 7.5 point underdog with an o/u of 127.

Play the best game of the year.

Just as we have dominated Georgetown (7 of the last 8) with our style of play the Orange have done the same to us (won 7 of the 9 BE games). We are not a great passing team and we don't have a guy like Sims to play in the high-post, which makes offense very difficult to run. JJ and Parker can do some damage there, but they are also turnover prone with some of their decision making and ball handling. Syracuse has never been a good match up for us, but I still think we have a shot because we are playing with house money in a home game for the Cuse.

You aren't supposed to win a game when you are down 9 with 6 minutes left either, so anything can happen...

Good list. Turnovers, defense, offensive rebounding.

You can't beat great teams shooting poorly. Dixon/Parker/Cash/Kilpatrick... two of the four will need to be feeling it for a win.

(03-09-2012 05:04 PM)Bearcatbdub Wrote:  Here's my take:
1. Don't turn the damn ball over. Got to keep it under ten give aways.

2. Get back in transition. If the transition D we had against Marquette can show up tonight, I'm feeling good. Syracuse ain't so good in the halfcourt, where they tend to dribble-drive iso and not involve their big men.

3. Crash the offensive glass, and when you get it, go up strong and convert! Got to get a few easy buckets on the interior of that zone, and the best time to do it is after a board.

4. Don't shoot a lot of threes, but make the ones you take. I'd like to see us shoot no more than 15 and make 6 or 7. This is what worries me the most, because we have been ice cold.

5. Dribble penetrate and make that zone move! Although Syracuse loves to swipe at the ball and get steals when opponents try to dribble through the top of the zone. We can't just sit there and toss it back and forth to the wing.

6. JJ and to a lesser extent, Parker have to make good decisions in the high post. If JJ can make some nice passes- and then when they sag off of him after getting burned- take it to the basket or hit a jumper- we start looking real good against the zone. Jackson's play could be an absolute key to the game.

Last time we played them, we had hot shooting to start the game, and played respectable defense- until we let them score like 6 or 8 straight during a stretch in the second half and got down and could not come back. We need to play solid defense against their dribble drives and rebound the missed shots. We need to keep the game in the 60's, but take fast break opportunities when we can get them.

Done.

i agree basically in all you said. Let's beat them!!!!!

My thoughts were very similar, I posted this in another thread:

For tomorrow:
1. work the high-low with Jackson and Gates as much as possible, that was very effective in the first meeting.
2. penetrate the zone with the dribble, do not just swing it around the perimeter, even if you have dribble right back out, make the zone work
3. obviously going to have to shoot very well, but really attack the glass offensive, Syracuse isn't a good rebounding team
4. limit turnovers and run outs, if you are going to turn it over, make sure they are dead ball.

(03-09-2012 06:33 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  My thoughts were very similar, I posted this in another thread:

For tomorrow:
1. work the high-low with Jackson and Gates as much as possible, that was very effective in the first meeting.
2. penetrate the zone with the dribble, do not just swing it around the perimeter, even if you have dribble right back out, make the zone work
3. obviously going to have to shoot very well, but really attack the glass offensive, Syracuse isn't a good rebounding team
4. limit turnovers and run outs, if you are going to turn it over, make sure they are dead ball.

Their opponents get 39% of their misses and average nearly 15 offensive rebounds per game. That ranks 341 and 343 respectively out of 344 teams. Where they make it up is that even if you get the rebound it's likely that they'll steal the ball back or block the shot. They are top 3 nationally in both categories. We are going to get offensive rebounds, but we need to convert or at least get to the line.

(03-09-2012 06:40 PM)Bearcat04 Wrote:  

(03-09-2012 06:33 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  My thoughts were very similar, I posted this in another thread:

For tomorrow:
1. work the high-low with Jackson and Gates as much as possible, that was very effective in the first meeting.
2. penetrate the zone with the dribble, do not just swing it around the perimeter, even if you have dribble right back out, make the zone work
3. obviously going to have to shoot very well, but really attack the glass offensive, Syracuse isn't a good rebounding team
4. limit turnovers and run outs, if you are going to turn it over, make sure they are dead ball.

Their opponents get 39% of their misses and average nearly 15 offensive rebounds per game. That ranks 341 and 343 respectively out of 344 teams. Where they make it up is that even if you get the rebound it's likely that they'll steal the ball back or block the shot. They are top 3 nationally in both categories. We are going to get offensive rebounds, but we need to convert or at least get to the line.

Exactly. I'd love for the Cats to shoot out of their minds but that just isn't realistic. Going to have to convert second chances on that gigantic front line.