Sloppy

I know the Orange won by over twenty last night, and I recognize that after Cuse ran out to a huge lead in the first half, they really weren’t challenged, but I still didn’t have a good feeling about last night. The Orange shot almost fifty percent from three-point range, against a team that had only one starter over six-five, and yet the margin was in the teens for much of the night.

The most disappointing number from last night was sixteen turnovers, against a passive zone defense. Cuse is the team that is supposed to have one of the best defenses in the country, yet Vermont commits only nine turnovers. Most of the Orange turnovers were unforced. Like the soft lob passes into Jackson, when he was surrounded by three defenders. Or Rautins throwing the ball away on the break, and almost injuring Kris Joseph in the process one time. Rautins is one of their senior leaders, so why was he doing that? And why was Jackson putting the ball on the floor fifteen feet away from the hoop, and then predictably running over one of Vermont’s defenders?

Equally disappointing was the end of the first half, when Cuse went to sleep for several minutes, and let a sixteen seed end the first half on a 15-2 run. If they have one of those lapses against Gonzaga, they could find themselves in too deep a hole.

At the same time, there were a couple encouraging signs from this game. Like Triche shooting well from the outside, and perhaps regaining some of his confidence. It goes without saying that we need more depth, especially with AO riding the bench. I also liked that Mookie was back. I’m a fan of Mookie’s and we might have a game when we need him to hit some threes. And most of all, I liked how they shared the ball. There were twenty-four assists on thirty baskets. All season long the Orange have been among the nation’s leaders in assists per game, and unselfish play will make it hard for teams to prepare for the Orange.

John says I should lighten up -- after all, it was a twenty point win in a tournament that has seen two, three and four seeds go home, losing to double digit seeded foes. No one got hurt; the outcome was never really in doubt; and one would hope they got over any tournament jitters. Still, they have to protect the ball better tomorrow afternoon. Let’s Go Orange.