Cuse Still Looking Strong
Saturday's win over Nova in the Dome was the twelfth straight for the Orange this year, and their second win over a ranked team; not to mention a sweep of the Maui Invitational, a thrashing of Indiana, and a road win over a tough St. John's team. No cupcake December schedule for the Orange this year. The upshot is that the Cuse find themselves atop the all-important RPI rankings; and while I hardly expect them to continue their undefeated streak, nor to maintain their lofty ranking all through the difficult ACC schedule, this early success will leave a strong foundation for their late-season RPI, which should help them secure a decent seed come March.
Two stats continue to leap out at me. One, Tyler Ennis is not turning the ball over. On Saturday, not a single turnover in 37 minutes of play, against a team whose guards have always bedeviled us. He has a total of 13 turnovers for the twelve games played so far. And if there was a basketball Bill James, I'm certain he could demonstrate that the lack of turnovers could be shown to translate directly into more scoring, and fewer possessions for the opponent. All of that seems so obvious, but there must be some direct turnover to point differential ratio. Second, Trevor Cooney has hit five three point shots in six of the last eight games; I'm not even sure that G-Mac shot that consistently in his day. And if the Orange can count on fifteen or more points from Cooney, that will keep other teams from packing their D into the lane, thus opening up the middle for the Cuse. Both of these factors should allow the Orange offense to perform better this year than the last couple years, compensating for the fact that the D may not be quite as formidable as it has been. Although, I have to say, the zone is playing better and better as the season wears on, and as the young guys become more familiar with it.
One more game -- Eastern Michigan -- before the tough ACC schedule opens. I'll be interested in seeing how they perform against North Carolina in two weeks. I don't expect the Orange to dominate the ACC this year, and we really don't know much of anything about how tough the away venues will be. What with the ACC having been a basketball first conference for so long, I expect all the venues will be packed and majorly hostile. All of which is good preparation for March. In fact, if you want to look at it from the perspective of the tournament, the rest of the season is nothing more than preparation for March. Especially the end of the regular season, when the Cuse will have to play four of their last five games on the road. Followed, of course, by the ACC tournament, held in the heart of Carolina.
But barring injuries, if Fair continues his consistent play, if Ennis continues to protect the ball, if Cooney keeps his hot hand, there's no reason why this team can't play deep into the tourney in March. Once again, high hopes for the Orange faithful.
So as 2013 draws to a close, all together now: Go Orange!!
Two stats continue to leap out at me. One, Tyler Ennis is not turning the ball over. On Saturday, not a single turnover in 37 minutes of play, against a team whose guards have always bedeviled us. He has a total of 13 turnovers for the twelve games played so far. And if there was a basketball Bill James, I'm certain he could demonstrate that the lack of turnovers could be shown to translate directly into more scoring, and fewer possessions for the opponent. All of that seems so obvious, but there must be some direct turnover to point differential ratio. Second, Trevor Cooney has hit five three point shots in six of the last eight games; I'm not even sure that G-Mac shot that consistently in his day. And if the Orange can count on fifteen or more points from Cooney, that will keep other teams from packing their D into the lane, thus opening up the middle for the Cuse. Both of these factors should allow the Orange offense to perform better this year than the last couple years, compensating for the fact that the D may not be quite as formidable as it has been. Although, I have to say, the zone is playing better and better as the season wears on, and as the young guys become more familiar with it.
One more game -- Eastern Michigan -- before the tough ACC schedule opens. I'll be interested in seeing how they perform against North Carolina in two weeks. I don't expect the Orange to dominate the ACC this year, and we really don't know much of anything about how tough the away venues will be. What with the ACC having been a basketball first conference for so long, I expect all the venues will be packed and majorly hostile. All of which is good preparation for March. In fact, if you want to look at it from the perspective of the tournament, the rest of the season is nothing more than preparation for March. Especially the end of the regular season, when the Cuse will have to play four of their last five games on the road. Followed, of course, by the ACC tournament, held in the heart of Carolina.
But barring injuries, if Fair continues his consistent play, if Ennis continues to protect the ball, if Cooney keeps his hot hand, there's no reason why this team can't play deep into the tourney in March. Once again, high hopes for the Orange faithful.
So as 2013 draws to a close, all together now: Go Orange!!
posted by pops | 11:34 AM
1 Comments:
Go Orange indeed, and I look forward to discussing this more at dinner tomorrow!
Chipper
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