Cardinal weekend wrap-up
by Mike Rutherford on Nov 23, 2009 2:27 PM EST
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The new intro video is awesome. Kudos to whoever put it together.
I'm really hoping that it's going to end with a different player saying something every game. If that's the case then I'm really, really looking forward to Stephen Van Treese telling me to make some noise.
Edgar Sosa is playing the best basketball of anyone on the team right now, and I think that's a good sign. Case and point: Sos led the team in scoring with 13 heading into the half on Sunday and didn't take his first shot of the second half until just under the 15-minute mark.
That type of play is not in Bad Edgar's repertoire.
Our zone is really bad when we're in the three-guard lineup. Seeing Swop and Samardo recklessly flying at shooters on the perimeter is tough to watch.
Swop was still much better over the weekend than he was last season, and while most complaints center around his offense, it's his defense that really needs to improve for this team to have a shot to repeat as Big East champs. You know that rebounding has been stressed to him early and often this year, but he has got to do a better job of locating shooters when we're in zone. If the ball goes in the basket it doesn't matter how well you have somebody boxed out.
Love the Preston undershirt and the improved Preston free-throw stroke. Oh, and the four steals in one game. I forgot he plays defense.
Obviously it was awesome to see Mike Marra finally bury a three yesterday, but he's actually been a boon to the team over the past couple of days despite his shooting struggles. He handles the ball well, is big enough to make passes over people when he's pressured, and it appears to me that he's the best defender of the freshmen. If he gets going from beyond the arc then he's really going to demand decent playing time, even in the season's final weeks.
Samardo's doing pretty much exactly what he was doing at this time a year ago: being bigger than people, struggling to finish around the rim, getting fouled a lot and making a lot of free-throws. He does appear to be more athletic and in better shape, which has really helped him on defense, but he's simply got to be stronger with the ball in his hands. There's no reason someone with his size should be on the ground that much. He's going down because he's off-balance when contact is made, and that's because he's always moving away from the rim.
If only he had TJ's arm length.
And....
33-of-41 from the stripe? That's summer improvement right there, men. Big congrats.
Jerry Smith certainly doesn't mess around when it comes to fast (freshman scoring record) and slow (the last two years) season starts.
Great to see George Goode back on the floor and confidently stroke his first jumper. There might not be more of a team-first Cardinal. Or better half-court shooter.
I would destroy that shooting doctor at one-on-one.
There hasn't been a "kid's announcer" segment yet where I haven't busted out "kid can't even read." It's as involuntary as breathing for me.
Football
We're not good, we're not going to a bowl and Kragthorpe will be fired no more than six days after the Rutgers game.
Also, we could bring in Zombie Vince Lombardi and he still wouldn't be able to beat South Florida in Tampa.
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dude toally agree on the dean's junior announcer thing
how freaking tough would it be to give the kid the lines say 5 days in advance, and have him practice them? that way, the kid isn’t forced to sight read in front of 20000 strangers. between this and the unbelievably retarded “flavortight bottle” (someone needs to tell dean’s that the light in the fridge goes off when you close the door) i never buy deans milk. unless its on sale.
oh and
you hit the nail on the head with the basketball review. jerry has regressed yet again, and samardo’s made zero improvement in his balance (even if his rebounding ability looks ever so slightly better). i think TJ should be getting way more minutes (as should goode, once he’s fully healthy), buck is definitely the answer at 4 instead of swop, and kuric needs a lot more playing time given his ability to rebound the ball.
i said it yesterday in the live thread
We are never going to be a good defensive team with the three guard lineup. I attributed it to Jerry playing in the low corner, which he obviously can’t.
I’d like to see more of Buckles and Goode @ the 4 so Swop can slide down to the 3. If we rotate Swop with Kuric and Delk we keep guys on the floor together that can both stretch the floor and rebound at the same time.
For all of the emphasis that Rick has place on defense over the years I find it strange that he has crafted the lineup primarily around the offense so far this year.
Here's my preferred depth chart
1 – Sosa – Siva
2 – Knowles – Smith – Marra
3 – Swopshire – Delk – Kuric
4 – Goode – Buckles
5 – Samuels – Jennings – Van Treese
This is contingent on Goode coming back fully healthy. Until then I’d start Swop @4 and Delk @3 (instead of Jerry)
Our little Edgar Sosa...
… is all grown up! Kind of. The man is still making bonehead plays once or twice a half, but he recognizes that the decisions are poor, and is then correcting and making positive plays for his teammates. If he can pass the ball to the rest of his teammates as well as he is passing to Samardo, he is going to have a memorable Senior season.
I believe Jared is going to be a great player before he graduates. His willingness to drive to the basket is a step in the right direction, but the trouble with him is his defense. His foot speed is too slow to get out on shooters on his side of the 2-3, and his body has not filled out enough to handle strong forwards posting up. I guess the question becomes, what kind of player would be a good matchup for Swop’s defense skill set?
I love PK, but our offense suffered the most on Sunday when Pitino decided to sit both Edgar and Peyton at the same time. At the game, I struggled to figure out why both players would ever be off the court unless they were both in foul trouble. Preston is an unbelievable defender, and he comes off of screens and knocks down shots better than anyone else on the team. But, he cannot run the offense from the 1 spot, and this team is not going to withstand a lot of offensive droughts this season.
Finally, I thought Morgan State actually looked like a pretty good team. Big guys at the 3, 4, and 5, a couple good shooters, a highly excitable coach, and a good game plan. Our playing as well as we did against a team like this, with as much youth as we have, this early in the season is an exciting sign. Go Cards, and let’s sweep this STATE weekend tonight.
Sorry to interupt, but I thought the football game was worth attending
I got to see a Trent Guy punt return for a TD.
I got to see a Scott Long tip toe catch in the corner of the endzone.
I got to see a Darius Ashley breakout run for a TD.
It was totally worth the $20 bucks I paid for the tix.
Not sure Marra's defense is better than Siva's
But that’s a nice debate to be having. One thing is certain — I’m glad we’re not playing Syracuse anytime soon. Oh, and doesn’t George Goode look particularly athletic on the offensive end? If he can stay healthy, he can help. A lot.
Samardo continues to have little interest in rebounding, and don’t know if that’s because he’s so slow afoot and slow to jump or what. But he is no Wes Unseld when it comes to getting off his feet. (Few are, I might add.)
theoldman
Samuels
IMO, I see no real improvement from last year. I can’t remember the last big man we’ve had that has so much trouble around the basket. He is going to be eaten alive by the BigEast unless he dramatcally improves.
Go Cards!
Ta-ta-ta-taday junyah!
Busted that out yesterday, got chastised for it.
Peyton plays better defense than Mike
defense
no way marra is better than siva at D ……he might have the roatations and help down better right now than Siva, but once Siva figures that out, with his quickness he will be a lockdown defender…Marra has good instincts with slow feet…………………I’ll call u about dinner before the game with ms. card chronicle and company
Defense.
Our zone is just not in sync right now. Way too many open looks in the corner, or just a step or two inside from the corner. We seem to be having trouble rotating.
Samuels, and pretty much anyone we have around the rim ( – TJ) needs to go straight up with it on a rebound. They still take it down for a dribble and then can’t get anywhere near the rim without fouling.
We have got to finish. Too many times already have we been fouled and cannot get the shot to drop, some of that is luck yes, but it not good if we keep only getting 2 instead of 3.
Samardo
One problem is he just doesn’t have good hands.
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