Monday, November 12, 2012

CJ, Cuse Sail Past San Diego State

Carter-Williams has the floater down, rushes his moves, can get outta control. posted up. can get the floater whenever with his height advantage and quick first step

Fair playing SF - 3 jumpers, good body control, hands contact well

Franklin sloppy. really had a problem handling the ball and making good decisions under pressure. handling in traffic. he built hype over the summer with his play in summer leagues but we are seeing how he plays when actual defense is being played. this isnt playground but, this is shipyard ball. some good passes. weird situation as PF vs 2-3. overpenetrates

triche looking quicker, changing speeds, using body

A game on a naval ship finally came to completion yesterday, with Syracuse upending San Diego State 62-49. It never really was close, but San Diego State was at a disadvantage. They had to shoot into the sun in the first half and managed to only score 19 points without connecting on a three. Between the two teams they combined to shoot 2-22 from behind the arc. Syracuse was able to abandon the three ball, only taking four the entire game, but SDSU - facing the 2/3 zone didn't have the same luxury. The chucked 18 threes as its really the only hope to beat the Orange. By the time the second half rolled around, San Diego State was in panick mode and they were unable to put together a run. They lost by 13, but were done by more much of the second half.

One would say their loss may have been unFAIR, but I'd credit CJ FAIR for providing a scoring threat for the Orange from the get-go. Fair has made the transition to full time small forward this year and showed off an improved jumper - hitting 3 long jumpers, including Cuse's only 3 - in the first half. He finished with 17 points on 7-15 shooting. His ball handling skills are iffy although Fair possesses solid creativeness and body control in the lane. You can still tell he operated from inside the arc much of his career. His jumper is also slow. The biggest problem for Fair's draft stock is his ability to cover the perimeter. Many Cuse wings struggle with a transition to the NBA because of defense, and it will be even harder for Fair since he's already a tweener and lacks good lateral quickness. He's talented and has great physical attributes, but he has an uphill battle to climb with his draft stock.

The matchup to watch was at the guard positions between Michael Carter-Williams and Jamaal Franklin. They didn't battle head to head unfortunately, but they mirror each other in the way they play. Franklin came out of the gate rusty and committed three early turnovers. Things never got much better for him and he finished with 7 giveaways on the night. Franklin is a guy who plays power forward for San Diego State but is a shooting guard at the next level. Up against the 2-3, he was expected to be the facilitator in the middle. This didn't happen though, partly due to him and also because of their lack of shooting threats outside. Franklin was bothered all night by tight defense and couldn't control the ball in a crowd. He built hype over the summer with his highlights and domination in summer leagues - games that suit his style well. However when actual defense is being played, Franklin has questionable handle and even more questionable decision making. This was a tough situation for him.

Carter-Williams also has a tendency to play out of control. This was his first game receiving starter minutes after he rode the bench last year. He was asked to lead the offense much of the game, despite playing with senior Brandon Triche and he was able to make some plays. Carter-Williams has a very quick and long first step that enables him to get into the lane at will. He also has nice touch on his floater which he can get off against any point guard that tries to guard him. That shot will always be there for him. He also can take advantage of his size in the post which he tried to do once yesterday, but to no avail. He played this game out of control and tried to hurry his ball handling moves. He finished with 17 points before fouling out while also turning it over as much as he assisted teammates (4) and getting 5 steals. He will be near the top of the charts in steals this season.

The last guy who stood out was Brandon Triche who finally looks healthy heading into his senior year. Triche was much quicker than usual, finished with both hands, and used his strength to his advantage. He was aggressive getting to the rim. If his in-between game improves, he could end up getting draft in the second round. Lots of good point guards this year.

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