Jonny Flynn, free throws, American U update
1. Pretty precocious start to a college career by Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn. Kid breaks a school freshman scoring record by pouring in 28 (with nine assists) against Siena on Monday, then hits a cold-blooded, game-winning three with five seconds left to beat St. Joseph's tonight.
I only saw the St. Joe's game and I'm not going to pretend I know how he scored 28 the night before; the game-winner was his first field goal and he looked horrible on some shots. But the kid caught my eye in the first half with a 40-foot lob pass to classmate Donte Greene, and then had an absolutely jaw-dropping assist on another Greene bucket that I still can't get over.
It came with the 'cuse up four, with about five minutes to play. Flynn had the ball on a 3-on-2 break, and as he reached the top of the key, he glanced right, where Greene was fading out to the three point line. Flynn then crossed over to his left and put his head down, taking the ball hard to the bucket with a St. Joseph's defender on his right hip.
As he got to the basket, instead of throwing up a difficult left handed layup or trying to draw contact, Flynn wrapped a pass around his defender. Seeming out of nowhere, Greene appeared, catching the ball and jamming it it one giant stride. And the foul.
Watching the replay, I could see that Flynn's vision of that side of the court was completely obstructed by the defender. He couldn't possibly have seen Greene cut to the basket -- I'm not even sure Greene initiated his cut before Flynn released the ball. Flynn made the pass with the understanding that Greene would be crashing the boards in anticipation of his shot. Either that or -- and this is where it gets interesting -- he threw it to lead Greene where he wanted him to go, weighting the pass perfectly as to catch Greene in stride.
This is not the stuff of normal point guards. It's not even the stuff of very, very good point guards. It's the kind of pass I haven't seen a college player make since 1994, the year Jason Kidd left California for the NBA. Yes, it was that good. I'm not saying Flynn's the player Kidd was and is, but he's clearly got a special understanding of the game. I'm excited to see what else he's got in store for us.
2. After his game-winner, Flynn was the Syracuse player who fouled before St. Joe's could get a shot off, sending the Hawks to the line with under three seconds to go. St. Joseph's didn't have a timeout to call after Flynn's shot, which also means that Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim didn't have the opportunity to instruct his players to foul.
It's long been my contention that coaches waste timeouts to tell players "common sense" type things that players should just know to do. I've always thought that coaches should coach these situations in practice, so that players know what to do down three with 30 seconds left (drive for a quick two, throw on some fullcourt man to man pressure, foul if you can't get a steal). Or, in this case, what to do up three with under five seconds left.
I finally got the opportunity to ask a few coaches about this, and it turns out that they do coach their kids to think the game in this way. The problem, they said, is that the players forgot it in the heat of the moment.
I don't suppose I'll ever know for sure, but it's my speculation that Boeheim wasn't yelling for a foul -- that it was something Flynn did based on what he had been told before. It's a little thing, but it's an indication of his basketball IQ that speaks volumes.
3. Speaking of fouling, I hate the new rule that dictates that players line up for free throws above the big block, not below it.
This was adopted in women's basketball a few years ago, and I like it there -- the average female forward/center's size, quickness, wingspan, and jumping ability isn't enough to make up for the fact that very few rebounds actually come off the rim that close to the bucket.
Men are a different story, however. They're bigger, quicker, with longer reaches, and can jump higher, on average (particularly when we're talking about players at the collegiate level). That makes up for being slightly out of position to start.
This new configuration makes it nearly impossible for a team to get an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw. The angle for the defensive team is perfect. I haven't kept track in the games I've watched thus far, but I'm going to make a point to note the number of offensive boards off of foul shots I see this year. I've got nothing to compare it to, but I'm betting it's going to seem might low.
And1 I've decided to use this space on occasion to blog about my alma mater's basketball team. After a season-opening, 75-68 win at St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, American University fell to Loyola (Md.) in Baltimore by a 71-67 score on Tuesday. My Eagles led by as many as 17 in the first half, but couldn't hang on.
We've got an interesting team this year. Our stars are our starting guards: Derrick Mercer had 23 against St. Francis and 22 against Loyola, and Garrison Carr had 19 points in each game. Here's the catch. They're one of the shortest starting backcourts in Division I. I'd put Carr closer to my height of of 5'8" than the 5'11" at which he's listed, while Mercer isn't even in the neighborhood of 5'9", which is what the program has him at.
Already we seem to have more offensive firepower than last year, despite losing our main scoring threat (Andre Ingram) and post presence (Brayden Bilbe). I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the home opener Thursday vs. Fairfield, but I am looking forward to another season of AU hoops.
I only saw the St. Joe's game and I'm not going to pretend I know how he scored 28 the night before; the game-winner was his first field goal and he looked horrible on some shots. But the kid caught my eye in the first half with a 40-foot lob pass to classmate Donte Greene, and then had an absolutely jaw-dropping assist on another Greene bucket that I still can't get over.
It came with the 'cuse up four, with about five minutes to play. Flynn had the ball on a 3-on-2 break, and as he reached the top of the key, he glanced right, where Greene was fading out to the three point line. Flynn then crossed over to his left and put his head down, taking the ball hard to the bucket with a St. Joseph's defender on his right hip.
As he got to the basket, instead of throwing up a difficult left handed layup or trying to draw contact, Flynn wrapped a pass around his defender. Seeming out of nowhere, Greene appeared, catching the ball and jamming it it one giant stride. And the foul.
Watching the replay, I could see that Flynn's vision of that side of the court was completely obstructed by the defender. He couldn't possibly have seen Greene cut to the basket -- I'm not even sure Greene initiated his cut before Flynn released the ball. Flynn made the pass with the understanding that Greene would be crashing the boards in anticipation of his shot. Either that or -- and this is where it gets interesting -- he threw it to lead Greene where he wanted him to go, weighting the pass perfectly as to catch Greene in stride.
This is not the stuff of normal point guards. It's not even the stuff of very, very good point guards. It's the kind of pass I haven't seen a college player make since 1994, the year Jason Kidd left California for the NBA. Yes, it was that good. I'm not saying Flynn's the player Kidd was and is, but he's clearly got a special understanding of the game. I'm excited to see what else he's got in store for us.
2. After his game-winner, Flynn was the Syracuse player who fouled before St. Joe's could get a shot off, sending the Hawks to the line with under three seconds to go. St. Joseph's didn't have a timeout to call after Flynn's shot, which also means that Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim didn't have the opportunity to instruct his players to foul.
It's long been my contention that coaches waste timeouts to tell players "common sense" type things that players should just know to do. I've always thought that coaches should coach these situations in practice, so that players know what to do down three with 30 seconds left (drive for a quick two, throw on some fullcourt man to man pressure, foul if you can't get a steal). Or, in this case, what to do up three with under five seconds left.
I finally got the opportunity to ask a few coaches about this, and it turns out that they do coach their kids to think the game in this way. The problem, they said, is that the players forgot it in the heat of the moment.
I don't suppose I'll ever know for sure, but it's my speculation that Boeheim wasn't yelling for a foul -- that it was something Flynn did based on what he had been told before. It's a little thing, but it's an indication of his basketball IQ that speaks volumes.
3. Speaking of fouling, I hate the new rule that dictates that players line up for free throws above the big block, not below it.
This was adopted in women's basketball a few years ago, and I like it there -- the average female forward/center's size, quickness, wingspan, and jumping ability isn't enough to make up for the fact that very few rebounds actually come off the rim that close to the bucket.
Men are a different story, however. They're bigger, quicker, with longer reaches, and can jump higher, on average (particularly when we're talking about players at the collegiate level). That makes up for being slightly out of position to start.
This new configuration makes it nearly impossible for a team to get an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw. The angle for the defensive team is perfect. I haven't kept track in the games I've watched thus far, but I'm going to make a point to note the number of offensive boards off of foul shots I see this year. I've got nothing to compare it to, but I'm betting it's going to seem might low.
And1 I've decided to use this space on occasion to blog about my alma mater's basketball team. After a season-opening, 75-68 win at St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday, American University fell to Loyola (Md.) in Baltimore by a 71-67 score on Tuesday. My Eagles led by as many as 17 in the first half, but couldn't hang on.
We've got an interesting team this year. Our stars are our starting guards: Derrick Mercer had 23 against St. Francis and 22 against Loyola, and Garrison Carr had 19 points in each game. Here's the catch. They're one of the shortest starting backcourts in Division I. I'd put Carr closer to my height of of 5'8" than the 5'11" at which he's listed, while Mercer isn't even in the neighborhood of 5'9", which is what the program has him at.
Already we seem to have more offensive firepower than last year, despite losing our main scoring threat (Andre Ingram) and post presence (Brayden Bilbe). I'm not sure I'll be able to make it to the home opener Thursday vs. Fairfield, but I am looking forward to another season of AU hoops.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 7:59 PM
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