Syracuse smashes LSU! + Previewing UVA with Richmond Times-Dispatch's Mike Barber

[Music] the field to 68 media Network presents red is the new orange a Syracuse basketball podcast Vince intercepts a pass Breakaway for the Freshman guard he flies and slams aerial assault from Sho a minz looking to go back door to Bell they get it to a near Corner three knocks it down Chris Bell the Sharpshooter bringing you everything you need to know out of the 315 up top Williams searches ahead up with the right handed in a pretty Up and Under move from Benny Williams to beat his man over to Taylor he skips into the lane puts up a floater it drops in let's get it started with your host Ian unsworth and Johnny gamlitz [Music] we got a two game special this week Gian unsworth Johnny gwiz on red is the new orange a field of 68 podcast you can follow us on Twitter f68 cuse also drop a follow to the field of 68 Rob doer Jeff Goodman and the guys are actually down in bokeh right now for the field of 68 tip off classic with Liberty Charleston and FAU so they've got live Recaps every night also the games are actually on TV on ESPNU I think the game tonight is Liberty Charleston at 6 so check that out also check out all the other team pods and you can listen to us megaphone Spotify Apple music or apple podcast something like that caught up in the Spotify WAP I think Apple music is something like that uh my Spotify rap was all future um okay see I share my Spotify with my whole family so we were getting a real mixed bag of of Spotify Big Time Rush on there we had Morgan wallan on I mean your pick it was there well you got a jumble of tastes at least I think I think that's that's the good thing and at that mine was all RP so you know it is it is what it is speaking of a jumble Syracuse LSU first half not good second half really good and by the way we'll have Mike Barber from the Richmond Times Dispatch on in a bit to preview Syracuse and Virginia that's a Cavaliers team that looks really different from a year ago so you want to stick around and hear that back to LSU first half 34 to 28 33 to 28 after after 20 minutes again jumbled I can't do the math here but just not pretty basketball not at all a lot of offensive rebounds a lot of turnovers fouls at the end of the first half got in the way of the Rhythm but if there's one thing that cut through it all whether it was a 4minute Syracuse scoring drought whether it was LSU constantly beating the orange to the boards it was Judah minz Jud minz at the end of the day was the best player on the floor for the entire 30 something minutes that he played he had an 80 run himself to start half number two career high in points I think what's encouraging from a team standpoint is a holy and you mentioned that ugly first half still finding a way to be up at the break right up by five we talk about okay we've had conversations of this team needing to find a way to piece together a full strong 40 minutes and while it certainly wasn't a full strong 40 minutes at the same token at least you're getting a little more consistency dare I say from start to finish in terms of finding a way to be on top of the break but Judah just incredible um I mean he had a ferocious posterizing slam that set social media ablade that probably uh ticked him up on mock drafts a couple of slots but at the end of the day he is the star that is going to shine brightest for Syracuse this year there's no doubt about it and if Syracuse wants any chance at you know hitting its ceiling you know having consistent judeman Superstar type performances which is what we got against LSU is something that is going to do Syracuse a lot of favors as far as the second half um it it looked a lot cleaner I mean you talk about the orange being plus 13 on the glass in the second half alone they were going to work on the boards which is something I know I've called for them to do more on this podcast and it was nice to see that even in a first half where things weren't going so swimmingly you still find a way to lock in and you know find a way to adjust and really put your foot down down the home stretch of that contest so there were 17 first half fouls combined in 15 first half turnovers not good basketball there was a lack of organized offensive identity I think for Syracuse it turned into a lot of indecision uh we got 10 seconds worth swing the ball around who's going to do something they took a lot of long twos which just is never a good offensive formula to succeed um but throughout that first half you saw Mintz start to get feel for the game and something that the ESPN broadcast which I thought was fantastic by the way Kevin Brown and I think it was Chris POA on color who both had some really great moments Chris pah told us that Judah Mintz is drawing eight and a half fouls per game and LSU's coaching staff was most worried about how to avoid not fouling Judit right they did not want to put him at the the line and again when nobody else can score Judah minz shot 15 total free throws in this game a lot of them coming in the first half so when Syracuse can't get offense from anywhere else at least that's what it felt like in the first half mince is consistently getting to the line and there's only so much you can do right from a defensive standpoint when you've got all of Judah mins charging at you full head of steam obviously you want to make him earn his points right this is someone who likes to get to the rim but at a certain point yes I think even from a Judah standpoint he recognizes that right he make no mistake he's trying to get to the line if you tell him he's getting 15 free throws he'll take that and run with it um I I think what's going to be interesting is and you know we we'll hit on this with Mike Barber coming up shortly but what's gonna happen when you have teams that are content to try to pack it in right and really prevent guys from getting to the cup and not only have that physicality to prevent you know the dribble drive but also you know the perimeter defense to close out on Shooters and you know just sort of limit your options and I think Virginia will probably be Syracuse's first real test when it comes to um you know well I shouldn't say first real test because obviously the Maui Invitational those teams were legit but in terms of it being the ACC opener this is what you're going to get consistently in terms of the defense right teams that are up to the task teams that are going to do their homework on Judah and try to get him out of his comfort zone something I also wanted to bring up Ian is you know for from a Syracuse defensive standpoint um whether it's Judah or really collectively it felt like this team took a stride defensively and I know LSU is not a great team at all we had John eids uh from wfb on with us on our last addition of the Pod to sort of preview where the tigers are at and one of the players he made mention of was Will Baker right as a guy who has been a bright spot Su neutralized him three points one of5 he had no impact on this basketball game not only that Tigers didn't have anything going from range either I mean you shoot two for 22 from three you're gonna find you're you're not gonna have a an easy time winning games when when the percentages are that poor so I think it's a little bit of both I think it's the fact that Syracuse's defense took strides judan took over the basketball game mentioned that 80 run to start half number two combined with the fact that very clearly documented LSU still has plenty of issues to sort out Baker got in some early foul trouble too he did I think he only finished with three but the early ones didn't do you know didn't help at all he didn't he didn't play a majority of the first half yeah andem McLoud kind of took him out of the game too couple early blocks I think Malik Brown had a big one too and Syracuse protected the rim well early on and even though LSU kept getting those offensive rebounds it was long board after long board and then three after three after three and those three-pointers had no chance of going in especially in the second half just a the opening 10 minutes of the third quart the third quarter of the game or you know the first 10 minutes of the second half Syracuse outscored LSU 33-4 so combine that with the last 10 minutes of the second half that's 50 to 24 in the middle 20 minutes of the basketball game Sy Syracuse put LSU away like really early in the second half Lee got up to double digits after that 80 run and then Chris Bell out of nowhere summoned Thor's hammer and just let it rip and then finish the game six of 10 from behind the arc and I think five of those threes came in prob about a four three to four minute Span in the second half yeah he finished with 20 points all told and if I'm not mistaken I think that's his second straight home game where he hit the 20 Mark so good to see Bell starting to turn a corner um you hate to be the glass half empty guy Ian but one thing usually that's me yeah well normally that is you I I'm gonna you know do my best Ian impression here in terms of a concern I have um JJ Starling was not particularly good in this game didn't have a bucket from the field um finished 0 of six three points and I know it's okay because you know Judah sort of gave you the game that he did and you know Syracuse ended up blowing him out of the gates anyway but I think you know that that's concerning to an extent right like how could it not be you didn't bring JJ Starling in to only score three points and obviously everyone's gonna have their off nights um but against a team allbe it a power five team that doesn't have a whole lot to write home about um you would hope that one of your Premier players so to speak would be able to take advantage a little more than he did um do you have a similar feeling or are you not pressing the Panic Button as much no I'm I'm with you yeah they again the broadcast pointed out well that Starling was not having a good night and consistently did it even though Syracuse was up 20 because this is a kind of team where there are always going to be things to improve there's never going to be a game where you say Syracuse played its best basketball of the Season until we're at least into 2024 Starling didn't get to the rim at all that's his that's his main issue right now he's seeing someone cut off that driving lane and he's either stopping for a long two or he's passing it around the perimeter he doesn't have that extra burst or that extra level of aggression that mince has right now to go right at someone and draw contact or make it tough on the defense he's got to have a bit more of that you know that Moxy to keep on going right now in fouls drawn per 40 minutes it's just around three per game and again judah's up closer to nine if these guys are going to be comparable players if starling's going to play second fiddle he's got to start drawing more foul and he's got to get aggressive because again if you can't shoot threes get your points at the line another easy source of buckets and again maybe that's something where it's just getting used to it right you talk about Starling being the guy in Notre Dame a year ago of fighting Irish Squad that did not have a whole lot home to write home about outside of JJ Starling so I'm sure it's an adjustment right not only to have a backc court mate that is similar to you in terms of skill set but also you know an NBA type guy down the road right plus with confidence too exactly you give Jud the ball not twice right and that's the message we've been preaching with the Syracuse team for a while now is that you know these things don't happen overnight uh but the but the Starling lack of production offensively at least in this LSU game seems to just sort of be the latest Wrinkle in all of that the only bummer is against a team like Virginia if Starling has one or two bad shots Cavs can shut you off right away we'll get into the Virginia matchup a bit more game is Saturday at noon at John Paul Jones Arena and after this message from BET MGM we'll have our conversation with Richmond Times Dispatch beat writer Mike Barber as you guys know by now we've partnered with bet MGM sports book for this college basketball season we're going to be using bet MGM lines to make all of our picks and predictions throughout the college basketball season and we are going to have special offers for you the listeners and the viewers on the field of 68 each and every week during the season if you haven't signed up with B MGM yet use the bonus code field 1500 and you will get up to a $1,500 first bet offer on your first wager on bmgm Sportsbook here's what you got to do download the bmgm app sign up using the bonus code field 1500 deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game you will receive up to $1,500 in bonus bets if that bet loses just make sure you use the bonus code field 1,500 when you sign up and remember bet MGM is now available under one wallet in select States as a New Jersey residents this is super convenient for me when I have to go cover games in New York or Philly when cross the state borders just log into your existing account instead of having to create new accounts in each state that you go to and most importantly I got to let you know we do have some fun stuff coming up for this college basketball season bet Insurance tokens college hoops odds boosts my personal favorite hlay odds boosts so download the BET MGM app today time to look forward we've got a special guest with us on the field of 68 red is the new orange Ian unsworth Johnny gwiz and Mike Barber of the Richmond Times Dispatch he covers all things Richmond all things Virginia and you can check out his work there Mike thanks for taking the time yeah good to talk to you guys so starting with Virginia Tony Bennett's got a really revamped roster right the names of last year whether it's Jaden Gardner or Ben vanderplas or Kei Clark all those guys are gone so what's the team been like with all these new faces getting used to each other yeah you're right it's completely remade and looks that way now ree Beakman's decision to come back uh has kind of brought them some continuity and it also makes the roster makes sense uh bman you mentioned Ki Clark bakman played off the ball when Ki was here for 27 years uh running the point Beakman's able to play on the ball now and the new pieces they've brought in I think fit really well together right they brought back Ryan Dunn who's an athletic Wing they brought back Isaac mcney who's a really good shooting uh two guard type he's able to put it on the floor a little more this year mid-range stuff but at the end of the day it's kind of the new pieces that are making this thing go and uh Jake Groves the transfer from Oklahoma you mentioned vanderplas Groves is kind of in that role he's the stretch four give you a shooter on the wing but he can also go inside a little bit uh they have not really gotten any production yet out of Jordan Miner the transfer from marac uh we'll get into the rebounding thing here I'm sure in a bit but he was supposed to kind of solve some of the rebounding issues that hasn't yet happened so it it is a completely remade roster but at the end of the day it's still Tony Bennett basketball it it starts with packline defense it starts with being efficient on offense taking shots you're going to hit and not turning the ball over so uh in that regard it looks the same but certainly uh the pieces are very different and the defense certainly the the backbone feels like it always will be with Benedict the helm I mean you talk about last time out for Virginia holding a top 15 A&M Squad to 47 points their previous low on the year was 73 so Mike in your eyes defensively what worked so well for Tony Bennett's crew to sort of neutralize A&M and how do you see that sort of translating to a dynamic Syracuse back in Judah midz and JJ Starling yeah it's been interesting to watch because this is a really athletic Virginia Defense so they're blocking more shots they're getting more Steals and I think for me I looked at that and said wow this is a great defense and Tony Bennett looks at it and says well we're blocking shots because we're giving up penetration or we're getting a steal because we're allowing them to swing the ball more so I think there's still some screws to be tightened for Virginia defensively what I see as a team that you know in in a less athletic version I think they would lose a bunch of these early season games as they're figuring it out this team is figuring out the packline all those new pieces we were just talking about but they're so athletic that even when they screw up a little bit they can get a block at The Rim or an athletic steel to save them now against A&M I thought it was pretty wild I thought they played great defensively I thought that athleticism showed up the big problem for this team is they can't rebound they're just not big they can't rebound it's not going to change people say oh he's got to do this he's got to do that there's nothing you can do you're not going to get your guys bigger in the next three months this is what you got and to watch it against A&M A&M rebounded almost 50% of its Miss shots which is staggering you you should lose when that happens uh but what Virginia did was instead of giving up an offensive rebound that was a stick back they' give up the offensive rebound but they were in position to push A&M back out and they made A&M work again against the packline so despite giving up all those offensive rebounds it didn't hurt them as much as it should that that was a key thing and I think that athleticism and that sort of stoutness of not giving up the easy Second Chance buckets I think that's going to be big again against Syracuse we know Syracuse can't rebound to save its own life the first half against LSU was a complete mess when it came I think LSU had 13 maybe 14 offensive boards going into halftime so it could be a battle of weaknesses at that point I noticed reys beakman going into that a M contest was questionable I think with with some sort of leg problem but he played just fine and he locked down Wade Taylor who amm's best player by far he I think he's supposed to be preseason all SEC first team super experienced uh how did beakman look and how have you seen him take a step forward yeah he is a in player this year more complete and that's impressive because he he was been good in the past he's still the best defender in the conference uh on ball off ball he can do it all um he he's saved them at times offensively uh he's a better finisher at The Rim his ball handling is great his his outside shot still isn't anything you're scared of um there were a ton of NBA Scouts there for the A&M game and REE was obviously one of the main guys if not the main guy they were looking at U he was hurt he's got either a knee or a quad he was wearing a compression sleeve um they weren't sure he was going to be able to go you could tell he was laboring but he shut down Wade Taylor who is he's the SEC preseason player of the year um I thought his defense was remarkable and probably impressed some NBA Scouts knowing that he wasn't uh full speed and full go and was able to do that so he's taken his game to another level offensively and defensively and I I think maybe I think I've lost track but I think it's four times this year they've been either end of half or end of game um with the ball you know and he's been the guy every time in that possession now he's done some different things he's tried to dribble penetrate at least twice I can remember he tried for a pull up near the elbow once but he he is the guy now that makes this team go and just speaking of Defense we should note that Judah mint scored a combined 38 points in two games against Virginia last year that's probably the matchup we're getting and it's going to be fantastic yeah well and the Syracuse back court is outstanding I I think it's it's G to be so interesting we were talking before we started recording but to me to just watch Syracuse they just looked so different than what I'm used to for so many years and I'm sure it's that for you guys um but this is a really small ball kind of athletic run the floor it seems like Syracuse team um and it will be interesting because Virginia obviously doesn't want to run the floor when you're defending Judah Mintz I think you have no choice you've got to run with him where he's G to run away from you U but they've got guys who can do it right uh beakman we just talked about but they've got a lot of athletic pieces I think the thing that hurts uh Virginia in this matchup I think Dante Harris the transfer from Georgetown was a great fit for this game uh because of that Syracuse backourt with mince and Starling I think if you have beakman and Harris together on the floor which Virginia had done done sometimes um I think that's a really intriguing offense versus defense matchup Harris rolled his ankle he missed the last game we don't expect him to be ready for this weekend ankles are funny right he could be back today he could be out for three weeks we don't know uh it's one of the reasons they burned the red shirt on Elijah Gertrude uh the bouncy freshman from from New Jersey so that part will be interesting but I think that um overall Virginia has the athleticism now to defend a player like Mintz and it's not just about ree beakman locking him down well we'll sort of keep it in the back court then I guess you know another player who has who has taken some strides this year Isaac mcney uh you know a reserve type guy last year who saw plenty of action Off the Bench but now this year is really sort of become a focal point in what ways Mike have you kind of seen his game evolve here as time has gone on yeah going back to A&M I thought it was interesting when beakman went out because just to rest or if the leg was bothering him it was McNeely who they matched up on Taylor and he held his Zone he was fine he didn't get exploited that's surprising to me I mean mcne is a a very sound Defender he's a very good Defender he's committed on that end he's not the athlete that that ree beakman is uh I was really impressed with his defense offensively he's done a nice job of expanding his game and not that it wasn't there a year ago but he was a catch and shoot guy a year ago that was his role it wasn't that they didn't believe he could do more they didn't need him to do more that's what they wanted from him this year they're asking him to handle the ball more they're asking him to drive and find that mid-range they're asking him to get penetration get to the rim at times and he's done it all really effectively now he showed flashes of that last year where you know guys were so afraid of his three-point shot they'd come flying out on him and he' put the ball on the floor and go around them pull up for that mid-range that's a bigger part of his game now so I really like the way he's developed uh the way Dunn is developed those are the two sophomores they played heavily and then Leon Bond II who they red shirted um that class you know people is it another big three right DeAndre Hunter Kyle guy Ty Jerome probably that's a bit much but it's a really good group Ian unsworth Johnny gwiz and Mike Barber from the Richmond Times Dispatch breaking down Syracuse Virginia you mentioned a the inside guys a little bit Mike and Virginia is kind of a smaller team this year they don't have a Cadence shedric or a Jay Huff or at least a big presence inside meanwhile Syracuse got a 7 foot4 dude that has Godzilla arms blocking shots so how do you think Virginia handles nem mccloud's presence in the paint you know the packline is designed for that right so you know they're not afraid to post trap a big part of of what they do is denying the ball to guys like that but then if they do catch it having that double team come quick they're going to be down uh on the ball in his hands trying to knock it away the interesting thing here and I don't know that he'll hold up but Blake Buchanan The Freshman he's 6 foot1 they've gone with him from the opening start you know they knew hey this guy is ready to play he's ready to contribute he's raw he makes mistakes it will be interesting to see if they go small and just post trap post trap post trap or if they try to see if if you can and can match up there and uh Buchanan has great athleticism for a guy that size so I think he'll be able to if nothing else steal some defensive minutes there um again not that they won't post trap when he's in the game certainly he's going to need some help too but I think that's going to be really interesting because they don't really have another post presence I mentioned Jordan Miner the transfer from meramac I think the thought was he was going to be the starting fiveman and it just hasn't panned out for whatever reason he's not a lineup regular he's kind of the last guy off the bench right now um but but I think Buchanan could could be an interesting key piece kind of Swing piece in this matchup as we wake up on this Friday morning when we're recording this Virginia sits at 32 as far as kenpom is concerned you look at the AP Mike and it's a UVA team that was there briefly earlier in the year before um back in mid to to late November we can call it uh but in your eyes you know what What's it gonna need to take for this Virginia Squad to maybe get a little bit more respect in a number in front of its name like the Dukes like the Carolinas like the miamis of the ACC as far as that AP Top 25 is concerned yeah you know sometimes it's easy to criticize that poll and in this case I'm on their side I didn't bother voting this year I voted football basketball's just too many work man there's just too many damn games but um you know Virginia to me is an unknown and I think that's what the voters are saying and when Virginia was unbeaten they were saying hey okay they're an unknown that doesn't mean they're bad they look pretty good and then Wisconsin just bushwacked I went down to Fort Myers Florida to watch them in that event and Wisconsin just crushed them on the glass it was a huge thing and I think the voters said okay there is a fatal flaw in this Virginia team they cannot rebound the basketball and they cannot beat teams that do that's the end of story take them out of the poll we're done now the A&M win I wouldn't be surprised if they moved back into the poll because one that's a huge quality win Buzz Williams for all we can say about Bose Williams he's got a great team uh out there at A&M I think they're going to be title contenders in the SC that's like an elite eight level maybe final four level team so that win by itself I think is going to grab some attention but if you're a basketball Junkie you look at the way it happened and you look at the fact that they did get crushed on the glass and they found a way to mitigate that with the turnovers with the defense and with forcing forcing A&M to work for Second Chance points not just get stick backs I think a lot of Voters if they're diving in are going to say here's the problem with Virginia and now I know what the solution is so I guess the followup there than obviously the Wisconsin game game that they lose by 24 points I is that a formula that you think other teams now going up against UVA try to replicate in terms of getting the best of them yeah I I don't know if it's something you can replicate I think if you're a good rebounding team then you're going to hope to exploit that and you're going to go into the game and say hey look if we get an offensive rebound let's get back up on the glass even if we're drawing a foul and I think if you're Virginia you're going to say look we're a bad rebounding team and they're going to get offensive rebounds let's make sure in position to drive them out and make them work for 30 seconds against the packline again and I think every game for Virginia is going to be sort of a cliche but that battle of wills okay is it offensive rebound stick back if it is Virginia loses is it offensive rebound Force the ball back out and defend again then I think Virginia's going to grind people down and do what they did to A&M so you know I think you've got to be who you are when you play Virginia I think you've got to be patient offensively um but teams that capitalize on the offensive glass will be beat Virginia teams that don't will not well patience hasn't exactly been the Orange's strong suit as of late honestly Mike when I look up and down the Cavaliers schedule that Memphis game in a couple weeks talk about physicality and rebounding that'll be an interesting test to see if the Cavs had taken steps forward but Syracuse wise this weekend should be an interesting match to see if the the Run and Gun of the orange can keep Pace with the packline Cavaliers Mike Barber of the Richmond Times dispatch thank you for some insight on the Cavs thanks for having me you can check him out at RTD Mike Barber on Twitter and of course drop us a follow on Twitter f68 cuse and you can listen wherever you get your