Boeheim's Army: " Lydon is a Jewel" | Page 5 | Syracusefan.com

Boeheim's Army: " Lydon is a Jewel"

Dave85 said:
I'd rather have him fast than bulked. If he's hitting outside shots his bulk will not matter.
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I'm talking about muscle .. filling out. 200's pretty slight for a 6'9 kid. But we certainly don't want him "beefy" in a football sense. Jeff's got me so pumped up about this kid I can't wait to see him play.
 
reedny said:
I'm talking about muscle .. filling out. 200's pretty slight for a 6'9 kid. But we certainly don't want him "beefy" in a football sense. Jeff's got me so pumped up about this kid I can't wait to see him play.
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Yeah, me too. He's very slender so I hope he doesn't get blown around like BJ did. But he does have 20 pounds on BJ. If he can consistently have an outside game he will be an amazing weapon on offense. Maybe he has really good vision and high basketball intelligence which contributes to his success. Basketball moves against the defense are a chess game. You can't make shots if you don't have space. Tyler's outside shot, drive to the basket game, or drive to the basket but stop with a pull-up jumper will make him very hard to defend IF he is sinking shots.
 
dyedorange said:
Is TR still at 200 lbs? Saw a recent picture of him, posted here in the last few weeks, and the guy looked pretty stacked. Looked like he added 10-15 pounds of muscle from what I remembered last year.
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That's good news. Roberson is a terrific rebounder despite being undersized, but a little bit of "good" muscle / weight would really help him out. It would be great for the team if he could make a scoring jump, even if just to 13-14 ppg.
 
RF2044 said:
That's good news. Roberson is a terrific rebounder despite being undersized, but a little bit of "good" muscle / weight would really help him out. It would be great for the team if he could make a scoring jump, even if just to 13-14 ppg.
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I was trying to find the TR picture from one of the articles but I was not able to find it. He looked pretty strong in the pic.

I hope these kids have trainers helping them so they do the weight training properly. We need players who can survive the season without getting hurt. Bench pressing 800 pounds may look cool but doing some squats might also be a good idea.
 
reedny said:
No doubt G sees big minutes. He's a senior and one of our best scorers. Having him on the perimeter, while helpful during KJ's development, is certainly not ideal. No doubt he will play some minutes up top, but he's not a guard. At 6'7, yes he adds height to the back court. And his defense is not that much worse than KJ's last year -- but KJ was a freshman. I fully expect a sophomore leap from him this year, including his defensive intensity.

Another problem with G up top is that there's a big hole at the 3 when he's playing guard. He can't stay in front of better ACC guards, and having him shore up PG prevents JB from using him where he really hurts other teams -- playing SF where he can hit the long jumper or get inside at will against players his size. When you put him at PG, these attributes are wasted ... because he's not going to drive by too many decent ACC guards, so they play up on him negating his height advantage.

KJ's our best bet at PG if he's making good decisions and being smart on defense, and I think you will see both of those issues improve this year. Certainly, if he's not having a good game or is not handling the pressure of certain game situations well enough, G can be the bandaid. If this happens, it's probably not a good sign for the team.
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What??...MG - "and his defense is not that much worse than KJ's last year" ???...KJ's defense last year stunk. Absolutely bad. It was the reason Patterson got some run. KJ2 was our worst starting defensive player in the last 5 years, and it is not even close.

MG plays good defense. Where is this bad defense out of MG coming from? A couple of years ago MG was the defensive substitute for Cooney - remember that? He's a 5th year senior with time spent at Duke. Not that much worse than KJ's frosh year - please.

The blurb "another problem with G up top is that there's a big hole at the 3" can be answered by Malachi or Lydon. And if you had a Cooney, Malachi, MG lineup exactly who you consider the 1,2, and 3 could be up for some debate.

The way this could be a good sign for the team is if the move is made because Malachi is so good JB wants him out on the floor (because lets face it, TC and MG are in line for big minutes any way you slice it).
 
Sgt Cuse said:
What??...MG - "and his defense is not that much worse than KJ's last year" ???...KJ's defense last year stunk. Absolutely bad. It was the reason Patterson got some run. KJ2 was our worst starting defensive player in the last 5 years, and it is not even close.

MG plays good defense. Where is this bad defense out of MG coming from? A couple of years ago MG was the defensive substitute for Cooney - remember that? He's a 5th year senior with time spent at Duke. Not that much worse than KJ's frosh year - please.

The blurb "another problem with G up top is that there's a big hole at the 3" can be answered by Malachi or Lydon. And if you had a Cooney, Malachi, MG lineup exactly who you consider the 1,2, and 3 could be up for some debate.

The way this could be a good sign for the team is if the move is made because Malachi is so good JB wants him out on the floor (because lets face it, TC and MG are in line for big minutes any way you slice it).
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Sgt., as far as perimeter defense last year, there's a lot of blame to go around. Our zone was not what it usually is defensively, and there were multiple reasons for that. KJ's defense was one, no doubt. Trevor's defense, while decent overall, lapsed in certain games -- LV comes to mind (Rosiere' penetrated the zone at will). Virginia is another example where our guys, G included, could not check the opposing perimeter players.

So I agree with you that there was a problem. But I don't agree with your argument that it was all KJ's fault and therefore G should be our permanent PG. We can spin around all day arguing about last year. I think you should wait and see how KJ performs this season. I'm expecting improvement on D, in decision-making and confidence with ball-handling and running the pick and roll. If that improvement is not there or KJ's having a bad game, sure .. bring G up top.

But G is not an ACC guard, make no mistake. He's very effective at the 3 and can shoot or get by opposing small forwards reliably. At the point, however, as I said before, he draws a lightening quick ACC guard who will play up on him to stop him from shooting. G can get by some of these guys once in a while, but better ACC guards are difficult for him to drive on. In this scenario, if he can't get by the opposing guard, his only other option is to take a contested shot from deep. Therefore, playing G at PG removes an advantage we have at one spot (3) and creates a problem at another (PG). This is why G as PG is a stop-gap.

You mention that when G plays up top, the 3 "opens up". Well, maybe so, but we don't have anyone with experience to play there. Roberson's skillset (judging from last year) is not a SF (he has no outside game). So Tyler Lydon is the best candidate (since MR is not big enough at 6-5/6-6 to play on our front line). Lydon may be able to contribute at the 3/4 in time, but as good as he looks asking him to walk in and take over starting small forward right off the bat is unrealistic.
 
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People OOH and AHH about some of todays players, but Dr. J in his prime was just incredible to watch. Great athlete who jumped as smooth and well as a gazelle. Somewhere there is a promo he did for Dr. Pepper that is awesome.
 
reedny said:
Sgt., as far as perimeter defense last year, there's a lot of blame to go around. Our zone was not what it usually is defensively, and there were multiple reasons for that. KJ's defense was one, no doubt. Trevor's defense, while decent overall, lapsed in certain games -- LV comes to mind (Rosiere' penetrated the zone at will). Virginia is another example where our guys, G included, could not check the opposing perimeter players.

So I agree with you that there was a problem. But I don't agree with your argument that it was all KJ's fault and therefore G should be our permanent PG. We can spin around all day arguing about last year. I think you should wait and see how KJ performs this season. I'm expecting improvement on D, in decision-making and confidence with ball-handling and running the pick and roll. If that improvement is not there or KJ's having a bad game, sure .. bring G up top.

But G is not an ACC guard, make no mistake. He's very effective at the 3 and can shoot or get by opposing small forwards reliably. At the point, however, as I said before, he draws a lightening quick ACC guard who will play up on him to stop him from shooting. G can get by some of these guys once in a while, but better ACC guards are difficult for him to drive on. In this scenario, if he can't get by the opposing guard, his only other option is to take a contested shot from deep. Therefore, playing G at PG removes an advantage we have at one spot (3) and creates a problem at another (PG). This is why G as PG is a stop-gap.

You mention that when G plays up top, the 3 "opens up". Well, maybe so, but we don't have anyone with experience to play there. Roberson's skillset (judging from last year) is not a SF (he has no outside game). So Tyler Lydon is the best candidate (since MR is not big enough at 6-5/6-6 to play on our front line). Lydon may be able to contribute at the 3/4 in time, but as good as he looks asking him to walk in and take over starting small forward right off the bat is unrealistic.
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I'm not saying last year was all KJ2's fault. What I am saying is MG is light years better at D than KJ2 was. The statement to the effect of MG is not much worse than KJ2 seemed absurd.

And if Malachi absolutely blows up, the minutes he is most likely to take are KJ2s. Now in that scenario positions may be blurred. You could call it, TC, Malachi, MG with ball handling duties spread out.

I think KJ2 will be improved. But I think KJ2 vs Malachi is something to watch.
 
Sgt Cuse said:
I'm not saying last year was all KJ2's fault. What I am saying is MG is light years better at D than KJ2 was. The statement to the effect of MG is not much worse than KJ2 seemed absurd.

And if Malachi absolutely blows up, the minutes he is most likely to take are KJ2s. Now in that scenario positions may be blurred. You could call it, TC, Malachi, MG with ball handling duties spread out.

I think KJ2 will be improved. But I think KJ2 vs Malachi is something to watch.
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KJ's biggest issue last year was the hands down man down defense. I'm not sure why we are comparing KJ to Malachi. Malachi is never going to play the point here. He's a 2/3.

I think Lydon has a better chance to start than Malachi because he's 6'9 and he's the more all around player. If Lydon starts, Gbinije goes to the point.

I'm not getting caught up in the recruiting rankings regarding our freshman. I'm not sure why Lydon was ranked as low as he was, but it seems like he's underrated.
 
Cusefan0307 said:
KJ's biggest issue last year was the hands down man down defense. I'm not sure why we are comparing KJ to Malachi. Malachi is never going to play the point here. He's a 2/3.

I think Lydon has a better chance to start than Malachi because he's 6'9 and he's the more all around player. If Lydon starts, Gbinije goes to the point.

I'm not getting caught up in the recruiting rankings regarding our freshman. I'm not sure why Lydon was ranked as low as he was, but it seems like he's underrated.
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The reason I have KJ2 vs Malachi is because I believe if Malachi gets big PT, the minutes he gets will come at KJ2's expense - both TC and MG are locked in for big minutes.
 
Sgt Cuse said:
I'm not saying last year was all KJ2's fault. What I am saying is MG is light years better at D than KJ2 was. The statement to the effect of MG is not much worse than KJ2 seemed absurd.

And if Malachi absolutely blows up, the minutes he is most likely to take are KJ2s. Now in that scenario positions may be blurred. You could call it, TC, Malachi, MG with ball handling duties spread out.

I think KJ2 will be improved. But I think KJ2 vs Malachi is something to watch.
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You and I disagree about G's ability to stay in front of ACC guards, as opposed to KJ. I think KJ is better suited to guard the perimeter, although he may not have played to his potential in some games last year.

However, you may be right about MR/KJ. That's a closer call. I stand by my concerns using a SF as our PG. But if KJ doesn't produce and MR starts lighting things up, he may eat some of KJ's minutes.

As you know in our system, the guards are essentially interchangeable, except usually one player (the "PG") brings up the ball, and usually one guy initiates the offense more than the other. But both guards rotate up top as you know from watching the team. So TC and MR together is not unrealistic. In fact, TC might like having MR play next to him to draw off some of the defensive pressure.

But all this depends on what we see from KJ and I think we should just give him a chance to come in and see how he plays.
 
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reedny said:
You may be right about MR/KJ. That I can't predict. I stand by my concerns using a SF as our PG. But if KJ doesn't produce and MR starts lighting things up, he may eat some of KJ's minutes.

As you know in our system, the guards are essentially interchangeable, except usually one player (the "PG") brings up the ball, and usually one guy initiates the offense more than the other. But both can play up top. So TC and MR together is not impossible. In fact, TC might like having MR play next to him might to take some of the defensive pressure off TC.

But all this depends on what we see from KJ and I think we should just give him a chance to come in and see how he plays.
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KJ should absolutely have a chance to show his growth. Nothing would be better than all of the players playing well and giving the coaches as many options as possible. If all players are playing well, there is quite a bit of flexibility in this squad.
 
orangefog said:
KJ should absolutely have a chance to show his growth. Nothing would be better than all of the players playing well and giving the coaches as many options as possible. If all players are playing well, there is quite a bit of flexibility in this squad.
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Howard may be in the mix too, as a PG backup. We have G in case he's not ready. Generally speaking, however, there are clear advantages to playing guards on the perimeter, rather than small forwards. We need G at the 3 doing what he does. We'll win more games doing that than using him as a PG backup IF KJ (or Howard) is playing reasonably well.
 
reedny said:
No doubt G sees big minutes. He's a senior and one of our best scorers. Having him on the perimeter, while helpful during KJ's development, is certainly not ideal. No doubt he will play some minutes up top, but he's not a guard. At 6'7, yes he adds height to the back court. And his defense is not that much worse than KJ's last year -- but KJ was a freshman. I fully expect a sophomore leap from him this year, including his defensive intensity.

Another problem with G up top is that there's a big hole at the 3 when he's playing guard. He can't stay in front of better ACC guards, and having him shore up PG prevents JB from using him where he really hurts other teams -- playing SF where he can hit the long jumper or get inside at will against players his size. When you put him at PG, these attributes are wasted ... because he's not going to drive by too many decent ACC guards, so they play up on him negating his height advantage.

KJ's our best bet at PG if he's making good decisions and being smart on defense, and I think you will see both of those issues improve this year. Certainly, if he's not having a good game or is not handling the pressure of certain game situations well enough, G can be the bandaid. If this happens, it's probably not a good sign for the team.
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Disagree 1000%. Joseph was by far the worst defender on the team last year, and it wasn't close.
 
SUFan44 said:
Disagree 1000%. Joseph was by far the worst defender on the team last year, and it wasn't close.
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You're entitled to your opinion. But in the games I saw (all of them), it wasn't just KJ .. TC had lapses and G had plenty of trouble against quicker ACC guards (I gave LV and UVA as examples). It's not just staying in front, it's working through high screens, playing pick and roll, closing on shooters, etc... KJ had some issues, but so did the other players.

At any rate, even if you're correct, that doesn't mean KJ shouldn't get a chance to prove himself defensively this year, or that it's healthy for the team using our SF as the point guard.
 
KJ was pretty terrible defensively, but to say he was by far the worst defender on the team is to ignore the fact that BJ Johnson was on the team. God love BJ, but good lord, he was so horrendously bad on the wing of the zone.
 
reedny said:
You're entitled to your opinion. But in the games I saw (all of them), it wasn't just KJ .. TC had lapses and G had plenty of trouble against quicker ACC guards (I gave LV and UVA as examples). It's not just staying in front, it's working through high screens, playing pick and roll, closing on shooters, etc... KJ had some issues, but so did the other players.

At any rate, even if you're correct, that doesn't mean KJ shouldn't get a chance to prove himself defensively this year, or that it's healthy for the team using our SF as the point guard.
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I don't disagree that Joseph deserves an opportunity and deserves to get minutes to prove he has improved. But he was atrocious at the top of the zone last year. He was pulled from the game primarily because of those defensive lapses.

You can't use Louisville and Virginia (two of the best teams in the league) as examples of how Gbinije failed and gloss over every failure Joseph had. Especially when they were as frequent and obvious as they were.
 
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jekelish said:
KJ was pretty terrible defensively, but to say he was by far the worst defender on the team is to ignore the fact that BJ Johnson was on the team. God love BJ, but good lord, he was so horrendously bad on the wing of the zone.
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Sorry - I didn't view BJ as a main player on the team last year. He was bad, but was only playing due to McCullough's injury.
 
Defense up top in the zone is a big worry for me this year no matter who is playing there. TC was steady until last year where I thought he struggled. KJ was bad. FH and MR are freshman and MG was better on the wing than out top.
 
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