Gap year

[OrlandoCuse]

No doubt about it, this year is all about rebuilding and laying a foundation for next year. Too young, too little offense and too weak to make waves.

Next year will be great, though.

 

[kjb120]

I know it probably won't happen but I really hope McCullough comes back next year, I think he will be a monster once he gets stronger.

 

[orangejunkie]

Based on early season, McCullough will be back.

 

[Orange2389]

We lose Rak and Cmac.

KJ2
G
Cooney
Buss
Richardson****
Howard****
BJ
Chino
DC2
Roberson
Lydon****
Diagne****
Bryant*****

Assuming Cmac goes and DC2 comes back healthy, we're looking at a great team.

 

[jdubs30]

We haven't had a gap year since like 2008

 

[OrlandoCuse]

We haven't had a gap year since like 2008

2002 was a good gap year.

 

[CuseHulk]

We haven't had a gap year since like 2008

That 2007-2008 Team, would have been a lot better. Rautins got hurt during the summer, and then Devendorf went down just before conference play.

 

[Jake]

This reminds me of 1997. Gonna be a looooong year.

 

[CuseHulk]

This reminds me of 1997. Gonna be a looooong year.

You too. Writing this team off. 3 games into the season. 3 !!!!

Young, but Talented, will get better.

 

[JeremyCuse]

This reminds me of 1997. Gonna be a looooong year.

Thought the same thing watching the second half, hoping the light turns on for one of the young guns soon or were looking at the type of season we haven't seen in a long time around here. Lack of depth due to the early departures and only a 2 man recruiting class is looming large.

 

[AZOrange]

Thought the same thing watching the second half, hoping the light turns on for one of the young guns soon or were looking at the type of season we haven't seen in a long time around here. Lack of depth due to the early departures and only a 2 man recruiting class is looming large.

I'm hoping for a edelin/GMAc/melo meeting in the next couple days...

 

[Jake]

You too. Writing this team off. 3 games into the season. 3 !!!! Young, but Talented, will get better.

I've been a fan since 1976..,,seen a lot of basketball. I know the difference between a team that's young and just needs seasoning vs a team that just doesn't have the right parts. This team is the latter. It'll struggle to score 60 most nights.

 

[Dave85]

Wow. That was rough. My only hope now is this team starts playing amazing defense out of desperation.

Silent G had some nice moments. CMac looked great. KJ2 needs work.

The offense was pretty non-existent. I don't know where the scoring is going to come from this year. It's going to be a long season. Hopefully, we will make a deeper than predicted tournament run with a few upsets. That is, assuming we make the NCAA tournament!

 

[AZOrange]

Wow. That was rough. My only hope now is this team starts playing amazing defense out of desperation.

Silent G had some nice moments. CMac looked great. KJ2 needs work.

The offense was pretty non-existent. I don't know where the scoring is going to come from this year. It's going to be a long season. Hopefully, we will make a deeper than predicted tournament run with a few upsets. That is, assuming we make the NCAA tournament!

Cmac didn't look great. He had a couple moments but he was not good for long stretches.

 

[Dave85]

I know it probably won't happen but I really hope McCullough comes back next year, I think he will be a monster once he gets stronger.

I think there's little chance McCullough stays more than one year.

 

[Dave85]

Cmac didn't look great. He had a couple moments but he was not good for long stretches.

I think the way the team was playing did not compliment his game. He's going to have one or two monster games and will be drafted based on potential.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I've been a fan since 1976..,,seen a lot of basketball. I know the difference between a team that's young and just needs seasoning vs a team that just doesn't have the right parts. This team is the latter. It'll struggle to score 60 most nights.

Agreed Jake. Any silver linings in your mind? Any chance someone can break out to help offensively?

 

[CuseHulk]

I've been a fan since 1976..,,seen a lot of basketball. I know the difference between a team that's young and just needs seasoning vs a team that just doesn't have the right parts. This team is the latter. It'll struggle to score 60 most nights.

I can respect that.

Again, as a Fan. I don't believe in writing a team off 3 games into the season, Period. Especially one with a Hall of Fame head coach, a fantastic coaching staff, and Young yet Talent on the roster.

 

[Dave85]

Assuming Cmac goes and DC2 comes back healthy, we're looking at a great team.

Is DC2 even going to play this season?

 

[Dave85]

I can respect that.

Again, as a Fan. I don't believe in writing a team off 3 games into the season, Period. Especially one with a Hall of Fame head coach, a fantastic coaching staff, and Young yet Talent on the roster.

You have to be realistic. This team is going to have to become one of the best defensive teams is Orange history to even have a slight chance of beating teams like Duke, UNC, or Louisville. It's going to be a long season. This will be one of those seasons that will get us to appreciate just how good we had it during the Scoop and Brandon days!

 

[Chosen0ne]

I think this team has some things that are correctable, but it feels like a group of pieces that don't fit well together. The spacing was awful tonight.

I think Cooney would do better as a 20MPG guy. It is hard to hit shots when you are sprinting back and forth every possession on offense.

Mike G looks much better. I think he is better at going north/south than KJ and Cooney. Hope to see him split time at both guard spots with more minutes. We need some players to make nice moves to the hoop that can kick out for easier 3s for the wings.

I think Roberson has a ton of potential, but he looks hesitant with his moves. Someone else mentioned a Nichols improvement curve, and I can definitely envision that.

CM will be just fine. Not worried. He is going to be special by the end of the year. Rak needs to get better looks--a lot of that is on the wings.

Patterson and BJ looked like freshman in MSG tonight. Way off on 3s and their spacing was particularly bad.

I think the D will be fine by end of year. I worry about the light bulb coming on with the O.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Yeah, McCullough was the least of the problems tonight. They had to pay attention to him and he was active inside causing some problems at both ends. Silent G looked pretty good. Got lost on D a few times which was surprising. Roberson is lost on both ends. Really forced tonight. We'll see how Joseph responds against Iowa. Somebody has to emerge as someone who can make shots. We HAVE to get Cooney better looks. Something has to be done to free him up more. I mean other teams get their so called sniper clean looks. I have seen enough the past few years where I am starting to be mildly concerned about the ability of the team/staff to score points on good teams. I don't know enough to tell if it's the parts or X's & O's, but, something has to change. Even last year towards the end of the season it looked like tonight in terms of no clue what to do on offense. Looking forward to Iowa!

 

[SUFan44]

I've been a fan since 1976..,,seen a lot of basketball. I know the difference between a team that's young and just needs seasoning vs a team that just doesn't have the right parts. This team is the latter. It'll struggle to score 60 most nights.

Meh. I agree but I disagree. Team has a lot of warts, but there's a lot more ability than the 1997 team.

This year is absolutely a transitional year, but nobody should expect NIT. That's a foolish expectation for the talent on the roster.

 

[hoopsupstate]

JB's system needs great one on one players. This team has none. I see athletes, but I don't see highly skilled baskeball players. I don't see how this team has any chance of winning a road game in the ACC. Their offense is all east and west. There is no weakside ball cuts or screening. It's all ball screen. Cooney will never get a open shot with this offense.

 

[Jamesvillecuse]

couple of things that stood out to me last night #1 Cal is a very good team, they have athleticism, good size, shooters and they are an excellent passing team. I think they are a team to watch this year. #2 this is a year that we are not asking 1 or 2 players to make the leap and step up but everyone on the team. #3 this is a physically weak team and that is an issue that will not be corrected this year. I think this is a perfect team to press more this year but my concern is Rak is our only decent center on the team. If this team is to be successful this year defense will be the reason. Rak must do a better job of establishing position closer to the basket he is catching the ball too far from basket. Too many jumpers last night this team needs to pound it inside or take it to the basket. Will be very interested how they respond tonight but either way the upcoming games in the dome will be key to getting experience and see if their faults are fixable. I think it is too early to write this team off but I must admit there are a lot of things wrong with this team...Tim