Geno Thorpe - COMMITTED TO SYRACUSE

[JLine]

I doubt him because before his 37% shooting he shot 30%. Free throws are nice but he doesn't shoot 90%, he shoots closer to 80%, that doesn't bother me because 80% is good but he isn't a 90% shooter.

What really bothers me with him though is his 2pt %. 40% is putrid and his assist to turnover ratio is garbage.

I'm not sure he is much better than Frank Howard.


All that said, I welcome him, we need depth, but my expectations are very very low.

Fair enough. Just watching him I think he's gonna do well. Tough when you play for USF, and have no help. A volume shooter is going to have lower percentages unless he's elite. He's not our savior, but is a very good player. In my opinion. Always respect your opinion, but hope he does better than you expect, and know you do as well. Hopefully he signs up tomorrow.

 

[JLine]

I'll be thrilled if we land him because I'm not confident in Frank at this point. But I wouldn't discount the step up in competition from the AAC to ACC or necessarily say the zone isn't rocket science based on what we saw last year. That being said, I think he would be a very solid addition and we need him badly imho

I may have used too much hyperbole with the rocket science thing. Not sure why I said that. I hate that.

Still, he's an experienced guard who has played some zone. Yes, nothing like ours but experience is key. A fifth year player is easier to teach than a freshman, I think.

Always exceptions to the rule. Gillon was just too small, and didn't put in the effort. The guards arguably have an easier job than the wings. I think the frontcourt has the most difficult job. It helps to have good guards though, so yeah. He has the length, and work ethic, I believe, to do well at the top.

They do need to stop penetration, and close out on shooters so it's really a team thing, obviously. TT has to improve in the middle, and our wings need to help with weak side D. Love the thought of Marek, OB, and MM coming over to block shots.

I don't know the guy, but Geno seems focused, and hard working. He wants to have a shot at winning, or else he would already be signed up at Pitt. Really have a good feeling about him.

Thorpe, Howard, Tyus at the top is a lot of length on D. Have to give a nod to HW, as he's gonna be a stud eventually.

Just need Geno here ASAP to get to work, so we don't lose early games like last year because we didn't have the right lineup.

My glass is always half full, just with a little vodka. Or a lot. Either way, this team has so much potential. It may take a bit, but we're built for years to come. Just hope I get to see it.

 

[CuseLifer11]

Thorpe at USF last year 15.1 pts per game .846 from the free throw line .375% from 3
Howard at S>U> last year 4.5 pts per game .623 from the free throw line .316 from 3
They aren't even

This isn't your best post Dasher. A guy playing in a scrub team getting most the shots vs a guy in the ACC playing on a team full if scorers.

I think Thorpe will ultimately prove to be better than Howard... but the scoring stats mean very little. If Frank were on USF last year he would have scores just as much if not more.

 

[EastCoast2]

This isn't your best post Dasher. A guy playing in a scrub team getting most the shots vs a guy in the ACC playing on a team full if scorers.

I think Thorpe will ultimately prove to be better than Howard... but the scoring stats mean very little. If Frank were on USF last year he would have scores just as much if not more.

You think Howard would have scored 15ppg in the AAC? And would have increased FT% by 22% and increased his 3P% by 6%?

 

[RF2044]

This isn't your best post Dasher. A guy playing in a scrub team getting most the shots vs a guy in the ACC playing on a team full if scorers.

I think Thorpe will ultimately prove to be better than Howard... but the scoring stats mean very little. If Frank were on USF last year he would have scores just as much if not more.

Highly doubtful.

 

[sutomcat]

You think Howard would have scored 15ppg in the AAC? And would have increased FT% by 22% and increased his 3P% by 6%?

Here are some advanced stats for both players:

Franklin Howard College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Geno Thorpe College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Geno's PER was 17.1. Frank's was 14.5. Geno shot the ball better but Frank stayed relatively close with good ratings for assists and steals, where he performs better than Geno does.

A big difference between them is performance in conference games. Geno's PER in conference games was 19.1, so he actually played better in conference games. Frank's PER in conference games was 8.6.

Some of that can be explained by Geno playing in the AAC. To be fair to him, Frank didn't play much in conference play either.

But it looks like Geno gets better against top competition. He had some of his best games against the few teams USF played with were in the top 25. Frank has shown the ability to play well against poor competition but I haven't seen him do well often against really good teams. Hopefully he can step up in this area next season.

Anyway, I think it is reasonable to expect Geno to do better than Frank next season. But Frank showed an ability to dominate at times against so so opponents early in the season and put up some impressive numbers. Those numbers should translate into better performance against good teams than we have seen to date. Perhaps the biggest question facing this team is whether Frank can perform at a higher level against good teams next season. I think it is clear he has the ability to do it. He just has to prove it.

 

[Footey04]

Do you really think frank is that good? Um Thorpe is 10 x the player frank is at this point in here career, not sure what your watching.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

The way I see it, we're nuts if we roll with only three guards.

Thorpe makes us not nuts, and also fills a scholly for only one season.

If he's actually a decent contributor that's almost a bonus. Almost.

 

[Grbac]

Do you really think frank is that good? Um Thorpe is 10 x the player frank is at this point in here career, not sure what your watching.

Frank is the better defensive pass first point guard. Geno is a more versatile scoring threat that can play 1 or 2.

Lets not compare them. We should appreciate the fact that they could play very well together. We need better guard play and hopefully they can elevate each others games.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Do you really think frank is that good? Um Thorpe is 10 x the player frank is at this point in here career, not sure what your watching.

I think we are seeing a big negative swing on Frank. I had an overly positive swing on him after the end of year stuff I saw his freshman season. He played horribly for the latter half of his sophomore year and now a lot of people are swinging too far in the negative direction. IF, and that is a big IF, he can get his confidence and attitude together this year, it is not absurd to think he can be a serviceable to solid contributor in ACC play this year. Things leaning against that happening are that the situation will be basically identical - Frank presumes he has the keys and then in the summer before the season a 5th year guy is brought in at his position. Things working in favor of him doing better this year is that he is a year more mature and JB has a year of experience dealing with the dynamics of Frank and a 5th year guy. I'm not sure in this case if the absence of Hopkins is a pro or a con for Frank. Normally, I would put that very solidly in the negative column, but I'm not sure that Hopper hadn't given up on Frank, so who knows.

 

[jordville]

 

[dasher]

This isn't your best post Dasher. A guy playing in a scrub team getting most the shots vs a guy in the ACC playing on a team full if scorers.

I think Thorpe will ultimately prove to be better than Howard... but the scoring stats mean very little. If Frank were on USF last year he would have scores just as much if not more.

That was actually my point. Howard wouldn't have scored 15 pts a game in the American

 

[AlaskaSU]

Frank Howard is the anti-Kyrie Irving. He is the unfinisher. Not a good trait for a tall point guard with a decent first step but an unreliable jump shot. He might improve as a ball handler and distributor, but he will always be a hot mess on offense.

 

[two3zone]

The next valid point he makes will be his first. Spouting negative over the top opinions does nothing for this forum.

God bless America.

Marek and Thorpe are dynamite players. And this sad dude will be the first to raise the pom poms when we go dancing.

My opinions are over the top and yet you say Marek is a more athletic Keith Van Horn?

Now that is over the top.

It's funny, people like you will come around, trash me because you think it will get you a bunch of likes and be positive about every single thing Syracuse.

Then when predictions come to fruitation and I'm right and your wrong and you get called out for it you seem to leave and never come back because all of your trashing of me puts you in a worse light.

Its all good. Have seen it year after year and am used to it.

Good luck on your Marek position, to be honest I hope you're right about because it means great things for this team. Doesn't make me a bad fan thinking he isn't KVH.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

I guess I am in the minority, but I still fell that Washington will have some say in all of this and is being under-valued by many here.

 

[CuseLifer11]

My opinions are over the top and yet you say Marek is a more athletic Keith Van Horn?

Now that is over the top.

It's funny, people like you will come around, trash me because you think it will get you a bunch of likes and be positive about every single thing Syracuse.

Then when predictions come to fruitation and I'm right and your wrong and you get called out for it you seem to leave and never come back because all of your trashing of me puts you in a worse light.

Its all good. Have seen it year after year and am used to it.

Good luck on your Marek position, to be honest I hope you're right about because it means great things for this team. Doesn't make me a bad fan thinking he isn't KVH.

Buddy guys like u are literally a dime a dozen on this forum and they all vanish over time.. thankfully. I've been a round the program for longer than u would ever know and have seen Marek in person. Yes he is much more athletic than Van horn. Its not even close. Doesn't mean he is better at basketball. But he will not be here more than 2 years absolute max.

Ps- This is the Thorpe thread. Stay on task.

 

[cuseinseattle]

My opinions are over the top and yet you say Marek is a more athletic Keith Van Horn?

Now that is over the top.

It's funny, people like you will come around, trash me because you think it will get you a bunch of likes and be positive about every single thing Syracuse.

Then when predictions come to fruitation and I'm right and your wrong and you get called out for it you seem to leave and never come back because all of your trashing of me puts you in a worse light.

Its all good. Have seen it year after year and am used to it.

Good luck on your Marek position, to be honest I hope you're right about because it means great things for this team. Doesn't make me a bad fan thinking he isn't KVH.

I'm interested to know what a more athletic version of KVH would average. If my memory is right he averages like 20 and 6 for his career and is the Utah leader in just about every category possible. He was also the #2 pick in the draft. So if he were more athletic I'm assuming he would have gone #1 (that part is easy) but would he have averaged 26 points and 9 rebounds and 7 assists or something. Basically he would have been Lebron.

 

[CuseLifer11]

I'm interested to know what a more athletic version of KVH would average. If my memory is right he averages like 20 and 6 for his career and is the Utah leader in just about every category possible. He was also the #2 pick in the draft. So if he were more athletic I'm assuming he would have gone #1 (that part is easy) but would he have averaged 26 points and 9 rebounds and 7 assists or something. Basically he would have been Lebron.

More athletic yes. Better shooter no. Playing in a terrible conference no. Better stats probably no.

 

[NineOneSeven]

My opinions are over the top and yet you say Marek is a more athletic Keith Van Horn?

Now that is over the top.

It's funny, people like you will come around, trash me because you think it will get you a bunch of likes and be positive about every single thing Syracuse.

Then when predictions come to fruitation and I'm right and your wrong and you get called out for it you seem to leave and never come back because all of your trashing of me puts you in a worse light.

Its all good. Have seen it year after year and am used to it.

Good luck on your Marek position, to be honest I hope you're right about because it means great things for this team. Doesn't make me a bad fan thinking he isn't KVH.

Van Horn was very underrated. He was a very good player on the Nets and then had some trades, injuries, and was out of the league at 30.

When is Thorpe on campus? Was it today?

 

[cuseinseattle]

More athletic yes. Better shooter no. Playing in a terrible conference no. Better stats probably no.

So basically he is more athletic than KVH but not better than him at anything else he was good at. He also is 2 inches shorter it appears. What made you pick KVH as a comparison? Is it just because they are both white? It seems pretty date and obscure.

 

[cuseinseattle]

They're not even, but we need a point guard and Thorpe's A/To ratio is extremely concerning and I don't think it's unfair to say that.

I didn't think it was unfair but then you said it so now I think it's unfair. The problem with Thorpe is that he was on such a bad team with a role that is nothing like the role he will have with us. He will be playing with an elite 2 guard and won't be asked to shoot from 3 or 2 the amount I'm guessing he shot last year. There are two ways to look at this. The positive would be that his numbers will go up because he will be shooting less and taking better shots. My biggest concern is when a kid transitions from 1 role to the other it can be hard. There is also not much time for him to transition and he is only here 1 year. I think it will be an upgrade but I'm not considering him at this time to be the missing piece to something amazing. Hopefully he can play the point and hit some open shots and be a quality player.

 

[GooseMutt]

Taurean Thompson will never be defensive-minded. He might play better defense, as it'd be hard to play worse, but he will never be a defensive-minded player. Never.

You are probably right that offense is his thing but I'm implying that he may be more focused and heavily coached defensively because I'm guessing he understands good defense equals more minutes. Taurean frequently got pulled due to defensive mistakes/lapses

 

[two3zone]

I didn't think it was unfair but then you said it so now I think it's unfair. The problem with Thorpe is that he was on such a bad team with a role that is nothing like the role he will have with us. He will be playing with an elite 2 guard and won't be asked to shoot from 3 or 2 the amount I'm guessing he shot last year. There are two ways to look at this. The positive would be that his numbers will go up because he will be shooting less and taking better shots. My biggest concern is when a kid transitions from 1 role to the other it can be hard. There is also not much time for him to transition and he is only here 1 year. I think it will be an upgrade but I'm not considering him at this time to be the missing piece to something amazing. Hopefully he can play the point and hit some open shots and be a quality player.

He did play with a guy who shot 50% from 3 and was a volume shooter.

I don't see the shooting less either, outside of Battle we don't have a guy who can be a consistent knock down three threat outside of POSSIBLY Marek. Thorpe is going to shoot and think that's a big reason he's on our radar.

Im not impressed with his numbers but as I've said we need him just to have more options.

A great point guard who has a great lead player on the team should be able to win more than 7 games in the AAC. It makes me question Thorpes ability to run the point.

 

[two3zone]

More athletic yes. Better shooter no. Playing in a terrible conference no. Better stats probably no.

So there's really nothing about him that is like Keith Van Horn?

Glad we got that out of the way.

 

[Cusefan0307]

That was actually my point. Howard wouldn't have scored 15 pts a game in the American

I think that's fairly obvious. His game against the worst UConn team in the last 30 years was an abomination. I couldn't imagine 17 more of those.