Red Interview with Paulie and Infanti 5/4

[MikeSU02]

So what? Who’s rebounding the ball on this team? If you’re relying on Benny, Bell or one of our 3 projects you’re going to be disappointed.

We won't be playing zone.

We'll have more athleticism across the board.

I have no doubt Benny can board. Bell, eh. He may not.

 

[RF2044]

Well if you bring in someone that plays a similar role as Bell or Benny then they transfer and you are back to square 1. This isn’t hard. 5 guys can play on a court. Guys will not stay to sit the bench.

On the other hand, the objective is to bring in the best players you can, every year. If said new faces beat out incumbents because they are better, that's a good thing and a net positive for the team.

And if that causes bench players to transfer out, nobody should worry about that.

But the notion that we have to stand pat with incumbents is something I don't agree with. It's the coaches job to recruit OVER the existing roster, and it's the players' job to work hard to not lose PT to incoming players. Get the best players you can, period, and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[two3zone]

Of course, but Joe and Jesse were higher usage players and used more as focal points than Benny and Bell.

They don't show out this year, so be it. Red can move on.

To say Jesse and Joe were the biggest problems shows that there was nobody else was around them. They were hardly the reason we were bad. Between them two and Judah nobody showed up. Regardless, we lost our three best players, I haven’t seen anything out of the leftovers or the newcomers that makes me think we make up that production, and once again we’re trotting out a combo guard at the point.

I don’t get how anyone thinks were better with the roster the way it is.

 

[Orangezoo]

To say Jesse and Joe were the biggest problems shows that there was nobody else was around them. They were hardly the reason we were bad. Between them two and Judah nobody showed up. Regardless, we lost our three best players, I haven’t seen anything out of the leftovers or the newcomers that makes me think we make up that production, and once again we’re trotting out a combo guard at the point.

I don’t get how anyone thinks were better with the roster the way it is.

We can be. The question of will we is tbd.

 

[TheCusian]

To say Jesse and Joe were the biggest problems shows that there was nobody else was around them. They were hardly the reason we were bad. Between them two and Judah nobody showed up. Regardless, we lost our three best players, I haven’t seen anything out of the leftovers or the newcomers that makes me think we make up that production, and once again we’re trotting out a combo guard at the point.

I don’t get how anyone thinks were better with the roster the way it is.

This gets bogged down when you fail to take upside into account. Joe wasn't going to grow 3 inches and be an NBA athlete. Westry and Starling are guys that are legit next level prospects.

The "leftovers" were all young players in year one who played like freshman. The "newcomers" are all young players who played like freshman or were injured but have really high ceilings.

We'll see what we do to replace Jessie. Judah is tough, but if anyone can replace him it might be the two guys who were just as highly regarded coming into last year.

 

[Orangezoo]

On the other hand, the objective is to bring in the best players you can, every year. If said new faces beat out incumbents because they are better, that's a good thing and a net positive for the team.

And if that causes bench players to transfer out, nobody should worry about that.

But the notion that we have to stand pat with incumbents is something I don't agree with. It's the coaches job to recruit OVER the existing roster, and it's the players' job to work hard to not lose PT to incoming players. Get the best players you can, period, and let the chips fall where they may.

It's likely a year 1 challenge to do this so blatantly but I will say seeing Mccleod and Kante being discussed there would clearly be guys getting recruited over in that scenario should both come.

Also I have to figure that Joe was given the option of accepting a different role and decided to move on. JJ was for certain recruiting over Joe... to what end we will learn.

 

[MikeSU02]

To say Jesse and Joe were the biggest problems shows that there was nobody else was around them. They were hardly the reason we were bad. Between them two and Judah nobody showed up. Regardless, we lost our three best players, I haven’t seen anything out of the leftovers or the newcomers that makes me think we make up that production, and once again we’re trotting out a combo guard at the point.

I don’t get how anyone thinks were better with the roster the way it is.

Joe, I believe, has the most losses of any player during JB's tenure.

It's not all his fault, by any means.

But let's also not pretend just because he got numbers that he was all world.

I like Joe as a player to an extent and I don't want to go down a rabbit hole of Joe's tenure, but at the same time, basketball is a game where one really good player can lift a team if he's actually very good.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Fair, but it’s been a while.

Well, according to Straughn’s watch it has been about 3 months. As it pertains to Red and Griff, it has been longer but they have coached it and have played it. I mean, it’s man to man defense. It isn’t like trying to relearn Molecular Biology 15 years after college.

I think the bigger issue is having the players learn it again after a year or so playing zone. True, they played man in high school but high school doesn’t always have the same emphasis on D that college does, nor have they learned it from college coaches. I think that will involve a bit of a ramp up period for them. That is where I see some growth pains.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

So what? Who’s rebounding the ball on this team? If you’re relying on Benny, Bell or one of our 3 projects you’re going to be disappointed.

I was referring specifically to the stats you cited about Buddy. I am in complete agreement about this year’s team as it pertains to rebounding. It worries me too.

 

[jdubs30]

To say Jesse and Joe were the biggest problems shows that there was nobody else was around them. They were hardly the reason we were bad. Between them two and Judah nobody showed up. Regardless, we lost our three best players, I haven’t seen anything out of the leftovers or the newcomers that makes me think we make up that production, and once again we’re trotting out a combo guard at the point.

I don’t get how anyone thinks were better with the roster the way it is.

I am more pessimistic for this upcoming season than I am optimistic, however ….


Joe was such a liability on defense. The zone friggin stunk. Just the mere fact of getting size and physicality from JJ/Westry in the backcourt will automatically improve our defense 10 fold from watching Judah and Joe at the top of the zone. Size, rebounding, etc - all of it. Then you add in Copeland instead of Symir

Coild Benny be worse than he was in the zone last year? Probably not. But I am on the “Benny figures it out this year” wave. I think he’ll much better defensively and on the boards than he was last year too. Too much over thinking with the zone.

I don’t know how replace Jesse defensively. I don’t think he was a great defense center by any stretch - but Hima is clearly a massive downgrade at least on the boards.

So I think it’s the thought that we can be tough, athletic and physical on defense; with better defensive players and a better defensive system than last year.

Chance and JJ are top 50 recruits. If they can figure it out offensively is the key. The talent is clearly there. Neither of them are is Judah. But I think they can be a good offensive backcourt. We need Benny, Taylor, Bell to be more reliable offensively than they were last year. If that happens along with hopefully those sophomore jumps from both JJ and Westry, we could be better than last year

 

[kcsu]

Joe, I believe, has the most losses of any player during JB's tenure.

It's not all his fault, by any means.

But let's also not pretend just because he got numbers that he was all world.

I like Joe as a player to an extent and I don't want to go down a rabbit hole of Joe's tenure, but at the same time, basketball is a game where one really good player can lift a team if he's actually very good.

Joe is a good shooter who got the most out of his abilities. JJ and Chance are superior athletes lets hope they end up being superior basketball players vs Joe

 

[RF2044]

I don't want to pin the last two year's general lack of success on Joe. Joe had two very solid years.

Two years ago, on a team that had lots of offense, he was cast in a complimentary role and responded by showing improved shot selection and posting the best percentages of his career.

Last year as the primary offensive weapon, he performed better than many [most?] expected. He had a stretch during the middle of the season where he was really dialed in, and was scoring even against bigger, more athletic defenders [who typically gave him trouble earlier in his career].

BUT Joe did have limitations that could be exploited, and he was a minus defender. So I see it less about Joe, and more indicative of the fact that the coaches didn't recruit OVER Joe so that we'd have better options.

 

[Dinkyspond]

So guessing given it was an Israel trip this is over safety concerns given the ramp up in violence of late.

I don’t blame them one bit if that's the reason, just too dangerous.

 

[orangecuse]

To say Jesse and Joe were the biggest problems shows that there was nobody else was around them. They were hardly the reason we were bad. Between them two and Judah nobody showed up. Regardless, we lost our three best players, I haven’t seen anything out of the leftovers or the newcomers that makes me think we make up that production, and once again we’re trotting out a combo guard at the point.

I don’t get how anyone thinks were better with the roster the way it is.

Well, there's that 'hope springs eternal' deal.

 

[MikeSU02]

Joe is a good shooter who got the most out of his abilities. JJ and Chance are superior athletes lets hope they end up being superior basketball players vs Joe

100% the way I think we should all look at it. Totally with you on this.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Joe is a good shooter who got the most out of his abilities. JJ and Chance are superior athletes lets hope they end up being superior basketball players vs Joe

I think that is what it boils down to. The transfers would seem to have higher potential upside, especially given what Red wants to do. That latter part is important. Joe was very appropriate for Boeheim Ball while JJ and Chance are likely a better fit for Autry Ball.

Joe often drew the opposition’s best defender…people forget that…and the newcomers likely won’t have to worry about that burden until such time as one of them really breaks out. So the jury will be out until the jury is no longer out, but hopefully they will both develop into something special.

 

[two3zone]

I am more pessimistic for this upcoming season than I am optimistic, however ….


Joe was such a liability on defense. The zone friggin stunk. Just the mere fact of getting size and physicality from JJ/Westry in the backcourt will automatically improve our defense 10 fold from watching Judah and Joe at the top of the zone. Size, rebounding, etc - all of it. Then you add in Copeland instead of Symir

Coild Benny be worse than he was in the zone last year? Probably not. But I am on the “Benny figures it out this year” wave. I think he’ll much better defensively and on the boards than he was last year too. Too much over thinking with the zone.

I don’t know how replace Jesse defensively. I don’t think he was a great defense center by any stretch - but Hima is clearly a massive downgrade at least on the boards.

So I think it’s the thought that we can be tough, athletic and physical on defense; with better defensive players and a better defensive system than last year.

Chance and JJ are top 50 recruits. If they can figure it out offensively is the key. The talent is clearly there. Neither of them are is Judah. But I think they can be a good offensive backcourt. We need Benny, Taylor, Bell to be more reliable offensively than they were last year. If that happens along with hopefully those sophomore jumps from both JJ and Westry, we could be better than last year

JJ doesn’t play great defense, Joe bad? Probably not, but he’s not good.

 

[nccusefan]

Oh yes, those two games against us were really drove that 3pt% and A/TO ratio into what they were.

He was a freshman starting in the ACC on a bad team. He wasn't sloppy with the ball at 1.5 TO and if you watched ND games he was the one taking low percentage late in the shot clock shots. Very few freshman are lights out 3pt shooters as freshman. Two of the best shooters Cuse have had, Joe Girard shot 32.4% and Andy Rautins shot 32.6% as Freshman. Judah Mintz had one of the best freshman seasons ever for Cuse and he only shot 30.3%. JJ shot 35% his senior year at La Lumiere. Most players make their biggest jump between freshman and sophomore years and I would expect JJ to do the same.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

If we strike gold this weekend I'll feel a whole lot better. We were mediocre rebounding last year (-1.4 on the glass). Not unusual, but that was with 10+ r/p/g by Jesse. A big 5 to protect the rim and fill Jesse's rebounding shoes can't arrive too soon.

I'm not wringing my hands about Juda either. BOL to the young man, fun to watch. But if our backcourt is JJ and Westry with QC and JT backing up, we'll be taller, more athletic, and better defensively. On offense, I think we'll see some of the old 'cuse magic with uptempo scoring and (given better defense) a dangerous transition game.

The caveat is ... assuming our starting lineup consists of mystery center, Bell, Benny, JJ and CW, where are the points going to come from? Without a volume shooter (Joe), can we survive in the ACC with low 30's shooting percentages from JJ/CW? They might surprise us, (let's hope) but I don't see a lot of offensive firepower coming from Bell, Benny (streaky) or Jesse's replacement. So if there's a concern it would be half-court offense.

 

[007]

I think that is what it boils down to. The transfers would seem to have higher potential upside, especially given what Red wants to do. That latter part is important. Joe was very appropriate for Boeheim Ball while JJ and Chance are likely a better fit for Autry Ball.

Joe often drew the opposition’s best defender…people forget that…and the newcomers likely won’t have to worry about that burden until such time as one of them really breaks out. So the jury will be out until the jury is no longer out, but hopefully they will both develop into something special.

I think this is an important distinction to keep in mind when assessing (guessing) how effective players will be relative to how they performed last year. Pointing out individual player flaws and their apparent lack of talent places too much blame on the players and does not give enough consideration to the issues of roster management, recruiting, player usage, and JB's reluctance to adapt his coaching philosophy over the last several seasons.

For better or worse, Red is going to play a different style on both ends. Hopefully, this will better maximize the skill sets of the players that stayed as well as the new additions. JJ, Chance, Benny, Q, Bell, Mal, seem like they might be better suited to play in the uptempo, aggressive, more positionless system Red is promising.

 

[kingtidge]

You all are able to pull a lot of information or create hypotheses from these interviews. I just hear mumble, mumble, coach speak. Lot of words. Not much said.

Multiple boloney sandwiches...

 

[kingtidge]

The caveat is ... assuming our starting lineup consists of mystery center, Bell, Benny, JJ and CW, where are the points going to come from? Can we survive in the ACC with low 30's shooting percentages from JJ/CW? They might be better than that, (let's hope) but I don't see a lot of offensive firepower coming from Bell, Benny (streaky) or Jesse's replacement. So if there's a concern it would be on the offensive end without a guard or forward with reliable range.

I am starting to come to grips with the fact our starting center may not be a mystery at all... as in, it may likely be Mounir Hima.

Hope we get better, of course, but we're into to the last week and, well... gird ye loins...

 

[two3zone]

He was a freshman starting in the ACC on a bad team. He wasn't sloppy with the ball at 1.5 TO and if you watched ND games he was the one taking low percentage late in the shot clock shots. Very few freshman are lights out 3pt shooters as freshman. Two of the best shooters Cuse have had, Joe Girard shot 32.4% and Andy Rautins shot 32.6% as Freshman. Judah Mintz had one of the best freshman seasons ever for Cuse and he only shot 30.3%. JJ shot 35% his senior year at La Lumiere. Most players make their biggest jump between freshman and sophomore years and I would expect JJ to do the same.

Wonderful, I hope he does great.

Make me a list of awesome second year improvements we’ve seen here the past 8 years, then make me a list of guys who didn’t improve.

The list isn’t good.