Run offense through Lydon

[DirtDog44]

Hey there. Long time Cuse fan (25 yrs) and random poster. In my opinion, Tyler Lydon is the biggest weapon we have on the floor and I think everyone can agree that he is being underutilized. Silent G does fill the stat line (love it), Cooney gives the outside threat, Roberson the inside muscle (sometimes) but the more I think of it the more I see Lydon as the key. The guy is a Frank "the tank" Kaminsky type of player that can open up the floor for the rest of the team. He can not only shoot on the outside but has some good moves around the basket. If we can somehow establish him as an inside threat (run a few sets for him on the post) it would tremendously open up the outside. Sadly, teams now have us pegged. We're going to live and die by the 3 and if we shoot well like in Atlantis, we'll win. If we shoot 35% we lose to St. Johns and other terrible teams. The question the coaches should be asking right now is "should we continue to throw up 25 three pointers a game or should we try and run our offense through an "inside" "outside" presence that can keep other teams guessing. I love Boeheim and Hopkins but I do feel they sometimes cater to the Juniors and Seniors instead of running their offense through the best player on the floor (Melo excluded). It just seems like Lydon is becoming more and more passive when in fact he should be given the ball to score 70% of the time we get down the floor.

 

[Brooky03]

I don't know if the offense should run through him but he does have to be more involved and definitely shoot more 3s. Somebody should show him videos of Southerland and he needs to strive to become Senior Southerland on the offensive end (plus a better post game). Some of this is on the coaches and some is on Lydon.

I get the feeling that he's kind of a people-pleaser on the court but he needs to be willing to step on some toes. If anybody but Gbinije has the ball, Lydon should be demanding it - not asking for it - when he's open.

 

[AZOrange]

I don't know if the offense should run through him but he does need to be more involved and definitely shoot more 3s. Somebody needs to show him videos of Southerland and he needs to strive to become Senior Southerland on the offensive end (plus a better post game). Some of this is on the coaches and some is on Lydon. I get the feeling that he's kind of like a 'people-pleaser' on the court when he needs to be willing to step on some toes. If anybody but Gbinije has the ball, Lydon should be demanding it - not asking for it - when he's open.

If we're going to run a ball screen offense, the screener has to be able to do something with the ball. Running DC out 28 feet is silly. Lydon should be the primary screener.

Also I've never seen a team not use the pick as much as this team. It's ridiculous.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I was interested in the OP and seeing the point, until I got to "he should be given the ball to score 70% of the time." That seems high, way high.

 

[longtimefan]

If we're going to run a ball screen offense, the screener has to be able to do something with the ball. Running DC out 28 feet is silly. Lydon should be the primary screener.

Also I've never seen a team not use the pick as much as this team. It's ridiculous.

The problem with Lydon being a primary screener is his body. He doesn't need to be taking all of those hits out there at the top of the key.

 

[CusefanATL]

Hey there. Long time Cuse fan (25 yrs) and random poster. In my opinion, Tyler Lydon is the biggest weapon we have on the floor and I think everyone can agree that he is being underutilized. Silent G does fill the stat line (love it), Cooney gives the outside threat, Roberson the inside muscle (sometimes) but the more I think of it the more I see Lydon as the key. The guy is a Frank "the tank" Kaminsky type of player that can open up the floor for the rest of the team. He can not only shoot on the outside but has some good moves around the basket. If we can somehow establish him as an inside threat (run a few sets for him on the post) it would tremendously open up the outside. Sadly, teams now have us pegged. We're going to live and die by the 3 and if we shoot well like in Atlantis, we'll win. If we shoot 35% we lose to St. Johns and other terrible teams. The question the coaches should be asking right now is "should we continue to throw up 25 three pointers a game or should we try and run our offense through an "inside" "outside" presence that can keep other teams guessing. I love Boeheim and Hopkins but I do feel they sometimes cater to the Juniors and Seniors instead of running their offense through the best player on the floor (Melo excluded). It just seems like Lydon is becoming more and more passive when in fact he should be given the ball to score 70% of the time we get down the floor.

He isnt being under utilized. He doesn't shoot when he is open anymore.

 

[two3zone]

To whomever said he should watch tapes of Southerland, come on.... Southerland was a great shooter who could shoot with somebody in his face and he was comfortable doing. Nothing Lydon had done had shown he can do that. He takes open 3s and makes them, what's wrong with that? Last thing we need is Lydon moving from his comfort zone and be another 30% shooter like the others. Nobody remembers when Fair took shots like Lydon did and hit almost 50% his Jr year then stunk the next when he thought it was his job to take contested ones?

 

[Briancuse]

I'm not a fan of running an offense through one player, unless you only have one offensive threat, or a player like Melo. I would like to see him be more aggressive though.

 

[NineOneSeven]

The problem with Lydon being a primary screener is his body. He doesn't need to be taking all of those hits out there at the top of the key.

Eh...

 

[br801]

He isnt being under utilized. He doesn't shoot when he is open anymore.

Most freshman who play a lot hit a wall at some point, but I am afraid this kid will hit the wall extra hard due to the many minutes he has been asked to play at the 5. I'm not sure asking him to carry a bigger load offensively would work out as well as some people here might think.

 

[CusefanATL]

Most freshman who play a lot hit a wall at some point, but I am afraid this kid will hit the wall extra hard due to the many minutes he has been asked to play at the 5. I'm not sure asking him to carry a bigger load offensively would work out as well as some people here might think.

I agree. And he isnt really a "give him the ball and clear out" like Melo was. He's not quick enough nor strong enough to create his own shot at will. However, he has a quick enough 1st step to beat his defender when the defender is caught lazy, or he can shoot when he is open and he is strong enough to be a "garbage man".

Melo was quicker than any strong defender and stronger than any quick defender. And he was usually quicker and stronger than any defender. Other than that - what F/C have we ever run an offense through? Even Wes was just a focus of the overall system.

If he just took the 2 or 3 open shots a game that he is currently passing up, he would be averaging 2-4 more points a game and life would be good.

 

[Spock344]

Wait... you're saying we actually run an offense? We must be watching completely different games.

 

[br801]

I agree. And he isnt really a "give him the ball and clear out" like Melo was. He's not quick enough nor strong enough to create his own shot at will. However, he has a quick enough 1st step to beat his defender when the defender is caught lazy, or he can shoot when he is open and he is strong enough to be a "garbage man".

Melo was quicker than any strong defender and stronger than any quick defender. And he was usually quicker and stronger than any defender. Other than that - what F/C have we ever run an offense through? Even Wes was just a focus of the overall system.

If he just took the 2 or 3 open shots a game that he is currently passing up, he would be averaging 2-4 more points a game and life would be good.

I agree, he just needs to stop passing up the open looks, especially those on the perimeter. It will open up the defense on the inside and might lead to some good second chance opportunities for others when he misses.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

If we're going to run a ball screen offense, the screener has to be able to do something with the ball. Running DC out 28 feet is silly. Lydon should be the primary screener.

Also I've never seen a team not use the pick as much as this team. It's ridiculous.

Bingo. Look back to Atlantis when Lyon played the pick and roll with great effectiveness...

 

[Forloveoforange]

Is Lydon more like Frank Kaminsky or Sam Dekker?

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Bingo. Look back to Atlantis when Lyon played the pick and roll with great effectiveness...

I thought when our offense was clicking, Lydon had the ball at the top of the key and was playing traffic cop to pass the ball, shoot the ball or run the pick and roll. If people remember how effective Craig Forth was up top (ok maybe my memory is a little hazy) Lydon was the same but with more offensive skills.

 

[CusefanATL]

Is Lydon more like Frank Kaminsky or Sam Dekker?

Dekker was basically a 2 guard. Kaminsky/lydon has pretty similar games.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Dekker was basically a 2 guard. Kaminsky/lydon has pretty similar games.

Kamimsky definitely

 

[Fly Rodder]

Lydon is having a pretty unique season for a freshman so far. There aren't a lot of players that have had his combination of blocks, rebounds, ppg and 3PTs attempted. The last frosh to meet or exceed what Tyler has done so far for those stats for an entire season was Eddie Griffin who went 7th in the draft after his freshman season. And there's only been 31 players since 1996 to do so (2+ bpg, 7+ rpg, 10+ppg, and 2+ 3FGA pg).

It's hard to ask Lydon to do more than he already is.

 

[jncuse]

Lydon is palying great, but at times he is not assertive. (that will come over time)

I don't think that is a great formula for running an offence right now.

 

[CusefanATL]

Lydon is having a pretty unique season for a freshman so far. There aren't a lot of players that have had his combination of blocks, rebounds, ppg and 3PTs attempted. The last frosh to meet or exceed what Tyler has done so far for those stats for an entire season was Eddie Griffin who went 7th in the draft after his freshman season. And there's only been 31 players since 1996 to do so (2+ bpg, 7+ rpg, 10+ppg, and 2+ 3FGA pg).

It's hard to ask Lydon to do more than he already is.

I'm guessing you are using the stat at the end of your post for the entire post?

If so, talk about fools gold. There have been 100 better freshmen than Lydon and he certainly is not going to be the 7th pick in the draft this year.

The only thing that makes Lydon even remotely special in that statistic is the combination of 2+ blocks and 2+ 3pa. If you take either 1 away it adds hundreds of candidates. And neither 2+ blocks nor 2+ 3pa's are considered "great" seperately.

Again, I like Lydon. he is a really good player. he will be a star here. But that statistic is just as likely to conclude that Lydon's life will fall off of a cliff and he will die with a .3 BAC driving into a train as it is to show he is the 2nd best freshman of all time.

 

[Fly Rodder]

I'm guessing you are using the stat at the end of your post for the entire post?

If so, talk about fools gold. There have been 100 better freshmen than Lydon and he certainly is not going to be the 7th pick in the draft this year.

The only thing that makes Lydon even remotely special in that statistic is the combination of 2+ blocks and 2+ 3pa. If you take either 1 away it adds hundreds of candidates. And neither 2+ blocks nor 2+ 3pa's are considered "great" seperately.

Again, I like Lydon. he is a really good player. he will be a star here. But that statistic is garbage.

Aren't you just precious ...

 

[CusefanATL]

Aren't you just precious ...

Dude, you used some random extra long stat line to compare Tyler Lydon to 1 of the best recruits of the last 20 years. If you put Tyler Lydons brain in Eddie Griffins body, you may be talking about the best player of all time.

The only reason Eddie Griffin plummetted to the 7th pick was because he was a headcase. And unfortunately, all of those fears were proven in the worst way possible.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Dude, you used some random extra long stat line to compare Tyler Lydon to 1 of the best recruits of the last 20 years. If you put Tyler Lydons brain in Eddie Griffins body, you may be talking about the best player of all time.

The only reason Eddie Griffin plummetted to the 7th pick was because he was a headcase. And unfortunately, all of those fears were proven in the worst way possible.

It wasn't a direct comparison. And it was put emphasis on the point that it's exceedingly rare to get a freshman to block shots, shoot 3s, collect rebounds, and score. To ask that a freshman do more than that is asking too much because it doesn't happen. People are living in some kind of a dreamworld where Tyler Lydon is going to play 35 mpg, score 16ppg, collect 7 rpg, and have 2.5 bpg. That player doesn't and hasn't existed as a freshman. That's the point.

 

[CusefanATL]

It wasn't a direct comparison. And it was put emphasis on the point that it's exceedingly rare to get a freshman to block shots, shoot 3s, collect rebounds, and score. To ask that a freshman do more than that is asking too much because it doesn't happen. People are living in some kind of a dreamworld where Tyler Lydon is going to play 35 mpg, score 16ppg, collect 7 rpg, and have 2.5 bpg. That player doesn't and hasn't existed as a freshman. That's the point.

Donte Greene avg'd 17.7, 7.2, and 1.6 blocks as a freshman.

Point is Lydon could absolutely average 14 and 7 if he were just a little more aggressive and willing to shoot.