What is this team's ceiling this year?

[orangefan13]

If CM, BJ, maybe even Roberson, Gbinije or Patterson become a true outside/high post/midpost isolation player and stay away from the 3-12 3-13 shooting nights to help cooney out I think this team could be special. That was a big problem with the last 2 years. Southerland had MCW and CJ. And Cooney had CJ, and alittle from Grant and Ennis. Part of the reason the CJ Southerland and Fair team went so far and the other one didn't was because mike stepped up his isolation drive midrange scoring late in the season to give us a second isolation guy.

I know Cooney is going to score, and I am counting on Kaleb to be our isolation guy. But, they need another go to guy to step up, Preferably one that can shoot the ball under alittle pressure or off the dribble if cooney doesn't make that jump. And I like Cooneys potential to shoot better come feb/march, but he is going to hit some walls against tight defense some games just like CJ did.

 

[IthacaMatt]

To be honest, I'm concerned this year. Too much turnover the past few years. We really could have used Ennis and Grant, and this could have been a Final Four contender. Now, there are too many questions. Of course chemistry could develop and things could come together, but we are going to have some of the same issues as we faced last year.

For starters, our scoring was too inconsistent late in the year. Cooney seemed a bit frozen out of the offense, maybe because he got down on himself, who knows. Kaleb looks more like the kind of guy who is going to get out and run the break, which Ennis never really did last year. Ennis was a Mark Jackson half court kind of player, very old school.

Kaleb seems more like a Jason Hart kind of athlete - good size, runs the floor really well, fast on the dribble, attacks the basket. We don't know about the jumpshot. Getting out and running will make it easier for McCullough to find easy baskets, just like Donte Greene used to do. Running opens up transition looks from the 3 point line for Shaky Potatoes and BJ the Human Straw.

I don't see Silent G being an assertive person on offense. He's a glue guy, a floor burn guy, rebounds, defends well up top, can even slide into the corner of the zone. I think Roberson makes a jump this year. He reminds me of Ryan Blackwell. Let's see if he shows it this year. We have enough athletes who know how to score around the rim. It will be important that they play unselfishly and share the ball well. A good inside passing team creates easy opportunities to score.

Christmas, I agree with RF, I think who said it up above - if we get an 8 and 8 season out of him, that will be fine. Give me 2 blocks a game and avoiding foul trouble enough to play 30 minutes a game, and that will be fine. He's an emotional rim protector. He's got a bit of offensive skill, and if he could be a legit threat in the low post with his back to the basket, it would make us a much better team in the half court on offense. I'm not expecting that result, but if it happens, we will be a much better team for it, better balanced on offense.

I think Coleman's career may be over. I am not at all optimistic that he will play this year from the reports. Chino will need to play 10 minutes a game, and Rak has to stay out of foul trouble. After that, I would guess that Chris will learn the middle of the zone.

Patterson is a scrappy player and reminds me a bit of Paul Harris as a guard. I hope he can find a role this year.

I think the reinforcements are arriving next year. I guess that CMac won't be here for year two, but we could be a really, really good team if he were. I'm not convinced that he's going to be so good as a freshman that he's an automatic choice to go pro, but you don't know what's in a kid's head these days.