Who will provide the fire next year?

[realorange]

I get what you are saying but who is going to create for them? How will they get open threes especially if Richardson/Cooney are one-dimensional type players. We don't have that luxury of double-teams with Rak gone. If we can somehow get the guards to penetrate to create for these guys then perhaps. This was a big problem last year.

I think you will see Cooney going to the basket much more this year. He started last year and as you indicate, it's something that needs to happen to loosen things up more. I don't see him as a one dimensional player.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I think you will see Cooney going to the basket much more this year. He started last year and as you indicate, it's something that needs to happen to loosen things up more. I don't see him as a one dimensional player.

He improved with the going to the basket no question.

 

[two3zone]

Just to throw in my two cents, I think this year's team has the potential to be really good or really average. It's a weird year in that the starting 5 will be relatively unchanged but the bench will be entirely new. I think this makes for a good combination, as the starters can work this offseason to improve their games and in addition we will be getting a bunch of new faces, any of whom could step up as a freshman. You could really point to almost any guy on this team and say "hey, I think that guy has a chance to be really good this year, or he could be very average." If I were to guess, this team will start the year a little shaky but will really develop throughout the course of the year to the point that they are a contender come tourney time. This biggest factors on this year's team will be how KJ plays and if Coleman can stay healthy. I also think either Roberson or Gbinije could be in for a big year like Rak had this year.

We're losing one of the best individual seasons from a center this program has ever seen and the lineup is relatively unchanged? Come on...

 

[cuseattle]

Big years coming for G and Cooney! They will bring the fire.

 

[007]

We're losing one of the best individual seasons from a center this program has ever seen and the lineup is relatively unchanged? Come on...

We're losing, by far, the most consistent scoring threat from a team that struggled all year to score. I think the thing people underestimate is his effect on how Ds needed to play against us. Rak's loss is not as simple as replacing his points per game. It's more that he was a highly consistent scoring threat from the low post. Teams needed to collapse down to account for that. When you remove that threat, the rest of the returning players, who all struggle to create their shots (let alone make the open looks they got), will have an even more problems scoring.

Losing Rak is going to present a systemic problem for the O, unless a couple of dynamic scoring options emerge.

 

[Brooky03]

We're losing, by far, the most consistent scoring threat from a team that struggled all year to score. I think the thing people underestimate is his effect on how Ds needed to play against us. Rak's loss is not as simple as replacing his points per game. It's more that he was a highly consistent scoring threat from the low post. Teams needed to collapse down to account for that. When you remove that threat, the rest of the returning players, who all struggle to create their shots (let alone make the open looks they got), will have an even more problems scoring.

Losing Rak is going to present a systemic problem for the O, unless a couple of dynamic scoring options emerge.

This is assuming no improvement, though. I'd argue the Junior-Senior jumps at Syracuse have been more significant than the Freshman-Sophomore jumps. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Cooney and G will be one of the best scoring duos in college basketball next season.

 

[two3zone]

This is assuming no improvement, though. I'd argue the Junior-Senior jumps at Syracuse have been more significant than the Freshman-Sophomore jumps. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Cooney and G will be one of the best scoring duos in college basketball next season.

May not be out of the realm of possibiilty but its not somthing to bet the farmhouse on.

 

[Brooky03]

May not be out of the realm of possibiilty but its not somthing to bet the farmhouse on.

agreed. Maybe some cattle or a tractor or two, but not the whole farmhouse.

 

[VaBeachOrFan]

What about this lineup:

Trevor
Malachi
Mike
Tyler Lydon
Coleman

No conventional PG but you could play 4 out and 1 in to get Coleman 1on1 looks in the post. It spreads the floor and Mike is going to be able to drive by most forwards plus I have to believe Tyler can drive by most power forwards out on the floor.

But is this the best fast-break lineup? Just asking because, from what little I've seen him play, Coleman is a good rebounder and a good outlet passer. So who are the best open-court players and the best finishers to team with him?--VBOF

 

[pearl31]

We're losing, by far, the most consistent scoring threat from a team that struggled all year to score. I think the thing people underestimate is his effect on how Ds needed to play against us. Rak's loss is not as simple as replacing his points per game. It's more that he was a highly consistent scoring threat from the low post. Teams needed to collapse down to account for that. When you remove that threat, the rest of the returning players, who all struggle to create their shots (let alone make the open looks they got), will have an even more problems scoring.

Losing Rak is going to present a systemic problem for the O, unless a couple of dynamic scoring options emerge.

This is also assuming the team will be trying to attack and score in the same manner as last year. JB has always, at least to some extent, tailored his O according to his personnel - last year he had a dominant big man and so of course the offense went through him. The offense will be different next year and there are a number of very talented players to produce in it.

 

[OlsenRyan13]

We're losing one of the best individual seasons from a center this program has ever seen and the lineup is relatively unchanged? Come on...

Last year we lost Fair, Ennis, and Grant, who accounted for 40 points per game. This year, we're losing one guy who averaged 18 and the rest of the starting 5 will remain intact (and most likely improve their games). When you consider that teams like Duke and Kentucky replace the majority of their starting 5s every year, and we have another center who is capable of being a double digit scorer to slide into the starting lineup, then yea, I would say it's relatively unchanged.

 

[Trueblue25]

Michael Gbinije

Edit: Gbinije and Roberson will each average over 14 points and Gbinije will be an All ACC worthy player (will probably get boned by some freshman sensation).

I've seen enough from G to tell he has balls. He's always the guy that cuts through defenders to the rack when we need a quick 2. He's a stud and he'll fully show that this year.

I just hope his 3 pt. percentage remains where it is.


I got a really weird feeling Franky Howard could give us some quality mins too. Just a gut feeling.

 

[omniorange]

In my mind, next year's success will depend heavily on the health of Coleman and the improvement of KJ. If we get both of those we will be fine. If not then we will be a bubble team at best.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[two3zone]

Last year we lost Fair, Ennis, and Grant, who accounted for 40 points per game. This year, we're losing one guy who averaged 18 and the rest of the starting 5 will remain intact (and most likely improve their games). When you consider that teams like Duke and Kentucky replace the majority of their starting 5s every year, and we have another center who is capable of being a double digit scorer to slide into the starting lineup, then yea, I would say it's relatively unchanged.

You really think it's just about replacing points? We're replacing a 4 year starter, a guy who anchored the center position for the past two year, the most difficult position in the zone. It's fair to say Coleman and Chin stink playing defense and at the end of the day Moustafa is still a freshman and undersized at the 5. If you think that all we're losing with Rak is 18 points a game and all we have to do is find 18 points to replace him with then I don't think you know how much value he had to this team last year. You, me or anybody has no idea what Coleman is capable of at this point, penciling him in for 10 points a game seems very premature and we know what JB thinks about premature things.

We're also losing JB for 9 games, that is kind of a big deal as well.

 

[jordoo]

You really think it's just about replacing points? We're replacing a 4 year starter, a guy who anchored the center position for the past two year, the most difficult position in the zone. It's fair to say Coleman and Chin stink playing defense and at the end of the day Moustafa is still a freshman and undersized at the 5. If you think that all we're losing with Rak is 18 points a game and all we have to do is find 18 points to replace him with then I don't think you know how much value he had to this team last year. You, me or anybody has no idea what Coleman is capable of at this point, penciling him in for 10 points a game seems very premature and we know what JB thinks about premature things.

We're also losing JB for 9 games, that is kind of a big deal as well.

Dude! Its college ball teams have to replace their best players year after year. You want to be realistic and fair then that is the truth. Stop already with we are losing our best player because that's pretty much every team. The point is we only lost one really important rotational player (less than most) and if healthy our replacement is a man sized MCD with some experience. You want to be real and objective . . . . . then look in terms that are relavent to the competitive field.

 

[two3zone]

Dude! Its college ball teams have to replace their best players year after year. You want to be realistic and fair then that is the truth. Stop already with we are losing our best player because that's pretty much every team. The point is we only lost one really important rotational player (less than most) and if healthy our replacement is a man sized MCD with some experience. You want to be real and objective . . . . . then look in terms that are relavent to the competitive field.

I'm not being realistic and fair saying that we lost an amazing player and replacing him with at best question marks? I'm sorry, DC isn't half the player Rak was and that we even before Rak blew up last season. DC cannot play defense in the zone, hasn't played in almost 2 years by the time the season comes around and has had 3 knee injuries in 4 years.

We're not a man to man team, we're a zone team with maybe the most important position being the one underneath the hoop.

I think it is insane and cannot believe how much everybody is underrating the loss of Rak. The dude was the ONLY consistent player on a team that was league average and he's gone and replaced by nothing but question marks, freshman, and a project. It's a huge loss no matter how you cut it.

 

[bevosu]

Rak's scoring efficiency will be hard to replace given the fact that we really don't have (based on last year) any efficient scorers.

Rak's FG % his four years.

57.3%-Freshman
53.0%-Soph
61.3%-JR
55.2%-SR

He was always an efficient scorer, but for some reason we never seemed to want to give him the opportunities he finally got as a senior...and I don't buy there were always better options

I don't see anybody (guards or forwards) making a FG % jump this year to rival Rak...unless Coleman is 100% healthy and finally cashes in on his potential.

I fear not having a reliable and efficient scorer will make for a long season. Especially if our D is worse than normal.

 

[MG44]

Have there been any "Coleman sightings"? Any reports on how he's doing? I haven't seen anything on here so I apologize if its been discussed ad nauseum.

 

[jordoo]

I'm not being realistic and fair saying that we lost an amazing player and replacing him with at best question marks? I'm sorry, DC isn't half the player Rak was and that we even before Rak blew up last season. DC cannot play defense in the zone, hasn't played in almost 2 years by the time the season comes around and has had 3 knee injuries in 4 years.

We're not a man to man team, we're a zone team with maybe the most important position being the one underneath the hoop.

I think it is insane and cannot believe how much everybody is underrating the loss of Rak. The dude was the ONLY consistent player on a team that was league average and he's gone and replaced by nothing but question marks, freshman, and a project. It's a huge loss no matter how you cut it.

Not realistic when you don't consider that every other team is losing great players. This is the norm for NCAA bball. It doesn't mean replacing Rak isn't a huge deal but its not that bad in the vacuum of NCAA bball. Its not the NBA where we failed to sign Shack and he went to another team. I am simply saying that you are overvaluing the loses as if no one else has these loses. In fact we lose less and return more than any other top half ACC team. Or close to it.

 

[Orange2389]

probably either coleman or howard. looking for big things from them

 

[two3zone]

probably either coleman or howard. looking for big things from them

Where do you think Howard gets his minutes from with Joseph and G playing the 1 and Cooney and Richardson at the 2?

 

[Orange4]

I think we are going to have 3 players that will come off the bench and be contributors. I think Boeheim sticks with an 8 man rotation with Malachi, Lydon, and Diange being the 3 we use off the bench most often. I think those 3 players are going to surprise people and lydon especially is going to make a bigger impact than most think.

 

[Orange2389]

Where do you think Howard gets his minutes from with Joseph and G playing the 1 and Cooney and Richardson at the 2?

prob at the 3 or 4

 

[reedny]

What about this lineup:

Trevor
Malachi
Mike
Tyler Lydon
Coleman

No conventional PG but you could play 4 out and 1 in to get Coleman 1on1 looks in the post. It spreads the floor and Mike is going to be able to drive by most forwards plus I have to believe Tyler can drive by most power forwards out on the floor.

That isn't a bad lineup, especially If KJ does not "arrive" or is not defending well enough AND MR is ready for prime time . The advantage of this lineup is that it puts three shooters outside, and possibly a fourth if you count Lydon, surrounding a big in the middle. Let's see ... didn't we see this work out pretty well recently? hmmm?

At any rate, Lydon has good size and would be a nice bookend on the other side of the rim from DC2 -- assuming he's a good enough rebounder to play the 4 on defense.

However, as much as I like more size at the 4 (I've been b*tching about it since CM went down last year), obviously this lineup has Roberson on the bench. Did you envision him backing up Lydon or trading minutes with Mike G at the 3?

Either way, we won't see this kind of experiment for at least 2, possibly 3, months .. as Lydon learns the zone and gets his sea legs. But interesting idea.

 

[jordoo]

That isn't a bad lineup, especially If KJ does not "arrive" or is not defending well enough AND MR is ready for prime time . The advantage of this lineup is that it puts three shooters outside, and possibly a fourth if you count Lydon, surrounding a big in the middle. Let's see ... didn't we see this work out pretty well recently? hmmm?

At any rate, Lydon has good size and would be a nice bookend on the other side of the rim from DC2 -- assuming he's a good enough rebounder to play the 4 on defense.

However, as much as I like more size at the 4 (I've been b*tching about it since CM went down last year), obviously this lineup has Roberson on the bench. Did you envision him backing up Lydon or trading minutes with Mike G at the 3?

Either way, we won't see this kind of experiment for at least 2, possibly 3, months .. as Lydon learns the zone and gets his sea legs. But interesting idea.

I had Lydon in as a forth shooter. It was basically a prospective shooting lineup if we where struggling to score. I was just thinking of it from a stretch the floor, get 1on1 touches for Coleman or open shots perspective. I also think that that lineup could get some slashing done off of kickouts as well as open jumpers.
I think Roberson will be a big part of the team this season but, he needs to develop some consistent offense when receiving the ball away from the basket or he could cause some offensive issues like last year. I think he will have a very solid season overall. I'm not sold yet that he can truly develop that midrange jumper which his game needs. I hope he can but I'm just not ready to count on it.
Joseph on the other hand is IMO very likely to shoot that mid range pull up well this season. I think the questions with him have more to do with improving his handle and belief in his handle. He needs to be able to keep the dribble alive until he has a pass or a shot. He also needs to learn how to run the offense and of course be a threat to do damage while driving. I think all of those things will come to him much easier in his second season. Will he be able to improve in all those area's enough to be a studd? doubtful but likely enough to be an effective PG. I actually worry more about his defense to be honest. It was alarming and shocking to see someone play out top all season and basically never get it while also seemingly refuse to put forth any sort of consistent effort.

In short I expect Roberson and Joseph to start and have good seasons. As far as Lydon I don't disagree that it may take him a while to pick up the nuances of the defense but I have a suspicion that he will have sort of a CJ Fair like freshman season. When his number is called he will make plays and contributions enough to counter act his mistakes and make him a valuable bench player.