159 days until Syracuse/UVa...

[SRHoo]

Greetings from the UVa side. Now that the NBA draft deadline has passed, is it too early to start talking Nov 6? Both teams will look very different, but I’m pretty confident in saying you won’t see a repeat of our 2nd half shooting the last time we visited.

UVa loses Jack Salt to graduation, DeAndre Hunter, Ty Jerome & Kyle Guy to the NBA, Marco Anthony to transfer.

We add 4* combo guard Casey Morsell. 4* big Kadin Shedrick. 3* combo forward Justin McKoy. 1st team JUCO All-A wing, Tomas Woldentensae. Also got Sam Hauser from Marquette as a transfer in, but he sits next year, and plays in 2020-21.

We’ll likely start one of two lineups...small lineup would be Kihei Clark, Morsell, Woldentensae, Braxton Key & Mamadi Diakite, with Jay Huff as 6th man. For the big lineup, swap Huff & Woldentensae.

Those 6 get the majority of minutes. Others who may contribute are Francisco Caffaro (4* 7 footer who redshirted this year), McKoy, Kody Stattman & Frankie Badocchi. Probably only 2 from that group though, as Bennett usually doesn’t play more than 8. I’d expect Shedrick to RS...he needs some weight/strength.

Preseason I’d expect us in the 6-12 range nationally...Diakite coming back was big. But not quite as good as last year...a lot of firepower to replace.

What’s Cuse’s roster and projections looking like right now?

 

[Brooky03]

Uncertain is how I'd categorize the SU roster situation.

The roster is mostly underclassmen. Plenty of guards but a big question mark at PG. It's really anybody's guess who will get the bulk of the PG minutes and how effective they'll be. Jalen Carey is the leading candidate because he's the returning backup PG but he struggled to get on the court last season. Freshman Brycen Goodine could take a huge chunk of minutes at PG if he's as good as we all think/hope. Predicting minutes or production from either is a huge guess though, with more unknowns than knowns. If they both suck, Howard Washington is the 'veteran' Plan C.

SG looks good. Buddy Boeheim probably has dibs on the job and the above mentioned PG's would both be comfortable launching shots at the 2. Joe Girard is a freshman sharpshooter coming in, as well. Factoring in the Forwards, Cuse should finally be able to put 4 legitimate deep threats on the court at one time, without playing anybody out of position. That's arguably the biggest strength the team will have.

Center is the second primary question mark. Will Marek get most of the minutes anchoring the zone with his 140lb frame? Will Sidibe get healthy and realize the potential we saw flashes of his freshman year? Will one of the new guys come in and give us the production at Center we've sorely lacked? Maybe freshman Jesse Edwards could stretch the floor, which would be uncharted territory for a Cuse Center. Who knows? Again, though, Boeheim finally has capable bodies to pick from.

The Forwards are the guys I'm most sure of, which is odd after losing Brissett, and with arguably the least depth of the positions on this roster. But I expect Hughes to be the primary scorer on the court and I think Guerrier (freshman) has an NBA caliber skill set and talent level. Maybe he's not OAD, but he has that potential, at least. Defense and rebounding will be the key with these guys. Marek and Braswell round out the group. Both should contribute, albeit in different ways. Marek is very savvy and a good facilitator; veteran leader. Braswell didn't play much last season but showed more athleticism and more smoothness with the ball than I think many expected. Supposed to be a good shooter, also.

The key with this team is depth. Boeheim likely won't play a deep rotation but he finally has a full roster of D1 talent to pick from, mostly consisting of guys we went out and got, rather than guys we pieced together last minute just to field a team. That's refreshing, even if the team does struggle.

Cuse could surprise a lot of people next year. At the very least, the team will be unlike anything we've seen in recent years in a lot of ways.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Morsells a stud, going to be a handful for the league to deal with

 

[Eric15]

I still can't get my head around the idea of a home opener against a Top 5 conference foe. This is so weird.

 

[SRHoo]

Morsells a stud, going to be a handful for the league to deal with

Yeah...I don’t like putting unrealistic expectations on a freshman, but I believe he’s the most college-ready guard that Bennett has gotten at UVa. Most services have him ranked in the 50’s-60’s, but he’ll be much more valuable to us than that.

The guy I’m really curious about for ‘Cuse is Guerrier. Sounds like a find.

 

[SRHoo]

I still can't get my head around the idea of a home opener against a Top 5 conference foe. This is so weird.

Welcome to the ACC Network! Strictly a TV decision.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

Yeah...I don’t like putting unrealistic expectations on a freshman, but I believe he’s the most college-ready guard that Bennett has gotten at UVa. Most services have him ranked in the 50’s-60’s, but he’ll be much more valuable to us than that.

The guy I’m really curious about for ‘Cuse is Guerrier. Sounds like a find.

Like Brissett before him, Guerrier was the national player of the year in Canada. Similar in some respects to Brissett - but I expect Guerrier to be a better long range shooter but not as good on the boards. Plus, anytime you're talking about a true freshman, you never know how much time it'll take for them to acclimate to ACC-caliber competition. My guess for Cuse is we'll finish top 5 to 7 in ACC play this year, return to the tournament, and win one or two.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

My quick take on our depth chart for players with best chance for pt:

PG: 4* Jalen Carey; 4* Brycen Goodine
SG: Buddy Boeheim; top NY state HS scoring champ all-time Joe Girard
SF: Eli Hughes
F: Quincy Guerrier; Robert Braswell (2 time SC state high jump champion - 6'9 3 point shooter but a twig)
C: Marek Dolejaz; Sidibe; European big with some offensive talent Edwards

If I had to guess, I'd say Girard, Braswell, and either Sidibe or Edwards fall out of the rotation, trimming it to Boeheim's standard 7.

 

[Col. Bleep]

I still can't get my head around the idea of a home opener against a Top 5 conference foe. This is so weird.

You know that Boeheim.
Never leaves the Dome in pre-conference...always scheduling those early cupcakes.

It is bizarre scheduling.
But TV $ rules.
Sanity takes a back seat.

 

[pearl31]

Preseason I’d expect us in the 6-12 range nationally

lol
(if that group of players is 6-12 nationally there are a whole lot of sh_tty teams all across the land)

 

[SRHoo]

lol
(if that group of players is 6-12 nationally there are a whole lot of sh_tty teams all across the land)

Rothstein & Parrish both with CBS have us at 8. Katz at 6. Dauster with NBC at 8. All these are within the last 24 hrs.

 

[pearl31]

Rothstein & Parrish both with CBS have us at 8. Katz at 6. Dauster with NBC at 8. All these are within the last 24 hrs.

yep and my statement stands
(obv being defending champs goes a long ways)

 

[SRHoo]

yep and my statement stands
(obv being defending champs goes a long ways)

It’s definitely a down year across the country. Outside of Michigan St & Kentucky, no one stands out very much.

Louisville might be the best of the ACC. This crop of Duke OAD’s isn’t nearly as strong. UNC has a bigger rebuild than us.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I still can't get my head around the idea of a home opener against a Top 5 conference foe. This is so weird.

Was LeMoyne already booked or do we not want to play them anymore?

 

[Forza Azzurri]

It’s definitely a down year across the country. Outside of Michigan St & Kentucky, no one stands out very much.

Louisville might be the best of the ACC. This crop of Duke OAD’s isn’t nearly as strong. UNC has a bigger rebuild than us.

You could pretty much say that every year now.

So many teams lose so many players every year, pretty much every year is starting from scratch if you are P5 and have any talent whatsoever on the roster...

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

Rothstein & Parrish both with CBS have us at 8. Katz at 6. Dauster with NBC at 8. All these are within the last 24 hrs.

That all sounds reasonable. Just earlier today I said uva was at least a top 15 team. Gun to my head, I'd say they're top 10-12.

 

[Hoo's That]

UVa has no business being ranked above 15 at this point. Later in the season? Who knows. At this point there are just too many open questions that will be answered only when play begins.

 

[73CAV]

Or, to be more specific, Virginia's front court should be solid, but the huge question marks are in the back court. In all probability, two newcomers will start (Morsell & Woldetensae), and they will be asked to contribute at a high level. They may; they may not. And, even if they are capable, can they perform consistently, home and away, night in and night out. I don't know. If they live up to the hype, UVa could be very good. If not, there will be some bumpy nights. I have no idea of what to expect.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Their front line will be excellent. Their little point guard is back along with a good recruiting class. They will be top ten again.

 

[Jzsshuttles]

Greetings from the UVa side. Now that the NBA draft deadline has passed, is it too early to start talking Nov 6? Both teams will look very different, but I’m pretty confident in saying you won’t see a repeat of our 2nd half shooting the last time we visited.

UVa loses Jack Salt to graduation, DeAndre Hunter, Ty Jerome & Kyle Guy to the NBA, Marco Anthony to transfer.

We add 4* combo guard Casey Morsell. 4* big Kadin Shedrick. 3* combo forward Justin McKoy. 1st team JUCO All-A wing, Tomas Woldentensae. Also got Sam Hauser from Marquette as a transfer in, but he sits next year, and plays in 2020-21.

We’ll likely start one of two lineups...small lineup would be Kihei Clark, Morsell, Woldentensae, Braxton Key & Mamadi Diakite, with Jay Huff as 6th man. For the big lineup, swap Huff & Woldentensae.

Those 6 get the majority of minutes. Others who may contribute are Francisco Caffaro (4* 7 footer who redshirted this year), McKoy, Kody Stattman & Frankie Badocchi. Probably only 2 from that group though, as Bennett usually doesn’t play more than 8. I’d expect Shedrick to RS...he needs some weight/strength.

Preseason I’d expect us in the 6-12 range nationally...Diakite coming back was big. But not quite as good as last year...a lot of firepower to replace.

What’s Cuse’s roster and projections looking like right now?

If that team is top 15 then it’s going to be a brutal year for college hoops. Bennett is probably the best coach in the game right now but that roster is straight up bad. That looks like a roster BC, Gtech or wake forest would roll out there. I’m sorry but I think it might be a long year for the hoos.

 

[Jzsshuttles]

lol
(if that group of players is 6-12 nationally there are a whole lot of sh_tty teams all across the land)

That roster is laughable without hauser playing.

 

[ebucklewis]

If that team is top 15 then it’s going to be a brutal year for college hoops. Bennett is probably the best coach in the game right now but that roster is straight up bad. That looks like a roster BC, Gtech or wake forest would roll out there. I’m sorry but I think it might be a long year for the hoos.

It doesn’t really matter who the names are. What’s more important is how they play as a team. I suspect Bennett will have them playing their usual excellent team defense and they will be very tough to beat.

 

[Jzsshuttles]

It doesn’t really matter who the names are. What’s more important is how they play as a team. I suspect Bennett will have them playing their usual excellent team defense and they will be very tough to beat.

Bennett is that teams only hope of not finishing in the bottom half of the conference. Not going by names either. That’s a depleted roster with zero fire power.

 

[pearl31]

Bennett is that teams only hope of not finishing in the bottom half of the conference. Not going by names either. That’s a depleted roster with zero fire power.

I mean there's some firepower - Diakete has proven to be a legit contributor and I think Huff will have a breakout year, and sounds like that 2-guard frosh is a player - but yeah no way that sqaud preseason is top-15, except of course they're defending champs

 

[Jzsshuttles]

I mean there's some firepower - Diakete has proven to be a legit contributor and I think Huff will have a breakout year, and sounds like that 2-guard frosh is a player - but yeah no way that sqaud preseason is top-15, except of course they're defending champs

Diakite should have a big year. Besides that who knows. If Syracuse was putting that same roster on the court the fans would be screaming for Boeheims head on a stick. Hunter, Jerome and Guy made the game easy for everyone else. Without either one of them I just don’t see it.