A Comment on Point Guards

[jncuse]

Maybe Carlos will be OK come conference season. The only difference between the ACC and CAA this year is that their league letters are shuffled around,.

 

[Newhouser]

Y’all just want to continue to pile on and prove your brilliance at scouting and evaluation. Have fun this season.

We are fans - its not our job to be brilliant at scouting and evaluation - that was JB"s and now Red's.

 

[djcon57]

.
Again with the chest-puffing “I saw this coming” self aggrandizement.

Definition of MONDAY-MORNING QUARTERBACK

one who second-guesses… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

You are just insulting people without knowing what it means. How would it be a Monday morning qb if I questioned it in May?

It wasn’t about “I saw this coming” it was that people like you were declaring him as a very good acc pg without any critical thinking. How would a guy who couldn’t even break an All CAA team become a very good ACC guard? It doesn’t make any sense….so it came down to what you said. Cause Red thought so. Appears he was incorrect

 

[Nicknack]

moore is a better PG than carlos

so is westry

so is taylor

so is cuffe

so is jj

if i was cuffe I would demand minutes or quit the team...would love to see it happen at this point

While I have no idea what Cuffe is doing in practice, I'd like him to get some extended minutes to see what he can do in a game. Carlos has had a handful of games with lots of minutes to show his skills. To give Cuffe only just 3-4 minutes a game isn't enough to truly see what you have. I mean, how could he be any worse than Carlos?

Everyone is freaking out about losing to the net and kenpom number one in their stadium by 26 without out best player. Things will improve. That’s the hardest game all season against a team that literally had everything.

But will they? I think that's what is really concerning. With JJ at point and moving Moore into the lineup, I would agree. However, without JJ and Red seemingly going to play Carlos more, I am not very optimistic (and this coming from a guy who sees the glass half full usually). Carlos played 37 min the other night. 37!! The game was toast for a while so why not give Cuffe more minutes? If not Cuffe, anyone at point!

 

[HyattsCuse]

While I have no idea what Cuffe is doing in practice, I'd like him to get some extended minutes to see what he can do in a game. Carlos has had a handful of games with lots of minutes to show his skills. To give Cuffe only just 3-4 minutes a game isn't enough to truly see what you have. I mean, how could he be any worse than Carlos?

Agree 100% on this. Really out of sheer curiosity, I would love to see Cuffe get 30 minutes just to let him go out there, not worry about getting yanked, and see what he can do. Our rotations are still all over the place and losing JJ isn't going to help clear that up anytime soon, so why not see what Cuffe can do? It's pretty much guaranteed he'll provide as much production as Carlos at minimum.

 

[grepal]

Agree. Pre season, after scrimmages, EVERYONE thought what Red thought too. lol. As I said in a previous post today MONEY is the biggest factor. Period.

We have skilled players but just one “dog” in Choppa. Maybe Davis, but undersized for his position. Need more guys with an “edge”

Last night I watched Scheiffelin for Clemson, (a guy who looks like a mid major 10th man) “ball” for 40 minutes. He wanted it more than Kentucky. We need a few like him too. Red needs to find them, (but boeheim was not finding them either).

plenty of skill, not enough energy, IQ, or “want to” from our team

First I want to comment on the differences between a player like Scheiffelin and a player like Donnie Freeman. In Freemans case the smoother the player the less it looks like he is giving his all. JD Drew when with LA and Boston was accused of not trying very hard, the problem was not effort it was moving with effortless grace and smoothness. There is a huge difference. Kyle Cuffe gives max effort every time as does Taylor. Carlos is trying his hardest but may not have what is needed physically at a major college level. Our centers are both hurting they therefore have a hard time moving which spells big trouble. Petar tries very hard as well. It looks like Chris Bell will never be a rebounder or a great defender, he is who he is but we do see him hustle, he does not hang his head when beaten but tries to block a shot. We were simply outmatched v Tennessee, we are not an elite team now but I see us getting better as Red keeps recruiting a blue chipper or two a year. We need to keep what we have and add to it for the future. That won't be easy as bigger bags or the NBA will try and lure away our best players. FWIW Scheiffelin is a warrior and hats off to him.

 

[jncuse]

Probably not the case, but perhaps Red didn't want to throw someone to the wolves against Tennessee as to not crush them. Make the changes for a more a simpler game perhaps like ND. Which is why he had Carlos for 37 against Tennessee.

 

[DCUNITED13]

Perhaps there was not enough time to change the game plan with JJ's injury. Perhaps these next 3-4 days of practice there is time to implement a new structure and substitution pattern. You cant really play what you did not practice.

Additionally, no one I've seen (perhaps it was during the gamethread) was how easily McLeod was bullied around the basket. He got bumped and gave way and allowed a basket instead of a crucial stop. After that sequence, Tennessee continued to drive inside and pass to open man or easy shot/rebound. Even with Eddie Lampkin injured, he is miles better than his back-up. (We did not see him back until the 3 minute mark)

I hope to see a prepared team against ND. Granted we may not be able to force stops that we grew accustomed to with the zone, but I'm very happy to see that we scored 70 against the what may be the best defensive team. We scored at least 70 every game except Texas. Even with JJ announced injured, we still beat the original Over.

We are getting many more possessions per game than previous seasons and it shows in our scoring. IMO, we lack a good defender at the PG position and a small forward that could dribble penetrate. Those two options will open up our ability to compete with top tier teams.

GO CUSE

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

From Reds mouth last night (because of an injury to JJ) - “Carlos is our only ball handler” …
Hmmm sounds like terrible roster construction to me .

UConn also has Diarra who is a very solid PG as their 6th man and they signed a 4/5star PG from Philly who’s starting to play more now since Mahoney has struggled.

Hurley did not go “all in” on Mahoney and has 2 other PGs on the roster who are capable.

Mahoney minutes have gone way down since the Memphis game. Hurley realized his mistake.

Red is doubling down on Carlos then saying we lack ball handlers


It’s a terrible look

Reminds me of the Kaleb experiment. JB gave him, what, 4 games?

 

[DomeHolmes]

This is just wrong, there were about 10 people around here getting insulted because they were seeing a .500 team or slightly better while the rest of this board were talking tournament and how great we were and how Carlos was so good and a CAA defensive player of the year.

This team stunk since the signed the first transfer until they got heald up by Eddie and you all bought into it including the staff.

Ok, I should have said “most”. I did not have an opinion. I was wait and see too. PG is like QB. Need a good one. I maintain if we had a Kadary, we are a tournament team.

I was just noting how evaluations can be deceiving for coaches and fans.

 

[two3zone]

Perhaps there was not enough time to change the game plan with JJ's injury. Perhaps these next 3-4 days of practice there is time to implement a new structure and substitution pattern. You cant really play what you did not practice.

Additionally, no one I've seen (perhaps it was during the gamethread) was how easily McLeod was bullied around the basket. He got bumped and gave way and allowed a basket instead of a crucial stop. After that sequence, Tennessee continued to drive inside and pass to open man or easy shot/rebound. Even with Eddie Lampkin injured, he is miles better than his back-up. (We did not see him back until the 3 minute mark)

I hope to see a prepared team against ND. Granted we may not be able to force stops that we grew accustomed to with the zone, but I'm very happy to see that we scored 70 against the what may be the best defensive team. We scored at least 70 every game except Texas. Even with JJ announced injured, we still beat the original Over.

We are getting many more possessions per game than previous seasons and it shows in our scoring. IMO, we lack a good defender at the PG position and a small forward that could dribble penetrate. Those two options will open up our ability to compete with top tier teams.

GO CUSE

The thing is when the extra possessions is that our defense is so bad that we'll never be able to out score more talented teams.

If you're up 5 against us with 2 minutes left it would be very difficult for me to believe we can stop anyone that really wants to score.

I'd prefer we slow things down at this point, out lasting Youngstown St and giving teams like Texas all of those extra possessions is stupid. Why would you want a team that good to get more shots up? It would be like walking the 7/8/9 hitters so you can give the top of the order some more reps. It doesn't make sense.

 

[two3zone]

Ok, I should have said “most”. I did not have an opinion. I was wait and see too. PG is like QB. Need a good one. I maintain if we had a Kadary, we are a tournament team.

I was just noting how evaluations can be deceiving for coaches and fans.

If we had Kadary with this team and Moore as the 6th man, I agree, easily a tournament team.

Think we would be with even an average center without Lampkin and Kadary.

Doesn't seem they're focusing on PG for next year either, big mistake.

 

[RF2044]

Guys, Red literally said it himself - we have one guy who can dribble. Red chose to pursue Taylor instead of maybe a guard who was more of a combo. Red kept Cuffe and McLeod when maybe a better use of either of those scholarships was getting a guy who could dribble. You’re answering your own questions here. Red assembled this army. Injuries happen. But he knowingly came into the season with 1 low level PG on the roster. You can’t defend that. I promise it’s ok to blame him.

On3 ranked Carlos as the 255th transfer overall, the 50th PG. 50th! But Red was clearly confident he’s all we needed

You know what teams got better ranked PG transfers than us? Samford, UTEP, DePaul, McNeese (Quadir), TCU (they got 2), Providence, Vanderbilt (they got 2). That’s not even counting big time P5 schools.

We are rewriting history here saying Carlos was gonna be great and this a shocking development. The kid Shot 41% from the field at Hofstra.

By all means let’s go ahead and keep trying to defend this tho

That's what gets me -- we have multiple former program point guards on the staff, and yet our evaluation of PGs seems to be substantially lacking, over an extended period of time.

And additionally, the confidence with which Carlos was described over the summer / in preseason practice by the coaches is head scratching now.

 

[Bayside44]

Agree 100% on this. Really out of sheer curiosity, I would love to see Cuffe get 30 minutes just to let him go out there, not worry about getting yanked, and see what he can do. Our rotations are still all over the place and losing JJ isn't going to help clear that up anytime soon, so why not see what Cuffe can do? It's pretty much guaranteed he'll provide as much production as Carlos at minimum.

He has 17 TOs and 16 assists career here.

If it were lax we can go O middie and D middie...

 

[DoctahLexus]

Pretty much everyone here liked Carlos after the exhibition games too. I am certainly guilty of that. But they also do not pay us the big bucks.

 

[CuseCPT]

He has 17 TOs and 16 assists career here.

If it were lax we can go O middie and D middie...

And he typically gets yanked after the first mistake and doesn't return. Doesn't seem like a particularly fair evaluation under any circumstances, but especially when others are not held to the same standard at all.

 

[MikeSU02]

That's what gets me -- we have multiple former program point guards on the staff, and yet our evaluation of PGs seems to be substantially lacking, over an extended period of time.

And additionally, the confidence with which Carlos was described over the summer / in preseason practice by the coaches is head scratching now.

It’s almost like their description was PR and not a true assessment, but some people took it as gospel.

 

[Bayside44]

And he typically gets yanked after the first mistake and doesn't return. Doesn't seem like a particularly fair evaluation under any circumstances, but especially when others are not held to the same standard at all.

He just seems like an athletic guy stuck in a PGs body. But not a hill I'll die on. Just want the other two guys to get healthy as quickly as possible.

 

[RF2044]

It’s almost like their description was PR and not a true assessment, but some people took it as gospel.

...or even more disconcerting, that the coaches BELIEVED it, and are now flat-footed about him being overmatched.

 

[Cappy3]

moore is a better PG than carlos

so is westry

so is taylor

so is cuffe

so is jj

if i was cuffe I would demand minutes or quit the team...would love to see it happen at this point

Statistics disagree, if you think that a point guards job is to control the play and set guys up. Career stats for assists/turnovers are as follows: Taylor 72 assists/66 tos, Cuffe 16 assists/17 tos, Starling 110 assists/112 turnovers, Carlos 422 assist/172 tos. Moore has never played point in hs. Don’t let your frustration with Carlos lead you to think just anyone can be a successful point.

 

[Sbucketball]

It’s almost like their description was PR and not a true assessment, but some people took it as gospel.

Damage control after whiffing on Leffew and any other starting PG? If so, bad judgment by Red. He would have been better served blaming our NIL situation instead of acting like we're all set with Carlos. Instead of on the university for not having NIL infrastructure, it's on him for not evaluating talent properly.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Probably not the case, but perhaps Red didn't want to throw someone to the wolves against Tennessee as to not crush them. Make the changes for a more a simpler game perhaps like ND. Which is why he had Carlos for 37 against Tennessee.

I think the exact opposite should happen in a game where the outcome was clearly decided. Hell, even play Carlos 30 if you want. Use those other 7’ to learn something about players that haven’t been playing much.

If you’re at this level and don’t want to play people for fear of crushing them…well… that’s a big problem for the player and the coach.

(I see what you meant though).

 

[Jake]

Some people are trying re-write history but djcon57 has receipts. And he only pulled them when the charge was that everyone agreed with Red that Carlos would be fine at the time and were now Monday-morning quarterbacking it.

On the other hand, after years of being one of the "negative ones" I've seen plenty of unprovoked victory laps from the other side, as though I was seething about a victory from a team I've been a fan of since 1986 and a school I eventually earned a degree from. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'd love nothing more than for Red to run the table and win a natty. I would not be able to say I saw that coming, and I'd be thrilled to be wrong. It's not about being bragging that we saw this coming it's about challenging narratives we disagree with. And in this case, one where the evidence existed to back it up.

Yep he did pump the brakes during the off season. He also really liked what he saw of Carlos preseason…like we all did. I mean he didn’t call him a poor man’s Pearl, but I don’t think he was exactly sounding an alarm bell.

https://syracusefan.com/threads/clarion-gameday.184974/page-3

 

[Cusefan0307]

Kaleb dominated the D2 games too. I thought Carlos was going to be a positive this year as well after the preseason, but those games have fooled us a bunch over the years. Especially at lead guard.

 

[Jake]

Kaleb dominated the D2 games too. I thought Carlos was going to be a positive this year as well after the preseason, but those games have fooled us a bunch over the years. Especially at lead guard.

Yep…here’s a thread that didn’t age well for all of us who contributed…

We're only 5 mins into 1st EX game, and I already love Carlos

A true point guard who defends. Finally.

syracusefan.com