A Different Take

[Oakland]

I think the offense will be better this year.

Last season's sucked pretty bad after the first 20 games, so it shouldn't take much to be better. We do have a lot of parts this year. It is a matter of guys stepping up. And anyone who will be good this season needs to step up because we have no returning established offensive players. None! This is a novel situation for the program. The positive is that we have 9 guys who have the potential to step up on O. If 4 of them do it we should be better on O.

I thought Ennis did a great job last season for a freshman, but I have to wonder about his exalted status in so many minds. There were many complaints in the second half of the season about CJ doing so little in so many iso situations, Cooney running around like a mad man but not getting off many good shots, Grant spin moving into numerous defenders time and again, and big men not getting the ball down low - isn't a great PG one who gets the ball to players in position to succeed? Maybe our guys suddenly forgot where to be. Maybe chemistry just inexplicably deteriorated and it didn't have much to do with Ennis. And, of course, we always can hang our hat on the injury thing. Anyways, my opinion of Ennis is a little less than most others.

There was one game early in the ACC season, when our O was obviously starting to fade, where Ennis put on a show worthy of Ernie DeGregorio (very high praise in my mind). Driving thru the lane and dishing assists, including a behind the back pass for a pretty finish, long entry passes into the lane for assists, and almost showboating in a most productive way. And then...not much. A one time effort never to be repeated. I never understood why that Ennis never showed up again - and the team needed that Ennis very much down the stretch.

Like everyone, I wanted Ennis to come back, but if he did come back I wonder how JB would use Kaleb. Would Kaleb get many minutes? My opinion is that Kaleb would be great at SG playing along side of Ennis.

Anyways, Kaleb seems like the real deal, so it looks like we have one guy who is stepping up.

There are many who seem to have an emotionally invested interest in wanting BJ and Roberson to be stars. I hope these wishes come true, but both have shown little when it counted. I suspect that they will be productive players down the road, but they are not on the star trajectory.

Rak has always had great O moves, but rarely used them. I thought he would break out as an O player the last two seasons, but no. I don't expect it this season, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did. I expect he will be a decent O contributor on put backs, transition, and the occasional O move.

Silent G and especially CM look to be guys who can step up this season. I expect both will to some degree and maybe to a big degree. We won't go far without both of these guys doing well on O.

When Ron Patterson committed to SU, the book on him was that he could hit the 3 and was a great defensive player. Sure, you want your SG to have a good handle too (and I want to win the lottery) but I thought 3s and D sounded really good to me. Seems like he is living up to that and if Cooney doesn't get back to his early form from last season, I expect Buss to get big minutes at SG and play big.

So I have my 4/5 guys: Kaleb, G, CM, Rak, and Buss, with others who could also step up.

Experience is often overlooked. And I believe it is this season. Ours is way down and it will limit us.

Defense. If you want to have a great zone defense, having a senior Rak starting for you is a great thing. However, everyone seems to think that the zone now guarantees a great defense. I don't. Other than Rak, the defensive is quite inexperienced and unproven. My expectations is the D takes a step back.

To sum up: I expect the O to bounce off of a low bottom, the D to take a step back, and the team to reflect a lower level of experience. There is a bunch of talent on the team, but we are biased and think it is better than it is.

Still, I hope everything falls into place and we end up being great.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Good stuff.

 

[CaptainJ]

I think the offense will be better this year.

Last season's sucked pretty bad after the first 20 games, so it shouldn't take much to be better. We do have a lot of parts this year. It is a matter of guys stepping up. And anyone who will be good this season needs to step up because we have no returning established offensive players. None! This is a novel situation for the program. The positive is that we have 9 guys who have the potential to step up on O. If 4 of them do it we should be better on O.

I thought Ennis did a great job last season for a freshman, but I have to wonder about his exalted status in so many minds. There were many complaints in the second half of the season about CJ doing so little in so many iso situations, Cooney running around like a mad man but not getting off many good shots, Grant spin moving into numerous defenders time and again, and big men not getting the ball down low - isn't a great PG one who gets the ball to players in position to succeed? Maybe our guys suddenly forgot where to be. Maybe chemistry just inexplicably deteriorated and it didn't have much to do with Ennis. And, of course, we always can hang our hat on the injury thing. Anyways, my opinion of Ennis is a little less than most others.

There was one game early in the ACC season, when our O was obviously starting to fade, where Ennis put on a show worthy of Ernie DeGregorio (very high praise in my mind). Driving thru the lane and dishing assists, including a behind the back pass for a pretty finish, long entry passes into the lane for assists, and almost showboating in a most productive way. And then...not much. A one time effort never to be repeated. I never understood why that Ennis never showed up again - and the team needed that Ennis very much down the stretch.

Like everyone, I wanted Ennis to come back, but if he did come back I wonder how JB would use Kaleb. Would Kaleb get many minutes? My opinion is that Kaleb would be great at SG playing along side of Ennis.

Anyways, Kaleb seems like the real deal, so it looks like we have one guy who is stepping up.

There are many who seem to have an emotionally invested interest in wanting BJ and Roberson to be stars. I hope these wishes come true, but both have shown little when it counted. I suspect that they will be productive players down the road, but they are not on the star trajectory.

Rak has always had great O moves, but rarely used them. I thought he would break out as an O player the last two seasons, but no. I don't expect it this season, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did. I expect he will be a decent O contributor on put backs, transition, and the occasional O move.

Silent G and especially CM look to be guys who can step up this season. I expect both will to some degree and maybe to a big degree. We won't go far without both of these guys doing well on O.

When Ron Patterson committed to SU, the book on him was that he could hit the 3 and was a great defensive player. Sure, you want your SG to have a good handle too (and I want to win the lottery) but I thought 3s and D sounded really good to me. Seems like he is living up to that and if Cooney doesn't get back to his early form from last season, I expect Buss to get big minutes at SG and play big.

So I have my 4/5 guys: Kaleb, G, CM, Rak, and Buss, with others who could also step up.

Experience is often overlooked. And I believe it is this season. Ours is way down and it will limit us.

Defensive. If you want to have a great zone defensive, having a senior Rak starting for you is a great thing. However, everyone seems to think that the zone now guarantees a great defense. I don't. Other than Rak, the defensive is quite inexperienced and unproven. My expectations is the D takes a step back.

To sum up: I expect the O to bounce off of a low bottom, the D to take a step back, and the team to reflect a lower level of experience. There is a bunch of talent on the team, but we are bias and think it is better than it is.

Still, I hope everything falls into place and we end up being great.

I often enjoy taking and giving different opinions. Tonight I am having fun playing Devil's advocate, trying to understand how folks feel on here. I will focus my reply on the change of point guard here, being my lack of focus often becomes the focus on here. I think with this one change alone, we have at least the potential of a completely different team on offense, regardless of what our defense looks like.

TE was great in certain qualities last year(other than in a few huge situations that whether right or wrong, tend to stick out in my memory more than some of his awesome stats that folks on tv and here loved repeating). TE also undeniably hurt the team in other ways with his overly cautious play that wouldn't risk overexciting a dead man much of the time. Which of these 2 outweighed the other is still open for debate amongst intelligent and rational people, as well as just how much the the difference in weight was.

Kaleb may not come anywhere close to the season Ennis put together at Syracuse, at least this year. He may never. Then again he may, and certainly has given some of us hope that he has the potential to help the team even more, even if that assessment is attributed more to style than actual talent. Either way, I am certainly excited to watch his development and see how it effects a previously lackluster offense. Although many other things will factor in, this change alone has the potential to effect more of the team's offensive nature than any other, if for nothing else causing the defense of other teams to be prepared for more things than our more monolithic offense of last season.

 

[bballbeadle]

Captain, I agree about the lackluster offense with Tyler. I am eagerly anticipating a faster pace in this year's team. Kaleb threw up several unsuccessful alley oops against Adrian, but I like that he was going for it.

 

[CaptainJ]

Captain, I agree about the lackluster offense with Tyler. I am eagerly anticipating a faster pace in this year's team. Kaleb threw up several unsuccessful alley oops against Adrian, but I like that he was going for it.

Thank you. I know it isn't the most popular thing to say around here, but I suspect it will be easier this year than last, provided Kaleb doesn't have a terrible season. I will miss a lot about Mr Ennis, but not the way he was able to slow the heartbeat of this point to the point as being able to be mistaken for dead, as it is written that Ninjas(and I think certain monks) can do. Discipline is a great weapon to have at your disposal, but it is far from the only one.

 

[jordoo]

Good post but I have a couple of quibbles.

Cooney is an established offensive player coming back. We ran regular plays for him, he averaged double figures and yes he shot very poorly down the stretch but that wasn't just him. Whatever you think of him as a player he is an established returning offensive player as is anyone who averaged double figures IMO.

Part of the reason Ennis wasn't able to drive and dish as the season wore on was because of the overall offensive failure. Teams crowded the lane, stayed off Ennis hen he had the ball outside because they didn't fear his shot and then stuck one guy to Cooney to keep him from getting open looks. If Ennis had more help or shot it better himself then he could have done more driving and dishing. Over all on what turned out to be a shooting challenged team I felt Ennis did a great job for a freshman PG. I like others share in the frustration of the slow methodical take no chances style he played. I think he had a good enough handle, passing and vision to push the ball more but the he didn't finish well himself and that can create issues for a lead guard on fast breaks. I'm glad he came to SU and I'm glad he played well enough to get drafted in the NBA and make some money. I'm not sure that last years team allowed him to show us what he was really capable of and obviously another year of getting stronger, improving his shot and having more options around him may have allowed him to but likely wouldn't have increased his draft stock much.

This year I think the defense has a chance to be really good if the forwards improve over the course of the season. I think the top will be great one Kaleb has about 8 games of experience out there because Cooney, Buss and Mike are all good defenders in the zone. Rakeem is very good in the middle if he stays on the court but right now Mike is our best defensive forward. Chris is lost out there but puts in effort and has the physical tools. Tyler and BJ just need some real game time in the zone IMO because they have a season of practicing it and know what they should be doing. They just need to get to the point of reacting at game speed rather than thinking through it.

I agree that offense should be improved. Mike and Buss specifically seem like they are ready for bigger rolls. Christmas looks like he can score IF we commit to feeding him the ball. Kaleb is dynamic and even simply by pushing the ball will help our offense but he also looks like a guy that one player cannot keep in front of in half court sets plus that jumper especially from 17' is money. Chris has a lot of skills and will garner a lot of attention.

To me overall the season comes down to how well the forwards develop and how quickly they do it on both ends. Shooting well to some extent also as we cannot be successful shooting the way we did down the stretch. This years team just has a lot more options as shooters and we shouldn't have to rely on one guy to make all the 3's nor will we often have only one guy who can shoot on the court.

 

[SoBristol]

Ennis, Fair & Grant were terrific as the core of last season's great run -- can't take that away, despite the 3 and 6 finish. And Keita was an outstanding defensive C off the bench, who won't be replaceable.

The issue last season was that these guys (and Cooney!) had to carry the load every time out. They wore down. They were predictable. There wasn't much in reserve. The three sons weren't ready. The team was in top form in November and where was the improvement from there? Maybe Grant got better over the course of the season -- who else?

This team is also very thin -- a dangerous lack of depth in the front court, and the kids (Chris & Kaleb) need to prove durable. The team needs to defend the paint and keep Rak out of foul trouble. It can run -- it should be able to press to get back into games. People write about shooting -- we don't need more shooting from deep if a couple of players in addition to Rak can score inside off drive moves or get short pull-ups. More concretely, Gbinije, Patterson, McCullough, Roberson need to provide scoring off drives (Joseph is a given), in addition to whatever they can do from the outside.

 

[RF2044]

I am VERY excited to see what Kaleb Joseph is going to do at PG. In the off-season, I'd heard he was a little reckless with the ball--but that certainly wasn't the case in the two exhibition games. His game seems perfectly tailored for JB's system; its not hard to see why he was the hand-picked successor recruit they went after. Kid has a LOT of Sherman Douglas in his game--which is high praise.

IMO, Patterson emerging is a HUGE development for this team. Last season, after Coleman got injured / Grant shifted into the starting lineup, we had virtually zero bench scoring. And what has been the consistent hallmark of SU 's resurgence since 2009? The luxury of JB being able to bring potent scorers off the bench. Patterson seems like the type of kid who could easily average 7-8 ppg this year, provide some solid complimentary shooting, but perhaps most importantly contribute in other ways--that will be the reason that he gets consistent PT, b/c he'll find ways to contribute even when the shot isn't dropping any given night. Love the energy / hustle he brings off of the bench, too.

Coupled with Gbinije also looking like a more capable scorer this year, it reminds me a lot of 2009-2010, where we were able to bring scorers like Scoop / Kris off of the bench. G and Bus are this year's Scoop / Kris.

A big determinant of how good the offense is going to be is what happens with Roberson and BJ. Both players might be a year away from fully hitting their stride. But it is important to keep in mind that these guys have basically ZERO game experience, so part of the next few games is them just getting their feet wet, getting comfortable, and more importantly gaining confidence. I was highly encouraged by BJ's second half against Adrian. That's how well the kid shoots the ball. The question now is: can he continue to shoot well? Because if so, we're really going to have a lot of options to stretch the floor. I firmly believe that BJ is going to be the team's leading scorer at some point in his career; obviously, it won't happen this year, but he's got that kind of offensive ability.

Roberson has all the tools, but he just needs to settle down. I got nervous when he got pulled 10 seconds into the game on Monday -- but thankfully it didn't have anything to do with him making a mistake, and JB quickly put him back in. If ever there was a guy who just needs to settle down and get an easy bucket, that was Tyler heading into Monday. The article about him after the game spoke volumes. Even though he didn't have a great game, just getting a few inside buckets and knocking down some jumpers was huge for him. You could almost feel the pressure valve turning, and letting off some of the pressure as the game went on. And did anybody notice the three he knocked down late? The kid has a really nice shooting stroke--great form.

Cooney's been discussed ad nauseum. Kid needs to shoot more consistently.

I don't think Chino will be ready this year, but the again he's in the same exact situation as what I describe above for BJ / Roberson--he has never played before, and needs some developmental PT. Maybe he'll round into form sooner than I expect and provide some bench depth in the pivot. But like I said, I think its more likely to happen next year than this year.

I'm not counting on DC being available. That isn't based upon any inside information, just me not getting my hopes up. If he could return by the end of the year, and round into form enough to give the team 10 minutes per game behind Rak, that would be a huge boon.

Re: McCullough. The kid is a natural rebounder, which is great to see. Right now, he's too much of a finesse player offensively. That might change as he acclimates, but he tries to go around guys and avoid contact, when he'd be better served bodying up and drawing contact instead of trying to slither past it. All the tools are there, here's hoping he puts it together.

I saved the team's lone senior for last. Rak has looked good this preseason. Perhaps most importantly, he won't have to look over his shoulder this year--because there's nobody there to pull him for. I think we can book him for 8-10 ppg and 8 rpg.

I don't like the prospect of McCullough having to back him up in the post, because it runs the risk of McCullough picking up extra fouls. But I think we've got the forward depth with Robeson being able to slide to the 4, and Gbinije / BJ giving us versatility at the 3, to compensate if that's what we have to do. Not ideal, but what can you do. And it might be a way to get a player like BJ minutes that he otherwise might not be able to get.

What does it all add up to? In my opinion, once things gel the offense is going to be much better than last year. Here's why:

• We're going to be tougher on the glass, and when you rebound you can run
• We have a point guard who is going to push it and help the team get easier baskets in transition that we didn't get last year
• More shooters
• More depth with said shooters, which means that we don't have to suffer a poor shooting night like we did last year
• We'll have an inside scoring presence that we lacked last year
• With multiple shooters and an inside guy that the opposition will have to pay attention to, floor spacing should be more favorable
• When all else fails, Kaleb Joseph is going to be able to drive and dish better than Tyler Ennis

It might not always be pretty, and we're bound to go through some growing pains with such a young team. But for once, this might actually be a team that is better at the end of the season than they are at the beginning. And I'm not giving up on them finding their way into [or around] the top 10 this year, if they round into form sooner than expected.

Let's Go Orange!!!

 

[Oakland]

By established O player, I meant one that we could count on for significant O output. Cooney was not good as a frosh, brillant in the first half of last season, and largely unproductive in the second half and, ominously, the first two games of this season. He has shot poorly for 2/3 of his SU scareer, including most of the last 20 games (a significant number). Based on that history, I don't see him as an established O player at this point. As such, I don't necessarily expect much from him this season, so if he does well (which he certainly has the potential to do) then that would be stepping up in my mind.

Good post but I have a couple of quibbles.

Cooney is an established offensive player coming back. We ran regular plays for him, he averaged double figures and yes he shot very poorly down the stretch but that wasn't just him. Whatever you think of him as a player he is an established returning offensive player as is anyone who averaged double figures IMO.

Part of the reason Ennis wasn't able to drive and dish as the season wore on was because of the overall offensive failure. Teams crowded the lane, stayed off Ennis hen he had the ball outside because they didn't fear his shot and then stuck one guy to Cooney to keep him from getting open looks. If Ennis had more help or shot it better himself then he could have done more driving and dishing. Over all on what turned out to be a shooting challenged team I felt Ennis did a great job for a freshman PG. I like others share in the frustration of the slow methodical take no chances style he played. I think he had a good enough handle, passing and vision to push the ball more but the he didn't finish well himself and that can create issues for a lead guard on fast breaks. I'm glad he came to SU and I'm glad he played well enough to get drafted in the NBA and make some money. I'm not sure that last years team allowed him to show us what he was really capable of and obviously another year of getting stronger, improving his shot and having more options around him may have allowed him to but likely wouldn't have increased his draft stock much.

This year I think the defense has a chance to be really good if the forwards improve over the course of the season. I think the top will be great one Kaleb has about 8 games of experience out there because Cooney, Buss and Mike are all good defenders in the zone. Rakeem is very good in the middle if he stays on the court but right now Mike is our best defensive forward. Chris is lost out there but puts in effort and has the physical tools. Tyler and BJ just need some real game time in the zone IMO because they have a season of practicing it and know what they should be doing. They just need to get to the point of reacting at game speed rather than thinking through it.

I agree that offense should be improved. Mike and Buss specifically seem like they are ready for bigger rolls. Christmas looks like he can score IF we commit to feeding him the ball. Kaleb is dynamic and even simply by pushing the ball will help our offense but he also looks like a guy that one player cannot keep in front of in half court sets plus that jumper especially from 17' is money. Chris has a lot of skills and will garner a lot of attention.

To me overall the season comes down to how well the forwards develop and how quickly they do it on both ends. Shooting well to some extent also as we cannot be successful shooting the way we did down the stretch. This years team just has a lot more options as shooters and we shouldn't have to rely on one guy to make all the 3's nor will we often have only one guy who can shoot on the court.

 

[jordoo]

By established O player, I meant one that we could count on for significant O output. Cooney was not good as a frosh, brillant in the first half of last season, and largely unproductive in the second half and, ominously, the first two games of this season. He has shot poorly for 2/3 of his SU scareer, including most of the last 20 games (a significant number). Based on that history, I don't see him as an established O player at this point. As such, I don't necessarily expect much from him this season, so if he does well (which he certainly has the potential to do) then that would be stepping up in my mind.

So a guy who averaged double figures is not an established returning offensive player? Grant was unreliable as well with his shooting had he come back would he have been established? What about Ennis, he also was unreliable as a shooter and inconsistent? To me Cooney was established offensively in the roll of an inconsistent shooter. We can agree to disagree but when a player has an well defined offensive role, averages double figures albeit very inconsistently he by definition has an established role in the offense.

 

[OrangeFoo]

I am VERY excited to see what Kaleb Joseph is going to do at PG. In the off-season, I'd heard he was a little reckless with the ball--but that certainly wasn't the case in the two exhibition games. His game seems perfectly tailored for JB's system; its not hard to see why he was the hand-picked successor recruit they went after. Kid has a LOT of Sherman Douglas in his game--which is high praise.

IMO, Patterson emerging is a HUGE development for this team. Last season, after Coleman got injured / Grant shifted into the starting lineup, we had virtually zero bench scoring. And what has been the consistent hallmark of SU 's resurgence since 2009? The luxury of JB being able to bring potent scorers off the bench. Patterson seems like the type of kid who could easily average 7-8 ppg this year, provide some solid complimentary shooting, but perhaps most importantly contribute in other ways--that will be the reason that he gets consistent PT, b/c he'll find ways to contribute even when the shot isn't dropping any given night. Love the energy / hustle he brings off of the bench, too.

Coupled with Gbinije also looking like a more capable scorer this year, it reminds me a lot of 2009-2010, where we were able to bring scorers like Scoop / Kris off of the bench. G and Bus are this year's Scoop / Kris.

A big determinant of how good the offense is going to be is what happens with Roberson and BJ. Both players might be a year away from fully hitting their stride. But it is important to keep in mind that these guys have basically ZERO game experience, so part of the next few games is them just getting their feet wet, getting comfortable, and more importantly gaining confidence. I was highly encouraged by BJ's second half against Adrian. That's how well the kid shoots the ball. The question now is: can he continue to shoot well? Because if so, we're really going to have a lot of options to stretch the floor. I firmly believe that BJ is going to be the team's leading scorer at some point in his career; obviously, it won't happen this year, but he's got that kind of offensive ability.

Roberson has all the tools, but he just needs to settle down. I got nervous when he got pulled 10 seconds into the game on Monday -- but thankfully it didn't have anything to do with him making a mistake, and JB quickly put him back in. If ever there was a guy who just needs to settle down and get an easy bucket, that was Tyler heading into Monday. The article about him after the game spoke volumes. Even though he didn't have a great game, just getting a few inside buckets and knocking down some jumpers was huge for him. You could almost feel the pressure valve turning, and letting off some of the pressure as the game went on. And did anybody notice the three he knocked down late? The kid has a really nice shooting stroke--great form.

Cooney's been discussed ad nauseum. Kid needs to shoot more consistently.

I don't think Chino will be ready this year, but the again he's in the same exact situation as what I describe above for BJ / Roberson--he has never played before, and needs some developmental PT. Maybe he'll round into form sooner than I expect and provide some bench depth in the pivot. But like I said, I think its more likely to happen next year than this year.

I'm not counting on DC being available. That isn't based upon any inside information, just me not getting my hopes up. If he could return by the end of the year, and round into form enough to give the team 10 minutes per game behind Rak, that would be a huge boon.

Re: McCullough. The kid is a natural rebounder, which is great to see. Right now, he's too much of a finesse player offensively. That might change as he acclimates, but he tries to go around guys and avoid contact, when he'd be better served bodying up and drawing contact instead of trying to slither past it. All the tools are there, here's hoping he puts it together.

I saved the team's lone senior for last. Rak has looked good this preseason. Perhaps most importantly, he won't have to look over his shoulder this year--because there's nobody there to pull him for. I think we can book him for 8-10 ppg and 8 rpg.

I don't like the prospect of McCullough having to back him up in the post, because it runs the risk of McCullough picking up extra fouls. But I think we've got the forward depth with Robeson being able to slide to the 4, and Gbinije / BJ giving us versatility at the 3, to compensate if that's what we have to do. Not ideal, but what can you do. And it might be a way to get a player like BJ minutes that he otherwise might not be able to get.

What does it all add up to? In my opinion, once things gel the offense is going to be much better than last year. Here's why:

• We're going to be tougher on the glass, and when you rebound you can run
• We have a point guard who is going to push it and help the team get easier baskets in transition that we didn't get last year
• More shooters
• More depth with said shooters, which means that we don't have to suffer a poor shooting night like we did last year
• We'll have an inside scoring presence that we lacked last year
• With multiple shooters and an inside guy that the opposition will have to pay attention to, floor spacing should be more favorable
• When all else fails, Kaleb Joseph is going to be able to drive and dish better than Tyler Ennis

It might not always be pretty, and we're bound to go through some growing pains with such a young team. But for once, this might actually be a team that is better at the end of the season than they are at the beginning. And I'm not giving up on them finding their way into [or around] the top 10 this year, if they round into form sooner than expected.

Let's Go Orange!!!

Love the optimism here. I especially like the second to last sentence... I can't remember the last time a Syracuse team was better at the end of the year than the beginning on offense. Our last final four team was better on defense at the end of the year than the beginning and probably better than just about any other defense I've seen us run out.

I hate to say it but I think the key will be whether JB is willing to let these guys play through their mistakes and whether he will have a short leash on someone who is not playing well on offense. The only player we can't afford to have come off the court for a few minutes is Rak... everyone else has a backup. For once I'd like to see JB yank someone if they are stone cold on offense and give everyone a fair chance.

 

[Madbiker]

Enjoy reading these...all good views. One thing some may be overlooking is that this is a very thin team depth wise and that may really bite us. There is no decent back up for Rak at center (assuming DC2 does not play this year). I mean none. CO is not ready to play and will be a major problem if he has to see any time of more than a couple minutes. Moving CMc to center will hurt his game and probably get him into foul trouble. With Rak's penchant for getting into foul trouble, this really worries me -- especially against high level teams like Duke, UNC, UVA who will be able to exploit it. Also this is basically a 7 man team with only MG and Patterson off the bench likely to see real minutes. That means most of these guys are going to play very heavy minutes and after 20 games that is going to take its toll. IMO one of the reasons our FG shooting went in the tank late last year was the tired/loss of legs factor from these guys playing 38 minutes a game. Looks like more of that this year. Anyway----should be an interesting season. LGO!

 

[Col. Bleep]

I think the offense will be better this year.

Last season's sucked pretty bad after the first 20 games, so it shouldn't take much to be better. We do have a lot of parts this year. It is a matter of guys stepping up. And anyone who will be good this season needs to step up because we have no returning established offensive players. None! This is a novel situation for the program. The positive is that we have 9 guys who have the potential to step up on O. If 4 of them do it we should be better on O.

I thought Ennis did a great job last season for a freshman, but I have to wonder about his exalted status in so many minds. There were many complaints in the second half of the season about CJ doing so little in so many iso situations, Cooney running around like a mad man but not getting off many good shots, Grant spin moving into numerous defenders time and again, and big men not getting the ball down low - isn't a great PG one who gets the ball to players in position to succeed? Maybe our guys suddenly forgot where to be. Maybe chemistry just inexplicably deteriorated and it didn't have much to do with Ennis. And, of course, we always can hang our hat on the injury thing. Anyways, my opinion of Ennis is a little less than most others.

There was one game early in the ACC season, when our O was obviously starting to fade, where Ennis put on a show worthy of Ernie DeGregorio (very high praise in my mind). Driving thru the lane and dishing assists, including a behind the back pass for a pretty finish, long entry passes into the lane for assists, and almost showboating in a most productive way. And then...not much. A one time effort never to be repeated. I never understood why that Ennis never showed up again - and the team needed that Ennis very much down the stretch.

Like everyone, I wanted Ennis to come back, but if he did come back I wonder how JB would use Kaleb. Would Kaleb get many minutes? My opinion is that Kaleb would be great at SG playing along side of Ennis.

Anyways, Kaleb seems like the real deal, so it looks like we have one guy who is stepping up.

There are many who seem to have an emotionally invested interest in wanting BJ and Roberson to be stars. I hope these wishes come true, but both have shown little when it counted. I suspect that they will be productive players down the road, but they are not on the star trajectory.

Rak has always had great O moves, but rarely used them. I thought he would break out as an O player the last two seasons, but no. I don't expect it this season, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did. I expect he will be a decent O contributor on put backs, transition, and the occasional O move.

Silent G and especially CM look to be guys who can step up this season. I expect both will to some degree and maybe to a big degree. We won't go far without both of these guys doing well on O.

When Ron Patterson committed to SU, the book on him was that he could hit the 3 and was a great defensive player. Sure, you want your SG to have a good handle too (and I want to win the lottery) but I thought 3s and D sounded really good to me. Seems like he is living up to that and if Cooney doesn't get back to his early form from last season, I expect Buss to get big minutes at SG and play big.

So I have my 4/5 guys: Kaleb, G, CM, Rak, and Buss, with others who could also step up.

Experience is often overlooked. And I believe it is this season. Ours is way down and it will limit us.

Defensive. If you want to have a great zone defensive, having a senior Rak starting for you is a great thing. However, everyone seems to think that the zone now guarantees a great defense. I don't. Other than Rak, the defensive is quite inexperienced and unproven. My expectations is the D takes a step back.

To sum up: I expect the O to bounce off of a low bottom, the D to take a step back, and the team to reflect a lower level of experience. There is a bunch of talent on the team, but we are bias and think it is better than it is.

Still, I hope everything falls into place and we end up being great.

I like the take.
But I think last year's offensive chill is fairly simple to explain.

It's hard to score when one guy not named Michael Jordan or Kevin Durant is your first, second and maybe third option.
We were in big trouble when teams started denying CJ the ball, forcing him right, forcing him to handle or forcing him to give it up.

This year seems a lot more promising, especially if we push the ball, Rak becomes a post threat and Patterson can contribute 3's.

 

[SBU72]

I tied to read all the responses but just couldn't wade through them. From my view of the two preseason games is that the team moves the ball faster than last year. When Ennis walked the ball up court, which was ALL the time, the offense often looked to be moving in slow motion. Add the lack of a good inside game, and it just made for a slow, hard to watch game. This year everything seems faster which I think will make for a more exciting team.

 

[shermstheman]

I tied to read all the responses but just couldn't wade through them. From my view of the two preseason games is that the team moves the ball faster than last year. When Ennis walked the ball up court, which was ALL the time, the offense often looked to be moving in slow motion. Add the lack of a good inside game, and it just made for a slow, hard to watch game. This year everything seems faster which I think will make for a more exciting team.

I'm with you. There are a lot of loooonnnngggg posts here. Dizzying!...which is how I hope the Cuse plays this year.