A leap, a stay, and a get

[pearl31]

Leap: Benny transforming from frosh to soph.
Stay: Swider back for 1 more.
Get: Judah Mintz (*or a comparable PG/CG via portal).

If we get all three, I'd feel pretty good (of course we prob wouldn't know about the Leap until at least December...) If we get two of the three, depending on which ones, I think we could be OK but would need portal help.
If we only get one of those three, better hope it's Mintz (*or a comparable PG/CG via portal), cuz... yeah

*EDIT 3/7 due to possible developments w Mintz recruitment - see Recruiting board if unaware...

 

[dasher]

Leap: Benny transforming from frosh to soph.
Stay: Swider back for 1 more.
Get: Judah Mintz.

If we get all three, I'd feel pretty good (of course we prob wouldn't know about the Leap until at least December...) If we get two of the three, depending on which ones, I think we could be OK but would need portal help.
If we only get one of those three, better hope it's Mintz, cuz... yeah

I insist that we go to the portal and get a quality forward. We just can't take the risk that benny doesn't make a big jump. I will be more than disappointed if we don't make a run at a blue chip portal forward. I don't believe there is a rule that you can't have three good forwards if Benny does make a big jump.

 

[tbonezone]

swider is a net zero. he gives up as many easy points underneath as he scores.

 

[721Comstock]

I insist that we go to the portal and get a quality forward. We just can't take the risk that benny doesn't make a big jump. I will be more than disappointed if we don't make a run at a blue chip portal forward. I don't believe there is a rule that you can't have three good forwards if Benny does make a big jump.

And - you can sell a good F on the wide open opportunity, since Benny is far from a lock.

And nobody will know if he’s made a leap (or not) until practice starts -
so there’s a solid, legit path to starting here, even IF we retain both Benny & Cole.

 

[AlaskaSU]

swider is a net zero. he gives up as many easy points underneath as he scores.

Why assume that Benny will leap and Swider would not?

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Leap: Benny transforming from frosh to soph.
Stay: Swider back for 1 more.
Get: Judah Mintz.

If we get all three, I'd feel pretty good (of course we prob wouldn't know about the Leap until at least December...) If we get two of the three, depending on which ones, I think we could be OK but would need portal help.
If we only get one of those three, better hope it's Mintz, cuz... yeah

What if you get a transfer, a leave for Europe, and a commit elsewhere? Where does that leave us?

 

[tbonezone]

Why assume that Benny will leap and Swider would not?

cuz swider will be 23 years old. that's why he is what he is.

 

[CardiacCuse]

swider is a net zero. he gives up as many easy points underneath as he scores.

problem with swider coming back is that he basically will have to be promised a feature role and if so...

that may or may not be ideal

swider as an option? awesome

swider as the man? could go either way...

if he plays like he did vs unc all season...hes going to the NBA imo...but that is a huge IF

he does have it in him...

could see him following the elijah hughes pattern of year 1 decent, year 2 awesome.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

problem with swider coming back is that he basically will have to be promised a feature role and if so...

that may or may not be ideal

swider as an option? awesome

swider as the man? could go either way...

if he plays like he did vs unc all season...hes going to the NBA imo...but that is a huge IF

he does have it in him...

could see him following the elijah hughes pattern of year 1 decent, year 2 awesome.

What if I told you we are most likely looking at Girard as being “the man” next year?

How much confidence do you have about our success next season?

 

[Manleymen]

I insist that we go to the portal and get a quality forward. We just can't take the risk that benny doesn't make a big jump. I will be more than disappointed if we don't make a run at a blue chip portal forward. I don't believe there is a rule that you can't have three good forwards if Benny does make a big jump.

Swider is a minus with his liability on defense. He had a great game at North Carolina and really not much else. He cannot take it to the hole off the dribble. Cannot dribble with the left hand. One dimensional shooter like Buddy. If the shot is not falling - he's a minus asset. Does not make his teammates better with his play.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

What if I told you we are most likely looking at Girard as being “the man” next year?

How much confidence do you have about our success next season?

Yup, that's how this is going to go.

Things should run through Jesse.

But they won't, because that requires a concerted effort, and while Joe and Jesse have good chemistry, that means things are still going to run through Joe.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

What if I told you we are most likely looking at Girard as being “the man” next year?

How much confidence do you have about our success next season?

If his only job was to hunt 3’s, it could be interesting, at least.

 

[dasher]

Swider is a minus with his liability on defense. He had a great game at North Carolina and really not much else. He cannot take it to the hole off the dribble. Cannot dribble with the left hand. One dimensional shooter like Buddy. If the shot is not falling - he's a minus asset. Does not make his teammates better with his play.

6.6 rebounds a game. Double figure scorer. He hit 41% of his 3's. I'll take him with the right forward opposite him.

 

[Ozone!]

6.6 rebounds a game. Double figure scorer. He hit 41% of his 3's. I'll take him with the right forward opposite him.

Plus he could mentor the incoming forwards on shooting; like an additional coach in that aspect!

 

[sutomcat]

6.6 rebounds a game. Double figure scorer. He hit 41% of his 3's. I'll take him with the right forward opposite him.

Agree. Cole was okay on defense. Not great or good but far better than Jimmy. And I think better than both of our guards. He got better as the season progressed. He was never the guy defenses went after as our weak link (that was Jimmy almost all season).

Another year in the zone and I think he ends up a little better than average on defense. He is never going to be a great rebounder but he isn’t bad.

Cole is never going to be a guy who goes iso and gets baskets on his own. He might get better at posting up smaller players but he needs a gifted PG to get him quality looks. If he gets the ball in good positions, he is going to score a lot of points. Mintz can do this. Hoping he comes here, starts right away and takes on the role of primary facilitator who can score.

It really hurt Cole’s ability to get shots playing with so many players who do not pass the ball well, and in particular struggle to penetrate and kick it out. A lot of his teammates tended to get the ball and shoot.

So I think Mintz, even as a true frosh, is better suited to getting Cole good looks.

Pair him with JG3 and you have two guards who can pass and find the open man. JG3 is capable of this if he accepts he is a role player and not the featured scorer, which is what we need if we are going to be really good on offense.

Don’t think Edwards is ever going to be a Marek passing it but we saw him get a lot better finding the open guy and kicking it out to him in the latter part of the season. He will help here next year…he does a nice job feeling the double and finding the open guy when this happens.

If the other forward could also pass it well, it would really help. Benny didn’t show much passing ability in his limited time last season. Would be thrilled if we brought in a PF transfer who can rebound, defend and pass it well. The passing part is right up Brown’s alley. Not sure he is going to be strong enough or tough enough to good enough on defense to play right away, but man, that guy can really pass it well.

It is going to be an interesting team to watch. And an interesting off season.

 

[Chip]

I'm sure as the season approaches, I'll think a starting 5 of Joe, Judah, Cole, Benny, Jesse will be tremendous.

And as the season wears on, I'll realize it wasn't.

 

[Ozone!]

Agree. Cole was okay on defense. Not great or good but far better than Jimmy. And I think better than both of our guards. He got better as the season progressed. He was never the guy defenses went after as our weak link (that was Jimmy almost all season).

Another year in the zone and I think he ends up a little better than average on defense. He is never going to be a great rebounder but he isn’t bad.

Cole is never going to be a guy who goes iso and gets baskets on his own. He might get better at posting up smaller players but he needs a gifted PG to get him quality looks. If he gets the ball in good positions, he is going to score a lot of points. Mintz can do this. Hoping he comes here, starts right away and takes on the role of primary facilitator who can score.

It really hurt Cole’s ability to get shots playing with so many players who do not pass the ball well, and in particular struggle to penetrate and kick it out. A lot of his teammates tended to get the ball and shoot.

So I think Mintz, even as a true frosh, is better suited to getting Cole good looks.

Pair him with JG3 and you have two guards who can pass and find the open man. JG3 is capable of this if he accepts he is a role player and not the featured scorer, which is what we need if we are going to be really good on offense.

Don’t think Edwards is ever going to be a Marek passing it but we saw him get a lot better finding the open guy and kicking it out to him in the latter part of the season. He will help here next year…he does a nice job feeling the double and finding the open guy when this happens.

If the other forward could also pass it well, it would really help. Benny didn’t show much passing ability in his limited time last season. Would be thrilled if we brought in a PF transfer who can rebound, defend and pass it well. The passing part is right up Brown’s alley. Not sure he is going to be strong enough or tough enough to good enough on defense to play right away, but man, that guy can really pass it well.

It is going to be an interesting team to watch. And an interesting off season.

Benny didn’t trust himself this past season. Yet he had a few spectacular passes. He needs coaching and confidence building!

 

[UpstateSM]

The cool thing about being bad is that we should know who is coming back two weeks earlier than we did last season

 

[SUfanNC]

cuz swider will be 23 years old. that's why he is what he is.

Wrong Answer

 

[sufandu]

Why assume that Benny will leap and Swider would not?

Benny has been in a major college program less than a year. Swider is a veteran.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Agree. Cole was okay on defense. Not great or good but far better than Jimmy. And I think better than both of our guards. He got better as the season progressed. He was never the guy defenses went after as our weak link (that was Jimmy almost all season).

Another year in the zone and I think he ends up a little better than average on defense. He is never going to be a great rebounder but he isn’t bad.

Cole is never going to be a guy who goes iso and gets baskets on his own. He might get better at posting up smaller players but he needs a gifted PG to get him quality looks. If he gets the ball in good positions, he is going to score a lot of points. Mintz can do this. Hoping he comes here, starts right away and takes on the role of primary facilitator who can score.

It really hurt Cole’s ability to get shots playing with so many players who do not pass the ball well, and in particular struggle to penetrate and kick it out. A lot of his teammates tended to get the ball and shoot.

So I think Mintz, even as a true frosh, is better suited to getting Cole good looks.

Pair him with JG3 and you have two guards who can pass and find the open man. JG3 is capable of this if he accepts he is a role player and not the featured scorer, which is what we need if we are going to be really good on offense.

Don’t think Edwards is ever going to be a Marek passing it but we saw him get a lot better finding the open guy and kicking it out to him in the latter part of the season. He will help here next year…he does a nice job feeling the double and finding the open guy when this happens.

If the other forward could also pass it well, it would really help. Benny didn’t show much passing ability in his limited time last season. Would be thrilled if we brought in a PF transfer who can rebound, defend and pass it well. The passing part is right up Brown’s alley. Not sure he is going to be strong enough or tough enough to good enough on defense to play right away, but man, that guy can really pass it well.

It is going to be an interesting team to watch. And an interesting off season.

disagree about bennys passing...he showed he is a great passer

but was coached to play safe as the season wore on

he has elite passing vision for his size imo

 

[justgold315]

disagree about bennys passing...he showed he is a great passer

but was coached to play safe as the season wore on

he has elite passing vision for his size imo

Our best games this season were when we were passing and getting assists. Benny had a bunch of hockey assists leading to easy plays that were not reflected on the scorecard. When the entire offensive strategy was to get the ball to Buddy, then it is impossible to see Benny's true skills and upside. A team sans Buddy and Jimmy will allow other players to take advantage of opportunities and will open up 77 minutes of playing time per game for other players. I am hoping a true point guard and more athletic players will allow Benny and the freshmen have some big games. I think/hope JB's comments about multiple freshmen starting may mean that different players may enter the starting rotation based upon how they are doing and matchups.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Let's hope Benny is here next season before giving him a leap. Swider ... meh. I think he's a fine college player, but he can't jump or create his own shot. He'd be a nice PF with an elite SF like Hughes next to him.

Team needs help to be top-25 next season.

 

[MikeSU02]

I think there is a shot for us to raise our ceiling because there should not be such a concentration on a single volume shooter. Our offense should look different with more initial penetration from the point of attack and thus more spot up shooting. I also think there would be better off ball movement and, in general, better passing because guys will know they may get the ball back after giving it up.

So Cole shouldn't be measured against shooting 17x a game, but rather around 9 or 10 that he was around this year. But maybe popping up to 11 or 12.

Joe, if he's off ball and moving with out the ball, I'm all for it, even with his defense.

I don't know what JB has in store for his goals with Benny, but imo, he should have a picture of Scottie Barnes on in his locker and focusing on doing what he did. I don't think Benny has the innate facilitating DNA that Scottie did, but if he can stop trying to be a jump shooter and start being a defender, play above the rim, keep the ball moving, become an elite finisher at the rim, he will not only make us better, but get on NBA radars.

With all that said, we still need another portal forward. We need Mintz. We need to stay healthy.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think there is a shot for us to raise our ceiling because there should not be such a concentration on a single volume shooter. Our offense should look different with more initial penetration from the point of attack and thus more spot up shooting. I also think there would be better off ball movement and, in general, better passing because guys will know they may get the ball back after giving it up.

So Cole shouldn't be measured against shooting 17x a game, but rather around 9 or 10 that he was around this year. But maybe popping up to 11 or 12.

Joe, if he's off ball and moving with out the ball, I'm all for it, even with his defense.

I don't know what JB has in store for his goals with Benny, but imo, he should have a picture of Scottie Barnes on in his locker and focusing on doing what he did. I don't think Benny has the innate facilitating DNA that Scottie did, but if he can stop trying to be a jump shooter and start being a defender, play above the rim, keep the ball moving, become an elite finisher at the rim, he will not only make us better, but get on NBA radars.

With all that said, we still need another portal forward. We need Mintz. We need to stay healthy.

Devils Advocate.

Whens the last time we didn’t rely on a lead guy playing ISO ball and had balanced scoring? This is far from just a Buddy issue.

I think you have to go back to when Fair/Triche/Southerland/MCW all averaged around 13-14ppg in 2013.