A Lot of Unknowns With This Year's Team

[721Comstock]

From a defensive perspective, at least statistically (conference only STL%, DRB%, DWS), he isn't that far off from some of our recent guard play (Gbinije, Cooney, Battle, Gillon). Still needs to improve a good bit, but the pessimism here is exhausting.

Agreed.
And it's not like he's never done anything positive for his entire career.
There have been flashes... that might snowball into something that catches fire.

Here's a snippet from the OrangeHoops.org sumary about Frank:

He had strong games against Wake Forest and Louisville during the ACC season, and played significant time in the NCAA tournament game against Gonzaga, scoring 5 points and 3 assists in seventeen minutes.

Howard was projected to be the starting point guard his sophomore year. Graduate transfer John Gillon joined the team during the summer, and Boeheim chose to have the two split time at the point. Howard started the season strong showing a better shooting touch than he had displayed his freshman year.
He would have four games with ten or more assists, including a season high 13 against North Florida

FWIW - The last player we had with 4 or more games of 10+ assists, was MCW.

He definitely needs to improve across the board, especially in terms of chemistry and body language.
But those who say stuff like "he's never anything positive in his career" are ridiculously overstating the matter.
And if there's one thing I hate with the white hot rage of 1,000 supernovas, it's hyperbole.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Backcourt is good. Top 4 in the conference IMO. Forwards are respectable. If we aren't good I suspect it's because we are weak at the 5 again.

I like the optimism, but I think we are going to have trouble scoring. There is some young, green talent on this team, but we don't run a very sophisticated offense. We rely on guards who can beat their man off the dribble, and 3 point shooters to create space for driving lanes for the guards. Do we have those guys on this squad?

If you look at the backcourt, you've got Frank and Washington at the PG, and Geno Thorpe as a combo and Tyus Battle, who is going to be our go-to guy. Can Thorpe play the point well enough to unseat Frank and Washington, so that we have our two best scoring guards on the floor?

I think JB will try to play Frank and Washington at PG early in the season, and rotate Thorpe in and out. I don't trust Frank to be much more than a backup PG, but I think he's going to get first shot at winning the job. Washington sounds like a poor man's Tyler Ennis (i.e., a true PG). If Frank loses his starting spot, will he also lose his Shznit?

Turning to the front court, we have 2 unproven guys at Center - Chukwu and Sidibe. Chukwu, to me, looked so clumsy out there in the zone before he hurt his eye. I was very disappointed in his footwork and his movement. I was expecting a much more natural player. He seemed very mechanical. Unless he did a lot of drills to improve his footwork and slides in the middle of the zone, I don't think he's going to be a starting caliber player.

Sidibe, to me, has a lot of promise. He wasn't ranked as high as some big men in this class, but he played against several of them last year, both in the summer on the AAU circuit, and then in New Jersey, playing for a high level HS program at St. Benedicts. Whenever he played the highly rated kids, he really competed, and he got the best of several of them. He showed a good motor, and good skills scoring inside. To me, he looked like a poor man's Anthony Davis (the guy who used to play for the Pacers back in the 90s). I could definitely see him winning the starting job, although he is still awfully thin.

Turning to the forwards, again there is a lot of promise but so little experience. Starting with O'Shea Brissett, he looks like a prototype SU forward, in the C.J. Fair / Kris Joseph mold. Any kid who is named the best player in Canada has to be pretty good. I see him as our starting SF. But I wonder if he can hit the three against ACC defenders.

We really need him to, because if we don't have a forward who is a threat from outside, historically our offense turns to crap. Teams bunker in against us to cut off all our driving lanes, and challenge us to hit 3's. That's what I kind of see with this team. I don't think we have nearly enough outside shooting to keep teams honest and open up the floor for our athletes.

Next up is Matt Moyer, who is probably the nicest kid and the best representative of the program that you could ever hope for. When I looked at his film from prep school, he played in that good New England prep league for South Kent, I think it was. Previously, he had been player of the year in Ohio. He showed a really good motor around the rim, was a hard worker inside, and had a bit of a nasty streak (which seems out of place for what a nice kid he is). I don't recall him showing any real outside game, though. He reminded me a young Terrence Roberts. I think he will start at the four, and play in the high post on offense, with Sidibe in the low post.

I think those 2 guys might play well together, and could be our best inside "tandem". The only problem is that they both weigh only about 215, and are going to get pushed around on the defensive boards. We are going to have an awful time on the defensive boards this year. That means that we are not really going to have a fast break offense (again).

And then the wildcard is Marek Dolezaj. Despite all this one-and-done talk, I just don't see him starting. According to the official roster, he weighs about 30 pounds less than any of our already-too-skinny frontcourt players. He doesn't really have a 3 point shot at this level. His release point is too low, and he shoots it too flat. But, boy!, can he blow by people on the drive. But we lack the 3 point shooters for him to have the space to spread out a man-to-man defense, and then let him blow past his defender. His lack of weight contributes to his relative quickness for such a big guy, but if the other guys are going to struggle on the boards, Dolezaj is going to get killed. I just can't see him playing defense at this level.

So that's my pre-season synopsis on what I see. I think there are some interesting pieces here, but we need the following recruiting class to really turn this roster into something. Hopefully the only guy we lose is Battle, and really, I wouldn't mind if we wind up crappy and miss the NCAA tournament this year, if it meant that he came back to have a good run.

If we somehow kept Battle (yeah, I know, but guys from crappy teams seldom get drafted in the top half of the 1st round, and Battle does have that potential), then the 2018-19 team could be special. If Battle leaves, we will definitely need a high scoring 2G who is a dead eye from three.

We could have:

PG: Jalen Carey, Howard Washington
SG: Tyus Battle, Buddy Boeheim
SF: O'Shea Brissett, Marek Dolezaj
PF: Darius Bazley, Matt Moyer
C: Bourama Sidibe, Nate Roberts, Pascal Chukwu

 

[orangehomer]

I like the optimism, but I think we are going to have trouble scoring. There is some young, green talent on this team, but we don't run a very sophisticated offense. We rely on guards who can beat their man off the dribble, and 3 point shooters to create space for driving lanes for the guards. Do we have those guys on this squad?

If you look at the backcourt, you've got Frank and Washington at the PG, and Geno Thorpe as a combo and Tyus Battle, who is going to be our go-to guy. Can Thorpe play the point well enough to unseat Frank and Washington, so that we have our two best scoring guards on the floor?

I think JB will try to play Frank and Washington at PG early in the season, and rotate Thorpe in and out. I don't trust Frank to be much more than a backup PG, but I think he's going to get first shot at winning the job. Washington sounds like a poor man's Tyler Ennis (i.e., a true PG). If Frank loses his starting spot, will he also lose his Shznit?

Turning to the front court, we have 2 unproven guys at Center - Chukwu and Sidibe. Chukwu, to me, looked so clumsy out there in the zone before he hurt his eye. I was very disappointed in his footwork and his movement. I was expecting a much more natural player. He seemed very mechanical. Unless he did a lot of drills to improve his footwork and slides in the middle of the zone, I don't think he's going to be a starting caliber player.

Sidibe, to me, has a lot of promise. He wasn't ranked as high as some big men in this class, but he played against several of them last year, both in the summer on the AAU circuit, and then in New Jersey, playing for a high level HS program at St. Benedicts. Whenever he played the highly rated kids, he really competed, and he got the best of several of them. He showed a good motor, and good skills scoring inside. To me, he looked like a poor man's Anthony Davis (the guy who used to play for the Pacers back in the 90s). I could definitely see him winning the starting job, although he is still awfully thin.

Turning to the forwards, again there is a lot of promise but so little experience. Starting with O'Shea Brissett, he looks like a prototype SU forward, in the C.J. Fair / Kris Joseph mold. Any kid who is named the best player in Canada has to be pretty good. I see him as our starting SF. But I wonder if he can hit the three against ACC defenders.

We really need him to, because if we don't have a forward who is a threat from outside, historically our offense turns to crap. Teams bunker in against us to cut off all our driving lanes, and challenge us to hit 3's. That's what I kind of see with this team. I don't think we have nearly enough outside shooting to keep teams honest and open up the floor for our athletes.

Next up is Matt Moyer, who is probably the nicest kid and the best representative of the program that you could ever hope for. When I looked at his film from prep school, he played in that good New England prep league for South Kent, I think it was. Previously, he had been player of the year in Ohio. He showed a really good motor around the rim, was a hard worker inside, and had a bit of a nasty streak (which seems out of place for what a nice kid he is). I don't recall him showing any real outside game, though. He reminded me a young Terrence Roberts. I think he will start at the four, and play in the high post on offense, with Sidibe in the low post.

I think those 2 guys might play well together, and could be our best inside "tandem". The only problem is that they both weigh only about 215, and are going to get pushed around on the defensive boards. We are going to have an awful time on the defensive boards this year. That means that we are not really going to have a fast break offense (again).

And then the wildcard is Marek Dolezaj. Despite all this one-and-done talk, I just don't see him starting. According to the official roster, he weighs about 30 pounds less than any of our already-too-skinny frontcourt players. He doesn't really have a 3 point shot at this level. His release point is too low, and he shoots it too flat. But, boy!, can he blow by people on the drive. But we lack the 3 point shooters for him to have the space to spread out a man-to-man defense, and then let him blow past his defender. His lack of weight contributes to his relative quickness for such a big guy, but if the other guys are going to struggle on the boards, Dolezaj is going to get killed. I just can't see him playing defense at this level.

So that's my pre-season synopsis on what I see. I think there are some interesting pieces here, but we need the following recruiting class to really turn this roster into something. Hopefully the only guy we lose is Battle, and really, I wouldn't mind if we wind up crappy and miss the NCAA tournament this year, if it meant that he came back to have a good run.

If we somehow kept Battle (yeah, I know, but guys from crappy teams seldom get drafted in the top half of the 1st round, and Battle does have that potential), then the 2018-19 team could be special. If Battle leaves, we will definitely need a high scoring 2G who is a dead eye from three.

We could have:

PG: Jalen Carey, Howard Washington
SG: Tyus Battle, Buddy Boeheim
SF: O'Shea Brissett, Marek Dolezaj
PF: Darius Bazley, Matt Moyer
C: Bourama Sidibe, Nate Roberts, Pascal Chukwu

good post, this year feels like the rebuild year that last year should have been, with or without TT.

 

[iommi]

IthacaMatt Where is Frank Howard next year? And there is an extremely slim chance Battle is back. I mean it's VERY unlikely.

 

[GooseMutt]

I like the optimism, but I think we are going to have trouble scoring. There is some young, green talent on this team, but we don't run a very sophisticated offense. We rely on guards who can beat their man off the dribble, and 3 point shooters to create space for driving lanes for the guards. Do we have those guys on this squad?

If you look at the backcourt, you've got Frank and Washington at the PG, and Geno Thorpe as a combo and Tyus Battle, who is going to be our go-to guy. Can Thorpe play the point well enough to unseat Frank and Washington, so that we have our two best scoring guards on the floor?

I think JB will try to play Frank and Washington at PG early in the season, and rotate Thorpe in and out. I don't trust Frank to be much more than a backup PG, but I think he's going to get first shot at winning the job. Washington sounds like a poor man's Tyler Ennis (i.e., a true PG). If Frank loses his starting spot, will he also lose his Shznit?

Turning to the front court, we have 2 unproven guys at Center - Chukwu and Sidibe. Chukwu, to me, looked so clumsy out there in the zone before he hurt his eye. I was very disappointed in his footwork and his movement. I was expecting a much more natural player. He seemed very mechanical. Unless he did a lot of drills to improve his footwork and slides in the middle of the zone, I don't think he's going to be a starting caliber player.

Sidibe, to me, has a lot of promise. He wasn't ranked as high as some big men in this class, but he played against several of them last year, both in the summer on the AAU circuit, and then in New Jersey, playing for a high level HS program at St. Benedicts. Whenever he played the highly rated kids, he really competed, and he got the best of several of them. He showed a good motor, and good skills scoring inside. To me, he looked like a poor man's Anthony Davis (the guy who used to play for the Pacers back in the 90s). I could definitely see him winning the starting job, although he is still awfully thin.

Turning to the forwards, again there is a lot of promise but so little experience. Starting with O'Shea Brissett, he looks like a prototype SU forward, in the C.J. Fair / Kris Joseph mold. Any kid who is named the best player in Canada has to be pretty good. I see him as our starting SF. But I wonder if he can hit the three against ACC defenders.

We really need him to, because if we don't have a forward who is a threat from outside, historically our offense turns to crap. Teams bunker in against us to cut off all our driving lanes, and challenge us to hit 3's. That's what I kind of see with this team. I don't think we have nearly enough outside shooting to keep teams honest and open up the floor for our athletes.

Next up is Matt Moyer, who is probably the nicest kid and the best representative of the program that you could ever hope for. When I looked at his film from prep school, he played in that good New England prep league for South Kent, I think it was. Previously, he had been player of the year in Ohio. He showed a really good motor around the rim, was a hard worker inside, and had a bit of a nasty streak (which seems out of place for what a nice kid he is). I don't recall him showing any real outside game, though. He reminded me a young Terrence Roberts. I think he will start at the four, and play in the high post on offense, with Sidibe in the low post.

I think those 2 guys might play well together, and could be our best inside "tandem". The only problem is that they both weigh only about 215, and are going to get pushed around on the defensive boards. We are going to have an awful time on the defensive boards this year. That means that we are not really going to have a fast break offense (again).

And then the wildcard is Marek Dolezaj. Despite all this one-and-done talk, I just don't see him starting. According to the official roster, he weighs about 30 pounds less than any of our already-too-skinny frontcourt players. He doesn't really have a 3 point shot at this level. His release point is too low, and he shoots it too flat. But, boy!, can he blow by people on the drive. But we lack the 3 point shooters for him to have the space to spread out a man-to-man defense, and then let him blow past his defender. His lack of weight contributes to his relative quickness for such a big guy, but if the other guys are going to struggle on the boards, Dolezaj is going to get killed. I just can't see him playing defense at this level.

So that's my pre-season synopsis on what I see. I think there are some interesting pieces here, but we need the following recruiting class to really turn this roster into something. Hopefully the only guy we lose is Battle, and really, I wouldn't mind if we wind up crappy and miss the NCAA tournament this year, if it meant that he came back to have a good run.

If we somehow kept Battle (yeah, I know, but guys from crappy teams seldom get drafted in the top half of the 1st round, and Battle does have that potential), then the 2018-19 team could be special. If Battle leaves, we will definitely need a high scoring 2G who is a dead eye from three.

We could have:

PG: Jalen Carey, Howard Washington
SG: Tyus Battle, Buddy Boeheim
SF: O'Shea Brissett, Marek Dolezaj
PF: Darius Bazley, Matt Moyer
C: Bourama Sidibe, Nate Roberts, Pascal Chukwu

I totally agree that Washington is Ennis like!( I also agree with your post). He seems to put his team first and figuring out how to get others involved. That becomes infectious. One thing about Cuse is we always get athletes. Being athletic gets you far. Being an unselfish athlete wins titles The demeanor of the team is its point guard. Thorpe is similar. Frank explodes, life is great. Frank implodes, it could be ok if not better I love a team with players out to prove something and underestimated( tip of the hat to you iommi)

 

[SUFan44]

I totally agree that Washington is Ennis like!( I also agree with your post). He seems to put his team first and figuring out how to get others involved. That becomes infectious. One thing about Cuse is we always get athletes. Being athletic gets you far. Being an unselfish athlete wins titles The demeanor of the team is its point guard. Thorpe is similar. Frank explodes, life is great. Frank implodes, it could be ok if not better I love a team with players out to prove something and underestimated( tip of the hat to you iommi)

Everyone does realize that Tyler Ennis was rated as the #20 player in the Class of 2013 by ESPN, right? And #22 by Rivals?

There may be similarities but he is not even close to Tyler Ennis.

 

[iommi]

Everyone does realize that Tyler Ennis was rated as the #20 player in the Class of 2013 by ESPN, right? And #22 by Rivals?

There may be similarities but he is not even close to Tyler Ennis.

Fine but Howard Washington was a 4* before he went to play in Canada.

 

[SUFan44]

Fine but Howard Washington was a 4* before he went to play in Canada.

Not to make this a tit for tat game, but the majority of offers for Washington came in 2013-14.

His latest offers were Tulane, Canisius, St. Bonaventure, UAB. And he was a 3-star on Rivals & Scout - only a 4 star on ESPN.

Hope he's great -- just a little more realistic in expectations for him, especially as a freshman.

 

[iommi]

Not to make this a tit for tat game, but the majority of offers for Washington came in 2013-14.

His latest offers were Tulane, Canisius, St. Bonaventure, UAB. And he was a 3-star on Rivals & Scout - only a 4 star on ESPN.

Hope he's great -- just a little more realistic in expectations for him, especially as a freshman.

I'm not trying to wave the pompoms for him. I just think he's better than people think.

I will say this, though I know it's bold: Howard Washington would put up better numbers than Frank Howard this season if given the same amount of minutes.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

From a defensive perspective, at least statistically (conference only STL%, DRB%, DWS), he isn't that far off from some of our recent guard play (Gbinije, Cooney, Battle, Gillon). Still needs to improve a good bit, but the pessimism here is exhausting.

Pessimism is not believing in something that has shown to be positive. Reality is believing Frank will be who he has been for 2 years.
Optimism would be thinking Frank will be serviceable to good.
I hope Frank breaks the mold he has cast and becomes a really good player. He can come on here and call me out and I will figuratively (and gladly) eat crow. That said, nothing he has done to date has given even a hint that that is likely.

 

[RealMcNeil]

Pessimism is not believing in something that has shown to be positive. Reality is believing Frank will be who he has been for 2 years.
Optimism would be thinking Frank will be serviceable to good.
I hope Frank breaks the mold he has cast and becomes a really good player. He can come on here and call me out and I will figuratively (and gladly) eat crow. That said, nothing he has done to date has given even a hint that that is likely.

Pessimism is a general belief in the worst - and I think that runs pretty rampant around here. Like I said, Frank’s defensive stats are similar to other SU guards as of late - reason to be optimistic.

 

[tbonezone]

I really have no idea what to expect this season. Has there ever been a season where we entered with little to no understanding of what this team will look like?

this much i can portend. unranked . not to be a downer but not gonna raise expectations like jb last year either. don't see us cracking the polls. this is gonna be a year of young players learning to play college ball together. my only expectation is for steady improvement , maybe a couple upsets and nobody bolting early. that i can deal with and smile.

 

[moqui]

I'm not trying to wave the pompoms for him. I just think he's better than people think.

agree ... but i recognize that there is a very wide area between "good as ennis" & "better than most expect"

 

[AlaskaSU]

Agreed.
And it's not like he's never done anything positive for his entire career.
There have been flashes... that might snowball into something that catches fire.

Here's a snippet from the OrangeHoops.org sumary about Frank:


FWIW - The last player we had with 4 or more games of 10+ assists, was MCW.

He definitely needs to improve across the board, especially in terms of chemistry and body language.
But those who say stuff like "he's never anything positive in his career" are ridiculously overstating the matter.
And if there's one thing I hate with the white hot rage of 1,000 supernovas, it's hyperbole.

No hyperbole; he is the poorest finisher I've ever seen in a Cuse uniform getting significant minutes.

 

[GooseMutt]

agree ... but i recognize that there is a very wide area between "good as ennis" & "better than most expect"

Never meant to imply he is as good as Ennis but he didn't get the attention of ranking services playing in Canada. Nor did Oshae. The similarities I see are that he is patient with the ball, has very good court I q, can run the ball when necessary, doesn't stop his dribble, and plays very unselfishly putting the team first. He also can shoot and has put up some decent numbers albeit lesser competition than here. He also was teammate to best player in Canada last year, and was guard to best player in USA the year before- Ben Simmons. He is no slouch and unproven but prob not Tyler at this stage

 

[IthacaMatt]

IthacaMatt Where is Frank Howard next year? And there is an extremely slim chance Battle is back. I mean it's VERY unlikely.

People won't like this, but I think Frank is going to lose his chance to be the starting PG again this year, and I think last year's drama is going to repeat itself. I don't think he lasts past this year, and I think he transfers out. I'm hopeful, but not very hopeful, if you know what I mean.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Everyone does realize that Tyler Ennis was rated as the #20 player in the Class of 2013 by ESPN, right? And #22 by Rivals?

There may be similarities but he is not even close to Tyler Ennis.

He didn't play in the US in his final year of HS, so we don't really know how he would have ranked. He might wind up just as good as Ennis. Ennis, despite the 25-0 start, was a fast break killer. He was a Mark Jackson kind of player, and we usually do better with people who are more uptempo in our system.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I really have no idea what to expect this season. Has there ever been a season where we entered with little to no understanding of what this team will look like?

this much i can portend. unranked . not to be a downer but not gonna raise expectations like jb last year either. don't see us cracking the polls. this is gonna be a year of young players learning to play college ball together. my only expectation is for steady improvement , maybe a couple upsets and nobody bolting early. that i can deal with and smile.

Best case, this is 2002, building a team for the following year.

Worst case, this year becomes 1982, the year after Danny Schayes left, and all those young promising sophomores (Santifer, Bruin and Rautins) couldn't really step up and they fell to 16-13.

Then they added some size in a good recruiting class for 1983 that was made up of Raf Addison, Wendell Alexis and Andre Hawkins, and we won 0ver 20 games again, and started building something up. I think that's next year.

 

[iommi]

Best case, this is 2002, building a team for the following year.

Worst case, this year becomes 1982, the year after Danny Schayes left, and all those young promising sophomores (Santifer, Bruin and Rautins) couldn't really step up and they fell to 16-13.

Then they added some size in a good recruiting class for 1983 that was made up of Raf Addison, Wendell Alexis and Andre Hawkins, and we won 0ver 20 games again, and started building something up. I think that's next year.

'01-02 was a mess. Wasn't that the MeShaun-Shumpert debacle? That team was disfunctional to say the least.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Never meant to imply he is as good as Ennis but he didn't get the attention of ranking services playing in Canada. Nor did Oshae. The similarities I see are that he is patient with the ball, has very good court I q, can run the ball when necessary, doesn't stop his dribble, and plays very unselfishly putting the team first. He also can shoot and has put up some decent numbers albeit lesser competition than here. He also was teammate to best player in Canada last year, and was guard to best player in USA the year before- Ben Simmons. He is no slouch and unproven but prob not Tyler at this stage

'01-02 was a mess. Wasn't that the MeShaun-Shumpert debacle? That team was disfunctional to say the least.

Yes, but while the 2 gunners were playing out their feud on the court, a bunch of promising freshmen were getting important court time to get used to the college game (Forth, Warrick, Pace), and some other guys were developing into useful role players (McNeil and Duany). That season, behind the scenes, so to speak, we had a group of role players who provided the platform for Melo, GMac and Edelin to carry them to the next level.

 

[iommi]

Yes, but while the 2 gunners were playing out their feud on the court, a bunch of promising freshmen were getting important court time to get used to the college game (Forth, Warrick, Pace), and some other guys were developing into useful role players (McNeil and Duany). That season, behind the scenes, so to speak, we had a group of role players who provided the platform for Melo, GMac and Edelin to carry them to the next level.

Great post. The drama was tough to deal with though and poor Otto literally took a beating too.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Great post. The drama was tough to deal with though and poor Otto literally took a beating too.

Yeah, I remember that game against UConn, which in retrospect was the high point of the year, and Shump hit 7 threes, and was practically blowing kisses to his girlfriend in the stands, and they couldn't stop commenting on it on TV. One of the all-time most enjoyable performances to watch. We seemed to be on the verge of a great year, and then it all went to hell and nobody quite knew why for a while, until the rumors started to surface. What a mess that year turned into. But a lot of guys got a lot of useful experience that year.

 

[IthacaMatt]

IthacaMatt Where is Frank Howard next year? And there is an extremely slim chance Battle is back. I mean it's VERY unlikely.

Yeah, I think Tyus and his dad are set on him going after this season, and with Bazley coming in next year, they might be afraid that he won't be the alpha dog in 2018-19. But what happens if this team goes 16-15 and doesn't even make the NIT? I mean, I hate to say it, but that's possible with this roster. If I'm Gary Battle and the team lays an egg when my son is the leading scorer, is that enough for me? Kids always get drafted higher when they are on winning teams.

Let all the arm chair experts tell you that if you're good the NBA scouts will find you, but if you are on a winning team in a high profile league, they will see you over and over all season long, and it gets inside your head, that those most popular players on the winning teams MUST be the best players. If they weren't, their teams wouldn't be winning, right?

I agree that it's only about a 10% chance. It's too bad people can't be more objective about the biases built into the process. Lots of guys from the Big 12 have gone as high lottery picks as juniors in recent years, it seems. Am I right?

 

[shu 49]

I hope he has a huge chip on his shoulder and he proves everyone wrong. Bodes well for us either way. Nothing like watching a gritty hard working point guard who loves huge assist numbers, some 3 point shooting, and great defense. I am excited for him but if he doesn't play much this year he needs to keep his head up and start next year. Never stay down.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yeah, I think Tyus and his dad are set on him going after this season, and with Bazley coming in next year, they might be afraid that he won't be the alpha dog in 2018-19. But what happens if this team goes 16-15 and doesn't even make the NIT? I mean, I hate to say it, but that's possible with this roster. If I'm Gary Battle and the team lays an egg when my son is the leading scorer, is that enough for me? Kids always get drafted higher when they are on winning teams.

Let all the arm chair experts tell you that if you're good the NBA scouts will find you, but if you are on a winning team in a high profile league, they will see you over and over all season long, and it gets inside your head, that those most popular players on the winning teams MUST be the best players. If they weren't, their teams wouldn't be winning, right?

I agree that it's only about a 10% chance. It's too bad people can't be more objective about the biases built into the process. Lots of guys from the Big 12 have gone as high lottery picks as juniors in recent years, it seems. Am I right?

Kids always get drafted higher off winning teams. Really? I guess Fultz should have stayed another year and hoped his team could have had a winning record.
The things people come up with. :bat: