Akok Akok in the portal

[Orangezoo]

You think a kid ranked like 120 thought he was starting for Syracuse as a freshman?

We have 6 freshmen. That makes up just less than 50 pct of the roster. You going to tell me 40 pct of a team is being told and should expect they will not get minutes( after you factor out Mintz)? Especially when there is an unfilled starting position and only one guy on the bench with legit experience?

 

[Day2]

If we are asking him to play center, then if I were him I'd say no as well. My thought was we'd have him play the Tyler Lydon role- stretch 4 with some 5 mixed in, in a pinch. He's too scrawny to play the 5 fulltime, but he'd be a great stretch 4 in our system. And he could compete to be the starter at that position from day 1. JMHO

That’s what I’m saying, though. He might not want to play center at all. Not one minute.

Lydon played quite a bit of 5.

 

[hoopsupstate]

I don't think one of the freshman other than Judah thought he would be getting much pt as a freshman.

Taylor said he had an opportunity to come in and take over for Buddy. We were all thrilled when he committed.

 

[Giants1973]

Taylor said he had an opportunity to come in and take over for Buddy. We were all thrilled when he committed.

I feel will be starting at small forward

 

[hoopsupstate]

I feel will be starting at small forward

I tend to agree. He’s more physically ready than Bunch and has a better all around game. I think JB will use several players at forward and go with the hot hand. JB has to give these kids consistent minutes and not go 25 minutes one game and five the next. He needs to develop a consistent sub plan and stick with it. The defense he plays could determine who plays when. Did I just say that? It must be wishful thinking.

 

[Briancuse]

Taylor said he had an opportunity to come in and take over for Buddy. We were all thrilled when he committed.

I was thrilled we all were when we got him. Please raise your hand if you honestly thought he would be starting from day one?

 

[Briancuse]

We have 6 freshmen. That makes up just less than 50 pct of the roster. You going to tell me 40 pct of a team is being told and should expect they will not get minutes( after you factor out Mintz)? Especially when there is an unfilled starting position and only one guy on the bench with legit experience?

I still deep down believe we will go out and add someone in the portal.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I tend to agree. He’s more physically ready than Bunch and has a better all around game. I think JB will use several players at forward and go with the hot hand. JB has to give these kids consistent minutes and not go 25 minutes one game and five the next. He needs to develop a consistent sub plan and stick with it. The defense he plays could determine who plays when. Did I just say that? It must be wishful thinking.

I’ll say it:
“I have lost faith in how JB utilizes his player roster”.
There, I said it.

 

[OptimusOtto]

I think you've outlined this quite well.

There is so much that has to go right just to get into the 18-13 range that we've been muddling through for the last 8 years. This roster looks like year 9 to me.

We're banking on a lot of IFs going right, but we've seen a consistent pattern of IFs going wrong over the last 8 years.

What happens if Judah shows up and plays like the last 2 PGs we recruited with similar rankings (Joseph and Carey)?

What happens if Benny doesn't make a giant leap? I mean, the leap he has to make for us to be decent is HUGE. He played a lot of minutes as a frosh and outside of one game against Duke accomplished a lot of nothing. From a correlative standpoint, his season stats on a per minute basis stack up historically with former SU players that never really developed. Not saying he won't, just saying that the empirical data doesn't fill me with hope.

What happens if Jesse can't play 30+ a night due to persistent foul trouble or worse yet, injury?

The only thing I'm willing to predict with certainty about next year is that Joe is going to have the ultimate green light. He's gonna average 1 shot attempt per 2 minutes of floor time at minimum. Worried that will lead to a lot of bad/low efficiency shots without other shooters to spread the floor for him.

I definitely realize that we can't discount the fact that there may be pleasant surprises from the frosh class. But the way player development and handling of FR has gone recently, it would be dubious to bank on that.

Player development hasn’t been an issue imo. I think the bigger issue has been how small our classes have been as a result of sanctions. No one is going to have 100% hit rate on recruits but if you’re only bringing 2-3 person classes you have a small margin for error. When we were rolling at our best we had a rotation full of “program guys” with NBA guys mixed in.

I think this class is the staff getting back to that roster construction. Let competition determine who gets the forward minutes and earlier playing time keep kids here longer so we can have a team that grows together. It’s the offseason so I’ll be optimistic that this is the staff addressing a problem and taking a different approach to solving it.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[50YRsofCuse]

Has the Akok Akok bus moved past Syracuse? Asking you, JAB. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

while we do not need 13 commits on the team. We would benefit with some help in the paint and rebounding.

 

[Cuse4455]

Has the Akok Akok buse moved past Syracuse? Asking you, JAB. Thumbs up or thumbs down?

while we do not need 13 commits on the team. We would benefit with some help in the paint and rebounding.

Our coaches will most likely roll with JBA and Carey as our back up centers.

 

[Cuse'91]

Laugh or Cry - If JB gives last available scholly to a deserving walk-on.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Our coaches will most likely roll with JBA and Carey as our back up centers.

Yes, that’s just an awesome plan.
JBA and Carey?
One helluva awesome plan!

 

[kcsu]

That’s what I’m saying, though. He might not want to play center at all. Not one minute.

Lydon played quite a bit of 5.

Why would he ever want to play center if he wants to make the NBA?

 

[Cuse4455]

Yes, that’s just an awesome plan.
JBA and Carey?
One helluva awesome plan!

JBAs 0.4pts and 0.3 reb
Carey's two year bball absence
Show us that they are gonna be major contributors for us, when Jesse fouls out.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

JBAs 0.4pts and 0.3 reb
Carey's two year bball absence
Show us that they are gonna be major contributors for us, when Jesse fouls out.

I mean, it is fun when JBA gets a counting statistic on accident.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

JBAs 0.4pts and 0.3 reb
Carey's two year bball absence
Show us that they are gonna be major contributors for us, when Jesse fouls out.

Yeah, I actually think JBA is a hypnosis session away from being a contributing player, and I’m super high on Carey’s potential. But JBA still doesn’t believe, I think it was a ridiculous idea to try to convert him to a 5, and we have no idea if Carey will be healthy for a full season. It’s stupid to just trust in them to play the inevitable minutes Jesse won’t be able to play. He’s got a tater wrist, is foul prone, and may have to play M2M next year, possibly putting him at risk, even if he was learning to play without fouling in the zone. And we will be playing at a faster pace, so he shouldn‘t be playing 37 minutes, even if he doesn’t have foul problems.

Somehow, the Div. II teams we play early in the season can have 6’10” bruisers competent enough to compete with us, yet we can’t sign someone of a similar level to play 15 minutes in front of 25,000 ACC crowds? Something is amiss.

 

[kcsu]

Yeah, I actually think JBA is a hypnosis session away from being a contributing player, and I’m super high on Carey’s potential. But JBA still doesn’t believe, he never should have been converted to C, and we have no idea if Carey will be healthy for a full season. It’s stupid to just trust in them to play the inevitable minutes Jesse won’t be able to play. He’s got a tater wrist, is foul prone, and may have to play M2M next year, possibly putting him at risk, even if he was learning to play without fouling in the zone. And we will be playing at a faster pace, so he shouldn‘t be playing 37 minutes, even if he doesn’t have foul problems.

Somehow, the Div. II teams we play early in the season can have 6’10” bruisers competent enough to compete with us, yet we can’t sign someone of a similar level to play 15 minutes in front of 25,000 ACC crowds? Something is amiss.

To date Jim doesnt recruit portal kids he didnt previously offer.

 

[SWC75]

I think you've outlined this quite well.

There is so much that has to go right just to get into the 18-13 range that we've been muddling through for the last 8 years. This roster looks like year 9 to me.

We're banking on a lot of IFs going right, but we've seen a consistent pattern of IFs going wrong over the last 8 years.

What happens if Judah shows up and plays like the last 2 PGs we recruited with similar rankings (Joseph and Carey)?

What happens if Benny doesn't make a giant leap? I mean, the leap he has to make for us to be decent is HUGE. He played a lot of minutes as a frosh and outside of one game against Duke accomplished a lot of nothing. From a correlative standpoint, his season stats on a per minute basis stack up historically with former SU players that never really developed. Not saying he won't, just saying that the empirical data doesn't fill me with hope.

What happens if Jesse can't play 30+ a night due to persistent foul trouble or worse yet, injury?

The only thing I'm willing to predict with certainty about next year is that Joe is going to have the ultimate green light. He's gonna average 1 shot attempt per 2 minutes of floor time at minimum. Worried that will lead to a lot of bad/low efficiency shots without other shooters to spread the floor for him.

I definitely realize that we can't discount the fact that there may be pleasant surprises from the frosh class. But the way player development and handling of FR has gone recently, it would be dubious to bank on that.

I agree that if nothing good happens and only bad things happen we will have a bad season.

 

[Briancuse]

Laugh or Cry - If JB gives last available scholly to a deserving walk-on.

A little of both.

 

[Cusefan0307]

You think a kid ranked like 120 thought he was starting for Syracuse as a freshman?

When we originally signed him he was ranked in the 50’s or 60’s. He’s now ranked 108 on the composite. So it’s certainly possible we told him he’d be a rotation player as a freshmen.

 

[CousCuse]

You think a kid ranked like 120 thought he was starting for Syracuse as a freshman?

Ranking players 1-however many there is the most worthless ranking system I can think of.

 

[Niastri]

I agree that if nothing good happens and only bad things happen we will have a bad season.

Lol at the reductive reasoning. It is true we really don't know what will happen this upcoming season until it does.

 

[Niastri]

I think you've outlined this quite well.

There is so much that has to go right just to get into the 18-13 range that we've been muddling through for the last 8 years. This roster looks like year 9 to me.

We're banking on a lot of IFs going right, but we've seen a consistent pattern of IFs going wrong over the last 8 years.

What happens if Judah shows up and plays like the last 2 PGs we recruited with similar rankings (Joseph and Carey)?

What happens if Benny doesn't make a giant leap? I mean, the leap he has to make for us to be decent is HUGE. He played a lot of minutes as a frosh and outside of one game against Duke accomplished a lot of nothing. From a correlative standpoint, his season stats on a per minute basis stack up historically with former SU players that never really developed. Not saying he won't, just saying that the empirical data doesn't fill me with hope.

What happens if Jesse can't play 30+ a night due to persistent foul trouble or worse yet, injury?

The only thing I'm willing to predict with certainty about next year is that Joe is going to have the ultimate green light. He's gonna average 1 shot attempt per 2 minutes of floor time at minimum. Worried that will lead to a lot of bad/low efficiency shots without other shooters to spread the floor for him.

I definitely realize that we can't discount the fact that there may be pleasant surprises from the frosh class. But the way player development and handling of FR has gone recently, it would be dubious to bank on that.

I think your concern about Mintz being a repeat of Carey or Joseph is valid. I think it is unlikely. Carey and Joseph both seemed like physical specimens overpowering their high school opponents in ways that couldn't be repeated in college.

Mintz has tremendous court awareness and the innate ability to find where he needs to be to get his shot off. He also has shown the ability to finish against much bigger players.

I'm optimistic about him in ways I never was with the other two guys.

If you haven't already, there is a pretty recent highlight reel in his recruiting thread posted to Twitter by Mintz himself that really convinced me. It's about 10 minutes of really good basketball that has me kind of gaga over his skills.