Alan Griffin transfers to Syracuse.

[jdubs30]

He also was in the system for 3 years. Expecting Griffin to come out playing better defense than Hughes doesnt make too much sense. Not many guys have come here and played great defense out of the gate.

I never said he would be a better defender. I said Eli is an average defender. I also said (and truly believe) that our rebounding will improve with that swap but our defense may suffer a bit

 

[two3zone]

I never said he would be a better defender. I said Eli is an average defender. I also said (and truly believe) that our rebounding will improve with that swap but our defense may suffer a bit

If we're not as good on offense and not as good on defense and the ACC was weak last year, I guess I dont see much good next year.

 

[Cusefan0307]

A lot of posters are looking at Syracuse in a vaccuum.

I don't see how people think the ACC is going to be much better next year(if there is a season) at all. Personally, I think this shapes up to be Dukes worst team in quite some time. Louisville is rebuilding their team through transfers and grad transfers from San Francisco of all schools. That tells me they don't like who's on their roster after losing McMahon/Enoch/Nwora. UNC was a mess last year and most of the elite talent they have will be in the front court and they need to figure out the guard spot. Those are just the top teams. It leaves out the middle of the pack teams that like us lost an elite player or more in NC State(Markell Johnson/CJ Bryce)/Notre Dame(Mooney/Gibbs)/Virginia Tech(Nolley)/Georgia Tech(Banks).

Looking at the conference right now there is no school that is going to return everyone from a top 25 team and that is usually how Virginia and UNC stay so good. I think Virginia will be the best team in the conference if I had to choose right now on paper if they can handle the loss of Diakite, with FSU just behind if Scottie Barnes is as good as advertised. I know people assume Duke will be good, but it has been a LONG time since K has had to build a team without can't miss top ten talent and he has none of that next year.

I'm cautiously optimistic we can finish in the top 5 as currently constructed, but would like another big man to split time with Sidibe. I think if the pieces fall right we can be good, but JB has to prove it to me as he's underwhelmed in other years recently.

 

[maxxyz]

If we're not as good on offense and not as good on defense and the ACC was weak last year, I guess I dont see much good next year.

No offense, but you seem like a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person every year.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

It doesn’t appear we are trying to recruit any until 2022.

Was Brycen supposed to be the bridge?

 

[jdubs30]

If we're not as good on offense and not as good on defense and the ACC was weak last year, I guess I dont see much good next year.

So you just assume every player on our roster will either not improve or be worse than last year?

 

[MikeSU02]

Lot going on in this thread. My quick thoughts:

1) We've had between 13-15 losses each year in the last six seasons.

2) Dior would start next season if he were eligible.

3) We still have serious issues up top on defense and a serious issue at the center position, as I'm sure everyone is aware since we're trying to pull in any warm-blooded available center.

4) Griffin is a good get. We needed him to get back to where we were this year. He is not making us better enough to jump a level. Neither will Kadary.

5) The ACC was bad last year and we were middle of the pack.

5) Speaking of, take a look around at the ACC, other teams are bringing in significant talent to add onto existing talent. Do you really think Duke, UNC, Ville, UVA, etc are falling back?

6) Until we raise our talent across the board, we're probably looking at between 13-15 losses again for next season. Our talent is not where it needs to be to compete with the top tier programs in the ACC. Even if some of our guys make a solid jump, other teams will have the same.

7) I'm all for hoping for the best possible outcome, but if you ask me to put money on it, I'll say we'll likely be a bubble team landing between 13-15 losses for the season. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Was Brycen supposed to be the bridge?

I think most people assumed he was ahead of Girard for PG at the beginning of the year and we saw how that turned out.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I think most people assumed he was ahead of Girard for PG at the beginning of the year and we saw how that turned out.

Guess I'm confused at who our backup 2G was then. I get your point, as we've been trying to mold big guards into PGs the last few years.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Guess I'm confused at who our backup 2G was then. I get your point, as we've been trying to mold big guards into PGs the last few years.

I think most assumed It was Joe behind Buddy, but I could be wrong.

 

[Melancer46]

Guess I'm confused at who our backup 2G was then. I get your point, as we've been trying to mold big guards into PGs the last few years.

I would guess with our short rotations, the hope was that we’d be fine with Girard, Buddy, and Goodine as our three guards. Girard and Goodine were viewed as guys that can handle the ball and that’s pretty much the only difference between SG and PG in our system. They do the same exact thing on the defensive end so we don’t need a backup 2

 

[Sherman20]

The guy who averaged 9 points per game coming off the bench at Illinois is going to be an upgrade over a first team all ACC player? I hope you are right but I just have a hard time believing that. Why didn’t he start?

He’ll probably be more like junior year Eli. I don’t see him being as productive as senior year Eli.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

He’ll probably be more like junior year Eli. I don’t see him being as productive as senior year Eli.

That's the most reasonable thing I've seen so far.

 

[Sherman20]

I like Richmond and everything I've seen on video but if he's our best recruit in years and ready to make a huge impact next year why is he ranked 85th? I remember hearing great things about carey and goodine also.

Literally no one has said he’s our best recruit in years. But I think he looks more ready to contribute than Goodine and Carey wound up being. I think he’ll have a similar impact to Joe in terms of being ready as a freshman to provide quality minutes.

 

[007]

I would guess with our short rotations, the hope was that we’d be fine with Girard, Buddy, and Goodine as our three guards. Girard and Goodine were viewed as guys that can handle the ball and that’s pretty much the only difference between SG and PG in our system. They do the same exact thing on the defensive end so we don’t need a backup 2

There is a recency bias here. Part of not seeing much of a difference between the PG and SG is because we have too often had combo guards with length "playing" the PG position. There is a big difference between playing PG and being a true PG.

JB's best teams have typically included great PGs: Moss, Pearl, Sherm, Hart, Flynn, Autry, Simms, Scoop, MCW, Ennis. GMac was probably the most notable exception

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

i think this post says too little about eli and predicts too much for griffin but i hope im wrong

I think that this year's Eli was probably the best player we have had since Silent G. (My memory may be of disservice to me here, and others may remember or think of others as better. ) Others may have been drafted higher, but he was terrific this year (some quick trigger heat checks aside, but even those I didn't mind, as he was transitioning to an Alpha player.)

 

[MSOrange]

He’ll probably be more like junior year Eli. I don’t see him being as productive as senior year Eli.

That's exactly what I'm expecting, which isn't a bad thing at all. I just don't think it will be enough to get us to the level we all want to be at without noticeable improvement in other areas.

 

[two3zone]

No offense, but you seem like a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person every year.

Nope. Had high expectations Chukwus first year. Since then we have done a bad job recruiting, has nothing to do with half empty or half full. We're not that good, there is nothing wrong with it, we just need to get better.

 

[Dcuse]

Nope. Had high expectations Chukwus first year. Since then we have done a bad job recruiting, has nothing to do with half empty or half full. We're not that good, there is nothing wrong with it, we just need to get better.

If you had high expectations for Chukwu then not only a glass half empty guy but also a bad judge of talent.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

If you had high expectations for Chukwu then not only a glass half empty guy but also a bad judge of talent.

Feel like that's a swipe at JB as well.

Welcome to the team...

 

[Dcuse]

Griffin and Eli are very different players. It will be interesting to see if Griffin is able to create for himself which is Elis strongest skill and which will be hard to replace. To me JB has always had a "go to" player. Recently it has been Battle and Eli.
At this point the only players i see with the potential to create for themselves would be
Marek, Kadary, Griffin.
Neither Buddy or Joe have it. Guerrier thinks he does but doesn't and Bras is an unknown.

I agree with your 1st paragraph. I’m a bit flabbergasted by the rest. I thought Joe, as a freshman at 6’1 in the ACC, showed an ability to take a guy into the lane and make a few shots far better than I thought he could. You know a kid like that is going to get better with his work ethic.
Marek,on the other hand, while he makes some nice drives and has some nice moves and fakes down low to convert some bunnies, when have you ever seen him take a guy off the dribble,create space,and put up a jump shot? Never. I wish he had it, I hope he develops it, but I don’t know that it’s any part of his game right now.

 

[Dcuse]

Feel like that's a swipe at JB as well.

Welcome to the team...

Not at all. What he saw was an 8ft wing span in the middle of the zone and we got the most out of him. Do you really think JB thought he landed Olajuwon?

 

[GoCuse14]

I also have been watching those games and he made very timely threes as well.

Ya'll finding these games on YouTube? I seem to have some time on my hands lately.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Ya'll finding these games on YouTube? I seem to have some time on my hands lately.

Yeah there’s a classic game thread here with many.

 

[two3zone]

If you had high expectations for Chukwu then not only a glass half empty guy but also a bad judge of talent.

I meant the team his first year.