Allen Griffin on Syracuse’s 2020-21 big men: ‘As a unit, we’re much improved’

[shu 49]

If Sidibe can get us 10 and 10 which before knee problems I thought he could easily do as a sophomore we will be in great shape.

 

[RF2044]

Gbinije was our point guard and played down low at times.

Gbinije was also 3 inches taller than Richmond.

But, in a small ball lineup we're going to have somebody smaller playing on the back line. Other things being equal, I'd prefer the taller, more experienced player back there.

 

[cusefan88]

It sounds like Jesse needs to redshirt. In an ideal world with proper numbers he would have redshirted last season

 

[jdubs30]

It sounds like Jesse needs to redshirt. In an ideal world with proper numbers he would have redshirted last season

Anselem is more likely to red shirt. Jesse is the clear cut back up 5, IMO

 

[Orangezoo]

It sounds like Jesse needs to redshirt. In an ideal world with proper numbers he would have redshirted last season

Honestly I don't see how that can be read as such. He does need to keep getting into playing shape but the key thing in all of this is Griff mentioning his experience. He specifically points to Bourama and Jesse having experience and being more up to speed on playing the 5 position in the zone.

It appears to be Jesse vs Frank in terms of backup minutes at the 5 or at least the largest chunk. We aren't talking about Jesse being overweight and unable to move...

 

[moqui]

If Sidibe can get us 10 and 10 which before knee problems I thought he could easily do as a sophomore we will be in great shape.

that is asking a lot. going back 25+ years, only melo & ricky have averaged a double double. and ricky was coming off a year when he averaged nearly 10 pts. bourama averaged 6.
yes, a scoring boost like that can happen as it did with rak, but its a lot to bank on, especially on a team with as much perimeter scoring talent as the orange should have this year.
there will certainly be nights when boo notches double doubles, but there will be a lot of nights when he scores 4 to 6 as well
i'm not discounting the possibility and i would love to see a lot of high-low action from marek & boo, but i think the large majority of su's fg attempts are going to come from marek & the three sharpshooters

 

[RF2044]

that is asking a lot. going back 25+ years, only melo & ricky have averaged a double double. and ricky was coming off a year when he averaged nearly 10 pts. bourama averaged 6.
yes, a scoring boost like that can happen as it did with rak, but its a lot to bank on, especially on a team with as much perimeter scoring talent as the orange should have this year.
there will certainly be nights when boo notches double doubles, but there will be a lot of nights when he scores 4 to 6 as well
i'm not discounting the possibility and i would love to see a lot of high-low action from marek & boo, but i think the large majority of su's fg attempts are going to come from marek & the three sharpshooters

Agree -- 10 rebounds is a lot. But I think he could get close.

 

[jdubs30]

Agree -- 10 rebounds is a lot. But I think he could get close.

I think he will get less opportunities for defensive rebounds this year. Marek adding that weight should make him better on the boards. Griff is a much better rebounder than Eli was. I think QG will play more this year (along with being healthy). Also having competent back ups at the 5 will take some of his minutes. JG3 was rebounding better at the end of the year and I bet Kadary will be solid in that area as well.

i definitely think BS will be a better rebounder than last year, but the stats won’t show it.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

that is asking a lot. going back 25+ years, only melo & ricky have averaged a double double. and ricky was coming off a year when he averaged nearly 10 pts. bourama averaged 6.
yes, a scoring boost like that can happen as it did with rak, but its a lot to bank on, especially on a team with as much perimeter scoring talent as the orange should have this year.
there will certainly be nights when boo notches double doubles, but there will be a lot of nights when he scores 4 to 6 as well
i'm not discounting the possibility and i would love to see a lot of high-low action from marek & boo, but i think the large majority of su's fg attempts are going to come from marek & the three sharpshooters

Yeah, Sidibe could improve a ton as a player, but not necessarily have that improvement evident statistically.

To me, his rebounds per game are the stat to watch, because he's a good enough rebounder relative to our other players that the accumulation should be there, assuming he's playing well enough and staying out of foul trouble in such a way that he's getting enough minutes to pile up numbers of boards.

 

[reedny]

Sid was a glass-cleaner the last 6 games of the season (10+ RB's every game) ... all against conference opponents. Based on that and his experience (senior), his 7.6 rpg should go up. 8-8.5 rpg seems within range. Scoring, however, will require a bigger leap. From last year (6 ppg), a modest increase to 8 or 8.5 ppg still wouldn't put him in double/double territory, but it would give us some inside balance. The pressure on the position might also abate with two seemingly able backups. As RF noted, we will likely see Merek at the 5 in the last few minutes, with leads, etc. (nice to have that flexibility). But hopefully, Edwards conditioning/readiness and/or Anselem's athleticism will create some additional roster options, so that between the two we get some productive backup minutes. That will allow Merek to avoid fouls and stay in the game at his natural position - now a more acute need with Guerrier recovering from surgery.

 

[pearl31]

if he stays healthy, I'm very optimistic about Bourama this season

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think he will get less opportunities for defensive rebounds this year. Marek adding that weight should make him better on the boards. Griff is a much better rebounder than Eli was. I think QG will play more this year (along with being healthy). Also having competent back ups at the 5 will take some of his minutes. JG3 was rebounding better at the end of the year and I bet Kadary will be solid in that area as well.

i definitely think BS will be a better rebounder than last year, but the stats won’t show it.

Super interesting that we had a very similar thought at the same time but came to different conclusions.

 

[shu 49]

that is asking a lot. going back 25+ years, only melo & ricky have averaged a double double. and ricky was coming off a year when he averaged nearly 10 pts. bourama averaged 6.
yes, a scoring boost like that can happen as it did with rak, but its a lot to bank on, especially on a team with as much perimeter scoring talent as the orange should have this year.
there will certainly be nights when boo notches double doubles, but there will be a lot of nights when he scores 4 to 6 as well
i'm not discounting the possibility and i would love to see a lot of high-low action from marek & boo, but i think the large majority of su's fg attempts are going to come from marek & the three sharpshooters

I don’t disagree but he can do it easily. Remember Pitt game his freshman year and I think he had 18 and 18 and didn’t even notice him much.

 

[cusefan88]

Honestly I don't see how that can be read as such. He does need to keep getting into playing shape but the key thing in all of this is Griff mentioning his experience. He specifically points to Bourama and Jesse having experience and being more up to speed on playing the 5 position in the zone.

It appears to be Jesse vs Frank in terms of backup minutes at the 5 or at least the largest chunk. We aren't talking about Jesse being overweight and unable to move...

Idk I guess all I took away was that he's not in shape and practice starts next week. Either way this is the best C situation Cuse has had in over 5 years so I'm very pleased with however this shakes out.

 

[CardiacCuse]

JB trusts Marek for sure. he will play a lot this season...probably some at the 5.

But I don't think JB ever wanted to use Marek as a center. I could be wrong but I think Marek playing center was out of necessity (roster/recruiting/sanctions limitations) not preference.

If indeed there are decent/good options that are actual centers I can't see marek playing a lot there.

It could be a matchup thing...last season was BRUTAL defensively vs the center position/on the boards...especially early on out of conference. Marek was a big part of that. He's not a center...and shouldnt be playing there. period.

If there is a team that has nothing to threaten with in the low post it could be an option but only then (how many good teams is that really going to apply to?)OR if the other players backing up bourama all turn out to be not up to it defensively...but from the reports that doesnt seem to be the case.

 

[Ceerqqq]

JB trusts Marek for sure. he will play a lot this season...probably some at the 5.

But I don't think JB ever wanted to use Marek as a center. I could be wrong but I think Marek playing center was out of necessity (roster/recruiting/sanctions limitations) not preference.

If indeed there are decent/good options that are actual centers I can't see marek playing a lot there.

It could be a matchup thing...last season was BRUTAL defensively vs the center position/on the boards...especially early on out of conference. Marek was a big part of that. He's not a center...and shouldnt be playing there. period.

If there is a team that has nothing to threaten with in the low post it could be an option but only then (how many good teams is that really going to apply to?)OR if the other players backing up bourama all turn out to be not up to it defensively...but from the reports that doesnt seem to be the case.

This. I don't think JB had Marek playing center last year cuz he liked the offensive look it gave him (with those few exceptions that prove the rule). I think he did it cuz he believed Marek was the 2nd best guy he could put in the center spot, period, due to his mobility, court awareness, etc.. But I seriously doubt that we're gonna see that this year, if Sidibe can largely stay out of foul trouble. And his last few games last year suggest that he might be able to pull that off. Sure, we may see it in some special situations, like when there's a certain matchup advantage to exploit, but I expect it'll be rare...

 

[Bulldog04]

It sounds like Jesse needs to redshirt. In an ideal world with proper numbers he would have redshirted last season

It will actually be the opposite. The staff is putting him in a lot this year. He is the future

 

[nyucuse]

It will actually be the opposite. The staff is putting him in a lot this year. He is the future

Is he the future out of necessity (as no Etienne), or because the staff really likes him?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Is he the future out of necessity (as no Etienne), or because the staff really likes him?

It's because he's a good and still improving basketball player.

 

[syrBossHogg]

You could see the offensive skill Jesse had last year in his very limited minutes. I'd imagine he's gotten stronger and more confident in the zone over the past year

 

[jdubs30]

Is he the future out of necessity (as no Etienne), or because the staff really likes him?

We were in on Mac and Clingan fairly early - neither will happen.

However, it is no coincidence that we haven’t been aggressively going after bigs in 21 or 22. I fully expect the current crop to get their shot. Maybe you see us go after a grad transfer if necessary but we will be riding with Jesse/Frank/JBA once Sidibe leaves - and this isn’t because the staff hasn’t looked at other options; they like what they see

 

[moqui]

Is he the future out of necessity (as no Etienne), or because the staff really likes him?

the latter
also, we were out on micawber the minute we signed frank
remember, frank reclassified to 2020 late; when he was still class of 21, he was a top 50 recruit and, iirc, ranked slightly ahead of micawber
the immediate future at the c position is solid

 

[Orangezoo]

Being too weak inside and lacking more creativity and playmaking at the guard position has been a common theme over this recent stretch of mediocre regular seasons. Especially against P5 non conference and the top of the ACC.

When I look at this season it might be the first time since 2013/2014 where we have size, experience and athleticism in the post with some scoring chops to go with alongside also having playmaking at PG. I look at an improvement from Girard and the potential of Kadary and put the rest of the pieces together and this looks far more on paper like the kind of SU team that has been really good in the past.

Disclaimer to that is on paper doesnt equate to much beyond optimism. We should be able to score and finish better inside while not relying so much on the 3 ball yet having a nice stable of weapons.

This could all fall apart because of CoVid, injuries or failure to meet expectations but I do think we could be pretty good this year just based on the areas that we have shored up.

 

[Newhouser]

Anselem is more likely to red shirt. Jesse is the clear cut back up 5, IMO

Athletic has an article today citing an insider saying that Frank is definitely established as the backup 5. For what that is worth.

 

[jdubs30]

Athletic has an article today citing an insider saying that Frank is definitely established as the backup 5. For what that is worth.

Fantastic news. We haven’t had 3 competent bigs in a LONG time