Athlon 2012-13 College Basketball Countdown: No. 5 Syracuse Preview

[Orangeyes]

2012-13 College Basketball Countdown: No. 5 Syracuse Preview

 

[Room 914]

Oo I feel like we may be about 10 spots too high.

I don't see us being top 5 right now. More top 15 or top 20.

Similar to how Pittsburgh had such a good year two years ago. They were placed in the top 10. Then struggled.

 

[armory]

Oo I feel like we may be about 10 spots too high.

I don't see us being top 5 right now. More top 15 or top 20.

Similar to how Pittsburgh had such a good year two years ago. They were placed in the top 10. Then struggled.

I would say #15 would be too low, but #5 too high. #10 feels right.

It all depends on whether MCW and DC2 are ready for the big time. Feels like the talent is there to be better than last year... but talent isn't all it takes.

 

[orangefan13]

This team has the scoring, the defense, the depth,the sernority and the physical talent in the paint. All the pieces are there to be top 4.

 

[Upstate]

There's no reason SU shouldn't lead the BE in rebounding. Lots of beef on this team.

 

[OttoMets]

There's no reason SU shouldn't lead the BE in rebounding. Lots of beef on this team.

Reason they should: our frontline consists of three guys who love to go get the ball when a shot is missed (assuming Coleman plays like he did in high school). When's the last time each of our starting forwards/centers has had the "want to" needed to be a good rebounder? Not in my memory. When have we even had three guys like that on the court at the same time? Maybe the Roberts/Watkins/Harris lineup in the rare moments when Nichols wasn't playing in 2007?

Reason we won't: that thing they call the 2-3 that we all love so much.

But I expect this team to be a lot better on the boards than any in a decade or so. Much less frustrating than last year. It'll be neat to have a center and a small forward who don't routinely try to volleyball missed shots, Elvir Ovcina style, out to midcourt to be gathered by the other team.

 

[Orange Barrel]

According to MW's blog post about Athlon's Top 5 ranking, DC2 is not a top ten impact frosh. (?)

 

[senorpalmer]

Lots to like about this team. Sure there are some question marks and most of them happen to be McD AA's. And the four returning non-McD AA's have played for a 1 seed and a 3 seed the last two years.

 

[ImperialOrange]

I can't wait to see what the zone looks like with all the height up top and the big guys to back it up down low. Watching opposing guards try and work on top of the zone and get inside should be good times.

Steals, blocked shots, run out dunks... rinse, lather, repeat

Will be curious to see what our half court sets look like though

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

There's no reason SU shouldn't lead the BE in rebounding. Lots of beef on this team.

There is a better chance of Boeheim lacing up his sneakers to play for the Knicks this season.

 

[OttoMets]

I can't wait to see what the zone looks like with all the height up top and the big guys to back it up down low. Watching opposing guards try and work on top of the zone and get inside should be good times.

Steals, blocked shots, run out dunks... rinse, lather, repeat

Will be curious to see what our half court sets look like though

I'll be more interested to see the defense. We've got length, but so did Jason Cipolla and Marius Janulis. Right now, Triche is the only guard who has experience playing high-intensity zone defense at the college level (yeah, Mike played in spurts, but he had some difficulty at that end). We'll see what the two younger guys pick up from him. There are so many things that go into being a good defender, playing off your teammates, trusting them to be in the right place, hedging screens, guarding the high post (of great importance to Boeheim, as it should be), trapping. It's hard.

With so many young guys, I'd expect the offense to be ahead of the defense for the remainder of 2012. Coleman's supposedly highly-skilled on offense. Same with Cooney. It's great that he got to redshirt, but nothing in practice replicates the difficulty of playing strong zone in a real game (think of Wes Johnson's occasional difficulties defending his wing in 2010).

I anticipate some 93-84 wins early on, replete with Surly Boeheim press conferences that include a brief opening statement, very few answers during the question-and-answer, and quotes like "We're just not a good team right now. Hopefully we will be in a few weeks, but right now I'm just worried about beating Princeton. We won't win ten ----- games if we can't guard anyone."

Once they get the hang of it and get comfortable playing hard as a unit, though, yeah - the length up top is going to be a real asset. We've got some good pieces.

 

[Knicks411]

Reason they should: our frontline consists of three guys who love to go get the ball when a shot is missed (assuming Coleman plays like he did in high school). When's the last time each of our starting forwards/centers has had the "want to" needed to be a good rebounder? Not in my memory. When have we even had three guys like that on the court at the same time? Maybe the Roberts/Watkins/Harris lineup in the rare moments when Nichols wasn't playing in 2007?

Reason we won't: that thing they call the 2-3 that we all love so much.

But I expect this team to be a lot better on the boards than any in a decade or so. Much less frustrating than last year. It'll be neat to have a center and a small forward who don't routinely try to volleyball missed shots, Elvir Ovcina style, out to midcourt to be gathered by the other team.

This is where I insert my fsvorite stat; our best defensive rebounding team of the last decade was also our worst team of the last decade.

I will bet anyone on this board pretty much any amount of money we don't finish #1 in defensive reboudning% in the conference. And I will also bet anyone we'll be really good.

 

[OttoMets]

This is where I insert my fsvorite stat; our best defensive rebounding team of the last decade was also our worst team of the last decade.

I will bet anyone on this board pretty much any amount of money we don't finish #1 in defensive reboudning% in the conference. And I will also bet anyone we'll be really good.

Was that 2006-2007? Or my least favorite, the 2008 team?

I agree with both of those, not best in rebounding but very good overall.

 

[Knicks411]

Was that 2006-2007? Or my least favorite, the 2008 team?

I agree with both of those, not best in rebounding but very good overall.

2008. It's really incredible, pretty much every year we grab about 65% of defensive rebounds. (Last year was awful, 60.8%). But generally somewhere between 64 and 66%. The 2008 team was at 68.1%. Doesn't seem like a huge difference, but the second best we've done is 67%, and like I said, usually 64-66%.

 

[Orangezoo]

I can't wait to see what the zone looks like with all the height up top and the big guys to back it up down low. Watching opposing guards try and work on top of the zone and get inside should be good times.

Steals, blocked shots, run out dunks... rinse, lather, repeat

Will be curious to see what our half court sets look like though

If DC2 can post up and not become a black hole when he does the halfcourt could be really really good. That could also make CJ even more dangerous as a slasher off those curl screens. I think using DC2 as a baseline screener, or just a screener in general will be great to open things up in the halfcourt. As was already said- talent is key but not everything. I am hopeful we can be a 4-6 loss team at worst with the returning players keeping things glued while the young guys learn and then having us be a scary monster come tourney time clicking on all cylinders.

I typically get concerned with early season losses but if we went into the big east with 2 or 3 losses I wouldn't be worried this year. I would prefer none - but wouldn't be worried. I think there is just so much balance on paper on this team with inside/outside. I also think we could have the best rebounding/offensive big man next to cody zeller alongside the best guard in the country. Time will tell.

 

[OttoMets]

2008. It's really incredible, pretty much every year we grab about 65% of defensive rebounds. (Last year was awful, 60.8%). But generally somewhere between 64 and 66%. The 2008 team was at 68.1%. Doesn't seem like a huge difference, but the second best we've done is 67%, and like I said, usually 64-66%.

Weird. Could we attribute that to a faster pace (with more missed shots to be had) that year?

Not a lot of guys on that team who I'd consider good rebounders on that team. Harris...not sure who else. Donte grabbed a decent number (mid-7s?) but was hardly aggressive in going after misses.

 

[OttoMets]

...
I typically get concerned with early season losses but if we went into the big east with 2 or 3 losses I wouldn't be worried this year. I would prefer none - but wouldn't be worried. ...

That's exactly how I feel. Will hate to see the losses, but that won't dampen my expectations for later in the year.

And Coleman could be valuable as a screener (among other things). Could really help Fair increase his productivity.

 

[Knicks411]

Ugh, a longish post got eaten.

Point on the 08 team was: All 5 guys who played minutes across th e front line were decent defensive rebounders (AO, KO, Rick, Paul, and Donte). That hasn't been the case generally.

 

[OttoMets]

Ugh, a longish post got eaten.

Point on the 08 team was: All 5 guys who played minutes across th e front line were decent defensive rebounders (AO, KO, Rick, Paul, and Donte). That hasn't been the case generally.

Fewer weak spots than most years. Cool, thanks. I anticipate a similar situation this year. Especially if Baye has improved.

 

[Knicks411]

Fewer weak spots than most years. Cool, thanks. I anticipate a similar situation this year. Especially if Baye has improved.

Kris was really pathetic on the defensive glass last year. He got 10.8% of the defensive rebounds when he was on the court. For sake of reference, Dion got 8.2% and MCW got 11.8%. So even just replacing his minutes with a combination of CJ and James should help. Rak was our best defensive rebounder in his limited minutes, so putting him on the court more will help, and if MCW rebounds anything like he did last year, that'll help too.

Also, Fab pulled down 13% of defensive rebounds. For a 7 footer, that's really not good. Lots of blocks and he protected the paint, but whoever plays C will rebound better than he did on the defensive glass.

 

[OttoMets]

Kris was really pathetic on the defensive glass last year. He got 10.8% of the defensive rebounds when he was on the court. For sake of reference, Dion got 8.2% and MCW got 11.8%. So even just replacing his minutes with a combination of CJ and James should help. Rak was our best defensive rebounder in his limited minutes, so putting him on the court more will help, and if MCW rebounds anything like he did last year, that'll help too.

Also, Fab pulled down 13% of defensive rebounds. For a 7 footer, that's really not good. Lots of blocks and he protected the paint, but whoever plays C will rebound better than he did on the defensive glass.

This can't be emphasized enough. I'll even throw in the obligatory "Kris Joseph is a great guy and I'm thrilled he's a member of the Syracuse basketball family."

He showed no effort in going after rebounds 95% of the time (rewatching the two regional games last week, this really stood out). Fab was a touch better, but he struggled at getting to misses that didn't come right to him.

It'll be very difficult not to improve at those two positions this season.

 

[Rossco123]

Every one’s nightmare --- getting back full court on D and no one warns you that DC has set a pic!
Call the ambulance on 2!