Battle. Our best player since...

[Brooky03]

Battle, our best player since the NCAAT version of Malachi Richardson

 

[orangepassion]

He has the ability to take over a game like Silent G or Rak. Has Dion Waiters type potential.

I would take him over Dion right now. Dion was probably a bit more explosive, but think Battle beats him in every other way, on and off the court.

 

[Brooky03]

Dion played on one of our best teams ever. We’ll never know how good he could’ve been as a college player because we never needed him to be a 20 ppg player.

The closest we can get is to look at the stats per 40 minutes. Right now, Battle looks to be equally as good a scorer as Dion. Dion did have the advantage of often playing a good chunk of his 'fresh' minutes against the opponent's subs, though. The stats say Dion was the better passer (double the assists), but I think Dion had better options to pass to.

 

[sutomcat]

I see Frank continuing to pick up his dribble a lot and being told to defer to Battle in bringing the ball up the court. We'll see. I've been one of Frank's lonely defenders on here for a couple years and I'm loving his play, but we'll see if he can run a half-court offense or if we're going to be playing lead guard by four-man committee.

Edit - that's not to say he's not doing what you've noticed. Frank's been better at looking for entry passes to Chukwu in particular than I remember Tyler Ennis ever feeding the post. But a few other things expected of point guards obviously haven't come naturally to him.

There is a reason Frank looks out for Paschal and maybe tries to get him the ball a little more than others do.

Paschal is Frank's roommate. They are tight.

 

[OttoMets]

There is a reason Frank looks out for Paschal and maybe tries to get him the ball a little more than others do.

Paschal is Frank's roommate. They are tight.

Hey, that's cool. Glad to hear it. (And I'm always glad to see anyone look out for the big men.)

 

[Eric15]

Let's not go crazy here

Seriously. Hak and Wes were first team All-Americans and Big East player of the year. I love the way Tyus is playing, but let's not lose our minds after beating mid-majors and Maryland.

 

[orangepassion]

There is a reason Frank looks out for Paschal and maybe tries to get him the ball a little more than others do.

Paschal is Frank's roommate. They are tight.

I heard he looks up to hm. i'll let myself out.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Another player bringing the ball up court a few times isn’t unusual if the pg is getting pressured and someone else can handle. Heck, jb used to use PFs and SFs to bring it up when the guards got pressured. I don’t see a lot of picking up his dribble either, at least not when he doesn’t have too. I think the bar for frank as a pg is getting set very very high where people are nit picking. There’s a lot of teams that right now would love to have frank and his production as their PG. He’s exceeded everyone’s expectations so far.

Respectfully disagree and I’m fully acknowledging Frank’s progress. It’s been terrific. I think it is the opposite re: bar being set. Since Ennis who certainly was solid albeit a plodding/methodical type; the bar has been very low. There have been major recruiting misses, players playing out of position there, etc. Nothing wrong to say that he is still learning on the fly and picking up his dribble too often IMO is a fair criticism. It is what it is. Sometimes for no reason he is doing that way out behind the 3 pt line and someone has to leave their part of a set and loop around to help him out. Just a minor criticism but he’s been great so far especially from a scoring/leadership standpoint.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Triche brought the ball up quite a bit when MCW was here.

 

[billsin01]

Gbinije's production as a senior was extraordinary, but he was essentially an excellent shooter who'd learned how to handle the ball adequately. Battle is so much more skilled - much better at both getting to the rim and finishing (with both hands), more natural ball-handler and distributor, and in my opinion a higher basketball IQ (that pass to Dolezaj was a thing of beauty...and to digress, it's fun to have two players on the floor with that savvy when we've gone years without having even one).

Waaaaay too early to start handing out awards, but Battle looks as well-rounded as anyone since Dion and our starting guards look as capable as any since the backcourt his last year. Though it still looks like we've got no point guard (which will cost some games and probably end the season), we've got two guards with enough skills to score and find others ways to score. Really like this pair.

I’d say G was actually maybe a bit better as a distributor. Not a true PG obviously but a really solid passer. Battle feels like he’s still working on that. But every other category I’d give the edge to battle. Even shooting from deep, battle can create that shot for himself so even though he’s probably not as good of a shooter, he’s a bit more dangerous.

 

[CorduroyG]

battle is a better player than gbinije. now whether soph battle has a better season than senior G remains to be seen, but battle is better, if that makes any sense lol

 

[rrlbees]

My only wish is that Tyus would/could rebound better. At his height he should be able to get some boards even though he spends most of his time at 2G.

 

[br801]

My only wish is that Tyus would/could rebound better. At his height he should be able to get some boards even though he spends most of his time at 2G.

That's a legitimate point, but given the apparent rebounding skills of the new faces, we may not see much of a bump in his numbers.

 

[shizzah]

I'll give it a try

1 Warrick's last year
Then this 4-way tie
2 Battle
2 Ennis
2 Waiters
2 Flynn

 

[Trueblue25]

I'll give it a try

1 Warrick's last year
Then this 4-way tie
2 Battle
2 Ennis
2 Waiters
2 Flynn

Thought G and Rak were more impressive thab flynn and ennis. Just my opinion

 

[Flacusian]

Just the fact that we are having this discussion... is telling, in and of itself! This years team appears to be antithetical to last years team... i.e Last years team began the campaign amidst much hoopla and ridiculous over estimation of the teams capabilities... whereas, this years team began with widespread doubt and as serious a dialing back of seasonal expectations as we've seen in recent years. And... for those of us who have been around this program for a few 24 hours or so... JB every so often crafts a team which sets out with humble expectations yet melds into a formidable force. JB has all of the crucial elements which are present in his best squads. 2 centers who can be impactful in a variety of ways... 2 large guards who can see over the top of the defenses and can also put the ball on the floor / take it to the tin/ create their own shot/ and a team which is exquisitely equipped to embody the prototypical JB zone defense which drives other teams nuts. Not to mention that this is the best rebounding team in perhaps a decade or more.

Given... it's early, but there can be no doubt that we may well be witnessing the development of something special and I think the odds are better than good that this team will by far outperform the pre season expectations of most college hoops prognosticators along with many here on the board. For myself... I am experiencing a surge of excitement with this team unlike that of many of the past teams. The unexpected nature of what we are seeing is really something to be grateful for as an Orange zealot... at least for this one anyway!

 

[Funk Doc]

Sophomore Melo wins the NCAA title with this team

Freshman Melo really had no business playing college ball...but I’m so happy he did!

 

[NineOneSeven]

No idea why he has not been mentioned but in my opinion, our best overall player quite easily since Carmelo is Wes Johnson. Most well-rounded player for sure. Best player on arguably one of our top 3 teams ever. To average 16.5 and 8.5 on 50/40 shooting with 1.5 threes/blocks/steals is insane production and efficiency at any level of basketball, especially college. Compared to some guards we have had sure, he wasn't as good at creating his own shot off the dribble like them but that wasn't his position.

Let's be real though.. we have had a lot of very, very good players here.

 

[edowd26]

Sophomore Melo wins the NCAA title with this team

Replacing whom? With battle? I agree. Although I think we will win the title if he stays for bazley.

 

[CusefanATL]

Replacing whom? With battle? I agree. Although I think we will win the title if he stays for bazley.

Yes sub in soph Melo for Tyus and Syracuse is ranked #1 and will win the national championship.

 

[Melancer46]

Don't get me wrong; I love Battle, and I'll be pretty disappointed if he's not the best player we put into the NBA since Carmelo, but in terms of how good he is right now, he pales in comparison to Wes Johnson. He's up there for sure in terms of scoring ability though, and in my opinion, is a much better scorer than Dion ever was. I think Battle is likely the best scorer we've had since Carmelo.

 

[edowd26]

Don't get me wrong; I love Battle, and I'll be pretty disappointed if he's not the best player we put into the NBA since Carmelo, but in terms of how good he is right now, he pales in comparison to Wes Johnson. He's up there for sure in terms of scoring ability though, and in my opinion, is a much better scorer than Dion ever was. I think Battle is likely the best scorer we've had since Carmelo.

Battle is a much better ball handler than Wes ever was. Which was his only glaring issue.

 

[721Comstock]

Battle is a much better ball handler than Wes ever was. Which was his only glaring issue.

True, but - Wes played 3/4, so ball handling isn't as crucial for a Forward as for a SG.

Conversely, Wes was WAAAAAAAY better at rebounding, blocking shots, and shooting 3's than Tyus is.
They are different players, playing different positions, with different corresponding strengths and weaknesses.

Because of his handle, Tyus is dramatically better at creating his own shot in a variety of ways, than Wes was, or ever will be.

 

[Melancer46]

Battle is a much better ball handler than Wes ever was. Which was his only glaring issue.

Sure, but we're hoping Tyus can make the first team All-Conference team. Wes was a legitimate POY candidate. I'll never understand why we underrate Wes so much.

 

[edowd26]

Sure, but we're hoping Tyus can make the first team All-Conference team. Wes was a legitimate POY candidate. I'll never understand why we underrate Wes so much.

Oh I'm not, just looking more and NBA intangibles. Wes was phenomenal here.