Bilas: 'Cuse Remains #1 in Country

[arbitragegls]

Bilas Index still calculates 'Cuse as #1. Here is what he is saying about the team:

1. Syracuse Orange

Go ahead and tell Jim Boeheim he doesn't play enough nonconference road games. Big deal. By the end of the season, the Orange will have more quality road wins than anyone. Syracuse averages 1.20 points per possession, good enough for third in the nation behind Missouri and Florida. Dion Waiters leads the nation in transition points with 97. And he doesn't start.

Interestingly, Indiana remains behind Baylor and OSU and KY...even though it has beaten both...and lost to MSU. Also, BE teams are tumbling out of his Top 10.

Teams that follow in order for top 10 are:
2. KY
3. NC
4. OSU
5. Baylor
6. Indiana
7. Missouri
8. Duke
9. Mich St
10. Uconn

 

[suthrills]

I know Uconn has A LOT of talent but how can they be a top 10 team when they got blown out by SH and lost fairly convincingly to Rutgers? It's not like they lost to Georgetown and Syracuse.

 

[CusefanATL]

I know Uconn has A LOT of talent but how can they be a top 10 team when they got blown out by SH and lost fairly convincingly to Rutgers? It's not like they lost to Georgetown and Syracuse.

i am confused how they have A LOT of talent?

12 months ago - they were a team being carried by 1 man. they lost that man and added andre drummond who is a freshman center.

 

[cusetown1]

Yeah, I've been really wondering on the whole Uconn and a ton of talent thing. Someone please explain to me where they see all of this backboard shattering, razzle dazzle talent? Other than the obvious I don't see it.

 

[Orangemen]

I think UConn is living off reputation right now.

They were a name brand to begin with, then they won the NC last year.

It's easy and it feels right to rank a team with that pedigree really high. Plus these guys probably feel like they missed something with their UConn rankings last year, and they won't be fooled again.

It will probably take 2 more unexpected losses to really bring them back into where they should be.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Yeah, I've been really wondering on the whole Uconn and a ton of talent thing. Someone please explain to me where they see all of this backboard shattering, razzle dazzle talent? Other than the obvious I don't see it.

I agree but NBAdraft.net has five Yukon guys being drafted in the next two years, four of them in the first round. By the way, Yukon has a tough one at home tonight vs WVU. Let's go Mounties.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft

 

[RandygoCuse]

I've always been a huge fan of points per possession. It's usually a good sign that you are getting a lot of free throws.

 

[cusetown1]

I agree but NBAdraft.net has five Yukon guys being drafted in the next two years, four of them in the first round. By the way, Yukon has a tough one at home tonight vs WVU. Let's go Mounties.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft

I think WVU pulls this one out and gives UConn 3 L's in a row.

 

[pfister1]

i am confused how they have A LOT of talent?

12 months ago - they were a team being carried by 1 man. they lost that man and added andre drummond who is a freshman center.

They have two pretty certain lottery picks in Lamb and Drummond and Oriaki projects late first round early second round...all in 2012. That is a lot of talent. But, it is young talent and talent doesn't always win you games. Big question is do they have players capable of putting it together on the floor this year? and so far the results are decidedly mixed.

 

[CusefanATL]

I agree but NBAdraft.net has five Yukon guys being drafted in the next two years, four of them in the first round. By the way, Yukon has a tough one at home tonight vs WVU. Let's go Mounties.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft[/quote]

I really think we could use uconn to start winning a little bit.

I know I know, you will all hate me for saying it - but I would like to be tested a little bit by legit team.

Its in our best interest to have a very good uconn team to beat.

 

[cusetown1]

They have two pretty certain lottery picks in Lamb and Drummond and Oriaki projects late first round early second round...all in 2012. That is a lot of talent. But, it is young talent and talent doesn't always win you games. Big question is do they have players capable of putting it together on the floor this year? and so far the results are decidedly mixed.

Not to sure about Oriaki. He seems emotionally fragile and never took the next step this year. Physically yes, I don't know how he couldn't pan out. But, there is more to it than that.

 

[cusetown1]

yeah sorry, should have written than. Did it a few times today.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Not to sure about Oriaki. He seems emotionally fragile and never took the next step this year. Physically yes, I don't know how he couldn't pan out. But, there is more to it than that.

I think bringing Drummond in and Oriakhi having to play the 4 has hindered him. He thrived last year at the 5 even though he is an NBA PF. Oriakhi had a BIG postseason last year and probably would've been a first round pick had he declared. You see the talent on that team but talent dosn't mean everything. They are really young and will only get better.

 

[Scotch]

i am confused how they have A LOT of talent?

12 months ago - they were a team being carried by 1 man. they lost that man and added andre drummond who is a freshman center.

Last year they were incredibly young, which contributed to that "one man team" storyline. That doesn't mean the supporting cast wasn't talented, and wasn't expected to make a jump this year. Drummond and Lamb are top 5 NBA picks. Oriakhi will be drafted. Napier and Boatright are also projected NBA players. Both are small, which hurts them in terms of NBA prospects, but they are lightning quick and are already very productive college players.

The difference between this year's UConn team and past years is on the defensive side of the ball. They are in the 80s in Ken Pom's defensive efficiency rankings, and they are usually top 20. They are allowing too much penetration, and they don't have the stud shot blockers back there that traditional UConn teams have had. Drummond could evolve into that as the year progresses. I still think they will be very formidable in March.

 

[HoustonCuse]

By the time we play Looevil and Yukon they will both be a lot better than they are now. Sandwich in a game @ Buttgers in between and the last three weeks of the season are going to be a white knuckle ride. We could easily lose 5 out of our last 8 and still be a very very good team.

 

[All4SU]

By the time we play Looevil and Yukon they will both be a lot better than they are now. Sandwich in a game @ Buttgers in between and the last three weeks of the season are going to be a white knuckle ride. We could easily lose 5 out of our last 8 and still be a very very good team.

I don't know about the 5 out of 8. But people are fooling themselves if they think CT and UL won't be better later in the season than they are right now.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

Bilas Index still calculates 'Cuse as #1. Here is what he is saying about the team:

1. Syracuse Orange

Go ahead and tell Jim Boeheim he doesn't play enough nonconference road games. Big deal. By the end of the season, the Orange will have more quality road wins than anyone. Syracuse averages 1.20 points per possession, good enough for third in the nation behind Missouri and Florida. Dion Waiters leads the nation in transition points with 97. And he doesn't start.

"More quality road wins" that's all he says? And no mention of how awesome the rest of our bench is?? Or our HOF coach?

Wow, Bilas is such an ... And gives head to dogs.

Seriously, that's all he wrote??? Why can't he compare us favorably to UNC, Duke, and Kentucky? I mean come on, that's total b*ll!!!

Bilas is becoming a real dickhead... I bet this asstard is hoping we lose... We've probably cost him some cheddar over the years.

I'm so pissed... I can't believe he didn't just say we're the best team he's seen in years and destined to cut down the nets in April... Just declaring us #1 with his bogus ratings systems is total crap.

I used to like him, but not coming out and just saying there's no way 'Cuse can be beat, What... Apparently, he's just too thick to realize how awesome we are.

jay bilas.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

Many of the insane posts above were quoted from off-the-wall posts in the Seth Davis thread.

I added a few more to make it flow, but more than half the rants are from you guys.

 

[longislandcuse]

Ive watched UCONN play a handful of times and in NONE of those games did Lamb or Drummond look like a top 5 pick. Do you mean by the time they declare for the draft or this year? Outside of those two Oriakhi is decent but hes definately not some amazing talent and Napier/Boatright/Giffey etc arent any better, probably less talented than our guys after our top 3 possible NBA talents Fab/Dion/KJo.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Watching Yukon against Buttgers, I didn't remember how tiny Napier is and Boatright is the same. Dion, Scoop, and Triche should be able to completely overpower them and they would be asking MCW to get items off high shelves in their dorm rooms.

 

[pfister1]

Ive watched UCONN play a handful of times and in NONE of those games did Lamb or Drummond look like a top 5 pick. Do you mean by the time they declare for the draft or this year? Outside of those two Oriakhi is decent but hes definately not some amazing talent and Napier/Boatright/Giffey etc arent any better, probably less talented than our guys after our top 3 possible NBA talents Fab/Dion/KJo.

If you go to NBAdraft.net and look at their 2012 mock, updated on 1/4, it projects Drummond #1 overall and Lamb #3. (Oriakhi last pick of the 1st round). Maybe that site is administered by a UConn fan.

DraftExpress' 2012 Mock updated as of 1/5 has Drummond #2 overall and Lamb #11 overall. They have Oriakhi as 49th overall going in the Second Round.

 

[CusefanATL]

Last year they were incredibly young, which contributed to that "one man team" storyline. That doesn't mean the supporting cast wasn't talented, and wasn't expected to make a jump this year. Drummond and Lamb are top 5 NBA picks. Oriakhi will be drafted. Napier and Boatright are also projected NBA players. Both are small, which hurts them in terms of NBA prospects, but they are lightning quick and are already very productive college players.

The difference between this year's UConn team and past years is on the defensive side of the ball. They are in the 80s in Ken Pom's defensive efficiency rankings, and they are usually top 20. They are allowing too much penetration, and they don't have the stud shot blockers back there that traditional UConn teams have had. Drummond could evolve into that as the year progresses. I still think they will be very formidable in March.

Kenpom has wisconsin ranked 2. He can make all the excuses in the world, that pretty much invalidates his whole system.

he unfairly favors big 10 basketball because they slow the game down and become more efficient per possession on offense, mainly because they wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. If you think wisconsin has a better offense than syracuse - i would like to have your brain checked.

That's great to do it that way and for less athletic, 'smarter' teams, its the best way to win - but for a team like syracuse who is not calculated as efficient per possession on offense or defense they are punished. - because they try to speed the game up mainly because they still are pretty effecient on BOTH ends of the court and the more possessions there are the greater chance cuse has to win.

That is the case for most of the better teams in the country. It is basketball, not soccer. There is a reason the underdog almost always tries to slow the game down.

The only team that comes to mind that has played basketball like that to tournament success over recent years is butler.

 

[shermstheman]

Yeah, I've been really wondering on the whole Uconn and a ton of talent thing. Someone please explain to me where they see all of this backboard shattering, razzle dazzle talent? Other than the obvious I don't see it.

These are similar comments to what we were making about them last year at this time. They began hot, looked awful for awhile and the rest we all know about. Calhoun may be the best coach around- for that alone I won't count them as down and out. He'll get the most out of any talent they have (and run those kids he doesn't want off the team).

 

[Knicks411]

he unfairly favors big 10 basketball because they slow the game down and become more efficient per possession on offense, mainly because they wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. If you think wisconsin has a better offense than syracuse - i would like to have your brain checked.

This doesn't really make sense, because it also rates your defense, and if you have to go against an offense that waits for the right time to score, then your defense will give up more points.

Also, Pomeroy has Wisconsin with the 32nd best offense in the country, and SU with the #3 offense.

 

[br801]

By the time we play Looevil and Yukon they will both be a lot better than they are now. Sandwich in a game @ Buttgers in between and the last three weeks of the season are going to be a white knuckle ride. We could easily lose 5 out of our last 8 and still be a very very good team.

We will certainly be tested down the stretch, but it is hard to imagine this group losing 5 of 8.

My guess is they will respond with their best basketball of the season once they get kicked in the teeth and finally lose.