Brown and Williams at the Forwards...

[newmexicuse]

I really liked that combo. Lots of length and lots of speed.

I think Brown's D is very underrated. he gets out to cover the trey line and he definitely helped cool down Collins.

Really like his game. he knows how to finish down low and he fights on the glass.

Meanwhile, Benny's game has really opened up the last two games and he is actually making some outside shots. He also does a decent job off the glass.

I really hope Brown supplants JBA. I appreciate what JBA does, but he is just too limited and too slow and I am afraid that will really show once we hit the meat of the schedule. Brown, meanwhile, has plenty of athleticism and upside.

 

[OrangeDW]

I would start Brown and go from there. Whoever fits best alongside him can be the other starter, whether thats Benny or Taylor.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I would start Brown and go from there. Whoever fits best alongside him can be the other starter, whether thats Benny or Taylor.

I would tell coach that whatever brown doesn’t show in practice must not be pertinent to actually winning real games. So I don’t care what it is he lacks there

 

[AlaskaSU]

FWIW, my fowsrd rotation:
Williams, Brown, JAB, Hlma.
Glue Copeland, Taylor, Bell to the bench.

 

[721Comstock]

FWIW, my fowsrd rotation:
Williams, Brown, JAB, Hlma.
Glue Copeland, Taylor, Bell to the bench.

JAB?

I think he’s gonna be too slow on closeouts and rotations.
Good FT shooter tho.
And he’s probably used up his eligibility.

 

[Hopkins16]

We need Taylor in the rotation for his outside shooting. Sometimes he looks really good knocking down shots then at times he looks lost, stiff and like an oversized walk-on tight end.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Brown just delivers. The guy is always in the right place at the right time. He knows his role and isn't afraid to muck it up under the basket.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Brown just delivers. The guy is always in the right place at the time. He knows his role and isn't not afraid to muck it up under the basket.

He has “it” and by “it” I mean the nose for boards and garbage put backs. Think of a late 90’s early aughts Pitt Panther

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I really liked that combo. Lots of length and lots of speed.

I think Brown's D is very underrated. he gets out to cover the trey line and he definitely helped cool down Collins.

Really like his game. he knows how to finish down low and he fights on the glass.

Meanwhile, Benny's game has really opened up the last two games and he is actually making some outside shots. He also does a decent job off the glass.

I really hope Brown supplants JBA. I appreciate what JBA does, but he is just too limited and too slow and I am afraid that will really show once we hit the meat of the schedule. Brown, meanwhile, has plenty of athleticism and upside.

It’s still pretty flat, but bennys definitely getting more arc on his j’s

 

[Eric15]

I really like Chris Bell's offensive game, but his inability/disinterest in rebounding is hard to get your head around. He averages 20 minutes per game and 1.1 rebounds per game. He's rebounding significantly less than guys 5-6 inches shorter than him.

 

[RF2044]

Brown deserves to start. Period.

Problem is, he and Benny don't provide much shooting, so that would be a challenging combo to have on the floor together.

But overall, I don't expect JB to tinker with the starting lineup much. But Brown needs to play more. He's just too good not to.

 

[jdubs30]

JB kept stressing how physical Monmouth is and we haven’t played a team like that in a while. This is why Brown got so many minutes. Reading between the lines it appears Maliq will play in the more physical games and Taylor/Bell will get more PT in games that aren’t as physical and a little more wide open.

The logic makes sense.

But again, if it’s Brown/Benny then we only have 1 real shooter in the floor. That really clogs everything up for Judah and Jesse. I do like that Bennys jump shot is starting to go in, but teams are still going to sag off him. Neither can handle the ball (not that Bell can either).

 

[DoctahLexus]

JB kept stressing how physical Monmouth is and we haven’t played a team like that in a while. This is why Brown got so many minutes. Reading between the lines it appears Maliq will play in the more physical games and Taylor/Bell will get more PT in games that aren’t as physical and a little more wide open.

The logic makes sense.

But again, if it’s Brown/Benny then we only have 1 real shooter in the floor. That really clogs everything up for Judah and Jesse. I do like that Bennys jump shot is starting to go in, but teams are still going to sag off him. Neither can handle the ball (not that Bell can either).

Also think about when Joe drives in the lane, which he does quite often even when Judah is on the court. He probably feels like he can literally only pass it to Jesse. Brown doesn't shoot, Judah at least for now almost never shoots, Benny leaning towards reliable in the mid range now but still not a natural catch and shoot guy off the pass and it gets dicey the further out he is. That is a recipe for disaster and gives incentive for Girard to do the questionable "iso-Joe" routine.

 

[Eric15]

JB kept stressing how physical Monmouth is and we haven’t played a team like that in a while.

God that sentence is depressing. (not directed towards you obviously)

They lost to Princeton by 37 just 48 hours before our game.

 

[xc84]

God that sentence is depressing. (not directed towards you obviously)

They lost to Princeton by 37 just 48 hours before our game.

But they were physical in losing

 

[hoopsupstate]

It doesn’t really matter who starts. Just keep rotating players and play whoever plays the best. I don’t want coach to play less than 9-10. It helps to keep everyone on their toes. Bell is going to realize if he wants minutes, he’s going to have to get rebounds.

 

[UpstateSM]

I think I’m watching a different, better Justin Taylor then other Syracuse fans

 

[grepal]

I think all five of our forwards bring something positive on any given night. JB makes the call based on matchups and what he sees to see how the minutes are divided. basically on any given night he is playing 3 guarsm 5 forwards and 2 centers.

 

[SWC75]

The forwards per 40:

Williams 11.3p 6.7r 2.0a 1.4s 0.3b -6.0mfg -0.7mft -1.2to -2.8pf = 11.0NP
Ajak 5.5p 8.3r 6.3a 1.6s 0.8b -2.0mfg -2mft -2.4to -3.6pf = 13.3NP
Brown 16.0p 12.0r 2.2a 1.8s 0.4b -3.1mfg -1.3mft -0.9to -2.7pf = 24.4NP

Bell 13.5p 2.2r 0.6a 0.4s 0.0b -7.2mfg -0.2mft -2.0to -2.0pf = 5.3NP
Taylor 11.0p 5.7r 1.6a 1.6s 0.5b -6.0mfg -0.7mft -0.7to -0.7pf = 11.2NP
Copeland 6.5p 6.5r 1.9a 1.9s 0.0b -5.2mfg -0.0mft -5.2to -5.2pf = 1.2NP

Brown blows away the other power forwards statistically with these two reservations: much, (but not all) of his time has come against the other's team's reserves, and there are a lot of things, mostly on defense, that aren't measured in the box score. That said, I haven't noticed his defense to be lacking. But I don't notice all the things a coach might notice.

Taylor would already have beaten Bell out without whatever that injury is. He's clearly the better all-around player at this point. JB is past the point for this year where he'll start a guy because he's the guy he wants to win the position because of his upside. Copeland seems to have blown his chance, at least for this year. But I think Benny gives us morer than any of these three when they aren't shooting. We've gone with essentially two power forwards before, most notably with DC and Billy in 88-90 and Melo and Hak in 2003.

The center and guard positions are settled and in good shape. That's where the rotation is frozen. But at forward, as JB says, it's up to the players to make the decision for him and they haven't done that yet, so JB has to move the pieces around to get what he wants.

 

[hplare]

The forwards per 40:

Williams 11.3p 6.7r 2.0a 1.4s 0.3b -6.0mfg -0.7mft -1.2to -2.8pf = 11.0NP
Ajak 5.5p 8.3r 6.3a 1.6s 0.8b -2.0mfg -2mft -2.4to -3.6pf = 13.3NP
Brown 16.0p 12.0r 2.2a 1.8s 0.4b -3.1mfg -1.3mft -0.9to -2.7pf = 24.4NP

Bell 13.5p 2.2r 0.6a 0.4s 0.0b -7.2mfg -0.2mft -2.0to -2.0pf = 5.3NP
Taylor 11.0p 5.7r 1.6a 1.6s 0.5b -6.0mfg -0.7mft -0.7to -0.7pf = 11.2NP
Copeland 6.5p 6.5r 1.9a 1.9s 0.0b -5.2mfg -0.0mft -5.2to -5.2pf = 1.2NP

Brown blows away the other power forwards statistically with these two reservations: much, (but not all) of his time has come against the other's team's reserves, and there are a lot of things, mostly on defense, that aren't measured in the box score. That said, I haven't noticed his defense to be lacking. But I don't notice all the things a coach might notice.

Taylor would already have beaten Bell out without whatever that injury is. He's clearly the better all-around player at this point. JB is past the point for this year where he'll start a guy because he's the guy he wants to win the position because of his upside. Copeland seems to have blown his chance, at least for this year. But I think Benny gives us morer than any of these three when they aren't shooting. We've gone with essentially two power forwards before, most notably with DC and Billy in 88-90 and Melo and Hak in 2003.

The center and guard positions are settled and in good shape. That's where the rotation is frozen. But at forward, as JB says, it's up to the players to make the decision for him and they haven't done that yet, so JB has to move the pieces around to get what he wants.

Melo could handle the ball and make his own moves. Hak had a good handle too and that's the difference. Benny is sloppy with the ball and Bell sits in the corner, or prowls the perimeter looking for a three and is out of position for rebounding. There's a need for another ball handler on the floor and it's either three guards or adding Taylor.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Coleman / Owens
HAK / Melo

Bell / Benny /brown

Something just seems different about 1 of these groups

 

[SWC75]

Melo could handle the ball and make his own moves. Hak had a good handle too and that's the difference. Benny is sloppy with the ball and Bell sits in the corner, or prowls the perimeter looking for a three and is out of position for rebounding. There's a need for another ball handler on the floor and it's either three guards or adding Taylor.

Coleman / Owens
HAK / Melo

Bell / Benny /brown

Something just seems different about 1 of these groups

"most notably" I wasn't saying that the current group compared with our best, just that we've gone with two power forwards before. It helps if one also has small forwards skills and Benny at least thinks he does.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

"most notably" I wasn't saying that the current group compared with our best, just that we've gone with two power forwards before. It helps if one also has small forwards skills and Benny at least thinks he does.

My point is just that when the talent level is that high, you’re going to put them on the court together regardless of positional conventions

 

[23Zone]

Coleman / Owens
HAK / Melo

Bell / Benny /brown

Something just seems different about 1 of these groups

I know what you mean. I just can't put my finger on it

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Problem is, he (Brown) and Benny don't provide much shooting, so that would be a challenging combo to have on the floor together.

I kind of chuckle when we acknowledge things like this, because we're doing it under an assumption of how a team ideally works.

Like, yeah, more shooting on the floor is good.

But that matters when we're talking about a good team. I don't know if that's actually what we are.

We might be more successful leaning into the realities of being a limited team.

Meaning, we might be better actually by really leaning into being worse in some ways that usually make for a better basketball.