Buddy Boeheim ranks among ESPN’s top 2022 NBA Draft prospects

[MikeSU02]

Buddy will get a look on shooting alone. His footspeed is terrible but the NBA gave up on defense 8 years ago

Literally the only thing true in this statement is saying Buddy's footspeed is terrible and even that is only relative to the NBA. His footspeed is adequate for his role for Cuse.

He will not get a look on shooting alone. The NBA's defense is better and complex and challenging than literally ever in history.

 

[Alsacs]

Buddy to me has an SU comp to Demetrius Nichols.
Nichols was a couple inches taller but he carried the 2007 team.
If we had the extra 3 bids like now I feel that 2007 team could have be dangerous in the tournament with how they were playing at the end of the season.

 

[dasher]

What should the expectations be?
I would love to hear what you think.
I have said if the fanbase shouldn’t expect us to be Syracuse anymore then the frustration should go away.
We pretend we are still elite.
If we aren’t elite anymore and then the frustration should be less.

We have been a plucky team that can overachieve in March since 2015.
That isn’t one or two years it’s going on 7.

I watch Buddy Boeheim and I watch the NBA. The kid can shoot but I don’t see an elite shooter.
He misses way too many shots to be an elite shooter. Somehow our fanbase thinks he is an elite shooter.
I don’t see an elite shooter.
I see a good shooter but not elite.
50/40/90 are elite shooters.
50% overall of all your shots.
40% from 3 point range.
90% from the FT line.

People want to go into knots and make excuses. Covid.
Okay if the kid was affected by Covid his coach shouldn’t have played him as much as he did.

The HC won’t sit him when he struggles. If the coach won’t sit him then the Covid excuses isn’t legit.
If the player isn’t 100% don’t play him as 37+ MPG. We had options last year.

Buddy is a good player. I don’t see an NBA player yet. Everything Scotch has said is how I feel.

Buddy was Elite the last 3 weeks of the season. The last week of the regular season, ACCT and NCAAT.

If he is like that the whole season he will be great but I still don’t see an NBA player.

According to Tomcat, and I know better than to question him, Buddy shot 45.45% over the last 14 games. Those 14 games were against the best part of our schedule. And that is longer than the last three weeks. This is after he recovered from Covid. After his team had missed practice time for two different periods. Think what you want. I don't need to see the numbers over the last 14 games to know how good a shooter he is. I think Matt Roe has the highest % of 3 pt shooting. Didn't hurt him a bit to have Derrick Coleman down low that defenses had to worry about. A lot of things go in to numbers. Buddy isn't a good shooter. He is a great shooter.
Now, since 2009, only two schools in the entire country have more sweet 16's than us. Only two. Duke and Kentucky. That seems to me to be a bit better than Just plucky. Even over the last 5 tournaments I think only 3 schools have been to 3 sweet 16's. We must be lucky.
I expect a lot better season than you do. D Nichols doesn't think there are two better shooters on any team in the ACC. than Buddy and Cole. Maybe in the country.

 

[Newhouser]

I don't think Buddy is an NBA player but I dont think the kid from Gonzaga is either (Kispert I think). Lots can change in a year.

 

[Alsacs]

According to Tomcat, and I know better than to question him, Buddy shot 45.45% over the last 14 games. Those 14 games were against the best part of our schedule. And that is longer than the last three weeks. This is after he recovered from Covid. After his team had missed practice time for two different periods. Think what you want. I don't need to see the numbers over the last 14 games to know how good a shooter he is. I think Matt Roe has the highest % of 3 pt shooting. Didn't hurt him a bit to have Derrick Coleman down low that defenses had to worry about. A lot of things go in to numbers. Buddy isn't a good shooter. He is a great shooter.
Now, since 2009, only two schools in the entire country have more sweet 16's than us. Only two. Duke and Kentucky. That seems to me to be a bit better than Just plucky. Even over the last 5 tournaments I think only 3 schools have been to 3 sweet 16's. We must be lucky.
I expect a lot better season than you do. D Nichols doesn't think there are two better shooters on any team in the ACC. than Buddy and Cole. Maybe in the country.

Again going back to 2009 isn’t the same as since 2015.
From 2009-2014 we were one of the top 5 programs in the nation.

If Nichols is right you should take my bet and not even need the 7 seed.

Break down the entire season. Was Covid a factor in those 14 games or only the bad games?

 

[MikeSU02]

I did it in my head and might have made a mistake, but I believe he shot 45.45% from the 3 point circle the last 14 games of the season.

His shooting percentage from the arc changed significantly from the early part of the season, much of what was played against lower quality defenses.

It will be interesting to see how he shoots this season. I think by the last 10 games of last season, he was consistently getting the best defender and was doubled teamed pretty often. That will be the case all next season. I think there is reason to think he is going to play at a similar level next year.

The big concern is that the other players on offense just stand in place and pass it around the perimeter each possession. SU needs to get some baskets in transition and someone besides Buddy needs to penetrate and dish. If JGIII, Jimmy, Cole, Symir and Benny can all help initiate some offense, this team can score a lot of points. Could be a fun offense to watch.

No one should expect Buddy to shoot 45% from three, it's not fair to him (BTW - I'm not saying you are, I just want to level-set here).

I think Buddy can shoot 40% or a tick higher from three for a year IF he has a dynamic lead ball handler (and if anyone wants to reply with a Kadary v JGIII thing here, please don't).

My biggest worry on offense for this team is an ability for a lead ball handler to be able to break down defenses off the dribble and take advantage of a rotating defense. We have a lot of guys that can get buckets, but are dependent on getting at least partially open looks. Depending on Buddy to score off the dribble isn't fair to Buddy. He can't sustain that for a season nor should he have to.

I just don't think we'll be able to get buckets in transition consistently. We aren't built for that, imo. However, I think there is a world where JGIII becomes a poor man's version of Kyle Lowry to help us unlock some movement.

I'm really worried about this team. I think the offense can becomes pretty isolation heavy without dynamic ball handling and we'll end up seeing a lot of late shot clock heaves. And, we aren't elite on defense as it is, so we'd be in a tough spot.

I'll say it again, I think Buddy can be All ACC and has a puncher's chance of a late second round pick. But I don't think he gets drafted. The NBA is a very, very, very hard league to make. Buddy can make a ton of money playing pro ball, I just don't think it will be in the NBA.

 

[MikeSU02]

I don't think Buddy is an NBA player but I dont think the kid from Gonzaga is either (Kispert I think). Lots can change in a year.

Kispert shot 44% from three his last two years at Gonzaga, including 53% from the floor last year.

Kispert and Buddy aren't in the same tier of shooting.

 

[Orangezoo]

What should the expectations be?
I would love to hear what you think.
I have said if the fanbase shouldn’t expect us to be Syracuse anymore then the frustration should go away.
We pretend we are still elite.
If we aren’t elite anymore and then the frustration should be less.

We have been a plucky team that can overachieve in March since 2015.
That isn’t one or two years it’s going on 7.

I watch Buddy Boeheim and I watch the NBA. The kid can shoot but I don’t see an elite shooter.
He misses way too many shots to be an elite shooter. Somehow our fanbase thinks he is an elite shooter.
I don’t see an elite shooter.
I see a good shooter but not elite.
50/40/90 are elite shooters.
50% overall of all your shots.
40% from 3 point range.
90% from the FT line.

People want to go into knots and make excuses. Covid.
Okay if the kid was affected by Covid his coach shouldn’t have played him as much as he did.

The HC won’t sit him when he struggles. If the coach won’t sit him then the Covid excuses isn’t legit.
If the player isn’t 100% don’t play him as 37+ MPG. We had options last year.

Buddy is a good player. I don’t see an NBA player yet. Everything Scotch has said is how I feel.

Buddy was Elite the last 3 weeks of the season. The last week of the regular season, ACCT and NCAAT.

If he is like that the whole season he will be great but I still don’t see an NBA player.

We haven't unwound from the setbacks that started in 2014. We also have been part of a league that handles the zone far better than the old BE.

What has resulted is weaker regular seasons and stronger post seasons. We have had at least two seasons 16-17 and 18-19 where regular season expectations were significantly missed and then seasons where post season expectations were vastly exceeded in 15-16, 17-18 and 20-21.

Its a very unique mixed bag. To me expectations right now are top 8 in the ACC, making the tournament, and getting recruiting back on track. I think the expectation is to pave a path back to being top 4 in our new league like we used to be that includes recruiting.

I understand there are frustrations around Buddy but to me he is key. He can bridge in what could be a better year this year into what hopefully can still be a great 22 class ahead of also a good 23 class. If he can be an AA that makes for a good leader for a team in the 5-9 seed range. So I don't think old expectations should be dead completely and I think the adversity we have faced is too easily ignored. Expectations wise we need to be more realistic but we can still be realistic positive here. Not sure if that makes sense as I wrote it as I'm trying to follow a webinar.

 

[Newhouser]

Kispert shot 44% from three his last two years at Gonzaga, including 53% from the floor last year.

Kispert and Buddy aren't in the same tier of shooting.

Maybe. Give Buddy that supporting cast and those looks...I agree but not all shooting numbers are created equal.

 

[MikeSU02]

Maybe. Give Buddy that supporting cast and those looks...I agree but not all shooting numbers are created equal.

Just to be clear, and I want to be very clear here, I am not saying Buddy is bad. I think he is all conference. IMO, Kispert was an elite shooter. Buddy is a very good shooter.

Neither are bad. Buddy can get square in a hurricane.

 

[dasher]

Again going back to 2009 isn’t the same as since 2015.
From 2009-2014 we were one of the top 5 programs in the nation.

If Nichols is right you should take my bet and not even need the 7 seed.

Break down the entire season. Was Covid a factor in those 14 games or only the bad games?

That is a silly statement. You are smarter than to say something as foolish as that. In the last 14 games, he shot 45%. Period. he was sick before that. He played against tougher teams during the last 14 games. I played ball with a guy that had a great, not good batting average. He couldn't hit good pitching. He roped bad pitching. You would just look at his average and say he is a great hitter. Look at his average. Once you look inside the numbers, different story. Teams game plan for Buddy. Teams like Virginia with a great coach and he still put up 30. This is pointless because no one will change their minds. People in the game know how good a shooter Buddy is.

 

[Alsacs]

That is a silly statement. You are smarter than to say something as foolish as that. In the last 14 games, he shot 45%. Period. he was sick before that. He played against tougher teams during the last 14 games. I played ball with a guy that had a great, not good batting average. He couldn't hit good pitching. He roped bad pitching. You would just look at his average and say he is a great hitter. Look at his average. Once you look inside the numbers, different story. Teams game plan for Buddy. Teams like Virginia with a great coach and he still put up 30. This is pointless because no one will change their minds. People in the game know how good a shooter Buddy is.

Take the bet then. No 7 seed.
You should feel like you are stealing my money.
You want better odds. If you think we are top 25 going into the tournament you would take my offer. You want protection.

 

[pearl31]

No one should expect Buddy to shoot 45% from three, it's not fair to him (BTW - I'm not saying you are, I just want to level-set here).

I think Buddy can shoot 40% or a tick higher from three for a year IF he has a dynamic lead ball handler (and if anyone wants to reply with a Kadary v JGIII thing here, please don't).

My biggest worry on offense for this team is an ability for a lead ball handler to be able to break down defenses off the dribble and take advantage of a rotating defense. We have a lot of guys that can get buckets, but are dependent on getting at least partially open looks. Depending on Buddy to score off the dribble isn't fair to Buddy. He can't sustain that for a season nor should he have to.

I just don't think we'll be able to get buckets in transition consistently. We aren't built for that, imo. However, I think there is a world where JGIII becomes a poor man's version of Kyle Lowry to help us unlock some movement.

I'm really worried about this team. I think the offense can becomes pretty isolation heavy without dynamic ball handling and we'll end up seeing a lot of late shot clock heaves. And, we aren't elite on defense as it is, so we'd be in a tough spot.

I'll say it again, I think Buddy can be All ACC and has a puncher's chance of a late second round pick. But I don't think he gets drafted. The NBA is a very, very, very hard league to make. Buddy can make a ton of money playing pro ball, I just don't think it will be in the NBA.

feel like this is actually a very fair outlook on our offensive potential/pitfalls for this season - i.e. mostly hinging upon how well or poorly our PG (and other positions too, I suppose) can break down their defenders to provide decent looks for shooters - it is certainly warranted to be skeptical about that prospect...

 

[Orangezoo]

No one should expect Buddy to shoot 45% from three, it's not fair to him (BTW - I'm not saying you are, I just want to level-set here).

I think Buddy can shoot 40% or a tick higher from three for a year IF he has a dynamic lead ball handler (and if anyone wants to reply with a Kadary v JGIII thing here, please don't).

My biggest worry on offense for this team is an ability for a lead ball handler to be able to break down defenses off the dribble and take advantage of a rotating defense. We have a lot of guys that can get buckets, but are dependent on getting at least partially open looks. Depending on Buddy to score off the dribble isn't fair to Buddy. He can't sustain that for a season nor should he have to.

I just don't think we'll be able to get buckets in transition consistently. We aren't built for that, imo. However, I think there is a world where JGIII becomes a poor man's version of Kyle Lowry to help us unlock some movement.

I'm really worried about this team. I think the offense can becomes pretty isolation heavy without dynamic ball handling and we'll end up seeing a lot of late shot clock heaves. And, we aren't elite on defense as it is, so we'd be in a tough spot.

I'll say it again, I think Buddy can be All ACC and has a puncher's chance of a late second round pick. But I don't think he gets drafted. The NBA is a very, very, very hard league to make. Buddy can make a ton of money playing pro ball, I just don't think it will be in the NBA.

I think this is fair. I also think that we will be a team who can get good looks without a prototypical PG on the floor. It actually happened a lot last year and there was great ball movement at times with high assist rates.

The problem was twofold. The first was that we were built to hurt teams with our shooting and we far too often got poor shooting performances despite a lot of open looks. The second part was shot selection. It was not good and that is a severe understatement.

So for this year, we need Buddy to be who he was at the end of the year ( not expecting 55 pct from 3 obviously) with some improvements. We need Cole to be what AG could not and that is being a consistent shooter while adding other elements and with Cole that is size to help on the boards. We need Jesse to be what we hope he can be now that he is ready to roll and then we need Joe to be as you have said. Benny is the x factor here. How good will he be and how can he elevate this team?

JBjr and Symir are the other key contributing pieces we need to be consistent. So I'm not worried maybe as much but if we can't get shooting from our shooters and we can't surround Buddy with other reliable weapons that force teams to pick their poison then this roster will struggle. I'm taking the positive outlook but it's just going to come down to guys doing what they are good at and doing it well consistently.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I predict we'll see a lot of double high screens with Swider and Williams screening for Buddy. It will be a serious case of having to pick your poison trying to guard us. Buddy will have a lot of options if he's doubled.

Four guys who can hit a three and Edwards could be a very good offensive team.

I think your prediction is a great wish, but why do you think this will actually happen? We've all seen far too much SU hoops to believe this is reality (e.g. Chuckwu, Sid, etc. all setting picks when we've had talented forwards who could shoot well in the pick and pop, or roll to the basket) Based on past experience, I predict we will see a lot of screens set by Jesse for Buddy or Joe. I hope the guards get much better this year at being able to hit the roller, if Jesse does that, or finding an open shooter.

 

[alphaorange]

As I recall, Buddy shoots from the new distance. Seems like White shot from the old distance. % will be different if I recall the distance correctly.

 

[dasher]

Take the bet then. No 7 seed.
You should feel like you are stealing my money.
You want better odds. If you think we are top 25 going into the tournament you would take my offer. You want protection.

I win bets. and the reason I do is because I make the bets I want. Right back at you. If we are just a plucky team, and Buddy is just a good shooter, take my bet.

 

[dasher]

As I recall, Buddy shoots from the new distance. Seems like White shot from the old distance. % will be different if I recall the distance correctly.

Great pt on the 3 pt difference.

 

[Alsacs]

I win bets. and the reason I do is because I make the bets I want. Right back at you. If we are just a plucky team, and Buddy is just a good shooter, take my bet.

I already got my terms with another poster and you want better terms. I won’t be stupid.
My terms are completely in line with what I have said.
I don’t think we will be top 25 come tournament time.
That is a top 6 seed.
You want me to extend the top 25 to top 28.

If you want top 28 then you lay 250 to my 200.

I’ll give you 7 seeds with that.

 

[Alsacs]

Great pt on the 3 pt difference.

The 3 point line only went back last year.
So that is only 1 of 3 years.

It’s not really a big point.

 

[AZOrange]

Literally the only thing true in this statement is saying Buddy's footspeed is terrible and even that is only relative to the NBA. His footspeed is adequate for his role for Cuse.

He will not get a look on shooting alone. The NBA's defense is better and complex and challenging than literally ever in history.

NBA defense across the board has fallen off a cliff in the last few years. Especially as the tightened rules on handchecking etc. even “good” defense
Usually results in a foul. You have a few good individual defenders but team defense is literally garbage. I spend quite a bit of time watching the NBA (about 10–15 games a week). Spend a few nights watching Portland and the “defense” the perimeter plays. Awful.

 

[Alsacs]

NBA defense across the board has fallen off a cliff in the last few years. Especially as the tightened rules on handchecking etc. even “good” defense
Usually results in a foul. You have a few good individual defenders but team defense is literally garbage. I spend quite a bit of time watching the NBA (about 10–15 games a week). Spend a few nights watching Portland and the “defense” the perimeter plays. Awful.

Buddy Boeheim doesn’t drive the ball the ball like McCollum or Lillard can.

I don’t get why Portland is brought up.
Portland should be concentrating on getting a rim protector at the 5 position rather than people criticizing the fact Lillard and McCollum can’t play defense.

It’s easy to be Klay Thompson when you have Steph next to you.

Marcus Smart can defend but can’t score like Lillard.

Buddy’s role in the NBA would be second unit Steve Novak, Duncan Robinson, Kyle Korver. He can’t drive the ball. He will be a guy who needs to be able to make corner 3’s north of 40%.
He won’t score other than.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Yes, an 11 seed is bad. Play-in game is bad. We are Syracuse. Top 25 and top 4 n the conference needs to be the standard. You don’t get there with Buddy as your alpha. The only thing more tired than the narrative is our consistent mediocrity and it’s acceptance and excuses by the fan base.

We should get free dome dogs too!!!

 

[SUskibum]

I think Buddy can be Adam Morrison with a slightly better shot and slightly worse playmaking ability.

I think Adam spent some time in the league despite being only 6’6 and slow.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

He has the height and his best attribute is a good one to have.

Hopefully he plays 2 more years of college ball and hits the combine strong and ready to plug and play.