General20
Basketball Maven
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I suppose anyone who has read any of my old posts already knows I'm a basketball nerd. I'm into things like strategy, floor spacing, mid range jump shots, pick and rolls, and double teams, and I have to say that because of these things this year's team makes me happy.
They come equipped with lots of quirks and tricks. Things like, point forwards, centers and power forwards beating their man off the dribble, and mid range jump shots. Think of them as the basketball version of a veteran left handed pitcher who can only throw the ball 87 miles a hour but has an artillery of off speed pitches with which he can trick hitters. There is no star on this team, but there are four, five, maybe even six guys who should be able to put up double figures regularly.
This is not a typical Syracuse team in many ways, they have a lot of holes, and probably a ceiling of 4th or 5th place in the ACC, but they are tons of fun to watch from a basketball nerd standpoint, and they should be able to run a bunch of quirky plays, and score in a lot of different ways. All in all I had more fun watching this exhibition game than I have had watching any SU team in a long time.
Onto the game, I think we learned a few things today (which is rare for an exhibition). Syracuse was down 9 at halftime, and played the second half to win. This means we got a glimpse of their true rotation, which is this . . .
Joseph, Cooney, Gbinije, McCullough, Christmas are our best line up and will play the majority of the minutes. Patterson and Roberson will get regular game time. Johnson looks like the odd man out, and Obokoh is a question mark.
The reason Obokoh is a question mark is because Christmas played the entire second half. Obviously he can't play all game every game and somebody is going to need to be the back up center. Its either going to be McCullough or Obokoh, and I'm not at all sure that Boeheim knows who is best suited for that role yet. McCullough is skinny for a center and will get pushed around, but, he will also be able to take opposing centers away from the basket on offense, and beat them in transition. Translation, we will get worse defensively and better offensively with McCullough at center. Obokoh is young and raw, and worse than Christmas in every way so Syracuse gets worse overall with Obokoh on the court, but perhaps he can learn to take over Christmas's defensive duties and the rest of the team can worry about carrying the offensive load. Only time will tell at this point.
People overstate how good Carleton is. They have beat a lot of great teams recently , but that is because they play all year long, most of their players are 5th year guys, and they get those great teams in August when they are not ready to compete. Carleton has middle of the road mid-major talent and nothing more. Still, that makes for one of the most difficult exhibition games a D1 team can get.
The good news is, Syracuse won, and looked pretty good doing it. The bad news is they were terrible on the boards. With Christmas, McCullough, and Roberson Syracuse should be a good rebounding team, and quite frankly, they will need to be. In this game Syracuse was dominated on the boards mostly due to the fact that neither McCullough or Roberson were ever in the places they should have been. Gbinije was outstanding on the boards, but he had no help.
After a first half where Syracuse played a deep bench, and basically looked like a team in an exhibition game, they were down by 10-15 points until Joseph sparked a late rally taking Carleton's halftime lead down to 9. In the second half Syracuse came out looking to win, and pretty much ruled the game. The line up that did the most damage was notable for how different and fun it was . . . Patterson, Cooney, Gbinije, McCullough, Christmas. It was fun because Gbinije played forward on defense and point guard on offense. Patterson and Cooney (and even McCullough who can shoot) gave the offense great spacing, allowing Syracuse to dump the ball inside to Christmas who had tons of room to either score over Carleton's useless center or pass to the open man when the inevitable double team came. You've got to love a perfectly spaced offense were all five players are looking to take their man off the dribble, or find the open man. Its how basketball should look.
Individual performers
Joseph - Looked fantastic, scoring 19 points, in only 26 minutes, while only missing two shots. His best sequence came in the second half when he beat his man off the dribble for a lay up, then faked doing the same thing on the next possession, jab stepped and buried a mid range jumper. There is no defense for that. Joseph is a ton of fun to watch and is going to be a fan favorite. I just hope he's not get too good too soon, because I want him to stay at least three years. The down side to Joseph's game is he's bad defensively, but that is normal for a freshman. It was impossible to not be impressed at how good he looked this early in his career. Most freshman point guards are shaky in exhibition against worse competition.
Cooney - Had a bad game shooting. He is going to have his good and his bad days from behind the arc, but his defense was good (and is almost always good) and he hit his free throws.
Roberson - I honestly don't think Roberson is all that good of a basketball player right now. Offensively he can't handle the ball with enough skill to drive to the basket successfully and he's also a reluctant (and mediocre) jump shooter, so he does not offer much offensively. Defensively he's got the tools but not the mind. He made way too many mistakes today, and got pushed around on the boards to boot. I am expecting him to be this year's token starter, making way early and often for Gbinije, who is simply a better player. Where Roberson can help us this year is on the boards. He needs to clean up everything defensively and learn to get the garbage baskets offensively.
McCullough - The guy is lightning quick for a 6'10 player, and he's got springs. He's too young, and too weak to be a superstar, but he's good already, maybe the best player we have, and I expect him to leave for the NBA after this season. Its his versatility I like most. One minute blocking a shot, the next scoring in transition. One minute hitting a three, the next posting a player up. He can pretty much do it all. He was absolutely terrible defensively in this game, but, like with Joseph you have to expect that from a freshman.
Christmas - He basically sat the bench the whole first half because of fouls and still managed to be our best player. At this point Syracuse looks decent defensively with Christmas in the game protecting the rim as well as barking orders to his teammates, but everything falls apart when Christmas goes to the bench. This is a major worry. Christmas went up against a 6'6 guy a lot of the time in this game so he was double teamed every time he touched the ball. When he wasn't, he scored 100% of the time. He had some nice post moves, and also 3 or 4 times when he took his smaller (should have been quicker but wasn't) defender off the dribble to score. It took Christmas a while to learn how to pass out of the double team (lets face it the guy's never been double teamed in his life) but he eventually figured it out. There are signs that Christmas is making the kind of leap Rick Jackson did his senior year. Lets hope this is true because there can be no doubt that Christmas is our most important player. We don't really have a good back up option.
Gbinije - Remember last year when Gbinije struggled to bring the ball up the court, much less run the team as the point guard? Well those days are over. Gbinije looked like a whole new player, handling the ball confidently and doing a great job running the offense. He played the forward position all game long defensively and never played guard, which I think tells you a lot about who is more ready to contribute between Johnson and Patterson. Gbinije was also the only good defensive forward, and the only good rebounder. He offered a lot in this game, and is going to be an invaluable contributor. One of the most underrated aspects of his game . . . when Gbinije gets a rebound (which will be often if he plays forward full time like it looks like he will) its off to the races. He can lead the transition break as well as any forward we have ever had.
Patterson - Scored 15 huge points, that included hitting his first four threes. We know three point shooting is something that comes and goes, and we know Patterson is not going to hit four threes every game. Heck, he might never do it again, but he does pose a threat that will allow Syracuse to space the court properly on offense, and, his extra long arms make him a fantastic defender at the top of the zone. So long as he keeps that defense up he is going to play, whether the threes are falling or not.
Johnson - BJ has a great skill set; he's tall, athletic, he can handle the ball and he can shoot. Before its all said and done he is going to be a star here, but its not going to be this year. Right now, Johnson is just too skinny. Ive really never seen anything like it; it boarders on frail. He's got to put on muscle before he can bang with the likes of Carleton, much less the big dogs of the ACC.
Obokoh - He looks a little short. He also looks lost and inadequate on both offense and defense. He's not ready yet, but I am sure Boeheim and crew will be working with him around the clock. We will see what happens. It sure would be nice to know he's able come off the bench and play 15 minutes of solid defense.
They come equipped with lots of quirks and tricks. Things like, point forwards, centers and power forwards beating their man off the dribble, and mid range jump shots. Think of them as the basketball version of a veteran left handed pitcher who can only throw the ball 87 miles a hour but has an artillery of off speed pitches with which he can trick hitters. There is no star on this team, but there are four, five, maybe even six guys who should be able to put up double figures regularly.
This is not a typical Syracuse team in many ways, they have a lot of holes, and probably a ceiling of 4th or 5th place in the ACC, but they are tons of fun to watch from a basketball nerd standpoint, and they should be able to run a bunch of quirky plays, and score in a lot of different ways. All in all I had more fun watching this exhibition game than I have had watching any SU team in a long time.
Onto the game, I think we learned a few things today (which is rare for an exhibition). Syracuse was down 9 at halftime, and played the second half to win. This means we got a glimpse of their true rotation, which is this . . .
Joseph, Cooney, Gbinije, McCullough, Christmas are our best line up and will play the majority of the minutes. Patterson and Roberson will get regular game time. Johnson looks like the odd man out, and Obokoh is a question mark.
The reason Obokoh is a question mark is because Christmas played the entire second half. Obviously he can't play all game every game and somebody is going to need to be the back up center. Its either going to be McCullough or Obokoh, and I'm not at all sure that Boeheim knows who is best suited for that role yet. McCullough is skinny for a center and will get pushed around, but, he will also be able to take opposing centers away from the basket on offense, and beat them in transition. Translation, we will get worse defensively and better offensively with McCullough at center. Obokoh is young and raw, and worse than Christmas in every way so Syracuse gets worse overall with Obokoh on the court, but perhaps he can learn to take over Christmas's defensive duties and the rest of the team can worry about carrying the offensive load. Only time will tell at this point.
People overstate how good Carleton is. They have beat a lot of great teams recently , but that is because they play all year long, most of their players are 5th year guys, and they get those great teams in August when they are not ready to compete. Carleton has middle of the road mid-major talent and nothing more. Still, that makes for one of the most difficult exhibition games a D1 team can get.
The good news is, Syracuse won, and looked pretty good doing it. The bad news is they were terrible on the boards. With Christmas, McCullough, and Roberson Syracuse should be a good rebounding team, and quite frankly, they will need to be. In this game Syracuse was dominated on the boards mostly due to the fact that neither McCullough or Roberson were ever in the places they should have been. Gbinije was outstanding on the boards, but he had no help.
After a first half where Syracuse played a deep bench, and basically looked like a team in an exhibition game, they were down by 10-15 points until Joseph sparked a late rally taking Carleton's halftime lead down to 9. In the second half Syracuse came out looking to win, and pretty much ruled the game. The line up that did the most damage was notable for how different and fun it was . . . Patterson, Cooney, Gbinije, McCullough, Christmas. It was fun because Gbinije played forward on defense and point guard on offense. Patterson and Cooney (and even McCullough who can shoot) gave the offense great spacing, allowing Syracuse to dump the ball inside to Christmas who had tons of room to either score over Carleton's useless center or pass to the open man when the inevitable double team came. You've got to love a perfectly spaced offense were all five players are looking to take their man off the dribble, or find the open man. Its how basketball should look.
Individual performers
Joseph - Looked fantastic, scoring 19 points, in only 26 minutes, while only missing two shots. His best sequence came in the second half when he beat his man off the dribble for a lay up, then faked doing the same thing on the next possession, jab stepped and buried a mid range jumper. There is no defense for that. Joseph is a ton of fun to watch and is going to be a fan favorite. I just hope he's not get too good too soon, because I want him to stay at least three years. The down side to Joseph's game is he's bad defensively, but that is normal for a freshman. It was impossible to not be impressed at how good he looked this early in his career. Most freshman point guards are shaky in exhibition against worse competition.
Cooney - Had a bad game shooting. He is going to have his good and his bad days from behind the arc, but his defense was good (and is almost always good) and he hit his free throws.
Roberson - I honestly don't think Roberson is all that good of a basketball player right now. Offensively he can't handle the ball with enough skill to drive to the basket successfully and he's also a reluctant (and mediocre) jump shooter, so he does not offer much offensively. Defensively he's got the tools but not the mind. He made way too many mistakes today, and got pushed around on the boards to boot. I am expecting him to be this year's token starter, making way early and often for Gbinije, who is simply a better player. Where Roberson can help us this year is on the boards. He needs to clean up everything defensively and learn to get the garbage baskets offensively.
McCullough - The guy is lightning quick for a 6'10 player, and he's got springs. He's too young, and too weak to be a superstar, but he's good already, maybe the best player we have, and I expect him to leave for the NBA after this season. Its his versatility I like most. One minute blocking a shot, the next scoring in transition. One minute hitting a three, the next posting a player up. He can pretty much do it all. He was absolutely terrible defensively in this game, but, like with Joseph you have to expect that from a freshman.
Christmas - He basically sat the bench the whole first half because of fouls and still managed to be our best player. At this point Syracuse looks decent defensively with Christmas in the game protecting the rim as well as barking orders to his teammates, but everything falls apart when Christmas goes to the bench. This is a major worry. Christmas went up against a 6'6 guy a lot of the time in this game so he was double teamed every time he touched the ball. When he wasn't, he scored 100% of the time. He had some nice post moves, and also 3 or 4 times when he took his smaller (should have been quicker but wasn't) defender off the dribble to score. It took Christmas a while to learn how to pass out of the double team (lets face it the guy's never been double teamed in his life) but he eventually figured it out. There are signs that Christmas is making the kind of leap Rick Jackson did his senior year. Lets hope this is true because there can be no doubt that Christmas is our most important player. We don't really have a good back up option.
Gbinije - Remember last year when Gbinije struggled to bring the ball up the court, much less run the team as the point guard? Well those days are over. Gbinije looked like a whole new player, handling the ball confidently and doing a great job running the offense. He played the forward position all game long defensively and never played guard, which I think tells you a lot about who is more ready to contribute between Johnson and Patterson. Gbinije was also the only good defensive forward, and the only good rebounder. He offered a lot in this game, and is going to be an invaluable contributor. One of the most underrated aspects of his game . . . when Gbinije gets a rebound (which will be often if he plays forward full time like it looks like he will) its off to the races. He can lead the transition break as well as any forward we have ever had.
Patterson - Scored 15 huge points, that included hitting his first four threes. We know three point shooting is something that comes and goes, and we know Patterson is not going to hit four threes every game. Heck, he might never do it again, but he does pose a threat that will allow Syracuse to space the court properly on offense, and, his extra long arms make him a fantastic defender at the top of the zone. So long as he keeps that defense up he is going to play, whether the threes are falling or not.
Johnson - BJ has a great skill set; he's tall, athletic, he can handle the ball and he can shoot. Before its all said and done he is going to be a star here, but its not going to be this year. Right now, Johnson is just too skinny. Ive really never seen anything like it; it boarders on frail. He's got to put on muscle before he can bang with the likes of Carleton, much less the big dogs of the ACC.
Obokoh - He looks a little short. He also looks lost and inadequate on both offense and defense. He's not ready yet, but I am sure Boeheim and crew will be working with him around the clock. We will see what happens. It sure would be nice to know he's able come off the bench and play 15 minutes of solid defense.
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