Chance Westry Transferring to Syracuse

[FrancoPizza]

I would assume in his case they are certainly going to try and repair it which unfortunately brings with it a much longer time table to return.

Shrader is exhibit A of this.

 

[OmahaCuse]

The offensive player always has the advantage. I could score on players who are twice as good as as I ever was. That is why basketball games are high scoring affairs. This is not soccer . A really good offensive player is not going to be shut down. Off nights happen but that does not always mean it was because of the defender. Given our roster we need a shooting guard that can shoot. Perhaps Chance can fill that role in the future. I hope so.

Good teams will have shooters all over the floor. We need to keep up. We want to spread the floor. If the other team is able to pack it in we lose.

Did you see SD State play last year In the final 4? Or Houston the year before. You can definitely win with tough defense.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Bell averaged exactly 20 mins a game last year. He was not a typical late-career JB starter with high 20s low 30s in minutes per game. We often did pull him out and I expect more of the same next season barring him showing some capability in man-to-man D. On an ideal SU team I think he is a spark from range off the bench at this stage, not a starter, but this is not a perfectly ideal Cuse team.

I really really really do not understand how even posters on here I consider the most intelligent seem to be viewing us as having a Chris Bell problem rather than a small forward problem. Why do some not step back and look at the options we had to work with at small forward as a whole? It was between him Taylor and Copeland. Not him Kris Joseph and CJ Fair. This was not a Girard/Kadary situation either. Taylor and Copeland were also freshman that had considerable weaknesses to their game.

We have a small forward problem. We have a front court problem in general this year. If we play Taylor and Copeland at small forward instead of him this season the outlook is about the same - they better have improved a whole lot or we are in trouble. This Westry injury stings because we need improvement there.

 

[Orangezoo]

Bell averaged exactly 20 mins a game last year. He was not a typical late-career JB starter with high 20s low 30s in minutes per game. We often did pull him out and I expect more of the same next season barring him showing some capability in man-to-man D. On an ideal SU team I think he is a spark from range off the bench at this stage, not a starter, but this is not a perfectly ideal Cuse team.

I really really really do not understand how even posters on here I consider the most intelligent seem to be viewing us as having a Chris Bell problem rather than a small forward problem. Why do some not step back and look at the options we had to work with at small forward as a whole? It was between him Taylor and Copeland. Not him Kris Joseph and CJ Fair. This was not a Girard/Kadary situation either. Taylor and Copeland were also freshman that had considerable weaknesses to their game.

We have a small forward problem. We have a front court problem in general this year. If we play Taylor and Copeland at small forward instead of him this season the outlook is about the same - they better have improved a whole lot or we are in trouble. This Westry injury stings because we need improvement there.

This is the thinking if JB was coaching. We are going guard heavy. SF is hardly a position anymore. If Bell isn't improved it sure looks like Copeland is ready to step right in as a physical third guard alongside Taylor. Then don't discount a 4 guard lineup in certain situations. It's a different style of play and getting caught up in defined position roles is out dated

 

[Cusefan0307]

Bell averaged exactly 20 mins a game last year. He was not a typical late-career JB starter with high 20s low 30s in minutes per game. We often did pull him out and I expect more of the same next season barring him showing some capability in man-to-man D. On an ideal SU team I think he is a spark from range off the bench at this stage, not a starter, but this is not a perfectly ideal Cuse team.

I really really really do not understand how even posters on here I consider the most intelligent seem to be viewing us as having a Chris Bell problem rather than a small forward problem. Why do some not step back and look at the options we had to work with at small forward as a whole? It was between him Taylor and Copeland. Not him Kris Joseph and CJ Fair. This was not a Girard/Kadary situation either. Taylor and Copeland were also freshman that had considerable weaknesses to their game.

We have a small forward problem. We have a front court problem in general this year. If we play Taylor and Copeland at small forward instead of him this season the outlook is about the same - they better have improved a whole lot or we are in trouble. This Westry injury stings because we need improvement there.

Based on last year maybe. You’re assuming those two made little improvements.

I think Copeland and/or Taylor may or could be better than Bell having seen them practice live. Some people seem to think Bell got special treatment because of where his father works.

 

[DoctahLexus]

This is the thinking if JB was coaching. We are going guard heavy. SF is hardly a position anymore. If Bell isn't improved it sure looks like Copeland is ready to step right in as a physical third guard alongside Taylor. Then don't discount a 4 guard lineup in certain situations. It's a different style of play and getting caught up in defined position roles is out dated

Whether we are calling Taylor Copeland and Bell the "third guard" or not, the problems in their quality of play remain. All three of them are already more like tall guards in their style of play and size. I am all for giving Copeland a shot as I think his defense/boards is by far the best of the three. But will his offensive game be too limited for him to see major minutes? I think that is a possibility still, no matter how our style of play changes.

 

[Orangezoo]

Whether we are calling Taylor Copeland and Bell the "third guard" or not, the problems in their quality of play remain. All three of them are already more like tall guards in their style of play and size. I am all for giving Copeland a shot as I think his defense/boards is by far the best of the three. But will his offensive game be too limited for him to see major minutes? I think that is a possibility still, no matter how our style of play changes.

Judah and JJ should be out there at around 30 pts a game combined with creating another 15 for teammates. Benny and then 2 of Bell, Taylor and Copeland have to step up this year and then eventually Westry when he returns. I think with all these guys matchups dictate a lot too.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Based on last year maybe. You’re assuming those two made little improvements.

I think Copeland and/or Taylor may or could be better than Bell having seen them practice live. Some people seem to think Bell got special treatment because of where his father works.

I both know and assume nothing about how much the three of them have improved. All I am saying is if any of them are the same player that we saw last year then they should see as little play as possible. Last years Copeland and Taylor did not cut it either. That's all I'm saying.

I know nothing about off court family influence or anything like that.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I both know and assume nothing about how much the three of them have improved. All I am saying is if any of them are the same player that we saw last year then they should see as little play as possible. Last years Copeland and Taylor did not cut it either. That's all I'm saying.

I know nothing about off court family influence or anything like that.

I’m assuming they improved because that’s what freshmen do and seeing them in the dome backed that up. There’s also Kyle Cuffe who no one as mentioned. We don’t need to play 2g/2f/c anymore because we aren’t playing zone. I wish people would get past this.

 

[Orangezoo]

I’m assuming they improved because that’s what freshmen do and seeing in the dome backed that up. There’s also Kyle Cuffe who no one as mentioned. We don’t need to play 2g/2f/c anymore because we aren’t playing zone. I wish people would get past this.

Once they see it live it will sink it a bit more.

 

[OrangeinDC]

Bell averaged exactly 20 mins a game last year. He was not a typical late-career JB starter with high 20s low 30s in minutes per game. We often did pull him out and I expect more of the same next season barring him showing some capability in man-to-man D. On an ideal SU team I think he is a spark from range off the bench at this stage, not a starter, but this is not a perfectly ideal Cuse team.

I really really really do not understand how even posters on here I consider the most intelligent seem to be viewing us as having a Chris Bell problem rather than a small forward problem. Why do some not step back and look at the options we had to work with at small forward as a whole? It was between him Taylor and Copeland. Not him Kris Joseph and CJ Fair. This was not a Girard/Kadary situation either. Taylor and Copeland were also freshman that had considerable weaknesses to their game.

We have a small forward problem. We have a front court problem in general this year. If we play Taylor and Copeland at small forward instead of him this season the outlook is about the same - they better have improved a whole lot or we are in trouble. This Westry injury stings because we need improvement there.

Position-less players...

I don't see a problem at all for us because we have a few of those type players. Let's not pigeon hole them into old mindsets and roles, but use what we have. Teams would have to adjust to a QC playing forward, not sure a lot of "forwards" would be able to stay in front of him. I see options, loads of them, no problems at all. All the players have weaknesses, but if coach can augment those by having the right players together at the right times, our team will be a Problem, for everyone else. Chris has to handle his business when he's in there period. If he's not handling his business, sit him down.

 

[OrangeinDC]

This is the thinking if JB was coaching. We are going guard heavy. SF is hardly a position anymore. If Bell isn't improved it sure looks like Copeland is ready to step right in as a physical third guard alongside Taylor. Then don't discount a 4 guard lineup in certain situations. It's a different style of play and getting caught up in defined position roles is out dated

Hell yeah!!

 

[DoctahLexus]

I’m assuming they improved because that’s what freshmen do and seeing in the dome backed that up. There’s also Kyle Cuffe who no one as mentioned. We don’t need to play 2g/2f/c anymore because we aren’t playing zone. I wish people would get past this.

Ok that's a good thing. I'm glad you have seen improvement with them. But some seem to think Bell's quality of play is set in stone. We have a guy saying that he IS not a good player at all, not that he had some issues as a freshman, that he IS bad. Why this definitive language with Bell when his performance was not overall that much better or worse than fellow freshman Taylor or Copeland last season? Is he not expected to improve as freshman do?

As for the 2g/2f/c way of thinking, I understand that moving to man means being able to move away from that at times, but there will also be teams we play with three guys in the front court over 6'8. It will be tough to get away with 3 or 4 smaller guys on the court at times no matter what style of defense we run. I think we will need to see a lineup that includes Benny McCloud and Brown against certain opponents.

 

[AlaskaSU]

To sum up:
Taylor did not create his own shot. He was a nonfactor. Copeland was a turnover machine. He was a wild man. Bell played weak. He was soft.
Taylor would need to become more creative. Copeland would need to play under control. If Bell simply gets stronger he might be the most likely to improve.

 

[Cusefan0307]

To sum up:
Taylor did not create his own shot. He was a nonfactor. Copeland was a turnover machine. He was a wild man. Bell played weak. He was soft.
Taylor would need to become more creative. Copeland would need to play under control. If Bell simply gets stronger he might be the most likely to improve.

This is a take. It might not be remotely close to being true, but it’s certainly a take.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

To sum up:
Taylor did not create his own shot. He was a nonfactor. Copeland was a turnover machine. He was a wild man. Bell played weak. He was soft.
Taylor would need to become more creative. Copeland would need to play under control. If Bell simply gets stronger he might be the most likely to improve.

Why in the world would we need creativity from Taylor on a team with JJ and Judah? We need him to stand on the three line and be ready to fire shots. And continuously resetting himself out there to get open for our very talented and speed penetrators.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Why in the world would we need creativity from Taylor on a team with JJ and Judah? We need him to stand on the three line and be ready to fire shots. And continuously resetting himself out there to get open for our very talented and speed penetrators.

Because he was not able to get his shot off with enough frequency to be a factor in the game. A step-back jab-step would help.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Because he was not able to get his shot off with enough frequency to be a factor in the game.

He’s a catch and shoot player. So is Bell and really so is Benny. They won’t be nor do we need them to create their own shot. If we do then something has gone terribly wrong.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Because he was not able to get his shot off with enough frequency to be a factor in the game.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Now I know we are looking at nearly all offensive highlights here, and for a guy like Bell who struggled with consistency and had issues with rebounding and defense, this is far from the whole picture. That being said he shows here that he can catch and shoot the three with a quick release when needed, and is quite comfortable shooting from anywhere with pressure closing in and with a hand in his face. While I agree with others that his main goal in the offense will not be creating his own shot, it would be nice to see more plays from him like the one at 1:33. Defender has to respect the shot from deep and bites on the fake, Bell dribbles to a mid range spot and gets up a high percentage stop and pop while the D recovers.

I know as well as anyone here that he did not always look like the guy in the highlights, but given that he is a freshman and just getting started I don't think it is crazy to expect him to be a contributor for us next season where his play looks like this more often.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

To sum up:
Taylor did not create his own shot. He was a nonfactor. Copeland was a turnover machine. He was a wild man. Bell played weak. He was soft.
Taylor would need to become more creative. Copeland would need to play under control. If Bell simply gets stronger he might be the most likely to improve.

Copeland being a turnover machine is simply not true. The stats do not support that.

It's a board trope that Copeland is a walking turnover. He isn't and he wasn't.

 

[pearl31]

just have this feeling both Copeland and Cuffe will emerge and really surprise folks

 

[OmahaCuse]

Now I know we are looking at nearly all offensive highlights here, and for a guy like Bell who struggled with consistency and had issues with rebounding and defense, this is far from the whole picture. That being said he shows here that he can catch and shoot the three with a quick release when needed, and is quite comfortable shooting from anywhere with pressure closing in and with a hand in his face. While I agree with others that his main goal in the offense will not be creating his own shot, it would be nice to see more plays from him like the one at 1:33. Defender has to respect the shot from deep and bites on the fake, Bell dribbles to a mid range spot and gets up a high percentage stop and pop while the D recovers.

I know as well as anyone here that he did not always look like the guy in the highlights, but given that he is a freshman and just getting started I don't think it is crazy to expect him to be a contributor for us next season where his play looks like this more often.

Bell is an elite shooter, he IMO will replace Girard as the guy to get kick out open 3’s. Think he will take a big jump this year with added strength and awareness.

 

[UpstateSM]

The biggest leaps in college hoop are made between freshman and sophomore seasons and we have a team full of those guys.

My money says that at least one of JT/Quadir/Bell will be way, way better than people expect. Hopefully two of them.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

just have this feeling both Copeland and Cuffe will emerge and really surprise folks

Both are probably the type of players that will do well in an uptempo style of play, but the thing is, we might be able to substitute other names of players who will take a big jump this season.