Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="reedny, post: 1643656, member: 1423"] Interesting contrast between this year's and next year's teams ... almost an inverse with the back court/front court rotations. Great back court and equally limited front court this season. We knew this going in, as 2 of the 3 front court starters haven't played extended minutes recently ... we have a freshmen SF and our starting center hasn't balled in 2 years. There's also no shot-blocker and the tallest guy is 6-9. Obviously, Roberson's emerged as a force on the glass and his offense is better. Lydon has provided depth and some scoring. But overall, our interior defense has been our achilles heal and (except for Lydon) bench scoring is non-existent. The back court is the bright spot ... with two senior/5th year veterans providing consistent scoring and excellent decision-making, ball-handling and defense. Next year it switches. Our back court becomes the less experienced unit, with limited depth and only one returning starter. Obviously, Battle and Richardson (and Howard providing depth) may be one of the tallest and most talented back courts we've had since Dion and MCW were here. But the biggest upgrade will be on the front line, which suddenly becomes much deeper and longer. At 7'2, Chukwu brings elite size and shot-blocking. DC (assuming he returns) adds experience and some post offense. We also have very capable returning forwards in Roberson and Lydon, and depth with Moyer and possibly Thompson (who can back up either center or PF). That's a loaded front court that will help on offense but be able to defend anyone in conference, and maybe the country. All that said, I'm expecting that early on (until late January), we will struggle to score against better teams. On offense, we'll have to replace 30 points we're getting from our back court this year. I'm hoping we can get 10 ppg out of Battle, and that Richardson's 13.4 ppg will go up to 16-17. The rest will have to come from Lydon (going from 8.7 to 10-12) and Roberson (going from 9.7 to 12-15). Our TO's may jump with less experience up top, and we won't have that veteran presence on D. We may see occasional offensive flashes from Chukwu and Battle, but clearly there's going to be an adjustment with MR, Lydon and Roberson having to shoulder the scoring load. Once we reach mid-late January, I'm expecting a little more offense inside, great defense (especially on the interior) and look for the Battle/Richardson duo to explode. With better interior defense and shot-blocking, I'm anticipating the return of our lethal transition game. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?