Clemson Postgame Thoughts

[Cuse181]

Who plays those minutes now? Mostly Brown, which changes the way he must play, and is not sustainable, at least as it translates into victories on the court. I get that lots of people dislike McLeod's game, but this isn't hard to understand.

He was playing the 5 anyway? Da faq? Like idk what kind of defense there is for him being anything more than 5 more fouls. Brown still outplayed him at the 5

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I don't think Taylor is going anywhere. I think he is going to work with GMac and get his shot straightened out. Then he will move over a spot where he should be more effective against guys more his size. He is being asked to play the 4 spot which a traditional 4 he isn't.

I’ve seen enough from Taylor to know he’s not an ACC caliber player. Too many flaws regardless of what position he plays.

 

[kcsu]

What if Georgetown or other Big East team signed JB as their next head coach?

I'd be thrilled

 

[NorSyr66]

If you couldn't see why Taylor plays in this game you better never post again. Then again keep posting because laughter is great for the soul.

Hate to break it to you but to win at basketball you need to either score or stop the other team from scoring. Taylor does neither. That is why he should not start and rather give the starters a breather. In his few minutes in the floor if he can show improvement in his deficienicies then he can earn more minutes. That is college basketball!

 

[NorSyr66]

Mintz is our Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Makes nice plays and then counters with atrocious plays. Tries to steal the ball -- 3 pointer by Girard. Fakes a foul -- 3 pointer by Girard. I agree with others who say Copeland should be handling the ball on offense. The problem now is we have 5 guys and no quality backups, assuming JT is a backup rather than a starter. Cuffe isn't playing. Hima is a disaster. Carey is somewhat better but not a guy I want to see play major minutes. Taylor plays decent defense but he is usually overmatched and is a zero on offense. Remember all our depth at the beginning of the season?

...the last sentence is the haunting for me!! We were falling all over our selves about all the great backup and depth we had! Now we stand here with barely 5 players to put on the floor and a couple of them are huge question marks and a couple more are playing out of position. How far have we fallen????

 

[NorSyr66]

I really wish folks would realize we do not have Jesse and Joe anymore. That ship has sailed. We have what little is left of this quickly depleting team. Red and the coaches have one hell of a huge challenge pulling this team together. It has to start with two absolute statements. Start Copeland and tell Judah to become a team player or sit. End of discussion. It sounds like the Cuffee experiment has gone sour so let's finish the season as best we can. We are SU, let's play like we respect the long history of this program. Leave it all on the floor.

 

[NorSyr66]

Haven't read all the posts but I'm not gonna criticize the coach, or the program on a macro level.

We were undermanned, the 1st half effort after the 4 or 5 minute mark was disappointing. The 2nd half effort was nice to see. I hope the players learn the level of effort that is needed to win. I thought Bell made a couple of plays on defense which was good to see. I'm looking for small incremental signs of hope because the team is out manned right now. I hope Red can keep them together after giving the effort to tie it up and then run out of gas at the end.

Wins will be few and hard to find to close out the year but I want to see how hard do they play, defend, the little things, etc.

Good post. Shows reality of situation

 

[domestu]

has anybody seen an NIT bracketology? Are we even in that?

There are several sites that do NIT bracketology and yes, we are a NIT bubble team. Our chances of making it will depend on winning a few more games. I expect we'll have a pretty good idea about the NIT two weeks from now after the Notre Dame game. Go Cuse!

 

[NorSyr66]

If Starling is back and playing 35 per night I want him at the 1 and a better shooter as our 2.

Thinking we can portal a better PG than Mintz and Copeland is probably irrational. A better shooter sure every team has them.

Give me someone who can shoot 40% at guard and then a big 6-8” athletic physical D stopper type and that’s probably all we need.

Starling
Portal Guard
Bell
Freeman
Brown

Copet
Moore
Portal Forward
McLeod

Sounds pretty good but I absolutely need to start the game with a legitimate center not Brown

 

[OptimusOtto]

It was a flawed roster from the jump but injuries have been a killer. Our entire front court is playing out of position.

It’s killing us that Maliq is our only center option. You can tell he’s gassed and playing scared of fouling out. It’s a miracle we had a chance to win today.

 

[Hopkins16]

The loss of Jesse doomed us. We have no answer for good and dominant bigs like Hall, Bacot, Filipowski etc. We need to address this or next season will be more of the same.

 

[CapitalO]

If Starling is back and playing 35 per night I want him at the 1 and a better shooter as our 2.

Thinking we can portal a better PG than Mintz and Copeland is probably irrational. A better shooter sure every team has them.

Give me someone who can shoot 40% at guard and then a big 6-8” athletic physical D stopper type and that’s probably all we need.

Starling
Portal Guard
Bell
Freeman
Brown

Cope
Moore
Portal Forward
McLeod

are you thinking Westry is done do to injuries ?

 

[gmoney44]

Yeah, I'm ok with another less than stellar year, but there needs to be improvement, as in bubble or better. I'm not expecting top-25 polls, but top-40 KP should be doable. We haven't been there in five seasons and barely. Any better than 39 was in 2015-16 (27). And we haven't been better than an 8 seed in the tourney since 2013-14.

People like to compare Red to Hurley's first few season, but Hurley also took over a team in a much worse place, like Louisville last season bad, and made 50% increases in KP ranks every season following his first. Uconn KP Rank by year:
2017-18 - 179 (Last season of Ollie)
2018-19 - 98 (first season of Hurley)
2019-20 - 52
2020-21 - 21
2021-22 - 22
2022-23 - 1
2023-24 - 3

Comparatively, last season Syracuse was 118 under JAB with an allegedly talented* squad. Red's first season is 93 with a limited squad, which honestly, is pretty good considering what he's working with, but

*He had JG3, Jesse, and Judah and we were not good.

This season isn’t over with. Unfortunately we will probably limp across the finish line and drag our KP down further.

 

[gmoney44]

Right now, Cope is a better PG than Judah. He played lead guard in HS, has a good handle and even Greenberg remarked last game, good bb IQ.
Judah, bless his heart, is NOT a "pass first, set-up-my-teammates, run-the-offense" PG. He just isn't. We're making the same mistake with him as we did with JG3, that is playing him in a role that doesn't fit him best. The Joe Girard we saw today, is the one who should've been playing at SU.
To be sure, he's not blameless. But asking Judah to run a team offense, especially in end-game situations, is coaching malpractice. JMHO

Unfortunately this has become a pattern here. Come to Syracuse where we will play you out of position and make you look like a fool because we can’t figure out how to manage a roster.

It has made watching SU basketball a chore like doing the dishes or mowing the lawn.

 

[gmoney44]

has anybody seen an NIT bracketology? Are we even in that?

God I hope not. Just get us to the off-season so we can clean house.

 

[Irt4su]

I don’t have any stats or eye test to prove this, but I think red is cutting his coaching chops and I do believe he and our future team are destined for great things. This year was not make or break, next year is an influx of talent and cutting of some lack of talent. Let’s see how the recruiting goes for 25. Next year may be a disappointment too but I do think we will all look back and sit back and say we are back! Just not happening in one or two seasons.

Also I am generally a pessimist so this took a lot for me to say. I do believe Cuse will be back. We have to rally like we have around Fran. Rome (and Syracuse) weren’t built, or re-built, in a day….or season

 

[capeorange]

Something stinks in our AD's strength & conditioning dept.
It can't be a coincidence that we're always on the short end of injuries in the 2 major sports.
It's like we always end up back here- hoping to eke out a few wins w/ a depleted roster.

I'd even include the orthopedic md's that have treated these players. Ever since Dejuan Coleman we've seemed to have a few players that have had chronic knee problems after being treated. Maybe a different s&c program and pt before "minor procedures".

 

[DilemaCuse]

Good post. Shows reality of situation

Thank you. I've resigned myself to the fact that this is a lost year and it's hard to fairly evaluate AA. Looking for small moral victories and hopefully a win over ND on 2/24 JB day. The other games are can they be competitive in them.

 

[capeorange]

"Draft stock" to protect

penny stock

 

[qdawgg]

Mintz sticking in the NBA is laughable. Just send him directly to Europe and he'll make some coin there and have a nice international career. Making the big show? No, not gonna happen.

Except the first guy he thinks he can slap in the back of the head and get away with it, in Europe they’ll rightfully pummel him on the court.

 

[qdawgg]

i think mintz knows he untouchable

whats red going to do?

dismiss him from the team? lol

PS didnt watch the game

sounds like a wise decision

Sit him for a half the next game. He’s not untouchable, it’s not like we’re making the tournament. There’s literally nothing to play for the rest of this season, especially with NIL and portal. It’s possible 75% of our lineup won’t be on the court next year. This is the time to sit a guy who won’t even look his coach in the face and just plays the way he wants to.

 

[AZOrange]

Unfortunately this has become a pattern here. Come to Syracuse where we will play you out of position and make you look like a fool because we can’t figure out how to manage a roster.

It has made watching SU basketball a chore like doing the dishes or mowing the lawn.

Totally agree. This out of position stuff has killed us for a decade. Because Mike G could run point…everyone can do it! 25% of the roster are centers that can’t play! You have 3 that is clearly not ACC level. A guy who is booted. A guy who is hurt. And a guy that doesn’t play for whatever reason. Horrible

 

[Sbucketball]

There’s literally nothing to play for the rest of this season, especially with NIL and portal. It’s possible 75% of our lineup won’t be on the court next year.

It’s critical for portal recruiting that we don’t completely nose dive. High end recruits need to believe Red is at least capable of success.

 

[Scooch]

Unfortunately this has become a pattern here. Come to Syracuse where we will play you out of position and make you look like a fool because we can’t figure out how to manage a roster.

It has made watching SU basketball a chore like doing the dishes or mowing the lawn.

Yup.

It’s really is unbelievable. How many “point guards” who were really 2s have we had in the past decade? How many 3/4s playing big minutes at the 5?

It’s astonishing how season after season we’ve had incredibly poor roster construction.

This year we have ONE guy who’s a competent 4, who of course is playing the 5, while we have, what, SIX guys on scholarship across those spots? Mind blowing.

 

[baggerbob]

I really wish folks would realize we do not have Jesse and Joe anymore. That ship has sailed. We have what little is left of this quickly depleting team. Red and the coaches have one hell of a huge challenge pulling this team together. It has to start with two absolute statements. Start Copeland and tell Judah to become a team player or sit. End of discussion. It sounds like the Cuffee experiment has gone sour so let's finish the season as best we can. We are SU, let's play like we respect the long history of this program. Leave it all on the floor.

At this point of the season it appears Red is as stubborn as JB about being wrong.
Even though we fall behind at the start of every game, he is going to start Taylor.