DaJuan Coleman

[Orangeyes]

Will start every game this season barring injury, illness or suspension, take it to the bank.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Will start every game this season barring injury, illness or suspension, take it to the bank.

Right: Coleman, Rak and CJ

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[rrlbees]

Will start every game this season barring injury, illness or suspension, take it to the bank.

We already took that to the bank.

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[jdubs30]

At the 4 or the 5?

 

[DeGrozz]

Will start every game this season barring injury, illness or suspension, take it to the bank.

The big question is whether he'll be starting Freshman Rakeem/Fab minutes or Freshman BTriche minutes.

Any word on that front?

 

[Orangeyes]

The big question is whether he'll be starting Freshman Rakeem/Fab minutes or Freshman BTriche minutes.

Any word on that front?

It's all up to DC/JB

Hopefully it's not Fab Melo/Rakeem Christmas freshman season all over again.

 

[Orangeyes]

Look for much better ball movement this year. MCW will keep everyone happy. Look for a more confident Brandon Triche. Cooney's year off was put to good use as he has added muscle and his shot has improved as a result. CJ is ready to step up his game as JB has asked more from him this year. Coleman has been hard at work with a personal trainer and is within 12 pounds of where the staff wants him. He has a great work ethic and wants to be the best Dejuan that he can be for Syracuse. The chemistry within this team is terrific.

 

[memcorsu]

Any feelings on who the "Scoop" (leader, general, and heart) of this years team might be?

 

[Orangeyes]

Any feelings on who the "Scoop" (leader, general, and heart) of this years team might be?

I think MCW is ready to be the leader of this team.

Along with Brandon's quieter senior leadership like we got out of Duany in 2003 we should be in good shape in that department.

 

[General20]

At the 4 or the 5?

Coleman will be playing the 5 exclusively . . . on defense. Offense is an entirely different (and much more interesting) matter.

Christmas was much better as a 5 last year than a 4, nobody will argue that, but I will argue that sophomore big men are hardly even the same people as freshmen big men, and the sophomore Christmas will be a far better 4 than a 5. He will be quicker and in better condition, he will have a far better understanding of the defense we are trying to play, and (hopefully) he will be able to bully opposing teams 4's under the basket on offense. This brings us back to the offensive discussion.

I'm fairly confident that Coleman can score consistently in the low post right now against top quality college competition. Which will be great for those times he is playing with Fair and Southerland as the two forwards (which I think is going to be a lot as I am expecting both Fair and Southerland to have very good years). However, there are also going to be times when we want to go big and play both Coleman and Christmas. In that case, Coleman's ability to hit mid range jump shots is really going to come into play. Coleman will come out to the high post (most likely Southerland will be in the game, as opposed to Fair, to stretch the D) leaving Christmas isolated inside against a power forward - few of which are going to be of his size and athleticism.

If Christmas has evolved to the point where he can punish a smaller weaker defender on the low blocks, Syracuse is going to be a very good team, because they will have the ability to go "small" with Coleman at center and two very good scoring forwards and guards (i.e. no weak players or guys to double off of). Or they can go big, and exploit mismatches down low because they will still be able to spread the court despite having tremendous size.

This version of Syracuse is going to be more skilled and better shooting than last year's team. I think the fans will enjoy this team more. The style of basketball will be more fun to watch as the court is going to be spread better, and things will look nicer.

Last year's team, however, was the epitome of the wave of the future in basketball. Ultra athletic, lock down defense, and deadly in transition (think about both Kentucky and the Miami Heat, played this way). So while, I think this year's team will be competing for a Big East title and a 1 seed, just as last year's team did. Ultimately I think last year's team was the better team (not going out on too far of a limb here considering our record last year).

 

[Upstate]

I would kill to see an agressive rebounder again in an SU uniform. If CJ and Rak get a really mean streak and Coleman uses his body the way he has shown he can, this could be one of the better rebounding frontcourts in the nation. That said, those are relatively big "ifs", but there's no reason to believe they can't happen.

 

[SUintheVille]

We already took that to the bank.

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...and it will pay lots of dividends

 

[sutomcat]

Will start every game this season barring injury, illness or suspension, take it to the bank.

Glad to see you join the club OE. DC II is going to be a good one.

 

[SBU72]

Will start every game this season barring injury, illness or suspension, take it to the bank.

That doesn't mean much. Melo did the same his freshman year. So did Xmas. Neither was a big impact their freshman year.

 

[realorange]

That doesn't mean much. Melo did the same his freshman year. So did Xmas. Neither was a big impact their freshman year.

DC2 will be somewhere between Fab Melo and the real Melo his freshman year. Not really close to Fab Melo.

 

[CusefanATL]

That doesn't mean much. Melo did the same his freshman year. So did Xmas. Neither was a big impact their freshman year.

i would say melo was a pretty big impact his fresh year.

 

[RF2044]

That doesn't mean much. Melo did the same his freshman year. So did Xmas. Neither was a big impact their freshman year.

My opinion only, but I think that DCII is a lot more ready to be a contributor than either Fab or XMas were their freshman years.

 

[Orangeyes]

Glad to see you join the club OE. DC II is going to be a good one.

Not joining any club, he's going to start.

 

[sutomcat]

Not joining any club, he's going to start.

 

[reedny]

If Christmas has evolved to the point where he can punish a smaller weaker defender on the low blocks, Syracuse is going to be a very good team, because they will have the ability to go "small" with Coleman at center and two very good scoring forwards and guards (i.e. no weak players or guys to double off of). Or they can go big, and exploit mismatches down low because they will still be able to spread the court despite having tremendous size.

This version of Syracuse is going to be more skilled and better shooting than last year's team. I think the fans will enjoy this team more. The style of basketball will be more fun to watch as the court is going to be spread better, and things will look nicer.

Last year's team, however, was the epitome of the wave of the future in basketball. Ultra athletic, lock down defense, and deadly in transition (think about both Kentucky and the Miami Heat, played this way). So while, I think this year's team will be competing for a Big East title and a 1 seed, just as last year's team did. Ultimately I think last year's team was the better team (not going out on too far of a limb here considering our record last year).[/quote]

This is a good explanation of the balance and diversity that many of us are excited to see this year. Even without the 7 footer, Rak and DC2 could be an imposing frontline which (because of DC2) will give us better inside scoring. I think our outside shooting will also be better, giving us better balance, and I agree our wing forwards/MCW will be high-flyers in transition.

Unfortunately, what we gain in offensive balance this year we loose in experience in both the front and backcourt, and we won't have last year's team defense or depth (unless Grant explodes).