Does anyone else think we will be better next year?

[Brooky03]

We’ll see. We’ve got Buddy and Hughes now. But if JG3 is 10th man, how much better will we be than this year?

The key is on Brissett becoming functional from out there again like he was last year, and Marek becoming a legit threat who can hit 40-50 3’s on a solid percentage.

As well as whoever the PG is, being able to to hit them. It’s about being able to put 4 good shooters on the court at the same time. Too often we’ve only got 2, this year.

Need 4 scorers on the court. They don't all have to be proficient from behind the arc though. 3 is enough in that regard, which I think we can do with a couple lineup possibilities.

 

[Alsacs]

We should be a faster team last year.
No player should be more than a 30 MPG for the season.
We will have a lot of similar talented players so depending on the game it should fluctuate.
That is important for next year and playing a faster tempo is also important we need as many chances to score before a defense can get set in the half court.
We need another C but outside of that I like the depth from 1-4 positions.

 

[OrangeDW]

The thing with Brissett is, was he really that good last year? I' m not gonna post all his stats, but if you look at his Ken Pom page, it's very similar this year and last. One big difference is the shape of his shooting; while his EFG is up from 41.4% to 42.5% (both of which are very bad) he shot 36.6% on 2 pointers last year (Seriously, 36.6) and he's improved that to 44.5%, while the 3 has gone down from 33.1% to 25%. The FT% has totally fallen off, which doesn't really make sense to me. But he's grabbing rebounds at a similar rate, turning it over similar, drawing fouls etc. I hate to make it so simple, but the dude just needs to make more shots.

As for the question of the post, my guy says no way we will be better next year, but my gut also said we'd be quite good this year and it was wrong, so sure, we'll be better next year. Why not?

I believe he was 38% in ACC play from 3 last year? That and his FT% last year are what is giving me some hope to cling to. Obviously he had finishing issues.

Can he put it all together and shoot 35% from 3, 75% from the line, and improve his finishing enough to be around 40-42% from the field? As a junior? Hopefully...

 

[Brooky03]

I think it’s reasonable to think Carey, Goodine, and Guerrier will play well.

I get being cautious with expectations due to the way Carey’s season has gone, but some might be going too far the other way.

Carey lost his spot...to a freshman. Sometimes freshmen are ready.

And it’s not like Carey hasn’t shown promise. His athleticism pops off the screen. He’s a disruptive defender...he had the big blocked 3 against GTown and hit a big 3 late in the game, scored 26 in a game...it’s reaosnable to think he’ll be ready next year.

I don't think Buddy took Carey's spot. Buddy is a 3 point threat and can only play SG. He provides one skill the team severely lacks. Carey is a PG with overlapping skillsets with Frank and Battle. Buddy only had Battle ahead of him. Carey had Frank and Battle.

 

[OrangeDW]

Need 4 scorers on the court. They don't all have to be proficient from behind the arc though. 3 is enough in that regard, which I think we can do with a couple lineup possibilities.

With our offense and lack of post game...I think there are often times where 3 is not enough.

I’m not saying we need 4 at all times...but it will be useful to have the option of a lineup like that when we’re being defended certain ways.

The last time our offense really looked good was the second half of 2017 when White, Gillon, Lydon, and Battle were all 38% or higher from 3 and all of them made at least 50(going off memory on those stats but I believe they’re accurate).

 

[OrangeDW]

I don't think Buddy took Carey's spot. Buddy is a 3 point threat and can only play SG. He provides one skill the team severely lacks. Carey is a PG with overlapping skillsets with Frank and Battle. Buddy only had Battle ahead of him. Carey had Frank and Battle.

Ok, but...Buddy’s minutes went way up at the same time Carey’s dropped to zero.

 

[Alsacs]

Buddy took minutes from Frank because the staff made Battle the PG.
Buddy is going to get Battle minutes next year and then one of Carey/Goodine/Washington need to be the PG.
Buddy shouldn’t play the most minutes in the backcourt unless the play matches it.
All 4 of the guards should get double digit minutes unless one makes a major jump.

 

[Knicks411]

I believe he was 38% in ACC play from 3 last year? That and his FT% last year are what is giving me some hope to cling to. Obviously he had finishing issues.

Can he put it all together and shoot 35% from 3, 75% from the line, and improve his finishing enough to be around 40-42% from the field? As a junior? Hopefully...

Yeah basically you want to combine his 2 point this year, his 3 point/FT last year, plus some improvement, that's at least a solid player. Possible? Maybe? The FT going from 79% to 65% makes no sense. I think 2 point % is more static than 3 point; that is, I think a large increase/decrease in that is more indicative of change in ability than a large increase/decrease in 3 point. So there is some reason to be hopeful. I'm just more saying he hasn't really been good at all yet in his 2 years. Flashes, sure

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Come on. Hughes would at least be in the rotation. So would Brissett. Maybe not starters but def in the rotation

Really. For Duke, UNC, UVa and FSU, you think those guys would play every game? They can't dribble or pass, and O'Shea can't shoot.

 

[OrangeDW]

Yeah basically you want to combine his 2 point this year, his 3 point/FT last year, plus some improvement, that's at least a solid player. Possible? Maybe? The FT going from 79% to 65% makes no sense. I think 2 point % is more static than 3 point; that is, I think a large increase/decrease in that is more indicative of change in ability than a large increase/decrease in 3 point. So there is some reason to be hopeful. I'm just more saying he hasn't really been good at all yet in his 2 years. Flashes, sure

Agreed.

But...if he was here from 2009-2014, he’d have been 9th man, just getting the chance to show “flashes”. He came to the program at a time when we had nobody else. In a normal Syracuse program, he wouldn’t be counted on until he was a junior and we wouldn’t have had reason to care about his early career flaws. IMO.

I’m willing to think next year is his breakout year.

 

[OrangeDW]

Really. For Duke, UNC, UVa and FSU, you think those guys would play every game? They can't dribble or pass, and O'Shea can't shoot.

That White kid didn’t hit a 3 for a month and a half and he still played for Duke.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

If the team was forced to play Carey all season, his numbers would not be bad.


Come at me, bros.

They would just as likely be horrible. 50/5/ shot

 

[themorey]

I think the team could do OK with Sid and Dolemyte at C but it really needs a true point guard to improve the O. There is nobody on the team this year and likely next year who can setup the O and drive/draw/dish. Maybe it's Carey, maybe it's Goodine and maybe it's JG3, but that's way too many maybes for a P5 school with the history of SU.

 

[OrangeDW]

They would just as likely be horrible. 50/5/ shot

I’ll say Jason Hart freshman year type numbers, but with fewer assists and probably even more turnovers.

 

[HakAttack]

I hope OB doesn't leave. I think the combo of Hughes and OB will do wonders in the ACC

Where would he go?? He’s not NBA ready.

 

[Knicks411]

Agreed.

But...if he was here from 2009-2014, he’d have been 9th man, just getting the chance to show “flashes”. He came to the program at a time when we had nobody else. In a normal Syracuse program, he wouldn’t be counted on until he was a junior and we wouldn’t have had reason to care about his early career flaws. IMO.

I’m willing to think next year is his breakout year.

Not the same type of player, but Rautins and AO are examples of this I think. Maybe Rick and Scoop also?

Fair point, totally buy it

 

[OrangeDW]

Not the same type of player, but Rautins and AO are examples of this I think. Maybe Rick and Scoop also?

Fair point, totally buy it

Even guys like Kris Joseph and Jerami Grant were often out of the rotation or barely in it as freshmen. They came on strong as soph’s though.

Thinking back a ways, Nichols didn’t do much until his junior year.

Gbinije didn’t do much until he was a 4th year Junior.

 

[MikeDamone]

Really. For Duke, UNC, UVa and FSU, you think those guys would play every game? They can't dribble or pass, and O'Shea can't shoot.

Yes, they would.

 

[CuseMan4]

Here’s the thing Boeheim, teams we expect to “not be as good” seem to always perform better and for the most part teams we think will be “good” always seem to underperform.

I will say this, next yearns team assuming Battle is gone with both the seniors still has talent but it’s unproven talent. I think Hughes, Carey will take the next step and I think QG will surprise people. Next years team will be much more balanced where I can see 5-6 players averaging the 9-15ppg. I think Hughes, Carey, QG, Oshae, Buddy, and Marek will all average around by those numbers and possibly Goodine. I think we play faster and our defense will be shaky at first because we are young but be elite by seasons end. Our problem will be who is the “go to” guy. I wanna say Hughes but he’s unproven in that role. Next years team has potential it’s just about putting the pieces together right. We will have a balanced attack and a faster team which seems to favor Syracuse in the past. We will see but let’s get some wins in this year’s tourney first.

GO ORANGE!!

 

[Arangeman]

Battle makes life a lot easier for Hughes, Oshae and Buddy. Defenses focus their scheme on stopping him. Next year they will get more defensive attention. That’s concerning.

 

[Knicks411]

Even guys like Kris Joseph and Jerami Grant were often out of the rotation or barely in it as freshmen. They came on strong as soph’s though.

Thinking back a ways, Nichols didn’t do much until his junior year.

Gbinije didn’t do much until he was a 4th year Junior.

Yeah Nichols is a real good one. Rak as well.

Some more perspective, OB played 94% of our minutes last year (insane) and still 82% this year. We had a lot of years in the early part of the decade where we would have just one guy playing even 80% of our minutes. (2010-12 was really the height of this). No one would argue OB is even close to our best guy this year, and he;s still over 80% of our minutes

 

[syrBossHogg]

Lol. Oh wait are you joking. I thought you were joking

What did I say?

 

[Brooky03]

With our offense and lack of post game...I think there are often times where 3 is not enough.

I’m not saying we need 4 at all times...but it will be useful to have the option of a lineup like that when we’re being defended certain ways.

The last time our offense really looked good was the second half of 2017 when White, Gillon, Lydon, and Battle were all 38% or higher from 3 and all of them made at least 50(going off memory on those stats but I believe they’re accurate).

The only problem is the tradeoff that often accompanies putting 4 shooters on the court. I know White and Gillon were new to the system, which played a role, but that team was really really bad on defense.

If we have no dip in defensive effectiveness, then four shooters is great. If it means putting an undersized SG/SF at the 3 and/or 4, or any unwilling defenders who are just here to get buckets, then yuck.

 

[malpearl31]

No one would argue OB is even close to our best guy this year, and he;s still over 80% of our minutes

You must have missed the recent thread where a brilliant poster declared Oshae to be our best player. It was really funny, I might try to find it and read it again right now for a laugh.

 

[Ggaenzle]

I know someone brought this up in another thread but Nathan Knight at William and Mary is dominating at C. Hometown is Syracuse. And would be great if we could get him if he transfers to go to a bigger program