Elijah Hughes

[Jasoncuse]

He barely shot over 30% from the field. Even with his hot finish, he shot 33% over the last 11 games (last 11 because that's the last two months). He had two good games to end the year and that's it. There's really no argument that he was anything but terrible; if you want to say he was only terrible because of the adjustment to college/the injury, that's fine, but you still have to acknowledge that you're just coming up with excuses for his play.

Again, I'm fine with giving him the offer; as I mentioned before, he has the exact kind of body you look for and has the look of a good shooter. But I'll remain skeptical given the lack of results.

Edit: To be clear, I agree 100% with the bolded. I know I'm coming off like an ass because I'm skeptical, but I do understand the attraction to him.

Not sure how what I said is making excuses? He obviously shot poorly, but as you said, it could've been adjusting to college or his foot injury or whatever. Not every good college player shoots well as a freshman, so I wouldn't hold that too much against him. His game is a good fit for our system and he has tools to develop, which is the biggest positive to this addition. Nobody is saying he is going to be a 30+ minute a game guy, so we'll have to hope he develops enough to be a impactful scorer for us.

 

[721Comstock]

This isn't true in the slightest. You can only make that argument for 2017 and we're not done with the class yet! And many people believe that Brissett and possibly Sidibe are under the radar.

For 2016, Battle, Moyer and Thompson were all top 100 recruits. And Thompson was definitely underrated. I'd argue Battle was too (at least JB thinks so). Moyer we have yet to see, but he could very well be underrated.

Battle had an injury in HS, so that likely set his rankings back a bit.
TT's rating was based on his overall game:
Offense - Top 25. Defense - hey! Did you see his offense!!

Definitely think Brissett & Sidibe are likely better than their rankings.
Washington is a solid program guy - they can't ALL be Top 100.

If we can land 2 more guys for this cycle - ideally Thorpe, & Tucker, but the Blank Czech(tm) would be a decent consolation prize at Forward - we'd have a pretty decent roster for '17, and still have room to add 3 or 4* solid guys in '18.
(*assumes Battle is in the NBA by then)

 

[Toronto Cuse]

Francis. Are you there? Any comments? Ty

He Gone !

 

[HoustonCuse]

The concept that JB "likes size for guards instead of basketball skills" is patently ridiculous. There is virtually zero evidence to support this dumb theory. People are going to throw Buss at me. Like Buss was ever tabbed to be the savior of the program, they had a scholarship and they took a flyer on the kid for depth. Kaleb Joseph? He was a highly touted prospect who didn't work out. Frank? Who knows what will happen, but again - he was not a scrub prospect. Every player they recruit is a gamble to some degree, you are going to get wicked upside on some (Warrick and Moten are these types of player) and you are going to see negative downside on some (Coleman and Rak Xmas come to mind). Trying to foist this theory of Boeheim being addled by laziness and a lack of talent evaluation capabilities is really trying to put a large square peg into a small round hole.

 

[Cuse'91]

Scholarship reductions and for the second time in 3 years we have a guy on the bench who can't even play.

I hope he ends up good, but this seems like a dumb move. It seems like every year we move further away from basketball players towards long 2-3 zone athletes.

I'm over this.

If we have to play all zone, and it looks like we have to play all zone for the foreseeable future, then better to play it with guys like this instead of the John Gillons of the world.
Still would love to see Villanova 3 guard man to man in my lifetime. But, I'm sure JB will milk this gig longer than any of our lifespans...

 

[RealMcNeil]

Scholarship reductions and for the second time in 3 years we have a guy on the bench who can't even play.

I hope he ends up good, but this seems like a dumb move. It seems like every year we move further away from basketball players towards long 2-3 zone athletes.

I'm over this.

Fare thee well.

 

[Jasoncuse]

This is a big boy with attitude and athlectism who is just scratching the surface as a basketball player. This is a tremendous under the radar get with the benefit of a year to groom him. I'm all in on this kid

I'm going to think of this kid as a basketball version of Jay Bromley. He was an under the radar addition that was a very late bloomer, but had the athletic tools. He became a mid-round NFL draft pick despite being a nobody recruit. I'm hoping Hughes' physical traits enables him to follow a similar path, even if the NBA isn't the final destination.

 

[GooseMutt]

He Gone !

Darn

 

[GooseMutt]

Scholarship reductions and for the second time in 3 years we have a guy on the bench who can't even play.

I hope he ends up good, but this seems like a dumb move. It seems like every year we move further away from basketball players towards long 2-3 zone athletes.

I'm over this.

Planting seeds for the future

 

[HoustonCuse]

Hey two3, we can set up a gofundme for your deposit, I'm sure. See ya around!

http://ev15.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncom...text=&pc=&caller=&appCode=&groupCode=NOVA&cgc

 

[Sherman20]

This kid needs to be a rotation player in 2018 or this was a bad decision.

I am okay with transfer but they need to be a player. This is a gamble.

I think of this kid as Battle's replacement scholarship.

I agree. But I think they'll also get an instant impact top 25-100 2 guard in 2018...Jones or Cormac Ryan or someone like that, with maybe J Williams as a more developmental wing who will assume a starting role as a sophomore or junior.

I really hope they land a couple of 2018 kids early, this summer, to get things started.

 

[Alsacs]

The concept that JB "likes size for guards instead of basketball skills" is patently ridiculous. There is virtually zero evidence to support this dumb theory. People are going to throw Buss at me. Like Buss was ever tabbed to be the savior of the program, they had a scholarship and they took a flyer on the kid for depth. Kaleb Joseph? He was a highly touted prospect who didn't work out. Frank? Who knows what will happen, but again - he was not a scrub prospect. Every player they recruit is a gamble to some degree, you are going to get wicked upside on some (Warrick and Moten are these types of player) and you are going to see negative downside on some (Coleman and Rak Xmas come to mind). Trying to foist this theory of Boeheim being addled by laziness and a lack of talent evaluation capabilities is really trying to put a large square peg into a small round hole.

We didn't recruit small guards because of the zone.

RF has mentioned Jalen Brunson wanted to go to Syracuse but we passed because he wasn't a long guard.

Boeheim wants long guards for the zone.

He doesn't want smaller guards if he has a choice. He wants length over smaller guards who have more offensive skills.

JB's ideal guard is Gbinije or a guard with Gillon's offense with Frank Howard's size.

Hughes offense for me isn't worth the gamble I do concede I get plenty wrong and could be wrong here.

I would rather go after a freshman in 2018 over gambling on Hughes.

I don't bye JB's spin saying this kid was a top 30'guy.

We needed guards last year and had an open scholarship

Chukwu
Gillon
Lydon
White
Howard
Roberson
Thompson
Battle
Coleman
Moyer

We had an open scholarship. If JB thought Hughes was a top 30 guy why not use your open scholarship at a position you needed depth at?

He is spinnning this kid which he doesn't need too.

 

[ssbriefcase]

Coach sees 6'5" zone guard.
Hughes offense looks scary to be nice.
JB has shown he doesn't care for shooting/skill over measurables and length for the zone.

Doesn't Gillon and White contradict this?

 

[HoustonCuse]

I agree. But I think they'll also get an instant impact top 25-100 2 guard in 2018...Jones or Cormac Ryan or someone like that, with maybe J Williams as a more developmental wing who will assume a starting role as a sophomore or junior.

I really hope they land a couple of 2018 kids early, this summer, to get things started.

Think of it this way: if Hughes really is a diamond in the rough, this is a gigantic win. Since he isn't thought highly of, he certainly scare away elite level 2018 guys. Even if he is just average, he still doesn't hurt us in our efforts for those highly rated guys and he provides the stabilizing multiyear guard resource people have been clamoring for. Yes some of the same people now bemoaning this pickup. If nothing else, this shows how impossible it is to try to appease a fanbase like ours. Wonder why Hopkins felt he had to leave to get a fair shake?

 

[Alsacs]

Doesn't Gillon and White contradict this?

He had no choice with Gillon. We needed a guard last year for depth and if you didn't notice our zone didn't have the proper personnel last year and JB stayed with it exclusively.

White's size wasn't a problem he is the same size as CJ Fair and was similar to Fair last year.
White was a SF. He wasn't at the top of the zone.

 

[GooseMutt]

Think of it this way: if Hughes really is a diamond in the rough, this is a gigantic win. Since he isn't thought highly of, he certainly scare away elite level 2018 guys. Even if he is just average, he still doesn't hurt us in our efforts for those highly rated guys and he provides the stabilizing multiyear guard resource people have been clamoring for. Yes some of the same people now bemoaning this pickup. If nothing else, this shows how impossible it is to try to appease a fanbase like ours. Wonder why Hopkins felt he had to leave to get a fair shake?

Headline on ESPN prior to 2018-19 tourney:

"Hughes your Daddy"?

Forgive me. Had to do it!
I'll show myself out

 

[HoustonCuse]

We didn't recruit small guards because of the zone.

RF has mentioned Jalen Brunson wanted to go to Syracuse but we passed because he wasn't a long guard.

Boeheim wants long guards for the zone.

He doesn't want smaller guards if he has a choice. He wants length over smaller guards who have more offensive skills.

JB's ideal guard is Gbinije or a guard with Gillon's offense with Frank Howard's size.

Hughes offense for me isn't worth the gamble I do concede I get plenty wrong and could be wrong here.

I would rather go after a freshman in 2018 over gambling on Hughes.

I don't bye JB's spin saying this kid was a top 30'guy.

We needed guards last year and had an open scholarship

Chukwu
Gillon
Lydon
White
Howard
Roberson
Thompson
Battle
Coleman
Moyer

We had an open scholarship. If JB thought Hughes was a top 30 guy why not use your open scholarship at a position you needed depth at?

He is spinnning this kid which he doesn't need too.

Don't fall into the trap of all these players that we could have gotten so easily if we had just wanted them. That is almost always a misrepresentation. It goes in line with the concept that every Syracuse player in the NBA is just hamstrung by whatever terrible system they randomly wound up in. Grains of truth, but the overall idea isn't valid.

JB's spin? That is a stretch in the extreme. So JB knew 18 months ago that he'd be bringing this kid in as a transfer and so he told a random guy this quote about him being top 30 so that a friend of that random guy could tweet it in mid 2017 to appease you? Was 9/11 an inside job? Masterminded by Boeheim to preemptively draw attention from the fact that in 2002 we'd be in the NIT?

 

[Sherman20]

Frank Howard

Frank was a top 100 guy, and they def thought he had skills coming out of high school. JB said he was our most creative passer as a freshman. He just needs to build confidence and learn to attack the rim better and make better decisions. I don't like his sour attitude but hopefully that will change next season.

 

[JLine]

yeah exactly. define bad.

It isn't the 5 star HS recruit that the naysayers want. He must be terrible then.

We finally get a commit, and some good news. Yet, half the damn responses are negative. It's unbelievable sometimes.

Kids read this board. Really baffled that so many are hating on a kid that put up 8 PPG as a freshman in 20 MPG, and banged up. He dominated Diallo in HS who everyone loved, and Elijah was under the radar.

No interest from big schools, what a travesty. He obviously wanted to come back to NY. Get a commit, and it's full of negativity. The Syracuse way.

 

[Alsacs]

Don't fall into the trap of all these players that we could have gotten so easily if we had just wanted them. That is almost always a misrepresentation. It goes in line with the concept that every Syracuse player in the NBA is just hamstrung by whatever terrible system they randomly wound up in. Grains of truth, but the overall idea isn't valid.

JB's spin? That is a stretch in the extreme. So JB knew 18 months ago that he'd be bringing this kid in as a transfer and so he told a random guy this quote about him being top 30 so that a friend of that random guy could tweet it in mid 2017 to appease you? Was 9/11 an inside job? Masterminded by Boeheim to preemptively draw attention from the fact that in 2002 we'd be in the NIT?

If he was top 30 why didn't JB offer him last year?

We had a need for guard help and had an open scholarship.
If this top 30 kid was available and you needed a player why didn't we pursue him? That sounds pretty dumb not to add the player if you say he is a top 30 prospect.

 

[Jasoncuse]

He is spinnning this kid which he doesn't need too.

When did JB say anything about him?

That tweet above references an interaction JB had with someone while Hughes was in HS. Hughes committed to ECU in 2015, so maybe JB's comments were after he had committed and he didn't want to go after a committed kid? We also had priority Tyus Battle to worry about at that time.

I do agree that JB prioritizes size over skill at times, especially at the forward and PG position.

 

[Cuse'91]

Frank was a top 100 guy, and they def thought he had skills coming out of high school. JB said he was our most creative passer as a freshman. He just needs to build confidence and learn to attack the rim better and make better decisions. I don't like his sour attitude but hopefully that will change next season.

What about the season after that? If we bring in a top 2018 pg; will FH get into a fist fight with him?
People show their true colors under stress/adversity...

 

[Alsacs]

Also I trust RF2044 when he says we could have gotten Brunson. He is top of the board reliable.

 

[HoustonCuse]

What about the season after that? If we bring in a top 2018 pg; will FH get into a fist fight with him?

OK so now what is the allegation, that when we recruited Frank, the coaches were so blinded by shopping for zone size that they ignored the fact he couldn't play ball AND they knew that he would allegedly punch a guy 3 years later? So insane.

 

[Alsacs]

When did JB say anything about him?

That tweet above references an interaction JB had with someone while Hughes was in HS. Hughes committed to ECU in 2015, so maybe JB's comments were after he had committed and he didn't want to go after a committed kid? We also had priority Tyus Battle to worry about at that time.

I do agree that JB prioritizes size over skill at times, especially at the forward and PG position.

We had open scholarship for 2015 as well.

Even with the reductions we haven't used all of our allotments you know that.

If JB liked this kid he could have offered him when he was in HS.
We weren't full.