Enjoy Tyler Lydon while we can

[OrlandoCuse]

I'm not too sure. CMac came out of the gates pretty quick. Was averaging 16 and 9 after the first 7-8 games. Hit a wall in the beginning of ACC play then tore the knee. I think people greatly underestimate his talent because he left after an unfulfilled 1 year.

You have to look beyond the stats and look at the intangibles that Lydon has that CMac didn't. His passing and decision making ability is 10x CMac at the same stage.

 

[Ragman2000]

Man, we haven't had a white guy big man as awesome as this since Woodchuck Billy Celuck.

 

[rrlbees]

You have to look beyond the stats and look at the intangibles that Lydon has that CMac didn't. His passing and decision making ability is 10x CMac at the same stage.

I'm not downplaying Lydon. I'm only saying people are downplaying just how good CMac is. I'm not even going to guess who is better since CMac wasn't able to play out the string. We may not know for a few years.

 

[NateW]

Tyler is clearly much better than CMac. Bball IQ and court savvy are leaps and bounds better than CMac at the same stage. Also, Tyler has a better stroke, plays better positional D. You could even argue that he is longer and more athletic than Cmac.

 

[djcon57]

Per usual, no one here understand what the nba drafts for. I love love love Lydon but Richardson is a better nba prospect.

 

[orangefan13]

Lydon is like Gbinije here you have a couple of guys who do everything all over the court, and score from all over the court. One at point and one at center
The Gbinije at point experiment is neat it puts your swingmen sg,pf,sf's and when Dajuan is at center, around them.

I think this team is flying way way under its potential right now. As for why I remain silent.

 

[We Are Syracuse]

Lydon is far more skilled than Cmac-but not nearly as athletic. Not saying Lydon isn't athletic but CMac has borderline Anthony Davis-like athleticism. He's just not skilled and like a previous poster said-is always out of position.

Personally, I think Lydon should come back. BUT ITS WAYYYY too early to be discussing this. Get back to me when syracuse has played 10 ACC games.

 

[br801]

One more good performance and I fully expect to see a thread consisting of lyric poetry devoted to Tyler Lydon.

 

[SkanSU]

I love Lydon. He's an absolute surprise and an absolute stud in either the 4 or 5. And the box score has him down for only 1 block. I could have sworn he had more...but he played havoc with UConn drives and attempts. But like the NBA teams in the future are no longer going to forget about the "freshman" now and will likely focus on him...which is good for the other players. It will be very interesting to see how he responds to more pressure. If he does well and continues to perform as well as he has I can only say with great sadness ... He Gone.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Per usual, no one here understand what the nba drafts for. I love love love Lydon but Richardson is a better nba prospect.

http://www.draftexpress.com/rankings/NCAA-Freshmen/1/

Lydon is the 21st ranked colleges freshman, Malachi is 43 according to Jonathan Givony. I think they are both NBA players, but Tyler has a more well rounded skillset. I think what shocks people about Lydon that nobody wants to admit is, first of all he's white and has elite jumping ability. We just don't see that much. Second, he was a bottom 50 recruit, so a majority of Syracuse fans didn't expect this from him. Maybe some people don't believe their eyes yet. Clearly the scouts vastly underrated his ability. There is no way 75 freshman are better than he is ESPN. He was the 76th ranked recruit.

Talk about another great job by the staff. Nobody is better at finding less hyped elite talents than Jim Boeheim. Even with losing Diange and not getting Bryant this is an elite class.

Syracuse is going to be deadly in the pick and roll offense all year with Gbinije as the ball handler and Lydon as the screener. Teams won't be able to focus on one guy and Lydon can pop, roll, or slip off the screen. Lydons best NBA skill I've seen is his ability in the pick and roll. It reminds me of watching Draymond Green for Golden State.

 

[Jake]

Lydon was a problem for UCONN off the high screen yesterday.

He hit step back threes off it, and then when they hedged against the three, he slid to the wide open lane and attacked the basket.

I'll tell you what, does everyone remember how awful...and I mean terrible...Gbinje was at the point his sophomore year? He struggled to get the ball over mid court.

Talk about a player that has developed at a position that he probably never saw himself playing. Credit to him and the coaches. He might get a look at the NBA as a point with his size. $$$.

 

[NineOneSeven]

It's refreshing to run a pick up top with a big that is a threat to do something.

Love keita, but that was really poor design in my opinion.

You want the guy to be able to shoot and dive to the rim and lydon can do both.

 

[Melancer46]

Still basically a seven footer. Also if Love is the benchmark for white guys leaving early, Lyndon has a long way to go.

If you consider Love to be a 7 footer, then so is Lydon lol. Love measured out at under 6'8" without shoes; Lydon's most recent measurement at the USA Basketball thing was just under 6'9" without shoes.

 

[Melancer46]

At any rate, it'll be fun to see how Tyler develops throughout the year; I was a bit nervous about how he'd do yesterday but he clearly rose to the occasion. Probably helps that he barely had to play against Brimah though.

I won't be shocked if he's a one and done but won't be shocked if he returns either. Still a long ways to go this season, and he certainly has question marks as an NBA prospect. The fact that small ball is in vogue right now will probably help him because he could probably play a decent number of minutes at PF in the NBA once he bulks up a little. DraftExpress was on him earlier this summer, saying they wouldn't be surprised if he were a one-and-done guy.

Also, on a DraftExpress note, I think they probably made a mistake on Malachi. Here's his listed heights:

Lydon's height measurement from USA Basketball was put under "Height w/o Shoes" so I'm guessing Malachi's 6'3.25" measurement is probably meant to be without shoes as well? I'd be pretty shocked if he's 6'3" in shoes.

 

[NineOneSeven]

At any rate, it'll be fun to see how Tyler develops throughout the year; I was a bit nervous about how he'd do yesterday but he clearly rose to the occasion. Probably helps that he barely had to play against Brimah though.

I won't be shocked if he's a one and done but won't be shocked if he returns either. Still a long ways to go this season, and he certainly has question marks as an NBA prospect. The fact that small ball is in vogue right now will probably help him because he could probably play a decent number of minutes at PF in the NBA once he bulks up a little. DraftExpress was on him earlier this summer, saying they wouldn't be surprised if he were a one-and-done guy.

Also, on a DraftExpress note, I think they probably made a mistake on Malachi. Here's his listed heights:

Lydon's height measurement from USA Basketball was put under "Height w/o Shoes" so I'm guessing Malachi's 6'3.25" measurement is probably meant to be without shoes as well? I'd be pretty shocked if he's 6'3" in shoes.

He'll be 6'17" in two years with a 9' wingspan

 

[NYCorange]

At any rate, it'll be fun to see how Tyler develops throughout the year; I was a bit nervous about how he'd do yesterday but he clearly rose to the occasion. Probably helps that he barely had to play against Brimah though.
A
I won't be shocked if he's a one and done but won't be shocked if he returns either. Still a long ways to go this season, and he certainly has question marks as an NBA prospect. The fact that small ball is in vogue right now will probably help him because he could probably play a decent number of minutes at PF in the NBA once he bulks up a little. DraftExpress was on him earlier this summer, saying they wouldn't be surprised if he were a one-and-done guy.

Lydon is a 4 who can spend minutes at the 5 in the NBA, he's not a 3.

On a different not, I took Lydon's weaknesses from his draft express page.

"Still filling out physically. Lack of strength affects him in every facet of the game
-Cannot utilize his size inside the paint
-Struggles to finish around the basket
-Poor defensive rebounder
-Lacks a degree of toughness
-Little bit upright on perimeter defensively"

As far as I can see, most of these are what you'd expect, when looking at him, but they're not actually true on the court. He's a great defensive rebounder, and doesn't lack toughness at all. He may still struggle to finish around the basket.

 

[Czar]

Lydon is a 4 who can spend minutes at the 5 in the NBA, he's not a 3.

On a different not, I took Lydon's weaknesses from his draft express page.

"Still filling out physically. Lack of strength affects him in every facet of the game
-Cannot utilize his size inside the paint
-Struggles to finish around the basket
-Poor defensive rebounder
-Lacks a degree of toughness
-Little bit upright on perimeter defensively"

As far as I can see, most of these are what you'd expect, when looking at him, but they're not actually true on the court. He's a great defensive rebounder, and doesn't lack toughness at all. He may still struggle to finish around the basket.

No freaking way cab Lyndon guard the 5 in the NBA. He'd be a 4 who can guard the 3.

 

[djcon57]

Lydon is a 4 who can spend minutes at the 5 in the NBA, he's not a 3.

Is what world is Lydon an NBA 5?

 

[HOFCeluck]

Well the guy he reminds me of the most, Chandler Parsons, was a for year player...so there's that.

 

[SUalldway]

Truly hope, despite rising draft stock, this transfers to conference play

Re-watched the entire game. In the last 2+ minutes, London made back-to-back-to-back plays to bring home the victory. UCONN could not guard him. He'll swish it when he's left on the flor. He went over the top on some tough drives, and he's a shot blocker. Rebounds. Bilas might be right that he's our best shooter. He had a complete game, including crunch time!

 

[djcon57]

Well the guy he reminds me of the most, Chandler Parsons, was a for year player...so there's that.

I know this is sacrilege comparing him to a Gtown player, but I see a lot of Otto Porter in him.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I know this is sacrilege comparing him to a Gtown player, but I see a lot of Otto Porter in him.

Transracial comparison

 

[NYCorange]

Is what world is Lydon an NBA 5?

In the world where Golden State's best lineup features a 6'5 guy w/o shoes at center, the hawks are playing major minutes with 6'6 Paul Millsap at center, and the Cavs would like to play 6'8 Kevin Love at Center. Look, Lydon clearly would need to add some muscle, but given the fact that he has shown good instincts as a weak side rim protector and has athletic and skill potential as a roll man, NBA teams would LOVE to see him get minutes at the 5.

 

[NYCorange]

Is what world is Lydon an NBA 5?

To reiterate my point, the Bucks are seriously trying to make it work with the Greek Freak playing center this year. If there's an NBA guys skinnier than Lydon, its him.

 

[Dave85]

Per usual, no one here understand what the nba drafts for. I love love love Lydon but Richardson is a better nba prospect.

I think there's a bigger chance we see MR another year than TL. TL is stealing the spotlight every game.