So with all the excitement/hand-wringing over departures/additions, felt like we should take a minute to look back at the past season and hand out some grades. I'll save folks the time up front: if you're looking for a bunch of D's and 's, you won't find many here because I'm not sure exactly what the ceiling of this team was. Plus, if we dock JB for his rotation (which is fair) we also have to give him credit for the postseason run and at least basically holding things together thru COVID stoppages ... twice. So with the exception of a really tough year for Girard, these are basically solid grades for most guys.
Anyway, on with the post:
Buddy Boeheim A-
Honestly, you could give Buddy a lower grade, I suppose, but if i told you before the season that he'd go from 1/9 through the ncaa tourney averaging 18.7 on 45/41/83 and add 3 rpg and 2.5 apg, I think we all would have jumped on it and been thrilled. Really early season struggles really boil down to four games -- the two games against Pitt (a combined 2-for-18 from 3), Northeastern (a brutal 1-for-12) and Buffalo (which I would argue wasn't exactly an ineffective game but still wound up in an 8-for-24 and 0-for-5 from three). His Va Tech and UVA games back-to-back weren't great but those are two solid defensive teams and his Clemson game in that stretch wasn't pretty either but those are pretty good teams and no one this side of Carmelo is going to just constant put up numbers against every single opponent.
So to me, is Buddy an ideal go-to scorer? No, not really. But to put up the numbers he did pretty consistently is outstanding. Love to see him come back next year and be good to go from day 1, but let's face it -- there will be a few games here and there where the jumper isn't falling and he's going to struggle a little. But man, even if you want to take the stretch from the northeastern game through the first Clemson game (13.7 ppg on poor shooting) and hold it against him (which I don't do b/c shooters aren't always going to hit 40% from three every game), what the kid did in the last several weeks is unreal.
Where could he improve: The difference to me between buddy the last few weeks and buddy the rest of the season may be mostly in terms of confidence, but I loved seeing how quickly he got set and got his shot off when he had a look -- mostly off a screen but sometimes in transition. I think that footwork and getting more efficient coming off the screen will be the key. Kid is a tough player to defend but I don't think he'll be able to add too much in terms of handle/play-making. I think it's just continuing to work on getting set and launching as quickly as possible with good form. Excited to see what a full healthy season could look like from him.
Kadary Richmond: A
Kadary came in as a frosh and played great. If you want to knock him for a few games here or there, fine, but he really probably should have been closer to 25 mpg than 21 overall (even if Joe gets the benefit of the doubt early). Love what he brought on both ends. Really difficult kid to lose but if he didn't want to be here for one reason or another, I'm not going to dwell on him leaving.
The only real knock I have is that he didn't look the same on defense the last six games (2 steals, 2 blocks total, i think). Was that injury? Probably. Was it that he had one foot out the door? Perhaps. But when he was locked in and playing hard on both ends, he was a really, really, really good player for us. We'll miss him, clearly.
Joe Girard: D
Tough grade, I know. And if he was dealing with COVID this may be unfair. But my feeling on Girard is that he came in out of shape and never got right. The push from Kadary seemed to mess with his confidence. Some of his free throw attempts were brutal late in the season (I think he was way short on a big one against WVU for example).
Bottom line is: whatever you think of Girard, he can be much better than what we saw this year. May never be an ideal PG, or an ideal fit in the zone and may always take some crazy shots. But, regardless, he can be much better than what we saw.
Where he can improve: If I'm the staff, I'm all over him to get as lean and quick as possible in the offseason. I don't worry too much about shot selection b/c the kid is capable of making it from wherever and if he's going to be successful here, some of those shots will be part of that. But I would love to see him do a workout other than his old high school football workouts and come in ready to play with a really high level of activity. No complaining to refs about calls when the play is live, constantly moving his feet on defense, getting as creative as he can inside the 3-point line. Would I rather have him or Kadary? Kadary, hands down. But I think he can be part of successful team but he needs to make some changes to his game this off-season.
Marek: B
Some folks will hate this grade but i love the way this kid plays. Roughly 10 and 5 with 3 assists/game on 6 FG attempts per game. Helped with ball-handling and battled despite being overmatched at the 5 most of the year. Did a nice job of challenging corner threes and makes so many little plays to save possessions or find an open guy. As limited as he was in some ways, we will miss him in a big way if he's gone (which I'm going to assume he is). If he returns, would love to see him turn and face and actually take and make some 15-foot jumpers. No reason a guy who shoots 85% from the line can't hit a few jumpers.
Quincy Guerrier: B+
Whatever was going on with Quincy's knee took a toll the second half of the season. He averaged 10.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg on 42% shooting in the last 14 games. Regardless, love how he plays and how tough he is inside. Definitely showed more confidence from outside. Not really sure what his ceiling is. Good athlete but not a jeremi grant elite athlete. Don't think he'll get rave reviews from the draft process but if he returns and stays healthy, no reason he can't be a 15/9 guy and a decent threat from 3.
Where he can improve: The footwork and finishing inside is pretty solid but could be better. That little move where he goes baseline is one where I'd love to see him just go up strong instead of pump-faking and letting the defense react. Like his stroke but he's mostly a threat if wide open. Needs to smooth out those mechanics so he can let fly from three more consistently. Don't think he's a real threat to take anyone off the dribble any time soon, but he's certainly got the athleticism to be a bit more of a slasher. That's less of a focus for me though -- work on that shot, combine it with improved footwork, he could be really efficient down there.
Alan Griffin: C
Griffin, overall, wasn't bad. 13/game on 35% from three with decent rebounding/assist numbers is really a fine season for a young kid. The mental aspect was weird. Just had halves and sometimes whole games where he didn't show up to play. Obviously struggled late and lost time to Bras. Wherever he is next season, the focus needs to be there game-in and game-out and he absolutely has to add some sort of attack off the dribble -- even if it's the two hard dribble, pull-up that Battle used all the time. Talented kid but a bit of a mystery.
Robert Braswell: B+
Looked like he wasn't going to get on the floor thanks to some poor early-season shooting, JB's rotation, Griffin's solid start, and Woody's emergence. But, he rebounded to play a huge role late. The numbers don't really tell the story here. Kid has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time. Not totally sure I get what he's looking for in a transfer situation but it is what it is, I guess. Would have loved to have seen a totally healthy Braswell b/c you can tell he's not truly 100% (shins, I guess?).
Jesse Edwards: A
Again, numbers don't knock you over here but for a kid who got stuck out of the country due to COVID, then dealt with the two shutdowns and limited playing time, I give him a ton of credit for being ready when he got his shot. Defense looked different with him on the court. Offensively, he's a work in progress but he's not afraid to try and make a play there.
Where he can improve: Obviously a post move or two would be great. Needs to get stronger. A lot to like here though as a key rotation guy for next season.
JB: B-
People will hate this, I get it. Rotation is the big knock and, even for a JB fan like myself, there are some obvious questions here. Kadary should have played more earlier and whatever happened with woody is hard to understand entirely. Jesse wasn't ready, but then he was ready. Hard to figure. Those are the negatives and, let's face it, JB has something to answer for there. That said, this was a crazy season, this wasn't a team that was completely loaded with talent the way some of our teams in the past have been and it's tricky when you're talking about shooters and veterans. It's easy to say play Bras and Woody more, but then are you putting Buddy on the bench? Or Griffin? Or Marek? Quincy was our best player in the first half, he's not coming off the floor and nor should he. Marek is such a solid, dependable guy, he's tough to sit. Buddy, we saw what he was capable of. Griffin was a talented guy I think JB ultimately wanted to be successful, so he was trying to be patient. The Joe/Kadary argument is one thing, but it's tougher to figure with the other guys. Ultimately we wound up in the tourney and in the sweet 16. I don't feel like the Houston loss was a coaching issue as much as running into a team that matched up well with us.
Ultimately, I think JB held it together and will put a solid squad together for next season. Will that be enough to quiet his critics? No, nothing short of a couple great seasons and final four runs will do that (and maybe not even that). But to me it was a decent season for JB and not the disaster many here believe.
Woody Newton: Inc
Woody played so well early then whatever happened we never really saw him again. Another big loss for us in the offseason but best of luck to him wherever he ends up. He wasn't going to supplant Buddy either way so what can you do?
Bourama Sidibe: Inc
If he gets healthy he can definitely help. If not, hope he walks away with a grad degree. He'll be a sneaky wild card headed into next season
Frank Anselem: Inc
Didn't really see much of frank but the kid has some tools to work with. Hands looked ok, good size and athleticism. Hope we are lucky enough to have him back.
JBA: Inc
Good energy but don't think there was going to be a place for him here. Hope he finds success elsewhere.
Anyway, on with the post:
Buddy Boeheim A-
Honestly, you could give Buddy a lower grade, I suppose, but if i told you before the season that he'd go from 1/9 through the ncaa tourney averaging 18.7 on 45/41/83 and add 3 rpg and 2.5 apg, I think we all would have jumped on it and been thrilled. Really early season struggles really boil down to four games -- the two games against Pitt (a combined 2-for-18 from 3), Northeastern (a brutal 1-for-12) and Buffalo (which I would argue wasn't exactly an ineffective game but still wound up in an 8-for-24 and 0-for-5 from three). His Va Tech and UVA games back-to-back weren't great but those are two solid defensive teams and his Clemson game in that stretch wasn't pretty either but those are pretty good teams and no one this side of Carmelo is going to just constant put up numbers against every single opponent.
So to me, is Buddy an ideal go-to scorer? No, not really. But to put up the numbers he did pretty consistently is outstanding. Love to see him come back next year and be good to go from day 1, but let's face it -- there will be a few games here and there where the jumper isn't falling and he's going to struggle a little. But man, even if you want to take the stretch from the northeastern game through the first Clemson game (13.7 ppg on poor shooting) and hold it against him (which I don't do b/c shooters aren't always going to hit 40% from three every game), what the kid did in the last several weeks is unreal.
Where could he improve: The difference to me between buddy the last few weeks and buddy the rest of the season may be mostly in terms of confidence, but I loved seeing how quickly he got set and got his shot off when he had a look -- mostly off a screen but sometimes in transition. I think that footwork and getting more efficient coming off the screen will be the key. Kid is a tough player to defend but I don't think he'll be able to add too much in terms of handle/play-making. I think it's just continuing to work on getting set and launching as quickly as possible with good form. Excited to see what a full healthy season could look like from him.
Kadary Richmond: A
Kadary came in as a frosh and played great. If you want to knock him for a few games here or there, fine, but he really probably should have been closer to 25 mpg than 21 overall (even if Joe gets the benefit of the doubt early). Love what he brought on both ends. Really difficult kid to lose but if he didn't want to be here for one reason or another, I'm not going to dwell on him leaving.
The only real knock I have is that he didn't look the same on defense the last six games (2 steals, 2 blocks total, i think). Was that injury? Probably. Was it that he had one foot out the door? Perhaps. But when he was locked in and playing hard on both ends, he was a really, really, really good player for us. We'll miss him, clearly.
Joe Girard: D
Tough grade, I know. And if he was dealing with COVID this may be unfair. But my feeling on Girard is that he came in out of shape and never got right. The push from Kadary seemed to mess with his confidence. Some of his free throw attempts were brutal late in the season (I think he was way short on a big one against WVU for example).
Bottom line is: whatever you think of Girard, he can be much better than what we saw this year. May never be an ideal PG, or an ideal fit in the zone and may always take some crazy shots. But, regardless, he can be much better than what we saw.
Where he can improve: If I'm the staff, I'm all over him to get as lean and quick as possible in the offseason. I don't worry too much about shot selection b/c the kid is capable of making it from wherever and if he's going to be successful here, some of those shots will be part of that. But I would love to see him do a workout other than his old high school football workouts and come in ready to play with a really high level of activity. No complaining to refs about calls when the play is live, constantly moving his feet on defense, getting as creative as he can inside the 3-point line. Would I rather have him or Kadary? Kadary, hands down. But I think he can be part of successful team but he needs to make some changes to his game this off-season.
Marek: B
Some folks will hate this grade but i love the way this kid plays. Roughly 10 and 5 with 3 assists/game on 6 FG attempts per game. Helped with ball-handling and battled despite being overmatched at the 5 most of the year. Did a nice job of challenging corner threes and makes so many little plays to save possessions or find an open guy. As limited as he was in some ways, we will miss him in a big way if he's gone (which I'm going to assume he is). If he returns, would love to see him turn and face and actually take and make some 15-foot jumpers. No reason a guy who shoots 85% from the line can't hit a few jumpers.
Quincy Guerrier: B+
Whatever was going on with Quincy's knee took a toll the second half of the season. He averaged 10.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg on 42% shooting in the last 14 games. Regardless, love how he plays and how tough he is inside. Definitely showed more confidence from outside. Not really sure what his ceiling is. Good athlete but not a jeremi grant elite athlete. Don't think he'll get rave reviews from the draft process but if he returns and stays healthy, no reason he can't be a 15/9 guy and a decent threat from 3.
Where he can improve: The footwork and finishing inside is pretty solid but could be better. That little move where he goes baseline is one where I'd love to see him just go up strong instead of pump-faking and letting the defense react. Like his stroke but he's mostly a threat if wide open. Needs to smooth out those mechanics so he can let fly from three more consistently. Don't think he's a real threat to take anyone off the dribble any time soon, but he's certainly got the athleticism to be a bit more of a slasher. That's less of a focus for me though -- work on that shot, combine it with improved footwork, he could be really efficient down there.
Alan Griffin: C
Griffin, overall, wasn't bad. 13/game on 35% from three with decent rebounding/assist numbers is really a fine season for a young kid. The mental aspect was weird. Just had halves and sometimes whole games where he didn't show up to play. Obviously struggled late and lost time to Bras. Wherever he is next season, the focus needs to be there game-in and game-out and he absolutely has to add some sort of attack off the dribble -- even if it's the two hard dribble, pull-up that Battle used all the time. Talented kid but a bit of a mystery.
Robert Braswell: B+
Looked like he wasn't going to get on the floor thanks to some poor early-season shooting, JB's rotation, Griffin's solid start, and Woody's emergence. But, he rebounded to play a huge role late. The numbers don't really tell the story here. Kid has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time. Not totally sure I get what he's looking for in a transfer situation but it is what it is, I guess. Would have loved to have seen a totally healthy Braswell b/c you can tell he's not truly 100% (shins, I guess?).
Jesse Edwards: A
Again, numbers don't knock you over here but for a kid who got stuck out of the country due to COVID, then dealt with the two shutdowns and limited playing time, I give him a ton of credit for being ready when he got his shot. Defense looked different with him on the court. Offensively, he's a work in progress but he's not afraid to try and make a play there.
Where he can improve: Obviously a post move or two would be great. Needs to get stronger. A lot to like here though as a key rotation guy for next season.
JB: B-
People will hate this, I get it. Rotation is the big knock and, even for a JB fan like myself, there are some obvious questions here. Kadary should have played more earlier and whatever happened with woody is hard to understand entirely. Jesse wasn't ready, but then he was ready. Hard to figure. Those are the negatives and, let's face it, JB has something to answer for there. That said, this was a crazy season, this wasn't a team that was completely loaded with talent the way some of our teams in the past have been and it's tricky when you're talking about shooters and veterans. It's easy to say play Bras and Woody more, but then are you putting Buddy on the bench? Or Griffin? Or Marek? Quincy was our best player in the first half, he's not coming off the floor and nor should he. Marek is such a solid, dependable guy, he's tough to sit. Buddy, we saw what he was capable of. Griffin was a talented guy I think JB ultimately wanted to be successful, so he was trying to be patient. The Joe/Kadary argument is one thing, but it's tougher to figure with the other guys. Ultimately we wound up in the tourney and in the sweet 16. I don't feel like the Houston loss was a coaching issue as much as running into a team that matched up well with us.
Ultimately, I think JB held it together and will put a solid squad together for next season. Will that be enough to quiet his critics? No, nothing short of a couple great seasons and final four runs will do that (and maybe not even that). But to me it was a decent season for JB and not the disaster many here believe.
Woody Newton: Inc
Woody played so well early then whatever happened we never really saw him again. Another big loss for us in the offseason but best of luck to him wherever he ends up. He wasn't going to supplant Buddy either way so what can you do?
Bourama Sidibe: Inc
If he gets healthy he can definitely help. If not, hope he walks away with a grad degree. He'll be a sneaky wild card headed into next season
Frank Anselem: Inc
Didn't really see much of frank but the kid has some tools to work with. Hands looked ok, good size and athleticism. Hope we are lucky enough to have him back.
JBA: Inc
Good energy but don't think there was going to be a place for him here. Hope he finds success elsewhere.
