sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 26,692
- Like
- 116,403
Recruiting
2016 Basketball Recruit Harry Giles is a Top Target for Duke and UNC (charlotteobserver.com; Keeley)
Even at a tournament for the best of the best, Harry Giles commands attention.
As Giles, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound junior from Winston-Salem, moved up and down the court at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, coaches spoke in hushed tones among themselves. Not all of the talk focused on the present.
You should have seen him before he hurt his knee, one said. He was more bouncy, reminiscent of KG (Kevin Garnett). So unselfish, a great teammate, he added.
Give it another 10 months, another coach said.
For right now, it’s impossible to talk about Giles without referencing the severe injury that wiped out his sophomore season, keeping him on the sideline for 11 months.
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He is a top priority for both schools. N.C. State is also interested, and hometown Wake Forest has been tracking him since middle school. Notable out-of-state suitors include Ohio State, Syracuse, Kentucky and Nevada-Las Vegas.
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Keith Stevens of AAU Team Takeover is the New Power Broker of DC Area Basketball (washingtonpost.com; Giannotto)
Two burly security guards at the Boo Williams Sportsplex stood between Keith Stevens and two referees who were the targets of a dictionary’s worth of curse words. Stevens had been ejected from the worst loss he had suffered as chief executive of his AAU basketball program, Team Takeover. But nobody could get him to leave the court.
“The first word I’d use is crazy. He’s crazy. Just watch him coach,” Franklin Howard, a top prospect from Paul VI who is committed to Syracuse, said with a laugh. “Every time someone’s getting ready to throw him out, he’ll call somebody and he’ll still be coaching. He’ll have three or four [technicals] and still be on the sidelines. That’s how I can tell how influential he is.”
Howard then paused.
“But I really owe him for expanding my game. He’s one of the few coaches I know that will really push you.”
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What Each 5 Star Must Prove at 2014 Nike Peach Jam (BR; Novak)
One of the summer’s top NCAA basketball recruiting events opens in earnest on Thursday as the 2014 Nike Peach Jam gets fully underway from South Carolina. The championship of the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) is an AAU tournament that features most of the highest-rated recruits in the country for the class of 2015 as they prepare for their final high school seasons.
One of the league’s most impressive stars so far has been Cheick Diallo of Team Scan Cardinals. The athletic center has controlled the paint on both ends, but even he still has room to improve as the league heads into its postseason tourney.
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SU News
Feud Over, JB Joins ESPN's Andy Katz on Katz Korner (PS; Waters)
Jim Boeheim and Andy Katz are proof that enemies can become friends again.
A little over a year ago, Boeheim called Katz "an idiot'' and "a really disloyal person'' in his interview session with reporters following a game at Connecticut.
The post-game insult came after the Syracuse coach and the veteran ESPN reporter had not talked for over a year.
But Boeheim and Katz patched things up during the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
This Friday, Katz will host special summer editions of Katz Korner, in which he interviews prominent college basketball coaches, and topping the list of guests is Boeheim.
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Former Players
JB Says Melo Signed with Knicks Because 'He's Committed to New York' (PS; Waters)
Last weekend, Carmelo Anthony ended his free agency with the decision to remain with the New York Knicks.
Anthony agreed to a deal that will pay him $124 million over the next five years.
Anthony had considered several other opportunities, most notably offers from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls. In the end, he decided to stay in New York where he has spent the last two and a half seasons.
Jim Boeheim, who has coached Anthony in his one NCAA championship winning season at Syracuse and with the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, thinks the decision was about more than just the money.
"I think it was hard to make a move for a lot of reasons,'' Boeheim said. "He likes New York. His son likes New York. His wife likes New York. Carmelo's committed to New York. He wanted to go to New York. He loves New York.''
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Observations: SU Needs Scoring; SMU Brown's Team to Beat in AAAAACCCCCKKKK! (cbssports.com, Rothstein)
Trevor Cooney Averaged 12.1 ppg last season
1. Scoring is a major question for Syracuse
Kinda weird to hear that, right? The Orange have always had a bevy of scoring options under Jim Boeheim and regularly boasted several sixth men over the past few years -- Kris Joseph, Dion Waiters, and James Southerland -- who would have been all-league caliber players if they played at another program. But with the departures of Tyler Ennis, Jerami Grant, and C.J. Fair following last season, who puts the ball in the basket for Syracuse in 14-15 is a major, major question. Trevor Cooney is this team's top returning scorer (12.1 points) and after that the next top returning scorer is 6-9 big man Rakeem Christmas (5.8 points in 13-14). The Orange still have plenty of talent but the fact remains that other than Cooney, there's not many players on Syracuse's roster that have proven that they can score the ball consistently at the collegiate level. The two keys for this team next season? Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson. Word is Gbinije has been terrific in off season workouts and could be in line for a major jump next year while Roberson is a talented 6-8 player who would have played anywhere else in the country last season as a freshman if he wasn't on a team that boasted Grant and Fair. Still, both Gbinije and Roberson combined to average just 5.6 points last season and it will be a bit of a process early for this team at the offensive end of the floor. The Orange are officially entering somewhat of a new era and it will be interesting to see who steps forward on a team that is full of unknown commodities.
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Few Orange Viewing Options Remain as NBA Summer League Winds Down (PS; Ditota)
With the NBA Summer League playoffs eliminating teams as the day progressed Friday, few viewing options remain for Syracuse University basketball fans hoping to watch games with Orange connections.
Jerami Grant and his Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Chicago Bulls 79-68 late Thursday night. Grant, the 39th pick of the Philadelphia 76ers last month, has played significant minutes with the Sixers during the Summer Leagues.
He played nearly 11 minutes in Thursday's first half, some of them tasked with guarding Chicago's Doug McDermott. Grant managed to draw a charge on McDermott; his defense over the course of the Summer League has been solid.
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Rich Miner is a Big JB Fan
Jim Boeheim Tattoo Puts Him Alongside Nosferatu, Predator and Spike Gremlin (PS; Carlson)
Thanks to three hours in a chair at Tymeless Tattoo, Rich Miner will carry Jim Boeheim with him for the rest of his life.
Not that a 28-year-old from the South Side of Syracuse has much of a choice of avoiding Boeheim's influence entirely.
Miner grew up on Cortland Place in Syracuse, down the street from Gannon's Ice Cream and a short trip from the Carrier Dome.
He doesn't know when he became a Syracuse fan. He figures he was born into it. Like a host of locals he's been awed by the din of a packed Carrier Dome and the distraction the SU basketball team provides in the winter. His father spent time working as a ticket taker at the Dome. He played basketball growing up because of the Orange.
"Walking in the Dome at a young age you're blown away," Miner said. "It's just getting caught up in the moment of Syracuse basketball. Ever since I was old enough to remember I've been a Syracuse fan. So why not Jim Boeheim?"
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College Basketball News
The Big Lead Lists the Top 50 College Basketball Players; No Syracuse on List (PS; Waters)
The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre just came out with his fourth annual list of the top 50 players in college basketball for the upcoming 2014-15 season.
The list is interesting. There are 11 freshmen on it. The Atlantic Coast Conference has nine players mentioned, including four from Duke. And how about the fact that three of Duke's four players are freshmen?
Kentucky equaled Duke with four players on the list. Kansas and Wisconsin had three each. Wichita State had two; both in the Top 15.
There's a player from LSU, VCU and BYU. There's one from Harvard and one from Georgia State.
But no player from Syracuse made the list.
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Other
Who is the Most Popular Athlete in Syracuse Sports (PS; Axe)
For the first time in his career, Lebron James was voted the most popular male athlete in America.
The results are based on an annual Harris Poll, which surveyed what it says is a representative sample of 2,241 people in the U.S. last month.
The top five looks like this:
1. Lebron James
2. Michael Jordan
3. Derek Jeter
4. Peyton Manning
5. (tie) Kobe Bryant/Dale Earnhardt, Jr
...
2016 Basketball Recruit Harry Giles is a Top Target for Duke and UNC (charlotteobserver.com; Keeley)
Even at a tournament for the best of the best, Harry Giles commands attention.
As Giles, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound junior from Winston-Salem, moved up and down the court at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, coaches spoke in hushed tones among themselves. Not all of the talk focused on the present.
You should have seen him before he hurt his knee, one said. He was more bouncy, reminiscent of KG (Kevin Garnett). So unselfish, a great teammate, he added.
Give it another 10 months, another coach said.
For right now, it’s impossible to talk about Giles without referencing the severe injury that wiped out his sophomore season, keeping him on the sideline for 11 months.
...
...
He is a top priority for both schools. N.C. State is also interested, and hometown Wake Forest has been tracking him since middle school. Notable out-of-state suitors include Ohio State, Syracuse, Kentucky and Nevada-Las Vegas.
...
Keith Stevens of AAU Team Takeover is the New Power Broker of DC Area Basketball (washingtonpost.com; Giannotto)
Two burly security guards at the Boo Williams Sportsplex stood between Keith Stevens and two referees who were the targets of a dictionary’s worth of curse words. Stevens had been ejected from the worst loss he had suffered as chief executive of his AAU basketball program, Team Takeover. But nobody could get him to leave the court.
“The first word I’d use is crazy. He’s crazy. Just watch him coach,” Franklin Howard, a top prospect from Paul VI who is committed to Syracuse, said with a laugh. “Every time someone’s getting ready to throw him out, he’ll call somebody and he’ll still be coaching. He’ll have three or four [technicals] and still be on the sidelines. That’s how I can tell how influential he is.”
Howard then paused.
“But I really owe him for expanding my game. He’s one of the few coaches I know that will really push you.”
...
What Each 5 Star Must Prove at 2014 Nike Peach Jam (BR; Novak)
One of the summer’s top NCAA basketball recruiting events opens in earnest on Thursday as the 2014 Nike Peach Jam gets fully underway from South Carolina. The championship of the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) is an AAU tournament that features most of the highest-rated recruits in the country for the class of 2015 as they prepare for their final high school seasons.
One of the league’s most impressive stars so far has been Cheick Diallo of Team Scan Cardinals. The athletic center has controlled the paint on both ends, but even he still has room to improve as the league heads into its postseason tourney.
...
SU News
Feud Over, JB Joins ESPN's Andy Katz on Katz Korner (PS; Waters)
Jim Boeheim and Andy Katz are proof that enemies can become friends again.
A little over a year ago, Boeheim called Katz "an idiot'' and "a really disloyal person'' in his interview session with reporters following a game at Connecticut.
The post-game insult came after the Syracuse coach and the veteran ESPN reporter had not talked for over a year.
But Boeheim and Katz patched things up during the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
This Friday, Katz will host special summer editions of Katz Korner, in which he interviews prominent college basketball coaches, and topping the list of guests is Boeheim.
...
Former Players
JB Says Melo Signed with Knicks Because 'He's Committed to New York' (PS; Waters)
Last weekend, Carmelo Anthony ended his free agency with the decision to remain with the New York Knicks.
Anthony agreed to a deal that will pay him $124 million over the next five years.
Anthony had considered several other opportunities, most notably offers from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls. In the end, he decided to stay in New York where he has spent the last two and a half seasons.
Jim Boeheim, who has coached Anthony in his one NCAA championship winning season at Syracuse and with the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, thinks the decision was about more than just the money.
"I think it was hard to make a move for a lot of reasons,'' Boeheim said. "He likes New York. His son likes New York. His wife likes New York. Carmelo's committed to New York. He wanted to go to New York. He loves New York.''
...
Observations: SU Needs Scoring; SMU Brown's Team to Beat in AAAAACCCCCKKKK! (cbssports.com, Rothstein)
Trevor Cooney Averaged 12.1 ppg last season
1. Scoring is a major question for Syracuse
Kinda weird to hear that, right? The Orange have always had a bevy of scoring options under Jim Boeheim and regularly boasted several sixth men over the past few years -- Kris Joseph, Dion Waiters, and James Southerland -- who would have been all-league caliber players if they played at another program. But with the departures of Tyler Ennis, Jerami Grant, and C.J. Fair following last season, who puts the ball in the basket for Syracuse in 14-15 is a major, major question. Trevor Cooney is this team's top returning scorer (12.1 points) and after that the next top returning scorer is 6-9 big man Rakeem Christmas (5.8 points in 13-14). The Orange still have plenty of talent but the fact remains that other than Cooney, there's not many players on Syracuse's roster that have proven that they can score the ball consistently at the collegiate level. The two keys for this team next season? Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson. Word is Gbinije has been terrific in off season workouts and could be in line for a major jump next year while Roberson is a talented 6-8 player who would have played anywhere else in the country last season as a freshman if he wasn't on a team that boasted Grant and Fair. Still, both Gbinije and Roberson combined to average just 5.6 points last season and it will be a bit of a process early for this team at the offensive end of the floor. The Orange are officially entering somewhat of a new era and it will be interesting to see who steps forward on a team that is full of unknown commodities.
...
Few Orange Viewing Options Remain as NBA Summer League Winds Down (PS; Ditota)
With the NBA Summer League playoffs eliminating teams as the day progressed Friday, few viewing options remain for Syracuse University basketball fans hoping to watch games with Orange connections.
Jerami Grant and his Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Chicago Bulls 79-68 late Thursday night. Grant, the 39th pick of the Philadelphia 76ers last month, has played significant minutes with the Sixers during the Summer Leagues.
He played nearly 11 minutes in Thursday's first half, some of them tasked with guarding Chicago's Doug McDermott. Grant managed to draw a charge on McDermott; his defense over the course of the Summer League has been solid.
...
Rich Miner is a Big JB Fan
Jim Boeheim Tattoo Puts Him Alongside Nosferatu, Predator and Spike Gremlin (PS; Carlson)
Thanks to three hours in a chair at Tymeless Tattoo, Rich Miner will carry Jim Boeheim with him for the rest of his life.
Not that a 28-year-old from the South Side of Syracuse has much of a choice of avoiding Boeheim's influence entirely.
Miner grew up on Cortland Place in Syracuse, down the street from Gannon's Ice Cream and a short trip from the Carrier Dome.
He doesn't know when he became a Syracuse fan. He figures he was born into it. Like a host of locals he's been awed by the din of a packed Carrier Dome and the distraction the SU basketball team provides in the winter. His father spent time working as a ticket taker at the Dome. He played basketball growing up because of the Orange.
"Walking in the Dome at a young age you're blown away," Miner said. "It's just getting caught up in the moment of Syracuse basketball. Ever since I was old enough to remember I've been a Syracuse fan. So why not Jim Boeheim?"
...
College Basketball News
The Big Lead Lists the Top 50 College Basketball Players; No Syracuse on List (PS; Waters)
The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre just came out with his fourth annual list of the top 50 players in college basketball for the upcoming 2014-15 season.
The list is interesting. There are 11 freshmen on it. The Atlantic Coast Conference has nine players mentioned, including four from Duke. And how about the fact that three of Duke's four players are freshmen?
Kentucky equaled Duke with four players on the list. Kansas and Wisconsin had three each. Wichita State had two; both in the Top 15.
There's a player from LSU, VCU and BYU. There's one from Harvard and one from Georgia State.
But no player from Syracuse made the list.
...
Other
Who is the Most Popular Athlete in Syracuse Sports (PS; Axe)
For the first time in his career, Lebron James was voted the most popular male athlete in America.
The results are based on an annual Harris Poll, which surveyed what it says is a representative sample of 2,241 people in the U.S. last month.
The top five looks like this:
1. Lebron James
2. Michael Jordan
3. Derek Jeter
4. Peyton Manning
5. (tie) Kobe Bryant/Dale Earnhardt, Jr
...
