Geno Thorpe - COMMITTED TO SYRACUSE

[pearl31]

This year has a lottery pick in Battle, that's something we didn't have last year.
You could make the argument that TT could be a 1st rounder after next year depending how he plays. Last year's team MAY get 1 st rounder if Lydon goes.

The length and depth of our forwards will make our zone more effective and our players more rested. No more 40 minutes of AW3 on defense. Having the ability to have Marek, MM, OB, TT and even Battle play the wings will be a big advantage. We won't be able to replace the shooting of AW3 though. Having 3 guys who can play the 5 will also help. I think Sidbie might be super underrated.

The zone overall should be better no matter what - at worst, Howard is an upgrade defensively to Gillon. I think our forwards all have the athletic ability and build to be successful in the zone. The question simply will be how fast will they pick it up? Battle IMO will join Triche and MCW as the best top of the zone defenders of the last decade for us. Gillon just wasn't good most of the time up there, and while AW3 finally picked it up later in the year, he's not the type of body JB prefers down there. JB wants the long athletes with the crazy wingspan - which is what MD, OB and MM bring.

2 obvious advantages from last year:
1. Our 3pt shooting. We all know what AW3 did from deep, we had Gillon, Lydon and Battle. No matter what happens this year we won't be that good from 3 again. Battle will be our best, the addition of Thorpe will be massive and hopefully Howard improves from 3. However I don't see much 3pt offense comi,ng from our forwards. TT might be able to step out, but nothing close to Lydon
2. Lydon at the 5. For as much as he had quiet games offensively, Lydon at the 5 was really, really good. He was very good on the glass, blocking shots, and rotations. The difference of him and TT last year was monumental. I don't expect PC, TT or Sidbie to be as good as Lydon was defensively at the 5, but if those guys can be just average and not hurt us and block shots, I think it will be passable.

I think this year will be more fun to watch, because I think we have the foundation of a young core that we can build on for the next 4 years - it felt like a while since we had that. I also think that Battle might be our best player since Waiters/MCW. The kid is gonna be a blast to watch this year.

yep, good post - only thing I'm willing to give last yr over this yr sight-unseen is shooting - that's where this yr could really struggle

 

[Flacusian]

I think that on paper this team is still far short of what we had last year.

It's essentially a "paper Otto" then?

 

[Footey04]

When is Thorpe goin to visit and I think we will be a better all around team this year

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Deano]

FINALLY!

Reel him in Red.

 

[RF2044]

I'll be very disappointed / surprised if we don't get a commitment from Thorpe on his visit.

 

[Knicks411]

Someone catch me up on this; how many scholarships do we have left? Just 1?

 

[FrancoPizza]

I'll be very disappointed / surprised if we don't get a commitment from Thorpe on his visit.

Hard to get a commitment if we're not even sure we offered... or if the offer is conditional. #alleggsin

 

[dasher]

I'll be very disappointed / surprised if we don't get a commitment from Thorpe on his visit.

Me as well. He waited for a reason.

 

[dasher]

Hard to get a commitment if we're not even sure we offered... or if the offer is conditional. #alleggsin

Conditional on what? I would be very surprised if he isn't ours by Saturday.

 

[RF2044]

Someone catch me up on this; how many scholarships do we have left? Just 1?

Just one. And Thorpe is intriguing as an "add" because he'd free up the scholarship for the class of 2018, when we're involved with a lot of quality backcourt prospects. Kid is a combo guard who got thrust into having to start at point for part of last season. Averaged 15 and 4.6 assists, shot 37.5% from three point range.

On paper, he'd be a quality fit with a versatile talent like Battle.

 

[dasher]

Just one. And Thorpe is intriguing as an "add" because he'd free up the scholarship for the class of 2018, when we're involved with a lot of quality backcourt prospects. Kid is a combo guard who got thrust into having to start at point for part of last season. Averaged 15 and 4.6 assists, shot 37.5% from three point range.

On paper, he'd be a quality fit with a versatile talent like Battle.

Plus he is 80+% from the free throw line. I like that at the end of games.

 

[Grbac]

Led his conference in FT% posted .415% from 3 point land in conference play.

Averaged 15pts per game. Averaged 2 steals per 40 min.

Lots of positives he could add to our squad. Hope we get him.

 

[RF2044]

Plus he is 80+% from the free throw line. I like that at the end of games.

We saw how valuable that was last year [a welcome change].

 

[Knicks411]

Just one. And Thorpe is intriguing as an "add" because he'd free up the scholarship for the class of 2018, when we're involved with a lot of quality backcourt prospects. Kid is a combo guard who got thrust into having to start at point for part of last season. Averaged 15 and 4.6 assists, shot 37.5% from three point range.

On paper, he'd be a quality fit with a versatile talent like Battle.

I looked him up on KP when his name was first mentioned here (or at least when I first saw it). I think he can be a solid contributor for us; the rest of his team was awful last year and i think that really hurt some of his numbers as he was asked to carry a huge load.

 

[dasher]

I looked him up on KP when his name was first mentioned here (or at least when I first saw it). I think he can be a solid contributor for us; the rest of his team was awful last year and i think that really hurt some of his numbers as he was asked to carry a huge load.

I watched him against Uconn last year. I like him and think he will fit in well and really help us.

 

[jr4750]

It would be awesome too, should he commit, if he would show up this summer to work out. Both he and Marek in town would give us a few months to gel, something that didn't happen last summer with TT and AW. We need as much time coming together as a team as possible.

 

[jr4750]

BTW: You know your team is not being "run" effectively, when this happens. Yikes!

USF left two sleeping players at the airport

 

[OttoinGrotto]

It would be awesome too, should he commit, if he would show up this summer to work out. Both he and Marek in town would give us a few months to gel, something that didn't happen last summer with TT and AW. We need as much time coming together as a team as possible.

Yeah, I think that would be pretty big.

 

[Sherman20]

It seemed this was inevitable since Thorpe was waiting and it became more and more obvious that Ayala was going to complete the summer circuit. Plus there is no guarrante he would switch to 17 and come to SU, that became iffy once he joined his AAU team. I'm glad the staff has decided that finalizing the roster and moving forward is the best for this team.

Can Syracuse go on an overseas or Canadian trip this summer? Aren't they allowed to do that again this off season? The last time was 2013. I think it can be every 4 years. That could really help this team.

 

[dasher]

Can Syracuse go on an overseas or Canadian trip this summer? Aren't they allowed to do that again this off season? The last time was 2013. I think it can be every 4 years. That could really help this team.

We don't take advantage of that nearly enough. Every time we have done that, we have got off to a great start. Every time.

 

[cuseguy]

JB said several weeks ago that a foreign trip wasn't in the works for this year.

 

[Ryand877]

JB said several weeks ago that a foreign trip wasn't in the works for this year.

I heard that too. Wonder why.

 

[SoBeCuse]

We saw how valuable that was last year [a welcome change].

Still blows my mind how well the team shot from the FT line/3Pt line yet they couldn't get into the tourney with a largely mediocre at best collection of bubble teams. That really illustrates how many issues the team truly had.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I don't.

OK, tell us why this squad is better on paper. Tell us how having 2 shooters rather than 4 is a plus. Tell us how having two 5th year players who both averaged double figures scoring and shot in the mid-to-high 30s from three is worse than having a bunch of 3 star recruits. We had a fifth year returning senior at center, a 7-2 transfer from the Big East, plus Thompson and Lydon in the middle of the zone. The two guys who defended the center position best of those 4 are gone.