Geno Thorpe - COMMITTED TO SYRACUSE

[cuseguy]

Is he a pg or is he a sg that was forced to play pg when the pg quit?

Anything would be an improvement over our free safety playing point guard.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Thorpe was supposed to take a visit to Pitt a few weeks ago and Seton Hall at some point in May. Did either happen yet?

Also, let's hope he doesn't get left at any airports.

 

[Sherman20]

i think with a healthy TB and now in his second season of the zone we will see a much better defensive player (better than he already was) and will see some more steals from our guards...our D last year was horrendous, if we don't improve on that side of the ball well have no chance regardless of who we land or send out there..fortunately i think we will be much better defensively, Im in the camp of believing Sidbee/Brisset will give us more than we expect, BS is coming from a great hs program with experience in the middle of the zone, he looks to have solid bball instincts, a motor and very athletic, just needs to add some weight...what well get from Chukwu i have no clue hopefully something, also i cant see Thompson getting any worse on D only better, surely the a year of the zone plus the off-season work will make him a better defender...OB/MM are very athletic and hopefully they can learn the zone, the last spot is the spot next to battle at the top, weather its HW/FW/GT they need to be able to challenge shooters and not allow guards to penetrate easily, also think rebounding will be much better..one last thing id like to see, i wanna see some nastiness, i think we have become a bit soft due to recruting quieter kids as well as playing undersized forwards at C , i wanna see us get a little rough and angry and play pissed off

I'm very much with you on Brissett and Sidibe and the likelihood both will have immediate impacts.

 

[cusefan88]

Thorpe was supposed to take a visit to Pitt a few weeks ago and Seton Hall at some point in May. Did either happen yet?

Also, let's hope he doesn't get left at any airports.

A few reporters in NYC area saying he's not a target for SH

 

[Jasoncuse]

A few reporters in NYC area saying he's not a target for SH

Maybe adding Jordan Walker eliminated their desire for another guard?

 

[Deano]

I had posted in another thread (somewhere and can't recall it) a good youtube article about him. Seems like a good kid and would fit in at SU -

 

[pearl31]

can anyone confirm if he's visited anywhere yet since becoming an xfer?

 

[nycfan]

is this the that others have alluded to or is this guy someone else?

LOL (I know what you were trying to ask, but it doesn't work particularly well here...)

 

[cuseguy]

Thorpe solves our problem. A quality combo guard.

 

[Oráiste]

Wheee does he play here though? Is he tall enough to play some 3? Will he be willing to back up Battle? Can he play PG? I tend to think the answer to each of those is more no than yes. I'm can't see why he'd want to come here.

another question: will he be able to pick up the zone and defend competently? the lesson I take from last season is that we can survive crappy point guard play but not crappy defense at the top of the zone

 

[Footey04]

I think he ll be a great fit at top w battle, way more productive defensively than gillon

 

[jordoo]

another question: will he be able to pick up the zone and defend competently? the lesson I take from last season is that we can survive crappy point guard play but not crappy defense at the top of the zone

Battle should be good up there this year. Howard was so bad as a PG that teams got to see Gillon for extended minutes. Even when he was in possition they could see, pass and shoot over him. Thorpe would not have those same issues as long as he learns where to be.

 

[JLine]

Exactly what we need to shore up the guard positions, and doesn't mess with the 2018 recruiting of Carey. Hope he signs up. He will definitely get minutes, and an outlet to show his skills.

 

[Footey04]

For sure about Thorpe he d be a major get for our team this year!

 

[jordville]

Thorpe was supposed to take a visit to Pitt a few weeks ago and Seton Hall at some point in May. Did either happen yet?

Also, let's hope he doesn't get left at any airports.

Visiting Pitt today.. Seton Hall tomorrow. Don't believe he made any previous visits.

 

[rrlbees]

another question: will he be able to pick up the zone and defend competently? the lesson I take from last season is that we can survive crappy point guard play but not crappy defense at the top of the zone

He might be a good or even very good individual defender. But as you know, our zone is much more than that. No matter how quick or long you are, it's a team defense. You have to know where to be and 5 guys are moving st the same time depending on ball location and offensive set. Our biggest problem last year wasn't necessarily any one player being a bad defender, it's that we had 4 guys playing a lot, White, Gillon, Battle, and TT all playing our defense for the first time.

 

[Footey04]

I think he'd adjust rather quickly gillon didn't seem to care to play defense imo

 

[Deano]

I think USF played zone at times but then again that's just a tad different's than SU's.

 

[Day2]

good points, def some valid concerns that will need to be addressed by the staff...i think he is gonna be more of a combo guard, will be backing up battle in addition to competing with FH for starter minutes, i think it will be similar to JG last year where we go with him or FH depending if FH has made improvements over the summer or if GT proves capable of playing the 1. Also 6'4, i think its a given hell be playing the top of the zone only. In my ideal world (which is ideal for cuse) FH improves so much he is the starter with GT coming off the bench in a 6th man role to provide scoring ala Dion in 2012 and Kjo/Scoop in 2010.

I don't see Thorpe in orange if he isn't starting.

 

[dasher]

I don't see Thorpe in orange if he isn't starting.

Of course. He ain't starting, he ain't departing.

 

[Footey04]

He will be starting if he comes here imo

 

[AZOrange]

I don't see Thorpe in orange if he isn't starting.

He's a starter for sure. And with Gillon/AW3 track record he should be pretty comfortable here.

 

[Sherman20]

another question: will he be able to pick up the zone and defend competently? the lesson I take from last season is that we can survive crappy point guard play but not crappy defense at the top of the zone

I wonder how freshman like Battle and Ennis figured it out pretty quickly. GMac; Edelin, Flynn and others too.

 

[Day2]

I wonder how freshman like Battle and Ennis figured it out pretty quickly. GMac; Edelin, Flynn and others too.

Yeah, I think in the case of Gillon, he was undersized and that hurt him the most. I also think he didn't see eye-to-eye with JB on defensive philosophy. For example, Gillon seemed to want to put pressure on the ballhandler in the backcourt at the end of games (to prevent the other team from rolling the ball halfway across the court), while JB wanted him back on D. They argued about this during several games last season. So to me, Gillon just wasn't motivated to play JB's style of defense 100% of the time.

 

[jordville]

I had posted in another thread (somewhere and can't recall it) a good youtube article about him. Seems like a good kid and would fit in at SU -

Glad you shared this one again. Good look and listen.