Go on record; are we back?

[tptcuse]

Agree to disagree. He's a jag and an undersized one at that. He's going to get destroyed vs the better centers in the conference.

Honest question: Did you watch last night?

 

[JeffCuse]

Honest question: Did you watch last night?

I did. We played Binghamton. I would love to see him.play at that level moving forward. I just dont think that's even remotely realistic

 

[tptcuse]

I did. We played Binghamton. I would love to see him.play at that level moving forward. I just dont think that's even remotely realistic

We just haven't had a center who can jump since Jesse and he wasn't nearly as athletic as Kyle. And Kyle was really keyed in on defense.

 

[OrangeinDC]

Let’s hear it

I love the makeup of this team, they have the ability to match-up with anyone and more important, learn how to put pressure on teams to figure how to match up against us. Not going to repeat all the great points about the athleticism and return to the good days. What I was focused on was trying to see what type of identity these players were looking to have, not the coach, but the players.. It looks like they have chosen defense, unselfish play and recognizing/utilizing each other’s strengths. I Loved Kiyan’s post game comments about other players, said a lot. If yesterday is the starting point, and they are willing to put in the work, this team’s ceiling is very high.

 

[sufandu]

Agree to disagree. He's a jag and an undersized one at that. He's going to get destroyed vs the better centers in the conference.

I'm not all that worried about matching up with the absolute best in the conference, at least not this year. I just wanna match up with the teams below the top tier so we can get enough wins to make the tourney. Or maybe I should say I don't expect more than that. That may mean some teams with bigger centers give us trouble. Our personnel isn't flawless, but we're more athletic than we've been in a long time. If we can make the tourney and avoid the bubble, Red can point to progress and hopefully build on that.

 

[Orangefizz]

I think our GM hit a home run with roster construction. Just hope Red and his crew are strong enough coaches to get the most out of these guys.

LGO!!!

 

[OrlandoCuse]

After we beat Houston we can claim we’re back.

 

[capeorange]

Not until we beat a few legitimate teams.

 

[Surfan06001]

After we beat Houston we can claim we’re back.

We got this

 

[Cuseregular]

back meaning back to the tourney, yes. Back to being near the top of the ACC and a run in any tourney, no.

 

[Cusefan0307]

No.

Center and head coach still problems

Center?! Good lord. Start looking at centers in the rest of the ACC.

 

[RF2044]

Agree to disagree. He's a jag and an undersized one at that. He's going to get destroyed vs the better centers in the conference.

Kyle has shown himself to be a key "win" for Alex Kline identifying diamonds in the rough in the recruiting portal.

He's only about 6-9 in shoes -- that is the only part of your post that is even directionally accurate.

 

[Chip]

Too hard to predict right now. Plus I don't even know what being back means these days.

But George and Freeman (where he is now) are the biggest reasons for optimism over last year.

If we don't make it to the tournament, many of you will get your wish. This roster construction looks tournament worthy.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Kyle has shown himself to be a key "win" for Alex Kline identifying diamonds in the rough in the recruiting portal.

He's only about 6-9 in shoes -- that is the only part of your post that is even directionally accurate.

Kyle may be the best pure athlete we have had since Hakim Warrick. We haven’t had a leaper like him in years.

 

[721Comstock]

Kyle may be the best pure athlete we have had since Hakim Warrick. We haven’t had a leaper like him in years.

Wes & Jerami say HI!!

 

[Cusefan0307]

Wes & Jerami say HI!!

Good call out. I’ll give those 2.

 

[JeffCuse]

Kyle has shown himself to be a key "win" for Alex Kline identifying diamonds in the rough in the recruiting portal.

He's only about 6-9 in shoes -- that is the only part of your post that is even directionally accurate.

We shall see. I hope you are right.

 

[SU in Hershey]

I say this as someone that is willing to run right into a wall with my fandom.

 

[Niastri]

I hope people aren’t hanging their hats on beating #1 Houston or top 10 Kansas. I’m hoping we can put up a fight but those are gonna be heavy lifts. The program under Red still has a ways to go. I have no illusions that we’ll beat those teams. I am intrigued by our chances against Tennessee at home and that third Vegas game. If they draw UNLV or Rutgers in game 3, we better win. But what happens if they play good games against a team like Maryland or Creighton but can’t quite pull out the win? Are we gonna stick with this team as they gel ? I hope so. My feeling is that this team under Red might really start clicking at some point late in the non conference play and the ACC portion of the schedule, and we’ll knock off some of the top teams there.

If we play Houston, Kansas and another top25 team in Vegas and then Tennessee and come away with an average margin of -5 or less, it will be disappointing but not catastrophic. If the average margin is -15 or more, I will really start to worry. We have the physical talent to compete with all those teams.

As exciting as crushing Binghamton was, it is clear they are a terrible basketball team.

 

[RF2044]

If we play Houston, Kansas and another top25 team in Vegas and then Tennessee and come away with an average margin of -5 or less, it will be disappointing but not catastrophic. If the average margin is -15 or more, I will really start to worry. We have the physical talent to compete with all those teams.

As exciting as crushing Binghamton was, it is clear they are a terrible basketball team.

That's a good way to put it.

And the reality of the way the schedule is set up. We play nothing but tomato cans in the preseason portion of the schedule OUTSIDE of those three games. Presumably, the schedule has been set up this way to "game" the NET score. That's fine, but it means that to really vault the program into NCAA contention, we need to win one of those games. Tall order to be sure. But if we can play like we did against Binghamton, then maybe we have a better shot.

In recent years, we've gotten rolled just about every time we've played one of these types of OOC games. If it happens again, then as a measuring stick for how the rest of the season will probably unfold is a bad sign.

So while it stinks that this is the reality, this is how the schedule has been set. Need to capitalize in one of those games. And if we get rolled again like you outline above, then it is a really bad sign.

 

[Niastri]

I'm not all that worried about matching up with the absolute best in the conference, at least not this year. I just wanna match up with the teams below the top tier so we can get enough wins to make the tourney. Or maybe I should say I don't expect more than that. That may mean some teams with bigger centers give us trouble. Our personnel isn't flawless, but we're more athletic than we've been in a long time. If we can make the tourney and avoid the bubble, Red can point to progress and hopefully build on that.

The league does have a few guys that are either way taller or way heavier than Kyle. In some cases, both.

His ability to win those matchups is in doubt, as sometimes you can't just leap over somebody to make up for the disadvantage in height and weight. If he, Souare, White and Freeman can't at least break even in those matchups, we could have some very long games.

I am optimistic Kyle can handle the challenge.

 

[Gotothehole]

After watching both teams last night I think we match up well physically neither team could shoot either

 

[capeorange]

Kyle may be the best pure athlete we have had since Hakim Warrick. We haven’t had a leaper like him in years.

Kyle needs to give someone a facial before we can make that comparison.

 

[OrangeinDC]

We just haven't had a center who can jump since Jesse and he wasn't nearly as athletic as Kyle. And Kyle was really keyed in on defense.

Kyle may be the best pure athlete we have had since Hakim Warrick. We haven’t had a leaper like him in years.

Agree! I see Kyle as more of a big PF, although he's 6'9 with athleticism, his long arms allow him to play much bigger.

I'm intrigued by Soure... love what I see from him, but he's also more of a PF too. Wondering what the chances are of him being redshirted? I think he clearly can play in the current rotation... What do you think?

 

[GoSU96]

It’s one game vs Binghamton with essentially an all new roster.


The arrow is up, but the group needs time to play together.