Good Signs for Girard's Growth

[DoctorBombay]

too muscular to shoot well, IMO.

Hey-ooooooh!

 

[STEVEHOLT]

"Being part of an endangered group fuels Girard. He’s working on change of speed and direction. He’s enhancing his quickness and strength. He has added about 10 pounds of muscle since the end of the season. His goal is to hit 195 pounds on the scale, up from 181 last fall."

How does Syracuse get the best out of Joseph Girard?

To return to the NCAA Tournament, Syracuse needs Girard to flourish as an all-league player. The PG outlines how he plans to get there.

theathletic.com

Here we go again with the ridiculous lean muscle gains .. a conditioned athlete isn’t going to be able to gain 10 lbs of muscle that fast without use of performance enhancers ..

 

[pearl31]

^ expert

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Here we go again with the ridiculous lean muscle gains .. a conditioned athlete isn’t going to be able to gain 10 lbs of muscle that fast without use of performance enhancers ..

Marek agrees!

 

[RoatanCuse]

too muscular to shoot well, IMO.

shakey potatos.

 

[FrancoPizza]

too muscular to shoot well, IMO.

Terry Cooney approves this message.

 

[billsin01]

Developing a Scoop like shot in the lane is key to improvement next year...jmo

Not sure it will be a scoop-like style from JG, maybe more stop, pivot, fade type moves but I think he can be more dangerous inside of 15 feet than we saw this year.

 

[billsin01]

Girard was maddening at times, specifically with his shot selection and defensive lapses. But generally I thought he overachieved as a Freshman. Excited for the next couple years as I think he’ll end up a great player for the program.

I don't disagree but I think it speaks to how insane we are as fans. Kid came from glens falls and by game 3 was the point guard, which he had to learn on the fly, for all intents and purposes. I think the effort on the defensive end has to match the offensive intensity but he can make tough shots so he's the type of kid JB isn't going to rein in much in that department. Might be frustrating but there will be some upside in that regard as well.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Girard was maddening at times, specifically with his shot selection and defensive lapses. But generally I thought he overachieved as a Freshman. Excited for the next couple years as I think he’ll end up a great player for the program.

He played too much. His shooting was over 40% from deep in December, same with Buddy, even into January for him. They both shot about 25% over the last 6 weeks of the season. They were too tired, too worn out. It's not the cardio when people say that, it's the physical beating they take from defenders, and the cumulative twisted ankles, floor burns, twisted knees, etc.

 

[billsin01]

Here we go again with the ridiculous lean muscle gains .. a conditioned athlete isn’t going to be able to gain 10 lbs of muscle that fast without use of performance enhancers ..

I wonder how much of it has to do with the fact that he was an absurd athlete from a young age and didn't maybe have to train at that high a level to be insanely productive. Also, from the eye test, he looked like a kid fresh out of high school playing college hoops (as opposed to kids like Guerrier, who looked like a 25-year-old peak athlete as a frosh). Don't know how much stock I put in 10 lbs. of muscle, but have to feel he's capable of significant gains in that department.

 

[IthacaMatt]

oooo I hope that comes back

Well, Cooney made it easy to reach that conclusion.

 

[billsin01]

He played too much. His shooting was over 40% from deep in December, same with Buddy, even into December for him. They both shot about 25% over the last 6 weeks of the season. They were too tired, too worn out.

Yeah, not sure he'll ever be a 40% guy if he has to play the 1 and log huge minutes. But I could see him closer to 35-36% while shooting from almost anywhere. That would make him more effective off the dribble as well and I think you'll see his assist numbers go up b/c he is a good passer. Will be interesting to watch.

 

[kirbivore]

How do you get faster by gaining muscle? That doesnt happen very often.

I'd rather him work on his game than his body.

A Syracuse player getting slower? BAH GAWD! That's Will Hick's music

 

[Wrinkle]

Once that jumper starts falling, it's on

 

[sufandu]

How do you get faster by gaining muscle? That doesnt happen very often.

I'd rather him work on his game than his body.

It happens a lot with young athletes. You see it all the time with skill position football players. He's at an age where adding muscle comes easy and he should gain weight. Jordan didn't lose any athletic ability when he starting lifting and gained weight in the late '80's early '90's.

 

[Orangezoo]

It happens a lot with young athletes. You see it all the time with skill position football players. He's at an age where adding muscle comes easy and he should gain weight. Jordan didn't lose any athletic ability when he starting lifting and gained weight in the late '80's early '90's.

The other thing here is that through the course of a season, those strength gains can be lost. You get into the later part of the ACC and heading into post-season and some of that muscle and strength that has been lost can most certainly have an impact on the body and you start to see that cumulative fatigue more noticeably. A stronger Joe is going to be important for him to stay in form later into the season. All you need to do is look at Gerry. He really started to wear down due to that amount of minutes he was playing and carrying the scoring burden. It wasn't his style to go crazy adding muscle in the gym. Thus with Joe I think it will definitely be beneficial.

The other side of this is being able to deal with the physicality at the top of the zone while teams consistently attack it by screening it. His defense wore down the same as his offense did by season's end. He wasn't a great defender really at any time but the 3s both he and Buddy were responsible for really hurt us.

It is also clear hat Joe is not going to be confused for Jason Hart or Jonny Flynn getting up and down the court. Thus he needs to be able to be stronger when he gets into the paint. It is clearly a part of his game as it was in HS. It also something he had mild success with but struggled at times all the same. He hit some floaters and that stop and pop or turnaround mid range jumper but otherwise most everything was outside the arc.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

I don’t think I have ever been more wrong about an incoming player. He was really good and I didn’t see it coming at all. I really didn’t think his game would translate year 1. Looking forward to next three years.

 

[Cusesky8214]

 

[Brooky03]

How do you get faster by gaining muscle? That doesnt happen very often.

I'd rather him work on his game than his body.

well you can’t get faster by losing muscle. And athletes at this level don’t really have much fat to burn.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Girard never took any . I love that guy.

Buddy buckets Sr Marek...


We will be really good this year!!!

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

I LOVE GIRARD

 

[Wrinkle]

JG3 will be 1st team all American as a senior

 

[orangejunkie]

SU coaches must love coaching a kid like Girard. He has more innate talent and athleticism than people give him credit for. His work ethic is off the charts. Added strength is a good thing, especially when it is combined with training that enhances his speed and flexibility. What's not to like here? I'm excited to see what improvements he will add to his game this year. Buddy has a similar work ethic and he showed significant improvement in his dribble/drive game this past year. Would love to see guys like Braswell use this off season to significantly impact their games. Time will tell.

 

[sl95sufan]

That was fun to watch. Especially the second half. Such a good passer. Ballsy sometimes and a little loose every now and then but I think the trade off is alright.

 

[Ceerqqq]

I think the effort on the defensive end has to match the offensive intensity...

I think you've really nailed it, here. I don't think there's any single ability he could work on that would improve his game/contributions more than developing the Cardio he needs to be really intense on defense most of the time. I assume that he will make the effort to round out his offensive game, but if he becomes a stealing/rebounding force, he'd become golden to this team...