Gun to my head predictions...

[HOFCeluck]

If anything the staff's recruiting the last five or six years has been too good. They're landing guys who are expected to be 3-4 year developmental players (Carter-Williams, Ennis, Grant, Richardson) who instead blow up and leave after one or two years. The unexpected turnover hurts the depth of the roster and people are yelling at the staff about it. It's insane to me.

A lot of people thought the idea of Mali being OAD was insanity as recent as one month ago.

 

[asj410]

A lot of people thought the idea of Mali being OAD was insanity as recent as one month ago.

Nobody knew just how big his hands were

 

[jsshap]

If anything the staff's recruiting the last five or six years has been too good. They're landing guys who are expected to be 3-4 year developmental players (Carter-Williams, Ennis, Grant, Richardson) who instead blow up and leave after one or two years. The unexpected turnover hurts the depth of the roster and people are yelling at the staff about it. It's insane to me.

Well said. As a whole, the fan base on this site is completely embarrassing itself, just as it does after virtually every loss every season. Richardson goes pro so the staff is asleep at the wheel, rather than giving them the credit for helping him get to the league, the credit for having battle in the que, the credit for bringing in a seasoned transfer to lessen the loss, the credit for working their tail off to try and get one more piece in the door by next year, not to mention, of course, the credit for navigating a final four amidst a tumultuous season. You have to look at it as a study on society in general and take it for the comedy it is, lest it drive you away altogether.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Why does it have to be Dion? Why can't it be Melo or GMac or Ennis or even Malachi?

Because that's who Battle's playing style is more like among our recent guards, and Dion showed a big improvement from freshman to sophomore year.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Malachi leaving isn't the problem. Again I support that kid going Chad Ford has him 13th on his board he could go late lottery.
I am frustrated we aren't filling this roster out.
We have 3 bleeping openings and that is already 2 less than everyone else.

This staff should have atleast more active in the grad transfer market or taken a true transfer just for roster stability down the road.

I do think Lydon and Howard will improve but 4 of our 8 scholarship players next year will give us next to nothing offensively Chuwku, Coleman, Moyer, Roberson. That is just scary. We struggled offensively with Gbinije, Cooney, Richardson, Lydon, Roberson.
We will likely struggle with Gillon, Battle, Lydon, Roberson, Chuwku as well.

Even if JB only plays 8 guys having 3 additional guys for future development is important for our future. JB has 2 more years and I just don't see us being anything more than just a hopeful tournament team. That is disappointing l.

I fully agree that filling out the roster should have been a priority. We're already behind the 8-ball in our ability to put together a full team, compared to others, so there's no need to not have 3 more spots filled. The staff had to know pretty early in this past season that Joseph and Chino weren't going to stick around much longer and that Malachi and Lydon could've possibly turned pro. We're lucky Lydon is returning because he would've probably been a 1st rounder too. Can't blame Malachi in the least bit for going pro. And Gillon sort of fell into our laps or else we'd be in real trouble.

With players who have had numerous injuries (Coleman, Battle), players that aren't good on the offensive end (Coleman, Chukwu, Roberson, Moyer, Frank) and an overall lack of numbers, the margins are razor thin next year. An injury, suspension and/or players who aren't ready would have a major impact on the season.

Hopefully, there's still time to add some bodies, but it's gotten late and there are few remaining options. The lack of scoring is going to be brutal next year, much worse than it's been the past handful of years. I really wish I could understand why JB and the staff have limited themselves so much in recruiting and player additions, and why the target isn't more on ready to contribute scorers.

 

[rrlbees]

As a whole, the fan base on this site is completely embarrassing itself, just as it does after virtually every loss every season.

That's a real generalization.

 

[jsshap]

I fully agree that filling out the roster should have been a priority. We're already behind the 8-ball in our ability to put together a full team, compared to others, so there's no need to not have 3 more spots filled. The staff had to know pretty early in this past season that Joseph and Chino weren't going to stick around much longer and that Malachi and Lydon could've possibly turned pro. We're lucky Lydon is returning because he would've probably been a 1st rounder too. Can't blame Malachi in the least bit for going pro. And Gillon sort of fell into our laps or else we'd be in real trouble.

With players who have had numerous injuries (Coleman, Battle), players that aren't good on the offensive end (Coleman, Chukwu, Roberson, Moyer, Frank) and an overall lack of numbers, the margins are razor thin next year. An injury, suspension and/or players who aren't ready would have a major impact on the season.

Hopefully, there's still time to add some bodies, but it's gotten late and there are few remaining options. The lack of scoring is going to be brutal next year, much worse than it's been the past handful of years. I really wish I could understand why JB and the staff have limited themselves so much in recruiting and player additions, and why the target isn't more on ready to contribute scorers.

If the staff is focusing its recruiting efforts on getting players who are not ready to contribute, I agree that is not a well thought out strategy and I too cannot understand it. Though perhaps it will help lessen the run of early departure first round picks.

 

[jsshap]

That's a real generalization.

Of course it is, as noted. And of course every fan base has x% of irrational fans who overreact, often bitterly, at any negative occurrence.

 

[OttoMets]

...

• Will JB unleash the press more often, after how effective it was in last year's NCAA tournament, and with a true shotblocker patrolling the back end next year?...

Tons of questions, but I wouldn't be surprised for a lot of the things if not the vast majority or even all of them getting answered favorably next year.

...

A lot of good questions, but that one's not going to be answered favorably. We can write this in stone:

We're not going to press much;
We'll lose a slow-tempo game in which some people will say crazy things about Boeheim's stubbornness;
A reporter will ask Boeheim why he didn't press, and Boeheim will angrily answer that this group of players isn't any good at pressing;
We'll win a game with the press late in the season and see that this group of players can in fact be good at pressing;
We'll get our hopes up next May that the 2018 team will finally use its athleticism to press more consistently.

 

[pearl31]

This thread, along with a couple of the other current ones, elicit that word again... what was that word...

Insufferable

 

[Day2]

Yes one year to the next players improve their game. Look at Buddy Hield and Kris Dunn. I don't see what is so hard to understand.

Yeah, that's exactly why Richardson is now expected to be a first round pick. They see the same potential you do.

And if Hield was 6-6 with a 7-0 wingspan, he would already be in the NBA.

 

[Cuse44]

This thread, along with a couple of the other current ones, elicit that word again... what was that word...

Insufferable

This board is that way a lot. It isn't necessarily the people, but more the setup. There are at least seven Malachi Richardson threads going at one time. When we have a game there is a game thread and 30 threads started about every call and play. I would love to see this board reflect more the style of the recruiting board. One thread for games, a thread for each player, etc. There can be a 30 page thread about Richardson to the NBA and if someone tweets something about him it becomes a whole new thread. Why not just post it in the original thread? Oh well.

 

[Day2]

While we technically may not have had any available, anybody who didn't see Kaleb leaving is blind.

I'm sure Chin gave some sort of notice as well.

While they were inconsistent freshman at times both Lydon and Richardson were candidates to go.

There seemed to be no contingency plan even though there always seemed to be at least one spot open, which was Kalebs.

That's why John Gillon is here. And Thompson will replace Chino.

Of course there was a contingency plan. But other schools are competing for those players. Like Dembele choosing UNLV. Obviously Syracuse is a better program, but as was the case with Yurtseven and NC State, the Rebels offered a better situation.

Board insiders didn't even think Richardson was leaving after the Virginia game. Sure, there was always a chance, but it wasn't considered likely until he started testing the waters. By then, Battle and Gillon were already here, leaving a fourth guard spot that would translate to a few minutes per game in non-conference at best. You can't expect the team to waste time and resources because there's a 5% chance something might happen or to replace guys who barely saw the floor.

As for Lydon, I don't think he had any intention of going pro, and to your point, I'm sure the staff knew that.

 

[NineOneSeven]

This board is that way a lot. It isn't necessarily the people, but more the setup. There are at least seven Malachi Richardson threads going at one time. When we have a game there is a game thread and 30 threads started about every call and play. I would love to see this board reflect more the style of the recruiting board. One thread for games, a thread for each player, etc. There can be a 30 page thread about Richardson to the NBA and if someone tweets something about him it becomes a whole new thread. Why not just post it in the original thread? Oh well.

Let's just have one thread for everything. 5,000 pages and counting. No mercy. Hell in a cell, wrestlemania 2017.

 

[Cuse44]

Let's just have one thread for everything. 5,000 pages and counting. No mercy. Hell in a cell, wrestlemania 2017.

No, but there's no need for multiple threads on the same topic. One thread per player, one thread for each game etc. There are multiple threads on the dome renovations...why is that needed? The mods could easily lock/combine posts about the same topics. It would speed up the board and save space. The discussions here go down hill when something is being talked about in 12 places. I don't expect anything to change, but if you look at other quality sports boards they are setup that way.

 

[Day2]

Because that's who Battle's playing style is more like among our recent guards, and Dion showed a big improvement from freshman to sophomore year.

I don't think there's a comparison with Waiters at all. Battle is a better prospect than Devo and Paul Harris. He's the best player we've brought in since Melo. You just picked a player who fit your argument.

Battle's nickname is Kid Mamba. As long as we're blindly speculating, I'm comparing him to Kobe.

 

[Dave85]

This board is that way a lot. It isn't necessarily the people, but more the setup. There are at least seven Malachi Richardson threads going at one time. When we have a game there is a game thread and 30 threads started about every call and play. I would love to see this board reflect more the style of the recruiting board. One thread for games, a thread for each player, etc. There can be a 30 page thread about Richardson to the NBA and if someone tweets something about him it becomes a whole new thread. Why not just post it in the original thread? Oh well.

I really like the way this board works. I can't complain about anything after 6000 posts. It's fun.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Could it be that the staff liked the 2017 prospects more than the 2016 prospects, and were content to roll the dice on having a roster that's a little light for a season given the sanctioned scholarships instead of loading up on guys they didn't love/take spots away potentially from 2017 guys they do like a lot?

 

[Dave85]

That's why John Gillon is here. And Thompson will replace Chino.

I hope we get Thompson and its announced this week. Then I can concentrate on the 2017-18 recruits and next season's line ups.

 

[Dave85]

Could it be that the staff liked the 2017 prospects more than the 2016 prospects, and were content to roll the dice on having a roster that's a little light for a season given the sanctioned scholarships instead of loading up on guys they didn't love/take spots away potentially from 2017 guys they do like a lot?

Or, the 2016 guys they did like just picked other schools. Recruiting is very difficult. It's a crap shoot at best.

 

[GonzoInMD]

This board is that way a lot. It isn't necessarily the people, but more the setup. There are at least seven Malachi Richardson threads going at one time. When we have a game there is a game thread and 30 threads started about every call and play. I would love to see this board reflect more the style of the recruiting board. One thread for games, a thread for each player, etc. There can be a 30 page thread about Richardson to the NBA and if someone tweets something about him it becomes a whole new thread. Why not just post it in the original thread? Oh well.

I suspect that the reason that there is a lot of threads on the same topic is that people think their opinion is going to get buried in a thread that's multiple pages deep.

 

[br801]

I suspect that the reason that there is a lot of threads on the same topic is that people think their opinion is going to get buried in a thread that's multiple pages deep.

And hell, some of these opinions are so profound they deserve their own threads.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Could it be that the staff liked the 2017 prospects more than the 2016 prospects, and were content to roll the dice on having a roster that's a little light for a season given the sanctioned scholarships instead of loading up on guys they didn't love/take spots away potentially from 2017 guys they do like a lot?

Could be, but that's really ballsy considering not one has committed yet and none are diamonds in the rough who aren't drawing the attention of the big blue recruiting machines. Right now, (and this will most certainly change so don't flame me for posting something about the present without knowing the future), Syracuse has only 12 2017 offers out with 7 potential openings - almost all to 4- & 5-stars. Let's say they land Thompson (who still hasn't committed BTW and is talking up other schools) and only one of Battle/Lydon goes pro, they're still looking adding six new players to fill their available limit. That would be greatest class in SU history. Just looking at other schools most have far fewer openings and far more offers out there. And it's not just a Kevin Ollie thing. KU has 32 open offers against 4 openings, Duke has 1 (there will be more) opening and 10 offers out there, Louisville has 3 spots and 21 open offers. The majority of teams have twice as many offers as openings out there. Some are LOL though. FSU has 1 opening in 2017 and 31(!) offers out there - that's taking the shotgun approach.

It's odd to see a short roster intentionally made even shorter. Two years ago some people were concerned about how having only 10 spots would impact the teams going forward. The NCAA gave a 'ship back, but Boeheim's like "'m, I'll take two away". Maybe this is just Boeheim being so far ahead of the curve that other coaches can't even see what he's doing. He's finding new market inefficiencies to exploit, in the parlance of sports analytics. He only plays 7-8 guys, so why have a full roster? If he has a full roster that's another 3 or 4 names he has to learn (Trevor Cooney was what'shisname until his Jr. year). Not wasting time on projects and backups who will never see action in the current season makes practice more efficient. And he might save the university a little cash that they'll need for the new roof. I'm surprised other teams haven't adopted this strategy.

 

[skurey]

And hell, some of these opinions are so profound they deserve their own threads.

Even the well known posters who make good points shouldn't start their own thread for every single discussion.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Our 8 man rotation is already set. Any other additions will be gravy.

I don't understand all of the crying in this thread.

We just lost a key shooter and guy who could create his own offense. We don't have many of those left on the team now.