Honest question...

[OttoMets]

(Not whining or criticizing):

Why did the coaching staff play Southerland (behind both Kris and Wes in the rotation) for 97 minutes in 2010? Did they think he might round into a contributor by February? Was there any consideration given to using a redshirt? (I know he was already one year removed from high school and would turn 20 toward the end of that first season.)

Imagine if this were the beginning of his fourth-year junior season. We'd be talking about a potential All-America guy coming back next year.

 

[General20]

Great question. I came to the same conclusion as you at the time. That they thought he might round into a contributor.

 

[Garbs]

he does this every year in exhibitions, let's wait until the real games start

but to sort of answer your question, yes a 24 year old would probably do pretty good in college

 

[Tobias Funke]

Clealry his age. Either he contributes or he doesn't, certainly wouldn't want a 24 year old eating up a scholarship if he doesn't pan out. Also JB loves watching JS prance up court on fast breaks.

 

[Upstate]

did he ever have a RS year? or was he always a 4 to play 4 guy?

 

[Gabjon]

(Not whining or criticizing):

Why did the coaching staff play Southerland (behind both Kris and Wes in the rotation) for 97 minutes in 2010? Did they think he might round into a contributor by February? Was there any consideration given to using a redshirt? (I know he was already one year removed from high school and would turn 20 toward the end of that first season.)

Imagine if this were the beginning of his fourth-year junior season. We'd be talking about a potential All-America guy coming back next year.

If he plays well enough to be AA next year he wouldn't come back anyway so I doubt it matters

 

[billsin01]

(Not whining or criticizing):

Why did the coaching staff play Southerland (behind both Kris and Wes in the rotation) for 97 minutes in 2010? Did they think he might round into a contributor by February? Was there any consideration given to using a redshirt? (I know he was already one year removed from high school and would turn 20 toward the end of that first season.)

Imagine if this were the beginning of his fourth-year junior season. We'd be talking about a potential All-America guy coming back next year.

I generally defer to JB but I can't help but think he would have been a great redshirt candidate. I mean, what were the odds of him simply not working out? He was 6-8, solid athleticism and a good stroke/range. I mean, if he never develops anything other than that, he's a valuable role player.

I don't know that I think he's an AA type -- you may be right, I'm just not sure I'd go there yet -- it would be fun to have him around for another year.

If I had to hazard a guess I think it's because JB probably is only going to go redshirt on a guy if he has absolutely no chance of contributing (Cooney behind Scoop, Dion, BT and MCW). So maybe the thought was that if KJ (unproven at that point) struggled, they could use Southerland as instant offense occasionally off the bench?

I don't know, though, seems curious.

 

[dollarbill44]

If you write "honest question" in the title of your post, should we take it to mean that your other questions are dishonest, since you didn't lead with "honest question"?

 

[Cheriehoop]

Just my opinion , I think James has always had all the physical tools to be a great player but for some reason (to me) he never seemed to really want to be a serious impact player. He's seemed to assume the role of an easy going joker who just didn't seem to be motivated to take it to what people would say "the next level". To me it seems too bad but hopefully the bulb has gone on this year and he wants to really contribute consistently on the court. He could be a real difference maker.

 

[moqui]

many of us have wondered the same question for 3 years . . . I think JB is the best, but I've never argued that he is perfect

he does this every year in exhibitions, let's wait until the real games start

I didn't realize those March tilts in NYC, Pittsburgh and Boston were exhibitions

 

[OttoMets]

If you write "honest question" in the title of your post, should we take it to mean that your other questions are dishonest, since you didn't lead with "honest question"?

No, just that anything that comes remotely close to second-guessing Boeheim is usually met with vitriol by the cognoscenti around these parts. Wanted to make clear that I come in peace and don't mean to be critical.

 

[OttoMets]

Just my opinion , I think James has always had all the physical tools to be a great player but for some reason (to me) he never seemed to really want to be a serious impact player. He's seemed to assume the role of an easy going joker who just didn't seem to be motivated to take it to what people would say "the next level". To me it seems too bad but hopefully the bulb has gone on this year and he wants to really contribute consistently on the court. He could be a real difference maker.

I agree with some of that, but I think the bulb went on last year. For whatever reason, his shot didn't fall for like two months, though. But he was locked in as a good rebounder and defender and was noticeably improved from his sophomore ("A dead man could grab more than one rebound") season.

 

[tbonezone]

my recollection was that he came out of the gate shooting red hot as a frosh and then cooled off significantly. tough call.

 

[rstone7727]

No, just that anything that comes remotely close to second-guessing Boeheim is usually met with vitriol by the cognoscenti around these parts.

Damn straight! The man is a legend, an icon, a cool breeze on a hot summer night and a hot buttered rum when it's below zero.

 

[Bornorange]

JS has to be consistent to be thought of as a AA player. I think he has improved every season, his defense and offensive game and especially his rebounding. He can be tenacious. Yet there were times last year I thought he should have stopped pulling the trigger.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

(Not whining or criticizing):

Why did the coaching staff play Southerland (behind both Kris and Wes in the rotation) for 97 minutes in 2010? Did they think he might round into a contributor by February? Was there any consideration given to using a redshirt? (I know he was already one year removed from high school and would turn 20 toward the end of that first season.)

Imagine if this were the beginning of his fourth-year junior season. We'd be talking about a potential All-America guy coming back next year.

Based upon KJ's year, there was a chance he could have gone early, so you would want him to get some game action. Also helps recruiting from an information and expiration od eligibilty stand point.

Sent from my Vortex using Tapatalk 2

 

[Oakland]

(Not whining or criticizing):

Why did the coaching staff play Southerland (behind both Kris and Wes in the rotation) for 97 minutes in 2010? Did they think he might round into a contributor by February? Was there any consideration given to using a redshirt? (I know he was already one year removed from high school and would turn 20 toward the end of that first season.)

Imagine if this were the beginning of his fourth-year junior season. We'd be talking about a potential All-America guy coming back next year.

A good question. In general, I'm surprised that JB doesn't RS more, i.e, 1 RS every 2 or 3 years, instead of 1 RS every 10 yrs. Especially since SU often goes with just 9-11 scholarship players in a season. However, given SU's attraction to pull in high level recruits, maybe JB wants to save the potential flexibility at the expense of the benefit of 5th yr seniors.

Concerning JS, I think he is becoming one of the most overrated players in recent memory: he is not on a trajectory to be AA next season or the next one.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Just my opinion , I think James has always had all the physical tools to be a great player but for some reason (to me) he never seemed to really want to be a serious impact player. He's seemed to assume the role of an easy going joker who just didn't seem to be motivated to take it to what people would say "the next level". To me it seems too bad but hopefully the bulb has gone on this year and he wants to really contribute consistently on the court. He could be a real difference maker.

James only began filling in the holes in his game toward the end of last year, and part of that was confidence that he really could do it all. I have been saying for months that he will be the break-out star this year. I hope I am correct, as I really like the kid.

 

[orangefan13]

James has always been a shoot in stride shooter from outside the arc. This year hes pulled up flatfooted from three instead of in stride all the time. He hasn't jumped out of the gym on every pullup, and his arc has dropped about 5 feet from a Carmelo rainbow swish or bounce out of bounce look to a soft touch. Sometime I felt he used the in motion three point shot to help combat his jitters pulling up, but hes really slowed down his jumper this year. I suspect the staff is responsible for that .
I always felt his passing has been underated off the dribble, and others have mentioned his dribble has improved.

Once again, in a presser early this season he admitted to sitting back last year to much. I think James has fine tuned his his mental toughness and responsibilities, and will continue to work more on that. He averaged 9.8 ppg the last 8 games last year in only 23 minutes, and was very solidly in the rotation.

 

[orangehomer]

i think people are going too far with this idea of redshirting kids in basketball. it's not quite like football where 90% of the kids that come in are not physically ready as true freshman. basketball is a lot different, because the rosters are so small and so few guys are good enough to go pro. if you logjam your program with too many upperclassmen it means you aren't getting the surefire nba talents that you need if you want to win a championship.

 

[Marsh01]

I would like to see him have some bigger performances (ala NC State last year) and actually contribute more than a few rpg at times. The guy could probably touch the top of the Dome and yet he only averaged 3 rpg last season.

 

[Gabjon]

I love how people act like the player has no say in the matter. Convincing a kid to RS is not easy.

 

[Garbs]

many of us have wondered the same question for 3 years . . . I think JB is the best, but I've never argued that he is perfect



I didn't realize those March tilts in NYC, Pittsburgh and Boston were exhibitions

I seem to remember losing 2 of those games if that is what you are referring to

 

[samspann]

(Not whining or criticizing):

Why did the coaching staff play Southerland (behind both Kris and Wes in the rotation) for 97 minutes in 2010? Did they think he might round into a contributor by February? Was there any consideration given to using a redshirt? (I know he was already one year removed from high school and would turn 20 toward the end of that first season.)

Imagine if this were the beginning of his fourth-year junior season. We'd be talking about a potential All-America guy coming back next year.

I'm sorry, but there's no such thing as a SF All-American who can't dribble. I'm a huge JS fan, but he has zero game when I comes to putting the ball on the deck.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

I think it's an interesting question, but hindsight is always 20-20. At the time there was no way to know that redshirting him might have been the right call. Yeah, it kind of looks like an inspired move now had he done it, since JS didn't contribute much of anything at all his freshman year, and we now know he'd probably stick around for his redshirt senior year to make it worth while. But let's remember where we were at the time. It looked like we had the best team we had had since 2003, with Wes Johnson and AO and Jax and Andy, etc., and there was good reason to think that JS could be a nice role playing part of a championship run off the bench. I think it was a smart role of the dice to play JS that year, even if in retrospect it probably looks like it didn't pay off.