I love how people rag on cooney but

[billsin01]

That's fair. You make some good points. I can't pretend to know the answer to any of these things, and there's no question that there are reasons why our past three "elite" bigs have struggled.

Whatever the reason, Syracuse is having some difficulties developing its bigs right now.

Yeah, the one that puzzles me a bit is rak. Fab obviously developed at warp speed once he was a soph (and in shape). DC will be under more scrutiny next season. But I really like Rak, but he tends to get pushed around under the basket all the time. Was hoping he could be a bit more consistent by now,

 

[billsin01]

Coleman wouldn't do any worse than Keita and would certainly grab more rebounds

I'm not sure. This game is too fast for DC right now. He's abused defensively and while I agree he'll be a better rebounder some day -- he has 3 rebs total in the last 41 minutes. That is a sad number if it is your primary skill at this point.

 

[anomander]

Yeah, the one that puzzles me a bit is rak. Fab obviously developed at warp speed once he was a soph (and in shape). DC will be under more scrutiny next season. But I really like Rak, but he tends to get pushed around under the basket all the time. Was hoping he could be a bit more consistent by now,

i don't see rak getting pushed around at all. he played a very good game today, and if he is allowed to play through a mistake here and there he is one of the better centers in the league. he was never touted as an offensive player coming out of HS, but has done a good job of developing from where he came from. i don't think he will, but this kid will be a beast if he ever makes it to his SR yr

 

[anomander]

Coleman wouldn't do any worse than Keita and would certainly grab more rebounds

dead on . Kieta is a liability. over rated defensively because he can't close out the play with the rebound. it's like he is glued to the floor. derrick will at least hustle and give you some boards, and also draws fouls when he gets the ball

 

[OttoMets]

Yeah, the one that puzzles me a bit is rak. Fab obviously developed at warp speed once he was a soph (and in shape). DC will be under more scrutiny next season. But I really like Rak, but he tends to get pushed around under the basket all the time. Was hoping he could be a bit more consistent by now,

I do wish he'd get touches. He was the one guy today who looked to be in the zone, then the guards ignored him for the last 15 minutes. Between that and being yanked between two positions, he's had a tough go of it.

(I also think he's got the mentality of Craig Forth or Mookie Watkins - Christmas is very talented but is always going to be prone to disappearing for stretches. Too "nice," "soft," whatever, he's missing something that more successful players have. Still one of my favorites and I'm rooting for him to expand his role.)

 

[realorange]

Anomander, do us all a favor and quit calling this year's Coleman, Derrick.

 

[Marsh01]

Coleman wouldn't do any worse than Keita and would certainly grab more rebounds

Keita is miles ahead of DC right now. Miiiiiiles ahead.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Did you see DC's free throws in this game?

 

[Marsh01]

Did you see DC's free throws in this game?

Wow they were awful. I also hate the under the basket look that we got almost the entire game for the FT's.

F ESPN

 

[billsin01]

dead on . Kieta is a liability. over rated defensively because he can't close out the play with the rebound. it's like he is glued to the floor. derrick will at least hustle and give you some boards, and also draws fouls when he gets the ball

Keita's a liability and you're pimping DC? Have you watched the BE games? Teams manipulate him in teh middle so easily it's not funny. And he's a great rebounder, except when he doesn't rebound -- which is basically every single BE game he's played in save for maybe the RU games (3 boards in 9 minutes).

People are getting confused between Keita being a great option for 20ish minutes a game (he's not) and Keita being the best option we have for long stretches b/c DC simply isn't anywhere close to being ready.

 

[pfister1]

I think the reason people focus more on Cooney's shortcomings is because as our third guard we need him more than Coleman this year.

and as a redshirt player who practiced with the team all last year it was expected that he would be further along.

I don't think I've seen anyone who is billed as a legitimate threat from 3 airball as many long range attempts as he has. Obviously he can't be that bad of a shooter, but oh boy he's got to at least draw iron.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Wow they were awful. I also hate the under the basket look that we got almost the entire game for the FT's.

F ESPN

'Nova bailed him out. He started that move from the free throw line, took a few dribbles and a jump stop manuever into the paint with his left hand. Would have loved to see where it was going to land because it was not going to be the basket.

 

[anomander]

Keita's a liability and you're pimping DC? Have you watched the BE games? Teams manipulate him in teh middle so easily it's not funny. And he's a great rebounder, except when he doesn't rebound -- which is basically every single BE game he's played in save for maybe the RU games (3 boards in 9 minutes).

People are getting confused between Keita being a great option for 20ish minutes a game (he's not) and Keita being the best option we have for long stretches b/c DC simply isn't anywhere close to being ready.

i'm not pimping derrick, but he is better then kieta. either one is good for a solid 7 or 8 minutes a game but that's it

 

[billsin01]

i don't see rak getting pushed around at all. he played a very good game today, and if he is allowed to play through a mistake here and there he is one of the better centers in the league. he was never touted as an offensive player coming out of HS, but has done a good job of developing from where he came from. i don't think he will, but this kid will be a beast if he ever makes it to his SR yr

I think we will see his senior year b/c I don't see him going to the NBA next season unless he makes a quantum leap. I like him. I'm also pleasantly surprised with his offensive game. But games like today -- a bunch of minutes (40 is a lot, but I'd love to see him routinely around 28-30), some offense and solid defense/rebounding just seem few and far between. And I'm fine with relatively little offense, but he's a big, really talented guy -- perhaps it's not his fault per se, but scoring four points or less in 7 of the past 10 games just seems really meager.

 

[pearl31]

i'm not pimping derrick, but he is better then kieta. either one is good for a solid 7 or 8 minutes a game but that's it

dude, the 'derrick' bit wasn't funny the first time

 

[anomander]

Anomander, do us all a favor and quit calling this year's Coleman, Derrick.

yes i will as soon as we drop the 2

 

[anomander]

I think we will see his senior year b/c I don't see him going to the NBA next season unless he makes a quantum leap. I like him. I'm also pleasantly surprised with his offensive game. But games like today -- a bunch of minutes (40 is a lot, but I'd love to see him routinely around 28-30), some offense and solid defense/rebounding just seem few and far between. And I'm fine with relatively little offense, but he's a big, really talented guy -- perhaps it's not his fault per se, but scoring four points or less in 7 of the past 10 games just seems really meager.

you can make money all over the world playing basketball

 

[tbonezone]

take a non injury red shirt year and i expect you to be fully ready to contribute from day 1.

 

[PoppyHart]

I'm no psychologist, but I find it hard to believe that JB's treatment of frosh is good for their confidence.

 

[anomander]

I'm no psychologist, but I find it hard to believe that JB's treatment of frosh is good for their confidence.

redshirt fr and true freshman is a world of difference. i don't think that has anything to do with his lack of pt

 

[billsin01]

you can make money all over the world playing basketball

If he leaves for Spain or something, then fine, but I don't see him projecting as a first-round NBA pick next year. Could happen and would be great for us if it did, but at his size I don't think he's anywhere close to that right now.

 

[billsin01]

i'm not pimping derrick, but he is better then kieta. either one is good for a solid 7 or 8 minutes a game but that's it

How can you say that? His stats are basically the same, except he's finishing at a much worse rate. But a huge chunk of his numbers came against cupcakes when JB was intentionally giving him minutes to try and get him ready. If you want to argue he's got a much higher ceiling, it's fine, but the dude is not even close to Keita in any department other than hands. Keita is frustrating due to his fumblitis, but he's by far the better option right now.

 

[SUalldway]

i don't see rak getting pushed around at all. he played a very good game today, and if he is allowed to play through a mistake here and there he is one of the better centers in the league. he was never touted as an offensive player coming out of HS, but has done a good job of developing from where he came from. i don't think he will, but this kid will be a beast if he ever makes it to his SR yr

Rak got a bunch of key rebounds today, but he missed some chippies.

 

[anomander]

If he leaves for Spain or something, then fine, but I don't see him projecting as a first-round NBA pick next year. Could happen and would be great for us if it did, but at his size I don't think he's anywhere close to that right now.

ya i don' think there is any chance he gets drafted right now. before the season he was in the first round in most mock drafts, but now he is off the board. i know he was planning on leaving before the season started, but haven't heard anything since. hopefully he changed his mind

 

[xc84]

exactly.. btw cooney caused two nova turnovers and had a huge assist to mcw in ot.. yeah he missed an open 3 but thats all thats being discussed

It's a joke that anyone is talking about Cooney being a factor in this loss... and DC will be fine. Sure, he's not ready yet but he's a freshman.