I wish JJ a lot of luck with his hamstring

[Eric15]

The nice thing about our real depth compared to prior years is that if Starling isn't shooting the ball well, or isn't playing defense (which obviously is the case more often than that), then he can take a seat on the bench.

But there will unquestionably be some games this year where he is playing effectively and we want him in the game.

 

[MikeSU02]

The nice thing about our real depth compared to prior years is that if Starling isn't shooting the ball well, or isn't playing defense (which obviously is the case more often than that), then he can take a seat on the bench.

But there will unquestionably be some games this year where he is playing effectively and we want him in the game.

Totally agree, but what you outlined is not a star, it's a sub. And if that's his use case, I'm all for it.

 

[Eric15]

Totally agree, but what you outlined is not a star, it's a sub. And if that's his use case, I'm all for it.

I'm perfectly fine with Starling being the first or second guy off the bench. He's a fast, high-energy guy. I would like to see him go balls to the wall for 18-20 minutes instead of playing 38 minutes.

 

[DoctahLexus]

Totally agree, but what you outlined is not a star, it's a sub. And if that's his use case, I'm all for it.

I am hoping Kiyan can keep up the scoring/efficiency against quality opponents, so we can push JJ to a backup role.

 

[721Comstock]

I'm perfectly fine with Starling being the first or second guy off the bench. He's a fast, high-energy guy. I would like to see him go balls to the wall for 18-20 minutes instead of playing 38 minutes.

Conversely, I'm fine with JJ (when fully healthy) getting the token start each game, in deference to his seniority.

But then Kiyan comes in after 1st or 2nd TO, and gets the minutes he deserves.
JJ can hopefully be Kueth "Señior Leadership" Duany 2.0.

 

[Eric15]

I don't think there has ever been an SU roster (maybe 2012) that is more equipped to go Nolan Richardson 40 minutes of Hell than this one. I would love to see us just wear opponents down with a full court press the entire game and sub guys in and out constantly. Almost like a hockey rotation where you go 100% energy for short bursts.

 

[MikeSU02]

I don't think there has ever been an SU roster that is more equipped to go Nolan Richardson 40 minutes of Hell than this one. I would love to see us just wear opponents down with a full court press the entire game and sub guys in and out constantly. Almost like a hockey rotation where you go 100% energy for short bursts.

Tangential to this thread, but Alex Dillard was a wild player for Arkansas during those few years. He was taking threes from the logo when that was alien to anything in basketball.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Can this thread just be renamed to the

“We need a scapegoat for the last few crappy years and JJ is the only player left around to blame”

 

[kirbivore]

Can this thread just be renamed to the

“We need a scapegoat for the last few crappy years and JJ is the only player left around to blame”

 

[PeteCalvin]

Getting JJ back in the rotation will only benefit this team long term. It will take a few games to get the rust off, but he should be back to normal by ACC play. I liken his return to when the 2003 team got Edelin back mid-season. That team was able to get different players more minutes early and then only got stronger when a proven commodity was added to the mix. Comparatively, JJ will be even more of an impact than Billy was because JJ has 3 years under his belt and is already a proven scorer.

I say Billy was a proven commodity because he was arguably the best HS PG in his class but got no pub or accolades because Morgan Wooten blackballed him. But we knew what we were getting. Heck, he only led his Oak Hill team to the mythical HS National Championship his senior year. Billy was a phenomenal PG, and he was D1 game-ready the minute he stepped on campus. We just had to wait 18 months to see him in action.

JJ is going to lift this team’s ceiling, and that’s why we need him back, whenever that is.

 

[tptcuse]

I'm perfectly fine with Starling being the first or second guy off the bench. He's a fast, high-energy guy. I would like to see him go balls to the wall for 18-20 minutes instead of playing 38 minutes.

With Kiyan playing so well, there is no reason for JJ's minutes played to be affected by whether or not he starts.

 

[sufan59]

JJ will be be back tomorrow vs Monmouth per Mike Waters

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[baggerbob]

JJ has been on 3 bad teams. Got it.
But we can't put any of that blame ON him?
Like his terrible 3 point shooting (under 30% for his career), average (last year) or below-average PER throughout his career, and so on?

His assist:turnover ratio is 1.9 to 1.8. That is AWFUL.
(3:1 is good)

And at the end of one game he gets bailed out on a 3 pt shot ,and misses all 3 free throws and we lose a close game.
Not a person I want with the ball at the end of a close game.

 

[atlanticuse]

And at the end of one game he gets bailed out on a 3 pt shot ,and misses all 3 free throws and we lose a close game.
Not a person I want with the ball at the end of a close game.

we got BETSEY!

 

[CuseFan]

Very happy to see JJ recovered enough to play, and get the cobwebs out against Monmouth instead of Houston. Don't think it matters whether he starts or not, but I expect Kiyan to get the majority of the minutes so JJ doesn't re-injure himself.

 

[Niastri]

I think it is likely that George will be better than JJ on defense, but don't think we have any guarantee based on the stats that it will be better by a whole lot. We better hope he plays much closer to his last season than his freshman year, where he got a worse rating than any year of JJs career. Again, that will likely happen, based on his improvement at a sophomore, but realistically the gap between his defense and JJs will likely not be massive.

George has been incredible defensively this season. By the eye test, Kyle is far and away the best defender on the team, but George has been excellent. DRtg has Kyle at an ACC leading 59.4, but George is second best on the team with an excellent 65, followed by Betsey and Freeman also in the 60's and a host of guys in the 70's for their defensive efficiency rating.

When your team is the best scoring defense in the county, everybody looks good. On a side note, through three games, Syracuse is number 1 in four defensive categories and top10 defensively in three others. If you predicted that before the season, I would have told you that you were nuts if you told me that would happen even after only three cupcakes!

Every player has contributed, it is team defense, after all. But I think George and Kyle are defensively driving the boat. Against Binghamton, for instance, George and Kyle absolutely dominated defensively. The team had only given up 6 points in 15 minutes of game time when they subbed out. After they left, there was a noticeable dropoff, though not huge.

I think it is unlikely JJ is anywhere near as good defensively as George has been. But luckily, Starling can play with George, and Kyle as well.

I expect Anthony, Kingz and Starling are all going to get minutes, at the expense of Zephir and Fennell. We might see who won that deep guard depth battle between Zephir and Fennell when Starling returns. Zephir and Fennell have combined for 25 minutes a game. That sounds like about exactly what we want Starling to play going forward... We shall see if either reserve keeps some minutes. I doubt it, though both have played pretty well so far.

Statistically, and by watching the games, I think Zephir has beaten out Fennell pretty handily in helping the team this year. In a close game, I want him out there. In a blowout, I want Fennell to get the experience.

 

[Niastri]

Can this thread just be renamed to the

“We need a scapegoat for the last few crappy years and JJ is the only player left around to blame”

That's a quality thread title... Right up there with "William Kyle is too short to play Center" but more accurate in its implications.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Kyle is making all our wings better defenders. He’s always in a position to help. You couldn’t say that last year with our bigs.

I hope Kyle is heavily taped at the ankles with all that is asked of him. He is the Angeli of this defense.

 

[ScriptCuse]

The detesting of JJ Starling at large on this board is truly befuddling to me lol. Local kid from right up the road, averaged 18 PPG last year, plays hard, All-ACC caliber player... and people on here talk about him like he's Ky Feldman (No offense if he sees this lol).

Certainly he's not a perfect player and not a particularly good defender (that's an understatement) but it truly feels like some people on this board almost root against him and I cannot for the life of me understand why.

 

[Nicknack]

The detesting of JJ Starling at large on this board is truly befuddling to me lol. Local kid from right up the road, averaged 18 PPG last year, plays hard, All-ACC caliber player... and people on here talk about him like he's Ky Feldman (No offense if he sees this lol).

Certainly he's not a perfect player and not a particularly good defender (that's an understatement) but it truly feels like some people on this board almost root against him and I cannot for the life of me understand why.

Did you watch the season last year? There is good reason to be frustrated with his play at times. That said, I like JJ. He seems to be a good teammate and has a lot of talent. If he can adjust his play this year, with the talent we have, many will change their view on him. However, if he continues to force shots and plays bad defense then things will just continue.

 

[Tony DeFranco]

We desperately need JJ back but if his going to change the defensive energy than we dont need him back

 

[MikeSU02]

The detesting of JJ Starling at large on this board is truly befuddling to me lol. Local kid from right up the road, averaged 18 PPG last year, plays hard, All-ACC caliber player... and people on here talk about him like he's Ky Feldman (No offense if he sees this lol).

Certainly he's not a perfect player and not a particularly good defender (that's an understatement) but it truly feels like some people on this board almost root against him and I cannot for the life of me understand why.

No one hates the kid personally. By all accounts, he is a fantastic representative for the program. And no one is saying he is the only reason we haven't been good in the recent past. That has clearly been a group effort. And no one is saying he doesn't give 100% when he is on the floor and in practice.

But all evidence points to him being an inefficient player on O and a poor defender, at best. I don't care about All ACC anything. Anyone can put up aggregate points with enough shots.

We have real talent and the right players on our roster. All people are saying is, or at least what I'm saying is, just because he got to start and put up volume of shots in the past doesn't mean that should be the case moving forward.

He's started 83 games and has a <43% FG and <30% 3PT. His advanced metrics are not great. His PER last year was 15. That is an average player. If you want to call JJ an average player, I'lll take it.

Also, I don't care if the kid was born and raised in Day Hall or Dinosaur BBQ. The best players should play.

And btw, between the media stories on the use of analytics for the team and bringing in a GM, it's clear that we there has been a massive blind spot in how to build a roster in the recent past. And now we've amended that and that is a huge credit to Red, Wildhack, etc.

So I'm extremely happy to have JJ. Just want to be cognizant of who is he is and not who we hope he is.