I worry about our lack of depth

[Orangefan1]

If one of our three guards gets hurt this year (Cooney, MCW, or Triche) we are screwed big time. I am kind of wondering why we didn't recruit another guard for this year? any thoughts? Also, and I know this is a sore subject but I think the center position (Noel, I'd like to reshave his head with SU on the back) is where we will be hurt the most this year. We have Coleman, but is he big enough? We know Fab was a huge presence at center for us and Onuaku. I just hope our center can play in the NCAA tournament this year. I can't go through another year if we are a one seed with no center...kick in the nuts.

 

[jordoo]

I think we are deep at center with Coleman, Keita and Christmas. If Christmas can rebound and cover the wings from the PF position as well as being a scoring threat in the post then we wind up with a very deep front line that can play big or small.

I agree we are shallow at guard but I really like the 3 guards we have. Triche has been very durable through out his career and played through plenty of minor injuries. Williams and Cooney both have a year in the strength and conditioning program which helps.

Still injuries happen and can hurt any team. We saw that when AO went down. If we lost a guard I suppose that CJ would play some 2G when one of our guards needed a rest.

 

[longislandcuse]

If MCW, Triche, and Cooney all stay healthy I think they are right up there with top backcourts in the country. Obviously if one goes down we're screwed but look at UNC last year, sometimes stuff just happens. If your lottery pick pg goes down, your not winning a Championship anyway. As far bigs go, the potential is through the roof. Im loving what I hear about Rak and if he makes a Fab-like jump and Coleman comes in and gives us bulk, rebounding and an inside scoring presence with BMK as a solid backup then our team is looking niceeeee, add in the fact that CJ and Southerland can both slide over to the 4 if need be.

 

[igor]

we're deep. we have 10 bball players. cj fair is a hybred guard. we are big fast and can shoot. we'll go as far as tavern takes us.

 

[reedny]

No elite depth in the backcourt, but then again, we can't expect to bring a #4 lottery pick off the bench every year.

I also like our inside offense and rebounding with DC2 -- but defensively, we have no elite shot-blocker. Hopefully Rak will put those pipes to good use and protect the rim.

 

[orangefan13]

Way to worried about it. MCW will be deserving of drawing a double sometimes even a triple bringing the ball up the floor.

Southerland or Grant can handle the two, Fair would also be on the floor and throw Dajuan in that lineup and we have a big who can dribble. Thats still 4 guys on the court who can get the ball over the halfline and three of them are TALL. On top of that in the halfcourt we don't need the dribble penetration because we still would have 6 other guys that can score. 2 who can post up, 2 who can post up in the high post, 4 guys who can attack the lane from the 3 point line, and 3-5 guys who can hit the deepball and well.

Only downside could be the defensive end, and if southerland or grant can slide up top and recover then we should be good there to. Not to mention in the zone the backline automatically converges on dribble penetration and the thought of a 6'7-6-8 guy making a block from behind or weakside shotblocking.

 

[realorange]

Way to worried about it. MCW will be deserving of drawing a double sometimes even a triple bringing the ball up the floor.

Southerland or Grant can handle the two, Fair would also be on the floor and throw Dajuan in that lineup and we have a big who can dribble. Thats still 4 guys on the court who can get the ball over the halfline and three of them are TALL. On top of that in the halfcourt we don't need the dribble penetration because we still would have 6 other guys that can score. 2 who can post up, 2 who can post up in the high post, 4 guys who can attack the lane from the 3 point line, and 3-5 guys who can hit the deepball and well.

Only downside could be the defensive end, and if southerland or grant can slide up top and recover then we should be good there to. Not to mention in the zone the backline automatically converges on dribble penetration and the thought of a 6'7-6-8 guy making a block from behind or weakside shotblocking.

Southerland can handle the two? Last year he showed that he could barely handle the one--basketball that is. As for Grant, we don't even know if he will be ready to handle the pace of college ball.
I'm sure JB and staff are very aware of the need for help at the guard position and they will have players ready.

 

[orangefan13]

Southerland can get the ball over the halfine in pressure. After that we got 5 guys who can post up in the high/low post and a fes that are a threat to shoot it from there. Fair and James both can hit that high post up shot. And you put Dajuan/Rak/both up in the high post where they can't pack the paint because of the press and as a result they won't be double teamed. With bodies like theirs they will get a nice shot off constantly at will. On top of that if its James that is forced to bring the ball up under pressure and he finds Fair he will be finding a very explosive forward with quick first step, nice second gear, and a habit of making dunk posters. CJ is about a 9.3 out of 10 on the explosive richter scale.

CJ is 6'7 MCW pushing 6'6 Southerland 6'8 and against a press you tend to pass the ball high they should have no trouble there.

We will have 3-5 high post threats counting Grant in the halfcourt against pressure. Teams outside of the top 10 are lucky to have 2, and some good teams don't even have one. There is nothing better to beat pressure then high post threats that can take over a game.

Only way it hurts us IMO is if its MCW because he is the best to bring the ball up under pressure and break a double team doing so. He is going to be a NBA stud, is well known by all college fans, and won the mcdonalds all american pg skills competition 2 years ago.

JB knows he has 6 backline guys and 3 frontline. He will be pushing one of our guys to play some two early in the season some. Maybe only 5 minutes here and there against cupcakes but we will see it alittle bit.

 

[iommi]

we're deep. we have 10 bball players. cj fair is a hybred guard. we are big fast and can shoot. we'll go as far as tavern takes us.

Cj is a hybrid guard? Where? In bizarro land?

 

[realorange]

Cj is a hybrid guard? Where? In bizarro land?

The same place that Southerland can bring the ball to half court. :noidea:

 

[iommi]

The same place that Southerland can bring the ball to half court. :noidea:

Ha ha...yeah. :bang:

 

[jdubs30]

We're just spoiled. 3 guards is enough; hell we played 3 guards last year, MCW barely got any run. I'd rather have more depth at the 3-4-5 than the 1-2 anyway, which we have

 

[SarasotaPaul]

Ha ha...yeah. :bang:

Might want to watch some of last years games before this season starts. Southerland just blasts straight up court, pulls up and gets the ball to a guard. He knew his limitations, but also his strengths. He did that on many occasions and rarely turned the ball over. So yeah, laugh, but then try watching and remembering.

 

[RF2044]

Guard -- Triche, MCW, Cooney
Forward -- Fair, Rak, Dirty
Centers -- DC2, Keita

That's 8 deep. And we could easily go 9 if Grant plays more than the MCW frosh type of minutes that I project for him.

I get what you are saying about the lack of depth in the backcourt--which would only be a factor if we sustain an injury there. Otherwise, we have several players capable of playing more than one position [Triche, MCW, Fair, Rak, Dirty] that makes an assortment of different lineup combinations possible.

This team might not have as much depth as last year [few teams every will, certainly not any we've had in our illustrious program's history], but they are plenty deep--especially up front. And if MCW / Triche are capable of playing heavy minutes, a three guard rotation will be more than sufficient.

 

[jdubs30]

Guard -- Triche, MCW, Cooney
Forward -- Fair, Rak, Dirty
Centers -- DC2, Keita

That's 8 deep. And we could easily go 9 if Grant plays more than the MCW frosh type of minutes that I project for him.

I get what you are saying about the lack of depth in the backcourt--which would only be a factor if we sustain an injury there. Otherwise, we have several players capable of playing more than one position [Triche, MCW, Fair, Rak, Dirty] that makes an assortment of different lineup combinations possible.

This team might not have as much depth as last year [few teams every will, certainly not any we've had in our illustrious program's history], but they are plenty deep--especially up front. And if MCW / Triche are capable of playing heavy minutes, a three guard rotation will be more than sufficient.

2010 points that you don't need 10 deep to be successful. We have 3 guys who can play the 5, which is huge incase we get into foul trouble. We have height, athleticism, shooters, passers, slashers, rebounders; pretty much everything you need to be an elite basketball team. I think Rak and DC2 will be legitimate scoring options as well to go with the guards and CJ/Southerland; as long as we stay healthy the depth won't be an issue.

 

[iommi]

Might want to watch some of last years games before this season starts. Southerland just blasts straight up court, pulls up and gets the ball to a guard. He knew his limitations, but also his strengths. He did that on many occasions and rarely turned the ball over. So yeah, laugh, but then try watching and remembering.

Oh, I watched every game last year. Southerland has his strengths and weaknesses. Ball-handling is a weakness for him. Yes, he had some moments where he took the ball over half court, but he usually looked like he couldn't wait until the ball was out of his hands. He's just not comfortable doing that. And I'm still laughing.

 

[Whitey23]

Well, technically Loeb is first off the bench but i think it might end up being Hunt or Broyld.

 

[orangefan13]

Southerland may not be able to break a double team press off the dribble in the backcourt, but he is more then capable of making a pass, recieving one or dribbling 15 feet against a press.

We have forwards that do that for us every year. This beating the press stuff is vastly overated.
There is no more then 3 presses in all of college basketball each year that scare me.
And I still would be willing to try Southerland, Fair, Dajuan, Rak with MCW as the floor general against them, because 4 of those guys can make good things happen out of the high post, and the 5th is a heck of a PG.

 

[iommi]

Southerland may not be able to break a double team press off the dribble in the backcourt, but he is more then capable of making a pass, recieving one or dribbling 15 feet against a press.

We have forwards that do that for us every year. This beating the press stuff is vastly overated.
There is no more then 3 presses in all of college basketball each year that scare me.
And I still would be willing to try Southerland, Fair, Dajuan, Rak with MCW as the floor general against them, because 4 of those guys can make good things happen out of the high post, and the 5th is a heck of a PG.

Oh, I agree that the breaking the press stuff is overrated but to imply that James' ball-handling is an asset in breaking the press is laughable.

 

[senorpalmer]

Not much left to say that hasn't already been said. Not worried in the least about the frontcourt depth--three bigs and three long SFs, 4 of whom have experience. Backcourt rotation should be good if not excellent, with only concern being an injury. For what felt like decades it seemed like injuries were mostly a non-issue for this program, however in the last 5 years we've seen a lot more of the injury bug. One extra guard, hell even just a 2-3 star guy (or Mookie sticking around), would have indeed been some nice insurance; also too bad that Gbinje is not eligible this year.

 

[orangefan13]

Oh, I watched every game last year. Southerland has his strengths and weaknesses. Ball-handling is a weakness for him. Yes, he had some moments where he took the ball over half court, but he usually looked like he couldn't wait until the ball was out of his hands. He's just not comfortable doing that. And I'm still laughing.

Alot of people aren't comfortable doing that even our guards over the years. It doesn't mean their not capable. Southerland is a pretty good passer as well.

 

[senorpalmer]

The team could afford to see someone like JS or CJ getting a few minutes at guard once in a while, it could even create some interesting mismatches in SU's favor. But if one of the guards goes down for any extended period, and the team ends up relying on JS or CJ to put in 10, 15 or 20 minutes at guard over a number of games, there would arguably be more cons than pros (and not just because the rotation was missing a guy).

 

[armory]

We don't have the rare luxury of 4 game-ready guards again. Woe is us?

 

[OrangeCrush22]

We're 9 deep. Whomever the 4 bench players end up being, they would start on most other teams in the country.

 

[Gabjon]

The reason for the concern is simple and it has nothing to do with forwards or the centers the concern is the guards! The 07-08 team had 5 guards on scholarship Andy tore his ACL over the summer 4 guards, Devo tore his ACL in December 3 guards, and those guards were Jonny Flynn, Scoop and Josh Wright. Jonny and Scoop were both freshmen and Josh was... well Josh (senior). The season was derailed 3 guards all pgs none of whom were good shooters. This time we are starting with 3 guards! Brandon Triche, MCW, and Cooney they are a good group with diverse skill set, but that means we can afford no injuries beyond the normal bumps and bruises... no serious foul trouble ...no prolonged shooting slumps...nothing can go wrong with those 3 guys! And the last time I checked still happens!