I would love to think that

[mark79]

small forward is going to be a real position of strength for us next year. There is no reason to think that both JS and CK won't continue to progress, especially with a pass first guard manning the point. It wouldn't surprise me to see MCW getting 7+ assists and 8-10 points a game next year.

A pass-first player like MCW makes everyone better. I think with Dion, Kris and Scoop moving on, we are going to see a lot more of MCW penetrating and kicking to Brandon, Trevor and Dirty, and alley-ooping to our bigs. Gotta like it.

We could be a little light on ball-handling. It will be interesting to see how MCW and Brandon handle that (pardon the pun).

 

[EastCoast2]

It was a real luxury to have at least 2 guards who can handle the ball on the court at all times. Hopefully Cooney's handle is up to par for when MCW/BT go to the bench

 

[mark79]

Yep, that is my concern, and we don't have forwards that have great handles. Like you said, I hope Cooney can handle the rock. Too early to tell. Good thing is that he has had an extra year to
adjust.

 

[omgDaveSiock]

small forward is going to be a real position of strength for us next year. There is no reason to think that both JS and CK won't continue to progress, especially with a pass first guard manning the point. It wouldn't surprise me to see MCW getting 7+ assists and 8-10 points a game next year.

A pass-first player like MCW makes everyone better. I think with Dion, Kris and Scoop moving on, we are going to see a lot more of MCW penetrating and kicking to Brandon, Trevor and Dirty, and alley-ooping to our bigs. Gotta like it.

We could be a little light on ball-handling. It will be interesting to see how MCW and Brandon handle that (pardon the pun).

The lack of depth at the guard position will be most noticeable on the defensive end where our pressure and aggression will most definitely take a hit. If your not deep it doesn't allow you to take the same approach defensively. Hoping we see a juco combo guard added to the mix (unlikely) but a guy can hope.

 

[jdubs30]

This may be a weird point, but we had too many guys who did the same thing last year.

Dion, Kris, Scoop, BT (most of the time), CJ (most of the time) all preferred to put the ball and the deck and penetrate, while only Southerland was our only true spot up shooter; Kris Jo, Scoop adn Dion were all capable of this, but they all had a drive-first (to score) mentality.

I think this year we'll have a nice mix of guys who do different things; BT can shoot it from anywhere (not saying he has unlimited range, but he can hit the 3 and the 15ft jumper) and drive; Southerland and Cooney are deadly spot up shooters; MCW can drive and dish as well as hit the 3; CJ can drive and his also getting a lot better from the 15-18ft range.

Kris and Dion were certainly capable from 3, but they were far from consistent and looked to put the ball on the deck first. I think MCW>>>SCoop penetration wise, he'll be able to hit Cooney/Southerland/BT in rhythm for open J's often.

Also, re: guard depth. How often did MCW get into big-time games? Rarely. We were a 3 G team last year, and we'll be a 3 G team this year. Now obviously I don't think we'll have a Dion-type, but BT will better than last year and MCW will be extremely formidable at the point (moreso than Scoop IMO). If Cooney can give us 15-20mpg, 8ppg, 3rpg, 43% from 3, we'll be fine.

 

[boulderorange]

Wonder how much CJ can progress this summer. Would like to see him come back with improved jump shot and ball handling.

 

[mark79]

It sure will be nice to have a Gerry/Andy type shooter out there in TC as well as BT and JS and hopefully an improved CJ. There should be a lot less over dribbling next year.

 

[br801]

The lack of depth at the guard position will be most noticeable on the defensive end where our pressure and aggression will most definitely take a hit. If your not deep it doesn't allow you to take the same approach defensively. Hoping we see a juco combo guard added to the mix (unlikely) but a guy can hope.

I think we were fine defensively with three guards getting the great majority of the minutes this past season. There's no reason to believe Triche, MCW and Cooney can't handle the load next season. Boeheim had four good to great guard options this year and generally chose to play only three against the better teams. Why would he look to bring anyone else in now? If Mookie returns he can always play in a pinch. I would expect both Triche and MCW to average 32-35 minutes per game, with Cooney getting the rest of the minutes.

 

[arbitragegls]

MCW and Triche will be a better team oriented guard tandem than any we had last year...both are pass first guards even at the 2-g position. What excites me is fact that our half court offense will be better because Triche and MCW get the ball out of their hands faster than Scoop or Dion (not saying these guys were slow or not good) but Triche and MCW will make the game a bit quicker...and give a shooter a bit more time to set up a shot rather than getting ball with 4 tics left on the clock.
We should see less dribbling, more passing, and more opptys for wings and center...it is going to be a good year...probably more losses than last BUT i would bet we go through the Elite 8 this year!