I'm Delighted with Red's Portal

[IthacaMatt]

Four guys, and all of them were guys who have played serious minutes for 3 or 4 years already. Guys who know how to play, even if it was a level down. This is WAY better in my book than last summer, when we took chances on so many talented guys, but mostly they were coming off injuries, or were bench players for Top 50 types of schools. I think this is way less risky, and he got a nice balance of guys. Very pleased

 

[bballbeadle]

Well, we just got a Laquan Carlos pass-first point guard from Hofstra. Just read it in Google news.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Well, we just got a Laquan Carlos pass-first point guard from Hofstra. Just read it in Google news.

Yes, this roster is shaping up as more experienced, and hopefully more mature and coachable than last year's squad.

 

[capeorange]

Well, we just got a Laquan Carlos pass-first point guard from Hofstra. Just read it in Google news.

Is he related to Jaquan?

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Is he related to Jaquan?

No. Total coincidence. He does have a brother Maqan, though

 

[bballbeadle]

Is he related to Jaquan?

Hey, I got the other 11 letters right!

 

[Nicknack]

I don't know, I hope we got the right guys but anytime you have to replace 3 starters with portals and a freshman, you just don't know how it will work. It does seem that we have guys with the right fit, which is a huge plus after several years of poor roster management. It is also encouraging that it appears we will have a team focused on the right things.

 

[cuseincincy]

Four guys, and all of them were guys who have played serious minutes for 3 or 4 years already. Guys who know how to play, even if it was a level down. This is WAY better in my book than last summer, when we took chances on so many talented guys, but mostly they were coming off injuries, or were bench players for Top 50 types of schools. I think this is way less risky, and he got a nice balance of guys. Very pleased

Absolutely. More immediate returns at least. I'll be even happier when/if Leffew becomes official. And just maybe we get a little something from the 3 portalers from last summer that didn't contribute as much as we'd have liked.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I am sure that the chemistry will be a lot better next season, but talent wise aren't the guys we lost to the portal > the guys we brought in?

I feel like we have good depth, but a lot of guys who are too good for the bench but not good enough to really be a starter. They are tweeners. That to me means bubble.

 

[dcw914]

Yep, the difference between this year and last year's portal haul is Red prioritized production over potential. Red's vision of playing multiple guys and having tons of depth didn't work out last year primarily because of injuries and... disciplinary reasons... and some guys just not being that good. But this year, you can see that the roster is built to have quality players 7-8 deep, most of which will be experienced players. Biggest concern i'd have is still on the defensive end, there simply aren't enough guys you can confidently say are quality defenders on this roster but Red, as a defensive minded coach, must feel him and his staff can get them to buy in and build them up on that end. Overall though, assuming we close the deal with Leffew, this is an A- offseason in my eyes. Time to make some noise in the ACC, go orange.

 

[Owens guy]

One of the few positives of the new portal era is you can completely change your team if you are not happy with the prior results.

I like Red's vision of how he wants to play. He may not have the success yet to get the exact players he wants but the players he brought in hopefully will take Syracuse in the right direction for the future.

 

[two3zone]

I don't expect everyone coming in to be from a P6 team but of they're coming from another conference I'd expect better numbers. If you shoot 32% from 3 with a future accountant guarding you what's going to happen when you're being defended by a bigger, faster and stronger opponents?

All this talk about chemistry being better, we have two players who play left, there are a lot of players coming in, will it probably be better than last year? Yeah, but the bar is so low that chemistry issues with a bunch of college kids can happen everywhere, we're not immune.

 

[jsshap]

I don't expect everyone coming in to be from a P6 team but of they're coming from another conference I'd expect better numbers. If you shoot 32% from 3 with a future accountant guarding you what's going to happen when you're being defended by a bigger, faster and stronger opponents?

All this talk about chemistry being better, we have two players who play left, there are a lot of players coming in, will it probably be better than last year? Yeah, but the bar is so low that chemistry issues with a bunch of college kids can happen everywhere, we're not immune.

Back in the day they used to say pick the winners in March by counting the nba kids. That's still substantially true, though less so. And cuse is still not where it used to be or needs to be in that respect of course. Hopefully freeman starts to turn that trend around.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Absolutely. More immediate returns at least. I'll be even happier when/if Leffew becomes official. And just maybe we get a little something from the 3 portalers from last summer that didn't contribute as much as we'd have liked.

When we have gotten experienced guys from a lower league, it has generally worked out well.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I don't expect everyone coming in to be from a P6 team but of they're coming from another conference I'd expect better numbers. If you shoot 32% from 3 with a future accountant guarding you what's going to happen when you're being defended by a bigger, faster and stronger opponents?

All this talk about chemistry being better, we have two players who play left, there are a lot of players coming in, will it probably be better than last year? Yeah, but the bar is so low that chemistry issues with a bunch of college kids can happen everywhere, we're not immune.

Who are you talking about who underwhelms you? Carlos?
Dude, more than 6 assists a game. Did you watch his tape? He's got some game.

We were worse for having John Dillon on our team that year? No, we weren't. I see Carlos as that kind of player. He only has to be a good, reliable piece, not the leading scorer.

And if he doesn't work out, we've got 4 more guards who are pretty good, and pretty interchangeable.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I am sure that the chemistry will be a lot better next season, but talent wise aren't the guys we lost to the portal > the guys we brought in?

I feel like we have good depth, but a lot of guys who are too good for the bench but not good enough to really be a starter. They are tweeners. That to me means bubble.

Honestly, we don't know yet, but this is a fair point.

But, two of the three who have committed so far played in the NCAA tournament last year.
None of our departing talent did. So there's that, too.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Who are you talking about who underwhelms you? Carlos?
Dude, more than 6 assists a game. Did you watch his tape? He's got some game.

We were worse for having John Dillon on our team that year? No, we weren't. I see Carlos as that kind of player. He only has to be a good, reliable piece, not the leading scorer.

And if he doesn't work out, we've got 4 more guards who are pretty good, and pretty interchangeable.

CAA and NEC are far from the MWC.

I think we are more balanced. I think we have players who fit what Red wants to do better. I think we are more experienced. I hope we have players who are better teammates. But at the same time you can argue we lost more talent to the portal than we gained.

 

[two3zone]

Who are you talking about who underwhelms you? Carlos?
Dude, more than 6 assists a game. Did you watch his tape? He's got some game.

We were worse for having John Dillon on our team that year? No, we weren't. I see Carlos as that kind of player. He only has to be a good, reliable piece, not the leading scorer.

And if he doesn't work out, we've got 4 more guards who are pretty good, and pretty interchangeable.

All of them underwhelm me. For us to make noise Freeman has to be Melo. Every great team had a star last year, we're relying on our freshman to be that star.

You dont build for the future, you build for now. If this is really the best they can do so be it, but I don't buy it.

 

[two3zone]

CAA and NEC are far from the MWC.

I think we are more balanced. I think we have players who fit what Red wants to do better. I think we are more experienced. I hope we have players who are better teammates. But at the same time you can argue we lost more talent to the portal than we gained.

100%

 

[Cuse99&01]

Honestly, we don't know yet, but this is a fair point.

But, two of the three who have committed so far played in the NCAA tournament last year.
None of our departing talent did. So there's that, too.

I think Lampkin is the only one that played in the tourney this past season.

 

[Red2003]

All of them underwhelm me. For us to make noise Freeman has to be Melo. Every great team had a star last year, we're relying on our freshman to be that star.

You dont build for the future, you build for now. If this is really the best they can do so be it, but I don't buy it.

I think based on your comments you’re expecting non P5 players to get beat down by P5 experienced guys based on their stats. Basically you expected Carlos to have better stats at Hofstra against worse competition to succeed in the ACC. I get it.

Think of it this way though. These mid major and lower tier leagues do not have near as much talent throughout their rosters top to bottom. The best 1-2 players on the Hofstra team are getting all the attention and game planning by opponents. Even with that a few players dominated and therefore are moving up to P5 schools.

Another way to look at it too. Someone like Chris Bell who clearly is an ACC level shooter would probably have a rough time at a mid major with no other scorers on his team. Getting doubled and face guarded all game his metrics would be a mess. Put him on a team with scorers all over the court though and all the sudden we’re watching him go 8-8 to start games.

 

[billsin01]

CAA and NEC are far from the MWC.

I think we are more balanced. I think we have players who fit what Red wants to do better. I think we are more experienced. I hope we have players who are better teammates. But at the same time you can argue we lost more talent to the portal than we gained.

All of them underwhelm me. For us to make noise Freeman has to be Melo. Every great team had a star last year, we're relying on our freshman to be that star.

You dont build for the future, you build for now. If this is really the best they can do so be it, but I don't buy it.

Agree with this on paper. Won’t make any hard and fast judgments here until I get to see what this looks like, but if we’re simply talking player for player I struggle to think we got better. So, the question becomes how does this all fit together? What is our offense? How do these kids adapt and fit in (freshmen included)? How much better can Bell, JJ, Cuffe and McLeod be? Do we get a healthy westry? I’m not sure how anyone knows the answers to those.

 

[Cuse181]

I think based on your comments you’re expecting non P5 players to get beat down by P5 experienced guys based on their stats. Basically you expected Carlos to have better stats at Hofstra against worse competition to succeed in the ACC. I get it.

Think of it this way though. These mid major and lower tier leagues do not have near as much talent throughout their rosters top to bottom. The best 1-2 players on the Hofstra team are getting all the attention and game planning by opponents. Even with that a few players dominated and therefore are moving up to P5 schools.

Another way to look at it too. Someone like Chris Bell who clearly is an ACC level shooter would probably have a rough time at a mid major with no other scorers on his team. Getting doubled and face guarded all game his metrics would be a mess. Put him on a team with scorers all over the court though and all the sudden we’re watching him go 8-8 to start games.

Carlos will be fine

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Well, we just got a Laquan Carlos pass-first point guard from Hofstra. Just read it in Google news.

I think this is the guy who scored like 90 and 75 points in consecutive high school games. It would be quite nice to have a guy with a pass first mentality who could also light some fools up when the occasion called for it.

Ooh—90, 92, 73, and 51.

Not super high level of competition, but his coach told a story (different vid) about how in the first of these games, the opposing guard scored first against him and clapped in his face. Carlos said, okay, it’s on like donkey kong and went off. And his teammates appreciated him so much, they just kept feeding him. For the last four games of the season.

 

[Sbucketball]

Donnie and Westry are the X-factors on this team.