Class of 2014 Isaiah Whitehead

[Orangezoo]

It takes literally one good recruiting class.

sigh... for teams like UK yes... also it depends on what turn around means to a team.. turning around from couple bad years to a decade or more is different . Success helps recruiting. hence the chicken before the egg argument

 

[SJUBall]

I agree with you in that St. John's is no doubt going to be a tourney team. My prediction would be best case scenario they're a weaker 4 seed (of the 4 teams who will be 4 seeds) and worst case scenario they're one of those scary 8-9 seeds that has a lot of talent and ability but for whatever reason has some trouble putting it all together. I agree with you when you say SJU is right there with athleticism with us. Jordan, Sampson, Pointer, are all freaks and your other players are all pretty athletic too.

Where I disagree with you is that your just as talented. This is a very talented Syracuse team who's real only weakness is back up pg and finding some stability at the 2. I think your really underestimating Grant as well. He's going to blow up and IMHO be a lottery pick this year. He's bulked up quite a bit and was dominant in Canada. Granted I've never seen Sanchez play but I would have a very tough time thinking he's as good as Grant. I don't really expect you to take my word for it because I know I probably just sound like a huge homer with Grant but time will tell and his play will speak for itself.

It will be a close game and I have to see SJU play but my gut feeling is we win by 7-12. You guys are trending up and definitely are going to have some success if things come together the right way.

I won't hijack the thread. My apologies for doing so. It was a tangent. I think Sanchez is a big key for us. He'll likely be an NBA'er as well. He will surprise you and IMO give Grant all he can handle.

 

[DoctorBombay]

We've met Mr. Grant already. I think he had 4 pts against SJU last year. He's got amazing upside but also needs to show what he has and put up the points. We've got Jakarr back and you haven't met Orlando Sanchez yet. I venture to guess you'll be surprised with him. "Primo is Grant's size and ISN'T GOING TO GIVE UP ANY IN THE SKILL DEPARTMENT". Sanchez is a huge addition to SJU frontcourt.

Don't get me wrong, I really like Sampson, & don't know much about Sanchez...but you vastly underestimate the player that is Jerami Grant. Seriously.

 

[alphaorange]

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but quite a few. SJU was almost all freshmen last year which was part of the main problem. We would have been an NCAA team easy had Lavin not suspended Harrison who was a problem last year. SJU returns everybody and adds a lot to areas that were our weaknesses.

SJU returns the big east Rookie of the year in Jakarr Sampson at PF. SJU returns the big east second leading scorer prior to suspension in Harrison. We also return the #1 shotblocker in the nation in Chris Obekpa and the #1 shotblocking team in the nation.

We had issues in the frontcourt with depth but in addition to Obekpa and Sampson, SJU adds 6'9" Orlando Sanchez who is reportedly one of the best players on the team. Sanchez dribbles like a guard and will be a combo forward. SJU also returns God's Gift who redshirted last season who was valuable for depth his freshman year. In addition, we return our best defensive player Sir'Dominic Pointer.

SJU in the backcourt returns starter Phil Greene who was a double digit scorer, but the guys who seems to have taken the starting spot is Jamal Branch who killed it on the European tour this summer.. Both Greene and Branch were injured last year. Add to that D'Angelo and Rysheed Jordan.

We also added a shooter who hit 10 of 12 treys in a game this summer named Max Hooper and have others like Bourgault, Balamou and others.

This sounds so much like Rutgersal in football it isn't funny. Well, it IS funny...you know what I mean

 

[jordoo]

Grant would have played 30min a agme for St. John's last year. Just like Roberson would this year but he won't for SU because he is behind Grantand CJ.

 

[SJUBall]

Don't get me wrong, I really like Sampson, & don't know much about Sanchez...but you vastly underestimate the player that is Jerami Grant. Seriously.

View attachment 5127

Even you don't know the player that he is going to be for sure. It's all speculative and contingent on him getting better. Grant averaged 17 minutes per game last year which is a lot of minutes for most freshmen, and averaged 5.5 points per game. Solid, but not blockbuster for a guy who played almost half of each game. What am I underestimating exactly? Ive seen him play numerous times. Hes got tremendous upside, but all is contingent on him getting a lot better from last season, that's all I'm saying. It seems that his legend is bigger than his actually production at this point.

Grant certainly would have played 30 minutes per game last year for SJU, but not over Jakarr. NCAA screwed Sanchez and we redshirted God's Gift so we were really short at one forward spot. Roberson would not be getting 30 per game this year at SJU over Sampson, Sanchez, Obekpa and Pointer. Fwiw, cj Fair is the guy I, worried about. He's a killer and will be one of the best in the ACC this year hands down.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Even you don't know the player that he is going to be for sure. It's all speculative and contingent on him getting better. Grant averaged 17 minutes per game last year which is a lot of minutes for most freshmen, and averaged 5.5 points per game. Solid, but not blockbuster for a guy who played almost half of each game. What am I underestimating exactly? Ive seen him play numerous times. Hes got tremendous upside, but all is contingent on him getting a lot better from last season, that's all I'm saying. It seems that his legend is bigger than his actually production at this point.

Grant certainly would have played 30 minutes per game last year for SJU, but not over Jakarr. NCAA screwed Sanchez and we redshirted God's Gift so we were really short at one forward spot. Roberson would not be getting 30 per game this year at SJU over Sampson, Sanchez, Obekpa and Pointer. Fwiw, cj Fair is the guy I, worried about. He's a killer and will be one of the best in the ACC this year hands down.

We have seen Grant play this year already. Believe the hype.

 

[normaliswear]

Even you don't know the player that he is going to be for sure. It's all speculative and contingent on him getting better. Grant averaged 17 minutes per game last year which is a lot of minutes for most freshmen, and averaged 5.5 points per game. Solid, but not blockbuster for a guy who played almost half of each game. What am I underestimating exactly? Ive seen him play numerous times. Hes got tremendous upside, but all is contingent on him getting a lot better from last season, that's all I'm saying. It seems that his legend is bigger than his actually production at this point.

Grant certainly would have played 30 minutes per game last year for SJU, but not over Jakarr. NCAA screwed Sanchez and we redshirted God's Gift so we were really short at one forward spot. Roberson would not be getting 30 per game this year at SJU over Sampson, Sanchez, Obekpa and Pointer. Fwiw, cj Fair is the guy I, worried about. He's a killer and will be one of the best in the ACC this year hands down.

Swell fine... St Johns would probably beat the Heat in six games. Now please, actually win a game past the first round of the NIT before you bother your big brothers from upstate anymore ok?

 

[bornagainOrange]

Thing is Grant got those 17 min per game averages mainly because of the games he filled in for Southerlands absents. I dont have #s from those games, but I do know he was very productive and against Notre Dame he had like 17 or so. Hes much improved from last yr I can say as ive witnessed in person from 2 Canadian games in Ottawa. His first step is going to get him easy 2 or to the line 9 times out of 10 I will predict. Dont get me wrong, Sampson and obekpa are players and make up a really solid back line. I just dont think they are on the same level as ours...but we shall see

 

[SJUBall]

Swell fine... St Johns would probably beat the Heat in six games. Now please, actually win a game past the first round of the NIT before you bother your big brothers from upstate anymore ok?

Is it impossible to have any dialogue here without this kinda nonsense all the time?

 

[normaliswear]

Is it impossible to have any dialogue here without this kinda nonsense all the time?

We've heard your sju bs for YEARS and its always the same. You aren't even inour conference anymore and you haven't been in our league for decades. How long would you want to deal with a Ball st troll telling you how super duper awesome they are? Go win ACTUAL games THEN come chat.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

Is it impossible to have any dialogue here without this kinda nonsense all the time?

St. Johns hasn't been relevant since Chris Mullins left.

 

[Van111]

St. Johns, Seaton Hall, Whithead....who cares about any of these...time to move on to better threads guys.

 

[asj410]

Just going to throw this out there regarding Grant...

Here are the numbers he had when he filled in for Southerland for the 6 games that he was out (including a 10-point, 5-board game he had in our win at #1 Louisville):

33.2 mpg
9.8 ppg
5.5 rpg
0.8 spg
1.3 bpg
1.0 TO/g

Here are the numbers Grant had in the other 34 games:

10.9 mpg
2.8 ppg
2.5 rpg
0.4 spg
0.3 bpg
0.6 TO/g

When JB gave him run, he produced. 10 ppg for a freshman abruptly filling in for a senior (and one of the leading scorers) against big opponents is pretty solid. And just watching him play, you could see the crazy upside Grant has. Although it was against generally much weaker competition, Grant showed plenty for us to be excited about in the four Canadian exhibition games as he looks to make a significant freshman-to-sophomore jump. Plus, when Fair went out with that injury, Grant asserted himself and took over instead of floated around and waited for someone else to do it. There are just too many signs pointing to Grant becoming a huge impact player for us. There's a reason he's already starting to pop up on mock draft boards for the 2014 draft.

 

[jordoo]

Just going to throw this out there regarding Grant...

Here are the numbers he had when he filled in for Southerland for the 6 games that he was out (including a 10-point, 5-board game he had in our win at #1 Louisville):

33.2 mpg
9.8 ppg
5.5 rpg
0.8 spg
1.3 bpg
1.0 TO/g

Here are the numbers Grant had in the other 34 games:

10.9 mpg
2.8 ppg
2.5 rpg
0.4 spg
0.3 bpg
0.6 TO/g

When JB gave him run, he produced. 10 ppg for a freshman abruptly filling in for a senior (and one of the leading scorers) against big opponents is pretty solid. And just watching him play, you could see the crazy upside Grant has. Although it was against generally much weaker competition, Grant showed plenty for us to be excited about in the four Canadian exhibition games as he looks to make a significant freshman-to-sophomore jump. Plus, when Fair went out with that injury, Grant asserted himself and took over instead of floated around and waited for someone else to do it. There are just too many signs pointing to Grant becoming a huge impact player for us. There's a reason he's already starting to pop up on mock draft boards for the 2014 draft.

Wait! How could he be drafted ahead of all those talented St. John's forwards?

Great post BTW.

 

[OrangeFair44]

I expect Grant to being kicking full gear when acc play comes and he's comfortably working the post up/dribble step. Once that dude gets control of his crazy athletic body, he will be a force.

On another note after looking at the numbers, cj had a beast year last year. Im hoping he can up his ppg to 20+, perhaps notch the first triple double since allen griffen?

I'll admit though that Obekpa had a frosh year I expected out of rak. Dude was a shot blocking machine.



Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jmcclure33]

Let's move on from this whitehead thread... its old news now. On to 2015!

 

[Orangeyes]

SJU misses opportunity to sign Whitehead