JB calling into Axe about recruiting now

[cuseinseattle]

Outside of his height, what do you like about Chukwu's game?

He has a nice smile. Does he make a good cup of coffee. If you are referring to basketball related skills. Nothing.

 

[007]

Nice post. I think Sid is gonna be a terrific player. Also dont sleep on Chubaka. Best pair of centers we have had in a long time

Thanks, kc!

I am not going to dog pile, but let's just say I have not seen anything from PC yet to support your confidence.

 

[iommi]

He has a nice smile. Does he make a good cup of coffee. If you are referring to basketball related skills. Nothing.

Come on, be positive. Chukwu didn't want to show TOO much out there last season. He was just lulling everyone to sleep.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Come on, be positive. Chukwu didn't want to show TOO much out there last season. He was just lulling everyone to sleep.

View attachment 102757

I know too much to be positive. My cousin is going to be a freshman at Syracuse this year. She is driving from Seattle and having seen her last night she will be leaving her house before both Marek and Thorpe.

 

[007]

Another great post above, 007 ! I enjoy reading your thoughts. You can tell you've done some coaching.

I will say that our biggest hope for post scoring is Sidibe. Yes, he is raw offensively but he does have a face up jumper out to about 15 feet, baby hook, drop step and an up and under move. The drop step looked like a work-in-progress but he used it effectively against Deng Gak, who will be at Miami this year.

He reminds me a little of Baye, as I've said (and JB said a couple days ago) with his motor and his gait. He runs the floor well like Baye but with much better hands. His game down low reminds me a bit of Rick Jackson but not as polished. More like frosh or soph year Rick The Ruler. It's an old school post game with solid athleticism. He played a lot of soccer back in Bali before he took on basketball and it shows in his footwork. I've seen him finish lefty and righty.

Again, all of this sounds amazing. It may come off over the top but it's what I've seen. The negatives: he has very thin legs. His arms do have some muscularity but he needs to get a lot stronger, something his high school coach told me he will work hard at. Still, I expect him to struggle offensively at times because he's raw and lacks strength. Looking at our roster, considering TT is more of a stationary jump shooter, I am looking at Sidibe as our best hope out of our 3 center types to do damage around the basket. Maybe TT worked on his inside game. But I'm basing all of this on what I've seen prior to this year. Sidibe could be our do-over from Diagne, whose absence has been underestimated. I just hope he's hitting the weight room with vigor and doing a ton of leg presses.

I'm not expecting Sidibe to be hugely impactful offensively but with the skills I've described, could be somewhat impactful in year one.

Thanks iommi! That means a lot to me coming from you.

I can tell you that after reading your previous scouting reports on Sidibe a few months back, I watched all the tape I could find on him. This kid already has footwork, defensive timing, positioning, and an interior offensive skill set going over either shoulder. Like you, I wonder about lower body strength. I think over time, he could develop into a significant player for us and I wouldn't be surprised to see him contribute this year.

 

[iommi]

I didn't listen to Boeheim on Axe but to be honest the fact he called in to talk about recruiting tells you everything you need to know about our situation.

Exactly. It's called being defensive and concerned about it. If he was content, why would he feel the need to chime in at all?

The interview is linked on page one of this thread if you or anyone else wants to check it out.

 

[iommi]

Thanks iommi! That means a lot to me coming from you.

I can tell you that after reading your previous scouting reports on Sidibe a few months back, I watched all the tape I could find on him. This kid already has footwork, defensive timing, positioning, and an interior offensive skill set going over either shoulder. Like you, I wonder about lower body strength. I think over time, he could develop into a significant player for us and I wouldn't be surprised to see him contribute this year.

Yeah, his defensive timing is special. Love how he keeps the ball in play with his shot blocking. He's been very well coached by Mark Taylor and the staff at St. Benedict's.

 

[Consigliere]

I know too much to be positive. My cousin is going to be a freshman at Syracuse this year. She is driving from Seattle and having seen her last night she will be leaving her house before both Marek and Thorpe.

Reading this differently. Boeheim notes "We won't see them until September." I'm thinking that is in September as in first practice. With first game November 10 I think we start practice September 29.

 

[iommi]

Reading this differently. Boeheim notes "We won't see them until September." I'm thinking that is in September as in first practice. With first game November 10 I think we start practice September 29.

He said at the No Huddle Tour event that they won't be on campus until September. Didn't seem open to interpretation. :noidea:

 

[Consigliere]

Outside of his height, what do you like about Chukwu's game?

I respect the hell out of your talent evaluation perspective, iommi, but not willing to write him off after 70 minutes of play. Granted as a transfer who practiced in the system I expected him to look much more comfortable in the zone in those 70 minutes, but I'll give JB and Cooley the benefit of the doubt when considering near term potential. Sheer physical presence, shot blocking and rebounding ability demand that. Skills development will only enhance that.

 

[007]

Yeah, his defensive timing is special. Love how he keeps the ball in play with his shot blocking. He's been very well coached by Mark Taylor and the staff at St. Benedict's.

I want to see these guys play at this level first (Brissett, MD, Sidibe in particular) before I get too excited. But, the potential and varied skill sets in all 3 of these guys just feels different to me relative to the "recruit length and zone fit first" mentality of the last several years.

Maybe this is just a random coincidence after missing on Green and Tucker (good player, but way overrated IMO). Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part. But I am very intrigued.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Exactly. It's called being defensive and concerned about it. If he was content, why would he feel the need to chime in at all?

The interview is linked on page one of this thread if you or anyone else wants to check it out.

I just listened. Boeheim was being nice to Brent Axe and even complimented him. This situation is worse than I could have imagined.

 

[Consigliere]

He said at the No Huddle Tour event that they won't be on campus until September. Didn't seem open to interpretation. :noidea:

Ouch. Guess not! Quote I read was that we wouldn't see them until September and I took that to mean start of practice. Missing the informal interaction with the rest of the team both on and off the court is difficult to overcome.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Believe me, I am the first to admit it's all amateurish, preseason guesswork, especially with all the unknowns this coming year. Even as a former coach, I can tell you that what you think you have coming in and what you end up with when they take the court as a team can be way, way off no matter how many 100s of times you watch them scrimmage. We lived that last year.

Battle and TT are high level ACC scorers. Good place to start as they will demand help side support which will help space the floor, but not completely. Any good D at this level can account for 2 scorers and still limit off ball action. The huge leap of faith in my analysis above is that Brissett will play the 3 and be a dynamic scorer. If Thorpe (or Frank??) can be effective running half court sets and shoot off the dribble, you have the potential for good offensive without the presence of knock down shooters.

The one obvious missing piece is the lack of an interior scoring threat or post presence. Because of that, the D will be able to cheat on all off screens, double on ball screens, and face guard Battle (that's what happened to White last year and TC the previous 2 years).

If you are correct about too many 4 types, and there is no post scoring, it will be a historically bad year by SU standards.

Great post. Interesting read. Even if we don't have those knockdown shooters and Brissett does impress; are you confident enough in the offensive scheme? Too many times (even late in the season) all we heard from Bilas/Fraschilla/Lappas in games was how there was too much standing around. Granted the defense was the main problem last year but most of the offense last year was catch and shoot off of one pass. White made a TON of contested 'bad' shots and the team could shoot. Amazing shooting by White, actually. But they mainly launched without conscience and without moving the defense much, IMO. I'm just worried that without those shooters the construction of the offense will be too pedestrian and too easy to defend. Thoughts?

 

[SoBeCuse]

I didn't listen to Boeheim on Axe but to be honest the fact he called in to talk about recruiting tells you everything you need to know about our situation.

Seriously. He sounds so defensive. People who do that generally have something to hide or be worried about if they feel the need to do that. It was eerie and weird to me.

 

[iommi]

I respect the hell out of your talent evaluation perspective, iommi, but not willing to write him off after 70 minutes of play. Granted as a transfer who practiced in the system I expected him to look much more comfortable in the zone in those 70 minutes, but I'll give JB and Cooley the benefit of the doubt when considering near term potential. Sheer physical presence, shot blocking and rebounding ability demand that. Skills development will only enhance that.

Thanks for the kind words. I thought Chukwu would've been much better than he was, based on a variety of things. 1) he ran the floor pretty well at Providence and in high school
2) his hands were considered to be decent 3) Cooley was very upset when PC left PC (ha). 4) JB said he'd be impactful and started him right away 5) He's over 7-foot tall and you can't...teach...that. (Sorry you and Cass broke up, Enzo Amore)

My issue, as you said, is why did the zone look so foreign to him after a year in our system? It was bizarre. Beyond that, he looked awful in the press, often straying way beyond half court and committing stupid fouls and leaving our basket unguarded. I understand that first-year players are bound to look comfortable and that bigs take longer to develop, but this was no kid.

Where was the skills development you talked about? Did we put him in solitary when he came on campus and let him out for our first game? Never mind, he could've been doing push-ups in solitary. The physical presence was not there. He was 7'2" and afraid of contact. We need to teach our guys to be tougher. We are usually so damn soft. At least Matt Moyer will try to dunk in guys' faces and Brissett looks like he plays with reckless abandon. That infamous play where Chukwu had the ball under our basket and tossed it over the bench summed up what was frustrating about watching him.

You're right. The sample size was small. Then came the eye issues. I hope he's a huge asset this year but I'd bet on Sidibe being better, if he's given the same chance I suspect JB will give Chukwu. If Chukwu can be a big factor, we could have a very good defense. I already am positive Sidibe will be an outstanding zone defender. He played it very well in high school and has all the skills needed.

 

[iommi]

Ouch. Guess not! Quote I read was that we wouldn't see them until September and I took that to mean start of practice. Missing the informal interaction with the rest of the team both on and off the court is difficult to overcome.

I hope I'm wrong. Maybe I am.

 

[iommi]

I want to see these guys play at this level first (Brissett, MD, Sidibe in particular) before I get too excited. But, the potential and varied skill sets in all 3 of these guys just feels different to me relative to the "recruit length and zone fit first" mentality of the last several years.

Maybe this is just a random coincidence after missing on Green and Tucker (good player, but way overrated IMO). Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part. But I am very intrigued.

One quick thing on JT. I would have agreed with you he was overrated until he made marked improvements when he moved to Georgia. He's now much better off the dribble. But enough about him.

 

[007]

Great post. Interesting read. Even if we don't have those knockdown shooters and Brissett does impress; are you confident enough in the offensive scheme? Too many times (even late in the season) all we heard from Bilas/Fraschilla/Lappas in games was how there was too much standing around. Granted the defense was the main problem last year but most of the offense last year was catch and shoot off of one pass. White made a TON of contested 'bad' shots and the team could shoot. Amazing shooting by White, actually. But they mainly launched without conscience and without moving the defense much, IMO. I'm just worried that without those shooters the construction of the offense will be too pedestrian and too easy to defend. Thoughts?

To me, last year's offense was a product of having ineffective PG play in half court sets and then becoming way too reliant on spot up, 3 point shooting. We ended up with largely stationary and predictable offense sets. We were very fortunate that White was a prolific shooter with range, and we had 2 other above average 3 point shooters. The D's attention on the shooters gave TT the room to showcase his game. I wonder what it will look like as the D focuses on him.

To be honest, I have never been a big fan of JB's half court offense. It seems that in the half court, we are at our best with a creative, dynamic scoring PG who can break the D down and create for others. JB is at his best when we can score off the break and that starts at the other end of the floor.

 

[iommi]

To me, last year's offense was a product of having ineffective PG play in half court sets and then becoming way too reliant on spot up, 3 point shooting. We ended up with largely stationary and predictable offense sets. We were very fortunate that White was a prolific shooter with range, and we had 2 other above average 3 point shooters. The D's attention on the shooters gave TT the room to showcase his game. I wonder what it will look like as the D focuses on him.

To be honest, I have never been a big fan of JB's half court offense. It seems that in the half court, we are at our best with a creative, dynamic scoring PG who can break the D down and create for others. JB is at his best when we can score off the break and that starts at the other end of the floor.

Spot on. I was about to respond to your first paragraph with something along the lines of your second paragraph. Frank the Crank didn't show much of a handle last year, much less a "dynamic scoring" ability. Maybe feeling better after his surgery will help.

I'm very worried about teams being able to key on Battle, as you said, so much that it will wear on him and obviously make it tough for him to score. Hope he stays healthy through that too. That's always something to monitor with Tyus but wow, is that kid in phenomenal shape. No one is a better workout warrior and it's rubbed off on his roommate, Matt Moyer, who has really gotten into great shape as well.

 

[Digger]

My only hope for Chukwu is the eye issue. There was the article awhile ago that said he had the detached retina issue the entire season and the ball that hit him in the eye in the 2nd game of the season just made it significantly worse.

I'm not overly optimistic and he absolutely might still look completely lost when healthy but it's also possible that the PC we saw last season was the result of a guy playing with one working eye and he'll look drastically different this season.

 

[007]

Spot on. I was about to respond to your first paragraph with something along the lines of your second paragraph. Frank the Crank didn't show much of a handle last year, much less a "dynamic scoring" ability. Maybe feeling better after his surgery will help.

I'm very worried about teams being able to key on Battle, as you said, so much that it will wear on him and obviously make it tough for him to score. Hope he stays healthy through that too. That's always something to monitor with Tyus but wow, is that kid in phenomenal shape. No one is a better workout warrior and it's rubbed off on his roommate, Matt Moyer, who has really gotten into great shape as well.

Battle is a special talent. To take it to the next level, he is going to have to be way more assertive this year. I don't know if that is him, but he will have to more selfish, so to speak. I think teams are going to try to play him physically and "beat" him up a little. A lot of that stuff happens off the ball. If Battle can weather that storm physically (stay healthy) and still produce, that will help open the floor.

Look at Thorpe's offensive efficiency numbers last year on a terrible team, keeping in mind he was rotated to PG from SG after an injury to the "true" PG. Let's hope he can play like that here.

Moyer will bring it. He needs to be great on the boards.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Couldn't the same be said for Wes Johnson and Mike Gbinije? Why didn't they just go pro if they were future NBA players?

Not about Wes Johnson. He was well established at Iowa State. Gbinije was a top 50 kid, but projected as a SF, not a PG.

 

[IthacaMatt]

On the plus side with that we have an excellent guard in Battle. I think he's the only sure thing we have. My only concern is he goes from 3rd fiddle to the only proven scorer on the team. I think he's athletic enough to get through a tough defense but he's not going to have the open looks he did last year.

To be fair, Thompson is going to score in the front court. We also know that with pretty good certainty.
Frank should be competent to run the offense and certainly has experience, but he's also a head case and could mess up team chemistry if the 5th year guy takes his starting job again.

All the other guys are "lottery tickets"; there's a chance that some of them could be good; they look like a bunch of solid 4 star recruits, for the most part, but at the bottom end of that range (like guys ranked 50-75 rather than 25-50). Brissett and Sidibe are probably going to be the most likely to succeed from our group of other front court players, IMO.

 

[iommi]

To be fair, Thompson is going to score in the front court. We also know that with pretty good certainty.
Frank should be competent to run the offense and certainly has experience, but he's also a head case and could mess up team chemistry if the 5th year guy takes his starting job again.

All the other guys are "lottery tickets"; there's a chance that some of them could be good; theY look like a bunch of solid 4 star recruits, for the most part, but at the bottom end of that range (like guys ranked 50-75 rather than 25-50). Brissett and Sidibe are probably going to be the most likely to succeed from our group of other front court players, IMO.

Thompson will be a front court player, who will score, no question. I just hope he scores in the post. We need his jumper but we also need him to do damage inside near the basket.