Jerry says we have the 15th best class

[jordoo]

I am hopeful for our offense. I mean we lost Cooney, Richardson, and Silent G the year before and our scoring average went up from 70 to 76. Of course our defense suffered mightily though.
If Chukwu can hold down the Center spot we have a game changer in the middle al a Rudy Gobert-esque. We also have some long athletic wings in Moyer, Marek, and Brisset who are perfect for zone defense.

I think we could look pretty good next season.

You are hopeful for our offense but you want Chukwu (no offense) to play a lot meaning Thompson is at the 4 and two of the 3 wing forwards you are excited about are on the bench. Offensively Thompson at the 5 and those 3 forwards playing all 80 minutes available at those spots is going to be whats best. Probably defensively as well if Thompson can improve that aspect.

 

[iommi]

He had over 8 assist 5 times last season in his very limited playing time.
If he is given a legit chance I think he surprises a lot of people.

Again, his stats were inflated against weak competition. He was awful in ACC play, one of the worst guards in the conference.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I agree, Jason. We have "almost" put together a class of program players to give us some depth and continuity. But you need 2 or 3 offense stars to make our "offense" effective. Brissett may turn into one of them, but I still think we could use a couple top 30 type of guys to get back to where we need to be. I guess that has to wait until next year. We are still a player or two away from being balanced offensively and defensively.

We have enough program guys in place now. The 2018 class has to bring in some higher end talent, too, if we want to get back to the top of the conference.

 

[MSOrange]

He had over 8 assist 5 times last season in his very limited playing time.
If he is given a legit chance I think he surprises a lot of people.

He did have those 5 games with over 8 assists but that wasn't exactly against the cream of the crop of our schedule. I'm confident he can do okay against the patsies also but I'll need more proof against ACC level competition.

 

[Cuse'91]

He had over 8 assist 5 times last season in his very limited playing time.
If he is given a legit chance I think he surprises a lot of people.

So you think he will average 2 more assists/gm than last season's ACC assist leader?

 

[Grbac]

You are hopeful for our offense but you want Chukwu (no offense) to play a lot meaning Thompson is at the 4 and two of the 3 wing forwards you are excited about are on the bench. Offensively Thompson at the 5 and those 3 forwards playing all 80 minutes available at those spots is going to be whats best. Probably defensively as well if Thompson can improve that aspect.

You have to have some balance. Thompson at Center full time exposes us on defense. We have no rim defender when he is in.
Having an oustanding zone is first and foremost. Chukwu changes the game. No more backdoor cuts behind the zone that destroyed us last season. Chukwu takes that away.

Thompson is better suited as PF where he can score at will and have Chukwu to help hide his defense.

My lineup is the most experienced and zone ready players. Again it is just my opinion though.

 

[Funk Doc]

He had over 8 assist 5 times last season in his very limited playing time.
If he is given a legit chance I think he surprises a lot of people.

I hope you are right. Unfortunately, look at his assist average in ACC play. He put up some great numbers against cupcakes which really skewed his stats last year.

 

[Grbac]

I hope you are right. Unfortunately, look at his assist average in ACC play. He put up some great numbers against cupcakes which really skewed his stats last year.

Yeah but give the guy a break. He never had full support at the PG spot. He was looking over his shoulder constantly. Boeheim got in his head just like he did with Roberson.
If he can go in next season as the guy and have some rope I believe he can be really good at dishing the ball and racking up steals.

 

[iommi]

You have to have some balance. Thompson at Center full time exposes us on defense. We have no rim defender when he is in.
Having an oustanding zone is first and foremost. Chukwu changes the game. No more backdoor cuts behind the zone that destroyed us last season. Chukwu takes that away.

Thompson is better suited as PF where he can score at will and have Chukwu to help hide his defense.

My lineup is the most experienced and zone ready players. Again it is just my opinion though.

Sidibe will be a better defender than Chukwu. And I will say much better. He will also be a much better overall player.

 

[jordoo]

You have to have some balance. Thompson at Center full time exposes us on defense. We have no rim defender when he is in.
Having an oustanding zone is first and foremost. Chukwu changes the game. No more backdoor cuts behind the zone that destroyed us last season. Chukwu takes that away.

Thompson is better suited as PF where he can score at will and have Chukwu to help hide his defense.

My lineup is the most experienced and zone ready players. Again it is just my opinion though.

Its hard to take that seriously when all the evidence says otherwise.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Its hard to take that seriously when all the evidence says otherwise.

But JAB loves him some 7'2" in the center of the zone. I'm not making predictions either way, but I would not be shocked to see Chukwu starting at C.

 

[iommi]

Its hard to take that seriously when all the evidence says otherwise.

Evidence: 7'2". Other evidence:

 

[jordoo]

Sidibe will be a better defender than Chukwu. And I will say much better. He will also be a much better overall player.

He may be a better wing defender than Thompson as well. I think the rotations and slides on the wing are much harder to learn that at center. I have Thompson starting and Sidibe backing him up. I simply cannot bring myself to count on Chukwu for anything until we see it. Also our group of forwards should do a much better job on the wings while also providing weakside shot blocking.

 

[jordoo]

But JAB loves him some 7'2" in the center of the zone. I'm not making predictions either way, but I would not be shocked to see Chukwu starting at C.

IMO it would be as shortsighted as starting AW3 at the 2G . . . . . . . so I guess its possible.

 

[iommi]

IMO it would be as shortsighted as starting AW3 at the 2G . . . . . . . so I guess its possible.

Yeah, it could happen. Doesn't make it right.

I'm curious what PC was allowed to do before he was fully cleared. Was he able to lift, for example? I have a sinking feeling we won't see a different player this year. And I'm not expecting much. Hope I'm shocked.

 

[Grbac]

Its hard to take that seriously when all the evidence says otherwise.

What evidence?
The fact that he played 7 games at 15mpg.
Ok lets look at his production per 40mpg in those 7 games.
4pts 10reb 5blk 1stl

His defensive box plus minus was 10! Players who hold that number for a season are elite. Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns for example had 10 DBPM for their year.

Sounds good to me.

 

[jordoo]

Yeah, it could happen. Doesn't make it right.

I'm curious what PC was allowed to do before he was fully cleared. Was he able to lift, for example? I have a sinking feeling we won't see a different player this year. And I'm not expecting much. Hope I'm shocked.

No doubt. I'm just at the show me stage with him and Howard for that matter. At least Howard showed some D1 skills and abilities. Not so much PG skills and abilities but he certainly showed enough that I could see him becoming a legit D1 player at some point. As you mentioned above Chukwu showed that he was 7'2" that is it.

 

[Fly Rodder]

It's just a weird roster right now to make predictions about.

The ones I feel most confident in:

1) Battle starting at the 2G and probably taking 14 FGA a game;

[gap]

2) Thompson taking more than 9 shots a game;

[Billy Fucillo Huge Gap]

3) everything else.

 

[iommi]

Yeah but give the guy a break. He never had full support at the PG spot. He was looking over his shoulder constantly. Boeheim got in his head just like he did with Roberson.
If he can go in next season as the guy and have some rope I believe he can be really good at dishing the ball and racking up steals.

Waaaah. I weep for FH. He's a victim.

He won't be The Guy this year either. Every team has depth at every position. The best don't worry about who else is on the roster. They earn the minutes.

Racking up steals? Now FH is a plus defender too?

 

[chugg21]

How I see the roster shaking out as is.
Starters

Howard 10pts 8ast 4reb 2stl
Battle 18pts 3reb 2ast
Moyer 11pts 5reb
Thompson 18pts 6reb
Chukwu 4pts 7reb 3blk

Bench

Washington 3pts 2ast
Dolezaj 4pts 4reb
Brisset 5pts 4reb
Sidibe 6pts 3reb

Looks good to me. Just short another guard. Anything happens to any of our guards and we are super screwed at this point.

0 players have avg'd 8 assists and 1 has avg'd 3 blocks in the entire ACC in the past 5 years but 2 guys that gave us absolutely nothing last year are going to do it for us. Seems reasonable.

 

[jordoo]

What evidence?
The fact that he played 7 games at 15mpg.
Ok lets look at his production per 40mpg in those 7 games.
4pts 10reb 5blk 1stl

His defensive box plus minus was 10! Players who hold that number for a season are elite. Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns for example had 10 DBPM for their year.

Sounds good to me.

If that was against P5 competition I'd be with you. That was against cupcakes who didn't have legit size. I don't disagree that if he played 30 minutes (without fouling out, wonder what his per 40min on that stat was) he would likely get 2 blocks and 6 or so boards. He is 7'2" after all. But what does that cost us offensively and what does the other team shoot against us and him all together? It would be great to have a 7'2" who was a real game changer in the middle and could do it at the P5 level. We haven't seen that though.

 

[Fly Rodder]

What evidence?
The fact that he played 7 games at 15mpg.
Ok lets look at his production per 40mpg in those 7 games.
4pts 10reb 5blk 1stl

His defensive box plus minus was 10! Players who hold that number for a season are elite. Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns for example had 10 DBPM for their year.

Sounds good to me.

Super small sample size against less than stellar competition. He had nearly 6 PF per 40, too. He also had a 43% TO percentage. That's walk-on terrible.

 

[chugg21]

What evidence?
The fact that he played 7 games at 15mpg.
Ok lets look at his production per 40mpg in those 7 games.
4pts 10reb 5blk 1stl

His defensive box plus minus was 10! Players who hold that number for a season are elite. Anthony Davis and Karl Anthony Towns for example had 10 DBPM for their year.

Sounds good to me.

He also avg'd 6 fouls per 40 so hopefully theres some rule changes coming!

 

[Grbac]

Super small sample size against less than stellar competition. He had nearly 6 PF per 40, too. He also had a 43% TO percentage. That's walk-on terrible.

Ok so lets get this straight. We CAN use the small sample size to call him out and say he basically sucks, but we CANNOT use the small sample size to point out how he had a good defensive advanced stat.

Ok I see. Anything that backs up the narrative that Chukwu and FH sucks is legit. But anything that shows they did better than what is being said is just a small sample size and does not count.

Ok gotcha!

 

[iommi]

I had nightmares last year of PC running (more like flailing) toward mid court during our press, instead of guarding the basket. That was so cringe-inducing. I've never seen someone so inept at that back of any press.