JJ

[MikeSU02]

I mostly stay away from the board during basketball season for a variety of reasons, including this one.

Every player has strengths and weaknesses. Every one of them.

Every year, a subset of the board informally picks a whipping boy. They overlook anything he does well and never fail to point out his flaws. The guy could have a great game and they will harp on a missed shot or whatever.

Conversely, they pick a heartthrob and constantly play up his strengths or good plays and totally ignore weaknesses or problems after a given game.

And they do this not only after every game but all week long, over and over and over.

This pattern on the board is as perennial as the wind

First, Im not picking on JJ. Im literally posting his stats. They clearly show he is below average. When he has good plays or games, I say so. I have many posts saying so.

Second, as I've stated re JJ, he's a consequence of Red who was a consequence of late-stage JB. He's the natural end result of HC issues.

Third, Donnie, Kyle and Kingz are our best three players. I've called out their bad plays. Especially Donnie lately who looks like he's, at best, in and out of games.

Fourth, this type of post is why a lot of people stopped posting. It's faux-outrage and it hit a high point when people were correctly pointing out that the Boeheim and Friends teams were playing players who didn't deserve to be played as much as they were when the stats, which were ridiculed by a number of posters, were showing clear as day who should be playing.

I'm sure this post will get nuked, so I hope you see it before it does.

So if you want to stay off the board, so be it. But if it's because JJ has a TS% of 50%, I'd rethink why you are staying away.

 

[powdersmack]

Easily the most hated on player in forever, on this board.

I mean, Chris Bell hasn't even been gone a year...

 

[Cuseloyal]

JJ has been a “leader” during his time in Syracuse and not once has done anything to promote winning. Can score by taking the toughest shots known to man, that’s about it

 

[PhatOrange]

Not even close. Trevor Cooney is laughing right now at that thought.

He was the first player I thought of.

 

[Orangezoo]

people forgetting craig forth?

Shows the changing age demographics of the board…

 

[Orangezoo]

Nait George should be hearing the loudest boos on here. JJ is what he is. And can never question his effort.

George deserves some heat but a lot of it for him is on Red as it is for most of the guys honestly.

 

[Orangezoo]

He was the first player I thought of.

Maybe my memory does me a disservice but his insane effort and defense made it easy for people to come around faster that I recall.

 

[Bornorange]

This team is lost without Starling. The team plays better with him in the game, I don't know what that says about his skills.

 

[Orangezoo]

This team is lost without Starling. The team plays better with him in the game, I don't know what that says about his skills.

I think it’s lazy coaching at this point. Just lean on letting him do his thing and let the season finish out that way. That may be because he is still one of the few committed to playing hard to finish things out even though that comes with ample flaws.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I mostly stay away from the board during basketball season for a variety of reasons, including this one.

Every player has strengths and weaknesses. Every one of them.

Every year, a subset of the board informally picks a whipping boy. They overlook anything he does well and never fail to point out his flaws. The guy could have a great game and they will harp on a missed shot or whatever.

Conversely, they pick a heartthrob and constantly play up his strengths or good plays and totally ignore weaknesses or problems after a given game.

And they do this not only after every game but all week long, over and over and over.

This pattern on the board is as perennial as the wind

Sure

 

[Sherman20]

Not even close. Trevor Cooney is laughing right now at that thought.

Frank Howard, Benny Williams and Chris Bell say hold our beers.

 

[DuxburyO]

Frank Howard, Benny Williams and Chris Bell say hold our beers.

Paul Harris was my first thought

 

[Fly Rodder]

What is this thread even about? lol

 

[tbonezone]

dude has a career asst / to ratio of 2.0 : 1.7 ...
2:1 for a guard is considered acceptable.
and he's basically the one constant of a team that's gone nowhere.
is he a good person ? sure i hope . but is he a winner ? when ?

 

[DBCooper]

What is this thread even about? lol

I'm not sure, but there' a lot of drama!

 

[Nicknack]

dude has a career asst / to ratio of 2.0 : 1.7 ...
2:1 for a guard is considered acceptable.
and he's basically the one constant of a team that's gone nowhere.
is he a good person ? sure i hope . but is he a winner ? when ?

Wednesday night

 

[IthacaMatt]

Including an airball FT.

With a better SG, or intelligent use of resources, we could have won in regulation or 1OT.

He makes some of the absolutely worst plays at times.

But he's a guy who tries hard to win games. And sometimes he does it.
I give him credit for that.

He never really got his shot back after hurting his shoulder freshman year at ND, and then hurting his hand with us.

 

[Briancuse]

Easily the most hated on player in forever, on this board.

Hated is way too far. Hes a great kid. We just want more, doesn't make enough winning plays.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I am quite confident I could start as many games as JJ and be good in none of them.

Yeah, I think that's a bit of a BS take.

Just because you play a lot doesn't mean you're going to have any particular number of good games.

Benny Williams played 77 games for us. JJ is a better player, despite his flaws.

Remember, he was NEVER supposed to be our best player.

 

[atlanticuse]

He makes some of the absolutely worst plays at times.

But he's a guy who tries hard to win games. And sometimes he does it.
I give him credit for that.

He never really got his shot back after hurting his shoulder freshman year at ND, and then hurting his hand with us.

But he plays 33+ minutes a game.
Got it.

 

[Nicknack]

But he plays 33+ minutes a game.
Got it.

So blame the damn coach, not a kid who is provided the minutes and given the green light to take shots. He's doing what the coach wants (obviously).

 

[IthacaMatt]

First, Im not picking on JJ. Im literally posting his stats. They clearly show he is below average. When he has good plays or games, I say so. I have many posts saying so.

Well, no, you said he's a bad player. You spent about 3 sentences saying so after you posted his stats. And without his key plays, we would have lost that last game. So, you picked a poor time to pile on yet again.

Second, as I've stated re JJ, he's a consequence of Red who was a consequence of late-stage JB. He's the natural end result of HC issues.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. JB and Red have recruited worse players, by far. We all know that Red's not a good coach, but how did he 'cause' JJ?

JJ plays too much because other players haven't been better than him. It's that simple.

If Kiyan Anthony was any good at all, he would have taken at least 10 minutes of his time.

If Nait George wasn't such a turnover machine, JJ wouldn't have played so much at lead guard.

If Nate Kingz was hitting his outside shots for the first half of the season he would have taken more of JJ's minutes at the SG.

BUT THEY DIDN'T. So JJ keeps getting minutes. If the other guys played better, he wouldn't get so many.

JJ never got over injuries, and the other guys who were supposed to be the designated stars didn't live up to their billing, either.

Third, Donnie, Kyle and Kingz are our best three players. I've called out their bad plays. Especially Donnie lately who looks like he's, at best, in and out of games.

Yes, they are. But Donnie sat out 9 games with his injury, when under Boeheim, he likely would have been back playing sooner, before our season was on life support.

Kyle is the best 6-7 center in basketball, but that's what he is, a 6-7 center who can jump like Stevie Thompson.

Kingz has done everything else that Chris Bell never did, he's been a great defender, drives the ball well, works really hard for the team. He started well from three in his first 3 games.

But he only had 1 good game from outside in the next 7, stretching from mid-December to mid-January, shooting only 9 for 30 from three.

He's only made 3 or more threes in a game 7 out of 25 times. That's our best outside shooter. Betsey only has 3 games where he has made 3 threes.

Maybe if Kingz didn't have that bad month, his confidence would be better and our offense would be better. Maybe if Betsey could drive with the ball better, he would get more time, too.

 

[IthacaMatt]

But he plays 33+ minutes a game.
Got it.

He would probably only play 25 minutes a game if (a) Kiyan Anthony was playable, or (b) Nait George wasn't such a turnover machine.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Well, no, you said he's a bad player. You spent about 3 sentences saying so after you posted his stats. And without his key plays, we would have lost that last game. So, you picked a poor time to pile on yet again.



I'm not sure what you mean by that. JB and Red have recruited worse players, by far. We all know that Red's not a good coach, but how did he 'cause' JJ?

JJ plays too much because other players haven't been better than him. It's that simple.

If Kiyan Anthony was any good at all, he would have taken at least 10 minutes of his time.

If Nait George wasn't such a turnover machine, JJ wouldn't have played so much at lead guard.

If Nate Kingz was hitting his outside shots for the first half of the season he would have taken more of JJ's minutes at the SG.

BUT THEY DIDN'T. So JJ keeps getting minutes. If the other guys played better, he wouldn't get so many.

JJ never got over injuries, and the other guys who were supposed to be the designated stars didn't live up to their billing, either.



Yes, they are. But Donnie sat out 9 games with his injury, when under Boeheim, he likely would have been back playing sooner, before our season was on life support.

Kyle is the best 6-7 center in basketball, but that's what he is, a 6-7 center who can jump like Stevie Thompson.

Kingz has done everything else that Chris Bell never did, he's been a great defender, drives the ball well, works really hard for the team. He started well from three in his first 3 games.

But he only had 1 good game from outside in the next 7, stretching from mid-December to mid-January, shooting only 9 for 30 from three.

He's only made 3 or more threes in a game 7 out of 25 times. That's our best outside shooter. Betsey only has 3 games where he has made 3 threes.

Maybe if Kingz didn't have that bad month, his confidence would be better and our offense would be better. Maybe if Betsey could drive with the ball better, he would get more time, too.

Sure

 

[IthacaMatt]

dude has a career asst / to ratio of 2.0 : 1.7 ...
2:1 for a guard is considered acceptable.
and he's basically the one constant of a team that's gone nowhere.
is he a good person ? sure i hope . but is he a winner ? when ?

OK, let's look at turnovers. JJ has played 700 minutes, George has played 770 and Donnie 500.

George has 79 turnovers - 4.1 per 40 minutes.

JJ, who plays 90% of George's minutes, and often runs the point, only has 32 turnovers.
That's only 1.8 turnovers per 40 minutes.

Donnie, who has only played about 2/3 the minutes of either of them, has 38 turnovers - an average of 3 turnovers every 40 minutes.

Kiyan Anthony has a negative assist to turnover ratio. JJ has to be in the game because the other high usage guys are bad with the ball. Donnie, Kyle, Sadiq, they all have more turnovers than assists, too.

JJ is not a great player, by any stretch. But it often seems like he, Kingz and Kyle are the only guys out there trying to win games. I appreciate that.