joseph, cooney, gbinije, mccullough, christmas?

[two3zone]

I don't get Roberson's nickname Beast, he seemed like a puppy this past season.

 

[Orange2389]

This is what I think will happen next year.

Cooney starts from day one. Improves consistency and defense.
KJ2 steps in and struggles but finds his form in February.
Rak does a great job in the middle, with DC2 and Obokoh backing him up.
McCollough steps in and ing dominates. (still miss Grant though)
Roberson steps up and gives a solid 8 per game.

Silent G is the spark off the bench and overall most improved player.
Patterson, and Johnson fight it out for playing time.

ACC record 13-5

ACC Tournamnet Semi Finalist

NCAA Tournament finish Elite 8

Record 30-7


Everyone comes back.

 

[Ghost]

Coleman starts at center if he comes back. This is not in doubt. Rak, McC and DC2 up front. Roberson and BJ back them up.

Ah, hell, just make that the starting lineup - use BJ and Roberson as the guards.

Seriously, I'm not worried that much if Grant comes back. Might finally force JB to do some adjusting - our guards will be a mish-mash of different skillsets and tons of interchangeable parts. We'll see...an interesting off-season begins! At the very least the team should get up and down more - this team was boring even when winning.

 

[jsshap]

You'll be miserable then. With Grant it will be joseph, Cooney, Roberson, Grant and Xmas. Without Grant replace him with McCullough.

No kidding. This is worse than post loss. Even without grant I will look forward to the season. With him cuse could easily be better than this year. I am sure these were same people saying this year was lost cause because mcw left, and last year was lost cause bc waiters left. This program keeps going. Next man up. Malachi waits in the wings. Maybe Bryant too. Let the good times roll.

 

[Eric15]

Things have a way of working themselves out. Fan morale was low after we lost Flynn, Devendorf and Harris in 2009, and what emerged was one of the greatest SU teams ever.

 

[LennX6]

We just need Joseph to limit turnovers and create opportunities for Xmas, Grant and McCullough. We don't need him to average above 10 a game. We just need him to speed us up and let our bigger guys do the work.

What bigger guys? That's my concern. To me they are as many ?? on the front line as the backcourt. That being said we will be OK. We always are. Sounds smug but hey...it's true.

 

[Jake]

Joseph, Cooney, McCullough, Grant, Xmas.

 

[LennX6]

Things have a way of working themselves out. Fan morale was low after we lost Flynn, Devendorf and Harris in 2009, and what emerged was one of the greatest SU teams ever.

85-86 Pearl, (Raf and Alexis too) leave
86-87 Lost on last second shot in Final

94-95 Moten graduates, looking at 3 yr backup as Starting PG
95-96 Go to Finals, Lose

01-02 Suffer thru "Me-Shawn-Gate", Shumpert grads.
02-03 Year of 'Melo

And what you said about 2009, in Spring of '09 would anybody thought we would be better???

1

 

[Trueblue25]

What bigger guys? That's my concern. To me they are as many ?? on the front line as the backcourt. That being said we will be OK. We always are. Sounds smug but hey...it's true.

Grant 6'9
Coleman 6'9
Xmas 6'9
Mac 6'10

2 or 3 of those guys will be on the court at any time. I'm confident in each one of them, if the guard provides them with good positioning, to be able to score under or near the hoop.

 

[Trueblue25]

Joseph, Cooney, McCullough, Grant, Xmas.

I respectfully think Gbinije ends up taking Cooneys starting spot at some point during the season.

I've heard legends of your knowledge though, so don't cast lightning down upon me.

 

[newmexicuse]

Both Ennis and Cooney exceeded my expectations this year.

Wow, you had low expectations for Trevor.

 

[Oakland]

I called that one.

Things have a way of working themselves out. Fan morale was low after we lost Flynn, Devendorf and Harris in 2009, and what emerged was one of the greatest SU teams ever.

 

[TinyManInside]

If Grant leaves like I expect, Roberson and McC will be the starting forwards. And I think that Roberson will surprise everyone once he gets a chance to play real minutes.

 

[rrlbees]

Wow, you had low expectations for Trevor.

No I didn't. In that over/under thread I said over. Many said under. I had him pegged for 10ppg and 24-28 mpg with 35-38% from 3. He met or beat that. Those weren't low expectations. Normal growth from last year. What did you expect? 15ppg?

 

[cuseguy]

Joseph, Cooney, Grant, Roberson, Rak

Mike G
Coleman
McCullough
Johnson
Obokoh
Buss

 

[El Jefe Syr]

Not terrific, which he might be, but solid.

Totally agree. This is what Triche gave us his freshman year in 2010 and that season turned out pretty great.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Totally agree. This is what Triche gave us his freshman year in 2010 and that season turned out pretty great.

He had a pretty good backup though.

 

[OttoMets]

I called that one.

Ditto.

The buzz was that Triche was solid, Wes was a star, and Scoop was hugely improved.

With the rest of the no-defense guys out the door, that had all the makings of a special season way back in April 2009. From Someone Who Knows, "We've spent this whole season putting out fires. Now we're just going to coach basketball."

 

[OttoMets]

He had a pretty good backup though.

That's the difference.

The consecutive years with early departures is potentially leaving us with a leadership void (and an absence of talented vets). I haven't loved what I've seen the past two seasons. Really going to need Cooney to do something special this year.

 

[anomander]

Good thing the last 2 years have warmed us up to games in the 50 because next year we will be lucky to average 45 points a game. I can see a lot of 44-41 type games.

 

[Trueblue25]

Good thing the last 2 years have got us used to games in the 50 because next year we will be lucky to average 45 points a game. I can see a lot of 44-41 type games.

I respectfully disagree.

I believe Ennis is the better player. But I think our offense will run better under a guard like Joseph. Cooney and Gbinije should both improve.

I think next year may finally be the first year since Rick Jackson, that we effectively get the ball down to our post players in good positioning.

I also think our noticeable, exciting transition will be back.

 

[anomander]

I respectfully disagree.

I believe Ennis is the better player. But I think our offense will run better under a guard like Joseph. Cooney and Gbinije should both improve.

I think next year may finally be the first year since Rick Jackson, that we effectively get the ball down to our post players in good positioning.

I also think our noticeable, exciting transition will be back.

I thought Ennis ran the offense fine we just didn't have anyone that can make shots, something that won't change next year. Joseph may be more aggressive pushing the ball in transition, but you better believe he will average more turnovers a game. You can't have it both ways. Either you have someone like Ennis who is more conservative and isn't going to hurt you with turnovers, or you will have someone like KJ who is more willing to push the ball, but will be more susceptible to turning it over. You also have to consider KJ will be a Freshman trying to run the break, so if we are hoping for more transition we better be ready for more turnovers (remember the MCW criticisms?).

And who is this guy low post threat you are talking about?

 

[Actionthrill]

I don't get all the people saying we won't be good next year. This is Syracuse! We are good EVERY YEAR. It doesn't matter who leaves or who comes back. One or two people don't make this program.
Ennis is no doubt a devastating loss. But so was Gerry Mac and we survived. So was Johnny Flynn and we survived. So was Scoop and we survived. So was Michael Carter Williams and we survived with a freshman point. Now Ennis is leaving AND WE WILL SURVIVE. This is a new Syracuse Basketball program. We just reload. I wouldn't be surprised if we win between 23 and 27 next year. No the sky is not falling, we are just plugging in the next superstar at the point. And we will survive.

 

[Trueblue25]

I thought Ennis ran the offense fine we just didn't have anyone that can make shots, something that won't change next year. Joseph may be more aggressive pushing the ball in transition, but you better believe he will average more turnovers a game. You can't have it both ways. Either you have someone like Ennis who is more conservative and isn't going to hurt you with turnovers, or you will have someone like KJ who is more willing to push the ball, but will be more susceptible to turning it over. You also have to consider KJ will be a Freshman trying to run the break, so if we are hoping for more transition we better be ready for more turnovers (remember the MCW criticisms?).

And who is this guy low post threat you are talking about?

I completely agree and see where you're coming from.

I see Joseph coming in as an underrated freshman talent that has a lot to offer. I absolutely agree that he will turn the ball over more than Ennis. That was my favorite thing about Ennis next to the ice in his veins, the limited turn overs.

However, after the lapse of quality ball movement and good shot selection this year I have to say a guard like KJ shines like a beacon in the darkness. KJ offers us a guard that can drive and penetrate deep under the basket, as shown in many of his tapes, and make the difficult pass with contact to the wide open post player.

Who are the post players?

As we saw at times, not nearly enough this year, when Ennis/Gbinije/Cooney drove to the hoop..often times it left Christmas, Fair and Grant WIDE open feet from the hoop.

If you get the ball to one of those two in good position under the hoop, that shi- is getting slammed in. Christmas is underrated in my opinion offensively. In his career, we haven't had a guard that got it down low to him in good position.

I think our strength next year will be 15 ft and within to the hoop. Grant and Xmas should come back bigger and stronger. You won't get much more athletic and long than them and McCullough. If we can drive and get it to them in space, that's 2 and possibly a free one.

Transition wise, I know a freshman guard will have turnovers in transition...but it's important to keep the pressure on the opponent and has the transition threat. I'd also like to see us get back our tough press.

 

[RF2044]

I don't get all the people saying we won't be good next year. This is Syracuse! We are good EVERY YEAR. It doesn't matter who leaves or who comes back. One or two people don't make this program.
Ennis is no doubt a devastating loss. But so was Gerry Mac and we survived. So was Johnny Flynn and we survived. So was Scoop and we survived. So was Michael Carter Williams and we survived with a freshman point. Now Ennis is leaving AND WE WILL SURVIVE. This is a new Syracuse Basketball program. We just reload. I wouldn't be surprised if we win between 23 and 27 next year. No the sky is not falling, we are just plugging in the next superstar at the point. And we will survive.

I like the optimism. Where I share it [somewhat] is based on the knowledge that we have a lot of sophomores who haven't been contributors yet who will have the opportunity to step up. I am confident that Roberson, Buss, and BJ will all be in the rotation next year. We could have better depth and better outside shooting as a function of these three making the sophomore jump.

Can Cooney take the next step? What about Rak? If Joseph comes in and can handle the responsibility--and there's no reason to think he won't be able to, after all, this is the PG that the staff hand picked--we could be good.

Lots of big question marks, but that's what makes college basketball exciting.