Josh Mballa in the portal from UBuffalo | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Josh Mballa in the portal from UBuffalo

Mballa was much more of a 5 than a 4 though right? Also gotta figure he has a bead on where he wants to go at this point.

Last bit is whether Oats recruited him before taking the Bama job or not. If so wonder if that is the plan..
 
Mballa would be a game changer imo. But if there is any truth to the "promise of PT" to the freshman it would take a concerted effort by the coaches to make it happen. But they could do it if they wanted.

C - Jesse -30, JBA - 5, Maliq - 5
PF - Mballa - 28, Benny - 7, Maliq - 5
SF - Benny - 20, Taylor - 8, Bunch - 12
2G - JG3 - 28, Mintz - 5, Taylor - 7
PG - Mintz - 20, Symir - 15, Q - 5

Lots of problems with this I know:
  1. That's 9 players getting at least 10 min per game. It may be required even without Mballa with a team this young and inexperienced. Coach would need to change his philosophy...a lot.
  2. Leaves Carey out completely and only 5 minutes each for Quadir and JBA.
  3. Doesn't solve at all the backup C issue. But gives us 3 very athletic forwards that could support the lack of a C with 3 Guard lineups or even 3 Forward lineups. Mballa, Benny and Maliq could probably hold their own against all but the tallest and best C.
  4. Does 10, 12 and 15 keep Brown, Bunch and Taylor happy and here?
  5. Token minutes for Q. My personal opinion is he pushes for PT that Taylor, Bunch and Symir want.
 
Last edited:
cuseincincy said:
Mballa would be a game changer imo. But if there is any truth to the "promise of PT" to the freshman it would take a concerted effort by the coaches to make it happen. But they could do it if they wanted.

C - Jesse -30, JBA - 5, Maliq - 5
PF - Mballa - 28, Benny - 7, Maliq - 5
SF - Benny - 20, Taylor - 8, Bunch - 12
2G - JG3 - 28, Mintz - 5, Taylor - 7
PG - Mintz - 20, Symir - 15, Q - 5

Lots of problems with this I know:
  1. That's 9 players getting at least 10 min per game. It may be required even without Mballa with a team this young and inexperienced. Coach would need to change his philosophy...a lot.
  2. Leaves Carey out completely and only 5 minutes each for Quadir and JBA.
  3. Doesn't solve at all the backup C issue. But gives us 3 very athletic forwards that could support the lack of a C with 3 Guard lineups or even 3 Forward lineups. Mballa, Benny and Maliq could probably hold their own against all but the tallest and best C.
Expand...
One of the other issues not talked about enough is Benny’s ability or rather likely inability to play SF. I don’t think he has the ball handling or shooting ability to play there at all.
 
cuseincincy said:
Mballa would be a game changer imo. But if there is any truth to the "promise of PT" to the freshman it would take a concerted effort by the coaches to make it happen. But they could do it if they wanted.

C - Jesse -30, JBA - 5, Maliq - 5
PF - Mballa - 28, Benny - 7, Maliq - 5
SF - Benny - 20, Taylor - 8, Bunch - 12
2G - JG3 - 28, Mintz - 5, Taylor - 7
PG - Mintz - 20, Symir - 15, Q - 5

Lots of problems with this I know:
  1. That's 9 players getting at least 10 min per game. It may be required even without Mballa with a team this young and inexperienced. Coach would need to change his philosophy...a lot.
  2. Leaves Carey out completely and only 5 minutes each for Quadir and JBA.
  3. Doesn't solve at all the backup C issue. But gives us 3 very athletic forwards that could support the lack of a C with 3 Guard lineups or even 3 Forward lineups. Mballa, Benny and Maliq could probably hold their own against all but the tallest and best C.
Expand...

Nothing against JBA, but - I don't think we need to pencil him in for any minutes, specifically.
Ditto for Chas Owens, since both are effectively glorified PWO's who have schollies.

JAB was more than comfortable bringing in Quincy Ballard, who would likely have needed some minutes to seal that deal.
(and we would have also had him on the roster for an additional 1-2 years beyond that, for better or worse)

Mballa is about an ideal get for us - would be no worse (and likely, massively better) than Boeheim III was at the 5.
Brings rebounding that we DESPERATELY need, and he's a proven college scorer.

He'd be a perfect 1 year rental for this team.
And give our young 's a stud to hafta go up against in practice everyday, which would surely help elevate their games too.
 
cuseincincy said:
Mballa would be a game changer imo. But if there is any truth to the "promise of PT" to the freshman it would take a concerted effort by the coaches to make it happen. But they could do it if they wanted.

C - Jesse -30, JBA - 5, Maliq - 5
PF - Mballa - 28, Benny - 7, Maliq - 5
SF - Benny - 20, Taylor - 8, Bunch - 12
2G - JG3 - 28, Mintz - 5, Taylor - 7
PG - Mintz - 20, Symir - 15, Q - 5

Lots of problems with this I know:
  1. That's 9 players getting at least 10 min per game. It may be required even without Mballa with a team this young and inexperienced. Coach would need to change his philosophy...a lot.
  2. Leaves Carey out completely and only 5 minutes each for Quadir and JBA.
  3. Doesn't solve at all the backup C issue. But gives us 3 very athletic forwards that could support the lack of a C with 3 Guard lineups or even 3 Forward lineups. Mballa, Benny and Maliq could probably hold their own against all but the tallest and best C.
Expand...
Only people who may have been promised minutes are Mintz (guarantee starting spot), Taylor or Bunch. The rest are non starters.

You can find minutes for Taylor & Bunch and add Mballa, if you thought they were good enough to warrant the promise upon recruitment.

Brown's 10 minutes should go back to distribution. JBA's 5 minutes as well. Edwards will play 32-35 minutes per game pending foul trouble. Mballa would play the remaining 5-8, plus start at PF.

C - Edwards - 35, Mballa? JBA? - 5
PF - Mballa - 30, Williams - 10
SF - Williams - 20, Bunch - 15, Taylor - 5
SG - Girard - 33, Taylor - 5
PG - Mintz - 30, Torrence - 10

There's your 8 with versatility. Brown or Copeland could be your 8.5, with JBA an emergency option at C with foul trouble.

If you don't add an experienced forward to this roster, it's going to be a VERY inexperienced group and my fear is it will be worse than last year.
 
SUFan44 said:
Only people who may have been promised minutes are Mintz (guarantee starting spot), Taylor or Bunch. The rest are non starters.

You can find minutes for Taylor & Bunch and add Mballa, if you thought they were good enough to warrant the promise upon recruitment.

Brown's 10 minutes should go back to distribution. JBA's 5 minutes as well. Edwards will play 32-35 minutes per game pending foul trouble. Mballa would play the remaining 5-8, plus start at PF.

C - Edwards - 35, Mballa? JBA? - 5
PF - Mballa - 30, Williams - 10
SF - Williams - 20, Bunch - 15, Taylor - 5
SG - Girard - 33, Taylor - 5
PG - Mintz - 30, Torrence - 10

There's your 8 with versatility. Brown or Copeland could be your 8.5, with JBA an emergency option at C with foul trouble.

If you don't add an experienced forward to this roster, it's going to be a VERY inexperienced group and my fear is it will be worse than last year.
Expand...

JAB didn't play JBA for one meaningful second at the 5 last year.
He mighta been in there with the walkons towards the end of a game.
I doubt that ever changes.

Remember:
This is the coach who played his eldest son at the 5, rather than a dude (Ansalem) whose actual position was C.
Or JBA, for that matter.
 
721Comstock said:
JAB didn't play JBA for one meaningful second at the 5 last year.
He mighta been in there with the walkons towards the end of a game.
I doubt that ever changes.

Remember:
This is the coach who played his eldest son at the 5, rather than a dude (Ansalem) whose actual position was C.
Or JBA, for that matter.
Expand...
Yeah I don't disagree - threw him in as an emergency option. Mballa would likely be the backup. Or even Carey, quite honestly. Would rather they roll with those options than going out, finding a backup C and calling it a day.
 
kcsu said:
Has SU offered any kid in the portal that they didn't originally recruit?
Expand...

Last year there were a couple we reached out to I thought but not sure
 
SUFan44 said:
Only people who may have been promised minutes are Mintz (guarantee starting spot), Taylor or Bunch. The rest are non starters.

You can find minutes for Taylor & Bunch and add Mballa, if you thought they were good enough to warrant the promise upon recruitment.

Brown's 10 minutes should go back to distribution. JBA's 5 minutes as well. Edwards will play 32-35 minutes per game pending foul trouble. Mballa would play the remaining 5-8, plus start at PF.

C - Edwards - 35, Mballa? JBA? - 5
PF - Mballa - 30, Williams - 10
SF - Williams - 20, Bunch - 15, Taylor - 5
SG - Girard - 33, Taylor - 5
PG - Mintz - 30, Torrence - 10

There's your 8 with versatility. Brown or Copeland could be your 8.5, with JBA an emergency option at C with foul trouble.

If you don't add an experienced forward to this roster, it's going to be a VERY inexperienced group and my fear is it will be worse than last year.
Expand...
I'd be shocked if that was the lineup if we even got Mballa unless Benny comes back a completely different player. I think the issue with Mballa is he and Benny are too similar and I could see a scenario where Benny is the guy left out and not Bunch or Taylor. JMO based on how JB operates.
 
kcsu said:
Has SU offered any kid in the portal that they didn't originally recruit?
Expand...

Ever or this cycle? They definitely did not recruit Tape out of high school he went Ivy. The Powell kid from Auburn who had ties to Cuse wasn't recruited during high school. Did they recruit Towns in high school? I believe there was another shooter around that time they were kicking the tires in the portal but ultimately went somewhere out west.
 
Mstumpy50 said:
Ever or this cycle? They definitely did not recruit Tape out of high school he went Ivy. The Powell kid from Auburn who had ties to Cuse wasn't recruited during high school. Did they recruit Towns in high school? I believe there was another shooter around that time they were kicking the tires in the portal but ultimately went somewhere out west.
Expand...
Griffin as well
 
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