Kaleb Joseph

[NineOneSeven]

Has got to become just a THREAT to score.

He's not even that currently.

There will be games when cooney is off and rak is in foul trouble, and we will absolutely need offense from our starting point guard.

Every game it seems I'm changing what I think our priorities are, but right now (outside of hoping for the best for Chris), getting some sort of scoring from joseph is vital.

 

[samspann1]

I'm not asking him to hoist 5 3-pointers a game, but he's shown a pretty decent mid-range game. The past few games, he hasn't even taken wide open 15-footers.

 

[jordoo]

Yes and he can hit the open jumpers at a decent clip IMO. Especially stepping into that 15-17' range.

 

[NineOneSeven]

We have 3 solid players that are our backbones-

1) Rak. The post presence we need who always can hit the jumper when he extends. Currently our best player.

2) Cooney. The shooting guard that will need to knock down some threes every night. I also like when he attacks the rim. Our most important player.

3) G. Somewhere in the between. The swing man who can score in a variety of ways- 3, mid range game, drives to the hoop, etc.

These are excellent pieces. However, we need someone else, especially with Chris out, because they won't all be on all the time.

Roberson is a valuable player but he won't give you consistent double digit points. He can hit the occasional J off dribble penetration but his work will be off putbacks inside and fast break chances.

Patterson has not shown any offensive consistency. I still like his game- I sai early last year I was most impressed with his passing and nothing has changed. He is good at getting inside and dishing. The jumper just isn't there.

This all adds back to kaleb, who needs to get an offensive game going, like he did against nova.

 

[RF2044]

With McCullough likely not available moving forward, we'll need to have every player--notably Joseph / Roberson / Patterson, kick it up a notch offensively to help pick up the slack.

 

[Flintstones]

With McCullough likely not available moving forward, we'll need to have every player--notably Joseph / Roberson / Patterson, kick it up a notch offensively to help pick up the slack.

Good luck. If we could somehow combine Ron's vision and penetration with kalebs reluctant shot we might have something there.

 

[pearl31]

Has got to become just a THREAT to score.

He's not even that currently.

There will be games when cooney is off and rak is in foul trouble, and we will absolutely need offense from our starting point guard.

Every game it seems I'm changing what I think our priorities are, but right now (outside of hoping for the best for Chris), getting some sort of scoring from joseph is vital.

I agree with you but the kid did have 7 assists with 1 TO tonight, plus a couple steals and rebounds

 

[SoBeCuse]

I still don't know what Kaleb is doing half of the time out there. He just dribbles around without a purpose mostly or picks up his dribble way too soon. Or looks to just get rid of the ball. Agreed that he needs to look for his offense more or continue to drive. He had two nice assists off of drives to Rak for that left handed tomahawk and to Silent G for a corner three. I don't think he should be treated as a freshman anymore. Good win though. Trevor was HUGE. We maybe lose if he doesn't go off. Fingers crossed for CMac that it isn't serious!

 

[PhatOrange]

7 and 1. The criticism early on him was that he needed to be a pg so that's been his focus. I believe he's now 40 A and 12 TOs since his 8 turnover game (I might have missed last game)...anyhow he's becoming a good floor leader and taking care of the ball. Now he needs to work in scoring within the flow/context of the game.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I agree with you but the kid did have 7 assists with 1 TO tonight, plus a couple steals and rebounds

7 and 1. The criticism early on him was that he needed to be a pg so that's been his focus. I believe he's now 40 A and 12 TOs since his 8 turnover game (I might have missed last game)...anyhow he's becoming a good floor leader and taking care of the ball. Now he needs to work in scoring within the flow/context of the game.

I'm certainly not saying he had a bad game, because he didn't. But he's gotta look to score when he has an open jumper or an open lane. Even if it's just a few baskets a game. 10-12 points is a very reasonable goal. Hell, even 8.

 

[Nicknack]

I agree with you but the kid did have 7 assists with 1 TO tonight, plus a couple steals and rebounds

This is not meant to be a knock on Kaleb, but why has his number of assists gone up and turnovers gone down? He isn't looking to take a shot and often G is actually functioning like the point guard bringing it up (as well as Cooney) and running the offense in many possessions. However, I was happy to see that last night we didn't see as much of that. Kaleb was trusted (much more than in recent games) to have the ball in his hands. The last several games though, he was only playing point guard on paper. Boeheim basically made the decision not to allow him to turn the ball over. I hope we see more of what we saw last night with him handling the ball confidently but adding more to it... purpose. There is just too much passing it off with not much intent to do anything but get rid of the ball.

He HAS GOT to be more aggressive, drive, and take a few more shots even if that means turning the ball over a couple more times a game. We need more offense threats, especially once we get into the meat of the ACC schedule.

 

[Libero2]

I still don't know what Kaleb is doing half of the time out there. He just dribbles around without a purpose mostly or picks up his dribble way too soon. Or looks to just get rid of the ball. Agreed that he needs to look for his offense more or continue to drive. He had two nice assists off of drives to Rak for that left handed tomahawk and to Silent G for a corner three. I don't think he should be treated as a freshman anymore. Good win though. Trevor was HUGE. We maybe lose if he doesn't go off. Fingers crossed for CMac that it isn't serious!

Why is That? He has only played 16 games not even half a season yet. His whole freshman season will probably be around 32-34 games depending on late season tournament play of any kind. Why isn't he a freshman anymore right now?

Heck is Gbinije not a junior anymore? Or Roberson no longer a Sophmore?

 

[NineOneSeven]

Why is That? He has only played 16 games not even half a season yet. His whole freshman season will probably be around 32-34 games depending on late season tournament play of any kind. Why isn't he a freshman anymore right now?

Heck is Gbinije not a junior anymore? Or Roberson no longer a Sophmore?

I wish I was no longer 3 years post-grad and could be a freshman again.


...please.

 

[Cuse_1999]

We have 3 solid players that are our backbones-

1) Rak. The post presence we need who always can hit the jumper when he extends. Currently our best player.

2) Cooney. The shooting guard that will need to knock down some threes every night. I also like when he attacks the rim. Our most important player.

3) G. Somewhere in the between. The swing man who can score in a variety of ways- 3, mid range game, drives to the hoop, etc.

These are excellent pieces. However, we need someone else, especially with Chris out, because they won't all be on all the time.

Roberson is a valuable player but he won't give you consistent double digit points. He can hit the occasional J off dribble penetration but his work will be off putbacks inside and fast break chances.

Patterson has not shown any offensive consistency. I still like his game- I sai early last year I was most impressed with his passing and nothing has changed. He is good at getting inside and dishing. The jumper just isn't there.

This all adds back to kaleb, who needs to get an offensive game going, like he did against nova.

CMac was the guy on any given night that could pick up the slack for these 3 even if he was in a funk lately. Going to be much harder now

 

[pfister1]

I agree, but would say we don't necessarily need scoring from Kaleb he just needs to be willing to take shots (and make a few of them) to keep the defenses honest. There were times last night when Kaleb was inside the three point arc with the ball and there wasn't a defender within 5 feet of him he needs to shoot or go to the hoop, but he was picking up his dribble and looking for someone to pass to. Well there isn't going to be anyone to pass to....your open because your man is doubling one of the guys you're looking to dump the ball off to.

Actually this goes for Buss too when he is on the floor, although having seen both Kaleb and Buss for a half a season now I think Kaleb has the better potential to actually become a reasonable offensive threat. Kaleb's issue seems to me to be understanding which shots he should be taking and then having the confidence to know he should go ahead and take them. With Buss, I'm just not confident that he is going to make any shots he takes outside of shots at the rim. For a guy that people like to call a shooter (or streaky shooter) some of his misses are so atrociously bad I question whether he might need glasses. That second three he took last night after the make was an epic brick.

 

[jordoo]

7 and 1. The criticism early on him was that he needed to be a pg so that's been his focus. I believe he's now 40 A and 12 TOs since his 8 turnover game (I might have missed last game)...anyhow he's becoming a good floor leader and taking care of the ball. Now he needs to work in scoring within the flow/context of the game.

Yes he is learning to be a PG one aspect at a time. I still feel the kid is going to have a great career in Orange and at some point this season we will start to see him putting the whole thing together.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I agree, but would say we don't necessarily need scoring from Kaleb he just needs to be willing to take shots (and make a few of them) to keep the defenses honest. There were times last night when Kaleb was inside the three point arc with the ball and there wasn't a defender within 5 feet of him he needs to shoot or go to the hoop, but he was picking up his dribble and looking for someone to pass to. Well there isn't going to be anyone to pass to...your open because your man is doubling one of the guys you're looking to dump the ball off to.

Actually this goes for Buss too when he is on the floor, although having seen both Kaleb and Buss for a half a season now I think Kaleb has the better potential to actually become a reasonable offensive threat. Kaleb's issue seems to me to be understanding which shots he should be taking and then having the confidence to know he should go ahead and take them. With Buss, I'm just not confident that he is going to make any shots he takes outside of shots at the rim. For a guy that people like to call a shooter (or streaky shooter) some of his misses are so atrociously bad I question whether he might need glasses. That second three he took last night after the make was an epic brick.

Hence why he just needs to be a threat

 

[Lawrinson14]

Kaleb does the weirdest leg maneuvers when dribbling the ball. Instead of rotating his body so defenders cannot get to the ball, he kicks his legs out and it looks like he is dancing.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Why is That? He has only played 16 games not even half a season yet. His whole freshman season will probably be around 32-34 games depending on late season tournament play of any kind. Why isn't he a freshman anymore right now?

Heck is Gbinije not a junior anymore? Or Roberson no longer a Sophmore?

Pretty much. Play time is over and training wheels need to be removed.

 

[SWC75]

Ideally, all five guys need to demonstrate enough of an offensive game that the defense must guard them. Both Joseph and Roberson are reluctant to shoot and, probably because of that, when they do they miss. That leaves the defense to go 5 on 3 with Rak, G-man and Cooney. That's the recipe for a really bad finish to this season.

 

[jordoo]

Ideally, all five guys need to demonstrate enough of an offensive game that the defense must guard them. Both Joseph and Roberson are reluctant to shoot and, probably because of that, when they do they miss. That leaves the defense to go 5 on 3 with Rak, G-man and Cooney. That's the recipe for a really bad finish to this season.

They don't need to average 10 or 12 a game but they certainly have to be capable of doing that when the defense leaves them and also willing.

 

[Nicknack]

I agree, but would say we don't necessarily need scoring from Kaleb he just needs to be willing to take shots (and make a few of them) to keep the defenses honest.

Sounds like you are saying the same thing here.

What's the difference?

You say that we don't necessarily need scoring but we do need him to be willing to take shots and make a few of them? Okay, by that logic, if he does what you say he needs to do, we get scoring from him because he is taking shots and making a few of them.

Just jabbing at ya'... doesn't matter because I agree with it all anyway - we all want the same thing and that is for Kaleb to take more shots because he has shown that he can make them and we need as much offense and threats on the court as we can get, particularly when we start playing the big dogs.

 

[realorange]

Pretty much. Play time is over and training wheels need to be removed.

Can't agree. We've got a guy in KJ who was not a true PG in high school still learning to appreciate the speed of the college game while learning what the PG position is about at a level higher than it should have had to be.

 

[Nicknack]

Can't agree. We've got a guy in KJ who was not a true PG in high school still learning to appreciate the speed of the college game while learning what the PG position is about at a level higher than it should have had to be.

I actually agree with both of you. The training wheels do need to be removed (but not all at once and in every situation). Kaleb needs to be encouraged MUCH more to drive to the basket (with intent) as well as taking some of those mid-range jumpers that he was making earlier in the season. I also want to see him be trusted more with the ball because that's the only way for him to really learn and get better (much like what we saw yesterday). He was still getting a lot of help from Cooney and G, but not to the extent that we saw in the previous handful of games. I think the training wheels can come off but it can be done in a more calculated and patient manner - kind of like slowing getting into a pool when it's ice cold.

I believe we (Boeheim) needs to put him in the right spots so that he can be successful and gain confidence (because he is just a freshman after all playing a position that he hasn't quite grasped). I also believe this will be done slowly and with patience so that eventually the training wheels will completely disappear. If we just jerk the training wheels off completely right now, we are setting him up for failure which we have already seen glimpses of what that looks like in earlier games.

I think Boeheim is doing a great job with Kaleb. Starting the season, he gave him full responsibility at the PG position and a lot of freedom to play his game (within the system). After struggling, Boeheim finally stepped in to provide him with help. Moving forward, Boeheim knows better than anyone that we need more from him so I believe we will see that reflected in his play on the court.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

Why is That? He has only played 16 games not even half a season yet. His whole freshman season will probably be around 32-34 games depending on late season tournament play of any kind. Why isn't he a freshman anymore right now?

Heck is Gbinije not a junior anymore? Or Roberson no longer a Sophmore?

This is a great post! Kaleb and others cannot get a break around here! He's getting better. He's running the team effectively. He's gaining confidence. The rest will happen...Give the kid a freaking break!

Same with Tyler, who has improved leaps and bounds from last year.