kenpom

[Cusefan0307]

I'm a tad skeptical, this would imply a +9 improvement per 100 possessions. I think the defense may actually regress slightly giving away probably 20% of the minutes to Carey and Hughes.

Yeah much smarter to trust human polls over analytics.

 

[kcsu]

If Sid is at 100% we are a top 15 team and can beat any team in the country. Without him top 25. I see him as the key .

 

[Sherman20]

View attachment 129393

See, KenPom shows that we should be a top 10-15 team next year. I def thought we’d be a title contender if Battle comes back and analytics back it up. Our defense will be elite and our offense should be much improved.

 

[Orangezoo]

Dougie Gottlieb is already pissed about us making the 2019 tournament.

So angry he ran up all his wife's cards without telling her.

 

[Lucid]

I would just like to see us win the ACC tournament... how cool would THAT be?!

 

[GooseMutt]

If we can get highly ranked and maintain it throughout the season with a good tourney appearance, recruiting should really improve for future teams. Can this be the momentum we need. We gotta keep our sights high and show attention and love to the big dogs

 

[sugrad68]

I am as much an SU fan as anyone else on this forum but I tend to be a tad bit more realistic. This is a team returning all its players and adding one highly rated Freshman (Carey), one less regarded Freshman (Boehiem) who may be under-rated but who also might be red-shirted, and a middle tier transfer (Hughes). Last year's team was highly flawed and barely made it into the NCAA tournament. 3 wins in the tournament and expectations for this year's team are soaring. We have a starting center who had trouble holding onto the ball and even when he caught it was offensively challenged. Brissett shot 35% from the field. Dolezaj for most of the year was invisible on offense and pushed around under the boards. Howard was much better but still inconsistent. Battle shot 32% from the 3-point line. Sidibe is still an unknown as far as his potential. Most games the team had more turnovers than assists which is not good. Point is this team must improve quite a bit on offense to be able to play consistently with the big boys. Each player has great room for improvement. If that happens, THEN we can talk about great expectations. But like everyone else, I am looking forward to a great season.

 

[SUintheVille]

Can't wait to see everyone's numbers in the Iggy's this coming season.

 

[hoopsupstate]

SU was a horrible shooting team last year. Unless they can find a magic pill to fix it, I’m not sure how they will magically turn into good shooters. Experience is very helpful, but it doesn’t turn non-shooters into shooters.

 

[orange79]

Can't wait to see everyone's numbers in the Iggy's this coming season.

40-0.

I already placed the t-shirt order.

 

[pfister1]

My sentiments exactly.

I want us to be ranked if for no other reason than to get exposure and appropriate highlights on the talk shows and sports broadcasts. Last year we barely got any love except when the tournament started. However, I know some on here were happy to have us "under" the radar. Opinions obviously vary.

I'M SELFISH - I want us to be mentioned on a regular basis and that is what being ranked should get us.

I don't care about the exposure and mentions, except that I think its very important for recruiting. The more exposure the better. Are Calipari and K the great recruiting machines they appear to be, how much of that has been created by the love fests that ESPN and others have for them. It would be great to have wall to wall commercials of JB trying to text messages of encouragement to Battle. Like the K and Kyrie and K and Justice commercials a few years back.

I wouldn't be surprised that if in addition to sanctions, the flip to the ACC and the ACC network has also had a negative impact because our coverage/exposure isn't as good in the NE with the ACC network as it was prior to ACC. I am in Philly and I can see most games, but I have to watch a huge portion of them by streaming them on ESPN3. Better than not being available, but its not as good as being featured on ESPN on the basic tier of cable.

 

[rrlbees]

 

[pfister1]

40-0.

I already placed the t-shirt order.

T-shirt? That's weak, I went for the tatoo as soon as Battle announced he was coming back.

 

[newmexicuse]

i have high expectations. everybody back, everybody returning has room for improvement. what i love about the depth is that each of our bench players has complimentary skills, not just a lesser version of the starter.

this team will present a challenge for jimmy to find the right combinations and roles and to keep everybody happy.

i love that ty is back, but he comes with a caveat. we cannot fall into the trap of deferring to the upper class leader and letting him play iso ball.

as good as the d was last season, it did not produce enuf fast breaks after turnovers, that needs to improve.

we have the horses to contend into ff weekend, but that will not happen just by incremental improvement of returnees. we have to improve our offensive creativity and find ways to get three to five easy hoops per game.

 

[OrangeDW]

SU was a horrible shooting team last year. Unless they can find a magic pill to fix it, I’m not sure how they will magically turn into good shooters. Experience is very helpful, but it doesn’t turn non-shooters into shooters.

Howard, Battle, and Brissett were the guys who basically scored all the points, took all the shots, and had the bad shooting percentages.

I wouldn’t call any of them a “non-shooter”. And I would say experience very well may turn Howard into a shooter...he couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean his first two years, and was much improved last year.

Brissett is a stud and likely to improve his shooting percentage, as he was only a freshman that we were forced to rely on way too heavily.

We know Battle can shoot. His percentages were a lot better as a freshman when we had other shooters and scorers on the court.

I think all 3 of them will be helped by a combination of experience and by not being the only guys on the court who can score. The game is a lot easier for everyone and the made shots come easier when you have 5 guys on the court that can contribute offensively, which should be the case for us this year.

 

[texascpa]

My sentiments exactly.

I want us to be ranked if for no other reason than to get exposure and appropriate highlights on the talk shows and sports broadcasts. Last year we barely got any love except when the tournament started. However, I know some on here were happy to have us "under" the radar. Opinions obviously vary.

I'M SELFISH - I want us to be mentioned on a regular basis and that is what being ranked should get us.

Under-the-radar equates to underdog in my book. Underdogs win a lot less than the big dog. I would rather be the big dog...always.

 

[newmexicuse]

Howard, Battle, and Brissett were the guys who basically scored all the points, took all the shots, and had the bad shooting percentages.

I wouldn’t call any of them a “non-shooter”. And I would say experience very well may turn Howard into a shooter...he couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean his first two years, and was much improved last year.

Brissett is a stud and likely to improve his shooting percentage, as he was only a freshman that we were forced to rely on way too heavily.

We know Battle can shoot. His percentages were a lot better as a freshman when we had other shooters and scorers on the court.

I think all 3 of them will be helped by a combination of experience and by not being the only guys on the court who can score. The game is a lot easier for everyone and the made shots come easier when you have 5 guys on the court that can contribute offensively, which should be the case for us this year.

marek really came on at the end of the season and was a huge part of our tourament run. he really figured out his role. not only did he find his own o, but he was our best player ay making others around him better. if we are to get to the ff, we will need at least one more player to be able to do that. carey ????

 

[OrangeDW]

marek really came on at the end of the season and was a huge part of our tourament run. he really figured out his role. not only did he find his own o, but he was our best player ay making others around him better. if we are to get to the ff, we will need at least one more player to be able to do that. carey ????

Yup. I’m very confident Marek becomes a double digit scorer on a good shooting percentage this year - because he only takes shots he can make and the shots that fit that category was definitely expanding at the end of the year.

With Carey, Hughes, and Sidibe, it will be nice to potentially bring 3 guys off the bench that can put the ball in the basket. Gives us much more flexibility.

 

[GonzoInMD]

I’m hoping that because our first 7 guys know how to play JB’s defense allows him to concentrate on the offense during early season practices.

 

[GooseMutt]

I am as much an SU fan as anyone else on this forum but I tend to be a tad bit more realistic. This is a team returning all its players and adding one highly rated Freshman (Carey), one less regarded Freshman (Boehiem) who may be under-rated but who also might be red-shirted, and a middle tier transfer (Hughes). Last year's team was highly flawed and barely made it into the NCAA tournament. 3 wins in the tournament and expectations for this year's team are soaring. We have a starting center who had trouble holding onto the ball and even when he caught it was offensively challenged. Brissett shot 35% from the field. Dolezaj for most of the year was invisible on offense and pushed around under the boards. Howard was much better but still inconsistent. Battle shot 32% from the 3-point line. Sidibe is still an unknown as far as his potential. Most games the team had more turnovers than assists which is not good. Point is this team must improve quite a bit on offense to be able to play consistently with the big boys. Each player has great room for improvement. If that happens, THEN we can talk about great expectations. But like everyone else, I am looking forward to a great season.

As described above, there are so many positive factors that could come into play to make us much better. Think about how many close games we lost. Even if only 1/3 of the above mentioned possibilities come true, that puts us as contenders. I think you also didn’t account for 5 guys returning knowing the zone and experienced now.

No way I play the Debbie Downer card here

 

[pfister1]

If Marek and Chuckwu have improved their strength with the ball at all, that would be Billy Fuccillo HUGE. Think about how many points we lost last year on missed opportunities at the rim by those two because of their lack of strength. Now think about how many potential point opportunities were missed because with the former in mind, we didn't pass the ball to an open Marek or PC. I think any improvement by them in the ability to be a threat to finish on the interior would be a huge improvement to our offense.

That improvement could come from them actually getting stronger, simply learning to be stronger with the ball or from us being able to use a healthier Sidibe more minutes.

 

[OrangeDW]

As described above, there are so many positive factors that could come into play to make us much better. Think about how many close games we lost. Even if only 1/3 of the above mentioned possibilities come true, that puts us as contenders. I think you also didn’t account for 5 guys returning knowing the zone and experienced now.

No way I play the Debbie Downer card here

In terms of our overall record, it would appear we have a great chance to return to 2009-2014 levels. And we already know this group is capable of making a tourney run because they can be a defensive nightmare and have a coach who knows how to pull games out. Exciting times. Feels to me like the program weathered the sanctions storm and is back to business as usual.

 

[reedny]

I am as much an SU fan as anyone else on this forum but I tend to be a tad bit more realistic. This is a team returning all its players and adding one highly rated Freshman (Carey), one less regarded Freshman (Boehiem) who may be under-rated but who also might be red-shirted, and a middle tier transfer (Hughes). Last year's team was highly flawed and barely made it into the NCAA tournament. 3 wins in the tournament and expectations for this year's team are soaring. We have a starting center who had trouble holding onto the ball and even when he caught it was offensively challenged. Brissett shot 35% from the field. Dolezaj for most of the year was invisible on offense and pushed around under the boards. Howard was much better but still inconsistent. Battle shot 32% from the 3-point line. Sidibe is still an unknown as far as his potential. Most games the team had more turnovers than assists which is not good. Point is this team must improve quite a bit on offense to be able to play consistently with the big boys. Each player has great room for improvement. If that happens, THEN we can talk about great expectations. But like everyone else, I am looking forward to a great season.

Good points. All those weaknesses were evident last year, especially before February. But there's a lot less uncertainty for 2018-19 because ALL our starters are back. Experienced, talented guards are HUGE and we'll have one of the top backcourts in the ACC. Since we were BAD on offense last year (12/14 ACC), even a little better ball movement, screening and some bench and transition scoring will make a big difference. Carey and Hughes are going to play and they're going to give us some scoring. Even if the other players only make modest improvements (2-4 points), we're going to score more points than last years woeful 67. A healthy Sid is very important, and we'll also need Hughes, Carey and Bras to come up to speed on the zone asap. If we're finally past the injury bug, this team has some serious potential.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I don't think we magically become an elite offensive team. The offense was brutal for most of last season. However, we will be at least a little better. If brissett can make even a couple more shots in the paint per game, that alone is 4-6 points. And that isn't an insane projection because the window he has to improve finishing is absolutely enormous. He shot as poorly as anyone I have ever seen during a mid season stretch and it wasn't like he was shooting jumpers. Flat out had trouble finishing. There is zero doubt that will be better. Marek will be more consistent. Again, I'm not predicting he's going to make 3 threes a game. Simply just be more aggressive and shoot in the lane when he's there. He's already proven he's capable. Frank and Tyus will do what they do. Chukwu will do what he does. I don't think it will be pretty at times like last year, but if we have Sidibe healthy I absolutely expect a few more points from the center spot. His lateral agility should be much better and I expect him to be very serviceable downlow once he can get readjusted to speed of game. Carey, Hughes, Buddy, and Braswell are wild cards. The first two will play, probably 10-25 minutes depending on the opponent and game situation. Will they be capable offensive players? We will see. What I do know is, I would prefer to have them as bench options as opposed to not on the roster with nobody to possibly produce like last season.

As for defense. 5 starters returning. The defense won't get worse, and it was very good last year. This is a huge advantage that has been mentioned a lot here already but I still think needs to be emphasized. 5 starters back on the defense.

 

[Knicks411]

Purely from a projection POV, KP is going to see a team that was not bad last year (finished 41 in his ratings, not good, but pretty solid I would say) that returns nearly all of it's minutes (like over 90%) and was extremely young last year(338th out of 351 schools in experience), and has a decent recruiting class and a program with pretty good success historically. I'n not saying #7 is the right number, and it may "feel" a tad too high to me, but you can follow the logic.

I have no way of checking this, (thats a lie, i could go through the history, but thats not happening) but if you took teams that finished the year prior something like 30-50 in KP, and returned 90% of their minutes from that season, I bet they were pretty good the following year