Leadership

[iommi]

One of my biggest concerns going into this season was who was going to provide leadership on the court for us. It's very apparent that we have no one to do that.

Brandon is a senior. But he's quiet. His body language sucks. He pouts a lot. He's brooding. He looks almost depressed out there. It's hard to watch to be frank and it's very tiresome after four years. Why doesn't he ever look like he's happy out there? It's a game, Brandon, enjoy your last year.

Dirty. He seems to be a fun guy to be around but doesn't come off like a leader. He does get animated on the court when he's rolling but he's used to being a role player off the bench. He has a bigger role this year but he just doesn't strike me as a leader. So those are our two seniors. Who else is there?

CJ. Quiet. Goes about his business. He's probably a very nice guy and I'm guessing is very popular in the locker room. But is he a leader? I doubt it. I'll say one thing: he does lead by example by almost always making the right play and by being a heady player.

The freshmen? Enough said.

Rak? Not even close.

Baye? I've liked what I've seen from him actually. He plays the game the right way but he also has shown some leadership, helping the bigs with their positioning in the zone, things like that. Still, BMK is a role player off the bench (albeit a guy who is rather limited but may have an expanded role in big games because of the lack of production from others at his position.) Baye is not going to be our leader simply because he's not a focal point of the team, especially offensively.

MCW? Going into the year I thought he could be a candidate to lead this team. But now, it's going to be very tough to do. He's shown fits of immaturity. Last year he was captured on camera flying off the handle at JB. I gave him a pass on that one, figuring it was just a passionate kid who wanted more playing time. But then came the Lord & Taylor crap. Leaders don't make bonehead moves like that. If they do, they man up and take responsibility for their actions. He called it a misunderstanding and then was rewarded for his cowardice by his coach who backed him and looked the other way (at least to the public and in the media). MCW after L & T has almost no chance to lead this team this year. It's very obvious that he lost his mojo after that incident too. It seemed to trigger some sort of chemistry problem in the locker room too (or at least that is how it looks on the court).

I hope this team resolves it's issues. (Lack of inside play, turnover tendencies, poor outside shooting, pathetic (PATHETIC!!!!) foul shooting.) But how will it fill its leadership void? I'm not sure it's possible; our Hall of Fame coach has a lot of work to do to.

This team needs to find its footing in a lot of areas and regain its confidence or it could really fall apart. It's already starting to show cracks, despite our record and top 10 ranking.

 

[SourShoes]

Face it.. this team might be

 

[rosconey]

a leader emerges no matter if he is a freshman or senior-

give coleman the attitude dc had and this team would be 100% different-
only takes one guy to get it started-

look at football- the oline went ape after 1 guy returned- the guy with the baddest attitude

team is comprised of softies-

 

[OttoMets]

It's early still.

But this was also a concern of mine; Mike was the obvious guy, but he doesn't seem much more mature than he was last year. No one has jumped out as an obvious leader at this point.

 

[Col. Bleep]

...MCW? Going into the year I thought he could be a candidate to lead this team. But now, it's going to be very tough to do. He's shown fits of immaturity. Last year he was captured on camera flying off the handle at JB. I gave him a pass on that one, figuring it was just a passionate kid who wanted more playing time. But then came the Lord & Taylor crap. Leaders don't make bonehead moves like that. If they do, they man up and take responsibility for their actions. He called it a misunderstanding and then was rewarded for his cowardice by his coach who backed him and looked the other way (at least to the public and in the media). MCW after L & T has almost no chance to lead this team this year. It's very obvious that he lost his mojo after that incident too. It seemed to trigger some sort of chemistry problem in the locker room too (or at least that is how it looks on the court)...

Exactly.

I might go even further. Boeheim did MCW and the team no favors with his weaseling.
The kid needs to learn a lesson.
Boeheim and L & T taught him exactly the wrong one.
Even if there was private chastisement (which I STRONGLY DOUBT), it's not nearly enough.
A public figure needs to stand up publicly for his public misbehavior.
Whether MCW likes it or not, and even though he's so young, he is a very public figure.

 

[tbonezone]

had i heard even one syllable of regret or remorse i'd have put the matter behind and moved on. as it stands i'll just keep sitting on my hands when he makes a play. and i lost some respect for jb as well. major botch job all around.

 

[Gabjon]

Public figure or student athlete? They are not the same thing. Public figures can profit off of their celebrity student athletes cannot.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Public figure or student athlete? They are not the same thing. Public figures can profit off of their celebrity student athletes cannot.

That's a terrible cop out. MCW will profit plenty off of his celebrity in the future, and I'm sure he will expect to be welcomed back to the dome with big cheers when he returns on an off day from the league.

I'm on board with the folks who believe JB misplayed this one.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Brandon is a senior. But he's quiet. His body language sucks. He pouts a lot. He's brooding. He looks almost depressed out there. It's hard to watch to be frank and it's very tiresome after four years. Why doesn't he ever look like he's happy out there? It's a game, Brandon, enjoy your last year.

I'm a big Triche fan but I'm starting to feel the same way. I thought for sure that once Scoop and Dion were gone we would see a different guy. We haven't. Time is running out for BT. He needs to step it up. Even if MCW is the best player, Triche has to be the leader. MCW isn't nearly mature enough yet.

Edit: I think the worst part of Brandon's attitude is that he looks like he isn't a very good teammate. He doesn't seem to do anything on the bench to energize his team. Just what I've seen in limited opportunities this year.

 

[hoopsupstate]

People were saying the same thing about Nassib earlier this year and in the past.

 

[Gabjon]

That's a terrible cop out. MCW will profit plenty off of his celebrity in the future, and I'm sure he will expect to be welcomed back to the dome with big cheers when he returns on an off day from the league.

I'm on board with the folks who believe JB misplayed this one.

It's not a cop nor is it about MCWs. Let's use Scoop for an example he broke his foot before the draft went un-drafted and has made little to no money after college, but the University, Nike, Espn, and the BE in general have made millions. The student athlete can't work because training and working out is a full time job. Should the kid steal of course not! Should kid have 120 bucks in his pocket because he has EARNED IT of course he has. He is working just has hard as the full-time press that get paid to follow his every move.

There were three people caught stealing that day but his name was the only one in the paper. Why? Because he sells papers. So the paper is able to make money off of his name but he cannot? That is not fair! People at like these kids all make it to the NBA when most of them do not.

 

[orangefan13]

imo.
lol. This has nothing to do with MCW, the incident or his attitude. It has to do with strength ans weaknesses.
We lack consistant one on one scoring options.

4 years ago Flynn, Devendorf and at times rautins.
3 years ago AO, Wes, Rautins.
2 years ago a poor mans scoop kjo and Triche. We were lucky to get a 3 playing a hobbled nova and gtown team.
1 year KJO, Dion, and Scoop.
This year Fair is kind of developing but nobody else. MCW is a setup man not a scorer (yet).

Against alcorn state Southerland and Triche weren't the isolation scorers we were hoping for them to be. Neither is Rak. Dajuan and Cooney 2 of our 7-9th players had the best game that night and probably won't against Big East.
. Mike wasn't asked to score. And the lord and taylors incident has nothing to do with Mikes game.

And the temple game had to do with poor ft shooting, not being multidimentional on offense while temple was and some weakness on D in the paint. Not Mike having a illegal shoping spree.

lol blaming any of this on boeheim. He doesn't have the scoring leaders this year and that has to develop if we are going to be a title contender. We ran everything offensively in a circle away from the free throw line against alcorn state. That is going to change next game but it was a good lesson for the team to learn. If anything I give JB props for not throwing us out there running motion screens and backdoor layups all game. We already know we can do that.

Furthermore Dajuan, Rak, Cooney have more of a chance to be consistant scoring leaders in future seasons then Southerland and Triche. I love Southerland and Triche but they have not evolved into the create their own shot leader types. All expectations aside thats the reality of it.

This overhype of how good we are and lockeroom "falsified rumors" aren't the awnser the players finding the motivation to get better individually is.

 

[tbonezone]

gimme a break. what's 4 free years tuition and board at syracuse worth these days? why that alone is beaucoup bucks. these kids are already WELL compensated for their time.

 

[dollarbill44]

I wonder how many of you know what a "true leader" looks like.

 

[Geode]

Leadership was not on my list of concerns this season. I drank the whole pitcher of kool-aide and felt that this was finally BT's time to step up. Heck, I think he even said in a preseason interview that he was embracing the role of the Sr. leader. Behind him I really thought CJ was going to be the quiet anchor, who like WJ, led with his playing ability. That being said, the season is still early but hopefully someone steps up soon. It could be a very rough start to the BE if play continues.

This is still a very very good basketball team. It's good the adversity is presenting itself in this part of the schedule as opposed to league play. Regardless, most of these players were around with the fiasco of last season. That should help prepare them for whatever is causing this slump and hopefully will help the team find itself again.

That being said it kinda sucks that JB is getting such nice recognition for his career achievements while the team is playing so not so nicely.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

It's not a cop nor is it about MCWs. Let's use Scoop for an example he broke his foot before the draft went un-drafted and has made little to no money after college, but the University, Nike, Espn, and the BE in general have made millions. The student athlete can't work because training and working out is a full time job. Should the kid steal of course not! Should kid have 120 bucks in his pocket because he has EARNED IT of course he has. He is working just has hard as the full-time press that get paid to follow his every move.

There were three people caught stealing that day but his name was the only one in the paper. Why? Because he sells papers. So the paper is able to make money off of his name but he cannot? That is not fair! People at like these kids all make it to the NBA when most of them do not.

Scoop was never expected the same kind of money playing basketball that MCW will. Ever. It's a joke to think that Scoop's broken foot is the only reason he wasn't drafted. But this isn't about him.

And how exactly did MCW earn 120 bucks? If you want to get into that discussion, fine, but that's not the league we have right now so that's not relevant to the fact the MCW STOLE. He's going to be a millionaire in the very near future and he deems it okay to steal. What kind of attitude is that? Clearly this kid has been told all his life that he is special and better than everyone else so of course he can help himself to whatever he needs.

I'd love to spend a week following MCW to see exactly how many classes he attends and how often he actually studies.

 

[Gabjon]

gimme a break. what's 4 free years tuition and board at syracuse worth these days? why that alone is beaucoup bucks. these kids are already WELL compensated for their time.

It not worth the value of the players. It's math, it's economics "WELL compensated" is relative and a 60k/yrs scholarship doesn't equal millions in revenue. I'm not saying the school should pay them million but they don't pay them anything and they prevent them from working as well. Why not let them do a commercial? I know a couple of guys who made a good living playing professionally and I know a ton of guys who did not they are not doing well and have no money. They spent as much time on athletics while in college as most students spend on academics. Very few human beings are capable of doing well at both athletics and academics at the same time, we make fun about guys who can barely read after they college days are over, but the sad truth is most of those guys don't make it professionally so what is the value of the scholarship for them?

 

[Gabjon]

Scoop was never expected the same kind of money playing basketball that MCW will. Ever. It's a joke to think that Scoop's broken foot is the only reason he wasn't drafted. But this isn't about him.

And how exactly did MCW earn 120 bucks? If you want to get into that discussion, fine, but that's not the league we have right now so that's not relevant to the fact the MCW STOLE. He's going to be a millionaire in the very near future and he deems it okay to steal. What kind of attitude is that? Clearly this kid has been told all his life that he is special and better than everyone else so of course he can help himself to whatever he needs.

I'd love to spend a week following MCW to see exactly how many classes he attends and how often he actually studies.

My point is stealing not right AND MCW not having 120 bucks in his pocket is not right. College football and basketball players are economically exploited and the FACT that Scoop will probably never make it in the NBA is PROOF of that since he has ALREADY made the school, the Big East, ESPN, and NIKE millions!

 

[tbonezone]

from what i've read he apparently had 500 bucks in his wallet.and the not paying them anything argument again???
if you think that 60K a semester is chump change why then just take your skills and go pro already. nobodys forcing you to get a degree.and yes i played 2 sports and worked 2 jobs in college. booeffinhoo.

 

[Gabjon]

A credit card is not money it's a high interest short term loan! It's 60 a year or 30 a semester and news flash times have changed! They are not ALLOWED to work except during the summer when they are working out, taking classes, and trying to gain or lose weight depending on what the coach wants.

The kid's jersey is being sold for a $120 at Manny's! The kids are a profit center for the University and City at large. Parking, restaurants, Hotels, T-shirts!, etc...everybody is allowed to make money but the kids and when it's over its good luck and god bless and on to the next group of kids!