Malachi Richardson

[OttoinGrotto]

Rak will also have to do his part which is do a better job of sealing off his man, making himself available to receive the ball and developing a couple more moves. I think he will but he has sometimes been his own worst enemy.

I think he does a great job of that, but gets tired of doing it time and again and not being rewarded for it. I'm just not buying it anymore because I've seen way too many times where he's established great position and been ignored.

Maybe I was coached differently, but back when I actually played semi-organized ball if a big guy had good position we always gave him the ball. Didn't mean he'd take a shot, just that they'd see it. How often do our guards do that? Like, 10% of the time?

 

[jordoo]

I think he does a great job of that, but gets tired of doing it time and again and not being rewarded for it. I'm just not buying it anymore because I've seen way too many times where he's established great position and been ignored.

Maybe I was coached differently, but back when I actually played semi-organized ball if a big guy had good position we always gave him the ball. Didn't mean he'd take a shot, just that they'd see it. How often do our guards do that? Like, 10% of the time?

At times he does and doesn't get the ball. I agree with that but he as a Junior last year needs to get into Ennis and Cooney's grill on dead balls and say What I was open give it to me. He has to want it consistently and show that to the perimeter players and coaches. Its on him that he gets disappointed and gives up trying to get position, get competitively mad and let the rest of the team know. When he does give up on posting it adds to the offensive stand still because rather than pose a threat to the defense he stands around 16'-20' from the basket screening this guy or that guy.

As far as G, I will be very happy if he simply is able to step up his whole game a little bit and allow the coaches to be comfortable having him run the offense for 8-10min stretches if needed. I agree he is likely not going to be a scoring stud but I think he can be a bigger threat than he was last season. Some of that is looking for his offense and he didn't seem able to do that and play PG at the same time. It was one or the other. If he can take the good opportunities he gets while also running the show it would be an excellent development for the team.

What I want from Mike this season is 20+ minutes a game spelling Kaleb and Trevor in the backcourt and being good enough at both the PG and 2G spot that we don't suffer much offensively when he plays. Some might say that isn't much but it would be a humungous role if he can accomplish it. If this team is going to be uptempo keeping KJ and TC at around 30min a game throughout the season and allowing both of them at least one extended rest each half will be huge. You'd basically be keeping either from ever playing longer than 10min of game time without a rest.

 

[SoBeCuse]

At times he does and doesn't get the ball. I agree with that but he as a Junior last year needs to get into Ennis and Cooney's grill on dead balls and say What I was open give it to me. He has to want it consistently and show that to the perimeter players and coaches. Its on him that he gets disappointed and gives up trying to get position, get competitively mad and let the rest of the team know. When he does give up on posting it adds to the offensive stand still because rather than pose a threat to the defense he stands around 16'-20' from the basket screening this guy or that guy.

As far as G, I will be very happy if he simply is able to step up his whole game a little bit and allow the coaches to be comfortable having him run the offense for 8-10min stretches if needed. I agree he is likely not going to be a scoring stud but I think he can be a bigger threat than he was last season. Some of that is looking for his offense and he didn't seem able to do that and play PG at the same time. It was one or the other. If he can take the good opportunities he gets while also running the show it would be an excellent development for the team.

What I want from Mike this season is 20+ minutes a game spelling Kaleb and Trevor in the backcourt and being good enough at both the PG and 2G spot that we don't suffer much offensively when he plays. Some might say that isn't much but it would be a humungous role if he can accomplish it. If this team is going to be uptempo keeping KJ and TC at around 30min a game throughout the season and allowing both of them at least one extended rest each half will be huge. You'd basically be keeping either from ever playing longer than 10min of game time without a rest.

Spot on. Good thoughts, man.

 

[realorange]

Spot on. Good thoughts, man.

Absolutely! Rak needs to bring intensity to the floor all the time and not just for a few minutes here and there.

 

[Dave85]

Well I went from talking about Gbinije to all of that -that was kind of scattered array of thoughts.

At times he does and doesn't get the ball. I agree with that but he as a Junior last year needs to get into Ennis and Cooney's grill on dead balls and say What I was open give it to me. He has to want it consistently and show that to the perimeter players and coaches. Its on him that he gets disappointed and gives up trying to get position, get competitively mad and let the rest of the team know. When he does give up on posting it adds to the offensive stand still because rather than pose a threat to the defense he stands around 16'-20' from the basket screening this guy or that guy.

As far as G, I will be very happy if he simply is able to step up his whole game a little bit and allow the coaches to be comfortable having him run the offense for 8-10min stretches if needed. I agree he is likely not going to be a scoring stud but I think he can be a bigger threat than he was last season. Some of that is looking for his offense and he didn't seem able to do that and play PG at the same time. It was one or the other. If he can take the good opportunities he gets while also running the show it would be an excellent development for the team.

What I want from Mike this season is 20+ minutes a game spelling Kaleb and Trevor in the backcourt and being good enough at both the PG and 2G spot that we don't suffer much offensively when he plays. Some might say that isn't much but it would be a humungous role if he can accomplish it. If this team is going to be uptempo keeping KJ and TC at around 30min a game throughout the season and allowing both of them at least one extended rest each half will be huge. You'd basically be keeping either from ever playing longer than 10min of game time without a rest.

Maybe we will see Kaleb/Patterson as a 1-2 team following by G/Cooney as a 1-2 team. I thought last season G/Cooney worked pretty good passing the ball between each other getting the ball up the court. But G by himself I thought was having trouble against smaller faster guards. During those times I thought he did better with Cooney helping him.

 

[Trueblue25]

I think G and everyone else will benefit from a higher tempo offense. We have the size, strength and athleticism. It's time to use our superior conditioning and speed too.

 

[Dave85]

I think G and everyone else will benefit from a higher tempo offense. We have the size, strength and athleticism. It's time to use our superior conditioning and speed too.

I agree 100%. One of the major purposes of playing zone is getting fast break points of turnovers. I would love to see the fast break point stats for the last five seasons.

 

[Trueblue25]

I agree 100%. One of the major purposes of playing zone is getting fast break points of turnovers. I would love to see the fast break point stats for the last five seasons.

Another reason why MCW was so damn underrated during his sophomore season.

 

[Dave85]

Another reason why MCW was so damn underrated during his sophomore season.

MCW was really good at dishing at the end of the fast break. MCW sure had a lot of assists. MCW story is a great one. I love that he hung in their with class waiting for his turn. And then jumping to the NBA and doing so well for the Sixers. What great story and a huge help for future Orange recruiting. I think spending two years with the Orange was HUGE in helping him be successful in the NBA.

 

[SyracuseTD]

I see Tyler and BJ as better options at the 3 at this point in the offseason. Granted, we don't know much about BJ's ability at this point (we know he was the tools, but will he be ready to contribute when the season comes). In this case, where G gets most of his minutes at the 1 and 2, I honestly don't see a scenario where Patterson gets meaningful minutes. And looking ahead a year to when Frank and Malachi join the Orange, its hard to see where Buss is going to get playing time. It seems he was totally recruited over, which is fine bc I see more potential in Frank and Malachi anyways, but its tough because Buss seems like such a good person and he's a hard worker.

Anyways, long story short, I see G mostly spelling time for Kaleb and Trevor, leaving Tyler and BJ to fill in at the 3 because we all know we're gonna need the boards. Rak and Chris will help out tremendously but it never hurts to have a third option for boards, and from what we have seen, G is not bad at rebounding, but Tyler and BJ seem like better options. Who knows, hopefully I'm wrong and G makes strides to become the player we all know he can be.

Counting down the days until tip-off. Damn, i'm excited for next year. Gonna be a lot of fun to watch with all the question marks surrounding this team. Last time we had this much uncertainty heading into a season, we started 25-0.

 

[JLine]

Malachi is going to be special on offense and the top of the zone.

...Back to debating this year.

 

[JLine]

Nah, it's cool. I've seen 7 out of 8, 11 out of 12. He's good to go. Bad nights going to happen. He will shoot the lights out for us. Seen him play live a few times. Pure shooter. Now able to create his shots, driving the lane much better and handles the bounce well even with both hands.. He will be one of our best scorers at the 2. Even Moten would agree.

Couldn't agree more, this kid is going to be one of the betters scorers we've had in a long time.

 

[OttoMets]

I agree 100%. One of the major purposes of playing zone is getting fast break points of turnovers. I would love to see the fast break point stats for the last five seasons.

Another reason why MCW was so damn underrated during his sophomore season.

MCW was really good at dishing at the end of the fast break. MCW sure had a lot of assists. MCW story is a great one. I love that he hung in their with class waiting for his turn. And then jumping to the NBA and doing so well for the Sixers. What great story and a huge help for future Orange recruiting. I think spending two years with the Orange was HUGE in helping him be successful in the NBA.

It would be great if one of the stat-minded people could find a link to those numbers and post it. I believe that our fast break points have gone down steadily since 2010 (maybe holding steady in 2012). Part of the reason we had such a long slump in 2013 was because our fast break was ineffective or absent. (Perhaps we remember it more positively because it's compared to last season's historic ineptitude?)

There were two main reasons for this. One, we slowed the tempo and didn't look to press transition opportunities. Second, Carter-Williams struggling with spacing and thus found it difficult to (successfully) dish at the end of the break; many breaks were a finish-or-fail situation for him as he ran his defender into his teammate and needed to attempt the layup himself. The great majority of his assists came in half-court sets.

Anyway, it's interesting how this past season's struggles cast even the previous inconsistent season in a positive light. And I'd love to see those fast break numbers for the last five seasons.

 

[OrangeTown]

Whatever spot G plays this season, whether he plays the 1 spot, 2 spot, or the 3, I want that spot to be officially known as the "G spot".

That's a great idea and all, but what are we going to do when none of the other players are able to find him?

 

[Dave85]

That's a great idea and all, but what are we going to do when none of the other players are able to find him?

LOL!

 

[OrangeAl]

Whatever spot G plays this season, whether he plays the 1 spot, 2 spot, or the 3, I want that spot to be officially known as the "G spot".

Dare we ask what you're going to call the spot where Cooney plays?

 

[Dave85]

Dare we ask what you're going to call the spot where Cooney plays?

OMG! Just when I thought it couldn't go any further!

Still nothing beats OrangeTown's comment. That one actually made me smile big.

 

[pulaski74]

OMG! Just when I thought it couldn't go any further!

Still nothing beats OrangeTown's comment. That one actually made me smile big.

I found it, sitting next to jb til mcCoullgah(spell check) makes a bad play 1:30 into the game, out comes the frosh and theres the g spot

 

[LennX6]

This is a great post. I don't know when we've entered a season with so many question marks [maybe 2010]?

I am, however, confident that we can be a top 25 team--maybe even better than that--if a few things come together. But it is hard to know what to expect next year.

We had questions last year. I remember a coworker who did not watch the Canada exhibitions stated his concerns. I asked him if he had seen Tyler, he replied he had not. I said don't worry .we'll be fine
Even though last year ended suckily, in total it was a very good year.

 

[Waltdods]

We had questions last year. I remember a coworker who did not watch the Canada exhibitions stated his concerns. I asked him if he had seen Tyler, he replied he had not. I said don't worry .we'll be fine
Even though last year ended suckily, in total it was a very good year.

There were way fewer questions last year, though. The backcourt was a big question mark but even before Canada the frontcourt was pretty clear and looked good - senior CJ Fair, sophomore Grant who was obviously poised for a big year, and the trio of centers all who had played significant minutes. Compare to this year - I think the backcourt is almost as unsettled now as it was a year ago (I think even before Canada Ennis was a safer bet than Joseph is today, and I'm not sure last year gave us much of a reliable read on Cooney and Gbinije) and the frontcourt is way less certain - Rak is really the only guy who seems more or less predictable.

I'm not even sure RF's 2010 had as many question marks. The backcourt was pretty clear, with Scoop and Triche having played big minutes the year before. It was clear Joseph and Jackson (who also were major contributors the year before) would lead the frontcourt.

 

[RF2044]

I'm not even sure RF's 2010 had as many question marks. The backcourt was pretty clear, with Scoop and Triche having played big minutes the year before. It was clear Joseph and Jackson (who also were major contributors the year before) would lead the frontcourt.

I think you're thinking one year ahead. 09-10 team was the one that had just lost Flynn / Devendorf / Harris, which was a lot of points and production to make up. Triche was an incoming frosh. Scoop was coming off of an injury, and was an unknown commodity. Joseph hadn't done anything in his freshman year, and there was an [in] famous post on this board prior to that year questioning whether he was athletic enough to play at this level. Johnson was a transfer, and we weren't fully sure what he was capable of. And Rautins was questioned by many, as well.

I think you're thinking of the 10-11 team, which was Rick's senior year.

 

[MSOrange]

I think you're thinking one year ahead. 09-10 team was the one that had just lost Flynn / Devendorf / Harris, which was a lot of points and production to make up. Triche was an incoming frosh. Scoop was coming off of an injury, and was an unknown commodity. Joseph hadn't done anything in his freshman year, and there was an [in] famous post on this board prior to that year questioning whether he was athletic enough to play at this level. Johnson was a transfer, and we weren't fully sure what he was capable of. And Rautins was questioned by many, as well.

I think you're thinking of the 10-11 team, which was Rick's senior year.

That's a good point. I was a year off. I had forgotten Triche. Scoop and Joseph were so inexperienced coming into that year. This is still one of my all time favorite teams even though it didn't end the way we all hoped. I was going through pretty significant health issues during that time. For them to come out like they did to start the year gave me a few hours of enjoyment during the games to enjoy life and forget about it all.

 

[Waltdods]

I think you're thinking one year ahead. 09-10 team was the one that had just lost Flynn / Devendorf / Harris, which was a lot of points and production to make up. Triche was an incoming frosh. Scoop was coming off of an injury, and was an unknown commodity. Joseph hadn't done anything in his freshman year, and there was an [in] famous post on this board prior to that year questioning whether he was athletic enough to play at this level. Johnson was a transfer, and we weren't fully sure what he was capable of. And Rautins was questioned by many, as well.

I think you're thinking of the 10-11 team, which was Rick's senior year.

Yea, sorry, I had misunderstood what you meant by the 2010 team in this context.

But I also think this year is much more of a question mark than '09-10.

Coming into the '09 season, SU had three players who had averaged double digits in a college basketball season - Wes Johnson, Arinze Onuaku, and Andy Rautins. This year, SU has one: Trevor Cooney. Rick Jackson had also averaged 8 and 6 as a sophomore, so I think you'd have to say he was more of an established player going into that season than Rak is today. Even Scoop had played a lot more as a freshman (including starting 10 games) than Gbinje did last year, although he had missed the entire season before '09-10 due to injury. On Wes, I agree no one was fully sure what he was capable of, but wouldn't you agree we were more confident of him than any player on this year's roster? We had a year of glowing practice reports and, unlike the usual freshman, he had already proven he could do it while at ISU.

Going into the '09-10 season, the top 5 guys looked to be: Scoop, Rautins, Wes, Jackson, Arinze. Four out of five of them had already put up starter-level numbers in at least one season (10 or more points for Rautins, Wes, and Arinze, the 8 and 6 for Jackson [numbers I think we'd all be happy with from Rak this year]). The other was, as you point out, coming off an injury, but had started a third of the season the year before.

Going into this season, the top 5 guys look to be: Joseph, Cooney, Roberson, McCulloch, Rak. Two of them have put up starter-level numbers, and that's being generous to Rak. (And this doesn't change of course if you sub in G for one of the guys.)

That '09-10 definitely surprised on the upside. But it was an experienced team with a lot of guys who had already proven their mettle.

 

[Dave85]

Malachi is going to be special on offense and the top of the zone.

...Back to debating this year.

This year's team is going to be a lot like last years team but with more losses. Maybe they will put it all together at the end and make a tournament run. But as I see it's pretty straight forward:

PG Kaleb, G
SG Cooney, G, Paterson
SF G, BJ, Roberson
PF Roberson, McCull, Rak
C Rak, Obokoh

Kaleb replaces Ennis, Obokoh replaces Keita. The more interesting question is will G, BJ, Roberson, and McCull replace the offensive output of CJ and Grant. When Kaleb is not on the court I think Cooney and G will bring the ball up just like last year. Unless Patterson has dramatically improved his ball handling skills I doubt he will get much playing time.

 

[JLine]

A few differences that I see from your lineup Dave, in that I believe Roberson and Chris will start. I think Silent G comes off the bench to replace whoever makes the first mistake from 1-3. Just don't think that JB would start G at the three when he can put out Roberson and CMc. BJ or G can come in at the 3 when Roberson struggles and Roberson can move to the 4 when CMc struggles. I think Rak plays strictly the center spot and many minutes of that of course.

I hope Ron can find a spot as well, really think he can contribute but he's in no man's land right now.

I'm more optimistic than most on this team, I think. Like you said, maybe they put it together for a run and I think they will. Now, maybe they won't take it all the way but Elite 8 or FF isn't out of the question. It's gonna be a fun year.