Monroe Madness: Saturday, October 21 | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Monroe Madness: Saturday, October 21

Anyone that was there tonight or last Friday, did JJ take any jumpers in either scrimmage? He must have at least taken some in warmups. Curious to see if anyone has any intel on how is shot is looking before the first exhibition game. We are really going to need him to be able to hit from the outside as well as create off the dribble for our guard play to be top tier IMO.
 
gmacfor3 said:
Anyone that was there tonight or last Friday, did JJ take any jumpers in either scrimmage? He must have at least taken some in warmups. Curious to see if anyone has any intel on how is shot is looking before the first exhibition game. We are really going to need him to be able to hit from the outside as well as create off the dribble for our guard play to be top tier IMO.
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I can’t speak for tonight, but he made a couple mid range ones last week. No 3’s though.
 
Sounds like Quadir is balling. That's a very good development with the Westry news.

Copeland has a very high ceiling if he puts it all together. If he is starting to tap into that via improving as a shooter and finding a balance between flair and control... look out.
 
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Orangezoo said:
Sounds like Quadir is balling. That's a very good development with the Westry news.

Copeland has a very high ceiling if he puts it all together. If he is starting to tap into that via improving as a shooter and finding a balance between flair and control... look out.
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And he’s laughing and smiling all the time and his teammates love him!

WHY didn’t Mintz play? I want the skinny on this.
 
Orangezoo said:
It's not like he skipped coming.
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I attended and brought the fam. We had fun. Obviously it would have been nice to see Mintz in action working with JJ. Real pity about Westry, feel for him. Impressions from the scrimmage: 1) JJ does whatever he wants on the basketball court. Young man just glides around, very smooth athlete, comfortable, confident, happy to push in transition, excellent defender, makes other guys better on offense. 2) Qadir kind of stole the show. No more dribbling into trouble and heaving up awkward shots, he's going to play. Very long and lively athlete that isn't afraid to attack the rim. Shot is much improved, including from range. 3) Maliq looked great. He's doing all the little things he does, better. Another guy who's too good to sit. Lastly 4) McCleod is going to present problems for other teams. His inside presence changes the game, and if he gets it down low ... watch out. Foul shooting needs a LOT of work.

This team has a high ceiling. Not only very tall, but uber athletic. SU ran zero zone last night and the defense is relentless. Mintz and JJ are going to be difficult to stop for any team in the league.
 
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0.2 YNdeeR said:
I attended and brought the fam. We had fun. Obviously it would have been nice to see Mintz in action working with JJ. Real pity about Westry, feel for him. Impressions from the scrimmage: 1) JJ does whatever he wants on the basketball court. Young man just glides around, very smooth athlete, comfortable, confident, happy to push in transition, excellent defender, makes other guys better on offense. 2) Qadir kind of stole the show. No more dribbling into trouble or throwing up awkward shots, he's going to play. Very long and lively athlete that isn't afraid to attack the rim. Shot is much improved, including from range. 3) Maliq looked great. He's doing all the little things he does, better. Another guy who's too good to sit. Lastly 4) McCleod is going to present problems for other teams. His inside presence changes the game, and if he gets it down low ... watch out. Foul shooting needs a LOT of work.

This team has a high ceiling. Not only very tall, but uber athletic. SU ran zero zone last night and the defense is relentless. Mintz and JJ are going to be difficult to stop for any team in the league.
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How was attendance?
 
0.2 YNdeeR said:
I attended and brought the fam. We had fun. Obviously it would have been nice to see Mintz in action working with JJ. Real pity about Westry, feel for him. Impressions from the scrimmage: 1) JJ does whatever he wants on the basketball court. Young man just glides around, very smooth athlete, comfortable, confident, happy to push in transition, excellent defender, makes other guys better on offense. 2) Qadir kind of stole the show. No more dribbling into trouble or throwing up awkward shots, he's going to play. Very long and lively athlete that isn't afraid to attack the rim. Shot is much improved, including from range. 3) Maliq looked great. He's doing all the little things he does, better. Another guy who's too good to sit. Lastly 4) McCleod is going to present problems for other teams. His inside presence changes the game, and if he gets it down low ... watch out. Foul shooting needs a LOT of work.

This team has a high ceiling. Not only very tall, but uber athletic. SU ran zero zone last night and the defense is relentless. Mintz and JJ are going to be difficult to stop for any team in the league.
Expand...
Very good recap!

I thought it was difficult to get a lot of team takeaways here as there did not seem to be much in terms of offensive or defensive sets being played. In my opinion, it was really just roll the ball out there and let the kids play. But what is very clear is that this team is athletic, and has some good size. The scrimmage was controlled by the two best players on the floor, JJ and Q, who were on the same team as well.

Overall, the team played very aggressively, more then the past 3-4 years, by taking their man off the dribble. If there was a lane, all players, took their man to the hole and looked to either score or distribute to an open player. Shooting was very limited, and the only three I remember being made was by JJ...yes JJ made his only attempted deep jumpshot, and it was off a dribble. There was a ton of high, to mid (foul line) pick and roll. Led to some impressive passing from guard to forwards for a finish with some alley oop attempts.

Where this team will be at its most exciting and possibly where they will excel the most is in the open floor, and more specifically when JJ and Q are on a break. Q is going to fine you and can deliver the ball in several smooth ways, and JJ will get to his spot with ease. Big guys can run and can finish with authority...especially Naheem.

Defensively, there was a lot of action, with payers shooting the passing lanes and generating either steals or delays in the "offensive sets" that were being run. Pressures led to a very poor outside shooting night from just about everyone.

Individual takeways from the scrimmage:

Kyle Cuffe - Ran PG, springy attempted a baseline drive and dunk, that if it connected would have brought the house (of 400-500 people) down. Meh shooter, very flat arc, but confident with the ball in his hands.

Maliq Brown: I have said it before, and I will say it again, just knows where to be and makes all the little plays. Follow up dunk on a missed layup, played the passing lanes very well, and is just an very solid college player. Would like to see him develop a jumpshot.

JJ Starling: He is a pro (shocking I know). Great off the dribble, and can get where he wants, when he wants. Had some very good drives and passes to cutting wings, and drop off passes to bigs. Made the only 3 pointer of the game from what I can recall, again off the dribble and from deep. Best player out there last night.

Chris Bell: Took a few off the dribble, which was a nice development to see. Looks stronger than last year but didn't really do much outside of a few dribble drives and a rebound or two. Did have a nice looking drive and hang in the air foul line shot.

Justin Taylor: Kid can stroke it, but really did nothing of substance during the game. Did have some attacking drives to the rim, but passed the ball back out when he did.

Naheem McLeod: Very, very large human man. Can run and finishes with authority at the rim. Seems to bring the ball down a bit too much, and missed a huge dunk because of it with a guard swiping at the ball. I hope he does not become a officiating victim because of how he plays, and because of his size and strength. A few off the cuff notes, I would have only been able to give this man a high five back in high school as he can touch rim just by putting his hands up, and two...I keep on seeing his last name as MacLeod, because there can only be one...Highlander!

Benny Williams: Still the same flat shot arc, but it looks like he is playing a bit more free, and not thinking before putting the ball down and making a move. Shot it a lot, but wish I could say he made it a lot. Another active defensive player.

William Patterson: Needs to add some significant bulk, but had a nice dunk on a pick and roll. Also, another one that can run the floor and had a really nice layup, that looked like he took off from just inside the foul line to lay it in in transition (Q with a smooth pass to find him).

Quadir Copeland: MVP of the event and stole the show. I cant recall what his jumper looked like last year, but I was happily surprised with it. It's bit slow, and it take some time for him to get the ball to the release point and finally shooting it, but when you are 6-6 / 6-7 and the wingspan that he has...I don't think it will be that much of an issue. Plays on a razors edge of to loose vs in control, but every time he has the ball you want to see what new pass / look he is going to do. We will just need to take the good and the bad. I see a bigger, more aggressive passing Scoop Jardine. Gained some needed weight and had some impressive, heavily contested, finishes at the rim. 2nd best player out there last night.

Mounir Hima: Banged with Naheem. A few rebounds, but nothing that I can really remember him doing.
 
klemmer56 said:
Very good recap!

I thought it was difficult to get a lot of team takeaways here as there did not seem to be much in terms of offensive or defensive sets being played. In my opinion, it was really just roll the ball out there and let the kids play. But what is very clear is that this team is athletic, and has some good size. The scrimmage was controlled by the two best players on the floor, JJ and Q, who were on the same team as well.

Overall, the team played very aggressively, more then the past 3-4 years, by taking their man off the dribble. If there was a lane, all players, took their man to the hole and looked to either score or distribute to an open player. Shooting was very limited, and the only three I remember being made was by JJ...yes JJ made his only attempted deep jumpshot, and it was off a dribble. There was a ton of high, to mid (foul line) pick and roll. Led to some impressive passing from guard to forwards for a finish with some alley oop attempts.

Where this team will be at its most exciting and possibly where they will excel the most is in the open floor, and more specifically when JJ and Q are on a break. Q is going to fine you and can deliver the ball in several smooth ways, and JJ will get to his spot with ease. Big guys can run and can finish with authority...especially Naheem.

Defensively, there was a lot of action, with payers shooting the passing lanes and generating either steals or delays in the "offensive sets" that were being run. Pressures led to a very poor outside shooting night from just about everyone.

Individual takeways from the scrimmage:

Kyle Cuffe - Ran PG, springy attempted a baseline drive and dunk, that if it connected would have brought the house (of 400-500 people) down. Meh shooter, very flat arc, but confident with the ball in his hands.

Maliq Brown: I have said it before, and I will say it again, just knows where to be and makes all the little plays. Follow up dunk on a missed layup, played the passing lanes very well, and is just an very solid college player. Would like to see him develop a jumpshot.

JJ Starling: He is a pro (shocking I know). Great off the dribble, and can get where he wants, when he wants. Had some very good drives and passes to cutting wings, and drop off passes to bigs. Made the only 3 pointer of the game from what I can recall, again off the dribble and from deep. Best player out there last night.

Chris Bell: Took a few off the dribble, which was a nice development to see. Looks stronger than last year but didn't really do much outside of a few dribble drives and a rebound or two. Did have a nice looking drive and hang in the air foul line shot.

Justin Taylor: Kid can stroke it, but really did nothing of substance during the game. Did have some attacking drives to the rim, but passed the ball back out when he did.

Naheem McLeod: Very, very large human man. Can run and finishes with authority at the rim. Seems to bring the ball down a bit too much, and missed a huge dunk because of it with a guard swiping at the ball. I hope he does not become a officiating victim because of how he plays, and because of his size and strength. A few off the cuff notes, I would have only been able to give this man a high five back in high school as he can touch rim just by putting his hands up, and two...I keep on seeing his last name as MacLeod, because there can only be one...Highlander!

Benny Williams: Still the same flat shot arc, but it looks like he is playing a bit more free, and not thinking before putting the ball down and making a move. Shot it a lot, but wish I could say he made it a lot. Another active defensive player.

William Patterson: Needs to add some significant bulk, but had a nice dunk on a pick and roll. Also, another one that can run the floor and had a really nice layup, that looked like he took off from just inside the foul line to lay it in in transition (Q with a smooth pass to find him).

Quadir Copeland: MVP of the event and stole the show. I cant recall what his jumper looked like last year, but I was happily surprised with it. It's bit slow, and it take some time for him to get the ball to the release point and finally shooting it, but when you are 6-6 / 6-7 and the wingspan that he has...I don't think it will be that much of an issue. Plays on a razors edge of to loose vs in control, but every time he has the ball you want to see what new pass / look he is going to do. We will just need to take the good and the bad. I see a bigger, more aggressive passing Scoop Jardine. Gained some needed weight and had some impressive, heavily contested, finishes at the rim. 2nd best player out there last night.

Mounir Hima: Banged with Naheem. A few rebounds, but nothing that I can really remember him doing.
Expand...

Awesome write up appreciate it!!!
 
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