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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1934032, member: 289"] [I] [/I]GUARDS [I]Franklin Howard, 6-5 205, sophomore[/I] Howard rode the pines most of his freshman year, largely because he didn’t have much of a shot. But he was a creative passer, (sometimes a little too creative for Coach Boeheim), and he has good size at the top of the zone. He’s said to be working on his shot and might be able to score enough to fight off all the newcomers in the backcourt for significant playing time. Here are his numbers from last year: 9.6M 6.2P 5.1R 6.7A 2.0S 0.5B = 20.5+ 5.4MFG 1.7MFT 3.3TO 4.7PF = 15.1- = 5.4NP -0.9OE 6.3FG He rebounded well for a guard and got a lot of assists, (JB called him our only true point guard). He had too many turnovers but still maintained a 2-1 ratio. He committed too many fouls. He played like a talented freshman in need of a jump shot. Some highlights of one of Frank’s better games, against Gonzaga in the NCAAs: [MEDIA=youtube]QPz0-tZrRk0[/MEDIA] [I]John Gillon, 6-0 178, senior[/I] Gillon, (shall we call him “One I”?), like Andrew White will now be playing for his third- and last- college team. He started out at Arkansas-Little Rock where he averaged 23 minutes and 10.6 points per game with 2.4 assists but 2.3 turnovers. He shot 39.4% from three point range. He moved on, (and up) to Colorado State where, in his first year he played 21 minutes a game but only scored 7.9. He still shot 39.5% from the arc, so the Rams must have had more scoring options than the Trojans. He averaged 3.2 assists and 1.2 turnovers so he was taking better care of the ball. Last year he scored 13.2 but his shooting suffered (33.3% from the arc). Here’s an interesting stat: Gillon’s shooting from two point range improved from 32.9% to 45.0%. He was becoming less dependent on his outside shot, (because defenses were coming out to defend it) and becoming much better at completing drives to the basket successfully. He averaged 3.8 assists and 2.3 turnovers, so he’s more of a scoring point guard than a passing one. He was an 88% free throw shooter, which is certainly an asset at the end of games. At 6-0 he’s not ideal at the top of the zone, but his quickness may enable him to harass the other team’s point guard on the way up court. Here is a scouting report: "He's really quick. He'll be the quickest guy on the team. If not, then I'll be really impressed with the speed of somebody else on the Syracuse roster. "He can shoot it from deep. That creates a problem. You don't want to just let him take the shot, but you have to respect his speed.'' And "The thing that jumps out to me is his speed and quickness. He's a jet. We couldn't keep him in front of us. I'm not saying he's Chris Paul, but he's fast. "He can get in the lane and bother you. He's a little bit smaller than most Syracuse guards, but for Gillon, it's all about his speed and quickness.'' And: "First of all, he's a shooter. He shoots it from deep. That was the first thing on our scouting report for him. You'll see him pull up from 22, 23, 24 feet, past the NBA line. "He plays hard. All of (Colorado State coach Larry) Eustachy's guys play hard. That's their mantra. "He can play the point, but he's really a combo guard. He can handle the ball. He basically shared the point guard duties for them.'' (Both quotes are from assistant coaches from teams who played CSU last year, quoted on Syracuse.com.) Here are last year’s numbers at CSU, per 40 minutes, as above: 31.7M 16.7P 3.6R 4.8A 1.0S 1.9B = 28.0+ 7.1MFG 0.8MFT 2.9TO 3.1PF = 13.9- = 14.1NP 8.8OE 5.3FG Some highlights from Gillon’s junior year at CSU: [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDUQQHjSt5c"]Future Syracuse Guard - John Gillon 2015/2016 Highlights[/URL] Sometimes there’s sound, sometimes there isn’t. But there will be plenty of sound when this guy is on the court at the Carrier Dome. [I]Andrew White, 6-7 220, senior[/I] White was a more heralded recruit than Gillon had been and went to Kansas, hoping to become the latest All-American from that legendary program. He was buried on the bench for two years there, averaging 5 and then 6 minutes a game in the games in which he played – there were 29 gamesin those two years where he didn’t play at all. He then transferred to Nebraska and immediately became the star of the team, playing 30 minutes a game. He was second on the team in scoring with 16.6ppg and led the team in rebounding with 5.9 per game. He shot 56% from two point range, 41% from the arc and 77.5% from the line, so he is a superb, multi-threat scorer who can also help out on the boards. In a way, he’s the player we hoped Malachi Richardson could become if he had stayed. He and Gillon will give us some of the firepower back we lost when we lost Gbinije, Cooney and Richardson and take some of the pressure off of Lydon to score and score from outside. One possible problem: White seems a natural forward but we have plenty of them and will need him in backcourt. He’ll supply plenty of height for the zone but will have to cover smaller men over a lot of space. And he’ll be farther from the basket than he is used to on offense. But I think he has the skills to adjust to that. One possible line-up could involve putting Lydon at power forward, White at small forward and some combination of Howard, Gillon and Battle in the backcourt. That could be a very potent line-up. A scouting report: “White gives Syracuse a big time outside shooting threat, length, a natural scorer, quality athlete and positional versatility. The Nebraska transfer can play shooting guard or small forward, allowing the Orange to use a plethora of lineups depending on the situation. He also gives Syracuse another long athlete to place in the zone, and he has shown the ability to be a quality defender.” (CuseNation) I also think he’s got a special motivation: he went to Kansas to be a star player for a top team and his dreams were crushed. At Nebraska he was a star player but not for a top team. Now he’s at Syracuse to finally become what he believes he should be. I’m not suggesting he’ll have an attiude problem if he’s not treated like the star of the team, just that this is last chance to make his dreams come true. That could be a very good thing for Syracuse. Some White highlights with some words from Andrew and his coach at Nebraska: [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EgRSd_tOYE"]Meet newly eligible transfer Andrew White[/URL] He seems like a guy who can contribute with smarts and leadership as well as physical skills. His numbers at Nebraska last year: 29.7M 22.3P 7.9R 0.8A 1.5S 0.4B = 32.9+ 8.3MFG 1.0MFT 2.1TO 3.5PF = 14.9- = 18.0NP 13.0OE 5.0FG The guys’ a shooter and a scorer. Nebraska isn’t a basketball power but in the Big Ten, they played penalty of teams who are, so those numbers are meaningful. [I]Tyus Battle, 6-6 205, freshman[/I] Tyus was our highest- rated recruit at 5 stars. He just missed the McDonald’s All-American team, (and would have been a cinch for it had he gone to Duke). He’s another tall guard. He’s supposed to be great at driving the ball and is working on his outside shot. He wasn’t a point guard in high school but wants to be one in college because that’s his like positon in the NBA if he makes it there, (and I sense that he doesn’t see that as a problem). There could be some friction if he doesn’t win the point guard job. In interviews he seems somewhat like white – a well-spoken mature guy<9even as a freshman) who believes that he and this team are capable of anything they put their minds to. I’ll take all of those guys we can get. Scouting reports: “Battle is a dynamic wing scorer with range out to the three-point line who can beat defenders off the dribble and guard multiple positions. He potentially could play multiple positions in Syracuse’s backcourt; he has the creative intuition to man the point, the athleticism and craft to drive and finish at the rim and the shooting stroke to stretch defenses. Battle said Syracuse views him “more as a combo guard—play the point a little bit, play the two a little bit.” (Sports Illustrated) One phrase that comes up a lot in discussing Syracuse players: “multiple positons”. You depth isn’t just the number players or the number of reliable players, it’s the number of positons reliable players can play and thus the number of combinations you can use. Draft Express, (evaluating him for the NBA): [B]Strengths[/B] -Very developed frame. Big shoulders. Strong lower body. Not afraid of physicality on either end of the floor. -6' 5” with a 6' 8” wingspan – solid measurements if he's able to transition into more of a SG than a SF. Measured closer to 6'7” in shoes previously. -Good athlete. Can play above the rim in transition. Long strides. -Excellent defender. Moves really well laterally. Aggressive defensively. Will pressure the ball and fight over screens. Multi-positional defender at the college level. -Brings a level of toughness to the floor. Crashes the offensive glass with regularity -Solid pull up game. Gets good rise on his jumper. Best in mid-range spots, but can make an open three. [B]Weaknesses[/B] -Fairly limited ball handler. Can change speeds a little bit but is mostly limited to basic straight line drives. -Not comfortable creating vs pressure, especially going to his left. -Isn't quite as explosive as he looks. Struggles to finish effectively around the basket at times -Career 40.9% from two. Doesn't get all the way to the rim as often as you would hope. Shoots a lot of pull up jumpers. -Can make threes but has a slight hitch on his jumper. Shoots on the way down at times. Better off the dribble. Outlook: Battle showed out as a defensive stopper type who can get out in transition and make an occasional spot three or pull up jumper. There isn't a ton to Battle's game on the offensive end, as he has quite a bit of room to improve his shot-creation skills and shooting consistency, but the Edison native will have no problem stepping into the ACC as a freshman and defending at a high level.” He sounds like the perfect guy to front the zone but adjusting to the college game offensively may be a problem. But he’s a freshman. Look at how much Michael Gbinije improved in his career. People are talking about Battle as a one and done. I’d like to see him grow and refine his game here and then have the best possible chance to make it in the NBA. But then, I wanted Malachi Richardson to do the same thing. His highlight film, mostly from SU practices: [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMcIvPNWlgI"]Tyus Battle: Syracuse's Future[/URL] (Some nice views of the Melo Center) That gives us 4 seniors, 0 juniors, 3 sophomores and 3 freshmen. One of the sophomores may be in the NBA next year so the deck will have to be reshuffled again. For his final year, (if that’s what it turns out to be), JB will probably have to bring in some more one year wonders. I’m not sure what will happen to his high school recruiting if he’s retiring. But that’s a problem for another year. This year we’ve got amazing size. We could go 7-2, 6-10, 6-9, 6-7, 6-6 if we wanted to. That’s NBA size, although our guys are a little skinnier. We might have some trouble guarding smaller, quicker teams but those teams won’t be able to rebound with us or shoot well unless they catch fire from long range. ESPN’s Andy Katz: "Here is what Jim Boeheim told me. 'We've got everything. We've got depth. We've got shooters. We've got size. This is the best team we've had in a long time'." Like the 2012 team we can put a 7 foot, (+), shot-blocker in the middle of the zone and we went 30-1 the last time we had one. Like the 2010 team we have multiple inside scorers, multiple outside scorers, multiple ball handlers and multiple guys who can slash to the basket. We should be able to get out and run and we should be able to press if we have to, (and t coach wants to). We should at least be a formidable opponent for everyone we play and we could be cutting down the nets again in March. NSFMF. I don’t see us going 30-1 in this league. There are a lot of new players who have to be blended in with returning players. It’s a team with veteran players but not a veteran team in the sense of a team that’s grown up together and has been playing together for a long time. Then there’s the perennial issue of who is going to emerge as a leader, (although someone always does). There are some trade-offs: We’ll be a different team with Coleman at center than with Chukwu and a different team if Gillon is playing the point than Howard or Battle. But this team has so many varied talents that can fit together in so many ways that it has the look of a solved Rubik’s cube. [IMG]http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/rubix_cube.jpg[/IMG] [/QUOTE]

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