SWC75
Bored Historian
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December
Saturday, 12/4/21 4PM in Tallahassee, FL FLORIDA STATE TV: ACC Network
Once upon a time, the conference schedule began in January. No longer. They’ve expanded it so much that games must be played in December. And we start off with one of the strongest programs in the conference, one of three teams in the country to have reached the Sweet 16 three years in a row. They’ve averaged 25 wins a year and have the third most wins in the conference over the past 5 years. Coach Leonard Hamilton has the exact opposite theory on using his personnel to Coach Boeheim: he likes to send player in waves at the other team. Jim prefers to stick with the players he has the most confidence in, once he knows who those players are. Last season the Seminoles had no player average 30 minutes and game but 9 of them averaged 10 minutes a game. SU had three guys average 30+, two of them 35+ and seven guys averaging 10+. Leonard might have fresher players and more depth. Jim prefers having his best guys sometimes going up against Leonard’s less than best guys. It makes for an interesting game. Jim is 16-8 all-time vs. Leonard, who has won the last three.
State was 18-7, (11-4) last year. They are 77-4 in their last 81 home games. But they lost four guys to the pros and two reserves transferred. Hamilton brought in two high profile transfers: 6-3 Caleb Mills from Houston and 6-7 Cam’Ron Fletcher from Kentucky. Mills didn’t play against us- he’d already left the team and enrolled at FSU by then. He averaged 13.2p for them in 2020 but only 1.1 assists yet he’s being considered for point guard. Per Lindy’s, “He’s a crafty scorer due to his excellent footwork, creating space with crossover dribbles and step-back shots.” Sounds like trouble for Joe Girard. Fletcher was a 4 star guy, (aren’t they all at Kentucky- except for the 5 stars?), who didn’t like his playing time: 6.6 minutes during which he averaged 1.7p/1.7r. He’ll get a chance to play in Hamilton’s system. 6-6 215 Anthony Polite wouldn’t dream of offending anyone but he’s the only returning double figure scorer at 10.1p/4.5r and their best three point shooter 43.6%. Also in the mix is 6-6 200 Matthew Cleveland, 247’s #22 prospect, along with 4-star, 6-6 200 Jalen Whaley.
Hamilton loves enormous centers. He’s got 7-2 236 Tanor Ngom and has brough in 7-3 248 Naheem McLeod as well as another 4-star, 7-1 and I kid you not 190 John Butler, (how did we miss out on a skinny guy like him?) Lindys: “In addition 6-11 240 Quincy Ballard can be a 7-footer on his tippy toes.” But their best up-front player is 6-9 225 Malik Osbourne who played 20 minutes a game and averaged 5.9p/4.5r while shooting 36.5% from three.
Tuesday, 12/7/21 9:30PM in New York VILLANOVA TV: ESPN
The Cats, the national champs in 2016 and 2018, were 18-7 last year and lost in the Sweet 16. But they lose just one starter from that team and one reserve – a fella named Cole Swider – so they will be pretty darn good this year. But that’s nothing new. The Wildcats obviously have a good system and the number of returning players indicates that these guys like playing for Jay Wright.
6-3 point guard Collin Gillespie might be in the NBA right now except he tore his MCL late in the season and decided to use his Covid year to show the pros he was healthy again, (we had no such luck with Chris McCullough). Last year he averaged 14.0p/4.6a. Athlon: “He’s a fine scorer, distributor and defender”. Lindy’s said that he “hits bushels of big shots.” 6-4 210 Justin Moore, per Wright, “can be a dominant guard in every aspect of the game” Last year he averaged 12.9p/4.1r/3.0a. 6-7 230 Jermaine Samuels averaged 12.0p/6.4r and 6-8 260 Eric Dixon will get a chance to throw his weight around, replacing Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, now I the NBA.
Saturday, 12/11/21 12 Noon in Washington GEORGETOWN TV: FOX
And here come the Hoyas – are we in the ACC or the Big East? We’ve split 6 games with them since we joined the ACC, losing last year. They were a 13-13 team last year but surprisingly won the Big East tournament and got into the NCAAs where their coach turned into a Hoya in a 25 point loss to Colorado in the first round.
Center Qudus Wahab, MVP of the Big East tournament, transferred to Maryland. Patrick Ewing recruited Ryan Mutombo, son of still another former G’town center, Dikembe. Ryan is 6-11, 235 and “a solid rebounder and shot blocker”. Ewing also has 7-0 250 Timothy Ighoefe and 7-0 205 Malcolm Wilson. He bought in transfers 6-7 205 and 6-9 225 Tre King. Rice averaged 17.6p/4.2r for the Citadel and King 14.9p/6.2r for Eastern Kentucky. But how well will they do at this level?
6-0 Dante Harris (8.0p/3.4r/3.2a) “proved he could distribute and defend…but must shoot more accurately from outside”. 6-5 Donald Carey (8.0p/3.0t/1.7b) “is a fine perimeter weapon with a great shooting touch who will be asked to make his offensive game more complete.” (Lindy’s). Still that’s a far cry from having a backcourt of Baylor’s James Akinjo and Texas Tech’s Mac McClung, (now in the ‘G’ league), both of whom started here and could have been the starting backcourt now. Five-star Freshman Aminu Mohammed might make up for that deficit. The 6-5 190 Muhammed was the #23 recruit in the country and the #2 shooting guard.
Saturday, 12/18/21 6PM in the Dome LEHIGH TV: ACC Network
The Mountain Hawks, (didn’t they used to be the Engineers?), were 4-11 last year and had the worst offense in the Patriot League. They’d better be able to score when they come to Syracuse. They only lost one starter and get back double-figure scorers marques Wilson, (6-4 210, 15.3p/4.3r) and Nic Lynch, (6-11 250, 12.1p/4.5r). Notice how few games like this are on the schedule this year? Lehigh and Cornell will look pretty good to us by this point in the schedule.
Tuesday, 12/21/21 9PM in the Dome CORNELL TV: ACC Network
The Big Red have fallen on hard times. (They’ve had hard times against Syracuse since 12/4/68, the last time they beat us. We’ve won 40 in a row by an average of 24 points.) They were 7-20 in 2020 and are returning players with a total of 12 career starts, (one of the defections: Jimmy Boeheim). Half of the 12 starts came from 6-5 195 Jordan Jones, the leading returning scorer at (7.3p/3.1r). 6-3 Sarju Patel averaged 10.3 at VMI before transferring in. 6-9 235 Kobe Dickson is an “enforcer” inside – but what are the laws?
Wednesday, 12/29/21 7PM in the Dome GEORGIA TECH TV: RSN
Back to the ACC – for good now. Josh Pastner’s Yellow Jackers have been building up to something for a while and last year they went 17-9, surprised everybody by winning the ACC tournament and went to the Big Dance for the first time in 11 years.
They lost ACC player of the year Moses Wright and star point guard Jose Alvarado. But ACC tournament MVP Michael DeVoe is back, (6-5 197, 15.0p/4.3r/3.3a). He’s hit 41% from the arc for his career. He and Jordan Usher, (6-7 213, 11.6p/4.2r/2.8a), have “the ability to create shots for themselves”. Usher “is dangerous off the bounce and can score on an impressive array of lay-ups and dunks”. Point guard might be “by committee” with returnees Kyle Sturdivant and Bubba Parham joined by Mississippi State transfer Devion Smith, who was a top 50 recruit. There will also be a committee at center between 6-10 241 Rodney Howard, 7-1 250 Saba Gigiberia and 6-8 224 Jordan Marks. But this team is about the wing players.
Those first two December games will be tough but I can see us winning the rest of them. With this schedule, 9-4 wouldn’t be a bad record to go into the new year with but I’d like to be a little better than that. The full ACC schedule won’t be that much of a step up from those first 13 games.
Saturday, 12/4/21 4PM in Tallahassee, FL FLORIDA STATE TV: ACC Network
Once upon a time, the conference schedule began in January. No longer. They’ve expanded it so much that games must be played in December. And we start off with one of the strongest programs in the conference, one of three teams in the country to have reached the Sweet 16 three years in a row. They’ve averaged 25 wins a year and have the third most wins in the conference over the past 5 years. Coach Leonard Hamilton has the exact opposite theory on using his personnel to Coach Boeheim: he likes to send player in waves at the other team. Jim prefers to stick with the players he has the most confidence in, once he knows who those players are. Last season the Seminoles had no player average 30 minutes and game but 9 of them averaged 10 minutes a game. SU had three guys average 30+, two of them 35+ and seven guys averaging 10+. Leonard might have fresher players and more depth. Jim prefers having his best guys sometimes going up against Leonard’s less than best guys. It makes for an interesting game. Jim is 16-8 all-time vs. Leonard, who has won the last three.
State was 18-7, (11-4) last year. They are 77-4 in their last 81 home games. But they lost four guys to the pros and two reserves transferred. Hamilton brought in two high profile transfers: 6-3 Caleb Mills from Houston and 6-7 Cam’Ron Fletcher from Kentucky. Mills didn’t play against us- he’d already left the team and enrolled at FSU by then. He averaged 13.2p for them in 2020 but only 1.1 assists yet he’s being considered for point guard. Per Lindy’s, “He’s a crafty scorer due to his excellent footwork, creating space with crossover dribbles and step-back shots.” Sounds like trouble for Joe Girard. Fletcher was a 4 star guy, (aren’t they all at Kentucky- except for the 5 stars?), who didn’t like his playing time: 6.6 minutes during which he averaged 1.7p/1.7r. He’ll get a chance to play in Hamilton’s system. 6-6 215 Anthony Polite wouldn’t dream of offending anyone but he’s the only returning double figure scorer at 10.1p/4.5r and their best three point shooter 43.6%. Also in the mix is 6-6 200 Matthew Cleveland, 247’s #22 prospect, along with 4-star, 6-6 200 Jalen Whaley.
Hamilton loves enormous centers. He’s got 7-2 236 Tanor Ngom and has brough in 7-3 248 Naheem McLeod as well as another 4-star, 7-1 and I kid you not 190 John Butler, (how did we miss out on a skinny guy like him?) Lindys: “In addition 6-11 240 Quincy Ballard can be a 7-footer on his tippy toes.” But their best up-front player is 6-9 225 Malik Osbourne who played 20 minutes a game and averaged 5.9p/4.5r while shooting 36.5% from three.
Tuesday, 12/7/21 9:30PM in New York VILLANOVA TV: ESPN
The Cats, the national champs in 2016 and 2018, were 18-7 last year and lost in the Sweet 16. But they lose just one starter from that team and one reserve – a fella named Cole Swider – so they will be pretty darn good this year. But that’s nothing new. The Wildcats obviously have a good system and the number of returning players indicates that these guys like playing for Jay Wright.
6-3 point guard Collin Gillespie might be in the NBA right now except he tore his MCL late in the season and decided to use his Covid year to show the pros he was healthy again, (we had no such luck with Chris McCullough). Last year he averaged 14.0p/4.6a. Athlon: “He’s a fine scorer, distributor and defender”. Lindy’s said that he “hits bushels of big shots.” 6-4 210 Justin Moore, per Wright, “can be a dominant guard in every aspect of the game” Last year he averaged 12.9p/4.1r/3.0a. 6-7 230 Jermaine Samuels averaged 12.0p/6.4r and 6-8 260 Eric Dixon will get a chance to throw his weight around, replacing Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, now I the NBA.
Saturday, 12/11/21 12 Noon in Washington GEORGETOWN TV: FOX
And here come the Hoyas – are we in the ACC or the Big East? We’ve split 6 games with them since we joined the ACC, losing last year. They were a 13-13 team last year but surprisingly won the Big East tournament and got into the NCAAs where their coach turned into a Hoya in a 25 point loss to Colorado in the first round.
Center Qudus Wahab, MVP of the Big East tournament, transferred to Maryland. Patrick Ewing recruited Ryan Mutombo, son of still another former G’town center, Dikembe. Ryan is 6-11, 235 and “a solid rebounder and shot blocker”. Ewing also has 7-0 250 Timothy Ighoefe and 7-0 205 Malcolm Wilson. He bought in transfers 6-7 205 and 6-9 225 Tre King. Rice averaged 17.6p/4.2r for the Citadel and King 14.9p/6.2r for Eastern Kentucky. But how well will they do at this level?
6-0 Dante Harris (8.0p/3.4r/3.2a) “proved he could distribute and defend…but must shoot more accurately from outside”. 6-5 Donald Carey (8.0p/3.0t/1.7b) “is a fine perimeter weapon with a great shooting touch who will be asked to make his offensive game more complete.” (Lindy’s). Still that’s a far cry from having a backcourt of Baylor’s James Akinjo and Texas Tech’s Mac McClung, (now in the ‘G’ league), both of whom started here and could have been the starting backcourt now. Five-star Freshman Aminu Mohammed might make up for that deficit. The 6-5 190 Muhammed was the #23 recruit in the country and the #2 shooting guard.
Saturday, 12/18/21 6PM in the Dome LEHIGH TV: ACC Network
The Mountain Hawks, (didn’t they used to be the Engineers?), were 4-11 last year and had the worst offense in the Patriot League. They’d better be able to score when they come to Syracuse. They only lost one starter and get back double-figure scorers marques Wilson, (6-4 210, 15.3p/4.3r) and Nic Lynch, (6-11 250, 12.1p/4.5r). Notice how few games like this are on the schedule this year? Lehigh and Cornell will look pretty good to us by this point in the schedule.
Tuesday, 12/21/21 9PM in the Dome CORNELL TV: ACC Network
The Big Red have fallen on hard times. (They’ve had hard times against Syracuse since 12/4/68, the last time they beat us. We’ve won 40 in a row by an average of 24 points.) They were 7-20 in 2020 and are returning players with a total of 12 career starts, (one of the defections: Jimmy Boeheim). Half of the 12 starts came from 6-5 195 Jordan Jones, the leading returning scorer at (7.3p/3.1r). 6-3 Sarju Patel averaged 10.3 at VMI before transferring in. 6-9 235 Kobe Dickson is an “enforcer” inside – but what are the laws?
Wednesday, 12/29/21 7PM in the Dome GEORGIA TECH TV: RSN
Back to the ACC – for good now. Josh Pastner’s Yellow Jackers have been building up to something for a while and last year they went 17-9, surprised everybody by winning the ACC tournament and went to the Big Dance for the first time in 11 years.
They lost ACC player of the year Moses Wright and star point guard Jose Alvarado. But ACC tournament MVP Michael DeVoe is back, (6-5 197, 15.0p/4.3r/3.3a). He’s hit 41% from the arc for his career. He and Jordan Usher, (6-7 213, 11.6p/4.2r/2.8a), have “the ability to create shots for themselves”. Usher “is dangerous off the bounce and can score on an impressive array of lay-ups and dunks”. Point guard might be “by committee” with returnees Kyle Sturdivant and Bubba Parham joined by Mississippi State transfer Devion Smith, who was a top 50 recruit. There will also be a committee at center between 6-10 241 Rodney Howard, 7-1 250 Saba Gigiberia and 6-8 224 Jordan Marks. But this team is about the wing players.
Those first two December games will be tough but I can see us winning the rest of them. With this schedule, 9-4 wouldn’t be a bad record to go into the new year with but I’d like to be a little better than that. The full ACC schedule won’t be that much of a step up from those first 13 games.
