My two cents

[bballbeadle]

Fans are fanatics. By our very nature we are exuberant, judgmental, despairing, all is LOST, all is WON! We are extreme. We all want our teams to succeed. We were going into this basketball season cautiously, It is difficult when you see them playing so disjointedly. We come here to express our feelings about that.

As a fanatic, sometimes I skip some threads. We DO need to guard our mental health. I haven’t gone on the football thread yet. But this is the place to express all of our fears and hopes and pleasures and woes. As a therapist, I think that’s a good thing.

 

[kcsu]

So the team has played two exhibition games. In that very limited time our fans have decided our highest rated recruit guard in years is trash and can’t play point. Benny had a good game and a bad game so all the progress he made is gone. Ok. Have fun this year guys. Honestly a lot of people on here might want to take the year off for their own mental health.

He isnt trash but he also isnt a PG. Anyone who has played ball can see that. It doesnt take a HOF to realize that the kid isnt a true point G. When Mintz has the ball he looks to score. Thats who he is. In my opinion trying to make him something that he isnt wont work. One solution would be to have Joe and Mintz simply switch roles. Jim is dealing with kids expectations and unfortunately i dont think what the kids want for themselves is maybe the best for the team. Im sure Mintz wants to be labled a pg as that is his only ticket to the league. Joe has sacraficed his true position because Buddy was the better 2. Its complicated but that doesnt make it right. Symir and Copeland are the two natural PGs on the team. Mintz sure as heck isn't.

 

[DoctorBombay]

So the team has played two exhibition games. In that very limited time our fans have decided our highest rated recruit guard in years is trash and can’t play point. Benny had a good game and a bad game so all the progress he made is gone. Ok. Have fun this year guys. Honestly a lot of people on here might want to take the year off for their own mental health.

I agree with this take.
Didn’t see the EXHIBITION game, but in going through the posts, I’m sensing major PTSD, probably based off of last season’s harrowing experience.
Look, it’s not gonna be all unicorns and gummy bears this season…but we knew that, or shoulda known that, going in. These bipolar flip flops are entertaining, but waaaay premature. JMHO

 

[DoctorBombay]

He isnt trash but he also isnt a PG. Anyone who has played ball can see that. It doesnt take a HOF to realize that the kid isnt a true point G. When Mintz has the ball he looks to score. Thats who he is. In my opinion trying to make him something that he isnt wont work.

This looks eerily similar to what people have been saying about JG3 for the last 2years, no? Interesting…

 

[cuseguy]

So the team has played two exhibition games. In that very limited time our fans have decided our highest rated recruit guard in years is trash and can’t play point. Benny had a good game and a bad game so all the progress he made is gone. Ok. Have fun this year guys. Honestly a lot of people on here might want to take the year off for their own mental health.

Save this post. Seriously. It isn’t going to age well.

 

[Melancer46]

I'm going to wait until we see how the guys play in the real games. Mintz certainly is not a pure point guard, but he was a more than willing passer in high school as Oak Hill's #2 ball handler.

I think it's also worth asking if we really want a "true point guard". Mintz isn't the perfect embodiment of what I want out of a point guard but the style with which he played in high school is more or less what I think we should be aiming for, particularly with what we have on this team; an attacker who could create his own looks well and get easy points at the free throw line while being a credible (albeit not great) creator for others. My fear with him is less about his passing ability and more that if he isn't drawing fouls, he tends to rely on making difficult contested shots from mid-range, AKA pretty much the exact shots you don't want to mainly rely upon. He was arguably the best scorer in the best high school league last year, but it relied on an absurdly high rate of drawing fouls. He's clearly skilled in that regard, but it'll likely lead to some ugly games when he isn't getting calls.

On a team mostly devoid of shot-creating capabilities, we're going to need Mintz (or perhaps Copeland) to be good to have a chance of success this year barring unforeseen developments from other guys. I don't think anyone else outside of those two really project to have that ability at all and we likely don't have the shot-making abilities to make up for it if Mintz/Copeland struggle either.

Fact of the matter is it's probably not going to be a great season; have to hope the young guys show promise and stick around long enough for it to be worthwhile for us.

 

[jimb]

I don’t know what to say. I have a strong urge to cluck like a chicken. Deep down, don’t you think the coaches are all thinking, “Oh, fuuuuuuuuuuuudge!”

Thank you for your coherent thoughts.

Just be glad we don't have to play Colgate.

 

[MDCuse]

There are so many glaring holes in this roster. I really hope I'm wrong, but it is very evident that this team is going to struggle in some key areas. First and foremost, this team can't shoot. Period. Outside of Joe, they are going to struggle badly to be consistent from three. Watching Bell shoot is tough right now. He is not a shooter and I don't think he was in HS either.

 

[kcsu]

There are so many glaring holes in this roster. I really hope I'm wrong, but it is very evident that this team is going to struggle in some key areas. First and foremost, this team can't shoot. Period. Outside of Joe, they are going to struggle badly to be consistent from three. Watching Bell shoot is tough right now. He is not a shooter and I don't think he was in HS either.

I think the kids that give us the best chance to win games are as follows based on importance

Edwards
Joe
Mintz
Benny
Copeland
Taylor
Symir
Brown
Bell

Bell, Brown and Benny Taylor should be played based on the opponent and how they are doing that particular game. If Bell is hot, he plays. If not, he brings zip. Benny has to be active on the glass if not he sits Brown needs to board play great D and get to the rack. Taylor needs to score. If not he sits.

Same with the Gs. If Copeland is making dumb passes and forcing the issue hes out. Symir has to play great D and get Joe or others shots If he starts making outside shots ride him.

Mintz needs to create without turning the rest of the team into spectators,

Edwards to stop playing like a cream puff and try and stay in the game.

Hima, I didn't list him, but he is going to be a big part of this season. Why because Jesse is always going to be in foul trouble and the other kids isn't ready.

JB has good but raw tools to work with. My starting 5 would be

Edwards
Joe
Mintz
Cope
Brown

Play JBs zone, get off the boards and push the ball as much as possible. But own the boards.

 

[MDCuse]

I think the kids that give us the best chance to win games are as follows based on importance

Edwards
Joe
Mintz
Benny
Copeland
Taylor
Symir
Brown
Bell

Bell, Brown and Benny Taylor should be played based on the opponent and how they are doing that particular game. If Bell is hot, he plays. If not, he brings zip. Benny has to be active on the glass if not he sits Brown needs to board play great D and get to the rack. Taylor needs to score. If not he sits.

Same with the Gs. If Copeland is making dumb passes and forcing the issue hes out. Symir has to play great D and get Joe or others shots If he starts making outside shots ride him.

Mintz needs to create without turning the rest of the team into spectators,

Edwards to stop playing like a cream puff and try and stay in the game.

Hima, I didn't list him, but he is going to be a big part of this season. Why because Jesse is always going to be in foul trouble and the other kids isn't ready.

JB has good but raw tools to work with. My starting 5 would be

Edwards
Joe
Mintz
Cope
Brown

Play JBs zone, get off the boards and push the ball as much as possible. But own the boards.

Problem is, you can't pound the boards playing JBs zone. We have seen it soooo many times. 100% agree that there are a ton of athletes/tools on this team but I'm struggling to see those athletes translate to winning basketball games. Most of that being the lack of offense.

 

[phil77]

I think any team we can't out "athlete" we are going to be in trouble.

 

[SWC75]

So the team has played two exhibition games. In that very limited time our fans have decided our highest rated recruit guard in years is trash and can’t play point. Benny had a good game and a bad game so all the progress he made is gone. Ok. Have fun this year guys. Honestly a lot of people on here might want to take the year off for their own mental health.

We can only describe and react to what we see. A statement that "if we play like this, it's going to be along season" isn't a prediction. It's a description of how they are playing now. We are all aware that college basketball teams tend to improve as the season progresses and are hopeful, (pleading, actually) that that will be the case this year.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Save this post. Seriously. It isn’t going to age well.

What’s not going to age well? That two exhibition games won’t show what a team will be? I have no idea if this team can develop and either does anyone else. 10 games in, sure but making absolute decrees after two EXHIBITION games seems silly.
Mintz might struggle at point guard at times. But things are changing with NIL there is a chance he could develop into a very good guard by year 3.
Too many people want to make absolute guarantees after exhibition games. Could they be right sure. But we will see.

 

[SWC75]

People shouldn’t take too much away from this game. I think JB is just experimenting. He did a whole lineup change in both the first and second halves. That won’t happen at all in the regular season. We played lots and lots of man to man. We’ll probably only see it used in games here and there this season as a change up, to knock the opponent off balance, or if the opponent is knocking down tons of 3s.

If his statement in the presser about not being surprised if we recruit no one next eyar, this is a shakedown cruise not just for this season but for next season, too. These are the guys for the enxt two years, (if they choose to stay here).

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

We can only describe and react to what we see. A statement that "if we play like this, it's going to be along season" isn't a prediction. It's a description of how they are playing now. We are all aware that college basketball teams tend to improve as the season progresses and are hopeful, (pleading, actually) that that will be the case this year.

Agreed but Jim was messing with lineups, rotations, heck even different defense. What we saw is nothing really that’s all I am saying. Again after ten games fine.

 

[orangecuse]

Fans are fanatics. By our very nature we are exuberant, judgmental, despairing, all is LOST, all is WON! We are extreme. We all want our teams to succeed. We were going into this basketball season cautiously, It is difficult when you see them playing so disjointedly. We come here to express our feelings about that.

As a fanatic, sometimes I skip some threads. We DO need to guard our mental health. I haven’t gone on the football thread yet. But this is the place to express all of our fears and hopes and pleasures and woes. As a therapist, I think that’s a good thing.

 

[Madbiker]

the only way this team is going to work is if JB throws out all of his assumptions about who should be on the floor based on reps and seniority etc...

judah is not a PG and the team needs a PG

Judah is the type of very raw but athletic recruit that used to come in and mostly sit his freshman year playing a few minutes here and there against OOC cupcakes and mop up time in conference games. He would learn. The next year he would have a bigger role. But that doesn't happen anymore. If Judah doesn't play and play a lot he's gone to the transfer portal. So he's going to get a lot more minutes than he deserves and the team record is going to pay the price for that.

 

[OrangeFoo]

St. John's beat these guys 82-41. We seemed on our way to do that when it was 36-14 with 7:45 left in the first half. The rest of the game was 36-44. To a mediocre division II team. I'll give SNHU some credit: they played a very aggressive man-to-man and kept in our guys faces and collapsed on any drivers in the paint to choke off their drive. But if they can do that, anybody we play can do that to us.

Jesse Edwards dunked with 3:26 left in the first half. Symir Torrence hit a trey with 13:50 left in the second half. During the 9 minutes and 36 seconds in between those shots we were in full 0-31 mode, not scoring a basket and getting outscored by 9-16, including an 0-9 run from 2:38 left in the first half to 17:18 left in the second, a scoreless streak of 5 minutes and 20 seconds against SFNHU! (you can figure it out).

Our offense seems to consist of jacked up treys by non-shooters and one-on-5 drives to the basket. We got out-hustled for rebounds and loose balls. The 'Penmen' were hitting TJ Sorrentine shots. Our players had no sense of urgency. We scraped together enough late baskets to avoid disaster but, really that just plastered over this disaster of a performance. ('The Plaster of Disaster')

The only good thought I can come up with is that it can't really be that bad - can it?

Ironically I was watching the game on demand much later in the evening and turned off the game at about halftime thinking this was in the bag. Looks Like I picked a good time to turn it off.

My observations from the half I saw match everyone else's... Mintz was not playing point and missed many open players for easy buckets in the time I was watching. Gerard looked like he was in preseason mode and trying to get everyone into the game. Edwards is a step above everyone else on the court in terms of talent and that showed. I couldn't get a read on the rest of the freshman... lots of length lots of raw talent. Benny seems to be a similar player to last year, but with more confidence... unfortunately his shot is still... umm a work in progress?

For what it's worth I don't think this is a great team for current day JB... I think he would do much better with a polished team of mature players where he just has to move the pieces around. This team is VERY far away from that and the talent needs a lot cooking time before its ready and I'm not sure we have the coach with the patience to cook a gourmet meal. Not sure why we would bet on a 6 man freshman class vs going after a few key freshmen and bringing in transfers who are ready to go with a coach at JB's stage in his career.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Judah is the type of very raw but athletic recruit that used to come in and mostly sit his freshman year playing a few minutes here and there against OOC cupcakes and mop up time in conference games. He would learn. The next year he would have a bigger role. But that doesn't happen anymore. If Judah doesn't play and play a lot he's gone to the transfer portal. So he's going to get a lot more minutes than he deserves and the team record is going to pay the price for that.

you're probably right...

i guess nowadays...it seems like the team is always one or two years away from being really good...with only a one year window on staying intact...

welcome to the era of infinite mirages...

(I do think this year's recruiting class will be around for a while and is similar in style to what UVA and Villanonva have done and the best option for team building in this era...fwiw)

 

[kcsu]

Judah is the type of very raw but athletic recruit that used to come in and mostly sit his freshman year playing a few minutes here and there against OOC cupcakes and mop up time in conference games. He would learn. The next year he would have a bigger role. But that doesn't happen anymore. If Judah doesn't play and play a lot he's gone to the transfer portal. So he's going to get a lot more minutes than he deserves and the team record is going to pay the price for that.

and that is why i would put a major emphasis on transfer kids if i were coaching

 

[DCUNITED13]

Saw a condensed version. Jesse dominated as he was 4 to 5 inches taller than his opponents, We saw AAU ball in the 2nd half. Based on JB's comments he has an idea who will be playing a lot and those individuals received plenty of commentary in his post game presser. Re: Mintz, JB's comment is that in practice he is able to easily (sort of) dribble past his man with his quick step. He was also doing that in exhibition games. Against better defenders that we will face he will need to do a better job of distributing the ball. That last point will depend on how successful SU is in the half court game this year. Ability to adjust to defences is what made our former point guards great. Lets hope Judah Mintz has that ability to adjust.

Commentary on Benny Williams from JB in the presser was that he needs to get more aggressive going to the basket. BW shot 1-7 however he was 4-4 from the FT. JB wants him attacking the rim. He lit into Jesse quite a bit and Joe as well for his 2nd half performance. His most telling comment is that "There is a lot to work on when looking at the 2nd half". (or something like that). Would be nice to be the fly on the wall in that film session. LOL

Again, JB loves to generate mismatched due to opponents foul trouble. When SU is able to do that (get opponents into fould trouble), it makes us incredibly effective in what we want to do on the offensive end. I think this team can do that. Attack the rim, draw fouls and change the game plan for the other team.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I think it's safe to say board sentiment is the lowest it's ever been for any SU team in the JB era. Coming off what previously was the worst record in the JB era, this is not good. No way to sugarcoat this.

And if I heard this correctly, from a reputable poster, we'll have at least 2 more seasons of this before we can hit the reset button.

 

[NorSyr66]

Ironically I was watching the game on demand much later in the evening and turned off the game at about halftime thinking this was in the bag. Looks Like I picked a good time to turn it off.

My observations from the half I saw match everyone else's... Mintz was not playing point and missed many open players for easy buckets in the time I was watching. Gerard looked like he was in preseason mode and trying to get everyone into the game. Edwards is a step above everyone else on the court in terms of talent and that showed. I couldn't get a read on the rest of the freshman... lots of length lots of raw talent. Benny seems to be a similar player to last year, but with more confidence... unfortunately his shot is still... umm a work in progress?

For what it's worth I don't think this is a great team for current day JB... I think he would do much better with a polished team of mature players where he just has to move the pieces around. This team is VERY far away from that and the talent needs a lot cooking time before its ready and I'm not sure we have the coach with the patience to cook a gourmet meal. Not sure why we would bet on a 6 man freshman class vs going after a few key freshmen and bringing in transfers who are ready to go with a coach at JB's stage in his career.

Interesting post. Covered several issues. Fortunate not to see 2nd half. Yes must have had your tongue firmly planted in your cheek to mention Benny's shot is "a work in progress". Shows very little to no progress so far. If nothing else this team will be a real test of JB's coaching at the end of his career. So far JB has done a few things differently than other years. Maybe he sees the need to adjust his style with all the young players. Next few games will reveal a lot.

 

[kingtidge]

Just be glad we don't have to play Colgate.

I've got some bad news...

Tues, Nov 15

Colgate

7:00 p.m.

RSN / YES

 

[Dave]

I think the Mintz isn’t a point guard posts are premature ejaculations (look it up). He certainly didn’t play with a pg mentality last night. Does he have the skills and vision if he adjusts his mindset and approach? I think he does. I think Symir belongs in the floor.