my two cents

[kcsu]

Here are my initial thoughts post the last two games.

Red is struggeling. This much is clear the question is why. My thoughts are that whatever starting 5 he contemplated has been turned upside down by Carlos's play, especially his inability to defend. Red and the staff whiffed on a few other PG targets and settled on Carlos. Reports out of practice were encouraging as was his play in the exhibition games. However, he has been a very weak link the last two games and I believe that has been a huge setback for Reds plans. The question is can Carlos improve? On the surface I don't think he has the size and or athleticism to guard other PGs and if not, we are going to be challenged to win games. Other than replacing him or switching to zone which I don't see Red doing I'm not sure how we can continue to play with him at the point. For me how Carlos goes is pretty much how our season is going to go. The PG position is the key. An alternative it to move JJ to the point and either bring in Choppa or Taylor at the 2. Choppa seems to be the better option at this point, but it is early. I like his shot better than Taylor and I like his energy.

We also need to have Davis on the floor more often than not. So, with that do we dare play Bell at the 2 JJ at the point Davis at the 3 and Lampkin at the 5. Ball handling skills will be suspect, but we do add size and strength to the floor.

Petar is a bit of a wild card for me. I see an athletic guy with a high motor and high bball IQ. Not sure were he fits but i do like his energy which is in short supply with the others. As to Cuffe i dont see him contributing. The big guys who knows. If we go zone he fits if not im at a loss. Chance , is there a chance he ever plays again. If so at what level. If and it is a huge If he could take over the point everything gets better.

At this point it is plain as day that we have not replaced Copeland Judah or Brown with equal let alone better players. Complain as we have about them but they all played hard and had skills that nobody on this team is close to having. Can you imagine Carlos trying to stay in front of Judah? I cant. Judah would put up 40 on him in this sleep. Copeland the same. Nobody has close to his skill set not even on the same planet. And the board favorite Brown would be the one guy on the court helping out and playing solid D with effort.

I've been watching SU since Roy's Runts and this team has in my opinion way to many weaknesses to make the dance. I hope that I'm wrong, but I simply do not see the talent and or coaching skills to compete. I'm a big fan of Reds and hope that he is able to pull these guys together. I'll keep pulling them for them as i bleed orange but I'm afraid we are in for a tough year.

 

[SUalldway]

Here are my initial thoughts post the last two games.

Red is struggeling. This much is clear the question is why. My thoughts are that whatever starting 5 he contemplated has been turned upside down by Carlos's play, especially his inability to defend. Red and the staff whiffed on a few other PG targets and settled on Carlos. Reports out of practice were encouraging as was his play in the exhibition games. However, he has been a very weak link the last two games and I believe that has been a huge setback for Reds plans. The question is can Carlos improve? On the surface I don't think he has the size and or athleticism to guard other PGs and if not, we are going to be challenged to win games. Other than replacing him or switching to zone which I don't see Red doing I'm not sure how we can continue to play with him at the point. For me how Carlos goes is pretty much how our season is going to go. The PG position is the key. An alternative it to move JJ to the point and either bring in Choppa or Taylor at the 2. Choppa seems to be the better option at this point, but it is early. I like his shot better than Taylor and I like his energy.

We also need to have Davis on the floor more often than not. So, with that do we dare play Bell at the 2 JJ at the point Davis at the 3 and Lampkin at the 5. Ball handling skills will be suspect, but we do add size and strength to the floor.

Petar is a bit of a wild card for me. I see an athletic guy with a high motor and high bball IQ. Not sure were he fits but i do like his energy which is in short supply with the others. As to Cuffe i dont see him contributing. The big guys who knows. If we go zone he fits if not im at a loss. Chance , is there a chance he ever plays again. If so at what level. If and it is a huge If he could take over the point everything gets better.

At this point it is plain as day that we have not replaced Copeland Judah or Brown with equal let alone better players. Complain as we have about them but they all played hard and had skills that nobody on this team is close to having. Can you imagine Carlos trying to stay in front of Judah? I cant. Judah would put up 40 on him in this sleep. Copeland the same. Nobody has close to his skill set not even on the same planet. And the board favorite Brown would be the one guy on the court helping out and playing solid D with effort.

I've been watching SU since Roy's Runts and this team has in my opinion way to many weaknesses to make the dance. I hope that I'm wrong, but I simply do not see the talent and or coaching skills to compete. I'm a big fan of Reds and hope that he is able to pull these guys together. I'll keep pulling them for them as i bleed orange but I'm afraid we are in for a tough year.

Copeland's "skill set" included a turnover that led to giving up fast break points to cancel out his great play. I don't miss that at all.

 

[kcsu]

Copeland's "skill set" included a turnover that led to giving up fast break points to cancel out his great play. I don't miss that at all.

I do. He has skills a motor and D that nobody on this team can match. I would take him all day at the point over Carlos.

 

[oldpinepoint]

I do. He has skills a motor and D that nobody on this team can match. I would take him all day at the point over Carlos.

I don’t miss the attitude

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Here are my initial thoughts post the last two games.

Red is struggeling. This much is clear the question is why. My thoughts are that whatever starting 5 he contemplated has been turned upside down by Carlos's play, especially his inability to defend. Red and the staff whiffed on a few other PG targets and settled on Carlos. Reports out of practice were encouraging as was his play in the exhibition games. However, he has been a very weak link the last two games and I believe that has been a huge setback for Reds plans. The question is can Carlos improve? On the surface I don't think he has the size and or athleticism to guard other PGs and if not, we are going to be challenged to win games. Other than replacing him or switching to zone which I don't see Red doing I'm not sure how we can continue to play with him at the point. For me how Carlos goes is pretty much how our season is going to go. The PG position is the key. An alternative it to move JJ to the point and either bring in Choppa or Taylor at the 2. Choppa seems to be the better option at this point, but it is early. I like his shot better than Taylor and I like his energy.

We also need to have Davis on the floor more often than not. So, with that do we dare play Bell at the 2 JJ at the point Davis at the 3 and Lampkin at the 5. Ball handling skills will be suspect, but we do add size and strength to the floor.

Petar is a bit of a wild card for me. I see an athletic guy with a high motor and high bball IQ. Not sure were he fits but i do like his energy which is in short supply with the others. As to Cuffe i dont see him contributing. The big guys who knows. If we go zone he fits if not im at a loss. Chance , is there a chance he ever plays again. If so at what level. If and it is a huge If he could take over the point everything gets better.

At this point it is plain as day that we have not replaced Copeland Judah or Brown with equal let alone better players. Complain as we have about them but they all played hard and had skills that nobody on this team is close to having. Can you imagine Carlos trying to stay in front of Judah? I cant. Judah would put up 40 on him in this sleep. Copeland the same. Nobody has close to his skill set not even on the same planet. And the board favorite Brown would be the one guy on the court helping out and playing solid D with effort.

I've been watching SU since Roy's Runts and this team has in my opinion way to many weaknesses to make the dance. I hope that I'm wrong, but I simply do not see the talent and or coaching skills to compete. I'm a big fan of Reds and hope that he is able to pull these guys together. I'll keep pulling them for them as i bleed orange but I'm afraid we are in for a tough year.

No chance Judah puts 40 on Carlos. 15, maybe. At that point, Carlos would have five fouls. Judah gets his 40, but the remaining 25 come against whoever’s next up.

 

[MikeSU02]

Here are my initial thoughts post the last two games.

Red is struggeling. This much is clear the question is why. My thoughts are that whatever starting 5 he contemplated has been turned upside down by Carlos's play, especially his inability to defend. Red and the staff whiffed on a few other PG targets and settled on Carlos. Reports out of practice were encouraging as was his play in the exhibition games. However, he has been a very weak link the last two games and I believe that has been a huge setback for Reds plans. The question is can Carlos improve? On the surface I don't think he has the size and or athleticism to guard other PGs and if not, we are going to be challenged to win games. Other than replacing him or switching to zone which I don't see Red doing I'm not sure how we can continue to play with him at the point. For me how Carlos goes is pretty much how our season is going to go. The PG position is the key. An alternative it to move JJ to the point and either bring in Choppa or Taylor at the 2. Choppa seems to be the better option at this point, but it is early. I like his shot better than Taylor and I like his energy.

We also need to have Davis on the floor more often than not. So, with that do we dare play Bell at the 2 JJ at the point Davis at the 3 and Lampkin at the 5. Ball handling skills will be suspect, but we do add size and strength to the floor.

Petar is a bit of a wild card for me. I see an athletic guy with a high motor and high bball IQ. Not sure were he fits but i do like his energy which is in short supply with the others. As to Cuffe i dont see him contributing. The big guys who knows. If we go zone he fits if not im at a loss. Chance , is there a chance he ever plays again. If so at what level. If and it is a huge If he could take over the point everything gets better.

At this point it is plain as day that we have not replaced Copeland Judah or Brown with equal let alone better players. Complain as we have about them but they all played hard and had skills that nobody on this team is close to having. Can you imagine Carlos trying to stay in front of Judah? I cant. Judah would put up 40 on him in this sleep. Copeland the same. Nobody has close to his skill set not even on the same planet. And the board favorite Brown would be the one guy on the court helping out and playing solid D with effort.

I've been watching SU since Roy's Runts and this team has in my opinion way to many weaknesses to make the dance. I hope that I'm wrong, but I simply do not see the talent and or coaching skills to compete. I'm a big fan of Reds and hope that he is able to pull these guys together. I'll keep pulling them for them as i bleed orange but I'm afraid we are in for a tough year.

Not sure I disagree with anything you wrote.

Choppa is my favorite player on this year's team. He's not perfect, but I love his energy. It will be up and down, but I really appreciate what he brings and how not scared he is.

 

[Orangezoo]

Not sure I disagree with anything you wrote.

Choppa is my favorite player on this year's team. He's not perfect, but I love his energy. It will be up and down, but I really appreciate what he brings and how not scared he is.

In a perfect world Chance can be himself and play the point, Choppa plays more and JJ and Bell have to both fight for time with Taylor to support these guys while Carlos cedes a back up type role to Chance ( even if he still starts). That’s probably a pipe dream but JJ may need to get bumped like Griff did with how poor his play is.

 

[Ottoman]

We are in a tough spot at the guard position now. This is what happens when you strike out recruiting a position of need.

I know it is 100% crazy, but I think we have the best chance of success starting JJ at point and Bell at the 2. Yes, ball handling will be bad. But it will create some matchup problems and get our 5 best players on the court, which to me are:

JJ
Bell
Davis
Freeman
Lampkin

Red's last presser was odd. I think he realized we have no point guard and can't run man defense.

 

[kcsu]

If Chance is back
Lampkin
Donnie
Bell
JJ
Chance.

If chance is not back

Lampkin
Donnie
Davis
Bell
JJ

Bench.
5 Mcclead Petar
4 Davis Petar,
PG. Carlos
Two Choppa Taylor
Three Davis Taylor Choppa

I want to see some hustle and size on the floor. JJ and Choppa add size at the pg. and 2 Bell would add more. Actually, the more i look at this roster the more is screams zone D to me. We have size but we don't have the foot speed or coaching to play man.

 

[kcsu]

We are in a tough spot at the guard position now. This is what happens when you strike out recruiting a position of need.

I know it is 100% crazy, but I think we have the best chance of success starting JJ at point and Bell at the 2. Yes, ball handling will be bad. But it will create some matchup problems and get our 5 best players on the court, which to me are:

JJ
Bell
Davis
Freeman
Lampkin

Red's last presser was odd. I think he realized we have no point guard and can't run man defense.

This is a good lineup. Better if we play zone

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Not sure I disagree with anything you wrote.

Choppa is my favorite player on this year's team. He's not perfect, but I love his energy. It will be up and down, but I really appreciate what he brings and how not scared he is.

Elijah's got something. It did frustrate me a bit when he hit his first two shots and showed that youthful exuberance that told you his next attempt would be a heat chuck, but hey—maturity only comes with time. He's definitely not afraid of a moment. I hope we have him for a few years.

 

[Ottoman]

If Chance is back
Lampkin
Donnie
Bell
JJ
Chance.

If chance is not back

Lampkin
Donnie
Davis
Bell
JJ

Bench.
5 Mcclead Petar
4 Davis Petar,
PG. Carlos
Two Choppa Taylor
Three Davis Taylor Choppa

I want to see some hustle and size on the floor. JJ and Choppa add size at the pg. and 2 Bell would add more. Actually, the more i look at this roster the more is screams zone D to me. We have size but we don't have the foot speed or coaching to play man.

That's how I see it as well. Our zone got torched when Judah and Joe Girard were up top, but JJ and Bell would be a much taller and more athletic pair. Choppa, Taylor, and Chance are also tall guards. The back line would be solid with Davis, Freeman/Petar, Lampkin/Mcleod. Their size would help to make up for the rebounding woes resulting from playing zone.

 

[23Zone]

I agree with a lot of this. I think Chance is our only chance of being good this year and that is only a small chance

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I agree with a lot of this. I think Chance is our only chance of being good this year and that is only a small chance

Wow. Yeah, as someone said elsewhere, Chance would have to be the greatest player in the history of our program (or somesuch). You put 2004 Carmelo on this team and it doesn't solve any of the defensive issues. Plus, who does he take minutes from? If he gets any time this season, it's hard to see it being at PG, just because of the constant physical demands.

A guy like Bell can sorta play at his own pace and take moments off, as action is going on around him. A point guard sorta needs to be explosive and quick much of the time, on both sides of the court. From the last video i saw of Chance, quick starts and stops and changes of direction might be quite challenging. I hope a lot has changed since then, but that's what i would most worry about.

 

[hoopsupstate]

We are in a tough spot at the guard position now. This is what happens when you strike out recruiting a position of need.

I know it is 100% crazy, but I think we have the best chance of success starting JJ at point and Bell at the 2. Yes, ball handling will be bad. But it will create some matchup problems and get our 5 best players on the court, which to me are:

JJ
Bell
Davis
Freeman
Lampkin

Red's last presser was odd. I think he realized we have no point guard and can't run man defense.

Bell playing the two will make it even harder for him to get shots. A smaller defender will get into him where a bigger player may not have the quickness. Bell is not going to ever post up so that’s not a consideration against a smaller player. I don’t want Freeman or Davis playing strictly on the perimeter.

 

[kcsu]

Bell playing the two will make it even harder for him to get shots. A smaller defender will get into him where a bigger player may not have the quickness. Bell is not going to ever post up so that’s not a consideration against a smaller player. I don’t want Freeman or Davis playing strictly on the perimeter.

no thats old school. The two is just a number. Its also why if im coach i go zone

 

[Cappy3]

no thats old school. The two is just a number. Its also why if im coach i go zone

But we don’t play zone, do we? Name one ACC guard Bell could cover? And between him and JJ we’d have little to no assists.

 

[23Zone]

Bell is in no way shape or form capable of playing as a 2G. Not a competent dribbler or ball handler. To me the biggest issue with this team is they have absolutely no interest in playing tenacious defense. No intensity. Other teams take defense much more seriously.

 

[Ottoman]

I would love to see a 2 try to guard Chris Bell on offense. Chris would be launching 3s over his head all day.

I agree that the defensive side of things would be rough...unless we switch up the defense.

The personnel on this team is simply not able to play man. We recruited a tiny point guard and an immobile center. We filled that out with 2 poor defensive returners and a freshman. Carlos and Lampkin can only guard their position, so we can't switch on defense. We are getting screened to death, and it is going to continue.

We either need to recruit for our defensive system or scheme to our existing personnel. Right now we are doing neither.

 

[chuck]

Here are my initial thoughts post the last two games.

Red is struggeling. This much is clear the question is why. My thoughts are that whatever starting 5 he contemplated has been turned upside down by Carlos's play, especially his inability to defend. Red and the staff whiffed on a few other PG targets and settled on Carlos. Reports out of practice were encouraging as was his play in the exhibition games. However, he has been a very weak link the last two games and I believe that has been a huge setback for Reds plans. The question is can Carlos improve? On the surface I don't think he has the size and or athleticism to guard other PGs and if not, we are going to be challenged to win games. Other than replacing him or switching to zone which I don't see Red doing I'm not sure how we can continue to play with him at the point. For me how Carlos goes is pretty much how our season is going to go. The PG position is the key. An alternative it to move JJ to the point and either bring in Choppa or Taylor at the 2. Choppa seems to be the better option at this point, but it is early. I like his shot better than Taylor and I like his energy.

We also need to have Davis on the floor more often than not. So, with that do we dare play Bell at the 2 JJ at the point Davis at the 3 and Lampkin at the 5. Ball handling skills will be suspect, but we do add size and strength to the floor.

Petar is a bit of a wild card for me. I see an athletic guy with a high motor and high bball IQ. Not sure were he fits but i do like his energy which is in short supply with the others. As to Cuffe i dont see him contributing. The big guys who knows. If we go zone he fits if not im at a loss. Chance , is there a chance he ever plays again. If so at what level. If and it is a huge If he could take over the point everything gets better.

At this point it is plain as day that we have not replaced Copeland Judah or Brown with equal let alone better players. Complain as we have about them but they all played hard and had skills that nobody on this team is close to having. Can you imagine Carlos trying to stay in front of Judah? I cant. Judah would put up 40 on him in this sleep. Copeland the same. Nobody has close to his skill set not even on the same planet. And the board favorite Brown would be the one guy on the court helping out and playing solid D with effort.

I've been watching SU since Roy's Runts and this team has in my opinion way to many weaknesses to make the dance. I hope that I'm wrong, but I simply do not see the talent and or coaching skills to compete. I'm a big fan of Reds and hope that he is able to pull these guys together. I'll keep pulling them for them as i bleed orange but I'm afraid we are in for a tough year.

I think griffin is highly overrated along with the rest of the coaches including red. The new age know it all fans just won't say it like they would've if old man JB was still here and that's fine JB had to retire sometime we all knew it.

 

[DomeHolmes]

Elijah's got something. It did frustrate me a bit when he hit his first two shots and showed that youthful exuberance that told you his next attempt would be a heat chuck, but hey—maturity only comes with time. He's definitely not afraid of a moment. I hope we have him for a few years.

Choppa is the only “Dog” I see on the team. He has the swagger/passion/effort/skill combo missing from others.

(Maybe Davis too), but missing 2 front ends at crunch time screams that he‘s not really the Alpha we need. Not clutch. Our defense could not be worse with JJ and Moore on the court, than with JJ and Carlos. There would be a let down in playmaking of course.

I think Red figured this out, and that Taylor is an offensive liability too. I would bet on choppa getting 20+ minutes Saturday, and Taylor becomes a defensive situational guy mostly.

 

[23Zone]

Let's break it down...
#Freeman way way way over hyped
#Carlos also over hyped
#Lampkin exactly what was expected
#Davis better than anticipated
#Choppa better than anticipated. Upside!
#Petar is well ... Petar
#Taylor worse than anticipated
#Defense even more atrocious then we thought was possible
#Red way over his head and needs a lifevest

 

[Ottoman]

Freeman is not over-hyped at all. He is a freshman who has played 2 games. Super happy we have him.

 

[DomeHolmes]

Mostly accurate, except I agree that Freeman is not overhyped. His points and rebounds per minute are very good and look effortless. He is a smooth player, but as of now just a finesse player. If he still looks like this in March, I would say that he is somewhat overhyped.

I don’t know what about Taylor had anyone too excited about him. Appears to be one dimensional defensive player.

I can’t say Red is over his head. I can say without a point guard and overall team athleticism, He is going to be challenged to get to 500. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a bad coach. He seems to be a players coach, but to be a players coach you need players.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Taylor is the only guard that plays any D not sure why everyone chose to hate him for no reason before the games were played.

Clunky with the ball and not a star but you might fix some problems with him playing more minutes.