Naheem McLeod Transferring to Syracuse (5/15/23)

[General20]

how do we think his hands are, specifically catching passes?

I think so, going only by that one good game he had against us (so not knowing much). He scored a bunch of points off catching lobs and finishing. That is what we need from him. Mintz and Sterling are going to be beating their man off the dribble regularly. We need McCloud's defender to be afraid to leave him and provide help D and for McCloud to catch and finish when his defender does help. If he can do that (plus rebound and defend of course) we will be in great shape at center. Seems like something he's built for.

 

[Orangezoo]

That does not look like a real basketball in his hand.

Naheem may not be 280 like Edey but he is most certainly not the stick Chukwu was

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I think so, going only by that one good game he had against us (so not knowing much). He scored a bunch of points off catching lobs and finishing. That is what we need from him. Mintz and Sterling are going to be beating their man off the dribble regularly. We need McCloud's defender to be afraid to leave him and provide help D and for McCloud to catch and finish when his defender does help. If he can do that (plus rebound and defend of course) we will be in great shape at center. Seems like something he's built for.

Since none of us are 7'4", it's hard for us to fathom how hard it is to score around the basket with other big guys pushing and shoving on every possession. What's also hard to fathom is why these 7 foot guys are incapable of developing a Sky hook to take advantage of their height. Instead, most of them want to be 3 point shooters.

 

[sutomcat]

This is what Rakeem Christmas had to say about Naheem, eem on emm if you will...

Boeheim’s Army gives an early scouting report on Syracuse basketball team after scrimmage

The members of Boeheim's Army had a chance to scrimmage current Syracuse basketball players.

www.syracuse.com

Rakeem Christmas on Naheem McLeod

Rakeem Christmas is a strong guy. He stands 6-foot-10 and there does not appear to be an ounce of fat on his 250-pound frame.

But even Christmas was astounded by the size of Naheem McLeod. The 7-foot-4, 255-pound center transferred to Syracuse this offseason from Florida State. McLeod averaged 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in roughly 13 minutes per game last season for the Seminoles.

“He’s big as hell,’’ Christmas said. “That’s a big body down there. He’s going to be real good for us. He’s solid. I tried to go down there and dunk and he stopped me. Not a lot of people do that. That’s saying a lot right there.’’

 

[Orangezoo]

This is what Rakeem Christmas had to say about Naheem, eem on emm if you will...

Boeheim’s Army gives an early scouting report on Syracuse basketball team after scrimmage

The members of Boeheim's Army had a chance to scrimmage current Syracuse basketball players.

www.syracuse.com

Rakeem Christmas on Naheem McLeod

Rakeem Christmas is a strong guy. He stands 6-foot-10 and there does not appear to be an ounce of fat on his 250-pound frame.

But even Christmas was astounded by the size of Naheem McLeod. The 7-foot-4, 255-pound center transferred to Syracuse this offseason from Florida State. McLeod averaged 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in roughly 13 minutes per game last season for the Seminoles.

“He’s big as hell,’’ Christmas said. “That’s a big body down there. He’s going to be real good for us. He’s solid. I tried to go down there and dunk and he stopped me. Not a lot of people do that. That’s saying a lot right there.’’

The one constant I figure will be grabbing some boards, blocking a few shots and deterring others. Then as matchups provide some bigger games in terms of finishing lobs and put backs etc. I can see him being a 0p/ 5r and 3 b a couple games then 10/5/2 in others just as an example. Presence and doing what's asked that isn't necessarily in the box score will be big for Naheem just as much.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I’ll take 4/5/1.5b in 15-18 minutes per game.

 

[atlanticuse]

how many minutes do we think he can play a game, max? half?

 

[Day2]

This is what Rakeem Christmas had to say about Naheem, eem on emm if you will...

Boeheim’s Army gives an early scouting report on Syracuse basketball team after scrimmage

The members of Boeheim's Army had a chance to scrimmage current Syracuse basketball players.

www.syracuse.com

Rakeem Christmas on Naheem McLeod

Rakeem Christmas is a strong guy. He stands 6-foot-10 and there does not appear to be an ounce of fat on his 250-pound frame.

But even Christmas was astounded by the size of Naheem McLeod. The 7-foot-4, 255-pound center transferred to Syracuse this offseason from Florida State. McLeod averaged 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in roughly 13 minutes per game last season for the Seminoles.

“He’s big as hell,’’ Christmas said. “That’s a big body down there. He’s going to be real good for us. He’s solid. I tried to go down there and dunk and he stopped me. Not a lot of people do that. That’s saying a lot right there.’’

I wonder if he’s ever tried dunking on his father-in-law.

 

[Niastri]

how many minutes do we think he can play a game, max? half?

One critique of the Highlander is that he gets fatigued quickly in up and down games. Hopefully he's improved on that since last season, but his conditioning limited his minutes at Florida State.

He might be a candidate for quick moves in and out of the game, even when he's effective. Hima will have lots of chances to play when we need a really big guy in there. Also, when McLeod gets tired, it allows for a change of pace sub to get Brown in at center.

 

[jr4750]

Was buying tickets for Gtown and took a look at their roster. They are big too. Hope McLeod can handle the load for us this year.

 

[Orangezoo]

One critique of the Highlander is that he gets fatigued quickly in up and down games. Hopefully he's improved on that since last season, but his conditioning limited his minutes at Florida State.

He might be a candidate for quick moves in and out of the game, even when he's effective. Hima will have lots of chances to play when we need a really big guy in there. Also, when McLeod gets tired, it allows for a change of pace sub to get Brown in at center.

15-20 mins at most is going to be his game.

 

[Orangezoo]

Was buying tickets for Gtown and took a look at their roster. They are big too. Hope McLeod can handle the load for us this year.

They have three guys over 6-9. One played 3 games last year and the other is Dikembes son who played 15 games last year and then Drew Fielder who we recruited and is very skinny at 6-10 216. Neither of the returning guys had any impact. Fielder will be good but he is a stretch big.

 

[jordville]

 

[pwong]

They have three guys over 6-9. One played 3 games last year and the other is Dikembes son who played 15 games last year and then Drew Fielder who we recruited and is very skinny at 6-10 216. Neither of the returning guys had any impact. Fielder will be good but he is a stretch big.

Apparently Gtown got smoked on the glass by Wake during their secret scrimmage.

 

[Sbucketball]

In Mike's Mailbox today, Mike wrote "Either Naheem McLeod or Maliq Brown will start at center." Interesting that he doesn't think it's a done deal that McLeod starts.

 

[Cusefan0307]

In Mike's Mailbox today, Mike wrote "Either Naheem McLeod or Maliq Brown will start at center." Interesting that he doesn't think it's a done deal that McLeod starts.

Going to be difficult to keep Maliq off the court. He does everything well except he’s not 7’4”.

 

[Sherman20]

In Mike's Mailbox today, Mike wrote "Either Naheem McLeod or Maliq Brown will start at center." Interesting that he doesn't think it's a done deal that McLeod starts.

I’m still irritated that Jesse bolted on us. We would have been a preseason top 25 team with him.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I’m still irritated that Jesse bolted on us. We would have been a preseason top 25 team with him.

meh.

 

[Sherman20]

meh.

We’re gonna wish we had Jesse when we run into the gauntlet of Maui and our meatgrinder non conference schedule. We could be significantly better with him in the middle. I don’t get the sense that McLeod is gonna be much more than he was at Florida State, maybe a little bit better. My expectations for him are low. Fortunately our guard group could end up being one of the best in the country.

 

[Cusefan0307]

We’re gonna wish we had Jesse when we run into the gauntlet of Maui and our meatgrinder non conference schedule. We could be significantly better with him in the middle. I don’t get the sense that McLeod is gonna be much more than he was at Florida State, maybe a little bit better. My expectations for him are low. Fortunately our guard group could end up being one of the best in the country.

We aren’t going to agree and that’s fine. Jesse’s game was not built for how Red wants to play.

 

[Orangezoo]

We’re gonna wish we had Jesse when we run into the gauntlet of Maui and our meatgrinder non conference schedule. We could be significantly better with him in the middle. I don’t get the sense that McLeod is gonna be much more than he was at Florida State, maybe a little bit better. My expectations for him are low. Fortunately our guard group could end up being one of the best in the country.

This team is built differently and will play differently. I loved Jesse too but the bigs in Maui would take his lunch money if we planned to have him go 1 on 1 in the post all game.

 

[UpstateSM]

Jesse wouldn't have been happy with his role here.

I'm not going to pretend that I don't wish he stayed, I do, but there's a good chance it was what he as best for both parties. Life is funny.

 

[OrangeDW]

Going to be difficult to keep Maliq off the court. He does everything well except he’s not 7’4”.

Feels likely that Brown and Westry are 2 of the top 5 players on the team.

So I really hope Bell and McCleod come through.

Those “we have 7 starters” teams are my favorites.

 

[Sherman20]

We aren’t going to agree and that’s fine. Jesse’s game was not built for how Red wants to play.

“Jesse’s game was not built for how Red wants to play.” This whole idea that Jesse can’t play in a more uptempo system is just not true. You can still play 3-4 guards/wings. Red wanted Jesse back. He and Judah were the key pieces he was hoping to build around. He left only because of a stupid WVU NLI package. We’ll still be good but we could’ve been even better with Jesse.

 

[dasher]

A NBA scout watched us recently. He came away impressed with...Malik Brown. We just might be in solid shape at the 5.