Next season predictions

[OrangeCrush22]

I'm bored, so here are my predictions. Remember I'm, almost, never wrong.

Lineup: I think we'll go 10ish deep again.

1.)Carter-Williams
2.)Triche (Needs to become go-to-guy)
3.)Southerland (Needs to be more consistent, or CJ will takeover)
4.)Christmas
5.)Coleman

6.)Fair (Forward)
Cooney (3rd guard)
Grant (Forward)
Keita (Center)
Mookie (SG/SF)

Recruits:
Tyler Ennis
Goodluck Okonoboh
Rondae Jefferson (Philly connection)

Season: First in Big East. 1 seeds in order - UK, IU, SU, UCLA

 

[jekelish]

I'm bored, so here are my predictions. Remember I'm, almost, never wrong.

Lineup: I think we'll go 10ish deep again.

1.)Carter-Williams
2.)Triche (Needs to become go-to-guy)
3.)Southerland (Needs to be more consistent, or CJ will takeover)
4.)Christmas
5.)Coleman

6.)Fair (Forward)
Cooney (3rd guard)
Grant (Forward)
Keita (Center)
Mookie (SG/SF)

Recruits:
Tyler Ennis
Goodluck Okonoboh
Rondae Jefferson (Philly connection)

Season: First in Big East. 1 seeds in order - UK, IU, SU, UCLA

Starting 5:

PG - MCW
SG - BT
SF - CJ
PF - Rak
C - DC2

6th Man - Dirty
7th - Cooney
8th - BMK
9th (and almost never plays) - Moo Moo Grant
10th (only in emergency) - Mookie, if he's indeed back

I think we will see a return to the 7.5 man rotation next year. Dirty will come in for either Rak or DC. When he comes in for DC, Rak will slide over to the 5. DC will then come in for Rak, so that, in effect, DC and Rak will both start but back each other up as long as they are out of foul trouble, with BMK getting maybe 10 minutes per game. I don't see Grant playing much, if at all, in conference.

 

[Orangezoo]

starting 5

mcw
triche
cj
james
rak

6th dc2
7th cooney
8th bmk
9th grant

i think jb goes with experience to start the season which could change. cooney and dc2 off the bench continue the theme of bringing instant offense from the bench. i think we are a 2 or 3 seed next year that no one wants to deal with. there will be some upstarts in conference next year.. i think we have 5-7 losses in the reg season.

1 seeds- indy, duke, ucla...??? uk , if lamb and teague are gone will be paper thin at guard and will struggle regardless of noel. goodwin and harrow are not enough...

 

[SoBristol]

From last April (when early line-up predictions were made) to October, the big surprises were:
Fab, in top condition, becoming a force on defense;
Dion finding maturity, taking guidance from JB -- working into the first round of the draft, never starting, but OK with it, almost always closing out games while BT sat;
Southerland rounding out his game and contributing more than 3s;
JB breaking the 7.0 mold, again, and to a degree many could not fathom;
BT not lifting his game as most projected.
KJ -- see BT.
Rak starting, but only for a minute or two.
CJ playing second most minutes.
MCW playing well when he had chances, but posting DNPs.

So, hard to get it right (even if the starters may be obvious) because kids improve, or not, in 6 months. One of our guys (Cooney, Keita, Grant, Rak) should provide a major surprise.

 

[cap2nine]

Starting 5:

PG - MCW
SG - BT
SF - CJ
PF - Rak
C - DC2

6th Man - Dirty
7th - Cooney
8th - BMK
9th (and almost never plays) - Moo Moo Grant
10th (only in emergency) - Mookie, if he's indeed back

I think we will see a return to the 7.5 man rotation next year. Dirty will come in for either Rak or DC. When he comes in for DC, Rak will slide over to the 5. DC will then come in for Rak, so that, in effect, DC and Rak will both start but back each other up as long as they are out of foul trouble, with BMK getting maybe 10 minutes per game. I don't see Grant playing much, if at all, in conference.

I'm with you 100% on the starting 5, keeping in mind that the starters may not get the lion's share of PT, Coleman in particular. And I think JS will be in the running for BE 6th man of the year.

After that, I just don't see it the same as everyone else I guess. JB's plan was always to develop Rak into a PF. Necessity forced him to play some 5 this past season. Why does everyone think Boeheim is going to abandon his plan?

Also, just about everyone is undervaluing BK and over anticipating DC. Keita, once he was pushed into the spotlight, came on strong in the last few games this past season and outperformed Rak at center. I'm not questioning Coleman's ability or potential or how valuable he could be on the offensive end but I do question whether he will immediately be able to apply himself at the college level. And if Melo's and Rak's freshman years are any indicators, JB will question it too.

Basically, DC will start but Keita will get the majority of the work. Don't be surprised to see a stronger, better, more assertive version of BK come October.

Cooney gets plenty of play in our 3 guard rotation, averaging about 18-22 minutes per game.

Grant will get some time but I wouldn't expect him to overplay any of our other forwards. He'll average about 10 minutes per game.

Mookie, should he return, will be our injury/ineligibility safety net with garbage time late in games.

This is going to be a very good team. We have more flat-out talent than last year but still some of the same questions. We need Triche and CJ to step to the front.

 

[jekelish]

Not sure I agree with the "more flat out talent" part, since we are losing Fab, Dion, Kris and Scoop and only adding DC (who will start), and Grant (who will be 9th man).

 

[SmilinBob]

I agree with a lot of this stuff said by all but I wonder if Fair or Grant could swing over to play guard if the need has to be filled.

 

[jekelish]

I agree with a lot of this stuff said by all but I wonder if Fair or Grant could swing over to play guard if the need has to be filled.

All indications are that Grant doesn't have nearly the skill, at this point, to play the 2. Maybe CJ could in an emergency, or possibly Dirty. I don't like the prospect of either, though.

 

[CaptainJ]

Not sure I agree with the "more flat out talent" part, since we are losing Fab, Dion, Kris and Scoop and only adding DC (who will start), and Grant (who will be 9th man).

I'm with you on being unsure on that, the jury is still out. But you also have to add Cooney, even though he isn't technically new. Deep range firepower is something we lacked last season. MCW is almost "new", with the extreme lack of hardwood he saw last year. Regardless, I agree with you that it's too soon to make any comparison on overall talent.

 

[Marsh01]

The only starters who I think are guaranteed are Triche, MCW, Fair an Rak. I would assume DC2 starts but I could also see James start. I would like to see James come off the bench for that offensive spark.

I think this team will be good next season but will take some lumps. I do not see us having an undefeated non conference again although I dont think we will have a What loss. I could see us losing to SDST or Temple or in the SEC game against whomever we play.

We should be in the top 4 of the BE preseason rankings and I think that we will stay in the top 4 all year and finish with something like a 12-6 record.

I do think that we do have the potential to be a very dangerous team come March. Lots of unknown questions need to be answered. Will MCW step right in and be the player we think he will be? Will Rak take the next step up like Fab did and be a much more productive player? Will Triche somehow emerge as a leader and be a consistent shooter? What kind of shape will Coleman come into the season at and can he log 25 minutes a game? How good will Trevor Cooney be?

I do think that all of these answers will be yes, yes, I hope so, for the most part and very good.

Looking forward to October 15th already.

 

[BleedsOrange44]

All indications are that Grant doesn't have nearly the skill, at this point, to play the 2. Maybe CJ could in an emergency, or possibly Dirty. I don't like the prospect of either, though.

I've watched him at the all-star games and his handle is MUCH better than people give him credit for. He just wasn't asked to handle it a lot in high school, but doesn't mean he can't. From what I've seen and who I've talked to, he absolutely could play guard in an emergency. His handle is far and away better than Joseph's (not that it's saying much), and Joseph played guard in an emergency. I actually think Grant can handle just fine, and will be a strength of his as a forward.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I really want to see James blossom into a starting, all-round player.

 

[EastCoast2]

His handle is far and away better than Joseph's

This might be the best news of the week if true

 

[pfister1]

I think next season's team has the potential to be a team that takes some early lumps and improves considerably as the season goes along given the inexperience outside of Brandon and CJ/JS. Would be absolutely shocked if we were wire to wire consistent (at least in terms of wins) like this year or '09-'10.

 

[SWC75]

Coleman belongs in the paint. I think he would have been the "5" even with Noel. Christmas will be the 4 and will see time at the 5 along with Keita. Fair will be the small forward and there will be times he and Southerland will both play. Grant is gravy: we don't need him and whatever contributions he makes will just be a plus. MCW will be one of the best point guards we have ever. Triche will play the Kueth Duany role from '03- the solid all around player who provides senior leadership for a team full of young talents. Cooney will be a different player than Waiters but will have the same role- instant offense off the bench.

It's amazing that we went 34-3 with no inside scoring, no really good rebounder and no really good outside shooter. Coleman and Cooney give us those things. We won't have the big time shot blocker intimidator in the middle that Fab was but we got to the Elite 8 without Fab and Christmas/Keita had 9 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks vs. Sullinger and company. People forget that Rakeem was a highly rated big man and that ehw as a freshman last year. He may never be Fab but he's my leading candidate to "blow up": come back next year as a much better player than we saw this last year.

With Noel, I think we'd have been the favorite to win the national title. He's looking to be this year's Anthony Davis and lead UK to another title but that mix of talents will be hard to duplicate and I think it's more likely Kentucky will resemble their previous teams under Calipari- a hugely talented team that isn't quite the sum of it's parts. I think we will likely be a better team.

Without Noel, I still think we'll have one of the country's top teams and a national championship contender. I'd actually rather be a contender than a favorite because if it were obvious we were the best team, I'd spend four months worrying about how the season will end, because being the best team isn't enough. I just want to feel that we have a shot at it.

 

[OttoMets]

Four important things (and maybe the difference between a decent team and a very good team):

1. Will Coleman's fitness keep him on the court?
2. Will Cooney's defense keep him on the court?
3. Will Fair become a reliable offensive option?
4. Will Rakeem become a reliable offensive option?

And, the hotly-disputed one, will Triche become a consistent scorer and performer? Like, even 14 a night without many single-digit scoring nights?

We know, more or less, what we're getting out of everyone else. Yeah, Keita's got to consistently catch the ball, and Southerland could bring more consistent scoring. But none of those first four has demonstrated that he can do that at the college level, and Syracuse probably can't be a one seed without three of those four things happening (we need an honest post presence and a capable backup center, we need three guards of starter quality, we need a scoring wing, and we'll benefit hugely from having an extra option out there at the four without forcing South into that role).

Like everyone else said, we'll probably lose some games that we're not accustomed to losing (though I'd hate to see our great nonconference streak come to an end - going on four years since 12/15/2008), but it's a group that has the potential to become a great team - certainly more potent in the half-court offense than our last two.

 

[SmilinBob]

I think Boeheim will be a lot more patient with Triche and give him more time to work out of slumps, it's hard to see a guy struggling a bit and not throw in Waiters...he doesn't have that asset anymore. I think the extra time along will bump up his numbers and you can't do that sitting on the bench. As I've wrote before, if Trich is our biggest worry, this team will be in very good shape.

If X shows in practice he can make plays, which I believe he can...Jimmy will have more patience with him. I don't see Coleman playing the wings on D because of his feet/size so it'll limit his time but he has the potential to lose some weight and possibly do so. That said, if he labors down the court Boeheim has 2 other guys that can play center so that alone might be an incentive for DC3 to get his butt in shape. I do remember watching Fab sprint down for a fastbreak slam and then fad away on D until he was taken out for a rest. This teams dynamics should be quite interesting.

 

[H20TownOrange]

PG-MCW
SG-Triche
SF-Fair
PF-Rak
C-DC2
6th-Dirty
7th-White Hot
8th-Keita
9-Grant
10-Mook

I like what this team will look like in February and March, nobody will want to play us. I can see us getting off to a slow start until we get the rotation set and guys learn their roles and the ins and outs of the zone. One thing I love about the prospect of this team is we should still be able to play in transition, but i don't think teams are going to be able to play stall ball against us. Our half court offense should improve dramatically with inside play from DC2 and hopeful improvment from Rak and a consistent outside shooter in Cooney to keep defenses from clogging the lanes. I do think we will let a few games slip away do to inexperience but win other games people do not expect us to. It will be a fun season!!

 

[orange03]

Worse record. By end of year a better team.

 

[moqui]

unless CJ makes a quantam leap in his offense, there will be spacing problems playing DC2, Rak and CJ together- three guys whose offense is all 10 feet and in. I think James clearly has the leg up as the other starting forward, because as of now, he is the only one who spaces the offense.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

unless CJ makes a quantam leap in his offense, there will be spacing problems playing DC2, Rak and CJ together- three guys whose offense is all 10 feet and in. I think James clearly has the leg up as the other starting forward, because as of now, he is the only one who spaces the offense.

And if Dirty started with Rak, then when you subbed in for CJ (if it was for JS) you could have the option of putting in Whitehot to keep the defense from collapsing.

This spacing could give the one on one post problems for the apposing defenses that JB loves to attack, if DC2 is up to the task.

As for the other threads that keep saying they expect a slow start, I don't see it. This team will have a lot of veterans, more than most. BT, soph MCW, CJ, and BMK and Dirty would compose a starting team full of vets. The only reason I don't see them starting is because the Rak and DC2 will be good. And JB will, as always, play to win. The only thing I would think he would conciously develop early is DC2 in the post. And that won't be at the expense of losing games.

I am not saying they are going to improve on last years record. Just that I don't see them having a slow start.

 

[kjb120]

I agree with Southerland starting at the 3, not only does he provide better spacing if Rak and DC are both also starting but I think his defense is very underrated. Also I like CJ off the bench rather then starting, I think he provides a better spark.