Next years backline is going to kill it in shotblocking...

[orangefan13]

Even more so if Jerami Grant shows he is mobile and up to the speed of the college game.

I was thinking about it and usually JB has teams with one or two shotblockers.
But next year with Rak in the middle, JB can put a team together with Fair, James, and maybe even Grant on the wings(if hes up to the speed of the college game). Maybe even throw Baye in the equation. Hence, a triple threat on the floor together.

I can't think of to many SU teams in the last decade that have had that. Warrick, Anthony, and Mcneil are the closest thing I can think of. One could argue Rick ,Arinze, Wes and Joseph but Rick wasn't really mobile at the four and Joseph was only a soph. But those were two darn good teams and defenses that also killed it in rebounding. It might prove helpfull if Rak,Fair, James, Grant and Keita tried to learn to block with their off hands this year. Maybe Dajuan will suprise with the shotblocking as well but it would be a stretch.

We all know how scrappy Fair is and we all saw James block a Andre Drummond dunk last year on the road. Any thoughts?

 

[rrlbees]

We'll be good but I don't think we'll be any better than last year. There is no Fab in the middle and DC is not a shot blocker. I don't view James as a shot blocker at all even tho he blocked Drummonds dunk. Same with Fair. Our lone real shot blocker is Christmas. Don't see big minutes for Grant.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[orangefan13]

Fair enough...

Last year
James had 34 in 593 minutes
Christmas 30 in 435 minutes, but the majority were at pf
Fab had 88 in 763.

CJ had .8 blocks a game in 16 minutes as a freshmen. He averaged only .5 blocks in 26 minutes last year. He dropped from 25 in 600 minutes as a fresh to 18 in 1000 minutes as a soph.

By comparison,
Wes had 64 in 1224 minutes in his one year here.
Warrick had 44 35 and 27 in his sophmore Jr and Senior years in roughly 1200 minutes those years.
Roberts had 45 as a Jr in 1100 minutes and 45 as a senior in 950 minutes.
Anthony had 30 as a fresh in 1200 minutes

If James were to average around 1100 minutes he would be up around Wes numbers, but should get alittle better in the offseason as well.
If CJ Moves to the three that should help some.

 

[moqui]

SU's zone is usually adept at blocking shots regardless of personnel - the Orange have been in the top 10 in block percentage 8 of the last 10 years, the top 5 in 7 of the last 10, the top 3 in 5 of 10 and number one twice.

predicting that the Orange will be among the nation's best shot blocking teams is like predicting 100 inches of snowfall in a syracuse winter . . . every once in a while you will be wrong, but not very often.

SU's block percentage last year was 19.2, good for 2nd in the nation. In 2011, the Orange were #1 in the nation with a slightly lower percentage (18.9). Fab's personal rate of 13.0 was the best individual mark of the decade for an Orange player and will be tough to replace, but as Orangefan13 points out, the weakside support should be outstanding this year and shotbocking for Syracuse is a team effort.

I want to note that I thought Wes Johnson in 2010 was the best help side shot blocker I have ever seen for Syracuse, and his block percentage of 5.7 is the highest recorded for a full time Syracuse wing player . . . but James last year had an incredible 6.5 block percentage. He has the combination of length and athleticism to be as good as or even better than Wes in a full time role

 

[orangefan13]

Thanks Moqui those are INSANE stats!

Can't wait to bring that to the ACC in 2013 either.