not overly surprised, but

[stuckinbig11]

in some respects, this makes life easier. I really want to see DC2, Baye, and Rak succeed, as well as see James turn the corner to be a full-time star. With it being less crowded, there is a better chance of that happening. Noel would have been nice, but I think he had doubts about his playing time here.

 

[Noexcuse]

in some respects, this makes life easier. I really want to see DC2, Baye, and Rak succeed, as well as see James turn the corner to be a full-time star. With it being less crowded, there is a better chance of that happening. Noel would have been nice, but I think he had doubts about his playing time here.

I never really thought it worked in our favor after he reclassified to this year. Playing time for somebody was going to be an issue.

 

[IthacaMatt]

in some respects, this makes life easier. I really want to see DC2, Baye, and Rak succeed, as well as see James turn the corner to be a full-time star. With it being less crowded, there is a better chance of that happening. Noel would have been nice, but I think he had doubts about his playing time here.

Yeah, 3 big guys to rotate is enough, and they bring 3 different body types. I think Coleman is going to be a surprisingly good rebounder, seeing how most freshmen big men usually struggle. Keita still gives us that lanky guy inside to intimidate around the rim, and Christmas is going to hopefully make a big leap, based on his late season performances. Hopefully they gave him confidence, but also showed him that he has to play at a higher level, intensity wise, and he has to be smarter out there.

 

[bballbeadle]

I agree with all these smart posters. I believe the dynamic could have gotten ugly. We have plenty of talent in this position. Also, I don't think we'll have to have any anxiety about this particular team a la Fab, and we might have had it with Noel. We are now a "real" college team, one people might want to get behind and support unambivalently. Yes, the drug charges and Bernie are still wafting around, but there are 6 months left before the start of the season, and hopefully those stories will run their course before that. (Perhaps I am being naive with that one.)

 

[SmilinBob]

Yeah, 3 big guys to rotate is enough, and they bring 3 different body types. I think Coleman is going to be a surprisingly good rebounder, seeing how most freshmen big men usually struggle. Keita still gives us that lanky guy inside to intimidate around the rim, and Christmas is going to hopefully make a big leap, based on his late season performances. Hopefully they gave him confidence, but also showed him that he has to play at a higher level, intensity wise, and he has to be smarter out there.

What I would absolutely love to see is X and DC3 be able to pass and shoot foul line to baseline to each other. I'm not sure teams playing man to man could stop that as long as SU uses the proper spacing.

 

[stuckinbig11]

The more I thought about this last night, the more I came to believe that, playing with DC2 at the high school all-star events, Noel saw how good he was and became concerned that he might not even start at SU, whereas Kentucky will have a bare cupboard and no competition in the SEC. It was probably a no-brainer for him, even if he really did want to come to SU. I wish him the best, but I hope his "team" loses every game next year.