Official practice starting today, what are you looking for?

[CuseLifer11]

Well, PC hasn't gained a pound...

This is ok for zone. He needs to be able to cover the corners.

 

[Cuse'91]

This is ok for zone. He needs to be able to cover the corners.

Lol...

 

[kcsu]

Dont sleep on Chubaka

 

[OrangeDW]

This is ok for zone. He needs to be able to cover the corners.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[721Comstock]

That's fair. He was rushing himself.
He is a talented kid, no question. I like his game a lot. Just hope he doesn't have too much rust.

Rust?

He's been practicing with the team for an entire year now, full go.
Was Wes "rusty" after his RS year?

MM was healthy enough to play last year, but between being behind on conditioning and the logjam at F, it would have been pointless to do so.

 

[721Comstock]

Yeah but is he 7'0 yet

He will be once Rothstein sees him.

 

[Rautins07]

I would love to see us get back to getting out and running, pace seemed to slow starting with Ennis, which because of his success was fine, but I miss the days of the get out and go. It used to be when you talked about Syracuse basketball it was "Can teams run with them" now its all 2-3 zone. Would love for a solid 20-25 minutes of shot blocking, stay out of the paint from Chukwu, I don't care if he scores, and he probably won't, but I think if we rebound and make it a living hell to come into the paint, we have the athletes to run all night!

 

[iommi]

I would love to see us get back to getting out and running, pace seemed to slow starting with Ennis, which because of his success was fine, but I miss the days of the get out and go. It used to be when you talked about Syracuse basketball it was "Can teams run with them" now its all 2-3 zone. Would love for a solid 20-25 minutes of shot blocking, stay out of the paint from Chukwu, I don't care if he scores, and he probably won't, but I think if we rebound and make it a living hell to come into the paint, we have the athletes to run all night!

If you want to run, Sidibe should be the center. That's his game.

 

[orangefog]

If you want to run, Sidibe should be the center. That's his game.

Yep, if we are going to run, we have to have bigs that we trust to rebound. If Sidibe proves he can rebound early this season, it will be huge. Obviously the forwards are important here as well. They all can get up and down the floor, but if we don't have the ball it doesn't help much.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

If you want to run, Sidibe should be the center. That's his game.

How would you compare Sidibe to Thompson.

 

[OrangeDW]

I would love to see us get back to getting out and running, pace seemed to slow starting with Ennis, which because of his success was fine, but I miss the days of the get out and go. It used to be when you talked about Syracuse basketball it was "Can teams run with them" now its all 2-3 zone. Would love for a solid 20-25 minutes of shot blocking, stay out of the paint from Chukwu, I don't care if he scores, and he probably won't, but I think if we rebound and make it a living hell to come into the paint, we have the athletes to run all night!

Funny thing about Ennis, I watched him play last night in Lakers preseason game and he was looking to push it in transition every chance possible. That’s clearly what the Lakers are emphasizing this year, and he did a good job looking up the court and pushing the tempo. He had 8 assists in 12 minutes of play.

Perhaps at Cuse he was just doing what the coaches wanted, with that deliberate style of play rather than him being poor at pushing it? We didn’t exactly have the most explosive 2 guard to leak out and finish that year.

 

[iommi]

How would you compare Sidibe to Thompson.

Very different. Sidibe is defensive-minded. He can block shots and can rebound better than TT. He is ambidextrous with a few ways to finish around the basket. He has a jumper but needs to be open for it to be effective and it's better from about 15 feet. Thompson is a better shooter, needless to say. Bourama doesn't mind doing dirty work out there, picking up loose balls and converting layups off offensive rebounds.

 

[retro44]

Funny thing about Ennis, I watched him play last night in Lakers preseason game and he was looking to push it in transition every chance possible. That’s clearly what the Lakers are emphasizing this year, and he did a good job looking up the court and pushing the tempo. He had 8 assists in 12 minutes of play.

Perhaps at Cuse he was just doing what the coaches wanted, with that deliberate style of play rather than him being poor at pushing it? We didn’t exactly have the most explosive 2 guard to leak out and finish that year.

I was getting ripped when I pointed out numerous times when Ennis was walking the ball up and it took 8-9 seconds to reach half court and the staff was not getting on him for doing it. He was being told to slow everything down to BIG 10 pace levels. Ken Pom at the time had stats to back it up.

 

[jdubs30]

I was getting ripped when I pointed out numerous times when Ennis was walking the ball up and it took 8-9 seconds to reach half court and the staff was not getting on him for doing it. He was being told to slow everything down to BIG 10 pace levels. Ken Pom at the time had stats to back it up.

We didn't have a whole lot of offensive weapons that year and I suppose limiting total possessions for both teams while playing well in the zone was what JB was after.

 

[Trueblue25]

He can hit threes and distribute the rock.

Washington will take minutes.

 

[Consigliere]

So do you think Washington might actually split time with Frank at PG (maybe 15mpg?)? Would JB then slide Geno over to the 2 and have Battle play significant minutes at SF? Moyer and Brissett could man the PF position and also play some SF when Battle moves to the 2. It'll be interesting to see what lineups JB finds most effective. Man, I hope Chukwu and Sidibe are ready to provide defense, rim protection and rebounding in the middle. That will be key.

Think regardless of Washington's contributions this might be the most flexible roster we have had in some time. Virtually everyone with the exception of Chukwu has the ability to play at least two positions with the key being Battle swinging between 2 and 3. We realistically need 3 of 6 or 7 players (Moyer, Brissett, Dolezaj, Washington, Thorpe, Sidibe and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt by including Howard) to become X-factor contributors and with the flexibility it can almost be ANY 3 of the 7 with others sliding up or down a position to fill out the lineup.

 

[reedny]

If you want to run, Sidibe should be the center. That's his game.

True ... rebounding is key to running. And Sidibe/Wu's ability to outlet quickly will be vital to the transition game ... which we're going to need. Against that is the fact that we have only 9 scholarship players.

 

[iommi]

Think regardless of Washington's contributions this might be the most flexible roster we have had in some time. Virtually everyone with the exception of Chukwu has the ability to play at least two positions with the key being Battle swinging between 2 and 3. We realistically need 3 of 6 or 7 players (Moyer, Brissett, Dolezaj, Washington, Thorpe, Sidibe and I'll give him the benefit of the doubt by including Howard) to become X-factor contributors and with the flexibility it can almost be ANY 3 of the 7 with others sliding up or down a position to fill out the lineup.

We all said last year's roster was flexible. That didn't lead to enough wins but I do agree with your post.

 

[OrangeDW]

True ... rebounding is key to running. And 'Wu's ability to outlet quickly will be vital to the transition game ... which we're going to need. Against that is the fact that we have only 9 scholarship players.

Yup. We haven’t exactly been stocked with good passers or guys that are good at finishing at the rim in recent years either...also things that are needed to play effectively in transition.

 

[pearl31]

My 3 primary concerns:
1) Chemistry/cohesion on the court, at least early on - several new players and very little time together
2) Shooting, esp from 3
3) Interior defense

 

[RF2044]

My 3 primary concerns:
1) Chemistry/cohesion on the court, at least early on - several new players and very little time together
2) Shooting, esp from 3
3) Interior defense

Probably need to add foul trouble to the list.

We're going to be a MUCH different offensive team than we were last year, that's for sure.

 

[Orangezoo]

Probably need to add foul trouble to the list.

We're going to be a MUCH different offensive team than we were last year, that's for sure.

Points in the paint and the FT line are going to be the z factor. Can we get into the lane a lot more and finish (transition included) and also live a little more at the FT Line with that aggression. We come out shooting 28 3s a game waiting for someone besides Battle to take the initiative and things could get ugly.

 

[two3zone]

My 3 primary concerns:
1) Chemistry/cohesion on the court, at least early on - several new players and very little time together
2) Shooting, esp from 3
3) Interior defense

Same here, one I'll add for myself is how the improvement on defense will be for Howard and Battle. I think Battle will be fine on offense and I think Howard will end up being a surprise on offense as well.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Let's be real, practice against each other means very little. We heard our head coach claim we might have the best team he's ever had last year and look how that turned out.

Just keep everyone healthy and build team chemistry. That's what I want to see. Everything else will fall into place as it may.