Orange Tipoff: Friday, October 13

[OttoinGrotto]

great report...and I know you are just being objective...but kinda deflates my hopes a bit...benny not separating himself by now is a problem for the front court. westry and cuffe seeming a year away? oh no. mcleod invisible? he's going to play a lot too... copeland outplaying all of the other forwards?

hmmm...idk

the backcourt is going to be good most likely but if the rest of the roster falls short...will be a decent team but not a great one.

Don't you worry.

Every little thing, is gonna be alright.

 

[bballbeadle]

great report...and I know you are just being objective...but kinda deflates my hopes a bit...benny not separating himself by now is a problem for the front court. westry and cuffe seeming a year away? oh no. mcleod invisible? he's going to play a lot too... copeland outplaying all of the other forwards?

hmmm...idk

the backcourt is going to be good most likely but if the rest of the roster falls short...will be a decent team but not a great one.

Well, as much as we all love Cusefan0307, he could be wrong, ya know.

 

[billsin01]

great report...and I know you are just being objective...but kinda deflates my hopes a bit...benny not separating himself by now is a problem for the front court. westry and cuffe seeming a year away? oh no. mcleod invisible? he's going to play a lot too... copeland outplaying all of the other forwards?

hmmm...idk

the backcourt is going to be good most likely but if the rest of the roster falls short...will be a decent team but not a great one.

Big guys rarely shine in a scrimmage setting like that, so McLeod not doing a whole lot doesn’t trip me out.

Benny is a bit of a different story. I think we’re all hoping the style change and coaching change plus some general improvement unlocks a difference-making player for us. But somehow I find myself somewhere short of cautiously optimistic. Like maybe cautiously willing to wait and see? Not sure. It’s rare to see a kid go from where Benny has been, which, to me, is not really a guy who helps you win basketball games, to being a key cog in a team that helps us climb back to the top 25 and a tournament berth. Rooting for him — seems like a good kid and has talent. But just a bit skeptical.

 

[Lukeyloo]

Big guys rarely shine in a scrimmage setting like that, so McLeod not doing a whole lot doesn’t trip me out.

Benny is a bit of a different story. I think we’re all hoping the style change and coaching change plus some general improvement unlocks a difference-making player for us. But somehow I find myself somewhere short of cautiously optimistic. Like maybe cautiously willing to wait and see? Not sure. It’s rare to see a kid go from where Benny has been, which, to me, is not really a guy who helps you win basketball games, to being a key cog in a team that helps us climb back to the top 25 and a tournament berth. Rooting for him — seems like a good kid and has talent. But just a bit skeptical.

yeah, I think fans are putting a lot of stock in Benny improving due to coaching change, but what evidence do we have to suggest that will help him. Some players just never end up playing to their potential. For me, if Benny improves then great. If not, at least we have other options at his position.

 

[billsin01]

yeah, I think fans are putting a lot of stock in Benny improving due to coaching change, but what evidence do we have to suggest that will help him. Some players just never end up playing to their potential. For me, if Benny improves then great. If not, at least we have other options at his position.

Yeah, he improved from year 1 to year 2, so it’s not crazy to think he could improve from 2 to 3. I also think he could improve without necessarily being a star or even a super consistent scorer offensively. Not sure what the odds would be on that but it’s more of a feel/effort/intensity thing vs skill development.

 

[General20]

Big guys rarely shine in a scrimmage setting like that, so McLeod not doing a whole lot doesn’t trip me out.

Benny is a bit of a different story. I think we’re all hoping the style change and coaching change plus some general improvement unlocks a difference-making player for us. But somehow I find myself somewhere short of cautiously optimistic. Like maybe cautiously willing to wait and see? Not sure. It’s rare to see a kid go from where Benny has been, which, to me, is not really a guy who helps you win basketball games, to being a key cog in a team that helps us climb back to the top 25 and a tournament berth. Rooting for him — seems like a good kid and has talent. But just a bit skeptical.

Nobody could possibly judge Benny's improvement just from that scrimmage.

Benny is going to be fine offensively. He's not going to be a guy who initiates offense. He wasn't even that in high school where he was a blue chip recuit. He is going to be a guy that knocks down the looks the guards get for him. In the scrimmage he wasnt even playing on the same team as either of the guards who will be doing most of that work.

Even last year Williams would have been a double digit scorer if he played regular minutes. He didn't because he was one of the worst defenders I've ever seen in a Syracuse uniform. What we need to learn is if he figured out things on D, and if he is better suited to man to man than he was to zone.

That scrimmage was not the place we will get answers to those questions.

Feel free to be hopeful or skeptical (I tend to be hopeful because I think 5 star recruits tend to eventually figure it out), but I wouldn't worry about anything that happens in this scrimmage or the next.

 

[two3zone]

Well, as much as we all love Cusefan0307, he could be wrong, ya know.

 

[two3zone]

Big guys rarely shine in a scrimmage setting like that, so McLeod not doing a whole lot doesn’t trip me out.

Has he shined anywhere else? There is plenty of data on the guy playing in the same conference, he can improve obviously but he isn’t exactly skilled.

 

[Orangezoo]

Has he shined anywhere else? There is plenty of data on the guy playing in the same conference, he can improve obviously but he isn’t exactly skilled.

A stronger taller Chukwu works just fine. Unlike when we had Pascal we should have more than 1.5 options to find offense from as well as more than a 1.5 man bench.

 

[Niastri]

A stronger taller Chukwu works just fine. Unlike when we had Pascal we should have more than 1.5 options to find offense from as well as more than a 1.5 man bench.

Hopefully he is more useful setting screens than Chukwu.

 

[Orangezoo]

Hopefully he is more useful seeing screens than Chukwu.

I'm not sure it's possible he isn't. Add "not basketball blind" to my description.

 

[two3zone]

A stronger taller Chukwu works just fine. Unlike when we had Pascal we should have more than 1.5 options to find offense from as well as more than a 1.5 man bench.

Is he stronger?

The problem with bigs like this is, if they’re good they’re in the league, if they’re not they’re usually pedestrian at best in college.

I hope he is awesome, but he’s closer to Chukwu than he is to Fab Melo imo. Jury is still out if he’s as good as Chukwu, he hasn’t been

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Is he stronger?

The problem with bigs like this is, if they’re good they’re in the league, if they’re not they’re usually pedestrian at best in college.

I hope he is awesome, but he’s closer to Chukwu than he is to Fab Melo imo. Jury is still out if he’s as good as Chukwu, he hasn’t been

You may be recalling PC in his 83rd year here. Give the new guy a minute.

 

[two3zone]

You may be recalling PC in his 83rd year here. Give the new guy a minute.

Played plenty of minutes for an awful Fla St team and didn’t do much. I’ll believe it when I see it.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Played plenty of minutes for an awful Fla St team and didn’t do much. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Like someone at providence before he arrived on the hill, perhaps?

 

[DanielA]

Played plenty of minutes for an awful Fla St team and didn’t do much. I’ll believe it when I see it.

He did have a double double against us and probably Jesse’s worse game from last year sooooo

 

[two3zone]

Like someone at providence before he arrived on the hill, perhaps?

Exactly. And the same things said about him before his first game is the same stuff being said now.

 

[two3zone]

He did have a double double against us and probably Jesse’s worse game from last year sooooo

Matthew Moyer had a couple crazy stat lines himself.

 

[Orangezoo]

If we are honestly leaning on McLeod being something special- then same statement goes for him being a 3pt shooter. We play maybe 6 games all year vs teams that have serious size. He does have Chuwku by 30 lbs so that has to count for something. Otherwise we shouldn't need him to do that much besides defend the rim, finish a few lobs, set some good screens and not be a dead guy on the boards.

 

[bballbeadle]

All of our players are seriously beefy, and I mean that in a good way.

Shut up!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[pearl31]

Like someone at providence before he arrived on the hill, perhaps?

when you get to a thread with cuseVT talking big men... don't get better than that

 

[BigNastyJon]

Cuffes answer to most anticipated game is great