Our crying need. A true center! | Page 12 | Syracusefan.com

Our crying need. A true center!

There is an absolute need for more 3 point shooting from the front court. Totally agree.

There are 2 ways to get it into the lineup - a 2nd tier stretch 4/5 who can defend the post and step out and hit a 3; or we can go look for another SF, but then Bell will probably leave if the new guy is starting quality.

I think that Brown and Freeman will be good enough from deep that teams won’t be able to leave them. If we also have a legit five man that will help the offense a lot. Which is why I lean towards proven wing shooter. Whatever lead guard we get will be a better shooter than Mintz was. You’ve also got Moore as a wild card and likely improvement and consistency from JJ.

As far as Bell goes I’m not too concerned. The difference with him and say, Copeland is that Red has made a huge effort to keep him. He’s improved a lot and I believe both he and his family see the benefit in the tough love that Red has given him to go with abundant opportunity. I would still feel a lot better bringing in another front court player who is a proven shooter. Things happen every season that you can’t plan for.
 
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I think that Brown and Freeman will be good enough from deep that teams won’t be able to leave them. If we also have a legit five man that will help the offense a lot. Which is why I lean towards proven wing shooter. Whatever lead guard we get will be a better shooter than Mintz was. You’ve also got Moore as a wild card and likely improvement and consistency from JJ.

As far as Bell goes I’m not too concerned. The difference with him and say, Copeland is that Red has made a huge effort to keep him. He’s improved a lot and I believe both he and his family see the benefit in the tough love that Red has given him to go with abundant opportunity. I would still feel a lot better bringing in another front court player who is proven shooter. Things happen every season that you can’t plan for.
So u think Bell may stay. Have u heard anything about Westry. ishe good,can he shoot.
 
We should be aiming for kids who have proven they can play.
Not bench warmers on good teams. Not injured guys.

We got John Gillon from Colorado State. Great pick up.
We got Elijah Hughes from East Carolina. Great pick up.
We got Andrew White from Nebraska. Great pick up.

Cole Swider wasn't a star at Villanova, but he a couple years of experience as a proven 3 point shooter for them. He wasn't taken based on his measurables or his high school tapes. Great pick up.

Allen Griffin from Illinois, like Swider, had played about 18 minutes a game and shown himself to be a 41% three point shooter vs. the Big 10. Was a very good pick up for us.

What do all of those guys have in common?
They were PROVEN college players.
They were guys NOT who never played.
They were not guys who were coming off injuries.
Wes Johnson (best transfer we ever got?)
 
Nobody needs to play 40 minutes. For the 2 bigs, there are 80 minutes.
Plus you can slide somebody like Donnie to the 3 against big opposing lineups.
Three guys could each play 25-30 minutes, and still have about 25-30 minutes for SF, and a handful of minutes for a big shot blocker.
I get the math, but I do think if we’re merely looking for a C to come off the bench, it will limit the quality of big man we’re likely to get. Still might be able to find a solid one but we won’t be in the conversation with the perceived top notch centers if we’re just offering minutes off the bench.

I also think the Donnie at 3 lineups will be very rough offensively unless our big guys make some major leaps shooting wise (which is of course possible).
 
Not sure if we will reach out or not but I am intrigued

He’s really skilled in the post with both hands. Really good passer and shoots the three. Not much to not like. Stanford to SU is a long ways away.
 
Cliff would be the ultimate get and a perfect fit.

If we're going to run it back with JJ and Bell as perimeter defenders, we need a shot blocking presence. We were such a sieve in the paint because had no ability to cover for the complete disaster Judah, JJ, Bell and Q were as defenders. But we also need someone who isn't going to be a complete deficiency offensively like McLeod. You can't even run an offense with him on the floor.

Cliff would solve all that. It won't happen, but you never know since we were involved originally.
 
If the assumption is Bell/Freeman/Brown start that means the transfer center is coming off the bench. Top top center portal guys are not coming to Syracuse to start the game on the bench.
 
If the assumption is Bell/Freeman/Brown start that means the transfer center is coming off the bench. Top top center portal guys are not coming to Syracuse to start the game on the bench.
scuttlebutt on the payside is that Freeman comes off the bench. Which is surprising to me, but if that what it takes to get a starting C, that's great by the kid to be OK with it.
 
scuttlebutt on the payside is that Freeman comes off the bench. Which is surprising to me, but if that what it takes to get a starting C, that's great by the kid to be OK with it.
I don't know why anyones surprised that a freshman will be coming off the bench when we have a Junior, who was voted as a top 5 defensive player in the conference, that plays the same position as him.
 
scuttlebutt on the payside is that Freeman comes off the bench. Which is surprising to me, but if that what it takes to get a starting C, that's great by the kid to be OK with it.
If that is the case...wonderful. Go get the best dang center you can. Desperate need on this roster.
 
I don't know why anyones surprised that a freshman will be coming off the bench when we have a Junior, who was voted as a top 5 defensive player in the conference, that plays the same position as him.
That isn't a good idea for future recruiting, a top 10 player coming off the bench for a one dimensional player will eliminate future recruiting of top players.
Would rather either get rid of Bell or tell him He is coming off the bench.
 
That isn't a good idea for future recruiting, a top 10 player coming off the bench for a one dimensional player will eliminate future recruiting of top players.
Would rather either get rid of Bell or tell him He is coming off the bench.

If we put him in the NBA it does not matter one bit if he started or not his freshman year. Wouldn't be a good idea to get rid of your best shooter when nobody else shoot's above 32%.

Also you don't start a highly ranked Freshman just to make it look good for future recruits. You know what attracts recruits? Winning games. Our biggest struggle this year was on the defensive end. Would make sense to start your best defensive player.
 
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I get the math, but I do think if we’re merely looking for a C to come off the bench, it will limit the quality of big man we’re likely to get. Still might be able to find a solid one but we won’t be in the conversation with the perceived top notch centers if we’re just offering minutes off the bench.

I also think the Donnie at 3 lineups will be very rough offensively unless our big guys make some major leaps shooting wise (which is of course possible).

Of the 4 or 5 people who rotate in the front court, one of the "big 4" is not going to start.

Now, we know 2 of the people pretty much for certain - Donnie Freeman and Maliq Brown.

If we were to get a big time center, we could sell Donnie, the freshman, with coming off the bench, so long as he got his 25 minutes a game. I mean a guy who was good enough at another school, that Freeman would respect this guy starting, because he gave us legitimate interior defense. Because remember, neither Donnie or Maliq wants to spend most of their time defending the low post against burly guys who outweigh them by 30-60 pounds.

Donnie is probably going to expect to get some time out on the perimeter without getting yanked for trying a 3 pointer. That's why he's a Mickey Dee's. Just think back to Dontae Greene. Donnie's not able to start and play the majority of his minutes there (at least not yet), but for his career development, he is a better person to allow to shoot some threes than Quincy Guerrier or Paul Harris. So, expect him to get some time at the 3; it's part of his player development. It's part of the reason why we got him.

That leaves us with Chris. If he stays, he'll expect to start as a junior who just shot 42% from three. And despite his shortcomings, he has earned that much. But if he fails to run back on defense, or doesn't play with effort, then we have to have other options. And in that case, we probably will need another outside shooter at SF. It's not Westry, he's not a pure shooter, he's more of an athlete.

Now, if Bell leaves, that changes the likely rotation. Unless we bring in a really good established player at SF, this would leave room to start Maliq at the 4, Donnie at the 3, the Portal C, and bring the SF off the bench. This is where Donnie's teammate from IMG who just decommitted from Michigan would be a great addition. He would be guaranteed to get minutes, but he doesn't necessarily have to be a starter.

We would still have the ability to bring in 3 point shooting with JJ and Choppa.

Until we know who the people are, we can't say anything for sure. But we need to have a vision of how pieces fit together, and I'm not so sure they had a clear vision of that last summer. It was too many similar guys, and too many skills lacking.

The approach I've put into these posts is how I would try to sell it to the guys we are trying to recruit.

You tell them, there will be room for around 25 minutes a game for 5 guys in the front court. We need all of them. We need them to have complimentary skills. We need a big guy to defend the post. We need 3 point shooting. We could use a slasher from the wing. Guys may offer more than one of those skills.

That's why I keep harping on a stretch 4/5 who weighs 240 and shoots 35% from three. He doesn't have to be 7 feet tall, because those guys are already at the best schools. But if he's at least 6-8 or 6-9 and has good lower body strength, that's good enough to make this team better, and not be forced to play so many talented guys out of position.
 

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