Our second 5 guys...

[Dick_in_MI]

I still believe JB will get to a 9 man roation too so someone's gonna ride more pine out of this group.

It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't play 10 this year, but his history is 8-ish. I think by the time we're deep into Big East season, MCW and either CJ or James will have fallen out of the rotation. Prior to the season I would have said it was James and not CJ but now I'm not so sure.

Either way, I don't expect MCW to be in thr rotation when the season hits its stride

 

[shermstheman]

It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't play 10 this year, but his history is 8-ish. I think by the time we're deep into Big East season, MCW and either CJ or James will have fallen out of the rotation. Prior to the season I would have said it was James and not CJ but now I'm not so sure.

Either way, I don't expect MCW to be in thr rotation when the season hits its stride

CJ is a lock to play- he had a huge roll last season. I'm guessing James loses out in a 9 man rotation...unless he can play like he has so far...he's made a quantum leap...maybe too good to be true. They'll bring MCW along because he's the real deal.

 

[cuseincincy]

CJ is a lock to play- he had a huge roll last season. I'm guessing James loses out in a 9 man rotation...unless he can play like he has so far...he's made a quantum leap...maybe too good to be true. They'll bring MCW along because he's the real deal.

Agreed. Our current leading scorer is the 10th man imo. MCW will definitely continue to play. One for the reason you state, he is the real deal. But the other reason is, even when playing well, Scoop and BT are prone to a "lapse in judgement." I don't think JB will hesitate to put MCW in if when one of those situations arise. Dion is simply the best player on this team, apologies to KJo. Baye is the big off the bench and CJ is the lock of all locks to be in the top 6-7 in minutes played. I'll go out on a limb and say it is silly to think otherwise. Just plain silly. :rolling:

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

What will the excuse be when we get ousted before the S 16 again? We cant possibly lose with 10 NBA players and a second 5 that would be top 5 in any conference in America..

 

[Garbs]

Not without a bench they wouldn't

you could say the same thing about the starters

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

I too agree that the backups (with a solid 3 man bench of course) could finish the year ranked in the top-25. This is partially because of their talent, and partially because of the fact that outside of the top-10, I do not see a whole lot of great teams out there. Surely, some teams will come out of nowhere to surprise, but I just don't think a lot of the ranked squads look too impressive yet.

Also, it's a long season, but I think next year you are going to see an incredible chemistry between the bench and the starters, if nobody leaves early.

 

[mantonio]

This team is ripe for a National Title. Not ONE challenger in college basketball can stack up to the depth on this roster, & the starters are every bit as good as ANY team in the top 5 right now...

The only real concern with this team is bulk at the big positions. Our biggies are tall & athletic, but only Fab seems to have any meat on his bones. With their speed & skill, maybe they don't need the beef...

As far as shooting, I think there are enough hot hands to have 1 or 2 players shooting well enough per game.

If they play with a purpose when it counts, Syracuse gets Title #2...

 

[SoBristol]

Can someone give an example of a team that competed for the national title because its second five was as good as its starters? As for JB's teams, the best example (a real good team, but not a top 10 team) might be year 1 of the Louie & Bouie years. Those two came off the bench together, and the team's energy went way up.

It is easy to find examples of teams that ride their top superstars (UConn with Kemba Walker; SU with John Wallace; SU with Carmelo); but which teams made a mark with their bench guys (other than a top 6th or maybe 7th man, such as Joseph and Jardine in 2009-10).

The issues for this team: lack of scoring power from our starters; and sorting out who plays against the better teams. The defensive intensity is outstanding; the second team provides energy with the press; and we look very good when we can get points in transition. We haven't seen how that translates against good teams that can get us into a half court contest.

Obviously, there is a ton of potential -- if we could play 10 on 10, we would be fine.

 

[SmilinBob]

Wasn't the Kentucky team SU lost to in 96 extremely deep?

 

[cuseincincy]

Wasn't the Kentucky team SU lost to in 96 extremely deep?

Bench:
Mark Pope
Ron Mercer (started 13 games)
Jeff Shepherd
Wayne Turner
Allen Edwards
Nazr Mohammed (6 min per game)
Starting lineup was: Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson and Anthony Epps
Also had Jared ett but he got injured early in season.

 

[Upstate]

I too agree that the backups (with a solid 3 man bench of course) could finish the year ranked in the top-25. This is partially because of their talent, and partially because of the fact that outside of the top-10, I do not see a whole lot of great teams out there. Surely, some teams will come out of nowhere to surprise, but I just don't think a lot of the ranked squads look too impressive yet.

Also, it's a long season, but I think next year you are going to see an incredible chemistry between the bench and the starters, if nobody leaves early.

Speaking of which...I was pretty impressed by Mizzou yesterday. they really get at you on defense

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Before Chuck Norris goes to sleep, he checks under his bed for "Our second 5 guys"

 

[senorpalmer]

How does this sound...the 5 on the bench are better than some of the starting lineups in the top 25.

Coming into the season I thought there was no way Boeheim would significantly deviate from his rotation patterns. But all 5 of the subs in the current rotation have made strong cases to be regulars in these creampuff games, I don't know who could be excluded right now. It may come down to some of the overall 10 having to play their way out of PT against higher competition.

If I had to guess on the way it goes this year, I think all 10 guys will continue to play in some capacity throughout the course of the year, but the PT might be lop-sided on some nights. You might see 1,2 or even 3 guys getting like 4-5 minutes some games, an occasional DNP here and there, but all of them continuing to appear in most if not all games during conference play. Last year Boeheim basically played 9 guys, there were a couple of missed games for some guys, and Southerland played in 80% of the team's games. I don't think it would be a stretch to see something like that with one extra guy in the mix.

 

[Knicks411]

How does this sound...the 5 on the bench are better than some of the starting lineups in the top 25.

Granting I don't know the starting lineup of every top 25 team inside and out, I'm going to need to see more before I agree to that.

If I had to guess on the way it goes this year, I think all 10 guys will continue to play in some capacity throughout the course of the year, but the PT might be lop-sided on some nights. You might see 1,2 or even 3 guys getting like 4-5 minutes some games, an occasional DNP here and there, but all of them continuing to appear in most if not all games during conference play. Last year Boeheim basically played 9 guys, there were a couple of missed games for some guys, and Southerland played in 80% of the team's games. I don't think it would be a stretch to see something like that with one extra guy in the mix.

I agree with this. You will likely see all 10 get into nearly all of the games, but there are going to be some games where say, MCW plays 2 minutes and JB yanks him and you don't see him again, or where James isn't hitting his jumper and he doesn't get a lot of run.

 

[Garbs]

How does this sound...the 5 on the bench are better than some of the starting lineups in the top 25.

Coming into the season I thought there was no way Boeheim would significantly deviate from his rotation patterns. But all 5 of the subs in the current rotation have made strong cases to be regulars in these creampuff games, I don't know who could be excluded right now. It may come down to some of the overall 10 having to play their way out of PT against higher competition.

If I had to guess on the way it goes this year, I think all 10 guys will continue to play in some capacity throughout the course of the year, but the PT might be lop-sided on some nights. You might see 1,2 or even 3 guys getting like 4-5 minutes some games, an occasional DNP here and there, but all of them continuing to appear in most if not all games during conference play. Last year Boeheim basically played 9 guys, there were a couple of missed games for some guys, and Southerland played in 80% of the team's games. I don't think it would be a stretch to see something like that with one extra guy in the mix.

I agree, I think all 10 will continue to play but JB will go game by game, who is hot, what matchups work vs. that nights opponent, etc.

JB will still have his 8 man rotation each night, but who that 8th guy is will probably change game to game

 

[SoBristol]

Bench:
Mark Pope
Ron Mercer (started 13 games)
Jeff Shepherd
Wayne Turner
Allen Edwards
Nazr Mohammed (6 min per game)
Starting lineup was: Tony Delk, Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty, Derek Anderson and Anthony Epps
Also had Jared ett but he got injured early in season.

Yes -- that Kentucky team was loaded, and they won mainly because they had NBA talent in the top 5. Whereas, people are suggesting that we have one guy (Melo) who might be an NBA guy, and that all our guys are headed to Europe. There is a difference.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Yes -- that Kentucky team was loaded, and they won mainly because they had NBA talent in the top 5. Whereas, people are suggesting that we have one guy (Melo) who might be an NBA guy, and that all our guys are headed to Europe. There is a difference.

And the thing with Fab is..while he will probably be drafted, its not like we are getting NBA level play out of him. While we should see steady improvement, we are talking about a guy who will never be more than a 7 and 7 guy at best on the hill.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

And the thing with Fab is..while he will probably be drafted, its not like we are getting NBA level play out of him. While we should see steady improvement, we are talking about a guy who will never be more than a 7 and 7 guy at best on the hill.

That's a pretty ballsy guess I'd say. I think the only two factors that would keep him from having a 12/9 year at some point is the amount of quality bigs sharing minutes, or the decision to go after the money too early.