Class of 2020 Patrick Tapé / Columbia Grad Transfer

[Cusefan0307]

I’d be happy with a kid who can catch the ball. Sick of seeing JB yell at Hughes and Girard for throwing passes to Sidibe on the break that are on the money, but he doesn’t catch. Happens every game.

 

[Gabjon]

im confident in saying its not a huge difference. and with Edwards and jba there is no need to play sid 30 mins, with or without tape. and I really really hope we're looking at a sharpshooting 3. that will be our biggest hole next year if hughes leaves which IMO will likely happen (and id be glad to be wrong).

We will hopefully have Braswell as a shooter and we are bringing in two wing type players nest year.

 

[Fly Rodder]

IMO, there are two problems with the current centers (and Marek is not a center), they are functionally zeroes on offense and they foul way too much for the number of possession they are on defense.

If the staff is looking at bringing in a grad transfer to play some C, then they're likely seeing deficiencies as well.

 

[rrlbees]

I can guarantee you that we are looking at both a sharp shooting 3 and tape. The coaches think tape is better than Sidibe right now. And two of our coaches coached him this past summer. I think they would have a pretty good idea. As for the 3, they have to be sure that Hughes is leaving. Lucky for us, the timing of the grad 3 and Hughes decision work out for us

that's the one thing that gives me hope, our coaches know him and want him. but I also remember saying the same thing about alexander on the football side because he only made honorable mention in a small conference. but football is a different beast with 85 scholarships.

 

[rrlbees]

We will hopefully have Braswell as a shooter and we are bringing in two wing type players nest year.

imo, braswell is not a 3. can't handle the ball. to me he's a stretch 4. and I don't consider either of our recruits to be sharp shooting 3's.

 

[Gabjon]

imo, braswell is not a 3. can't handle the ball. to me he's a stretch 4. and I don't consider either of our recruits to be sharp shooting 3's.

I completely agree. But a stretch 4 with a 3 that can drive the ball works just as well. The 4 lifts the defense the 3 drives ball or the 3 lifts the defense and the 4 scores in the post.

6 of one half a dozen of the other.

 

[walsh2012]

Vs ivy, not acc.

Do you think Bourama or Edwards would be putting up those numbers against the Ivy? They didn’t approach them in the noncon

 

[rrlbees]

Do you think Bourama or Edwards would be putting up those numbers against the Ivy? They didn’t approach them in the noncon

sidibe absolutely. sid against a far stronger schedule already rebounds better and while tape scores more he gets twice as many ops too just because of the make up of the team. Edwards hasn't played enough to judge.

 

[cuseguy]

imo, braswell is not a 3. can't handle the ball. to me he's a stretch 4. and I don't consider either of our recruits to be sharp shooting 3's.

Newton is a pretty decent 3 point shooter. Richmond isn’t a 3 point shooter nor is he a 3.

 

[007]

I'm saying he's not a huge need. he's not a difference maker and I don't see what is different than what we already have with 4 others. he was honorable mention in the ivy. if we're going to take a grad transfer, id rather gamble on a 3 that can shoot to guard against hughes leaving.

I had similar concerns when I looked at Tape's stats. And then I watched his tape. He has a skill set on offense that we do not currently have (I'm reserving judgement on JBA at this time). Tape might not be a difference maker in terms of volume scoring. But he is more than skilled enough to present as a low post scoring threat. This alone will cause defenses to play him differently than they do with our current 5s. For example, Ds would have to double down, or provide weak side help, or deny post entry passes, and would be more reluctant to leave the 5 to provide help defense. Nobody has to play our 5s this way currently.

Having a 5 that demands that kind of reaction from the D would be a difference maker for the other players on the floor - especially given the shooters we have.

 

[Melancer46]

Don't mean to rain on anyone's parade here...obviously our staff knows him well from this offseason and I have not seen any video of him in regard to rebounding but:

Last year, Columbia played three power conference teams: Boston College, Rutgers, and Northwestern. Per 40 minutes, Tape averaged 5.6 rebounds against them.

To put that in perspective, here's our guys per 40 numbers in ACC play:

Sidibe: 10.5 (10.9 this season)
Edwards: 12.8
Dolezaj: 7.2 (10.2 this season)

I'm hoping Tape is a Brook Lopez-style guy where he just boxes out and lets his teammates grab rebounds. If he's actually trying to rebound and is giving his team 5.6 per 40 minutes against power conference teams, it's difficult to be that ineffective.

On the brightside, he scored 25.6 per 40 minutes on 73.4% TS% in those three games. That would obviously be spectacular.

Edit: And also on the bright side, at least this means we're looking into our options to solve the C position.

 

[Melancer46]

I had similar concerns when I looked at Tape's stats. And then I watched his tape. He has a skill set on offense that we do not currently have (I'm reserving judgement on JBA at this time). Tape might not be a difference maker in terms of volume scoring. But he is more than skilled enough to present as a low post scoring threat. This alone will cause defenses to play him differently than they do with our current 5s. For example, Ds would have to double down, or provide weak side help, or deny post entry passes, and would be more reluctant to leave the 5 to provide help defense. Nobody has to play our 5s this way currently.

Having a 5 that demands that kind of reaction from the D would be a difference maker for the other players on the floor - especially given the shooters we have.

I'm not sure about the stuff in bold, but in the very least, if he can simply force defenses to acknowledge that he can catch a pass and then dunk the ball, it would be a pretty big impact on the offensive end for us.

 

[Cusefan0307]

His foul rate per 40 minutes isn't quite as bad as Sidibes, but it's bad. 6.3 per 40 minutes for his career and 5.3 last year.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Elijah Hughes was pretty crappy for Eastern Carolina ... probably shouldn't take him.

 

[007]

I'm not sure about the stuff in bold, but in the very least, if he can simply force defenses to acknowledge that he can catch a pass and then dunk the ball, it would be a pretty big impact on the offensive end for us.

I hear you Melancer. If the stats you provided above ( 25.6 points per 40 minutes against P5 opponents) are a true indication of his scoring potential, defenses will not be able to play him straight up in the post and we will see the kind of reactions you highlighted from my post.

 

[Gabjon]

He shot 66.7% last year and never shot below 50% for the season in his entire career...

 

[PhatOrange]

love this development

 

[Fly Rodder]

per 40 is a garbage stat when taken out context.

 

[DilemaCuse]

I saw him power dribble and 2 handed dunk in his tape, I watch every cuse game, when was the last time or how often do we see Sidibe do that? mmm not much

 

[MSOrange]

Elijah Hughes was pretty crappy for Eastern Carolina ... probably shouldn't take him.

Guilty as charged on that one. I'll own up to it

 

[Dollar Dog]

I'm hoping Tape is a Brook Lopez-style guy where he just boxes out and lets his teammates grab rebounds. If he's actually trying to rebound and is giving his team 5.6 per 40 minutes against power conference teams, it's difficult to be that ineffective.
On the brightside, he scored 25.6 per 40 minutes on 73.4% TS% in those three games. That would obviously be spectacular.

I'm sold on Tape as appreciably better than Sidibe offensively, based on the Per 40 stats cited and limited video. Last season, he got twice as many field goal opportunities as this year's Bourama. To me, that says Columbia viewed Tape as a viable scoring option, where SU (for good reason) does not view Sidibe that way.

On the other hand, his modest rebounding numbers concern me, not just in themselves, but because of what it might suggest about Tape defensively. I have never seen him play. He has size. Who knows how he positions and boxes out? But part of rebounding is agility. If lack thereof is factoring into the board stats, can he play defense in a 2-3 zone? That's a huge part of what Syracuse requires in its Center.

I say get him if you can. At worst, you have a two-headed center with ten fouls and can sub based on offensive/defensive need during a game. I trust the staff would not be pursuing him if they had any doubts. If Onuaku anchored the zone, they can make this work. They must also expect someone else to leave beyond Hughes. SU's still gonna need a scoring wing, regardless how much Tape helps in the lane.

 

[City of Cuse]

Anyone with a pulse is going to rebound semi successfully in the middle of the zone; not worried about that at all.

Like someone else mentioned, many are too focused on his numbers compared to sidibe and not what he can do for the rest of the team. It's been a long time since we have had 5 offensive threats on the court.

 

[jdubs30]

Would take this kid in a second but I think Towns is a bigger get, no?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Still think there’s at least a 33 percent chance Buddy moves to the 3 and Goodine ends up starting next to Joe next year.

 

[jdubs30]

Still think there’s at least a 33 percent chance Buddy moves to the 3 and Goodine ends up starting next to Joe next year.

Oof we’d get killed on the boards even more than usual