Class of 2024 - PF Donnie Freeman (MD / IMG) COMMITTED & SIGNED TO SYRACUSE (5/11/23) | Page 62 | Syracusefan.com

Class of 2024 PF Donnie Freeman (MD / IMG) COMMITTED & SIGNED TO SYRACUSE (5/11/23)

Carmelo, DC. May as well throw in some Tim Duncan and KG. Why not? Bernard King?

He isn’t dribbling from perimeter to rim in the ACC his first year. He isn’t hitting a high clip of threes his first year. He isn’t playing shut down individual and help D his first year.

He still is good enough to get drafted in 2025 bc of upside.

He’s going to have some awesome weak side blocks. He’ll have some flashes of stardom. If he’s locked in, he’ll be boarding and dominating inside of five feet. Hit shots when he gets good looks.

I really like Donnie. But people are expecting way too much.

He’s starting with three other guys right now that can’t play good D. That aren’t ball movers. We got work to do to round out the lineup to help Donnie.
 
MikeSU02 said:
Carmelo, DC. May as well throw in some Tim Duncan and KG. Why not? Bernard King?

He isn’t dribbling from perimeter to rim in the ACC his first year. He isn’t hitting a high clip of threes his first year. He isn’t playing shut down individual and help D his first year.

He still is good enough to get drafted in 2025 bc of upside.

He’s going to have some awesome weak side blocks. He’ll have some flashes of stardom. If he’s locked in, he’ll be boarding and dominating inside of five feet. Hit shots when he gets good looks.

I really like Donnie. But people are expecting way too much.

He’s starting with three other guys right now that can’t play good D. That aren’t ball movers. We got work to do to round out the lineup to help Donnie.
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Agree we shouldn’t over hype- not fair and not realistic. Lampkin is a ball mover not a stopper though to be clear. Donnie doesn’t appear to be in the mold of a ball stopper. Bell we know the shot is going up or a pump with shot going up. JJ is a mixed bag but there is potential to be better and he seems a team first guy too so that can only help.
 
Digger said:
Not disagreeing, just adding Carmelo’s heft/size and physicality on offense were otherworldly with his skill level.
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But Anthony was only 6'5"... It's looking like Freeman is a legit 6'9"
 
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MikeSU02 said:
Carmelo, DC. May as well throw in some Tim Duncan and KG. Why not? Bernard King?

He isn’t dribbling from perimeter to rim in the ACC his first year. He isn’t hitting a high clip of threes his first year. He isn’t playing shut down individual and help D his first year.

He still is good enough to get drafted in 2025 bc of upside.

He’s going to have some awesome weak side blocks. He’ll have some flashes of stardom. If he’s locked in, he’ll be boarding and dominating inside of five feet. Hit shots when he gets good looks.

I really like Donnie. But people are expecting way too much.

He’s starting with three other guys right now that can’t play good D. That aren’t ball movers. We got work to do to round out the lineup to help Donnie.
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How do you know this ?? Are you a talent scout ? What I saw is he has very good handle. Why wouldn’t he be able to take the ball to the rim?
 
Orangezoo said:
6-6 and 3/4 without shoes I believe was the actual
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We're both wrong: 6'6 1/4"

With a similar suite of skills, Freeman is the taller player. For the record, I don't by any stretch imagine Freeman is going to have anything like Anthony's season. I think something like 13 and 7 is most likely. But having Freeman a threat to score from everywhere on the court is going to make everything easier for his teammates.

Between Lampkin, Freeman, and Bell, we have all the scoring skills you want in a frontcourt. It wouldn't surprise me if they averaged 40+ as a group.

www.nba.com

Draft Combine Anthrometric | Stats | NBA.com

NBA Draft Combine Anthrometric data
www.nba.com www.nba.com
 
Congrats on capping off your HS career, Donnie!
Screenshot_20240407-085315_Instagram.jpg

Now onto Syracuse (Cuse Nation can't wait)... LGO!
 
Niastri said:
I like that aspect of Freeman's game. He seems to have been well coached or is just a smart offensive player.

I think his handle is surprisingly good for his size. I have been hearing a lot of comparisons to Derrick Coleman, which is almost blasphemy. Particularly so when his body and his game resemble Coleman's only in that they are both tall.

Well, here’s another blasphemy; Freeman’s game actually reminds me of Carmelo Anthony.

Freeman can drive straight to the basket, he can dribble into the post, he can rebound, and he can shoot reliably it to three point range.

Additionally, Freeman seems to have grown a few inches and added pounds since committing, while simultaneously shooting up the recruiting rankings.

Freeman is also our highest ranked recruit in a long time, after a disappointing period in the programs history.

The whole thing is eerily similar to Carmelo Anthony’s situation coming into Syracuse.

I know, I know, blasphemy!

But I can't stop seeing the similarities.
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While Donavan is a player that has a lot of potential and can be looked at as the best recruit since Carmelo, I strongly suggest we not to compare/label him to or as the next Carmelo. We were all pleasantly surprised when Carmelo arrived at Syracuse and exceeded the higher expectations of even the more knowledgeable Syracuse insider. Won’t say he was a one of a kind player but he was definitely close to that label as that season played out.

l believe we the fans had high expectations for Benny Williams when he first arrived at Syracuse. While there were an occasional glimpse of talented player, for the most part we were disappointed that he never reached the level.

Let’s look forward to Donnie Freeman playing at Syracuse and develop his own brand. Let’s not raise expectations so high to burden him with the label of the next Carmelo Anthony.
 
Sbucketball said:
I was firmly on team "Donnie isn't a 3", but with the recent press and shooting display, maybe he can play minutes at the 3 if Bell's not playing well, which means we better have someone who can play the 4 for a different lineup.
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For those "Donnie's not a 3" (that's what he'll play in the NBA), there was this on The Athletic:

"One of the biggest stock risers this week was Syracuse commit Donnie Freeman. On Day 1 of the practices, it felt like he didn’t miss a shot from behind the arc. Several scouts would look at the roster and make slight comments like “Who is that kid” or “Has he missed yet?” He has a chance to be an elite pick-and-pop guy at the next level with his 6-foot-9 frame. Every year there’s always one guy who comes out of this event and helps himself going into their freshman campaign; this year it was Freeman. He is one to look out for going into the 2024-25 college basketball season."
 
IthacaMatt said:
For those "Donnie's not a 3" (that's what he'll play in the NBA), there was this on The Athletic:

"One of the biggest stock risers this week was Syracuse commit Donnie Freeman. On Day 1 of the practices, it felt like he didn’t miss a shot from behind the arc. Several scouts would look at the roster and make slight comments like “Who is that kid” or “Has he missed yet?” He has a chance to be an elite pick-and-pop guy at the next level with his 6-foot-9 frame. Every year there’s always one guy who comes out of this event and helps himself going into their freshman campaign; this year it was Freeman. He is one to look out for going into the 2024-25 college basketball season."
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That settles it. No pick and pop 4 in the NBA. I guess his 3 skills are as legit as they come. They did mention dribbling a ton in the blurb as well.

I hope his shooting translates to what we would need from a 3 in our system, I am just wary of putting that pressure on the kid and his skill set.
 
Domedog84 said:
That settles it. No pick and pop 4 in the NBA. I guess his 3 skills are as legit as they come. They did mention dribbling a ton in the blurb as well.

I hope his shooting translates to what we would need from a 3 in our system, I am just wary of putting that pressure on the kid and his skill set.
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Depending on who we get as a reserve forward, I think it unlikely Freeman will play much as a three... When he's on the court, he's likely to be our second biggest player.

His shooting and dribble penetration skills are added value for a guy of his size.
 
Niastri said:
Depending on who we get as a reserve forward, I think it unlikely Freeman will play much as a three... When he's on the court, he's likely to be our second biggest player.

His shooting and dribble penetration skills are added value for a guy of his size.
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I agree completely. We need him to be a 4 as we do not have another on the current roster. Any of those skills are a bonus.
 
Domedog84 said:
I agree completely. We need him to be a 4 as we do not have another on the current roster. Any of those skills are a bonus.
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If Freeman brings a versatile skill set to the roster, on top of being a fluid big, what is the difference, especially in a motion offense, between being called a 3 or 4? What is it specifically that "we need him to be as a 4" that he couldn't provide if we call him a 3?

The debate over whether Freeman is a 3 or 4 is largely irrelevant, IMO. The Joe Fan analysis needs a paradigm shift away from traditional labels and instead emphasize what skill sets can Freeman bring as a player at 6-10.
 
007 said:
If Freeman brings a versatile skill set to the roster, on top of being a fluid big, what is the difference, especially in a motion offense, between being called a 3 or 4? What is it specifically that "we need him to be as a 4" that he couldn't provide if we call him a 3?

The debate over whether Freeman is a 3 or 4 is largely irrelevant, IMO. The Joe Fan analysis needs a paradigm shift away from traditional labels and instead emphasize what skill sets can Freeman bring as a player at 6-10.
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It's relevant for roster construction. Unfortunately Maliq's gone, but it was a big question as to whether he could play with Maliq and a center at the same time, or if he needs to be paired with Bell or another SF.
 
Sbucketball said:
It's relevant for roster construction. Unfortunately Maliq's gone, but it was a big question as to whether he could play with Maliq and a center at the same time, or if he needs to be paired with Bell or another SF.
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That wasn't a Freeman question, that was a Maliq question.
 
007 said:
If Freeman brings a versatile skill set to the roster, on top of being a fluid big, what is the difference, especially in a motion offense, between being called a 3 or 4? What is it specifically that "we need him to be as a 4" that he couldn't provide if we call him a 3?

The debate over whether Freeman is a 3 or 4 is largely irrelevant, IMO. The Joe Fan analysis needs a paradigm shift away from traditional labels and instead emphasize what skill sets can Freeman bring as a player at 6-10.
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I guess my thought was that this specific discussion about Donnie playing the 3 started when Maliq was still on the roster. If we played Lampkin or McCleod, and both Maliq and Donnie, it would put pressure on one of the forwards to provide some level of shooting and ball handling to go along with the two guards.

I am not saying Donnie is some stiff that cannot provide any shooting or ball handling, but people were having this discussion in the context of Maliq and Donnie being the starting forwards and I felt it was a negative to put pressure on one of the them (especially a freshman) to provide the shooting that taking Bell out of the starting lineup would require.

TLDR - We need another proven shooter on the floor, no matter what position it comes from
 
Domedog84 said:
I agree completely. We need him to be a 4 as we do not have another on the current roster. Any of those skills are a bonus.
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This is what's so disappointing about Maliq leaving - between the new C from Colorado State, Freeman, MacLeod and Maliq, you have the 4 and 5 well covered. If Freeman plays 5-10 minutes as the 3, spelling Chris, then there are plenty of minutes to go around. Now, we are still a body short.
 
IthacaMatt said:
This is what's so disappointing about Maliq leaving - between the new C from Colorado State, Freeman, MacLeod and Maliq, you have the 4 and 5 well covered. If Freeman plays 5-10 minutes as the 3, spelling Chris, then there are plenty of minutes to go around. Now, we are still a body short.
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Assuming we add Davis from Delaware that shores things up a lot though
 

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