Class of 2022 PF Maliq Brown (VA) COMMITTED/SIGNED TO SYRACUSE

[Melancer46]

 

[Melancer46]

Relatively rough camera work here, but another one of his AAU games

 

[dasher]

That's one of the reasons I think this class is a great "foundational" group. All five can play, all five have ACC caliber athleticism. But it might take all 5 a year or two to begin maximizing their potential.

It also might mean that they might not be as inclined to bail via the transfer portal as other players, who are more highly rated and more "impatient" with waiting their turn.

Only one of these guys seems like a flight threat [on paper].

Wouldn't be surprised to see Taylor start alongside Benny. Wouldn't be surprised to see Brown start alongside Benny.

Wish we were starting Woody and Benny.

You wish for Woody and I will wish for Cole. There is a reason he didn't play at Okie St.

 

[Melancer46]

Against Emoni Bates' AAU team

 

[RF2044]

You wish for Woody and I will wish for Cole. There is a reason he didn't play at Okie St.

Woody would have made for an athletic tandem with Benny. He was better than people think.

 

[721Comstock]

Woody would have made for an athletic tandem with Benny. He was better than people think.

... just not the coaching staff at Syracuse.
Or Okie State.

 

[RF2044]

... just not the coaching staff at Syracuse.
Or Okie State.

That's fair, but agree to disagree.

I think there's some sour grapes associated with both Woody and Kadary expressed here [not from you specifically], when they were both guys who were terrific system fits on both sides of the ball. Can't project how their careers would have unfolded if they'd stayed. But we'll never know.

 

[Cuse181]

That's fair, but agree to disagree.

I think there's some sour grapes associated with both Woody and Kadary expressed here [not from you specifically], when they were both guys who were terrific system fits on both sides of the ball. Can't project how their careers would have unfolded if they'd stayed. But we'll never know.

It’s not sour grapes, it’s fair observations. He (Newton) played less time at OK state because he probably isn’t a power-5 caliber player.

Richmond didn’t like how JB handled him so he went to a school where he thought the coaches would handle him “right”, the results were almost identical. Again, not sour grapes just fair observations.

 

[721Comstock]

That's fair, but agree to disagree.

I think there's some sour grapes associated with both Woody and Kadary expressed here [not from you specifically], when they were both guys who were terrific system fits on both sides of the ball. Can't project how their careers would have unfolded if they'd stayed. But we'll never know.

Oh, I agree with you 144%.

I loved both of those dudes in Orange, and they both seemed like prototypical Cuse players at their respective positions.

It’s just odd that neither one exactly lit it up at their next stops.
Gotta feel like both woulda done a LOT better and had more success had they stayed.

But - that ship has sailed.
And I think had already sailed by sometime in Jan their Frosh year.

 

[dasher]

That's fair, but agree to disagree.

I think there's some sour grapes associated with both Woody and Kadary expressed here [not from you specifically], when they were both guys who were terrific system fits on both sides of the ball. Can't project how their careers would have unfolded if they'd stayed. But we'll never know.

I don't know about that. Certainly not on my end. I don't equate Kadary with Woody at all. I think that Woody couldn't get on the floor at Okie st is very telling.

 

[Orangezoo]

It’s not sour grapes, it’s fair observations. He (Newton) played less time at OK state because he probably isn’t a power-5 caliber player.

Richmond didn’t like how JB handled him so he went to a school where he thought the coaches would handle him “right”, the results were almost identical. Again, not sour grapes just fair observations.

Not a power 5 player? Wow. That is a stretch and not backed up by anything. Did you watch his cameos at OK St?

 

[RF2044]

It’s not sour grapes, it’s fair observations. He (Newton) played less time at OK state because he probably isn’t a power-5 caliber player.

Richmond didn’t like how JB handled him so he went to a school where he thought the coaches would handle him “right”, the results were almost identical. Again, not sour grapes just fair observations.

Or maybe not a good system fit for them. They are an all-out defensive team. That's not his strong suit.

But he rebounded, shot the ball, and did a lot of things early in his freshman year that flashed the type of player he could be in our system.

Totally disagree that he isn't a P5 caliber player. If that's true, then why did we recruit him in the first place? Would be a pretty bad indictment of our coaching staff.

 

[TheCusian]

Or maybe not a good system fit for them. They are an all-out defensive team. That's not his strong suit.

But he rebounded, shot the ball, and did a lot of things early in his freshman year that flashed the type of player he could be in our system.

Totally disagree that he isn't a P5 caliber player. If that's true, then why did we recruit him in the first place? Would be a pretty bad indictment of our coaching staff.

Or the thing that binds Woody and Kadary is a disposition that is at odds with doing the things consistently that get you on JB's a list. That same disposition is possibly at odds with their new coaches.

Once again, the idea that these perfectly good players left because JB was mean to them is not the only narrative - not even the most likely.

What JB has been 100% consistent on is his players meeting a certain threshold of effort/skill - and this is basically how most good coaches coach. You can't abide a player not maxing out their effort, esp in practice.

And to loop back around - the thing that will separate the 6 news players from seeing the floor or not - will be those same things.

 

[RF2044]

I don't know about that. Certainly not on my end. I don't equate Kadary with Woody at all. I think that Woody couldn't get on the floor at Okie st is very telling.

An alternate way to think about it is: perhaps if we did a better job retaining guys we bring in and developing them over time, we wouldn't be in a situation where we currently have no alternatives to relying on lower rated incoming recruits to potentially start.

Would be nice to plug in a third-year guy who would be much more of a proven commodity at this point, than having to cross our fingers that Bunch / Taylor can nail it down as true frosh.

 

[Orangezoo]

I don't know about that. Certainly not on my end. I don't equate Kadary with Woody at all. I think that Woody couldn't get on the floor at Okie st is very telling.

I know folks like Mike B but honestly I'm not impressed. It's hard to take much from Woody not playing a lot, yet still getting minutes in a few big games and producing with how OK St looks. Reminds me some of Wojo at Marquette. Just not really a solid system he is running or committed to running. If not for Cade last year I doubt there is any talk of him being a solid coach.

 

[Melancer46]

Watched this game and the one against Team Final (starring Emoni Bates, Jalen Duren, and Dereck Lively (#1 recruit this year, headed to Duke).

Very different box scores from Maliq in the two games and very different team results. I have no idea what the final score was against Team Final, but Maliq's team clearly got their doors blown off (not exactly surprising given the difference in talent levels between the two teams). Maliq unofficially finished that one with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and a block. All 10 points were dunks or standing layups at the rim.

The other game, against Fork Union, Maliq was drifting for most of the game and then all hell broke loose towards the end as Fork Union couldn't handle a press to save their lives and Maliq imposed his will. He unofficially finished with:

• 29 points on 11/16 2 pointers (all dunks/layups) and 7/12 FT shooting for a TS% of 68.1%.
• 9 rebounds
• 2 assists to 2 turnovers
• 2 blocks and 1 steal

I'm going to give the other games a viewing as well, but personally, my expectations with him are very low. I can't really stress enough how poor the level of competition is. They'd struggle against even the bad high school teams I'm used to watching. And I just don't see Maliq's game translating against ACC caliber opponents (and honestly, pretty skeptical he can hack it at a mid-major level either).

The good with him is he's unselfish offensively. The ball doesn't stick to his hands; he either goes up with it/makes his move quickly or he keeps the ball moving elsewhere. His passing is also legitimately good; he made some nice pocket passes inside and one or two nice long passes to find cutters.

Outside of that, there isn't much positive that I can really say. He can run fine when he wants to, but he's not an explosive athlete. He regularly goes up for dunks and struggles to reach the rim. The lack of elevation shows defensively as well. He's able to pick up some helpside blocks where the offensive player just has no idea he's there or he gets to it before they get the ball up high, but he just doesn't get up well.

His highlights kinda sell him as a guy that plays like a dog and is always on the floor, making high effort plays and what not; his film is littered with lazy reach ins, getting blown by defensively, not boxing out/not trying to crash the glass, etc. There are flashes of him diving on the floor and stuff, but I wouldn't it's a regular thing with him.

I don't really think his scoring will translate in college; it's mostly a product of him being bigger than everyone else (though he did have a couple nice drives towards the end of the Fork Union game) and he looks like a poor free throw shooter to me.

All in all, I'm hoping I'll warm up to him more with the other couple games I've found, but to this point, he seems like a project player that doesn't have the athleticism to make the development time worthwhile. Maybe he just needs better trainers to unlock some additional athleticism; he doesn't look undeveloped physically so it's kinda confusing to me how little explosion he shows.

Peter Carey is a much more promising project to me. But you never know. I've certainly been wrong about recruits before. I just don't really see what makes Maliq attractive to us.

 

[OrangeDW]

It’s not sour grapes, it’s fair observations. He (Newton) played less time at OK state because he probably isn’t a power-5 caliber player.

Richmond didn’t like how JB handled him so he went to a school where he thought the coaches would handle him “right”, the results were almost identical. Again, not sour grapes just fair observations.

So Woody isn’t a P5 player because he didn’t do anything last year, but Benny is a guaranteed starter even though he didn’t do anything last year?

The way Woody/Benny are viewed here by some is fascinating.

*Woody showed more as a freshman at SU than Benny did.

 

[Cuse181]

Or maybe not a good system fit for them. They are an all-out defensive team. That's not his strong suit.

But he rebounded, shot the ball, and did a lot of things early in his freshman year that flashed the type of player he could be in our system.

Totally disagree that he isn't a P5 caliber player. If that's true, then why did we recruit him in the first place? Would be a pretty bad indictment of our coaching staff.

Oh yeah you’re right, busts NEVER happen! He did enough to be a bench player at best, which is exactly what he is doing at OK state.

 

[Grbac]

Watched this game and the one against Team Final (starring Emoni Bates, Jalen Duren, and Dereck Lively (#1 recruit this year, headed to Duke).

Very different box scores from Maliq in the two games and very different team results. I have no idea what the final score was against Team Final, but Maliq's team clearly got their doors blown off (not exactly surprising given the difference in talent levels between the two teams). Maliq unofficially finished that one with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and a block. All 10 points were dunks or standing layups at the rim.

The other game, against Fork Union, Maliq was drifting for most of the game and then all hell broke loose towards the end as Fork Union couldn't handle a press to save their lives and Maliq imposed his will. He unofficially finished with:

• 29 points on 11/16 2 pointers (all dunks/layups) and 7/12 FT shooting for a TS% of 68.1%.
• 9 rebounds
• 2 assists to 2 turnovers
• 2 blocks and 1 steal

I'm going to give the other games a viewing as well, but personally, my expectations with him are very low. I can't really stress enough how poor the level of competition is. They'd struggle against even the bad high school teams I'm used to watching. And I just don't see Maliq's game translating against ACC caliber opponents (and honestly, pretty skeptical he can hack it at a mid-major level either).

The good with him is he's unselfish offensively. The ball doesn't stick to his hands; he either goes up with it/makes his move quickly or he keeps the ball moving elsewhere. His passing is also legitimately good; he made some nice pocket passes inside and one or two nice long passes to find cutters.

Outside of that, there isn't much positive that I can really say. He can run fine when he wants to, but he's not an explosive athlete. He regularly goes up for dunks and struggles to reach the rim. The lack of elevation shows defensively as well. He's able to pick up some helpside blocks where the offensive player just has no idea he's there or he gets to it before they get the ball up high, but he just doesn't get up well.

His highlights kinda sell him as a guy that plays like a dog and is always on the floor, making high effort plays and what not; his film is littered with lazy reach ins, getting blown by defensively, not boxing out/not trying to crash the glass, etc. There are flashes of him diving on the floor and stuff, but I wouldn't it's a regular thing with him.

I don't really think his scoring will translate in college; it's mostly a product of him being bigger than everyone else (though he did have a couple nice drives towards the end of the Fork Union game) and he looks like a poor free throw shooter to me.

All in all, I'm hoping I'll warm up to him more with the other couple games I've found, but to this point, he seems like a project player that doesn't have the athleticism to make the development time worthwhile. Maybe he just needs better trainers to unlock some additional athleticism; he doesn't look undeveloped physically so it's kinda confusing to me how little explosion he shows.

Peter Carey is a much more promising project to me. But you never know. I've certainly been wrong about recruits before. I just don't really see what makes Maliq attractive to us.

Great breakdown! Have you done this with the other incoming Freshmen? I would love to hear your take on the rest of them.

 

[OrangeDW]

Oh yeah you’re right, busts NEVER happen! He did enough to be a bench player at best, which is exactly what he is doing at OK state.

Benny Williams did enough to__________???

 

[Cuse181]

So Woody isn’t a P5 player because he didn’t do anything last year, but Benny is a guaranteed starter even though he didn’t do anything last year?

The way Woody/Benny are viewed here by some is fascinating.

*Woody showed more as a freshman at SU than Benny did.

When did I say Benny is a guaranteed starter? We now have 2 years worth of evidence that woody is not a power-5 starter and may not be good enough to be a significant role player. If benny has a similarly terrible year next year then the comparisons will be exactly the same.

 

[Cuse181]

Benny Williams did enough to__________???

I’m not sure where these comparisons are coming from, they are two completely different situations and one has an entire extra year in another system with the exact same results.

Benny could very well be a bust, I haven’t seen much to say otherwise yet and thus, I haven’t.

 

[OrangeDW]

I’m not sure where these comparisons are coming from, they are two completely different situations and one has an entire extra year in another system with the exact same results.

Benny could very well be a bust, I haven’t seen much to say otherwise yet and thus, I haven’t.

We’ve got Benny….who was worse than Woody, and a bunch of freshmen.

This is what we’re rolling with?

Woody at least had a few good games here, early. He looked good early on. Wish we had him. Don’t care what’s happening at Ok. St. We’ve literally got zero proven production at forward. Why wouldn’t we want a Junior forward who was a decent recruit and who looked pretty good here when he got the chance?

 

[OrangeDW]

When did I say Benny is a guaranteed starter? We now have 2 years worth of evidence that woody is not a power-5 starter and may not be good enough to be a significant role player. If benny has a similarly terrible year next year then the comparisons will be exactly the same.

Benny is obviously a guaranteed starter. And he did less than Woody.

That’s where we’re at.

Somebody has to start.

Let’s hope this next crop of freshmen forwards improves over the course of their career, and doesn’t get thrown in the bushes by Christmas of their freshmen year.

 

[RF2044]

Or the thing that binds Woody and Kadary is a disposition that is at odds with doing the things consistently that get you on JB's a list. That same disposition is possibly at odds with their new coaches.

Once again, the idea that these perfectly good players left because JB was mean to them is not the only narrative - not even the most likely.

What JB has been 100% consistent on is his players meeting a certain threshold of effort/skill - and this is basically how most good coaches coach. You can't abide a player not maxing out their effort, esp in practice.

And to loop back around - the thing that will separate the 6 news players from seeing the floor or not - will be those same things.

The tie that binds all these players is that they are FRESHMEN. The most likely "narrative" is that not all frosh come in ready, with fully formulated skill sets, and with varying levels of readiness for the rigorous demand of what it takes to play high major collegiate basketball. And that often includes understanding how hard you have to work at the P5 level, on and off the court. That this occurs when some of these players are also acclimating to doing college scholastic work makes for a more difficult transition for some than others.

Additionally, how players perform as frosh is generally not the best indicator for how they might develop, or what they are capable of producing. Some guys come in ready -- like CJ Fair -- and don't make mistakes, which earns JB's trust. Some come in as blue chip recruits -- like Wallace, Owens, Coleman -- and produce like starters from the jump. And some come in not ready -- like Kris Joseph or Jesse Edwards -- but have the talent to develop into quality starters and do so once they get acclimated and adjust to the different level of play.

And some -- like MCW and Kadary -- come in show flashes, and get relegated to the bench anyway in favor of guys JB prefers to roll with. I'm not going out on a limb when I suggest that he has never used a big bench, outside of a small handful of years where the team had lots and lots of players who were good [and really, I can think of only two -- 2000, when we went about 8.5 deep, and 2012, when we could legitimately go 9.5 deep and did most games].

I'm a lot less sold on Woody than Kadary, but I do think that if Woody had stayed he would have remediated multiple problems plaguing last year's team -- primarily, athleticism, depth, and non-existent bench scoring.