Class of 2019 PG Dakota Leffew (GA) Portal to Georgia

[Biaxtar]

One possibility is you go with a clear backup at each spot as a strategy-

C- EL, NM, WP
PF- DF, JD
SF- CB, CW,JD
SG- JJ, KC/EM
PG- DL, Hofstra kid, Westry, Brooklyn kid from Florida

That gives you maximum depth and a 6-5 point who can slide to the 2 with a real PG given how good of a shooter he is and moves well off the ball if JJ is struggling and EM isn’t ready. The Hofstra kid then maybe like Davis wants to win and play big time hoops so if Chance blows up and he is the 11th man so be it. Not sure you could ever get that kind of buy in from two key starters. That said this makes Chance a complete lotto ticket where the team is solid with or without him.

I do not want that Florida kid to become another Peter Carry for the team. That is my concern.

 

[Orangezoo]

I do not want that Florida kid to become another Peter Carry for the team. That is my concern.

Then you don’t fill the scholly- I see it as WP is in his last trial year- if he can’t make a play for playing time at all then he transfers out and your only remaining end of the bench scholly is Brooklyn- but if not then fine or go some D2 kid at C/F to give a kid a shot for one year

 

[SUFan44]

Meh. The MAAC is an atrocious league. He was a volume shooter.

Kid from Harvard much more appealing.

Would hope we don't enter season with this kid as our starting PG. That's an enormous jump in competition.

 

[pwong]

Meh. The MAAC is an atrocious league. He was a volume shooter.

Kid from Harvard much more appealing.

Would hope we don't enter season with this kid as our starting PG. That's an enormous jump in competition.

Agree on the MAAC being horrible. Someone told me Leffew is more of an A10 type of player than a HM player.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

4 ass per game?? Wow, that is a Wilt Chamberlain level stat!!

Except when he led the NBA in assists, because people said he couldn’t/wouldn’t pass.

 

[Biaxtar]

Meh. The MAAC is an atrocious league. He was a volume shooter.

Kid from Harvard much more appealing.

Would hope we don't enter season with this kid as our starting PG. That's an enormous jump in competition.

Only issue is we are not getting the kid from harvard.

 

[Orangezoo]

Meh. The MAAC is an atrocious league. He was a volume shooter.

Kid from Harvard much more appealing.

Would hope we don't enter season with this kid as our starting PG. That's an enormous jump in competition.

Kid from Harvard more appealing… that one is a bit obvious lol. If Few is after this kid- that’s pretty telling though. Not my top choice but kid is far from some bum. League doesn’t always matter.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Kid from Harvard more appealing… that one is a bit obvious lol. If Few is after this kid- that’s pretty telling though. Not my top choice but kid is far from some bum. League doesn’t always matter.

At this point if the kid is good enough to,play at Gonzaga he’s probably good enough to play for Syracuse, regardless of where he comes from. Pretty straight forward, IMO

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Only issue is we are not getting the kid from harvard.

Where is Harvard kid going? Did he commit?

 

[Biaxtar]

Where is Harvard kid going? Did he commit?

Not yet but it has been quiet for SU on him. Dont think SU has the funds

 

[pwong]

At this point if the kid is good enough to,play at Gonzaga he’s probably good enough to play for Syracuse, regardless of where he comes from. Pretty straight forward, IMO

Theres a difference in role though. We are looking for a starting PG, Gonzaga is looking for depth piece most likely. Just like how everyone was excited last year when we got Naheem McLeod from Villanova and other historically good schools that were looking at him as a backup option

 

[Orangezoo]

Theres a difference in role though. We are looking for a starting PG, Gonzaga is looking for depth piece most likely. Just like how everyone was excited last year when we got Naheem McLeod from Villanova and other historically good schools that were looking at him as a backup option

Do we know that’s what the Zags are looking for in him? Looks more like they want a starting SG with PG skills based on their roster

 

[Cusefan0307]

Meh. The MAAC is an atrocious league. He was a volume shooter.

Kid from Harvard much more appealing.

Would hope we don't enter season with this kid as our starting PG. That's an enormous jump in competition.

He's put up 21 and 4 against USC and 26 and 5 against Georgia. He's had some good games against P6 competition.

 

[Sherman20]

This kid could be good. But I’m still hoping that Reynolds hits the portal and we land him.

 

[007]

Meh. The MAAC is an atrocious league. He was a volume shooter.

Kid from Harvard much more appealing.

Would hope we don't enter season with this kid as our starting PG. That's an enormous jump in competition.

And the jump from the Ivy League to the ACC is not?

To be clear, I think Mack's skill set would translate to any league. I think the same is true for Leffew. Leffew is much more skilled than some in this thread think.

 

[SUFan44]

Kid from Harvard more appealing… that one is a bit obvious lol. If Few is after this kid- that’s pretty telling though. Not my top choice but kid is far from some bum. League doesn’t always matter.

I never said a bum. I said the league is terrible, and his shooting numbers aren't great. Better than Judah from deep, but still not great for playing in a league like that.

Sorry, don't think this kid is the starter we need to make a different with our program. He could be fine. If there's another guard coming that's better, then he's fine. But the MAAC to the ACC is two full levels up, maybe two and a half.

 

[SUFan44]

And the jump from the Ivy League to the ACC is not?

To be clear, I think Mack's skill set would translate to any league. I think the same is true for Leffew. Leffew is much more skilled than some in this thread think.

No, the Ivy League is not as big a jump as the MAAC.

ACC was #5 in conference strength according to Ken Pom.

Ivy League was #13.

MAAC was #25.

Huge difference.

 

[Cusefan0307]

And the jump from the Ivy League to the ACC is not?

To be clear, I think Mack's skill set would translate to any league. I think the same is true for Leffew. Leffew is much more skilled than some in this thread think.

I prefer him to the Hofstra kid whos way too small and really not that great besides setting people up.

 

[Orangezoo]

This kid could be good. But I’m still hoping that Reynolds hits the portal and we land him.

Right that’s clearly the best case scenario.

Leffew has a couple things in his profile besides what 0307 posted.

He went from 1.7 apg to 3.9 from his jr to sr year with only an increase in turnovers of 2.7 to 2.9 in an expanded role as the alpha and primary ball handler this year. That’s a pretty solid improvement and speaks to a kid still developing even as an upperclassman ( but don’t like the A:T ratio). He averaged 1.5 spg too and over 4 rebs a game so he’s active on D and on the glass. Shoots the 3 ball well with a nice stroke plus being 6-5.

He fits the mold of adding/targeting pieces that do multiple things well. He doesn’t fit the mold of a true PG but right now there are not many at the top of the list in the portal. Dug- high volume shooter low efficiency and not great numbers as a facilitator- Mack with some strong numbers but is also a higher usage guy himself and just a sophomore from the Ivy League. Reynolds even as a combo is attractive given him being a possible grad txfr so you get that maturity.

Even with Leffew you have a guy who isn’t a ball stopper and with a PG running the program, especially one who clearly got frustrated with how Judah was such a ball stopper- I don’t see him bringing in a kid whose all about looking for his own first second and third.

 

[SUFan44]

He's put up 21 and 4 against USC and 26 and 5 against Georgia. He's had some good games against P6 competition.

That's two games. I'm not saying he's a bad player necessarily. All I'm saying is, if we are putting our point guard eggs in his basket, I am a little concerned with the level that he is coming from and how it will translate against top competition consistently.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Mack is not in SU’s budget according to people who might know. So forget about him and anyone else who will be close to a million.

 

[Melancer46]

He's put up 21 and 4 against USC and 26 and 5 against Georgia. He's had some good games against P6 competition.

In the last two years, he's had 8 games against teams ranked in the top 150 in KenPom rankings. In those games, he averaged:

• 12.5 points
• 2.8 assists to 3.3 turnovers
• 2.5 rebounds
• 2.4 steals
• 37.0% FG%
• 44.1% 2PT%
• 25.0% 3PT%
• 66.7% FT%
• 43.6% TS%

Maybe not significant, but three of those eight games came against Iona, where he shot a combined 7/30 from the field and 2/14 from 3 and had 4 assists to 10 turnovers. That team really had his number; probably 3 of his 4 worst games in that sample.

 

[Orangezoo]

That's two games. I'm not saying he's a bad player necessarily. All I'm saying is, if we are putting our point guard eggs in his basket, I am a little concerned with the level that he is coming from and how it will translate against top competition consistently.

Just look at the options and there aren’t huge differences in talent level no matter the league and everyone is more combo/scorer than true point.

Mack is really good but Harvard was only ok and he was another really high usage player. No guarantee with a highly paid second year kid you are going to get a now 13 and 5 or 6 guy vs a 15/4 guy who’s just as aggressive seeking out his own shot. High potential though with Mack and next to Reynolds still best case scenario for sure.

There is no one in Nembhard’s class as a PG this year .

 

[Orangezoo]

In the last two years, he's had 8 games against teams ranked in the top 150 in KenPom rankings. In those games, he averaged:

• 12.5 points
• 2.8 assists to 3.3 turnovers
• 2.5 rebounds
• 2.4 steals
• 37.0% FG%
• 44.1% 2PT%
• 25.0% 3PT%
• 66.7% FT%
• 43.6% TS%

Maybe not significant, but three of those eight games came against Iona, where he shot a combined 7/30 from the field and 2/14 from 3 and had 4 assists to 10 turnovers. That team really had his number; probably 3 of his 4 worst games in that sample.

He made a decent jump from jr to sr year too. Again not a sexy option but there are only a couple at the PG spot in the portal anyways plus the one that isn’t…

 

[Orangezoo]

I prefer him to the Hofstra kid whos way too small and really not that great besides setting people up.

I’d take Hofstra kid as a depth backup who wants a chance to play a little in the ACC. As a starting PG no way