Class of 2025 PG Luke Fennell (Australia) COMMITTED & SIGNED TO SYRACUSE (10/23/24)

[IthacaMatt]

Toughness is imperative in sport. It isn't going to war, but there are always challenges throughout a season and even within a game. That's why I hate to see our players whining. Process and move on, whining achieves NOTHING. That is weakness. No offense to Bell, but he has no toughness. Scoop and Jackson from Philly...tough. Waiters...super tough. Triche...tough. Arinze...damn. The Niagara Falls boys...TOUGH. It is up to the coach to identify and insist upon his players being tough. Competition is imperative. We're not handing you anything, if you're good enough, you will play. If you want to leave, get the hell out.

You totally get where I'm coming from. It's not about anybody but the players, and our best players have always had a toughness that used to be the essence of the "Syracuse Character". Add Devo to your list.

Ask Bees about how awful and intimidating The Zoo was at Manley. I remember Mike Hopkins saying in an interview one time about playing at Syracuse, "This is a working class town, and when you come to play here, we are going kick your ass." That's the attitude I'm talking about.

 

[orangefog]

You totally get where I'm coming from. It's not about anybody but the players, and our best players have always had a toughness that used to be the essence of the "Syracuse Character". Add Devo to your list.

Ask Bees about how awful and intimidating The Zoo was at Manley. I remember Mike Hopkins saying in an interview one time about playing at Syracuse, "This is a working class town, and when you come to play here, we are going kick your ass." That's the attitude I'm talking about.

I don't think that Red is the guy to instill that toughness. The right coach can bring that back and build on that. It's a different world with NIL and all that crap, but we have to create a culture that is about more than money. The money is the end game. At Syracuse, we will teach you how to be a man, we will teach you how to be tough and succeed. You will come to respect the S, because it is what has raised you to be a man. Fran gets it, we need to find a basketball coach that fits that mold.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Do you think what our families go through influences their descendants, or not at all? I've won a state championship. Have you?

I have an adult autistic daughter who they are trying to kick off social security for the last year and a half. I am litigating that case for free for her benefit, as well as a workers comp case where a well known local employer has really screwed her over.

When I was only 7 or 8 years old, my family knew I was going to be a lawyer one day. And I understood at an early age that the reason I wanted to do it was to prevent people from screwing over me and my family.

I just want to be left alone to live my life and provide for my family. But this country has turned disturbingly mean. Frankly, it sucks how everybody wants to judge and punish everybody else who doesn't agree with, or look like them.

Oh yeah, and thru all of this crap, I've been fighting cancer since 2023.

So yeah, toughen up you whiny ass bitches.

Don’t stop fighting for people who need help.

 

[orange79]

OK - here's the deal.

Let's get back to talking about Luke Fennell.

Not his name.

Not Australia.

Not "My d!!ck is bigger than your d!!ck!"

Not "I'm right, you're wrong!"


Not ANY of that schit.

Or the thread remains locked.

 

[baggerbob]

You totally get where I'm coming from. It's not about anybody but the players, and our best players have always had a toughness that used to be the essence of the "Syracuse Character". Add Devo to your list.

Ask Bees about how awful and intimidating The Zoo was at Manley. I remember Mike Hopkins saying in an interview one time about playing at Syracuse, "This is a working class town, and when you come to play here, we are going kick your ass." That's the attitude I'm talking about.

Basically that's what Fran teaches. Maybe Red needs to talk to Fran and take some lessons.

 

[walsh2012]

Go screw yourself. It's not a race thing. Most guys in the NBA who are 6-6 and are black simply have far superior athleticism to Fennell. Do you disagree? Give us 4 or 5 examples, then.

Why don't you go back and look at early Mullin tape? I was watching the first 10 minutes of their 1984 game against UConn (link below).

Mullin defended UConn's PG. He shared bringing the ball up with Mike Moses, St. John's PG, against the UConn press. Moses averaged 4.1 assists that year, and Mullin averaged 4.0. Mullin leads the fast break and converts, he passes for an assist - all in the first 5-10 minutes of the tape.

Mullin was a playmaker for that team, just like Walt Frazier was a playmaker for the Knicks. Was Frazier the PG? Or was Earl Monroe? It didn't matter.

It's a joke, chill

 

[IthacaMatt]

It's a joke, chill

No it wasn't.

 

[walsh2012]

No it wasn't.

Thumbs up emoji

 

[bnoro]

Do you think what our families go through influences their descendants, or not at all? I've won a state championship. Have you?

I have an adult autistic daughter who they are trying to kick off social security for the last year and a half. I am litigating that case for free for her benefit, as well as a workers comp case where a well known local employer has really screwed her over.

When I was only 7 or 8 years old, my family knew I was going to be a lawyer one day. And I understood at an early age that the reason I wanted to do it was to prevent people from screwing over me and my family.

I just want to be left alone to live my life and provide for my family. But this country has turned disturbingly mean. Frankly, it sucks how everybody wants to judge and punish everybody else who doesn't agree with, or look like them.

Oh yeah, and thru all of this crap, I've been fighting cancer since 2023.

So yeah, toughen up you whiny ass bitches.

We're on the same page then.

I took your post as another dig on my earlier post that ruffled some feathers.

 

[newmexicuse]

OK - here's the deal.

Let's get back to talking about Luke Fennell.

Not his name.

Not Australia.

Not "My d!!ck is bigger than your d!!ck!"

Not "I'm right, you're wrong!"


Not ANY of that schit.

Or the thread remains locked.

How can we get back to talking about Luke if the thread is locked - LOL !!

However, that being said, I will say that I have a feeling Luke will be the real deal. From the vids, there is much to like about his game. He will probably need to get stronger before he can truly shine, but I would be shocked if he isnt an upgrade from what we have this season at PG. We will need a starting caliber portal PG and then let the best man win !!!

 

[IthacaMatt]

I don't think that Red is the guy to instill that toughness. The right coach can bring that back and build on that. It's a different world with NIL and all that crap, but we have to create a culture that is about more than money. The money is the end game. At Syracuse, we will teach you how to be a man, we will teach you how to be tough and succeed. You will come to respect the S, because it is what has raised you to be a man. Fran gets it, we need to find a basketball coach that fits that mold.

I agree that Red isn't that guy to instill toughness. That's why he needs to go.
We are not going to "out talent" anyone ever again.

And I totally agree that we need someone who can teach kids how to play NBA level defense. Kelvin Sampson keeps getting chances because he can coach defense. Just look at his Houston team. Butler's program was built on defensive toughness under Brad Stevens. Look at Pitino with St. John's. I saw a video of him in the locker room at halftime of a recent St. John's game and he was giving them holy hell about not playing good enough defense.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I agree that Red isn't that guy to instill toughness. That's why he needs to go.
We are not going to "out talent" anyone ever again.

And I totally agree that we need someone who can teach kids how to play NBA level defense. Kelvin Sampson keeps getting chances because he can coach defense. Just look at his Houston team. Butler's program was built on defensive toughness under Brad Stevens. Look at Pitino with St. John's. I saw a video of him in the locker room at halftime of a recent St. John's game and he was giving them holy hell about not playing good enough defense.

To get the thread back on track, here's another highlight film of Luke Fennell.

One of the reasons I originally compared him to Chris Mullin is because aside from being 6-6, a very good passer and excellent outside shooting, he is a lefty, like Mullin was.

Being a left handed player creates advantages offensively, because most guys are used to defending right handed players (who make up 90% of the population).

 

[hoopsupstate]

To get the thread back on track, here's another highlight film of Luke Fennell.

One of the reasons I originally compared him to Chris Mullin is because aside from being 6-6, a very good passer and excellent outside shooting, he is a lefty, like Mullin was.

Being a left handed player creates advantages offensively, because most guys are used to defending right handed players (who make up 90% of the population).

He’s not a lefty. He shoots right handed.

 

[IthacaMatt]

He’s not a lefty. He shoots right handed.

He seems left hand dominant, but yes, his outside shot uses his right hand.

 

[hoopsupstate]

He seems left hand dominant, but yes, his outside shot uses his right hand.

He does like to ball fake and go left. Scouts will pick that up quickly. He did go right too. He’s really smooth, which makes him look slow, but he gets by guys easy. He has to get a quicker release, but we don’t have anyone this year that can drive that easily and under control. What excites me is that Fennell, Anthony and Womack can all shoot and put it on the floor to either score or create for others. If we had just one guy who could do that yesterday we win easily.

 

[rhcuse]

Lots of slow, poor defenders in there.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

He seems left hand dominant, but yes, his outside shot uses his right hand.

I noticed that in the clip. Ambi. And lots of other PG skills .. range on his jumper, not lightening quick but uses his body well to get to the rim, has a floater, can distribute it, can hit the mid-range jumper. Excellent size. My two questions are: can he stay in front of ACC guards? And will the surrounding cast be talented enough to get back to the NCAAs?

 

[IthacaMatt]

Lots of slow, poor defenders in there.

You forget, these are Australian juniors - high school / prep school aged kids.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I noticed that in the clip. Ambi. And lots of other PG skills .. range on his jumper, not lightening quick but uses his body well to get to the rim, has a floater, can distribute it, can hit the mid-range jumper. Excellent size. My two questions are: can he stay in front of ACC guards? And will the surrounding cast be talented enough to get back to the NCAAs?

Yes, his defensive speed is going to get exposed. So you have to play a smaller, quicker guard next to him, so he can guard the other team's 2 or 3.

 

[IthacaMatt]

He does like to ball fake and go left. Scouts will pick that up quickly. He did go right too. He’s really smooth, which makes him look slow, but he gets by guys easy. He has to get a quicker release, but we don’t have anyone this year that can drive that easily and under control. What excites me is that Fennell, Anthony and Womack can all shoot and put it on the floor to either score or create for others. If we had just one guy who could do that yesterday we win easily.

It's not just ball fake and go left. He primarily dribbles with his left hand, When he drives he can finish with either hand, but like Devo, he most frequently goes left on the drive. And he does use his body well to shield off the defender, which is something MCW was good at. Triche, too. He was great at it.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Yes, his defensive speed is going to get exposed. So you have to play a smaller, quicker guard next to him, so he can guard the other team's 2 or 3.

With his size he won’t have to close out so far. Smart players can adjust. He doesn’t appear to get sped up. He can vary the speed that he plays with. That’s a good attribute to have.

 

[baggerbob]

With his size he won’t have to close out so far. Smart players can adjust. He doesn’t appear to get sped up. He can vary the speed that he plays with. That’s a good attribute to have.

Remember what Billy did to the quick Notre Dame, and Texas Guards? He punished them
on the offensive end and took them completely out of the game.
If the quick small guards can't stop him on offense they won't stay in the game.

 

[IthacaMatt]

With his size he won’t have to close out so far. Smart players can adjust. He doesn’t appear to get sped up. He can vary the speed that he plays with. That’s a good attribute to have.

Great observation! Yeah, he has that sense of pace.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Remember what Billy did to the quick Notre Dame, and Texas Guards? He punished them
on the offensive end and took them completely out of the game.
If the quick small guards can't stop him on offense they won't stay in the game.

The at ND game when Billy just bullied Chris Thomas was beautiful. Such old school coaching to keep riding the mis-match, and old school team play to go with it.

 

[orangefog]

The at ND game when Billy just bullied Chris Thomas was beautiful. Such old school coaching to keep riding the mis-match, and old school team play to go with it.

Identifying mismatches and what works and pounding that, what a concept