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tee1222
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No problem. St. Joe's came all the way back, close game right now. Battle will check back in soon.
Class of 2016 PG Tyus Battle (NJ) Signed LOI
- Thread starter Jazz P
- Start date
No problem. St. Joe's came all the way back, close game right now. Battle will check back in soon.
RF2044
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A ton, but Jackson has been much more aggressive offensively than Battle, at least for the portion of the game I've watched [whole second half].
Lots of Battle - Syracuse - Boeheim - Hopkins chatter.
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tee1222
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Yeah, Battle has had a long rest this quarter. Surprised he's not back in, but Tyree hit a couple of big shots to get them this far. Battle has been more of a playmaker than scorer this half.
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tee1222
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Tyus back in. 3 minutes left, St Joe's down 1.
RF2044
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Battle back in now, with 3:18 to play, down 58-57.
Needs to take over now. Let's see how he does.
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tee1222
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I would say Lone Peak just got home cooking, but not really. Refs called it tight both ways.
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tee1222
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Tyree just took two low percentage shots imo.
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tee1222
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Well, nice. At least Tyree just fouled out so he can't shoot anymore. No more pick and roll, Tyus playing off the ball. Give him the keys now. 
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tee1222
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Down 5 late, but give them the credit for making it a game. I think they held Battle out too long even though he had 4. He just deferred and ends up in a turnover. Should have pulled up inside the foul line and finished.
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tee1222
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Jackson played better tonight but Battle had foul trouble early and didn't play a lot of minutes in the 2nd half. Not a bad outing for St. Joseph considering the road trip. I guess they leave the state of NJ and have a non cupcake schedule.
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tee1222
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Tyus' brother Khalif checked in. Guard, but not as tall as big brother. Still only a freshman so you never know.
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tee1222
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Tyus to the line late. The game is out of reach by now. But he finished with 14 or 15 points, handful of assists and rebounds and had 1 block, might have gotten credit for another either that or a steal. Had at least a couple of steals.
SUalldway
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I only tuned in for the last few minutes of the game, where he was good from the FT line.. Knowing he was limited by foul trouble, how did he look for the whole game?
orange79
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Don't worry. We know how to fix that at Syracuse
RF2044
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I can only speak to the second half. He looked unselfish, although his team's offense seemed to be all about one-on-one play, which meant that lots of other guys took a lot of shots. Some of those guys were D1 prospects, others were not. Would have liked to see Battle take over more, especially when the game was close, but his teammates kept cranking up shots.
He missed a lengthy stretch of the 4th quarter due to foul trouble. Only hit one shot that I remember in the second half. Handled the ball well in the open floor, and seemed to see the floor pretty well, but I am less certain about him being a lead guard now after watching that game last night. He's a wing who can pass.
He didn't look "bad" by any means, but by contrast the other team had a guard going to Duke who took over in the 4th quarter. I don't think that kid is "better" than Battle necessarily, but he was aggressive and made a ton of drives to the hoop--where he was basically unstoppable--whereas Battle settled for dishing to his teammates. He's much better offensively than what he showed last night.
And I'm not trying to make this into a sky is falling / pessimistic scouting report, that's just what I saw in the 2nd half where he was uncharacteristically very quiet.
Scotch
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I only watched the first half, and Battle showed plenty of talent. Tight handle, explosive, and good form on his shot. Jackson's athleticism absolutely jumped off the screen though. Tyus had some issues with his quickness when Jackson was guarding him - similar to when our big guards take on smaller guards from Louisville.
Doesn't look like he can serve as the primary ball-handler for us next year, but there is plenty to like about the kid's all-around game. Looking forward to 3-guard lineups next year with Frank, Tyus and Malachi playing off each other.
Doesn't look like he can serve as the primary ball-handler for us next year, but there is plenty to like about the kid's all-around game. Looking forward to 3-guard lineups next year with Frank, Tyus and Malachi playing off each other.
SoBeCuse
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Thanks both of you guys for sharing. Seemed like from Francis' latest podcast; he suggested that Battle is not a PG but has some playmaking ability like how Dion was used here potentially. Would you say that is accurate? He also seemed to suggest that bringing in a true PG sooner than later, even if he is a grad transfer or whatever could be valuable.
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tee1222
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Tyus did not have his best game, but I think it would have looked more impressive had he not gotten into foul trouble. He got called for two charges. Neither was terribly suspect. I had the feeling that in this game, for the touches he had, he felt compelled to get his team some points. As the game progressed, he tried to make things happen more for his teammates, again albeit in small increments as he had 4 fouls early.
Jackson and company did force Battle to his left almost exclusively, but he got around the defense most of the time. Handle is tight, left and right. Couple of plays where he forced the pass, one resulting in a turnover. But his handle is enough to bring up the ball and initiate the offense, push the break when needed. Still. He is more of a combo guard, scorer and his dimes are usually a result of him pushing the tempo and looking for it. Probably will get better with time as to what to do in terms of reading the defenders and taking what they give you.
Either way, his skills are such that he can penetrate, can create his own shot, can make his teammates better and will run the offense at times whether another PG or combo are on the floor. I think he's going to put up big scoring numbers early like Malachi and will be a 2 to 4 assist guy, in the mold of G.
Not sure everyone realizes an important aspect of his game. Although he only had a few blocks/steals, he is a very good defender. They play man, but he challenges shots and has defensive awareness we saw from MCW, when to step in, when to get into the passing lane and not get burned by going for it, etc. But he is a very gifted athlete and is going to cause problems whether we play 2-3 or man. I wouldn't be surprised if he does Gbinije type things for SU. And I also wouldn't be surprised if he does MCW type things. Our defense is our bread and butter for a long time now. Expect it to improve next year with these 3 guys coming in, Pikachu included.
Jackson and company did force Battle to his left almost exclusively, but he got around the defense most of the time. Handle is tight, left and right. Couple of plays where he forced the pass, one resulting in a turnover. But his handle is enough to bring up the ball and initiate the offense, push the break when needed. Still. He is more of a combo guard, scorer and his dimes are usually a result of him pushing the tempo and looking for it. Probably will get better with time as to what to do in terms of reading the defenders and taking what they give you.
Either way, his skills are such that he can penetrate, can create his own shot, can make his teammates better and will run the offense at times whether another PG or combo are on the floor. I think he's going to put up big scoring numbers early like Malachi and will be a 2 to 4 assist guy, in the mold of G.
Not sure everyone realizes an important aspect of his game. Although he only had a few blocks/steals, he is a very good defender. They play man, but he challenges shots and has defensive awareness we saw from MCW, when to step in, when to get into the passing lane and not get burned by going for it, etc. But he is a very gifted athlete and is going to cause problems whether we play 2-3 or man. I wouldn't be surprised if he does Gbinije type things for SU. And I also wouldn't be surprised if he does MCW type things. Our defense is our bread and butter for a long time now. Expect it to improve next year with these 3 guys coming in, Pikachu included.
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tee1222
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Oops, forgot one other thing. Tyree, the other featured player on Battle's team, is an important contributor. But he's a scorer. Live and die by him kind of guy. He hit some key shots, but probably took a lot too. Anyway, he's a decent player, but took some tough shots.
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tee1222
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Honestly, although I agree to a certain extent with this, we could get by if we had Battle-Frank-Kaleb if something turns around for Kaleb. That said, I am not sure it will and KJ knows it. So again, yeah:
Howard
Battle
Mali
Lydon
Robey
Moyer
Chukwu (I won't do what you tell me
)DC
Chino
RECRUIT? Transfer?
(KJ?)
Of the 4 guards, 3 "can" play the lead. But am not sure 1 of them (or someone else) will be here. Most likely can recruit a big and a true PG. On paper, we would have a shot at it.
SUalldway
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G-like and/or MCW-like sounds real nice!
RF2044
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Here's what I would say:
I'm probably harder on lead guards that just about anybody posting on the forum. Battle isn't a point guard. He's got a pretty nice handle and seems to see the floor well, but he isn't going to be the guy who initiates our offensive sets and runs them. It took Gbinije 3 years to get comfortable doing that, and Battle won't step in and run the offense as adroitly as G does right away.
As a compliementary ball handler / passer / playmaker, he can absolutely be a contributor in that capacity, and maybe even an above average one.
This is an imperfect comparison, but bear with me for this example. It would be like somebody suggesting that Malachi Richardson can create for himself off of the dribble and has a pretty good handle, so maybe he could run point. No, he couldn't. But could he chip in against pressure? Sure.
Battle has a tighter handle than Richardson, and he excels in the open floor. But handling in the open floor / dishing is easy--literally, anybody can do that, when guys are just running up and down the floor. It's much different when teams force you to play halfcourt basketball, and you have to initiate offensive sets, probe the defense, make the right decisions, etc. Not all guards do that well, and I'm not sure that Battle would either, if handed the ball and told to play point next year.
Somebody compared him to Dion Waiters above [in terms of being a combo who can chip in at the point], and while they aren't similar players, I think that's a pretty good comparison in terms of this conversation.
So with all that in mind, here are my thoughts:
I'm probably harder on lead guards that just about anybody posting on the forum. Battle isn't a point guard. He's got a pretty nice handle and seems to see the floor well, but he isn't going to be the guy who initiates our offensive sets and runs them. It took Gbinije 3 years to get comfortable doing that, and Battle won't step in and run the offense as adroitly as G does right away.
As a compliementary ball handler / passer / playmaker, he can absolutely be a contributor in that capacity, and maybe even an above average one.
This is an imperfect comparison, but bear with me for this example. It would be like somebody suggesting that Malachi Richardson can create for himself off of the dribble and has a pretty good handle, so maybe he could run point. No, he couldn't. But could he chip in against pressure? Sure.
Battle has a tighter handle than Richardson, and he excels in the open floor. But handling in the open floor / dishing is easy--literally, anybody can do that, when guys are just running up and down the floor. It's much different when teams force you to play halfcourt basketball, and you have to initiate offensive sets, probe the defense, make the right decisions, etc. Not all guards do that well, and I'm not sure that Battle would either, if handed the ball and told to play point next year.
Somebody compared him to Dion Waiters above [in terms of being a combo who can chip in at the point], and while they aren't similar players, I think that's a pretty good comparison in terms of this conversation.
So with all that in mind, here are my thoughts:
- The starting backcourt will probably be Richardson / Battle, unless Howard makes the proverbial "sophomore jump
- If that happens, then I could see JB bringing Lydon off of the bench, and having the benefit of his scoring pop / shooting / depth
- Whether Howard starts or not, the team is going to need him to take the next step, because he's going to play a TON
- Howard could play with Battle or Richardson, or alongside both if one of them shifts to the back line of the zone
- Would love to see us add a 5th year transfer [if the #'s allow that] who is either a pure point or a true 3
