Portal Big Men Prospects for Next Year

[IthacaMatt]

... and all of that achieved while playing out of position.
Out of necessity.

Even if Donnie 'only' gets the token start each game, he's gonna start.
I'm pretty sure he'll do a lot more than just get token starts tho - kid is a talent.

Bell and Taylor are both guys who should come off the bench.
Now, we may need for Bell to start next year, IF we still are stuck w having Maliq in the middle.

Assuming we had a competent 5, then you could have Maliq at the 4, and Freeman at the 3.
(not that these differentiate anything - they're both Forwards)
Freeman is skilled enough to play a SF type role for us.

If/when Maliq is at the 5, then Donnie's your 4, and maybe Bell or Taylor (if he's still here) are at the 3.
OR perhaps Q plays there? I like that idea too.

We don't have room for Taylor next year. He's at best our 6th option at forward, behind Freeman, Bell, Benny, Maliq Brown and Copeland, when we run our "3 guard" set.

We should get a real center, hope MacLeod gets healthy, and ease Hima out.

 

[IthacaMatt]

If Maliq is playing center next year as our starter, we have to change the way we play defense a bit if we want to compete at a high level. There will just be gross mismatches if we try to run it like we are now.

I am the president of the Maliq Brown Fan Club, but he's not strong enough in his core / lower buddy, nor an explosive enough athlete, to stop those bigs that can plant in the post and do baby hooks all day. You have to win those battles before they ever set up shop by pushing them off their spot, making them work, etc. A lot of those guys that defend well are built like fire hydrants that are shorter than normal. And, if he's starting at the 5, we'll have games where we need to be so on point with our rotations, that we'll have to have guys that are high bball iq and disciplined. All of this is fine, btw, but that's the reailty.

Maliq isn't a three point shooter and he's not a rim runner, so he isn't punishing huge guys at the 5 with his offensive side of the ball. Honestly, he's perfect in the dunker spot if we were able to use him there.

I don't know what the answer is. There will be games where we just give up a ton of offensive boards, but I do like more position-less basketball and I think that can help a bit here. But what I witnessed against Bacot (who, granted, is one of the top big men in the country) just isn't viable.

One of the current centers has to level up to at least be a viable rotation guy.

Excellent post. For those who think Freeman is going to improve that aspect of our game, he's got the skinniest legs I've seen. He's built like Kevin Durant. He's not going to defend anyone at the 5.

 

[two3zone]

You must be this board’s number 1 Benny hater lol

Moyers defense was way better, rebounded better, and as awful as he was on offense, he would hammer some dunks home.

 

[two3zone]

Yeah, he’s a broken record

He’s great huh?

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yes. I'm not as high on him as many are. His fg percentage is misleading. Nearly all his scoring is off feeds after guards draw defenders or put backs. He has no responsibility for creating offense. He's a very nice role player. I don't see him as a top 20 ACC guy. If a guy averaging less than 10ppg is a top 20 ACC player, he better be defensive player of the year or the ACC is way down.

Have you watched all of his games? (I know some schools stream). I was looking for his stats and couldn’t find them.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Moyers defense was way better, rebounded better, and as awful as he was on offense, he would hammer some dunks home.

You would think Moyer would have shot a higher percentage hammering some dunks home.
If only Benny could hammer home some dunks.
Also, didn’t Moyer go AWOL for a game or two?

 

[sufandu]

Have you watched all of his games? (I know some schools stream). I was looking for his stats and couldn’t find them.

I wasn't talking about Freeman. I was talking about Brown.

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

JJ, Bell, Portal rim protector, Maliq and either Benny or Freeman? That sounds like the worst ball handling team in SU history.

Disagree. That lineup puts more scoring and rebounding on the floor with (I would argue) a minimal hit on handling. Although at the 2 Bell would have more ball pressure, his problem at SF is rebounding (2 pg) not TO's (1 pg over 25 mpg). One TO per game does not raise alarm bells. Nor does 1.1 TO pg with Benny. JJ is 1.8 but he handles the ball a lot and drives the lane. Maliq is also 1.0 TO pg. So ... I appreciate the response, but the stats don't back up your dramatic claim as far as the players we know about. As to the others (Freeman and a portal center) we're both speculating. But I wouldn't be surprised if the staff went after a portal center and took a hard look at moving Maliq to the 4 and Bell to SG as a big boy lineup.

2023-24 Syracuse Orange Men's Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Check out the detailed 2023-24 Syracuse Orange Roster and Stats for College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

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[IthacaMatt]

I'm still a Bell-iever.

And I think Copeland will be really good as our starting point guard. Like, possibly All-ACC good.

Copeland's passes remind me of Pearl. Seriously. He needs to improve his decision making, but he sees the floor even better than Michael Carter-Williams, IMO.

 

[Eagles20]

thats not the point

Syracuses best team have had very deep rosters

having a deep roster is an advantage...the coaches should try to buud a deep roster, period.

this idea that players wont come unless promised huge minutes is false

sets up this idea...that you can only get decent players if they are promised the farm...

which is just false.

It's unfortunately not false with the majority of student athletes. Yes, you have some who understand roles. Where I work (lower D1), the 25th kid on the soccer roster thinks he will be playing professionally.

 

[SUOrangeSU]

did someone reallllly suggest Bell at the 2? lordy

 

[two3zone]

did someone reallllly suggest Bell at the 2? lordy

It’s comical he’s at the three.

 

[CardiacCuse]

It's unfortunately not false with the majority of student athletes. Yes, you have some who understand roles. Where I work (lower D1), the 25th kid on the soccer roster thinks he will be playing professionally.

purdue has 9 players who avg more than 10mins a game...and 3 other who avg at least 5

uconn has 8 players who average more than 18 mins a game...2 others who avg close to 10...and 4 others who avg under 5

houston has 6 players that average between 10 and 20 minutes a game and 10 overall in double figure in mins a game...they really spread out the playing time!

point being: it's normal for talented players to not get a lot of minutes at good programs...and good programs usually have a ton of depth beyond the regular rotation...

good programs have talent up and down their rosters

I reject the idea that promising heavy minutes is required to get talent to come to SU...the best teams dont do that. even if it were true, it would be a bad way to operate.

there are a lot of really good players out there!

quadir and maliq were pretty lowly rated, for example...and they are among the best on this year's team

its a total fallacy that the only way to get good players to come to SU is by promising them heavy minutes.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

We recruited JP Estrella hard out of HS. He is a frosh now at Tennessee and is barely playing. He has played 69 minutes so far this year and scored 28 points for the season.

If he goes in the portal, I would think he would be someone we would target.

Estrella is a star (at least in Spanish)

 

[Cuse181]

Williams is supposed to have a big upside he needs at add 20lbs. Add Westry to the G/ mix we have plenty of talent

Westry has played a little over 100 minutes worth of college basketball in 2 years we should absolutely assume he will need to be recruited over.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Estrella is a star (at least in Spanish)

He’s a freshman on a veteran team. If he likes the school he will stay. He was a JB recruit. Maybe Red is not as high on him.

 

[two3zone]

Westry has played a little over 100 minutes worth of college basketball in 2 years we should absolutely assume he will need to be recruited over.

99% will disagree with you, but you’re right.