Predict 2017-2018 Season

[JazzNC]

Just gauging the level of optimism, pessimism and realism on the board right now... have at it.

 

[JazzNC]

Y'all scared to play?

 

[Brooky03]

3 votes for sub .500 haha. I think the board shot right past realism and straight to pessimism. I know I'm on the optimistic side of the coin, but for a team that is guaranteed at least 10 wins before conference play begins, it's a little funny to think they'll be the worst ever, despite not being the least talented team Boeheim's had by a long shot.

 

[JazzNC]

3 votes for sub .500 haha. I think the board shot right past realism and straight to pessimism. I know I'm on the optimistic side of the coin, but for a team that is guaranteed at least 10 wins before conference play begins, it's a little funny to think they'll be the worst ever, despite not being the least talented team Boeheim's had by a long shot.

I agree that it's far from the least talented teams. But I'm not too sure about the 10 wins before conference games start. Our early season non-conference record wasn't too good last year. For the record I was not one of the voters who predicted sub .500 record.

 

[Brooky03]

I agree that it's far from the least talented teams. But I'm not too sure about the 10 wins before conference games start. Our early season non-conference record wasn't too good last year. For the record I was not one of the voters who predicted sub .500 record.

'guaranteed' was probably too strong of a word. The team had 9 nonconference wins this past season in what was probably the worst nonconference performance by any Syracuse team ever. So 9 is probably the 'guaranteed' floor, imo. That would mean the team beats the 6 or 7 god awful teams they'll face, win a few against just bad teams, and lose to the rest. So the team just needs to scrap for like 7 or 8 conference wins. The conference does not look stacked for the upcoming season, so that's doable. I'd put the floor for conference wins at 6.

With 15 wins being the absolute worst case, apocalypse, abandon the program, scenario - and only needing 17 (I think) wins to get to .500 - I'd put the chances of finishing below .500 around the same odds as the chances of going to the Final Four. Neither is likely.

 

[JazzNC]

As of the time of this post 2 out of three posters are predicting an NIT appearance or worse. Sad. I hope we pick up some more quality additions to see the consensus improve. Go Orange!

 

[DonLightfoot]

I think we are out in the NCAA 2nd round. No option for that so I picked 1st round

 

[Cusefan0307]

'guaranteed' was probably too strong of a word. The team had 9 nonconference wins this past season in what was probably the worst nonconference performance by any Syracuse team ever. So 9 is probably the 'guaranteed' floor, imo. That would mean the team beats the 6 or 7 god awful teams they'll face, win a few against just bad teams, and lose to the rest. So the team just needs to scrap for like 7 or 8 conference wins. The conference does not look stacked for the upcoming season, so that's doable. I'd put the floor for conference wins at 6.

With 15 wins being the absolute worst case, apocalypse, abandon the program, scenario - and only needing 17 (I think) wins to get to .500 - I'd put the chances of finishing below .500 around the same odds as the chances of going to the Final Four. Neither is likely.

We were 8-5...

 

[HOFCeluck]

This is a wors team on paper than the one that just won 18 games. So yeah...

 

[Zepharus]

Pain...

 

[two3zone]

Hovering around .500, probably sub .500 in the ACC.

 

[jordoo]

Ask this again once the roster is finalized. Its sort of pointless right now as we have an incomplete team. SU is adding players its just a matter of which ones.

 

[Brooky03]

We were 8-5...

I counted UNCG because stupid ESPN puts postseason at the top of the schedule results instead the bottom. My bad. Anyway, I'll stand by 9 being the floor. This team will perform better early in the season than last year's team. The team doesn't have more experience but they have players with more experience playing together. Last season's team was hot garbage to start the season because it was 5 individuals doing random crap while happening to wear the same jerseys. The schedule is shaping up to be a bit easier, too. The preseason tourney we're in should get us 2 wins and a loss to Kansas, like the Brooklyn one got us last year. I don't see us losing to G'town and UConn again (I think we play both, right?), and we're due to win a B1G vs. ACC game.

Roberson was an upperclassman turd, Coleman couldn't play and Lydon was only a sophomore.

This team has two returning players as talented as the best two players from last season (TT and Battle vs. White and Lydon) and they both have a year of playing together which Lydon and White didn't have. Moyer has experience with the team, Frank has 3 seasons under his belt, Chukwu is a year more experienced. A lot of people think we lost a lot of experience from last season but we really didn't once you realize White and Gillon were effectively freshmen most of the season.

 

[Funk Doc]

The positive I can take from our roster as it stands, is that I think we have a chance(not sure how much yet) to be a better defensive and rebounding team. Our offense(outside shooting especially might be a huge question mark) will be interesting as of now to say the least. The two biggest problems we had last year, was PG play, and the disappearance of Roberson(our best defender and rebounder). The PG thing is still a major problem, but with Moyer and Brissett, I believe Roberson's junior year numbers could be replaced.

Gonna be a very interesting summer! Go CUSE!!!!

 

[GooseMutt]

I counted UNCG because stupid ESPN puts postseason at the top of the schedule results instead the bottom. My bad. Anyway, I'll stand by 9 being the floor. This team will perform better early in the season than last year's team. The team doesn't have more experience but they have players with more experience playing together. Last season's team was hot garbage to start the season because it was 5 individuals doing random crap while happening to wear the same jerseys. The schedule is shaping up to be a bit easier, too. The preseason tourney we're in should get us 2 wins and a loss to Kansas, like the Brooklyn one got us last year. I don't see us losing to G'town and UConn again (I think we play both, right?), and we're due to win a B1G vs. ACC game.

Roberson was an upperclassman turd, Coleman couldn't play and Lydon was only a sophomore.

This team has two returning players as talented as the best two players from last season (TT and Battle vs. White and Lydon) and they both have a year of playing together which Lydon and White didn't have. Moyer has experience with the team, Frank has 3 seasons under his belt, Chukwu is a year more experienced. A lot of people think we lost a lot of experience from last season but we really didn't once you realize White and Gillon were effectively freshmen most of the season.

I think the X factor next year is that Moyer, Sidbe, and Brissett are very aggressive players that don't appear to be afraid to fail. Washington sounds very confident also . There were times last year early in the season when nobody wanted or took the lead on the court. Add Tyus Battle to this group who will be more experienced and confident then ever . The only thing I believe we need is another point guard who is not afraid to take charge. Tucker would be nice but I love the mentality of these players.

 

[Brooky03]

I think the X factor next year is that Moyer, Sidbe, and Brissett are very aggressive players that don't appear to be afraid to fail. Washington sounds very confident also . There were times last year early in the season when nobody wanted or took the lead on the court. Add Tyus Battle to this group who will be more experienced and confident then ever . The only thing I believe we need is another point guard who is not afraid to take charge. Tucker would be nice but I love the mentality of these players.

Last season's team was directionless most of the time. They looked lost on both ends of the court but sometimes made up for it with outside shooting. This season's team won't be able to make up for bad team play with shooting, but I expect the coaching staff to learn from last season and provide the players with much better direction. Last season arguably had the more talented team... individually. I think this season will see a better team on the court as a whole. I, too, expect a much more aggressive team on both ends of the court, at least out of necessity more than anything else. They'll attack the basket on offense because they have to and I think they have the players who want to. And they'll play tougher defense also because they have to and want to. White and Lydon couldn't attack the rim last season and that hurt the offense a lot. A lot of guys took plays off on defense because they knew/thought their offense could make up for it. We have attacking wings this season and guys who know they can't rest on their offense (except maybe TT).

The above reasons are why I'm optimistic.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Last season's team was directionless most of the time. They looked lost on both ends of the court but sometimes made up for it with outside shooting. This season's team won't be able to make up for bad team play with shooting, but I expect the coaching staff to learn from last season and provide the players with much better direction. Last season arguably had the more talented team... individually. I think this season will see a better team on the court as a whole. I, too, expect a much more aggressive team on both ends of the court, at least out of necessity more than anything else. They'll attack the basket on offense because they have to and I think they have the players who want to. And they'll play tougher defense also because they have to and want to. White and Lydon couldn't attack the rim last season and that hurt the offense a lot. A lot of guys took plays off on defense because they knew/thought their offense could make up for it. We have attacking wings this season and guys who know they can't rest on their offense (except maybe TT).

The above reasons are why I'm optimistic.

How do you attack the paint in the half court when you can't shoot and the paint is most likely packed because of it?

I think this team sees a lot of zone this year. If we ran more like we used to I would be more optimistic, but you can't run with bad D and Howard as your PG.

 

[JazzNC]

Ask this again once the roster is finalized. Its sort of pointless right now as we have an incomplete team. SU is adding players its just a matter of which ones.

I can make a follow up comparison poll. I think that's a good idea. We will see if it improves people's outlooks.

 

[HOFCeluck]

"This team is not complete. We're still adding players."

"This team will have more experience playing together than last year's team."

 

[JazzNC]

"This team is not complete. We're still adding players."

"This team will have more experience playing together than last year's team."

I agree. I will make a folow up poll when the roster is set to see what the consensus looks like then and compare outlooks.

 

[Brooky03]

How do you attack the paint in the half court when you can't shoot and the paint is most likely packed because of it?

I think this team sees a lot of zone this year. If we ran more like we used to I would be more optimistic, but you can't run with bad D and Howard as your PG.

I don't think the D will be bad. It could very well be the strong point of the team. Defensive rebounding is the primary factor in transition. I think Chukwu and Sidibe's height coupled with two forwards who are actually built to rebound (versus White or Malachi) will help in that regard.

Maybe Frank can't lead the break, but Battle can. Battle could be a one man fastbreak if needed.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I don't think the D will be bad. It could very well be the strong point of the team. Defensive rebounding is the primary factor in transition. I think Chukwu and Sidibe's height coupled with two forwards who are actually built to rebound (versus White or Malachi) will help in that regard.

Maybe Frank can't lead the break, but Battle can. Battle could be a one man fastbreak if needed.

I hear what you're saying... I guess I am of the assumption we see TT at the 5 and that scares me(unless Sidibe is ready or Chukwu has dramatically improved). I just don't see how you can play a non offensive player at the 5 when you are already below average offensively at the 3 and PG.

 

[Brooky03]

I hear what you're saying... I guess I am of the assumption we see TT at the 5 and that scares me(unless Sidibe is ready or Chukwu has dramatically improved). I just don't see how you can play a non offensive player at the 5 when you are already below average offensively at the 3 and PG.

TT at the 5 for long stretches would kill us. I've said previously that if this happens, the team is in serious trouble, imo.

With our zone, the Center is much more important as a rim protector than he is as a scorer. Sidibe can hopefully catch lobs and dump offs for dunks, and that should be enough. If TT is on the court at PF with Battle at SG, that's more scoring between those two than a lot of teams will have between their best 3 scorers. So it's almost like those two make up for a non-offensive Center. I realize we're having this discussion not knowing if Tucker will come. If he comes, we'd both probably agree the offense is set and can sacrifice scoring at the 5 easily. But I think even without him, the benefits of a near 7 footer and 7+ footer hanging out at the rim on defense will outweigh their downside on offense.

Assuming no Tucker, TT at Center could demolish the defense while only helping the offense to whatever extent Brisset/Moyer are better than Sidibe/Chukwu.

 

[Briancuse]

I think we are out in the NCAA 2nd round. No option for that so I picked 1st round

I would sign in blood for that right now.

 

[Jasoncuse]

As of May 5th, we're a pretty bad looking team. Definitely looking like one of the bottom 5 or so teams in the ACC.

Having no PG, no shooters besides Tyus, no SF and unproven players littered throughout the front court is not a recipe for a successful season.