Question...Would we be better or worse.. | Syracusefan.com

Question...Would we be better or worse..

I think it's a 50/50 split on it...If he came back with the right attitude and made the sophomore jump that they usually do, I truly think he would have been special...not tyus special but definitely our 2nd leading scorer and a bit better on D. But he didn't and left and I'm happy what I've seen with our bigs so far, especially Sidibe...Kid just "has" it. When he faked the hand off to our guard at the top of the three point line and made a move to the basket, I think he missed but the move alone is something none of our centers have done in a long time
 
Worse.

This added game experience will pay dividends next year with the addition of Bazely to Brissett, Dolezaj and Sidibe.

Brissett is the better player and NBA prospect.
 
His defense was so bad I'd say we're better off without him.

Also, while his offense was solid I think it was very overrated by people on here. I think our offense has far greater potential with him out of the mix. It would have been very easy to roll the ball out and let it be the TT and Battle show on the offensive side which I think would've hurt us come March.

We have guys working together as a team, something I don't think would've been happening with TT here which wouldn't have been all of TTs doing.
 
offense, better. defense, worse.

It's probably too early to tell how good or bad we truly are. If we continue to play offense like we have so far, then having him probably wouldn't have helped the team as much as Dolezaj's defense/rebounding have helped. And if he was here and took minutes from the centers, that would be a catastrophe, imo.

I'm not glad he's gone but I'm not convinced the team would be better, overall, with him. I'm convinced that Jim Boeheim's teams have to be considerably above average on defense to be successful and I don't think TT would fit in that mold. Last year, we saw what happens when a JB team has some really good scoring weapons but no defense.
 
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Admittedly I have been/was one of TT's longest supporters. But I think he couldn't have helped but make the team better. He would fill 2 of this teams biggest weaknesses...scoring/shooting and the power forward slot. People think he would have taken minutes from the C spot but that is based on last year. Our starting lineup with TT here would have been:
TB, FH, PC, OB and TT.
All of the poor defense from last year was at the 5 spot which he had not practiced until both PC & DC were basically out for the year. I dare say we have little idea how he would have translated at the 4 spot. One nice thing about defense and effort is it is very infectious. So I think we would have been better, deeper at least.
But...without TT we aren't much worse. More development time for Dolezaj, Moyer and Sidibe may ultimately make this team even stronger by season's end. If we could get a consistent 15ft jumper out of any of those 3 look out! THAT is the biggest thing we miss without TT. Best of luck to mama's boy next year in the Big Least.
 
Good question.

I vote "worse" for the same reason that Jeremy L outlines above. Plus, I think the hustle / defense / grit of the frontcourt guys [including Marek] more than offsets losing TT's offensive capabilities. I don't think we'd be nearly as good defensively or nearly as tough with him as we are without him, with the PT going to other players.
 
Does anyone listen to Jalen and Jacoby on ESPN radio?

I was listening yesterday and something happened that I thought just COULDN'T be a coincidence.
They were doing a segment reading fan tweets of "unpopular opinions" from ESPN's 1-800 Flowers twitter feed.

Well they read a tweet from someone named "Taurean" and it read:
"Zone defenses should be banned at all levels of basketball. It makes the game less exciting. Also doesn't help young players develop ball handling and passing skills."

My Twitter sleuthing skills aren't good enough to find the actual tweet.
But I just thought, a tweet from someone named "Taurean" bashing the zone? An extreme coincidence if not him.
 
This is a good question.

I think we'd be worse off this year with Thompson, but there is certainly room for debate.

On the other hand, I am almost positive we'd be worse off next year with minutes being taken away from Sidibe, Chukwu, and/or Dolezaj, this year, and to me that's more important because next year could be the year we compete for a title.
 
I'm clearly in the minority here, but I'll say better. If given the choice I will always choose having access to more players. I totally acknowledge that TT was a space cadet on defense much of the time, but he had a very sophisticated post-up game for a freshman.

Guys like Rak and Etan were easily worse than TT as freshmen and they developed into excellent four year players.
 
I'd wait to say.

Need to see our offense against better teams
 
two3zone said:
His defense was so bad I'd say we're better off without him.

Also, while his offense was solid I think it was very overrated by people on here. I think our offense has far greater potential with him out of the mix. It would have been very easy to roll the ball out and let it be the TT and Battle show on the offensive side which I think would've hurt us come March.

We have guys working together as a team, something I don't think would've been happening with TT here which wouldn't have been all of TTs doing.
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On point.
a. This is a Team sport.
b. We are a Defensive Team.
 
General20 said:
This is a good question.

I think we'd be worse off this year with Thompson, but there is certainly room for debate.

On the other hand, I am almost positive we'd be worse off next year with minutes being taken away from Sidibe, Chukwu, and/or Dolezaj, this year, and to me that's more important because next year could be the year we compete for a title.
Expand...

This years team is growing in me. If Brissett and Howard continue to play so well come March if we get into the NCAA tournament this team might be able to make a pretty good run. We still have tons of work to do on both ends. I'm just not ready to say next year will be the year. I really like the players on this year's team so much more than last year I might be blinded by the team chemistry light.
 
QManCuse said:
if Taurean stayed?
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Worse. While he was a talented scorer, he was among the worst defenders in the history of the program. He was selfish, lazy and spent the entire season hazing an injured teammate.

No question in my mind that the chemistry on the team would not have worked had he remained here.
 
sutomcat said:
Worse. While he was a talented scorer, he was among the worst defenders in the history of the program. He was selfish, lazy and spent the entire season hazing an injured teammate.

No question in my mind that the chemistry on the team would not have worked had he remained here.
Expand...
Hazing an injured teammate? I must have missed this. If possible, could you please elaborate?
Or do I not want to know? :)
 
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