Quick Season Thoughts

[TheRoyalIveyFund]

First, it's nice to go into basketball season and not have to worry about if Greg Davis can contribute, or if James Theus can improve. Boy, I don't miss those days. For the last 5-6 years, the questions are now what do we need to do to get JB his 2nd. Also, knock on wood, I see this year as the first year of no nonsense. While I've liked many of our players in previous years, I don't see any negative influences on the roster.

I realize it's not even Nov and it's a long season but I think most of us are guessing what we'll get from Ennis, CJ and Grant. It might be a little better, or a little worse. However, it will be very good to great. We know what Baye will give us. It will be average at worst, mostly good, sometimes excellent.

With these four, this foundation is a 2nd round tourney team.

Whatever Coleman, Rak, Roberson, Cooney and G then do, will determine if we falter in the 2nd round of the tourney, or cut the nets down. I think those are probably the two extremes and something in that range happens. It will be an interesting year.

 

[Lawrinson14]

First, it's nice to go into basketball season and not have to worry about if Greg Davis can contribute, or if James Theus can improve. Boy, I don't miss those days. For the last 5-6 years, the questions are now what do we need to do to get JB his 2nd. Also, knock on wood, I see this year as the first year of no nonsense. While I've liked many of our players in previous years, I don't see any negative influences on the roster.

I realize it's not even Nov and it's a long season but I think most of us are guessing what we'll get from Ennis, CJ and Grant. It might be a little better, or a little worse. However, it will be very good to great. We know what Baye will give us. It will be average at worst, mostly good, sometimes excellent.

With these four, this foundation is a 2nd round tourney team.

Whatever Coleman, Rak, Roberson, Cooney and G then do, will determine if we falter in the 2nd round of the tourney, or cut the nets down. I think those are probably the two extremes and something in that range happens. It will be an interesting year.

During ACC and tournament play, I feel like Rak and Coleman will be non-factors yet again. Not because they don't have the talent to play, but because senior Keita will give this team its best chance to win with his awesome defense. I mean, he SHUT DOWN Cody Zeller in the NCAAs last year.

This team will once again win with its defense. And in the zone, the center is the most important defensive player. Putting Baye there alongside CJ and Grant creates an imposing, mobile front line that neither Coleman nor Rak could really add to.

 

[TheRoyalIveyFund]

During ACC and tournament play, I feel like Rak and Coleman will be non-factors yet again. Not because they don't have the talent to play, but because senior Keita will give this team its best chance to win with his awesome defense. I mean, he SHUT DOWN Cody Zeller in the NCAAs last year.

This team will once again win with its defense. And in the zone, the center is the most important defensive player. Putting Baye there alongside CJ and Grant creates an imposing, mobile front line that neither Coleman nor Rak could really add to.

I hope I can disagree with you by the end but based on last year, you're not wrong. JB went with Baye in crunch time, over and over, at the end. He clearly was the most trusted. However, DC played with the injury which really slowed him. Then, the surgery. I'm a bit biased with DC because I really see a dominate college player down in the paint, so I hope it comes to fruition. The nice thing is that Baye is there now and a dominate DC would be really needed next year.

I also think you could be right because we don't need offense out of the 5 with CJ, Grant and maybe Roberson. So, this validates your point and is probably good for Rak, too.

 

[bballbeadle]

A year without distractions or issues. I don't even know what that means! What is that???

 

[SoBeCuse]

I would say it wasn't all Baye but a collective job on Zeller. Even CJ packed him at least once. He was getting surrounded and decided to force it up against a group of a tall dudes.

Hard to say about the bigs. I just want Rak to be active all the time. Just be a very poor man's Varejao in terms of being a disrupter. I doubt Rak is going to have any offensive game...still. Just be active and it's cool.

Seems like Coleman has gained some explosion. You can see the weight loss as well from the pic. Dude looks like a beast. If he can just improve a little bit offensively then that would be huge. He has the instincts unlike Rak. I'll take some defensive lapses from him if it means some better offense. Doubt Boeheim will, though.

Some good production from Grant at the 4 and possibly some Roberson scoring off bench could help offset things if the production from the C position is woeful again.

For me it's Silent G and Cooney. Those two are vital and potential keys to making a deep run. Silent G MUST provide serviceable minutes handling the ball spelling Ennis and must show an ability to knock down shots. If Cooney shoots just a little better where defenses must truly respect him then we will be fine. It doesn't matter how much talent we have. If guard production outside of Ennis is offensively challenged then we will see again teams packing it in and there will be no spacing. Ugly ball again. I'm optimistic that this won't happen!

 

[HoustonCuse]

I see Baye as this team's Jorge Posada. He's just solid, he's been through the wars, he's a proven winner, you don't hear a peep about him getting into trouble or doing anything stupid. He's not flashy but he is key in everything successful the team is doing.

 

[billsin01]

I hope I can disagree with you by the end but based on last year, you're not wrong. JB went with Baye in crunch time, over and over, at the end. He clearly was the most trusted. However, DC played with the injury which really slowed him. Then, the surgery. I'm a bit biased with DC because I really see a dominate college player down in the paint, so I hope it comes to fruition. The nice thing is that Baye is there now and a dominate DC would be really needed next year.

The one thing I'd point out that I think is often misunderstood or at least not talked about much is that Baye is actually really pretty athletic. I don't think Baye plays solely b/c JB trusts him (not that you're posting that per se, but I think many believe it). I think JB plays Baye b/c he trusts him and because he values Baye's game and contributions. I mean in 17 mpg last season, Baye shot 61% from the floor, 60% from the line -- both decent to good numbers. He averaged 3.7 ppg, which would translate to 8/8.5 ppg per 40 mins. Not amazing but he's not necessarily a black hole, especially when taking rebounding (3.7 per game, ~8 per 40) and blocks (~1 per game, ~2 per 40) into account. Add that to the constant hustle, the willingness to play whatever role is needed and some pretty exceptional feet for a big guy and I think Baye's actually a better player than Rak/DC2 right now. Upside is great, but I think people forget that right now and, in all likelihood for the entirety of this season, Baye is simply better than the other two guys.

I'd even argue that there's a decent chance that Rak/DC2 are still searching for their games a bit next season and we all miss Baye more than most think we will. I obviously hope that's not the case and I like the potential of the other two, but it's hard to know.

 

[Lawrinson14]

The one thing I'd point out that I think is often misunderstood or at least not talked about much is that Baye is actually really pretty athletic. I don't think Baye plays solely b/c JB trusts him (not that you're posting that per se, but I think many believe it). I think JB plays Baye b/c he trusts him and because he values Baye's game and contributions. I mean in 17 mpg last season, Baye shot 61% from the floor, 60% from the line -- both decent to good numbers. He averaged 3.7 ppg, which would translate to 8/8.5 ppg per 40 mins. Not amazing but he's not necessarily a black hole, especially when taking rebounding (3.7 per game, ~8 per 40) and blocks (~1 per game, ~2 per 40) into account. Add that to the constant hustle, the willingness to play whatever role is needed and some pretty exceptional feet for a big guy and I think Baye's actually a better player than Rak/DC2 right now. Upside is great, but I think people forget that right now and, in all likelihood for the entirety of this season, Baye is simply better than the other two guys.

I'd even argue that there's a decent chance that Rak/DC2 are still searching for their games a bit next season and we all miss Baye more than most think we will. I obviously hope that's not the case and I like the potential of the other two, but it's hard to know.

Just to add to that...seems like a lot of people see Baye playing major minutes over Rak and DC2 as a bad thing. I view Baye as a very good collegiate center who just happens to be the most important defensive player and vocal leader of this team. Yes, vocal. You can hear him through the tv shouting out defensive rotations and alignments.

 

[orange02]

I see Baye as this team's Jorge Posada. He's just solid, he's been through the wars, he's a proven winner, you don't hear a peep about him getting into trouble or doing anything stupid. He's not flashy but he is key in everything successful the team is doing.

If Baye is relatively as good as Jorge Posada then this team wins the NC in a walk. I get what you are saying but Posada was a 5-time all star that finished 3rd and 6th in MVP voting during his career. He was much more than a role player.

 

[moqui]

First, it's nice to go into basketball season and not have to worry about if Greg Davis can contribute, or if James Theus can improve. Boy, I don't miss those days. For the last 5-6 years, the questions are now what do we need to do to get JB his 2nd. Also, knock on wood, I see this year as the first year of no nonsense. While I've liked many of our players in previous years, I don't see any negative influences on the roster.

I realize it's not even Nov and it's a long season but I think most of us are guessing what we'll get from Ennis, CJ and Grant. It might be a little better, or a little worse. However, it will be very good to great. We know what Baye will give us. It will be average at worst, mostly good, sometimes excellent.

With these four, this foundation is a 2nd round tourney team.

Whatever Coleman, Rak, Roberson, Cooney and G then do, will determine if we falter in the 2nd round of the tourney, or cut the nets down. I think those are probably the two extremes and something in that range happens. It will be an interesting year.

I think it is way to soon to assume what we will be getting from Tyler Ennis. He is about to experience a big step up in class. He is going to have to carry the load for a full season without a true backup. That is a lot to ask from a freshman, and if his body breaks down at all, it spells big trouble.

The season rises and falls on Tyler Ennis. The Orange haven't played a game yet, and he is already the most valuable player.

 

[SoBristol]

I think it is way to soon to assume what we will be getting from Tyler Ennis. He is about to experience a big step up in class. He is going to have to carry the load for a full season without a true backup. That is a lot to ask from a freshman, and if his body breaks down at all, it spells big trouble.

The season rises and falls on Tyler Ennis. The Orange haven't played a game yet, and he is already the most valuable player.

Yes, even though we do know something about Tyler Ennis from the 4 games in Canada. He will be fine, but he doesn't have a sidekick at SG like Triche who could handle the PG responsibilities on occasion and let MCW take a play or two off the ball. Our forwards can provide a little more help than last season (when Southerland was not much help in beating a press or handling the ball), but not a lot more help.

We are going to be challenged in tournament time when teams use pressure as Louisville and Marquette have done in the past.

So, there are the keys. Give Ennis breathers during the season so he does not wear down, & have a secondary ball handler emerge by the time we meet teams who play 90 feet of pressure.

 

[br801]

I think it is way to soon to assume what we will be getting from Tyler Ennis. He is about to experience a big step up in class. He is going to have to carry the load for a full season without a true backup. That is a lot to ask from a freshman, and if his body breaks down at all, it spells big trouble.

The season rises and falls on Tyler Ennis. The Orange haven't played a game yet, and he is already the most valuable player.

Last season, losing either MCW or BT would have drastically changed the team and lowered its ceiling significantly. Those two were critical pieces at both ends of the court, with their play at the top of the zone and on the glass particularly consistent and important.

This season, losing Ennis would bring the ceiling crashing down. We all should be watching these games with crossed fingers.

 

[Orangezoo]

Ennis will be fine to handle the step up. I think he answered the bell against carleton as to how he will handle experienced teams. I am not saying he will not have a few bad games or show his youth but I think the whole frosh who plays like a senior thing we have all seen will carry true. Then by mid-acc season he is practically a sophomore anyways so.. yeah. The real question mark is who becomes his relief. Not just as a backup but more as who can help him bring the ball up the court and not force him to do it himself. Mike G and Trevor both have to help take on that role. If they can and grow into it by the time league play starts - it becomes very difficult to point out a clear weakness in this team. UK rolled with some serious talent with a very thin stable of ball handlers when they won it all. It was really teague and somewhat lamb with a by committee approach with Miller, Jones etc. If Grant can help as needed and CJ can be a little better just taking the ball long enough to release the pressure - along with the other two guards stepping up, we will be in good shape even against pressure.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Ennis will be fine to handle the step up. I think he answered the bell against carleton as to how he will handle experienced teams. I am not saying he will not have a few bad games or show his youth but I think the whole frosh who plays like a senior thing we have all seen will carry true. Then by mid-acc season he is practically a sophomore anyways so.. yeah.

I agree with you talent wise and bball IQ wise. There is a valid concern with the fact that he'll be playing the most grueling year of basketball of his life by far and you never know if he will get worn down or mentally exhausted by mid-February. Only time will tell. I know that I for sure would not bet against this kid from what I have seen, but these are real concerns.