Rak only needs 109 points to join the 1,000 point club

[OttoinGrotto]

That's pretty cool.

 

[RF2044]

Kudos to him. I never thought he'd get there after sophomore year.

For him to transform from such a limited contributor to such a complete center--wow.

On the strength of this season alone [to say nothing of his physical attributes], I think its safe to say that Rak has put himself in the conversation amongst the top centers in program history. No exaggeration / hyperbole.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Kudos to him. I never thought he'd get there after sophomore year.

For him to transform from such a limited contributor to such a complete center--wow.

On the strength of this season alone [to say nothing of his physical attributes], I think its safe to say that Rak has put himself in the conversation amongst the top centers in program history. No exaggeration / hyperbole.

He is having one of the best single seasons of any Syracuse center, at least.

 

[OttoMets]

Kudos to him. I never thought he'd get there after sophomore year.

For him to transform from such a limited contributor to such a complete center--wow.

On the strength of this season alone [to say nothing of his physical attributes], I think its safe to say that Rak has put himself in the conversation amongst the top centers in program history. No exaggeration / hyperbole.

I never saw Bill Smith, but I'm hard-pressed to name anyone else better than Christmas.

Seikaly? Maybe. That's it.

And, yes, I'm patting myself on the back for saying this for so long.

 

[RandygoCuse]

I'm pleasantly surprised as well. Usually, if a player hasn't made the leap by the end of junior year, I figure what you see is what you get. Turns out when Boeheim said he was going to have a big year, he was right. Turns out this coach might just know basketball.

 

[CusefanATL]

Kudos to him. I never thought he'd get there after sophomore year.

For him to transform from such a limited contributor to such a complete center--wow.

On the strength of this season alone [to say nothing of his physical attributes], I think its safe to say that Rak has put himself in the conversation amongst the top centers in program history. No exaggeration / hyperbole.

And even more so after his JR year.

 

[rrlbees]

I never saw Bill Smith, but I'm hard-pressed to name anyone else better than Christmas. Seikaly? Maybe. That's it. And, yes, I'm patting myself on the back for saying this for so long.

Maybe you wanted it more for him than he did.

 

[OttoMets]

Maybe you wanted it more for him than he did.

Maybe. But I didn't work quite as hard as he did during that time - learning two positions on defense, posting up and sealing his defender on the other end; that looked like more effort than I wanted to give.

 

[RF2044]

I never saw Bill Smith, but I'm hard-pressed to name anyone else better than Christmas.

Seikaly? Maybe. That's it.

And, yes, I'm patting myself on the back for saying this for so long.

I think he's getting to the point where you can compare his effectiveness to Etan Thomas.

Smith was ahead of my time, but everything I've seen / heard about him suggests that he might be top 2. My top three are Seikaly, Smith, and Bouie in that order. Etan and now possibly Rak in the next group.

Pretty damn impressive company.

 

[RF2044]

He is having one of the best single seasons of any Syracuse center, at least.

Agreed.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think he's getting to the point where you can compare his effectiveness to Etan Thomas.

Smith was ahead of my time, but everything I've seen / heard about him suggests that he might be top 2. My top three are Seikaly, Smith, and Bouie in that order. Etan and now possibly Rak in the next group.

Pretty damn impressive company.

I remember Seikaly, but was too young to really evaluate his game. I can't speak to anyone before that.

The comparison to me is Etan Thomas, and he was exceptional.

 

[tbonezone]

I'm pleasantly surprised as well. Usually, if a player hasn't made the leap by the end of junior year, I figure what you see is what you get. Turns out when Boeheim said he was going to have a big year, he was right. Turns out this coach might just know basketball.

perhaps. but oft times also when you see a horse finishing really strong the jockey was holding something back.

 

[RF2044]

I remember Seikaly, but was too young to really evaluate his game. I can't speak to anyone before that.

The comparison to me is Etan Thomas, and he was exceptional.

Seikaly was 6-11, incredibly athletic, ran like a deer, and went on to have a nice pro career. He was a little raw offensively, but really put it together during the 1987 NCAA run. On that note, I just watched a pair of games from the '87 tournament when my dad was in town in December, and it was freaking AMAZING how good offensively Seikaly was in that tournament, despite not ever really showing 1/10th of those moves / offensive potential before that. He was so good, playing against such good competition, that it was almost like he sold his soul for that NCAA run. That's how good he was.

Etan was a very good player, but he wasn't as good as Seikaly. He had a much more consistent three year span of contributing at a high level, and he was very good in many respects. I think that Rak's senior campaign to date is better than Etan was even his senior year, but obviously Etan contributed more, longer.

Etan was a really, really, really good shot blocker, though. I'd fall short of calling him "exceptional," but he was pretty damn good.

 

[Finwad32]

Etan Thomas, Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson all had pretty similar careers. Rick Jackson probably the best statistically.

What Rakeem is doing this season, is head and shoulders above what those guys did in theirs, respectively.

 

[RandygoCuse]

perhaps. but oft times also when you see a horse finishing really strong the jockey was holding something back.

Is Boeheim the jockey? What should he have done differently? I felt like Rak was getting enough minutes.

 

[moqui]

I thought he was the 2nd best center in the ACC last year, behind only Talib Zanna, and I thought that he could have a Talib Zanna like year this year, but he has gone way beyond that.

He should be Syracuse's first unanimous First Team All ACC player

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Etan Thomas, Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson all had pretty similar careers. Rick Jackson probably the best statistically.

Rick Jackson had ~100 fewer points, ~100 more rebounds, ~200 less blocks than Etan. I'd give the edge to Etan. The blocks total is unreal.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Is Boeheim the jockey? What should he have done differently? I felt like Rak was getting enough minutes.

Minutes and touches are different things. As a sophomore he averaged 4.1 shots per game, and as a junior only 3.6.

Now he's averaging 11.9. Uh...

 

[Finwad32]

Rick Jackson had ~100 fewer points, ~100 more rebounds, ~200 less blocks than Etan. I'd give the edge to Etan. The blocks total is unreal.

There was no doubt he was a ridiculous shot blocker. Just reread my post, didn't mean to compare career statistics, just Sr. Year stats.

If that's the case, I like Rick more as a Sr. Than Etan and Arinze. but, Rak's had the best Sr. season of them all.

We haven't had shot blockers like Etan, Daryl Watkins and Jeremy McNeil around in awhile.

 

[andyw715]

Minutes and touches are different things. As a sophomore he averaged 4.1 shots per game, and as a junior only 3.6.

Now he's averaging 11.9. Uh...

If we wouldn't have gone 25-0 to start last year, he may have gotten more. Fewer options this year, wins masked the poor shooting last year.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

There was no doubt he was a ridiculous shot blocker. Just reread my post, didn't mean to compare career statistics, just Sr. Year stats.

If that's the case, I like Rick more as a Sr. Than Etan and Arinze. but, Rak's had the best Sr. season of them all.

We haven't had shot blockers like Etan, Daryl Watkins and Jeremy McNeil around in awhile.

Ah, gotcha.