Rak

[Cusefan10923]

I should clarify. I see Rak starting at center next year. And playing center exclusively. At this time last year I was a proponent of Rak getting time at the 4. But after another year of watching him, I just don't see that working out. Boeheim never went back to using Rak at the 4 once DC was back. You NEVER saw Rak and Keita on the floor together at any point, even during a 6 game stretch where there were only 2 other forwards eligible to play (one of whom was an untested freshman). Rak spent the vast majority of his time in the middle last season, even if he did get a number of starts at the 4. There are 4 other forwards on the roster next season, at least 3 of whom are going to play regularly. I just don't see how it works out for him playing any forward.

Rak never went back to the 4 because JB didn't play Coleman again. Rak and Baye wouldn't play on the floor together because they were the only centers outside of DC (who wasn't going to play). We would have been screwed if they were both in foul trouble that's why they never saw the floor at the same time from that point on. I really think you can discredit last years situation on having any impact with Rak's position next year. He will once again start at the 4 like he has in his first two seasons. If God forbid something happens to Coleman or Baye then we will need him to play Center again just like the past two seasons. Given everyone's health, Rak is a 4 on this team. I agree that many other years or situations he would be our center. Is he out of position playing the 4 in our zone? He very well might be. But none the less he is going to play there. Man this stuff is fun to talk/think about.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

Roberson is better than Rak right now.

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Rak is a McD junior who has paid his dues, Roberson is a frosh who will just be learning how to play JB's zone. If the two are similar JB has shown time and time again that he will honor the veteran. Anyway, I don't view the threat to the pf minutes for Rak to be Roberson but instead Grant.

But as outlined above, I believe a factor in the decision on where to play Rak will be based on the the pt between Roberson and BMK. And once again, knowing JB, the odds on favorite would have to be with the experienced player who has paid his dues. And that would be BMK.

Are you still sticking with your bold prediction that Roberson will start?

 

[reedny]

Senior makes good points about Rak's limitations. But even conceding those, his starts were all at PF except during the injury situation at C (DC2) and in the NCAA's. He played well.

None of that means that Rak will play mostly at center next year, for a couple of reasons (IMO):

1-Hopefully, in DC2 and Keita, JB will have 2 functional low-post players that are better suited and have more size at the 5 than Rak. If DC2 is not ready, Rak can slide over until he is. But once those two (DC2/Keita) are up and running, I don't think Rak sees much time at the 5 barring fouls or injury (or against mid-majors);

2- Rak's game is better suited to the 4. On defense, in JB's system, he has the athletic ability to get out to the wing and not crash into the preferred seats. He's a good off-ball shot blocker at the 4, but at the 5 (although he's got length) he lacks the beef to keep big centers away from the basket (for example, he struggled on the glass against Cooley and Adams, and Johnson/Teague (seton hall) pushed him all over the lane). On offense, Rak does throw up a little hook once in a while, but his game is mostly face-up -- an 8-10 foot jumper, a driving bank shot, etc.

The issue isn't whether Rak is a PF or a C (he's a PF). It's wether the guys that SHOULD be playing center for us are serviceable enough to let Rak play his natural position. I think this is what Tee and others are saying also.

As far as the remaining front court players, we're loaded. CJ starts, I think we all know that. I think it'll be at the 3, and I think Roberson is good enough to back him up so CJ can play 25 minutes and be fresher at the end of the game. Roberson may also have a shot at some minutes at PF, although most of these will be eaten up by Rak and Grant.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Might be true, but where were our problems last year, on defense or offense?

Let me give you a hint - with Coleman in there, we wouldn't have just put up the best defensive performance in the NCAA tournament of the last 20 or so years. If he could have played adequate defense, he would have seen more minutes. Grant is going to get some early hooks early next year if he starts, because he makes a lot of mistakes in the zone, too.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Rak is a McD junior who has paid his dues, Roberson is a frosh who will just be learning how to play JB's zone. If the two are similar JB has shown time and time again that he will honor the veteran. Anyway, I don't view the threat to the pf minutes for Rak to be Roberson but instead Grant.

But as outlined above, I believe a factor in the decision on where to play Rak will be based on the the pt between Roberson and BMK. And once again, knowing JB, the odds on favorite would have to be with the experienced player who has paid his dues. And that would be BMK.

Are you still sticking with your bold prediction that Roberson will start?

I think that if Coleman can play defense this year, Rak might see some time at the four.

Coleman has to be able to defend AND score on the low block (and not travel or get his shot blocked, AND make some foul shots) for that to happen. I hope the light goes on for Coleman this year. We become a legit title contender with him a dominant player.

 

[IthacaMatt]

First off, let me commend you on your guts as some people here are not going to understand this.
I for one, am not one of them and it's no disrespect to Rak.
He's a really good defender at center, and this is a critical component to our defense.

That said, Roberson might offer us more low post presence on the offensive end than anyone else.
Let me say that again. Anyone.

CJ and Grant are both studs, but they are not low post, back to the basket guys. Watch full games and you'll understand. Everyone keeps doubting this, and I know what our current roster is capable of, but if you don't see for yourself, it's not really fair to compare based on age alone.
I don't care if they're high school games or not, he has an amazing assortment of moves around the basket, and he can shoot the ball effectively. He is a machine on both ends of the court and all he does is work. I've heard it from one of his coaches, and he's a student all day, all night. We might need Ennis more, but Roberson will be the biggest surprise for some.

I know he's coming in and has to earn his run, but he will.

Yes, he's very effective around the rim, has an active motor and works hard. But he's about the size of Ryan Blackwell. I think he's got the best chance of seeing time among the freshmen in the front court, and do think he will be a rotation guy, but if he contributes more than Christmas next year, he's going to be an All-ACC rookie.

I think our centers-by-committee are going to dominate a lot of people next year. Very few teams in America have 3 centers as good as we do, with so much experience. And 15 fouls to give. We will hammer every attempt by opponents to get to the rim.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Rak never went back to the 4 because JB didn't play Coleman again. Rak and Baye wouldn't play on the floor together because they were the only centers outside of DC (who wasn't going to play). We would have been screwed if they were both in foul trouble that's why they never saw the floor at the same time from that point on. I really think you can discredit last years situation on having any impact with Rak's position next year. He will once again start at the 4 like he has in his first two seasons. If God forbid something happens to Coleman or Baye then we will need him to play Center again just like the past two seasons. Given everyone's health, Rak is a 4 on this team. I agree that many other years or situations he would be our center. Is he out of position playing the 4 in our zone? He very well might be. But none the less he is going to play there. Man this stuff is fun to talk/think about.

While this makes sense, you have to remember that we also don't want to start every game down 12-4 at the first TV timeout. So the guys who start are all going to have to be able to score, if they expect to be out there very long next year. We had a very down offensive year last year, once Southerland went out on suspension, his hot week in the Garden notwithstanding. We had the makings of a good good team early, but the national press that Mike got and then Southerland's suspension really derailed us offensively. JB tried to encourage Brandon to step up, but he could only do it against teams like Providence, and never really responded to the encouragement.

I expect that the zone has taken over now, and rule 1 is that nobody plays who can't play the zone. The Jonny and Donte and Paul "We Want Man" Club is long gone. But we need to juice the offense next year. I don't see Rak and Coleman out there for long if at least one of them isn't scoring.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Jackson's offense is really overrated. He never had a ton of moves. He could make a jump hook over his right shoulder. He had a hard time doing anything with his right hand. Never really had a jumper. He could face up somewhat, but he also let himself get pushed out too far too often to be effective, so sometimes facing up was a bad choice. People forget that especially as a senior he was a very good passer. Let's stop talking about Big Dick Jackson like he was this transcendent offensive player.

Anyway, put me in the camp that says Rak is on the road to developing into a bruising power forward. A lot of his offensive success will depend on the chemistry he develops with Ennis, Gbinije and Cooney. Last season he saw a lob once and a while from MCW and that was about it. I think he's a little more skilled as a scorer than he has had the chance to show. We need new scorers next season - Rak has an opportunity.

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He had a very dependable drop step, especially going left, since he was a lefty. (ANOTHER!)

 

[orangefan13]

Dajuan could use some help with his verticle and hes absolutely got to get better at recovering baseline on Defense.

I thought it was interesting though that JB used Dajuan on both the right and left blocks against Montana. A sign of good things to come. If he does that consistantly and added a dropstep dribble away from the basket with a short hook layup he could become a tranistion scorer in the lane which is maybe the rarest thing in basketball to find.

 

[realorange]

Let me give you a hint - with Coleman in there, we wouldn't have just put up the best defensive performance in the NCAA tournament of the last 20 or so years. If he could have played adequate defense, he would have seen more minutes. Grant is going to get some early hooks early next year if he starts, because he makes a lot of mistakes in the zone, too.

JB has already said that Grant is the best freshman defensive player he has ever coached.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I think that if Coleman can play defense this year, Rak might see some time at the four.

Coleman has to be able to defend AND score on the low block (and not travel or get his shot blocked, AND make some foul shots) for that to happen. I hope the light goes on for Coleman this year. We become a legit title contender with him a dominant player.

If JB feels as we do, he will probably be trying to develop DC2 right from the start of the season. This would be giving DC2 20ish mpgs. That would give Rak and BMK, on avg, only 10 mpg each if they only play the center position. That is the main reason I see Rak starting at the pf. This way you can easily find 15 mpg for Rak, which is what he now deserves in a paying the dues kind of way.

 

[Moontan]

If only we could combine BMK's motor with Rak's ability.

That's what I thought about Kristof's attitude/toughness/scrappiness and Arinze as well.

 

[cuseattle]

First off, let me commend you on your guts as some people here are not going to understand this.
I for one, am not one of them and it's no disrespect to Rak.
He's a really good defender at center, and this is a critical component to our defense.

That said, Roberson might offer us more low post presence on the offensive end than anyone else.
Let me say that again. Anyone.

CJ and Grant are both studs, but they are not low post, back to the basket guys. Watch full games and you'll understand. Everyone keeps doubting this, and I know what our current roster is capable of, but if you don't see for yourself, it's not really fair to compare based on age alone.
I don't care if they're high school games or not, he has an amazing assortment of moves around the basket, and he can shoot the ball effectively. He is a machine on both ends of the court and all he does is work. I've heard it from one of his coaches, and he's a student all day, all night. We might need Ennis more, but Roberson will be the biggest surprise for some.

I know he's coming in and has to earn his run, but he will.

My thought is he might be great, but maybe held back by seniority.

 

[cuseattle]

Topic for another time is how many freshmen have been held back a bit for the good of the program. (and for their own development of course).

 

[EastCoast2]

just imagine if we landed Dakari Johnson what the hell was JB planning to do?

Start Dakari then pull him after 40 seconds and make him sit the rest of the game

 

[OttoMets]

JB has already said that Grant is the best freshman defensive player he has ever coached.

Boeheim's been known to speak off the cuff and say hyperbolic things. Grant made a lot of mistakes in the zone. We saw all those quick hooks in late February and March. He's a smart player, but he had some difficulties.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

If either could just get rebounds, shoot 75%plus from the free throw line and stay out of foul trouble...anything else is almost too much to expect.

 

[realorange]

If either could just get rebounds, shoot 75%plus from the free throw line and stay out of foul trouble...anything else is almost too much to expect.

I'd go with that assuming acceptable defense would be played as well.