Really don't see us being better next year

[reedny]

Disagree. Roberson, especially in the few games, has been a revelation at the 4

He's been improving and has really started to take off, in some respects. Great hands, for one, and better decision-making recently. Pretty good handle. Great rebounding at SF, or at PF against smaller OOC teams and the weaker part of the ACC schedule. Shot is not there ... but when it arrives, look out.

Unfortunately, at PF Tyler's size becomes a factor against bigger teams. He gets pushed around inside and has trouble finishing at the rim. Against UNC, for example, it was clear that, while he's in our future at SF, he's a PF only in a pinch (which we're in right now). If we want to compete on the glass with top-20 teams next year, we'll need CM's size at the 4 ... he should come back at about +/- 230 next summer, which is 2-3" taller and 20 lbs. heavier than TR, who got 3 rebounds last night in 35 minutes.

 

[SoBristol]

3rd shooter right? That can help mask interior scoring problems, but that depends on Malachi being ready to play a good chunk of significant minutes right away.

Yes, but there is a role -- a need -- for that second shooter and a line-up that has some potential: Gbinije, Cooney & Richardson on the perimeter. If you add an improved McCullough and Roberson to that trio, we can have 5 guys on the court who each provide some scoring potential.
Will Richardson be ready to play? Well, if he deserves a top 25 ranking ...
Will McCullough split time between PF and C to provide flexibility and allow Coleman or Diagne to work in? Seems likely to me.

 

[CaliCuse]

Yes, but there is a role -- a need -- for that second shooter and a line-up that has some potential: Gbinije, Cooney & Richardson on the perimeter. If you add an improved McCullough and Roberson to that trio, we can have 5 guys on the court who each provide some scoring potential.
Will Richardson be ready to play? Well, if he deserves a top 25 ranking ...DC32 can help make the team betray simply rebounding and blocking out there other team's big man Blocking out is the single mosteasy responsibility on the court especially with his size You have to be aware of whats happening around you and move accordingly.vIf done correctly its a big EFFn deal.
Will McCullough split time between PF and C to provide flexibility and allow Coleman or Diagne to work in? Seems likely to me.

 

[Rocco]

The added bodies alone make us better. We win that UNC game if we had more legs. Our guys were gassed at the end, especially with the highly questionable call to go to press with 3-4 min to go.

The only guy we lose is Christmas, which will hurt alot, no doubt; however, we will have several veteran starters on this team (4) with hopefully a healthy CMC, DC and an absurd recruiting class (which could get even absurder [] over the next few months with another addition).

If people are unloading their SU BBall stock, I will buy all of it.

 

[reedny]

The added bodies alone make us better. We win that UNC game if we had more legs. Our guys were gassed at the end, especially with the highly questionable call to go to press with 3-4 min to go.

The only guy we lose is Christmas, which will hurt alot, no doubt; however, we will have several veteran starters on this team (4) with hopefully a healthy CMC, DC and an absurd recruiting class (which could get even absurder [] over the next few months with another addition).

If people are unloading their SU BBall stock, I will buy all of it.

Let's pray for absurdity.

 

[ORANGEsPHK]

lol people seem to think next year's team will have to mirror what this year's is doing in terms of how we attack offensively... certainly it will be a different team next year, but simply because Rak leaves does not mean we lose that amount of points per game without matched (or even improved) scoring from elsewhere.
and to say guys like Kaleb and Roberson won't be better is just dumb

I agree with this pretty much whole-heartily. The offense will go through the proven and most consistent scorer(s) on next year's team and others will pick up the score, purely out of the need. With Cooney and Gbinije at guard/forward and McC and Roberson at the forward positions I think Rak's points per game can be easily made up. I also think Kaleb will be much improved - he has a good jump shot but hasn't learned when/where to shoot it effectively from, he's forcing it sometimes and I expect next year he the game will slow down for him. We've played more often then not with a center focused on defense and rebounds - I think we'll be fine.

A lot of times there are comparisons of teams year-to-year based on existing style/strategy of play - this doesn't really apply often to teams, except the SU 2-3 zone .

 

[billsin01]

I would go with Jason Hart as a possible comparison for Joseph, frankly. Jason wound up putting up decent numbers as a freshman, but anyone who watched that season, particularly early in that season, could see a kid who wasn't ready to lead a high major D1 team. Obviously he got there. Joseph isn't at the same level as Hart was as a freshman, but he's leaps and bounds above Thues.

Glad you brought up J-Hart. Absolutely terrific comparison. Obviously Hart was phenomenal defensively, which can't be overstated, but offensively he was atrocious as a frosh. I'm not sure he ever became outstanding in that regard, but he improved dramatically. The fact that a kid is having a bad freshman year makes them human moreso than a wasted scholarship.

 

[billsin01]

Yes, Rak has us spoiled.
We don't always need a maniac on offense (17 points from the center spot), but we need to get inside scoring from somewhere (last year, it was Grant, with Rak being a supplemental part on offense). Our zone needs a center who can stop the opponent's inside stuff (last year, that was Keita, in tandem with Rak). If you can't compete with teams like NC on the inside, you struggle.
Unless you can live on the perimeter with real good outside shooting from more than one guy. Can we?

I would argue that at the very least I'd like to see the team continue to make a concerted effort to get the ball in the post. I would think a high/low option of McCullough and either Roberson or Coleman (I know, I know), could at least conceivably offer some semblance of interior offense. Obviously not what Rak has done this year, but enough to keep teams honest and take some pressure off our perimeter guys.

 

[jekelish]

Glad you brought up J-Hart. Absolutely terrific comparison. Obviously Hart was phenomenal defensively, which can't be overstated, but offensively he was atrocious as a frosh. I'm not sure he ever became outstanding in that regard, but he improved dramatically. The fact that a kid is having a bad freshman year makes them human moreso than a wasted scholarship.

Yeah, the defense can't be understated. Kaleb is nowhere near the same level, obviously. But offensively, he's not THAT far off...he just shoots the ball so infrequently.

Hart's freshman year numbers: 9.6 PPG, 5.8 APG, 3.5 RPG, 37.9% FG
Kaleb's freshman year numbers: 6.7 PPG, 4.8 APG, 2.4 RPG, 38.5% FG

Hart took, on average, 9.3 shots per game. Kaleb is taking, on average, 6.4 shots per game. So they're both taking the same number of shots to get the same number of points, more or less.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Only in the way it took Scoop 3 years (counting his red shirt year) to develop into a PG who could make shots. I'm not comparing their games...just development time.

You're joking. In ACC games KJ is a zero on offense and not well suited to the zone. The difference between winning and loosing is typically as much as the difference in scoring between KJ and Scoop, not to mention that Scoop played with a bone fracture.