Really excited about this team

[PhatOrange]

Did you watch Kaleb play last night? Got to the rim, handled the ball confidently, hit some threes, and most importantly was active defensively and kept his hands up. Joseph is going to play a ton this year.

I'm very impressed with how Howard shot the ball, too. I knew from watching game film that he was a good mid-range shooter when he got into the lane, but his jump shot looks smooth and effortless out to three. His size is perfect for the zone, and he's a big strong kid for an incoming frosh. I didn't like some of the passes he made; a few were things he could get away with at the HS level, but not at the college level--but that will straighten out as he gains some experience. Don't have a great feel for his handle yet.

Actually, all three of the frosh look advanced. Playing prep ball for powerhouse programs against national caliber schedules really has them more prepared than the vast majority of incoming frosh. Impressive.

I love that we have numerous players who can play in various combinations. I'm glad we finally have some options at point guard. The last few years, we've basically had one with some guys who could fill in as stop gap options. Now we have three. And we have players who can play in tandem in different lineups. Cooney not shooting well some game? We won't have to be locked into him playing 38 and having a 1-11 shooting outing--we can go with Richardson, Joseph, Howard, etc. to spell him any given night.

I did and I'm not a fan. His handle is still shaky as is his shooting. Missed bunnies and got swallowed by the LeMoyne D2 bigs a couple of times.

 

[OttoMets]

Anyone else just baffled by this post? Makes absolutely zero sense. Talk about contradicting yourself...

I think I know what he means.

They're young but talented. And Boeheim has let on that there could be a significant change our perimeter shooting this season. So there will be times when we score a lot of points and make good teams look bad (and the shorter shot clock will help with this).

At the same time, I can't remember a Syracuse team with as staggering a weakness as this one has. Unlike poor shooting or careless ball-handling, this will be very difficult for Boeheim to coach around. So we're likely to get crushed by skilled teams with size.

But we're young, so we're due to improve as the year goes on. And there will be times when everyone will agree that we're fun to watch. Seems like TippHill has a good read on things.

 

[SUFan44]

I think this year they may be better. People here really underestimate the fact of losing Silent G and Cooney

Battle, Richardson, Roberson, Chukwu, Lydon is LONG. If Coleman comes back, plus Joseph gets better, add Moyer to the mix and Howard as a wild card. That's a deep team.

Think this year the pieces are just a little raw and too many questions about Coleman/interior. But if they figure it out they can do some damage.

This is the type of team that JB does his best work with. Short bench by default and a few versatile pieces.

 

[pearl31]

I think I know what he means.

They're young but talented. And Boeheim has let on that there could be a significant change our perimeter shooting this season. So there will be times when we score a lot of points and make good teams look bad (and the shorter shot clock will help with this).

At the same time, I can't remember a Syracuse team with as staggering a weakness as this one has. Unlike poor shooting or careless ball-handling, this will be very difficult for Boeheim to coach around. So we're likely to get crushed by skilled teams with size.

But we're young, so we're due to improve as the year goes on. And there will be times when everyone will agree that we're fun to watch. Seems like TippHill has a good read on things.

so you're going with 15 wins, then?

 

[LAOrange]

People say you don't learn much from exhibition games but that is foolishness. After last year's exhibition game, I was uneasy. After this year's exhibition, I feel excited. I held my breath the entire time Dajuan played and especially when he went down on the floor, but I didn't need to. There was a general sense of cohesiveness and flexibility that was deeply soothing to watch. Joseph looked much better off the bench. Last year was just too much for him.

Impression after ONE exhibition game: THIS YEAR'S TEAM IS BETTER THAN LAST YEAR'S. Am I damning them with faint praise?

Dajuan going to the floor for a loose ball was a "pleasant" surprise. Getting up and playing well was a relief.

 

[OttoMets]

so you're going with 15 wins, then?

Hope not. Anything that low would surprise me. But losing to St. John's, Michigan, Villanova, and Cal surprised a lot of us, too, and it's easy to spot some ways in which this group is inferior to last year's team.

I'm not confident in making any wins and losses prediction this year, but I'll state with some confidence that this team will give us some entertaining games over the next few months.

 

[LAOrange]

I think I know what he means.

They're young but talented. And Boeheim has let on that there could be a significant change our perimeter shooting this season. So there will be times when we score a lot of points and make good teams look bad (and the shorter shot clock will help with this).

At the same time, I can't remember a Syracuse team with as staggering a weakness as this one has. Unlike poor shooting or careless ball-handling, this will be very difficult for Boeheim to coach around. So we're likely to get crushed by skilled teams with size.

But we're young, so we're due to improve as the year goes on. And there will be times when everyone will agree that we're fun to watch. Seems like TippHill has a good read on things.

Almost half our shots were 3's and we still shot 50% from the field. The 3's open up the inside spacing and create long rebounds on the misses, which negates the size of a large team. Really long front lines 6'4, 6'7, with active wings of 6'6, 6'7, 6'8 make it so the guards can't penetrate to pass inside. (Remember MCW). The only way to get the ball to their bigger front line is to 1) perfect the baseline drive or split the front defenders. G and Cooney are too experienced to let that happen more than a couple of times a game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Cooney showed a different facet to his game. Handled the ball a lot and was constantly looking inside, especially to DC. Led the team in assists.

The bolded part is huge. Not only is that good outside-in offense, it will also lead to Cooney getting cleaner looks when the ball rotates back out.

 

[OttoMets]

Almost half our shots were 3's and we still shot 50% from the field. The 3's open up the inside spacing and create long rebounds on the misses, which negates the size of a large team. Really long front lines 6'4, 6'7, with active wings of 6'6, 6'7, 6'8 make it so the guards can't penetrate to pass inside. (Remember MCW). The only way to get the ball to their bigger front line is to 1) perfect the baseline drive or split the front defenders. G and Cooney are too experienced to let that happen more than a couple of times a game.

I think we could get a lot of long rebounds this season for that reason. It could be a pretty unorthodox SU team from that perspective, another reason I'm excited to see this team play.

You're right about perimeter defense in theory. In practice, I'm pessimistic. Cooney played with his hands at his sides for a lot of last night; we're building from some really atrocious perimeter defense last season with a combination of freshmen and a couple of the guys who struggled at that.

Coleman needs those guys to disrupt the passing lanes and lock down the dribble. It will be interesting to see how quickly our guards can improve at this.

 

[supp]

I think I know what he means.

They're young but talented. And Boeheim has let on that there could be a significant change our perimeter shooting this season. So there will be times when we score a lot of points and make good teams look bad (and the shorter shot clock will help with this).

At the same time, I can't remember a Syracuse team with as staggering a weakness as this one has. Unlike poor shooting or careless ball-handling, this will be very difficult for Boeheim to coach around. So we're likely to get crushed by skilled teams with size.

But we're young, so we're due to improve as the year goes on. And there will be times when everyone will agree that we're fun to watch. Seems like TippHill has a good read on things.

They're small up front but generally bigger at guard than most teams. We've had teams like that in the past be very successful. I want to say that every team we had from the mid- to late-1990s was like that. If they shoot a decent percentage from outside, I think 20 wins is very realistic. We have to remember that 20 wins in college ball nowadays is like going 7-5 in football. Not a huge accomplishment.

 

[OttoMets]

They're small up front but generally bigger at guard than most teams. We've had teams like that in the past be very successful. I want to say that every team we had from the mid- to late-1990s was like that. If they shoot a decent percentage from outside, I think 20 wins is very realistic. We have to remember that 20 wins in college ball nowadays is like going 7-5 in football. Not a huge accomplishment.

True, not what it used to be.

Regarding guard play, I tend to favor the big, slow SU guards (Cipolla and Sims types). I am really bearish on the two guys we have starting, though. At best, Cooney has been quite inconsistent for three years and I hated his defense last night (it's not all negative, I liked his hustle). To me, Gbinije is playing out of position. We'll see what he can make of that. I understand Boeheim's decision: first, Richardson's a shooter and he'd like both guys on the court; second, Joseph was a sieve last year.

I think one could persuade me that this team will win between 15-25 games in the regular season. This is a very unusual roster playing under some strange circumstances; not since November 1996 have we had so many question marks (and even then we had more spots filled by guys who'd been consistent producers in the past).

Best case: we shoot very well - not lights out, but over 35%. Poorly enough on some nights to lose, well enough the rest of the time to score some nice upsets and generally keep the floor spaced for our wings to drive and Roberson to work on the block. Defense is OK (I just can't see it being better than OK, not with the inexperience and our holes) but OK is good enough when we can put up 85 on a given night.

Worst case: we can't shoot. Coleman's ineffective for whatever reason. Cooney and Gbinije are burdened with carrying the load and neither plays better than he did for the past two years. The freshmen show flashes but are complementary parts on a team with no go-to guys.

Nothing in between those two scenarios would surprise me.

 

[realorange]

We have our weaknesses, but folks, take a look! We have an offense this year. We have shooters! We are going to win some of the "shouldn't win" games this year just because of that.
While I think our bigs will have trouble against good teams, the offense can offset that on many nights.
It will be a season of highs and lows but exciting games for the most part.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The thing I like about Gbinije at the point is when we play teams like UNC, their starting backcourt is 6'1' and 6'1'. It's going to be difficult for that team to match up with us. Someone who is undersized is going to have to guard Gbinije.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Did you watch Kaleb play last night? Got to the rim, handled the ball confidently, hit some threes, and most importantly was active defensively and kept his hands up. Joseph is going to play a ton this year.

Don't go crazy over Kaleb just yet. He dribbled into traffic and got his stuff packed by LeMoyne guys 2 or 3 times in the second half. I think Howard looked more poised and played better. Joseph was forcing it a bit compared to the others.

 

[jordoo]

The thing I like about Gbinije at the point is when we play teams like UNC, their starting backcourt is 6'1' and 6'1'. It's going to be difficult for that team to match up with us. Someone who is undersized is going to have to guard Gbinije.

Actually almost everygame we play Malachi or Mike will be getting checked by a 6-2 guy or shorter t0 start the game. Its a huge advantage. I still feel like if we had a stud PG it would be better offensively for Mike to play the 3 but its hard to contradict Mike starting at 1 with what we have and its not without its advantages. Mike or Malachi will be able to shoot over their defender without needed much space most of the year.

 

[RF2044]

Don't go crazy over Kaleb just yet. He dribbled into traffic and got his stuff packed by LeMoyne guys 2 or 3 times in the second half. I think Howard looked more poised and played better. Joseph was forcing it a bit compared to the others.

Likewise, I would caution you and Phat to not go too crazy over Howard's lead guard acumen yet. Looking forward to seeing these guys play more.

Howard is my favorite incoming recruit BTW -- has been since we inked him. Love his potential.

 

[PeteCalvin]

I wish we had Pikachu available this year.

"PEE-KA-CHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

(Lightning strikes down opponents shots from everywhere)

(Opponent left in smoldering heap with zero power points)

Just seeing Chukwu standing in the huddle gave me goosebumps. My God is that kid tall! He's probably with Hop right now. You know, making faces at him when he's talking because he can't look up that high to see what's going on.

 

[Knicks411]

From a purely aesthetic POV, I'm a big fan of teams that shoot a lot of 3's, so there is that.

 

[NYCorange]

The unfortunate thing about our length this year is that it's the perfect year to play a Golden State/Milwaukee Bucks style m2m defense. Switch everything because all of our guys are 6'5-6'8 and shut down every ball screen. But we're not gonna do that of course. We could still have a decent defense if Coleman can be semi-competent--I think that Lydon at the 5 might end up being the wildcard for this season's zone.

 

[tipphill]

With all due respect, you're crazy. This team should win 20 games, barring injuries. Next year should be better, but this year they should be just fine.

Last year was JB's worst team in a long time and they won 18 games. Not sure where 15 is coming from.

i like being crazy, i also like this year being different than most,look forward to hopkins to see what he does

 

[tipphill]

wow. OP is "really excited about this team"

next post is 15 wins and maybe steal an upset for our worst season in my 30 years alive. but it will be "fun to watch"

i guess i should not be excited based on your post, you have a propensity to demean other posters in a tongue in cheek way.---i am excited for this team, despite your sarcasm. please send back my nationals hat---u do not deserve a syracuse nationals logo. i will now use one of your signature sign offs you like to use that with your friends(friend)

 

[tipphill]

other "fun" things to watch:

Final 8 minutes of SU-Pitt football game
Lincoln Chafee debate
watching grass grow

u forgot raking leaves

 

[CusefanATL]

i guess i should not be excited based on your post, you have a propensity to demean other posters in a tongue in cheek way.---i am excited for this team, despite your sarcasm. please send back my nationals hat---u do not deserve a syracuse nationals logo. i will now use one of your signature sign offs you like to use that with your friends(friend)

i like my hat

 

[NKR1978]

I REALLY liked Howard. He was smooth, poised, could handle, and he's long.

If this doesn't warrant a "that's what she said," then I don't know what does.

 

[SU in Hershey]

So, in general, are we looking at a team with a lot of players (guards and forwards) that are multidimensional in their skill sets and will make a tough team to beat as the season goes, or a team where roles and abilities are less clearly defined, and it hurts us in crunch time? Obviously I am just putting this out there, but I see it as two sides of the same coin. Personally, with some strong senior leadership (G and TC), I am hoping for a team that shows a lot of moxie and can pull out some games that we might otherwise have trouble winning.