Rothstein is in town…

[NineOneSeven]

The reason why I don't think this is out of the question is cuz of how front-loaded the schedule is with tough opponents. If we were looking at one of our early-season "cupcake" seasons of a few decades ago, that would perhaps secure Bennie in a starter spot for the season, assuming he's impressing enough in practice to indicate he's likely to be 1 of the best 5 players on the team.

But this season is so tough early on, it puts pressure on one of Boeheim's other sensitivities: newcomer mistakes costing his teams early wins, and that consideration may very well put Jimmy in the starter spot.

The point is, you've gotta figure Bennie's gonna be a lot more "instinctive" (a lot less guessing where one of his team mates is gonna be for that pass, when to crash the boards for a rebound, etc.) as the season progresses. Now that's an assumption, but a pretty fair one IMO.

The question may--or may not--arise in January whether or not JB might wanna replace Jimmy as a starter, cuz things will be much clearer then. If Bennie's starting to make plays whenever he's in & is really starting to mesh with the other four starters, it could happen.

I can definitely see a scenario in which JB would swap Bennie's & his son's roles. The costs vs benefits could allow for it. The only problem is if BOTH Jimmy & Bennie are kicking ass when they're on the court. In that scenario, JB's tendency is to not shake things up when they're working...

Is it Benny or Bennie?

 

[CuseFaninVT]

The reason why I don't think this is out of the question is cuz of how front-loaded the schedule is with tough opponents. If we were looking at one of our early-season "cupcake" seasons of a few decades ago, that would perhaps secure Bennie in a starter spot for the season, assuming he's impressing enough in practice to indicate he's likely to be 1 of the best 5 players on the team.

But this season is so tough early on, it puts pressure on one of Boeheim's other sensitivities: newcomer mistakes costing his teams early wins, and that consideration may very well put Jimmy in the starter spot.

The point is, you've gotta figure Bennie's gonna be a lot more "instinctive" (a lot less guessing where one of his team mates is gonna be for that pass, when to crash the boards for a rebound, etc.) as the season progresses. Now that's an assumption, but a pretty fair one IMO.

The question may--or may not--arise in January whether or not JB might wanna replace Jimmy as a starter, cuz things will be much clearer then. If Bennie's starting to make plays whenever he's in & is really starting to mesh with the other four starters, it could happen.

I can definitely see a scenario in which JB would swap Bennie's & his son's roles. The costs vs benefits could allow for it. The only problem is if BOTH Jimmy & Bennie are kicking ass when they're on the court. In that scenario, JB's tendency is to not shake things up when they're working...

But isn’t Jimmy a newcomer as well? He’s never played Syracuse zone defense before this year.

 

[Windyfly]

The reason why I don't think this is out of the question is cuz of how front-loaded the schedule is with tough opponents. If we were looking at one of our early-season "cupcake" seasons of a few decades ago, that would perhaps secure Bennie in a starter spot for the season, assuming he's impressing enough in practice to indicate he's likely to be 1 of the best 5 players on the team.

But this season is so tough early on, it puts pressure on one of Boeheim's other sensitivities: newcomer mistakes costing his teams early wins, and that consideration may very well put Jimmy in the starter spot.

The point is, you've gotta figure Bennie's gonna be a lot more "instinctive" (a lot less guessing where one of his team mates is gonna be for that pass, when to crash the boards for a rebound, etc.) as the season progresses. Now that's an assumption, but a pretty fair one IMO.

The question may--or may not--arise in January whether or not JB might wanna replace Jimmy as a starter, cuz things will be much clearer then. If Bennie's starting to make plays whenever he's in & is really starting to mesh with the other four starters, it could happen.

I can definitely see a scenario in which JB would swap Bennie's & his son's roles. The costs vs benefits could allow for it. The only problem is if BOTH Jimmy & Bennie are kicking ass when they're on the court. In that scenario, JB's tendency is to not shake things up when they're working...

Exactly, with big early season games I think you go with experience over potential, unless Benny is clear cut the better option, which is still undetermined for us fans, but sounds like coach thinks Jimmy is more ready to contribute at this point early in the season.
And trust me, I’m on the Benny bandwagon also, I think he’s going to be a friggin stud here, but I’m also trying to be realistic and expect real good things from Jimmy as well. I think Jimmy is going to do the little things that don’t always get noticed from the box score, which a lot of times can be the difference between Win or Loss. And honestly we’re need that type of guy in the starting lineup. Benny as a spark plug of the bench providing energy and athleticism, sounds about right to me, but it’s preseason speculation at the end of the day and we’ll find out shortly!

 

[81South]

Playing time / roles are always a sensitive topic for players, their families and fans. Throw in another son of the coach on the roster and this forum could be downright scary this season. I hope Jr plays well and enjoys playing with his brother and for his pops but i am a bit anxious about it to be honest. What makes me anxious is whether he can play at an ACC level of play. With all due respect to the Ivy League…..it’s not even close to the same level of play as the ACC. Fingers are crossed.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

I’m sorry, but good lord is there a bunch of assumptions in there presented as fact. Taking a year and a half off NEVER improves a player’s game. Strength and conditioning maybe, but you get better by playing against high level talent. So before we anoint Jimmy as ‘a really good basketball player’ let’s see if that’s true at the acc level as well as the Ivy League.

Well, the last game I saw him play against an ACC team, he did pretty well.
BTW, Stevie Thompson, who talked to Jimmy about going to Oregon, says Jimmy is a good player, who really knows how to play, and he expects him to have a good year this year.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

If his last name was Smith, you think his basketball talents get him the same contract?

Yes. Agents don’t intentionally waste time

 

[Todoubled23]

Well, the last game I saw him play against an ACC team, he did pretty well.
BTW, Stevie Thompson, who talked to Jimmy about going to Oregon, says Jimmy is a good player, who really knows how to play, and he expects him to have a good year this year.

If he and buddy aren't some of the most knowledgeable kids in the college game about basketball I'd be surprised. I'm optimistic.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Playing time / roles are always a sensitive topic for players, their families and fans. Throw in another son of the coach on the roster and this forum could be downright scary this season. I hope Jr plays well and enjoys playing with his brother and for his pops but i am a bit anxious about it to be honest. What makes me anxious is whether he can play at an ACC level of play. With all due respect to the Ivy League…..it’s not even close to the same level of play as the ACC. Fingers are crossed.

You are right to be nervous. If Jr isn’t the next coming of John Havlicek, this message board will absolutely declare war on him and his dad. It will be very ugly. We’ve already seen it last year and that was just a preview.

 

[rrlbees]

You are right to be nervous. If Jr isn’t the next coming of John Havlicek, this message board will absolutely declare war on him and his dad. It will be very ugly. We’ve already seen it last year and that was just a preview.

the childish BS won’t happen again this year. Bank on it.

 

[djcon57]

Well, the last game I saw him play against an ACC team, he did pretty well.
BTW, Stevie Thompson, who talked to Jimmy about going to Oregon, says Jimmy is a good player, who really knows how to play, and he expects him to have a good year this year.

Oregon State...just wanted to clarify, even with their amazing run last year, OSU is not the level of program as Oregon.

 

[Cheriehoop]

If his last name was Smith, you think his basketball talents get him the same contract?

Sure, Tubby Smith’s kids, GG and Saul both got the same contract as JB jr.

 

[pearl31]

Sure, Tubby Smith’s kids, GG and Saul both got the same contract as JB jr.

well played!

 

[OrangeinDC]

Sure, Tubby Smith’s kids, GG and Saul both got the same contract as JB jr.

Wow!... True!

 

[TexanMark]

I hope his trainer wasn't Jamal Dumas...

Old fan SU Football joke.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

the childish BS won’t happen again this year. Bank on it.

Is this not America?

 

[Orangezoo]

The one thing that bodes well "hopefully" is that the early season tourney is Atlantis which is extremely shooter friendly. We torched the nets down there in 2016. So going shooter heavy should benefit us in that gym/banquet hall.

To me the first 5-7 games are crucial this year. We need to have some momentum in the non conference and some wins that will carry for a while.

 

[Gotothehole]

the childish BS won’t happen again this year. Bank on it.

He has to know what’s getting into if he underperforms. We lost a few players last year so he better bring it every night.

 

[Orangezoo]

You are right to be nervous. If Jr isn’t the next coming of John Havlicek, this message board will absolutely declare war on him and his dad. It will be very ugly. We’ve already seen it last year and that was just a preview.

I won't repeat my comments about being really glad Jr is here.

That said his best game against a P6 team in the past yrs was at the dome vs us. He did have 17 and 6 at PSU that year and also shot 5-19.

It's been a while and outside being a senior, he has had the longest layover of playing organized basketball next to Sidibe. He has worked on his game as we know and hopefully matured aspects of it to be effective at this level.

If he starts I just hope it's because he has been extremely impressive in practice. There haven't been any reports I have read to that effect be it posts on here or what Gutierrez was sharing. Counter to that we have heard how Cole and Benny have looked very good.

 

[TexanMark]

In defense of Jimmy B.

While out...his shooting should still be good and he should be the most ready transfer of all time to play Syracuse offense and defense schematically.

He could start early and move to 6th man by mid December...we'll see.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

In defense of Jimmy B.

While out...his shooting should still be good and he should be the most ready ever to play Syracuse offense and defense schematically of all time.

He could start early and move to 6th man by mid December...we'll see.

There is no question he's had more exposure to the system than any other first year player we've had, even his brother.

 

[Cusefan0307]

nope. Kadary had warts. Ennis, MCW and GMac as freshman would've started last year. They were that good out of the gate. People are comparing Benny to Melo. If he's that good he'll start...but Benny wasn't even a McD's

Post grads aren't eligible for the McDonald's game.

 

[721Comstock]

nope. Kadary had warts. Ennis, MCW and GMac as freshman would've started last year. They were that good out of the gate. People are comparing Benny to Melo. If he's that good he'll start...but Benny wasn't even a McD's

Benny was post-grad.
Not eligible for McD’s game.

 

[RealMcNeil]

nope. Kadary had warts. Ennis, MCW and GMac as freshman would've started last year. They were that good out of the gate. People are comparing Benny to Melo. If he's that good he'll start...but Benny wasn't even a McD's

Kadary's basketball skills were not his issue, his "soft skills" were - his advanced stats were on par with MCW, Ennis, etc. but you've got to want to be there and buy in. I'm also not so sure about Ennis coming in and playing more than Kadary did either - there really wasn't another option that year, hence his 38 mpg. We'll see what Benny does out there, but I think it's a different situation entirely. I think he gets a good bunch of minutes to the tune of 27-30 mpg on the season when all is said and done, and I think that number increases over time.

 

[PhatOrange]

Benny was post-grad.
Not eligible for McD’s game.

understood but he wasn’t his senior year either. I assumed he went post grad to get more exposure, (but honestly I haven’t followed his career.). I just see these Melo comparisons and I shake my head.

 

[Jake]

Prediction….Cole Swider is this season’s whipping boy, early hook candidate.