Seth Davis tweets that SU's first string looks to be

[Frozen]

Scoop, Triche, KJo, Fab and Xmas.

From his Twitter thingy.

 

[orange03]

Talk about depth. A second unit of Waiters, MCW, Fair, Southerland and Keita would give most teams fits. No mention of TC and Mookie. The talent is there, now JB has to find a way to make it mesh.

 

[EastCoast2]

2nd unit would be ranked

 

[Rocco]

i still think cj starts over rak

 

[Toga]

Maybe Rak gets Fab's 4 minute starter minutes before CJ comes in.

 

[EastCoast2]

i still think cj starts over rak

Maybe Rak gets Fab's 4 minute starter minutes before CJ comes in.

I could definitely see a Fab situation from last year where Rak starts and CJ comes in first whistle

 

[EastCoast2]

^^ or after two consecutive bad offensive possessions

 

[Orangeyes]

^^ or after two quick fouls​

 

[senorpalmer]

I will be shocked if Christmas plays more minutes than Fair. And after reading the OP, I too had visions of Fab Melo's < 10 MPG starts.

 

[cuseclappy]

i hope rak gets somewhat of a longer leash then fab had last yr..i cant remember who the game was against..but fab came in, fouled someone within 6 seconds and was pulled for the rest of the game

 

[Ozcuse]

i hope rak gets somewhat of a longer leash then fab had last yr..i cant remember who the game was against..but fab came in, fouled someone within 6 seconds and was pulled for the rest of the game

Was against Rutgers. Fab then gave Boeheim a dismissive wave when he got pulled and got his ass chewed out.

 

[EastCoast2]

I think there's something to be said with a starting frontline of 7'0 6'9 6'7 when some opposing centers will be as big as Kris

 

[cuseclappy]

Was against Rutgers. Fab then gave Boeheim a dismissive wave when he got pulled and got his ass chewed out.

thats right ah memories

 

[rrlbees]

I could definitely see a Fab situation from last year where Rak starts and CJ comes in first whistle

cj will play more than rak. but it will not be a melo situation unless rak performs like melo did last year out of the blocks. i think cj will get 25-30 mins with 5 of them being for kjo and the rest for rak. so imo rak plays 15-20 mins. jb is going to want to go/stay big on the defensive end. cj is a very good offensive rebounder because he understands spacing and where shots will be and he is sneaky. but i think rak will be a better defensive rebounder than cj. so i see rak about 15 and cj about 30 (5 from kjo). it could be rak 20 and cj 25 if rak is giving us anything at all on offense.

 

[pfister1]

I am glad that everyone is pumped, but don't get carried away. Our second unit would not be ranked, nor would it deserve to be ranked. I am not even sure it would finish in the top half of the Big East. That said they are a great set of back up players that with experience will be very productive for us - and some will eventually be starters (this year or in the future).

I hope that JB does not do the Fab thing with Rak. I think it is terrible for a player's development, certainly for his confidence, to be yanked like a freaking yo-yo at every little mistake. If JB doesn't have enough confidence in him to let him play through a mistake or two sit him down and bring him off of the bench. If Rak deserves to start he should be getting 20 mpg at minimum (assuming he can stay out of foul trouble). If he doesn't play well enough to deserve 20 mpg, then he should not be starting.

 

[UelSU]

Isn't RAK a true PF and CJ more of a SF? I'm sure we will be fine, and probably will see, Chris and CJ out there at the same time, but it can't hurt to have Rak out there with Chris if he can contribute.

 

[EastCoast2]

Isn't RAK a true PF and CJ more of a SF? I'm sure we will be fine, and probably will see, Chris and CJ out there at the same time, but it can't hurt to have Rak out there with Chris if he can contribute.

Is Chris a late signing freshman?

 

[cuseincincy]

I think that's the 5 many anticipated if Rak was anywhere near as good as his recruiting ranking. I see CJ's minutes to be similar to Scoops 2 years ago when he was the 3rd guard with Andy and BT. I hope Rak gets as long a leash as BT did his freshman year. CJ will also likley get some minutes from the 5 spot. Not that he'll play the 5, but I can see a front line of Rak, KJ and CJ for some periods, particulalry against early season competition with smaller quicker lineups. I would also say the only combo of frontcourt players we will not see is Rak, Baye and Fab or CJ, KJ and James. Any other combo is fair game.

 

[cuseincincy]

Is Chris a late signing freshman?

Maybe its CYA when you mean either Christmas, or Kris, or even CJ?:noidea:

 

[EastCoast2]

Maybe its CYA when you mean either Christmas, or Kris, or even CJ?:noidea:

yet another reason we need to use nicknames!
thickburger
dirty
can we call Rakeem "santa"?

 

[arbitragegls]

If Santa (christmas) is starter...then we may be underevaluating him as everything about CJ is that he is looking like a breakout season happening...OR, as indicated in my previous post, maybe JB is going with Two teams of 5...wouldn't that be amazing.

 

[JoeSU]

This is all speculative. Last year at this time Melo was a lock to start as BE Pre-Season ROY.

 

[jekelish]

Isn't Rakeem's nickname already Rock? Like, his actual nickname, and not an internet nickname? If so, why can't we just call him Rock?

(If it makes you Christmas people feel better, we can call him Jingle Bell Rock)

 

[EastCoast2]

Rock/Rak/Santa work for me. Just not "dirty Santa claus"

 

[jekelish]

Actually, can we just go ahead and call him Lloyd, instead?

EDIT: Wait..."Rock" Christmas..."Rock" Lloyd...LLOYD CHRISTMAS!

*MIND BLOWN*