Class of 2022 SF Chris Bunch (CA / Wasatch) COMMITTED/SIGNED TO SYRACUSE

[Melancer46]

Anyone else concerned that we keep signing kids who either don't even start on their high school teams, or are putting up bad-to-pedestrian numbers in HS? 11 points here. 1-10 in another—that isn't easy to do in high school. And Taylor had an 0 for 12? How? I mean, if i miss my first five shots in a pickup game, i'm gonna figure something out. Obviously, this is "small sample size," but it seems to be too common of a thing with us. And even when our guys make an all star team, we don't exactly shine in those games and our folks rationalize it as "not the right kind of showcase for our player."

I've only seen the one game, but Bunch doesn't seem like a versatile scorer right now. Having said that, his team scored like 62 points in the game and he had 11. Roddy Gayle was probably in the 20s and after that, it was Bunch, Keita, and one or two other guys all around the same number of points. With the makeup of the team and the competition that they're facing, you're just not going to see these guys putting up those 30/20 kinda box scores like you might have seen back in the day. Guys have too many talented teammates nowadays to dominate the ball that way.

Kadary for example was clearly a stud in high school IMO and he averaged 18/5/5 in the games I watched (and looked very good doing so). If Bunch can look good putting up 10-15 points a game on this team, that would be a pretty good outcome.

Edit: Having said all that, I do think our recruiting isn't as good as it once was, but that's not something you can tell just from the box scores and stuff.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Anyone else concerned that we keep signing kids who either don't even start on their high school teams, or are putting up bad-to-pedestrian numbers in HS? 11 points here. 1-10 in another—that isn't easy to do in high school. And Taylor had an 0 for 12? How? I mean, if i miss my first five shots in a pickup game, i'm gonna figure something out. Obviously, this is "small sample size," but it seems to be too common of a thing with us. And even when our guys make an all star team, we don't exactly shine in those games and our folks rationalize it as "not the right kind of showcase for our player."

I mean, these guys aren't on normal highschool teams. They're on prep all-star teams, pretty much.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I mean, these guys aren't on normal highschool teams. They're on prep all-star teams, pretty much.

Maybe. Maybe. But, the point stands—they're not putting up impressive numbers. Let's forget about point totals, because, yes, that can lead to a skewed perception, when there is balance among other talented teammates, or suppressed total team scoring. But, still—they are still on high school teams and if they will be expected to make an impact on the collegiate level, shouldn't they be making more impact just within their small circles?

And when we get an all-star kid, we're not even getting McDs anymore. It's Jordan Brand or whatever the other one is. And our kids don't start, and are sorta 'also rans' in those games, and we say stuff like, "Oh, it's just a run and chuck and dunk show and our prototypical players thrive with more structure."

Then, there's the 1-10 and 0-12 and i think there was a 1-12 before that(?). Then there's that Ajak didn't start in high school. And if i'm mistaken, Taylor and Quadir are on an IMG team that isn't the better of the IMG teams(?). Is that correct? When i saw a roster shot last week, it looked like the JV squad compared, despite whatever classification it's operating under. Maybe Jesse was on the same team which invalidates this portion of the skepticism? But, as a fan of a team now "synonymous with 'bubble,'" this coincidental trend is worrisome.

 

[sutomcat]

I've only seen the one game, but Bunch doesn't seem like a versatile scorer right now. Having said that, his team scored like 62 points in the game and he had 11. Roddy Gayle was probably in the 20s and after that, it was Bunch, Keita, and one or two other guys all around the same number of points. With the makeup of the team and the competition that they're facing, you're just not going to see these guys putting up those 30/20 kinda box scores like you might have seen back in the day. Guys have too many talented teammates nowadays to dominate the ball that way.

Kadary for example was clearly a stud in high school IMO and he averaged 18/5/5 in the games I watched (and looked very good doing so). If Bunch can look good putting up 10-15 points a game on this team, that would be a pretty good outcome.

Edit: Having said all that, I do think our recruiting isn't as good as it once was, but that's not something you can tell just from the box scores and stuff.

Kadary wasn't much of a scorer in HS and at the prep level.

He averaged 10.5 ppg his junior year at South Shore. Got his scoring average up to 12.4 ppg as a senior.

Then he averaged 12.5 ppg at Brewster.

This Is New York: Part 9: Kadary Richmond Has A Big Summer

Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint. By David Cordova This is Part 9 of our sixteen-part series, “This Is New York,” as we chronicled Kadary Richmond, who was recently recognized as Nike’s P…

davesjoint.net

Kadary Richmond - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Cusefan0307]

Maybe. Maybe. But, the point stands—they're not putting up impressive numbers. Let's forget about point totals, because, yes, that can lead to a skewed perception, when there is balance among other talented teammates, or suppressed total team scoring. But, still—they are still on high school teams and if they will be expected to make an impact on the collegiate level, shouldn't they be making more impact just within their small circles?

And when we get an all-star kid, we're not even getting McDs anymore. It's Jordan Brand or whatever the other one is. And our kids don't start, and are sorta 'also rans' in those games, and we say stuff like, "Oh, it's just a run and chuck and dunk show and our prototypical players thrive with more structure."

Then, there's the 1-10 and 0-12 and i think there was a 1-12 before that(?). Then there's that Ajak didn't start in high school. And if i'm mistaken, Taylor and Quadir are on an IMG team that isn't the better of the IMG teams(?). Is that correct? When i saw a roster shot last week, it looked like the JV squad compared, despite whatever classification it's operating under. Maybe Jesse was on the same team which invalidates this portion of the skepticism? But, as a fan of a team now "synonymous with 'bubble,'" this coincidental trend is worrisome.

Funny. I remember looking at Jalen Carey's AAU stats and he averaged like 19ppg on 40% from 3.
Brycen Goodine was just below that.

Overall I don't take a lot from HS/AAU stats. The general rule is you will hit on 3 out of 5 guys you recruit and not sure HS stats are a great indicator. We've had some recent guards flame out who put up big numbers against talent that did nothing here.

That being said I don't think Copeland will ever be a good scorer. I see poor mans MCW in his game. He just doesn't have the shot just like MCW. He can pass and get to the rim though. He needs to cut down on turnovers.

Taylor was billed as a shooter, but he's physical and get to the rim. I actually don't think shooting is a strength for him yet. He does have good form which is encouraging.

Bunch is a hot and cold offensive player at this point. He's likely to score 25 one game and 5 the next. Consistency for him is key. The tools are there.

Brown and Carey are high upside guys.

Will we hit on some them? Sure. Would I be surprised if one or two of these guys transfer? No.

All of these guys need a year IMO as of right now, but we said that about Woody Newton/Kadary Richmond and everyone thought they got a raw deal that they didn't get minutes last year.

Benny Williams has gone the other way.

 

[Melancer46]

Kadary wasn't much of a scorer in HS and at the prep level.

He averaged 10.5 ppg his junior year at South Shore. Got his scoring average up to 12.4 ppg as a senior.

Then he averaged 12.5 ppg at Brewster.

This Is New York: Part 9: Kadary Richmond Has A Big Summer

Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint. By David Cordova This is Part 9 of our sixteen-part series, “This Is New York,” as we chronicled Kadary Richmond, who was recently recognized as Nike’s P…

davesjoint.net

Kadary Richmond - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That's precisely why I mentioned you can't just look at the box scores nowadays. By the end of the season at Brewster, Kadary had become their best scorer and lead ball handler.

 

[Melancer46]

Maybe. Maybe. But, the point stands—they're not putting up impressive numbers. Let's forget about point totals, because, yes, that can lead to a skewed perception, when there is balance among other talented teammates, or suppressed total team scoring. But, still—they are still on high school teams and if they will be expected to make an impact on the collegiate level, shouldn't they be making more impact just within their small circles?

And when we get an all-star kid, we're not even getting McDs anymore. It's Jordan Brand or whatever the other one is. And our kids don't start, and are sorta 'also rans' in those games, and we say stuff like, "Oh, it's just a run and chuck and dunk show and our prototypical players thrive with more structure."

Then, there's the 1-10 and 0-12 and i think there was a 1-12 before that(?). Then there's that Ajak didn't start in high school. And if i'm mistaken, Taylor and Quadir are on an IMG team that isn't the better of the IMG teams(?). Is that correct? When i saw a roster shot last week, it looked like the JV squad compared, despite whatever classification it's operating under. Maybe Jesse was on the same team which invalidates this portion of the skepticism? But, as a fan of a team now "synonymous with 'bubble,'" this coincidental trend is worrisome.

Regarding IMG, Quadir and Taylor are on the post-grad team. The varsity team is the team that gets most of the shine and the ESPN telecasts and stuff. Jesse was post-grad as well I believe.

 

[cuseallday]

Chance Westry and AZ Compass Prep put the beat-down on Chris Bunch, Roddy Gayle and Wasatch. Ouch.

 

[justgold315]

Chance Westry and AZ Compass Prep put the beat-down on Chris Bunch, Roddy Gayle and Wasatch. Ouch.

Wow, AZ had 23 more shots and over 50 percent, and Wasatch had 22 turnovers

 

[pwong]

I watched a little of this game, AZ Compass blitz’d them from the beginning. Basically AZ Compass had full court pressure and denied Roddy Gayle from getting the ball. Bunch had some issues handling the ball vs pressure.

 

[Melancer46]

I skipped the La Lumiere game per rrlbees' suggestion and watched the game against Bishop Walsh instead. Walsh's best player, Travis Roberts, is committed to Jacksonville State and he lit Wasatch up for like 25ish points just making it rain from three point range.

My notes and unofficial stats:

• 8 points on 50% TS%
• 1/3 from 2 point range (1 of those misses was a mid-range jumper and we'll get back to that)
• 2/5 from 3 point range (1 of which was accidentally banked in)
• 1 assist to 4 turnovers
• 3 rebounds
• 1 block
• 1 steal
• He started out the game playing with more energy than he did in the first game. They went to him on their first possession of the game and he got to a little floater in the paint. Had a big block in transition and seemed to be making a concerted effort to get down into a defensive stance (though he still struggled to stay in front of his man).
• After the first quarter, he basically faded into the background of the game. These two teams aren't exactly loaded with Power 5 recruits and if you didn't know who he was, you probably would have thought he was like the 7th most impressive kid on the court.
• I mentioned before how he has such a wide base on his jumper and just doesn't have much rhythm to it; I think he'll likely struggle to shoot off the dribble until he gets that fixed.
• Through two games, he's 2/7 from 2 point range (2/4 at the rim and 0/3 from mid-range), 5/13 from 3, and has yet to attempt a free throw.
• Wasatch seems to be struggling in general right now. You wouldn't have thought they were considered a top 10 high school team with the way they've been playing thus far. They just don't really have anyone that can make things happen if it isn't all Roddy Gayle.

 

[ORRange]

Wow. Those are some really bad stats .

 

[Orangezoo]

Bunch's numbers and game are somewhat similar to Woody the year before his final year. Guessing Bunch is a year away. That could be a positive in respect to him getting that development here. We will likely have Benny back on top of the current backcourt then you have Maliq as well who has that early contributor lunch pail type of guy look. Think you get a scorer out of the portal for sure too.

 

[Melancer46]

I tracked down the box scores for the NIBC games so far (the league that Bunch is playing in) to get the official numbers. Through 3 games (including the one that I haven't watched), Bunch's numbers are:

Player	Points	Assists	Rebounds	Blocks	Steals	FG%	3P%	2P%	FT%	TS%	Turnovers
Bunch, Christopher	7.0​	1.0​	3.0​	1.0​	0.7​	28.0%​	26.7%​	30.0%​	75.0%​	39.2%​	3.7​

 

[Orangezoo]

I tracked down the box scores for the NIBC games so far (the league that Bunch is playing in) to get the official numbers. Through 3 games (including the one that I haven't watched), Bunch's numbers are:

Player	Points	Assists	Rebounds	Blocks	Steals	FG%	3P%	2P%	FT%	TS%	Turnovers
Bunch, Christopher	7.0​	1.0​	3.0​	1.0​	0.7​	28.0%​	26.7%​	30.0%​	75.0%​	39.2%​	3.7​

Good stuff. With bringing in a 5 man class plus the portal I think it's likely fair we find two contributors, one partial project, one complete project and one who doesn't work out at all. It's hard to predict who those would be or if it doesn't end up as more positive or less positive than the above scenario. Bunch clearly is in at least the project space as it currently looks right now. Which positionally I think is ok for us.

Taylor may not be the pure shooter we hoped for, but his overall game and size make him more likely to be able to contribute to me than say Bunch. Browns lunchpail game as well.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

We are Syracuse.
We are Syracuse?
Aren’t we?

 

[rrlbees]

He’s made a couple 3’s and a couple other baskets in the 1st half of tonight’s game.

 

[suclass2014]

Anyone else concerned that we keep signing kids who either don't even start on their high school teams, or are putting up bad-to-pedestrian numbers in HS? 11 points here. 1-10 in another—that isn't easy to do in high school. And Taylor had an 0 for 12? How? I mean, if i miss my first five shots in a pickup game, i'm gonna figure something out. Obviously, this is "small sample size," but it seems to be too common of a thing with us. And even when our guys make an all star team, we don't exactly shine in those games and our folks rationalize it as "not the right kind of showcase for our player."

Nope, trusting the coaches.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Nope, trusting the coaches.

The same ones who expected Matt Moyer, Jalen Carey, Howard Washington, and JBA to contribute in very recent years? And the ones who recruited the players who have been contributing, but contributing to classes of teams that have earned Saracyoose the title of “perennial bubble team?”

You trust those coaches so much that you don’t even need to entertain ‘doubt’ or consider we may just be in for more of the same? That’s the kind of faith I almost envy.

 

[AlaskaSU]

The same ones who expected Matt Moyer, Jalen Carey, Howard Washington, and JBA to contribute in very recent years? And the ones who recruited the players who have been contributing, but contributing to classes of teams that have earned Saracyoose the title of “perennial bubble team?”

You trust those coaches so much that you don’t even need to entertain ‘doubt’ or consider we may just be in for more of the same? That’s the kind of faith I almost envy.

I am troubled by the poor performance of most of our new recruits. I've seen future NBA players play in person in HS. They were too good to get shut down.

There are diamonds in the rough like Hak and Sherman who were under the radar. We took them as second choices. We are now further down the food chain having lost out on both our first and second choices. We desperately need a couple of home runs in order to get back on track.

In the ACC we are a fish out of water. Therefore, recruiting is difficult. I do not blame the coaching staff.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I am troubled by the poor performance of most of our new recruits. I've seen future NBA players play in person in HS. They were too good to get shut down.

There are diamonds in the rough like Hak and Sherman who were under the radar. We took them as second choices. We are now further down the food chain having lost out on both our first and second choices. We desperately need a couple of home runs in order to get back on track.

In the ACC we are a fish out of water. Therefore, recruiting is difficult. I do not blame the coaching staff.

I agree with almost all of this. Just not so much the Fish Out Of Water bit. Yes, we are sort of newbies to the ACC, but it’s not as if we really have needed to recruit out of traditional “ACC Country.” And we did get Taylor out of Virginia. The kids we’ve wanted have been close to home or playing prep ball all over the country. And they aren’t signing with other ACC teams—they’re going to programs who sometimes aren’t even traditional basketball powers. We just aren’t getting it done at the highest talent levels in general. Blame bags or NIL maybe, but I think it’s a confluence of many additional factors: old/past-retirement JB, poor season records, not being ranked/nationally media-relevant, not being nationally/prominently televised, losing luster and prestige, playing at an “89 (ranked) pace,” playing zone exclusively, having positions blocked by favored incumbents, and not having enough prominent NBA models.

 

[AlaskaSU]

It all comes down to recruiting. It is not a coincidence that our recruiting went down when we joined the ACC. Top notch ACC recruits prefer the traditional ACC teams and teams associated with the SE. It has nothing to do with zone or JB's style, age, etc. Our recruiting was just fine in the BE. Roy and K recruited as well as always despite growing older.

 

[suclass2014]

The same ones who expected Matt Moyer, Jalen Carey, Howard Washington, and JBA to contribute in very recent years? And the ones who recruited the players who have been contributing, but contributing to classes of teams that have earned Saracyoose the title of “perennial bubble team?”

You trust those coaches so much that you don’t even need to entertain ‘doubt’ or consider we may just be in for more of the same? That’s the kind of faith I almost envy.

Yes, those same ones. I generally trust professionals.

 

[hoopsupstate]

It all comes down to recruiting. It is not a coincidence that our recruiting went down when we joined the ACC. Top notch ACC recruits prefer the traditional ACC teams and teams associated with the SE. It has nothing to do with zone or JB's style, age, etc. Our recruiting was just fine in the BE. Roy and K recruited as well as always despite growing older.

Players have changed. It’s all about getting to the NBA. Ask Guerrier.

 

[SUFan44]

Remember the head coach said this is his best class in a long time. I believe I’m paraphrasing but he thinks this class is very good.

Color me a hair pessimistic.