Class of 2018 SF/PF Robert Braswell (SC) SIGNED WITH SYRACUSE

[Funk Doc]

Especially at this time of year.

Wait until you see the 2036 class that Buddy is going to pull in! I've heard really good things about those little zygotes!

 

[Janner]

Same. Here's what I've heard:

• Staff is impressed with his skill / versatility -- he's a better player than the staff expected at this stage of his developmental curve. The staff thinks he is a diamond in the rough / darkhorse recruit who is substantially better than his "ranking," and that he has much more upside than they originally envisioned.

• The biggest thing holding him back short-term is his physical development. He's legit 6-8 but only 175 pounds. Verbatim quote: "He makes Damone look buff."

• Staff doesn't see him as a rotation guy this year -- let me explain. Skilled enough to contribute? Sure. Will he crack rotation? Same as Jake above -- he's 4th in a 3 player rotation. Unless Marek / OB / Hughes get injured, then he probably wouldn't play much beyond the non-conference. If an injury occurs -- he'll crack the lineup as a reserve. But at this size, it will be tough for him against ACC caliber competition.

• The plan is to redshirt him, to maximize his development and give him a year to catch up in terms of physical maturity.

• A good parallel to think of is BJ Johnson -- who had all the skill / potential of a great system fit, but who was so skinny coming in that it wasn't really a legit consideration to play him in the ACC. BJ should have redshirted, and that would have given him an advantage in subsequent years. Barring an injury, there's no need to rush a guy out there who just isn't physically ready to compete at this stage.

Again, not a knock on his skill / potential. He can shoot, he can pass, he can rebound and block shots. Hopefully, we won't need him to fill a "gap" in the rotation this year, and he can spend the year putting on a much-needed freshman 15. Long term -- sky's the limit. This year? We've got guys who can fill in at forward. Not that this is the plan, but the staff also knows they could slide a physically strong Battle to the back line if need be [with Carey / Frank / Buddy manning the backcourt] -- that would be a preferred option over Braswell at this point, for this year.

This is great to hear. One of the things that this program has been missing over recent years was continuity, a good portion of which was due to the sanctions IMO. After Basley left, and with the strong possibility of Tyus going pro, the staff took a big flyer on this kid with a lot less information than they normally have when they go after someone. To hear that Braswell has better skills and is further along that anticipated is big. After this year this team will lose a ton (Tyus, OB, PC, FH, maybe more) so to know you have someone step in to bridge that gap as a second year player with some skills is fantastic for this program. He will understand the defense and rotations and have a year of practice under his belt against some very high level competition. This is a huge insurance policy if we lose out on a recruit or is a freshman has trouble adjusting in their first year.
Still goes to show just how big Tyus coming back is for this program and its long term depth.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I’m hearing good things. Real good things.

Most of them here in this thread. But nonetheless good things.

 

[orange79]

The biggest thing holding him back short-term is his physical development. He's legit 6-8 but only 175 pounds. Verbatim quote: "He makes Damone look buff."

LOL - that's REALLY thin.

 

[Gotothehole]

Wasn't the same thing said about Marek, if he can ball he will play

 

[Orangezoo]

I think that the only real chance he would crack the rotation would be injury as mentioned already or how we decide to use Marek and PC this year.

If PC is too good not to get major minutes alongside Bourama at the 5, then I just don't see any way Bras gets any run when it matters. That is purely based on depth and quality at the F spots and C spots.

Now, if given Marek's growth and any over running struggles by PC that makes it so JB prefers to run with the now 6-10 Marek at the 5 when Sidibe is on the bench and PC becomes a minutes casualty due to being a liability on the court, then I definitely could see where Braswell would fit in behind Oshae and Hughes. These are good problems to have although I would prefer PC come in healthy and with his game up another level.

 

[rrlbees]

Wasn't the same thing said about Marek, if he can ball he will play

Marek had Brissett and Moyer in front of him. That’s it. He was planned to be the 3rd forward. The concern was if he wasn’t ready, Battle would have to play some 3. This year is totally different. Brissett, Hughes and Dolezaj are all ahead of him. Much stronger group.

 

[RF2044]

Wasn't the same thing said about Marek, if he can ball he will play

Marek was unusually poised / had a high level of readiness as a function of his experience representing his country in pressure-packed international competition, and playing against men on the club team he played for before coming to SU.

It wasn't ideal for Marek to have to play minutes at Center [for example], given his physical underdevelopment, but we had no other alternatives. Fortunately, Dolezaj was up to the task. Remains to be seen whether Braswell would be able to follow suit.

Fortunately, as bees points out above, we're not in the position of having to rush him out there like we were with Marek.

 

[SWC75]

Another diamond in the rough? We lead the country in that category.

Remember when people were upset because we'd 'settled' for Brissett and Sidibie, who were not listed in the top 100?

 

[007]

Remember when people were upset because we'd 'settled' for Brissett and Sidibie, who were not listed in the top 100?

To be fair, there were also several posters telling people how good OB and Sid really were.

 

[pfister1]

I think that the only real chance he would crack the rotation would be injury as mentioned already or how we decide to use Marek and PC this year.

If PC is too good not to get major minutes alongside Bourama at the 5, then I just don't see any way Bras gets any run when it matters. That is purely based on depth and quality at the spots and C spots.

Now, if given Marek's growth and any over running struggles by PC that makes it so JB prefers to run with the now 6-10 Marek at the 5 when Sidibe is on the bench and PC becomes a minutes casualty due to being a liability on the court, then I definitely could see where Braswell would fit in behind Oshae and Hughes. These are good problems to have although I would prefer PC come in healthy and with his game up another level.

I don’t see anyway PC loses his minutes to Marek at Center. PC was frustrating and he has limitations, but he also did a fair amount of good things. He could lose time and his starting role to Bourama, but I don’t see any way he loses time to the point that he’s not even the backup.

 

[Trueblue25]

Hope he redshirts if hes this good.

 

[billsin01]

I don’t see anyway PC loses his minutes to Marek at Center. PC was frustrating and he has limitations, but he also did a fair amount of good things. He could lose time and his starting role to Bourama, but I don’t see any way he loses time to the point that he’s not even the backup.

Also thought PC played better offensively and in terms of making the tougher rotations (specifically getting to a shooter in the corner) as the year progressed. Never going to be a star per se, but it's easy to forget how many really impressive games he had over the course of the season. Went for 12 and 11 with 8 blks against Oakland; had 8 blks in a key win vs. Buffalo; 10 and 5 in the first game against Wake; 9 pts 16 boards vs. UVA; 10 and 11 vs. FSU; 8 and 8 vs. Pitt; 14 and 7 vs. BC; 14 and 9 against Wake in the ACC tourney and then a solid NCAA tournament outside of foul trouble vs. MSU.

Not sure what cherry-picking a few games really tells us but I think if you're able to play legit minutes in big games for JB, someone is going to have to be pretty special to completely marginalize you (unless you're Roberson who seemed to implode a bit for whatever reason).

 

[billsin01]

We could have the dream team and it still wouldn’t be 9.5 players.

This narrative is so tired. Not the thread to debate it but the bottom line with Braswell is that he is absolutely in a position where the only way he should be on the floor is if he is faaaarrrrr more advanced than any of us realize. We not only have good options with experience in front of him, but we have a lot of positional flexibility as well with both Brissett and Dolezaj being interchangeable to an extent as well as Dolezaj being able to play the 5 if needed and Hughes and Battle being able to handle the three if needed (in Battle's case, though obviously not where we want to be).

But the bottom line is that there is no need to forcefeed minutes to Braswell unless he's really ready for them.

 

[50YRsofCuse]

Are

This narrative is so tired. Not the thread to debate it but the bottom line with Braswell is that he is absolutely in a position where the only way he should be on the floor is if he is faaaarrrrr more advanced than any of us realize. We not only have good options with experience in front of him, but we have a lot of positional flexibility as well with both Brissett and Dolezaj being interchangeable to an extent as well as Dolezaj being able to play the 5 if needed and Hughes and Battle being able to handle the three if needed (in Battle's case, though obviously not where we want to be).

But the bottom line is that there is no need to forcefeed minutes to Braswell unless he's really ready for them.

Will Buddy and Braswell be lumped into the same category? Better than expected but too little minutes available for meaningful play/contribution. We will see by December.

 

[Melancer46]

I for one was very pleased with PC's play last year. He wasn't far off from Fab Melo levels of defense statistically and while he's certainly not someone you can dump the ball into in the post, he was at least efficient on the attempts he had.

In terms of BPM, the highest that Syracuse has had dating back to the 2010-11 season (first year Basketball-Reference began tracking it for college):

1. Rick Jackson - 12.0
2. Southerland (2012-13 season) - 10.9
3. Chukwu/Sophomore Fab - 10.5
5. Christmas (2013-14 season) - 10.4
6. Sophomore MCW - 10.0
7. Sophomore Dion - 9.8
8. Freshman Lydon/2011-12 Southerland - 9.7
10. Christmas (2014-15 season) - 9.6

 

[SWC75]

To be fair, there were also several posters telling people how good OB and Sid really were.

As they are with Braswell.

 

[Cusefan0307]

To be fair, there were also several posters telling people how good OB and Sid really were.

Yep. Too many people look at recruiting rankings as gospel.

 

[JazzNC]

To be fair, there were also several posters telling people how good OB and Sid really were.

I was very high on Brissett, and likely underestimated Sidibe... need to see more of him. Wow, what a season it could potentially be if he can be healthy!!!

 

[Funk Doc]

Yep. Too many people look at recruiting rankings as gospel.

Agree!! I’m guessing there are just as many low ranked guys who impress as there are top ranked guys that don’t. Ya just never know how a teenager is going to adapt to an increased level of competition. Rankings do help, but they are not the end all be all, that rankers and people that follow them like gospel, seem to think.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Agree!! I’m guessing there are just as many low ranked guys who impress as there are top ranked guys that don’t. Ya just never know how a teenager is going to adapt to an increased level of competition. Rankings do help, but they are not the end all be all, that rankers and people that follow them like gospel, seem to think.

And adding to this, we've always had a good track record w/ these types of guys.
Remember Lydon, or the "who's he" reaction when MCW first committed? Or to go back even further, there were SU HOF'ers like Sherm Douglas, Lawrence" Poetry-in-Moten", and Hak Warrick- guys who were basically 2nd choices/afterthoughts who ended up being some of the the best players in program history.
Yes, we've had our misses but more often than not, I trust the staff evals to hit paydirt.

 

[billsin01]

Are
Will Buddy and Braswell be lumped into the same category? Better than expected but too little minutes available for meaningful play/contribution. We will see by December.

I obviously wouldn't know exactly but if that's the case it's really a good thing. Guys can still improve a ton without a bunch of minutes AND actually having a couple guys on ice if we need to go there due to some bad series of events (not inconceivable -- Hughes struggles, Sidibe can't get healthy and we have another injury) is a luxury in today's world of college hoops.

 

[GooseMutt]

I was very high on Brissett, and likely underestimated Sidibe... need to see more of him. Wow, what a season it could potentially be if he can be healthy!!!

Sidibe has the potential to be the most improved impactful player next year. He is way under the radar and has high court I q, is athletic, soft shot, great rebounder, great shot blocker, and is about to play healthy. I’ve got very high expectations for him.

 

[billsin01]

And adding to this, we've always had a good track record w/ these types of guys.
Remember Lydon, or the "who's he" reaction when MCW first committed? Or to go back even further, there were SU HOF'ers like Sherm Douglas, Lawrence" Poetry-in-Moten", and Hak Warrick- guys who were basically 2nd choices/afterthoughts who ended up being some of the the best players in program history.
Yes, we've had our misses but more often than not, I trust the staff evals to hit paydirt.

Yeah, pretty sure the original post had some snarky element to it, but part of the reason to sign a kid like Braswell is that he sometimes ends up realizing his potential and really helping your program. We've had our misses like Greg Davis and Obokoh and Sean Williams, but we've had some nice hits as you and Bombay mentioned as well as Dolezaj who got recruited out of nowhere because of an email. Pretty sure guys like Damone Brown fit into that category as well. Andy Rautins ... the list goes on and one.

 

[JazzNC]

Sidibe has the potential to be the most improved impactful player next year. He is way under the radar and has high court I q, is athletic, soft shot, great rebounder, great shot blocker, and is about to play healthy. I’ve got very high expectations for him.

Man I hope you're right. He could literally make all the difference in our chances to make a deep tournament run.