Class of 2024 SG Aiden Tobiason (DEL) TRANSFERRING TO SYRACUSE (4/13/26)

[Orangezoo]

Goodrick has had injury history though. I think we likely need another big.

He’s fully healthy now as I understand now. Also Folefac can be a small ball 5 too in spots so I don’t think we need two. Could always add a Petar or Gilhool too

 

[Dcuse]

this is crazy...George was and will forever be terrible...He throws five alley oops per game to invisible players or to defenders. I can never get this year back of having to watch him play...he pretty much owes me money for having to watch that crap.

The invisible players you mentioned were named William Kyle and Sadiq White. The actual invisible player that couldn't quite get over the rim to catch the well placed alley oops was named Donnie Freeman. Can't believe I have to explain this.

 

[phsyra]

The invisible players you mentioned were named William Kyle and Sadiq White. The actual invisible player that couldn't quite get over the rim to catch the well placed alley oops was named Donnie Freeman. Can't believe I have to explain this.

Fair enough... I'm just happy it's over

 

[Mr. M]

They mostly have huge wingspans though. The defense can be elite with this guy, Doty, and Dual. Kiyan is going to have to improve big time to see the court.

What’s your take on MMM, others have said he’s a pure 2G as well. Even another guy Kiyan competing with

 

[Wrinkle]

Before last March, were you familiar with Yaxel Lendeberg?

Yes, I was. He was considered a potential 1st rounder last year

 

[newmexicuse]

Pretty clearly the biggest remaining need is a plus center.

With all due respect, I do not want a super athlete like Kyle who make highlight reel plays and then does little else.

Give me a solid guy who can at least hit a mid-range J (and maybe an occasional trey), has some inside skills (maybe a baby hook or similar), and who can play solid positional D without getting into foul trouble.

We will also need a backup big who doesnt need to be great, but needs to be a step up from Souare.

 

[Cusefan69]

White was just under 1 million. That I know. Now, I don't know what Aiden cost us. I'm sure it was a pretty penny. But before this, there was no way we were at 5 million. We have enough money for a solid 5 and then some.

Agree. Especially if we are in the ~$12m neighborhood. There should be plenty of funds.

 

[granthath9]

I think they need a pure point guard and big ol five man. Should be attainable and I think that’s where the coaching staff is now as well.

 

[dasher]

do you know if kiyan got any nil/rev share?

No I don't. The only thing I know is what White got.

 

[granthath9]

No I don't. The only thing I know is what White got.

Over/Under 750k

 

[BEGood]

No I don't. The only thing I know is what White got.

You confident we get another solid solid player?

 

[Orangefizz]

Pretty clearly the biggest remaining need is a plus center.

With all due respect, I do not want a super athlete like Kyle who make highlight reel plays and then does little else.

Give me a solid guy who can at least hit a mid-range J (and maybe an occasional trey), has some inside skills (maybe a baby hook or similar), and who can play solid positional D without getting into foul trouble.

We will also need a backup big who doesnt need to be great, but needs to be a step up from Souare.

Christian Gurdak from VT is that positional type of center

 

[CbusCuse]

He’s fully healthy now as I understand now. Also Folefac can be a small ball 5 too in spots so I don’t think we need two. Could always add a Petar or Gilhool too

But we also have always carried 3 Centers. We had Kyle, Souare and Diawara last year technically. I'm just thinking we may need another center for deep depth. It seems to me like a center is hurt 50% of the time. But maybe Folefac is enough? I'd say yes if we had more sizeable depth at the Forward spots but we don't. I just think we need another body personally. Our SF's are all on the shorter end.

 

[Cusefan0307]

FWIW Goodrick is listed as a 4 star transfer on one site I looked at. If he’s healthy he has a chance to be pretty good me thinks. That said I obviously want another guy.

 

[granthath9]

But we also have always carried 3 Centers. We had Kyle, Souare and Diawara last year technically. I'm just thinking we may need another center for deep depth. It seems to me like a center is hurt 50% of the time. But maybe Folefac is enough? I'd say yes if we had more sizeable depth at the Forward spots but we don't. I just think we need another body personally. Our SF's are all on the shorter end.

We had two useless centers last year. They have to have two serviceable bigs with one them being elite preferably.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Pretty clearly the biggest remaining need is a plus center.

With all due respect, I do not want a super athlete like Kyle who make highlight reel plays and then does little else.

Give me a solid guy who can at least hit a mid-range J (and maybe an occasional trey), has some inside skills (maybe a baby hook or similar), and who can play solid positional D without getting into foul trouble.

We will also need a backup big who doesnt need to be great, but needs to be a step up from Souare.

i hope they go shopping for bigs in europe...these NIL deals go a lot further there and the players are as good or better

 

[SaltineW]

When they started doubling the guy upfront and not downlow on sidelines they would always leave a guy open. 2 guys up three back and they turned it into 3 up and 2 back and sf would slide up to double a guard who would zip it around to open guy. We never did that before. Started about 2014 when we weren’t as good. I need a true zone guy explain why that would work.

I'm not a true zone guy per se, but I have attended more than 20 Syracuse practices over the years and I've also attended a number of coaching clinics that Coach Boeheim spoke at - including one on his 2004 tour after winning the natty. First a little background, then my answer to your provocative question shu!

Coach Boeheim ran three traps. One is the one you mentioned. The two guards at the top of the zone would fly at the ball handler right after he crossed half court. The wings would run out to intercept if PG passed to the wings and C was in charge of the entire middle of the court. He had to fly up and get a hand on the ball. It's very hard for a PG to hit the dunker in that trap, as its a very long pass and the C might be able to also get a hand on it. Big, dumb, slow big men couldn't rotate properly until they were Juniors or Seniors, assuming Boeheim had at least two years to develop them and teach them to rotate.

For those curious, the two other traps SU used to run out of the 2-3 were:
1. The trap on the Wing. Strong side G and attack the wing pass while ball is in the air. Weak side guard prevents pass back to PG by infiltrating the lane. C takes high Elbow away. Only option to beat this trap was a lob to the dunker or a skit pass to weakside wing.
2. The dreaded corner trap out of a time out. As soon as the ball was in the air on a pass to the corner, the trap sprung. Strong side and G both trap in the corner. PG slips into the lane between the corner and the wing - also can leak into the lane to the high elbow, C takes high elbow or low block away. This trap was pretty much an automatic turnover.

Traps out of the 2-3 required mobile, athletic players. Wings needed length and foot speed. Centers had to be mobile and smart. In college hoops, it's very rare for a post player to come into college and be able to move his feet and be in the right spots defensively. This, more than any other factor, is what made Boeheim's zone begin to degrade towards the end.

Trapping Zone defenses are a thing of beauty. Denny Crum ran his vaunted full court 2-1-2 which is a trap you never see any more in today's game, but it was lethal, as it could be disguised as a M2M full court press.

Where Coach Boeheim was pure genius, was that he developed 3 half-court traps out of a 2-3 zone. If you go back to game tape and watch Magic Johnson's Michigan State team play the 2-3, you see an example of what was IMHO the most suffocating straight up zone I've ever seen played. There was no three point line back then, so the MSU zone wasn't susceptible to being "busted" by daggers. The MSU could pack-in, rebound and run - with Magic running the fast break and passing over the top of the retreating defense.

In the 80's, with Sherman Douglas at the point, SU was referred to as the Baby Lakers. SU was able to rebound back then and Sherm ignited the fast break, often lobbing ahead to the high flying Stevie Thompson. By then the three-point shot had been adopted and I think it took college coaches some time to figure out how to pick apart "even" zone defenses like the 2-3 with "odd" high or low 1-4 offensive sets. Rick Pitino was masterful at shredding Boeheim's zone, primarily because he understood it from a once inside the program view.

IMHO, with the advent of the three-point line, most zone defenses became to a degree - obsolete. That's where Boeheim and his knowledge of player rotations came into play. It eventually became tough to play the 2-3 with the caliber of athletes that Boeheim was attracting to SU in the later years.

The zone that SU ran was very different than a traditional zone, mainly because it accounted for trying to defend three-point shots. Traditional zones can't expand enough to cover up top, the wings and the corners, even though they move, the players acting within them don't rotate like Syracuse players under Boeheim were taught to. Match-up zones exist(ed) also - Temple's Dick Cheney was perhaps the greatest college architect of match-up style of zone where players would play M2M vs any offensive players in their areas. This required the weakside defensive players to simply switch with the on ball defener, who would face guard his man as long as he was on the strong side, even covering him all the way to the weak side. In this respect, a strong side guard or wing might flow through to the weak side and stay there, while the weakside guys flexed to the strong side.

What made SU's zone tough to play against for many opponents, especially when the defense had really come together well towards the end of a given season, was that no other team in college baskeball ran it quite the same way -- not even Coach Boeheim's close friend, Coach K at Duke, played it the same way. Therefore, to answer your question Shu, I don't think any zone defense would really work year in and year out in today's game. NCAA basketball now emphasiezes shooting like never before and there are simply too many teams with multiple shooters on them. That's how rosters are designed nowadays.

When Coach Shayer went Zone on Siena in the Tournament this year, Siena went cold and Duke won a game they could have easily lost. Siena missed their outside shots and Boozer & Co controlled the boards and Duke was able to limit Siena to one shot and out down the stretch. The zone has a place in the swiss army knife, but most teams playing at a high level are primarily running M2M as their primary defenses.

So what would work? A zone that has the right personnel to face guard and not let opposing PG's and Wings get into the paint, while also being able to execute frequent half-court traps -- and it would have to be able simultaneously defend three point shots. That's a big ask for most teams to 100% commit to running a very specific zone and there's a good chance that a team like that could be taken down by a hot shooting team that could pound the glass also -- because rebounding out of a zone is hard when the other team is taking a lot of three's. Most teams take more three's when they face zones, modern coaches have figured out that it's wise to do that.

What we don't really see much these days are teams that press for huge chunks of games. A pressing team could implement full court or three-quarter court zone traps. If such a team were stocked with the right personnel, likely a very deep team too, that would be something college hoops hasn't seen in a very long while. Presses inherently give up transition three pointers in today's game. Teams will break the press and pass up dunks or layups for open looks from deep. Imagine that? But that's the way the game is now. IMHO, zones are no longer primary defenses. Not to say they don't work, because if an opponent has trouble shooting and the team implementing the zone can rebound, then popping into a zone (against certain opponents) can mean the difference between a W and an L.

 

[eastcuse]

FWIW Goodrick is listed as a 4 star transfer on one site I looked at. If he’s healthy he has a chance to be pretty good me thinks. That said I obviously want another guy.

I fear anything more than 3-5 minutes to eat some fouls and let our main guys rest would expose him. So far, he has struggled mightily against any big men with some beef. A couple examples being the matchups with Bonaventure's Frank Mitchell last year and against Daemen's Ben Bill (now a Bona) the year before that. Because of the injury last year, he is still pretty untested against higher level bigs.

 

[SaltineW]

Good post.

But I think only one more center -- Goodrick is already in the fold.

Yes, I forgot about Sir Tasman of New South Whales. IMHO, he's a depth piece - one who will actually play though (unlike SU's backup centers of late). Based on the cost of aquiring a good C this year, I think I'm resigned to GMAC landing not one, but two big men. I have my eye on a certain center, but there's been no SU connection reported. But I'll let the cat out of the bag so as not to disappoint:

A good post player to pair with Goodrick and White would be Drew Scharnowski from Belmont. Iowa is all over him though. He's not a true C but he fits the mold of what GMAC is doing.

 

[Scooch]

I know nothing about him besides the topline stats, but at a glance this seems like a really good acquisition.

Let’s keep stacking proven, premium talent.

 

[RedtheGOB]

Two ways to look at it.

1. It would be nice to make the big hype news on a 1 and 5 early on so there’s momentum for the rest of the portal. Ok that didn’t happen.

2. Now we know and a lot of agents can guess that there’s a ton of NIL left. Gets a lot easier to allocate 6 million for 2-3 more guys when you feel good about your depth.

 

[CardiacCuse]

I'm not a true zone guy per se, but I have attended more than 20 Syracuse practices over the years and I've also attended a number of coaching clinics that Coach Boeheim spoke at - including one on his 2004 tour after winning the natty. First a little background, then my answer to your provocative question shu!

Coach Boeheim ran three traps. One is the one you mentioned. The two guards at the top of the zone would fly at the ball handler right after he crossed half court. The wings would run out to intercept if PG passed to the wings and C was in charge of the entire middle of the court. He had to fly up and get a hand on the ball. It's very hard for a PG to hit the dunker in that trap, as its a very long pass and the C might be able to also get a hand on it. Big, dumb, slow big men couldn't rotate properly until they were Juniors or Seniors, assuming Boeheim had at least two years to develop them and teach them to rotate.

For those curious, the two other traps SU used to run out of the 2-3 were:
1. The trap on the Wing. Strong side G and attack the wing pass while ball is in the air. Weak side guard prevents pass back to PG by infiltrating the lane. C takes high Elbow away. Only option to beat this trap was a lob to the dunker or a skit pass to weakside wing.
2. The dreaded corner trap out of a time out. As soon as the ball was in the air on a pass to the corner, the trap sprung. Strong side and G both trap in the corner. PG slips into the lane between the corner and the wing - also can leak into the lane to the high elbow, C takes high elbow or low block away. This trap was pretty much an automatic turnover.

Traps out of the 2-3 required mobile, athletic players. Wings needed length and foot speed. Centers had to be mobile and smart. In college hoops, it's very rare for a post player to come into college and be able to move his feet and be in the right spots defensively. This, more than any other factor, is what made Boeheim's zone begin to degrade towards the end.

Trapping Zone defenses are a thing of beauty. Denny Crum ran his vaunted full court 2-1-2 which is a trap you never see any more in today's game, but it was lethal, as it could be disguised as a M2M full court press.

Where Coach Boeheim was pure genius, was that he developed 3 half-court traps out of a 2-3 zone. If you go back to game tape and watch Magic Johnson's Michigan State team play the 2-3, you see an example of what was IMHO the most suffocating straight up zone I've ever seen played. There was no three point line back then, so the MSU zone wasn't susceptible to being "busted" by daggers. The MSU could pack-in, rebound and run - with Magic running the fast break and passing over the top of the retreating defense.

In the 80's, with Sherman Douglas at the point, SU was referred to as the Baby Lakers. SU was able to rebound back then and Sherm ignited the fast break, often lobbing ahead to the high flying Stevie Thompson. By then the three-point shot had been adopted and I think it took college coaches some time to figure out how to pick apart "even" zone defenses like the 2-3 with "odd" high or low 1-4 offensive sets. Rick Pitino was masterful at shredding Boeheim's zone, primarily because he understood it from a once inside the program view.

IMHO, with the advent of the three-point line, most zone defenses became to a degree - obsolete. That's where Boeheim and his knowledge of player rotations came into play. It eventually became tough to play the 2-3 with the caliber of athletes that Boeheim was attracting to SU in the later years.

The zone that SU ran was very different than a traditional zone, mainly because it accounted for trying to defend three-point shots. Traditional zones can't expand enough to cover up top, the wings and the corners, even though they move, the players acting within them don't rotate like Syracuse players under Boeheim were taught to. Match-up zones exist(ed) also - Temple's Dick Cheney was perhaps the greatest college architect of match-up style of zone where players would play M2M vs any offensive players in their areas. This required the weakside defensive players to simply switch with the on ball defener, who would face guard his man as long as he was on the strong side, even covering him all the way to the weak side. In this respect, a strong side guard or wing might flow through to the weak side and stay there, while the weakside guys flexed to the strong side.

What made SU's zone tough to play against for many opponents, especially when the defense had really come together well towards the end of a given season, was that no other team in college baskeball ran it quite the same way -- not even Coach Boeheim's close friend, Coach K at Duke, played it the same way. Therefore, to answer your question Shu, I don't think any zone defense would really work year in and year out in today's game. NCAA basketball now emphasiezes shooting like never before and there are simply too many teams with multiple shooters on them. That's how rosters are designed nowadays.

When Coach Shayer went Zone on Siena in the Tournament this year, Siena went cold and Duke won a game they could have easily lost. Siena missed their outside shots and Boozer & Co controlled the boards and Duke was able to limit Siena to one shot and out down the stretch. The zone has a place in the swiss army knife, but most teams playing at a high level are primarily running M2M as their primary defenses.

So what would work? A zone that has the right personnel to face guard and not let opposing PG's and Wings get into the paint, while also being able to execute frequent half-court traps -- and it would have to be able simultaneously defend three point shots. That's a big ask for most teams to 100% commit to running a very specific zone and there's a good chance that a team like that could be taken down by a hot shooting team that could pound the glass also -- because rebounding out of a zone is hard when the other team is taking a lot of three's. Most teams take more three's when they face zones, modern coaches have figured out that it's wise to do that.

What we don't really see much these days are teams that press for huge chunks of games. A pressing team could implement full court or three-quarter court zone traps. If such a team were stocked with the right personnel, likely a very deep team too, that would be something college hoops hasn't seen in a very long while. Presses inherently give up transition three pointers in today's game. Teams will break the press and pass up dunks or layups for open looks from deep. Imagine that? But that's the way the game is now. IMHO, zones are no longer primary defenses. Not to say they don't work, because if an opponent has trouble shooting and the team implementing the zone can rebound, then popping into a zone (against certain opponents) can mean the difference between a W and an L.

yeah for me when the wheels were falling for red (and JB)...esp when red had those deep rosters his last 2 years------why he didnt throw a full court press out there at least just to see it...boggled mymind...then again, he probably couldnt have coached it up well enough anyway...but still...it woulda worked with the right coach...the team was long and athletic this year

 

[AZOrange]

Just watched some tape of him. It’s all offense, so I’ll just have to take his coach’s word that he’s a really good defender.

Offensively, he got a plus handle for his size. Does a nice job creating space for his looks and has the ability to finish at the rim.

Average athleticism, but his length helps mitigate that.

Nice high release, which at his size should allow him to shoot over defenders at the ACC level. Also displays a good mid range game which will be important in the ACC. He can beat his defender, but I don’t think he’s going to make a living attacking the rim in our league.

Would like to see him put on 5-10 pounds to help him withstand the grind next year. He looks a tad wispy.

Reminds me a bit of Raf Addison. Really good get.

Got a good left hand too

 

[Ottoman]

Now this guy looks like a Syracuse player from back in the day when we were on top. Skilled and a match-up nightmare from a physical standpoint.

It might have been discussed already - is he likely to play SG or SF?

 

[RF2044]

Now this guy looks like a Syracuse player from back in the day when we were on top. Skilled and a match-up nightmare from a physical standpoint.

It might have been discussed already - is he likely to play SG or SF?

Both.

I think we're going to play more man-2-man or press defenses under GMac [I do not discount the possibility that some zone will be mixed in]. Defensively, I'd expect to field a three guard lineup [most like Dual / Doty . Tobiason, with 3M / Kiyan backing up those spots].

Tobiason really gives us both some scoring pop and positional versatility. I think we're going to play a lot like Villanova under Jay Wright circa 2006 -- when he started Lowry, Nardi, Ray, and Foye. Obviously, not sure that our talent is on par with them -- but that's what I'm expecting.