Sights & Sounds from Syracuse Men's Basketball's 1st Practice

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[jordoo]

That was brief but it looks like Chris will be one of our jump shooters which is a good sign.

 

[tee1222]

Hammer had a nice block Roberson deep in the post. TR did have a great offensive rebound putback. Get these two guys to push the pace down low and we might be a ton better than most think. Also liked seeing BJ up at the top on d.

 

[RF2044]

In a word, that was AWESOME!

So many question marks this year--looking forward to the start of the season.

 

[realorange]

Just gave ne goose bumps knowing we aren't that far away from a very interesting 5 months.

 

[mark79]

We looked very long, quick and athletic in that video. If we can get someone else besides TC as a consistent outside threat we could be be a lot better than I thought. As long as they buy into the defense of course. But if they do, I'm also liking our potential for KJ sophomore-year -like fast breaks. I'm just picturing Roberson and Mcculough on the wings of a fast break...

 

[AZOrange]

I think we could be really good. Love the hammer jumpers! Smoove!

 

[sutomcat]

That was brief but it looks like Chris will be one of our jump shooters which is a good sign.

He has a nice release and should be able to get that kind of shot off a lot but we might need him more down low, where our options are really limited, especially if DC2 is unable to be a factor this season.

Since we don't have a reliable scoring threat at center this season, I am hoping we see CMac and TRob work some high-low plays in half court sets, where they take turns working the low and high posts. I think both are capable of scoring from either (and making the pass if they are covered).

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Jon Rothstein ‏@JonRothstein 55s
Heard that Syracuse's Tyler Roberson altered his shot this past summer. Critical piece for the Orange. Has to provide offense at SF.

 

[jordoo]

He has a nice release and should be able to get that kind of shot off a lot but we might need him more down low, where our options are really limited, especially if DC2 is unable to be a factor this season.

Since we don't have a reliable scoring threat at center this season, I am hoping we see CMac and TRob work some high-low plays in half court sets, where they take turns working the low and high posts. I think both are capable of scoring from either (and making the pass if they are covered).

If we have Rakeem, Chris and Tyler on the front line together you would think that either Chris or Tyler would have a pretty good size advantage over their defender. Either way if Chris can be an effective jump shooter he is dragging a big away from the basket and creating space for penetration and for Tyler or Rakeem to work inside. I think Tyler also needs to at least be effective enough shooting jumpers that he cannot be left alone on the perimeter although he doesn't need to be prolific. I think Rakeem will be OK inside, slightly better than we have seen in the past with the difference being that we call his number more consistently. Either way he will attract attention on the blocks. I really think if DC2 doesn't play that Chinonso has to at least be good enough not to be ignored by the defense. He has to be able to catch passes and dunk when he is open. I also think we will see a lot more inside scoring this season due to our guys slashing to the basket plus we should get a pretty good amount of points crashing the offensive glass.

 

[iommi]

A huge factor and improvement offensively will be Kaleb's ability to penetrate and either attack the rim with ferocity or draw attention when attacking and then dishing. We have guys who can finish, so that should be effective.

 

[jordoo]

A huge factor and improvement offensively will be Kaleb's ability to penetrate and either attack the rim with ferocity or draw attention when attacking and then dishing. We have guys who can finish, so that should not be effective.

Agreed, I picture seeing a lot of Tyler, Chris and Rakeem going hard for rim rockers after receiving dump off passes. Kaleb, Mike and even Trevor need to look for these guys when things close up on them off the bounce.

 

[iommi]

Agreed, I picture seeing a lot of Tyler, Chris and Rakeem going hard for rim rockers after receiving dump off passes. Kaleb, Mike and even Trevor need to look for these guys when things close up on them off the bounce.

I'm glad you brought up Trevor, because one thing he should've been working on this off-season is his passing. He needs to be a threat off the bounce and he also needs to be a facilitator when his shot is not open. My biggest issue with TC is how one-dimensional he's been. He has to find new ways to help us on offense.

 

[jordoo]

I'm glad you brought up Trevor, because one thing he should've been working on this off-season is his passing. He needs to be a threat off the bounce and he also needs to be a facillitator when his shot is not open. My biggest issue with TC is how one-dimensional he's been. He has to find new ways to help us on offense.

And I think he will. The big thing is simply having other shooters out there with him because we have to limit some of his hard cutting and running in the half court as it really wore him out. It will make things much easier on him to get open shots if he has some variety in his attack. I think we will see the pump, dribble and pull up as the most common addition but I agree with you he has to learn to look for other guys when he pump's and dribbles. I don't recall him even looking to facilitate much last season as he seemed completely focused on scoring. Overall I think his handle is pretty good and he sees the floor well, sheet he was even decisive and aggressive breaking the press the few times he had to last season. So the tools are there but he needs to be comfortable implementing these things in the games.

 

[stuckinbig11]

This team will benefit greatly from a point guard who pushes the ball up court. Our players are built for that type of game.

 

[moqui]

So many question marks this year.

yeah, but when you have one of the finest minds in basketball with a boatload of raw talent at his fingertips, I reckon there will be plenty of answers as well

gonna be another great year to be an Orange hoops fan

 

[bballbeadle]

Who filmed that for us? Is that legal?

 

[asj410]

I liked the move to get to the basket by Gbinije. He showed us flashes of his ability last year, but overall, I thought he was just WAY too tentative. I don't know if that was because it was his first year playing for us or because he was basically forced into a position that doesn't come naturally to him (or a combo of both), but he deferred more than he should have. Hopefully he'll be more comfortable out there this season and he can really provide a nice impact for us. Nice to see McCullough taking jumpers, as jordoo mentioned. Hopefully he can nail those mid-range shots in game situations. Anything to help stretch the defenses we'll face since our 3-point shot may be lacking once again. I would have loved to have seen more of Joseph in that vid. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally see us take advantage of transition opportunities again!

 

[jordoo]

I liked the move to get to the basket by Gbinije. He showed us flashes of his ability last year, but overall, I thought he was just WAY too tentative. I don't know if that was because it was his first year playing for us or because he was basically forced into a position that doesn't come naturally to him (or a combo of both), but he deferred more than he should have. Hopefully he'll be more comfortable out there this season and he can really provide a nice impact for us. Nice to see McCullough taking jumpers, as jordoo mentioned. Hopefully he can nail those mid-range shots in game situations. Anything to help stretch the defenses we'll face since our 3-point shot may be lacking once again. I would have loved to have seen more of Joseph in that vid. I can't tell you how excited I am to finally see us take advantage of transition opportunities again!

I actually think we will be better 3pt shooting than last year. I think that Tyler, Chris, BJ, MikeG, Kaleb and Buss will all be able to make 3 point shots. I think there ability to do so will make things much easier on Cooney which will in turn allow him to be a much more consistent and rested shooter. I think BJ is going to be a feared shooter and that Mike takes a step up in both his frequency and percentage from deep. The other guys just need to make a high enough percentage to keep teams honest and thinking about them.

 

[We Are Syracuse]

Geesh hard to get much out of that video.. Last twenty seconds was a running shoot on just the rim and the backboard... Poor red team was getting smoked. G with a nice drive... So many question marks, but so much talent and athleticism