Small Forward position | Syracusefan.com

Small Forward position

cliftonparksufan

cliftonparksufan

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Bell, Taylor, Copeland. We have competition and good to see Copeland has thrown his hat in the ring. Happy to see him as part of the full court pressure that turned the game around. Glad JAB is not messing around.
 
Yeah, it was surprising to see Copeland get such a long run. He is active on the boards and defensively, but seems nervous when shooting (thus the airballs) and just needs to get more comfortable.
Competition is good for the team!
 
Rebound and dont turn the ball over

Taylor and Bell can score

Copeland can defend and create.

Whoever rebounds and protects the rock will likely get the minutes.
 
there's 5 forwards and all have their strengths and weaknesses...all 5 should be used according to game state and opponent matchup, imo

rebounders - brown, quadir, jon bol, benny
shooters - bell, taylor, benny
press - quadir, brown, benny

a team with a very physical frontline might render certain forwards ineffective a la miami
or a team like georgie tech might allow a player like brown to have a field day

playing time should be matchup, performance and game-state based

and all of the forwards should play.
 
Cusefan0307 said:
I don’t care what anyone says. The stats say Taylor should get the minutes there. Our plus/minus with him on the court is better than the other forwards outside of Brown.
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Just stop it. His shot looks beautiful. He can even create his own look. He has good size and is a decent passer.

Wont ever happen!
 
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MikeSU02 said:
That bandwagon for Brown and JT might be you and me, only, man. We can get t shirts made.
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Was disappointed Taylor barely got any run yesterday. It felt like JB was not happy he didn’t get a rebound and he was on the bench the rest of the game.

It’s happened with Brown a few times too if he isn’t productive right away where JB moves away from him.

Bell and Benny get way more leeway from JB.
 
Cusefan0307 said:
Was disappointed Taylor barely got any run yesterday. It felt like JB was not happy he didn’t get a rebound and he was on the bench the rest of the game.

It’s happened with Brown a few times too if he isn’t productive right away where JB moves away from him.

Bell and Benny get way more leeway from JB.
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I like Taylor's game a lot ...but if the game plan is make the opponent pay inside/in the paint -as it should be vs GT - then Taylor isnt that player right now. Quadir had 6 boards in 17 minutes...yeah some is luck... but Taylor didnt rebound well down the stretch vs miami and it hurt a bit.

He's really a big two guard imo...Would like to see him more at the 2 vs teams that can face guard Joe out of the offense, though
 
CardiacCuse said:
I like Taylor's game a lot ...but if the game plan is make the opponent pay inside/in the paint -as it should be vs GT - then Taylor isnt that player right now. Quadir had 6 boards in 17 minutes...yeah some is luck... but Taylor didnt rebound well down the stretch vs miami and it hurt a bit.

He's really a big two guard imo...Would like to see him more at the 2 vs teams that can face guard Joe out of the offense, though
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Joe hasn’t been faceguarded since Illinois. He’s not Buddy. He can stay in games easier because he has a plus handle at the 2. I expect Joe to be mostly a marathon guy at this point. I’m fine with Quadir yesterday, but Taylor didn’t really get much of an opportunity at all.

I know I am not at practice, but my bigger frustration is throwing Bell and Benny out there to start every game and we are automatically down 18-10 at the under 12! It’s been like 10 games in a row at least we are down when they come out. Ridiculous.
 
Cusefan0307 said:
Joe hasn’t been faceguarded since Illinois. He’s not Buddy. He can stay in games easier because he has a plus handle at the 2. I expect Joe to be mostly a marathon guy at this point. I’m fine with Quadir yesterday, but Taylor didn’t really get much of an opportunity at all.

I know I am not at practice, but my bigger frustration is throwing Bell and Benny out there to start every game and we are automatically down 18-10 at the under 12! It’s been like 10 games in a row at least we are down when they come out. Ridiculous.
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UVA took joe out of the game. he got all of his points in garbage time. as good as joe is...its an issue...
 
Benny at the 3. Justin Is a 2 and he Is not about to take Joe,s minutes. We need more rebounds to compensate for inefficient offensive outings. Our leading scorer Is generally a volume shooter. Maybe Copeland at the 3 with restricted shooting? Benny is not a PF. He has developed a decent mid-range J which he should be able to get off against most 3's.

Among our small forward possibilities there is a clear ranking for rebounding: 1. Benny, 2. Copeland, 3. Justn, 4. Bell or a Deadman.
 
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AlaskaSU said:
Benny at the 3. Justin Is a 2 and he Is not about to take Joe,s minutes. We need more rebounds to compensate for inefficient offensive outings. Our leading scorer Is generally a volume shooter.
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Every team that recruited Justin Taylor outside of Syracuse recruited him as a SF. We were the only school that recruited him as a 2.
 
Cusefan0307 said:
Was disappointed Taylor barely got any run yesterday. It felt like JB was not happy he didn’t get a rebound and he was on the bench the rest of the game.

It’s happened with Brown a few times too if he isn’t productive right away where JB moves away from him.

Bell and Benny get way more leeway from JB.
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Fun fact about Taylor right now.

the highest defensive Box plus minus on the team (other than Hima, Jesse, JBA).

eye test wise he’s vastly superior to Bell on d, so interesting the numbers back that up.
 
Cusefan0307 said:
Every team that recruited Justin Taylor outside of Syracuse recruited him as a SF. We were the only school that recruited him as a 2.
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We play a 2 3 zone. Enough said.
 
We have lots of options, but nobody has seized the position. All of them have had good games and also games where they have been fairly invisible. I love Copeland because he is so energetic and seems like a great teammate, but he has been very inconsistent in games. Chris has had some good scoring games but like Taylor, his rebounding is a problem. Taylor too has had some great games and is the better defender, but he isn't the model of consistency either. None of them are.

We have played Benny at the 3 a few times and it has its place but not as a regular thing. He has improved his shooting touch a lot over last year...all credit to him... but a Benny/Maliq forward tandem has plusses and minuses. It would be by far...by far... our best rebounding tandem. Defensively, it would be better than Chris and Benny/Maliq. In our halfcourt offense, it is sort of problematic though. Benny has improved as a shooter, but opposing D's would feel comfortable backing off of him. Maliq has a shooting range of about 3 feet. Defenses can collapse in the middle, making life tough for Jesse and cutting off penetration from Judah.

So we have candidates, we have options to try on every night, but we don't have anyone who stands out head and shoulders above the rest at the 3. We will just have to ride it out, see if one of them is hot on a given night, and hope that someone emerges to claim the role on a more long-term basis.
 
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