So what is up with Lydon?

[Zepharus]

I realize he is contributing in many ways but honestly, over the last 15 games or so he has been less than stellar to my eye. He plays matador D, constantly travels, cannot put the ball on the floor to save his life at this point and generally makes poor mistakes. Is this all the minutes hes logging? I've just been disappointed with him this season overall. To make matters worse, Im certain hell shortly waltz off to the NBA without scratch this said potential. Battle on the other hand...

 

[bballbeadle]

I realize he is contributing in many ways but honestly, over the last 15 games or so he has been less than stellar to my eye. He plays matador D, constantly travels, cannot put the ball on the floor to save his life at this point and generally makes poor mistakes. Is this all the minutes hes logging? I've just been disappointed with him this season overall. To make matters worse, Im certain hell shortly waltz off to the NBA without scratch this said potential. Battle on the other hand...

Well, if our Lydon leaves, with the way he has been playing lately, will we miss him? I, too, don't understand.

 

[sutomcat]

I realize he is contributing in many ways but honestly, over the last 15 games or so he has been less than stellar to my eye. He plays matador D, constantly travels, cannot put the ball on the floor to save his life at this point and generally makes poor mistakes. Is this all the minutes hes logging? I've just been disappointed with him this season overall. To make matters worse, Im certain hell shortly waltz off to the NBA without scratch this said potential. Battle on the other hand...

He loses his balance an astonishing number of times each game.

I maintain he has never recovered from the achilles injury he had early this season and is doing the best he can with what he has to work with.

Regardless, he has clearly lost confidence shooting the ball, be it jumpers from the perimeter or shots with his back to the basket in the paint.

It is quite unfortunate.

 

[Trueblue25]

Our guards don't make anything easier on him.

 

[Frozen]

Don't ask us to attend
Cause we're not all there
Oh don't pretend 'cause I don't care
I don't believe illusions 'cause too much is real
So stop your cheap comment
Cause we know what we feel
Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
We're vacant
Oh we're so pretty
Oh so pretty
A-vacant

 

[jdubs30]

His offense the last few months has clearly taken a step back - good point about the injury, maybe it's still nagging him. He lit up GTown for about 28pts, he looked like he was gonna put it all together. His rebounding has been pretty good I feel. Teams just aren't surprised by him anymore - last year people were more worried about G, Cooney and Mali - this year besides AW3, he's the focal point of the opposing Ds.

But yeah, our PG situation hasn't helped - we don't have anyone who can consistently feed the post. There have been several times where he was wide open under the basket and no one would see him.

 

[orange2win]

Agree. Been disappointing. Lacking stamina for the minutes played perhaps and too many minutes at center, not his position.

He did have a double/double, so a pretty good performance.

 

[MGP]

The only guy who tries to feed him is Robey - and that pass usually goes off his outstretched fingertips out of bounds...

 

[cliftonparksufan]

He loses his balance an astonishing number of times each game.

I maintain he has never recovered from the achilles injury he had early this season and is doing the best he can with what he has to work with.

Regardless, he has clearly lost confidence shooting the ball, be it jumpers from the perimeter or shots with his back to the basket in the paint.

It is quite unfortunate.

I mentioned in another thread he looks like he has lost weight. Really needs to build muscle. It appears this season has worn him down.

 

[kmart128]

He is a role player... a stretch 4 that we are trying to make a star. Not his fault as it is coaching needs to do a better job at puting Lydon is a position to succeed. Last year we forced him to play 5 mostly because we had to and this year we tried to make him into a star playmaker and he simply is not that kind of player. He would thrive as a 3rd option in an offense. Would open his shot up instead of him trying to create his own shot.

Also believe that next year there will be better spacing on team. Right now we have Thompson, Gillon, Battle, and White. All jump shooters so spacing isnt the best. Next year Moyer will add a player down low and allow Lydon to step outside the arc and have more space to work with. And Battle will attack rim even more next year which will give even more proper spacing. Hopefully we can pull in Waters to properly distribute the ball.

I would love to see more high low action with Lydon and Thompson next year. Will be a strength of this team.

 

[KaiserUEO]

lydon wanted to respond to this thread, logged in, got to his keyboard...then just pump faked an opportunity to post.

 

[Trueblue25]

I'll actually put 95% of the blame on our guards.

He's not Kobe.

You can't only pass to him 5-10 feet off the perimeter or 15 away with his back to the basket and 2 defenders on him and expect him to score 20 a game.

Dude's a great basketball player and strives for 10 boards and 5 assists regardless.

 

[MikeSU02]

He loses his balance an astonishing number of times each game.

I maintain he has never recovered from the achilles injury he had early this season and is doing the best he can with what he has to work with.

Regardless, he has clearly lost confidence shooting the ball, be it jumpers from the perimeter or shots with his back to the basket in the paint.

It is quite unfortunate.

This is going to sound horrible, but I hope this is the cause (and it sounds like it very well could be).

When he is in action up top, everything he is doing looks tentative, his screen, his pop, and definitely and receiving the ball and shooting.

I've been defending his potential in the NBA and I still stand by that (I don't think they'd be putting him in action like JB does), but he has to get whatever in his head fixed before he goes to get evaluated. If he isn't shooting it with confidence, he's going to fall like a rock.

 

[bballbeadle]

lydon wanted to respond to this thread, logged in, got to his keyboard...then just pump faked an opportunity to post.

Ouch! Kind of clever, though.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Well, if our Lydon leaves, with the way he has been playing lately, will we miss him? I, too, don't understand.

Considering we have nobody with his talent to replace him coming in? yes we would.

 

[AirForceOrange]

I think it is combo of a lingering injury, or recovering from one, and a PG not getting him the ball or when the ball is passed to him it is either poorly thrown or a bad moment...

Makes me wonder about the team dynamic and if a player or other players have pressured him to back off? At times it seems like he wants to shoot, then remembers he shouldn't and passes it at the last moment...maybe a reason for all those pump fakes?

 

[SoBristol]

Lots of excuses (injury, PG play), but it comes back to what Lydon can do and cannot do.

He can shoot with range, when open. He can finish inside when he gets a nice assist. Not many moves to get himself shots. Easily guarded on the perimeter by smaller defenders. A very average defender in the paint for a player his size. When a 6ft 9in player is on the court for 40 minutes, hits one jumper, and 2 finishes, 3 for 9 with a couple of bricks, and that is it?
He is valuable to this team for his defensive rebounding, passing & setting picks, and ability to convert free throws. But we are lucky to have White and Battle to lead the way, with Lydon as option 3.​

 

[LGO85]

Not his fault as it is coaching needs to do a better job at puting Lydon is a position to succeed.

How much better of a position can you get as a shooter than wide open at the top of the key? You can see clear as day his conscious decision to not shoot which has led to a turnover on multiple occasions.

Last year we forced him to play 5 mostly because we had to and this year we tried to make him into a star playmaker and he simply is not that kind of player.

He WAS that kind of player last year. If he lost his shoe this year he'd need a time out to put it back on rather than draining a shoeless three.

 

[RF2044]

I'll actually put 95% of the blame on our guards.

He's not Kobe.

You can't only pass to him 5-10 feet off the perimeter or 15 away with his back to the basket and 2 defenders on him and expect him to score 20 a game.

Dude's a great basketball player and strives for 10 boards and 5 assists regardless.

I put 95% of the blame on his tweaked hamstring.

Tired of the excuses.

 

[Trueblue25]

I put 95% of the blame on his tweaked hamstring.

Tired of the excuses.

I'd say I could count the amount of times Gillon didn't bother even looking towards the basket when Lydon was open/mismatched in good position facing the hoop within 10 feet, but I don't care to count past 50. They aren't excuses, our guard play was very limited, it is what it is.

 

[RF2044]

I'd say I could count the amount of times Gillon didn't bother even looking towards the basket when Lydon was open/mismatched in good position facing the hoop within 10 feet, but I don't care to count past 50. They aren't excuses, our guard play was very limited, it is what it is.

Our team has sucked feeding the post forever. Certainly not a comprehensive explanation for some of Lydon's struggles, despite some wanting to pretend that it was.

And I readily admit that Gillon often passed the ball to him late. That doesn't account for "95%" by any stretch.

 

[RF2044]

Lots of excuses (injury, PG play), but it comes back to what Lydon can do and cannot do.

He can shoot with range, when open. He can finish inside when he gets a nice assist. Not many moves to get himself shots. Easily guarded on the perimeter by smaller defenders. A very average defender in the paint for a player his size. When a 6ft 9in player is on the court for 40 minutes, hits one jumper, and 2 finishes, 3 for 9 with a couple of bricks, and that is it?
He is valuable to this team for his defensive rebounding, passing & setting picks, and ability to convert free throws. But we are lucky to have White and Battle to lead the way, with Lydon as option 3.​

Spot on. I think our fanbase here doesn't seem to understand how the NBA draft works, and had unrealistic expectations for Lydon based upon what was said over the summer. When some posters heard that Lydon was a potential lottery pick, they interpret that to mean that he's a superstar talent a la Carmelo Anthony. When in reality, he'd be a late lottery pick [if that] role player type. And there's nothing wrong with that. He's just not a transcendent talent.

He has been a terrific college player though. He's been held back by hamstring issues most of the year, which has undercut his productivity a bit. Not quite as explosive last year, which I attribute to the hamstring. I give him a lot of credit for toughing it out--soft tissue injuries suck, and won't heal until he shuts it down and gets total rest for an extended period of time. Tough to do that when you're in the middle of a season.

 

[Jasoncuse]

He's still a good player, but I think his flaws are getting really exposed.

He cannot handle the ball at all, so when he attempts a move, he travels or gets stripped. I really would love to see him have the ability to drive or create his own shot at SU with a summer working on it, but that's probably wishful thinking.

He's still not very strong at all, so he gets bodied and loses his balance or loses the ball. He needs more lower body strength.

His outside shot is a mess right now and he's just so hesitant to shoot. That is a recipe for disaster. He pump fakes himself into oblivion and never does anything with it. Last night, for example, he pumped fake, took a few steps inside the 3 pt line, had an open look and didn't shoot. I don't know why he continues to be so gun shy.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Spot on. I think our fanbase here doesn't seem to understand how the NBA draft works, and had unrealistic expectations for Lydon based upon what was said over the summer. When some posters heard that Lydon was a potential lottery pick, they interpret that to mean that he's a superstar talent a la Carmelo Anthony. When in reality, he'd be a late lottery pick [if that] role player type. And there's nothing wrong with that. He's just not a transcendent talent.

He has been a terrific college player though. He's been held back by hamstring issues most of the year, which has undercut his productivity a bit. Not quite as explosive last year, which I attribute to the hamstring. I give him a lot of credit for toughing it out--soft tissue injuries suck, and won't heal until he shuts it down and gets total rest for an extended period of time. Tough to do that when you're in the middle of a season.

Hamstring? Interesting. I was under the impression it was his achilles. Either way I trust the info.

 

[Cowtown]

I maintain he has never recovered from the achilles injury he had early this season and is doing the best he can with what he has to work with.

Our guards don't make anything easier on him.

^Yep^