So Who Is The First Portaler? | Page 22 | Syracusefan.com

So Who Is The First Portaler?

I hope the answer is no but is there still an on-line option?

FWIW Fran is talking about class checks for football.
I guess I made the leap from Quadir not going to class to Quadir not doing schoolwork. From the posts suggesting the former I read that Quadir’s situation was different from anyone else on the team. My bad.
 
Taylor is first no matter what. Carey will be next. Then it just depends how much money Judah and Bell want. It’s simple. Bell will get a ton of offers elsewhere and he wants to get paid. I care more about the culture than anything. There’s a troublemaker on the team and I’m fine if he goes because behind the scenes it does more harm than good on the court
I would be good with Taylor staying with the idea of redshirting to work on his shot and his mental approach. No pressure to perform.
 
Not taken so many injured guys in my first portal.
I'm looking for the post where you said taking westry was a bad idea but can't seem to find it for some reason
 
If you were Red, what would you have done when you took over?
Seeing as even people here knew hima and Taylor weren’t able to compete at this level, boot them to the curb and replace them with players who can play at all (in himas case) and compete at a P5 level (in Taylor’s case). I would’ve told bell that all he was doing in the off-season was learning how to defend and I would make sure a coach was on him all day every day. After that I would’ve kept JG3 and told Jj you’re sharing time with him this year while you recover your shot and so I had a leader on my team. I probably tell the administration and boosters to shove it and I pay Jesse what he wants seeing as it’s a clear hole in the team. Finally I probably tell Benny his time at cuse has ended and thank him for services and offer upstarting 3 minutes to the open portal.

Chance is still a great pickup, Cuffe can still come along with JJ but if you keep Jesse you don’t need naheem anymore.

Finally I make my identity clear from start: if we’re a running team, you run or you sit. If we are an aggressive man D, you play aggressive man D or you sit. Simple as that. I use the early season tournament to take some low risk teaching moments in terms of installing my system how I see fit.

I’m not paid millions so my opinion is worth its weight in chit but I don’t think I’m expecting something groundbreaking in terms of changing a supposedly flawed culture. If you don’t have the chops to make a big swing then you shouldn’t be at a top tier job.
 
Last edited:
Now imagine him trying to score at the rim like that in the ACC. After that try and imagine him guarding. Being from the same team as Knecht doesn't qualify him.

What’s your deal? It was an objective post and not advocating for him if you actual read it. Chill.

Kid is coming from a decent low major program that’s developed talent before and had some game as a possible depth piece at the P5 level. Also it’s not like he is playing D2 ball. His outside shooting is more interesting than his ability to get to the rim.
 
What’s your deal? It was an objective post and not advocating for him if you actual read it. Chill.

Kid is coming from a decent low major program that’s developed talent before and had some game as a possible depth piece at the P5 level. Also it’s not like he is playing D2 ball. His outside shooting is more interesting than his ability to get to the rim.
Whats my deal? I think that was a pretty calm post. All I was insinuating was I don't think his game translates. Didn't think that would make you so butt hurt.
 
Don’t be so literal. It’s just a list of 5 names. Regardless, Westry will be a big part of the plan next year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him at the point.
How do you make someone a big plan when they’ve played 10 games in two years (played in the poorly too)? Red had a good year 1, he puts someone as unreliable as Westry as part of a big plan and he gets hurt again, isn’t up to speed, or still has to adjust to the game, then it would be a mistake that could be a job killer.


Westry is essentially a freshman who hasn’t played the past two years, so much risk.
 
How do you make someone a big plan when they’ve played 10 games in two years (played in the poorly too)? Red had a good year 1, he puts someone as unreliable as Westry as part of a big plan and he gets hurt again, isn’t up to speed, or still has to adjust to the game, then it would be a mistake that could be a job killer.


Westry is essentially a freshman who hasn’t played the past two years, so much risk.
Agree. Don't mind if Westry is part of the plan, but we better have a really good alternative plan. As they say "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."
 
I'm looking for the post where you said taking westry was a bad idea but can't seem to find it for some reason

I know Westry is talented. I've never bashed the kid. I just think it's not wise to project his impact when he has been injured for so long.

The videos I've seen of Westry mostly goes back to HS / AAU ball. He looks like a more muscular, more physical version of Copeland, but maybe not quite such a fancy passer. But a big strong guard / forward type, but not a SF because he doesn't really have a 3 point shot.

He might turn into a very good player for us. I hope he does. But if I'm planning next year's roster, just look at Cuffe. He was a really explosive player, can make a 3 and get to the rim, if you look at his historical footage. Similarly to Westry, a very talented (but different) player.

Cuffe wins the 3 point contest at both our pre-season kickoff events. Looks like he might be getting back, but he was kind of rusty all season, at least offensively. I saw effort from him on defense, but also saw him sometimes lose shooters, particularly from the wing-to-corner area, maybe not tracking all the way down low to cover a guard who might be a shooter.

Overall, I think you would probably agree that Cuffe shows flashes of talent, but was rusty this year, and didn't really break into the rotation. But he might be very good next year as a third or fourth guard in our rotation.

And with respect to Copeland - if Copeland leaves, some people have Westry simply plugging in for his role in the rotation. And maybe that will happen. But it's a risk. Copeland has played at Syracuse for 2 years now. If he can just keep self-control and show a little better judgment, he could be an incredible player for us.

If all 3 of those guys are competing for time at guard next year, I would put Copeland ahead of the other two guys. I didn't ever say Westry wasn't worth a gamble. But Red maybe too many gambles on guys coming off injuries, and too many of those gambles didn't work out.
 
635910514357389198-ROCBrd-06-18-2015-DandC-1-D001--2015-06-17-IMG-IMG-jmac.jpg-1-1-RG4-1-1-43AQSUEK-L629760474-IMG-IMG-jmac.jpg-1-1-RG4-1-1-43AQSUEK.jpg
 
Joe actually avg'd more FGs a game than Judah last year.

Buddy avg'd 5 more FGs a game than anyone else on the team for 2 years in a row.

Not saying I disagree with your take. Certainly this year it played this way.

Interesting how one player Buddy Backdown'ed his way to a 16-17 record yet it was never suggested that he was more interested in personal points than wins.

Just sayin'
They were statistically better than this team (20 spots better in SRS...I know) but dad deciding that I GOT THIS MODE with Junior was the way absolutely killed us in close games

But yeah, give the ball to option #1 and hope wasnt good then either
 
Last edited:
He's probably going to elect to transfer out based upon going from starter to bench, let alone being asked to redshirt.
Insiders say he transferring, I think we can assume that’s the truth
 
You have to remember that Cuffe missed time over the summer due to a hand injury. Give him a full off season to work with GMAC and we could see an improved player. I think he could lose five pounds to improve his explosiveness. I think JJ is in the same situation. His shoulder and knee should be better and he can spend the summer working on his jumper and ball handling. We need bigs more than anything. If we can find a really good point guard, go for it, but bigs are our biggest need.
 
Insiders say he transferring, I think we can assume that’s the truth
Agreed.

Not sure why you felt the need to make that response to my post.
 
How do you make someone a big plan when they’ve played 10 games in two years (played in the poorly too)? Red had a good year 1, he puts someone as unreliable as Westry as part of a big plan and he gets hurt again, isn’t up to speed, or still has to adjust to the game, then it would be a mistake that could be a job killer.


Westry is essentially a freshman who hasn’t played the past two years, so much risk.
He’ll be part of the core team of 8-9 key players, that’s fairly obvious. I never said he’d be the key player.
 
He's probably going to elect to transfer out based upon going from starter to bench, let alone being asked to redshirt.
what will suck is that he blows up someplace else like iowa. 10/10 a night. now i'm not saying taylor didn't get every chance to shine here. he did plus some. but i do believe at some point it gets mental. fans booing. not cool. can't find a rhythm . not fun. i do believe a change of scenery and fresh start is in order. not pushing him away . but it just ain't working here.

(and looking back i realize when i say IOWA it sounds racist cuz he's white but honestly that was the first random school that popped into my mind. i should have said vermont.) JK
 
Last edited:
what will suck is that he blows up someplace else like iowa. 10/10 a night.
Our recent history with guys that transfer out hasn’t been remotely close to that. Kadary has probably been the most successful, which is also why people were upset when he left.

I put JGIII and Jesse in slightly different categories because they were 5th year/Covid guys.
 
You have to remember that Cuffe missed time over the summer due to a hand injury. Give him a full off season to work with GMAC and we could see an improved player. I think he could lose five pounds to improve his explosiveness. I think JJ is in the same situation. His shoulder and knee should be better and he can spend the summer working on his jumper and ball handling. We need bigs more than anything. If we can find a really good point guard, go for it, but bigs are our biggest need.

This is why I made the Cuffe & Westry comparison up above.
Both were coming off injuries, but both were participating in pre-season workouts.
And then both of them got hurt again. Cuffe came back from the hand injury. Westry did not come back from the lower leg injury, which is kind of a bad sign.
 
I would be good with Taylor staying with the idea of redshirting to work on his shot and his mental approach. No pressure to perform.
Ahh yes, telling a kid he’s so bad he should redshirt halfway through his college career to try figuring it out would be a great way to fix his mentals. No chance any kid would do something like this.
 
He can’t play at this level. It’s been painfully obvious for most of this season and a good chunk of last season too. Nice kid, but he needs to move on.
He shot 39% from 3 last season, if he did that this season and didn't have to play PF; I think most would be happy to have him in the rotation next season.
 
At least 2 of the 4 portals from Red’s 1st year were probably made under JAB‘s last year/time. JAB once stated that he was getting a number of a transfer requests. Believe that Starling and Westry probably had contacted Boeheim and McNamara prior to JABs stepping down. Macleod and Cuffe, Jr signed later in the portal cycle and probably with Red’s blessing. I believe someone will comment on/correct this assumption.

This portal season and the commits from it will be all under HCAA purview.
pretty sure its exactly the opposite of what you surmise

starling and westry only came back into the picture because JB was gone...recruits stopped wanting to play for him.

all 4 portal players were 100% red's decisions...and furthrmore, keeping the exisiting players were also reds decisions
 

Forum statistics

Threads
170,605
Messages
4,900,948
Members
6,004
Latest member
fsaracene

Online statistics

Members online
280
Guests online
1,286
Total visitors
1,566


...
Top Bottom