So Who Is The First Portaler?

[Sherman20]

It's also not hard to read between the lines and understand the gist of what happened w/out knowing details

No. That’s actually how the truth gets twisted.

 

[Cuse181]

Of course not.

It's year 1.

He inherited a lot of this.

“Inherited” aka, chose to keep the problem children.

 

[Sherman20]

Because that's the program's history. The previous head coach wasn't the biggest disciplinarian, he was laissez faire relative to many other coaches with respect to keeping his players in line, and he put up with more than many other coaches might be willing to.

Not criticizing him, just describing.

The vast majority of kids in the rotation were recruited by the former HC, and played under him for at least a year. Red made some changes to the culture, which came with some new expectations -- and those new, more stringent requirements didn't sit well with a few of the players, who were accustomed to something else.

For the record, doesn't make them bad kids. But it wasn't what they signed up for, and wasn't what they were used to. So they chomped at the bit. And those three are pretty tight, so they became somewhat of a passive aggressive disruptive element, even though they weren't overtly "bad."

Red clamped down on some of it, so there WERE some consequences, and there was "control." He even booted a player [not one of the three described above] for repeated squireli-ness. And for a time, that got the attention of the others, and induced them to fall in line -- but it was temporary / short lived.

And now that we're at the end of the season, Red can be frank with them. Get with the program, or find a new place to play. Rest is up to them.

“And now that we're at the end of the season, Red can be frank with them. Get with the program, or find a new place to play. Rest is up to them.”
…I hope some of them respond to the challenge positively.

 

[Red2003]

He threatened consequences but how many times did he actually act on those threats? Seems like my wife is when she says she gonna throw out my son’s playstation if he acts up one more time. Yeah right…

There’s millions of dollars involved with these decisions and the consequences could last years for the program.

People act like it’s just so easy to just nip these things and all will be good. Or predict what young kids will respond and which won’t. This ain’t a McDonalds where 19 year old kids are making minimum wage and you tell them just not to show back up. These kids became highly paid pro athletes at very young ages and that isn’t always a great combination.

Let’s just play out the tough love approach some want to see. The punishment would have to be Judah or Q or even Bell sitting games and then ultimately leaving the program pissed. Multiple Suspensions or benchings this year could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in future NIL. That’s a big black eye on their resume.

Then you have let’s call them the good apples like Brown or JJ or even Taylor left even with less depth to get their asses kicked up and down the court for 40 mins.

Now all the sudden you have the class of ‘25 recruits that were looking to visit Cuse for a game seeing the best players on the team sitting the bench and wondering what’s going on.

Lastly the casual fans that aren’t so much interested in the things you guys are and they just want to see Cuse win and their favorite player play ie Judah or Q.

The whole ship starts to sink.

Autry may be right and these 20 year olds may be wrong but sometimes the best thing to do is survive the season and then clean house with players leaving mutually and happy.

Autry is responsible for this roster and my guess is managing them this year took some years off his life due to stress. I personally can’t wait to see what next years team does and who’s on it.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Seems like the core team next year that Red is going to build around is Maliq, Westry, JJ, Freeman and Moore. I’m entirely fine with this as long as we add 3+ transfers to address shooting and rebounding.

 

[Domedog84]

 

[Franz69]

I wasn't on the game thread the other night, so not sure if this was discussed. In the first half, Q gets an outlet pass and he's all alone, decides to drive against three NC State players and naturally gets stuffed. Can't believe what I'm watching. It's the most obvious play, just pull up, wait for your teammates and set up the offense. Second half rolls around and he does the exact same thing. If basics like this are so difficult for him, I don't see how he's the starting pg next year.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

One thing I did not realize so clearly until the last Clemson game was the tangible animosity between Joe and Judah... it seemed beyond just competitive in-game opponents.

I mean, I suspected they weren't the best buds last year, but it seemed clear as day in that game they REALLY don't like each other...

Made me also question whether Joe left because JB retired or if he simply couldn't stomach another season playing with JM...

I am now kinda thinking it may have been primarily the latter...

I may be completely off base in that assessment, as it is mostly gut feeling...

I'm on team Joe for this one.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

My dad just called me. He's mainly an Iowa fan but cheers for Syracuse also and watches all of our games. He's never been on this board in his life, so he hasn't been influenced at all.

Dad - "Say I haven't had time to talk to you since the NC State game the other night. What do you think of Mintz? It seems like he's always looking for his own shot, isn't a great shooter and is constantly whining to the refs. Now granted, sometimes he's right, but after every play? Do you think they might be better off trying to replace him?"

Me "Funny you should say that Dad. I don't think you're alone with those thoughts."

So it's not just the board picking on Judah.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I wasn't on the game thread the other night, so not sure if this was discussed. In the first half, Q gets an outlet pass and he's all alone, decides to drive against three NC State players and naturally gets stuffed. Can't believe what I'm watching. It's the most obvious play, just pull up, wait for your teammates and set up the offense. Second half rolls around and he does the exact same thing. If basics like this are so difficult for him, I don't see how he's the starting pg next year.

Exactly

 

[IthacaMatt]

FIFY, and it sounds like the real problem child, Q, wasn’t punished at all. Listen, if he lost control of the team and did what he could, fine. But let’s not pretend like he didn’t deal himself this hand.

How many times did Q start? Was it none?

Isn't that trying to get a message across to a player to stop taking stupid chances?

Because Autry chose to start a hard-working kid with almost no talent over Copeland - all season long.

If that wasn't sending a message, I'm not sure how much more you can do to get someone's attention.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Seems like the core team next year that Red is going to build around is Maliq, Westry, JJ, Freeman and Moore. I’m entirely fine with this as long as we add 3+ transfers to address shooting and rebounding.

Listing Westry as the 2nd guy is foolish. He hasn't played in 2 years. Similar to Carey and Cuffe. I don't see any way that he's going to be an upgrade on Copeland, who has really gotten better these last 2 years, while Westry has collected dust.

 

[two3zone]

Taylor went up for a finger roll layup last game and missed the rim entirely... he rolled it off his fingers into mid-air away from the basket.

I have never seen that before in my 45+ years of watching b-ball. If you can't quite get to the rim you adjust and do a standard layup off the backboard...

Defensively he's pretty solid.

Offensively, he's a hot mess. He's good with the baseline reverse layup... that's about it.

Anything he tries facing the basket is an adventure, to say the least...

Taylor is a mess, but at least he doesn’t touch the ball often, I have a major problem with whatever the hell Quadir was doing last game than whatever Taylor’s done. Like that was a Kaleb Joesph mental breakdown down bad game.

 

[Millhouse]

He can shoot. Fine.

He can’t dribble. Can’t create. Can’t rebound. Below average defender.

Not everyone would take a guy like that. Especially given the fact that he will want to start moving forward.

He’s James Southerland without the athleticism. Southerland wasn’t a full-time starter during his time at SU and barely played until his junior year.

He’s replaceable.

Bell is already clearly an even better shooter.

The bell criticism is starting to sound like Cris Carter all he does is score touchdowns or some concussed grinder complaining that a good goal scorer isn't good on the penalty kill

He shot. 420 as the only shooting threat

 

[orangenauburn]

So we looking at Dejour Reaves and Roddy Gayle as two transfers.

Still need a C and probably a 3/D wing

Adding Reaves and Gayle while losing Q, Judah, Taylor, Bell, Carey

Reaves / Cuffe / Starling
Gayle / Starling / Moore
Moore / Westry / Freeman
Brown / Freeman
McLeod / Brown / Patterson

Injuries definitely impacted this season

Red lost size, rebounding, and D this year to injury:
McLeod, Patterson, (Carey for stretches)
Benny
Westry

 

[FrancoPizza]

Seems like the core team next year that Red is going to build around is Maliq, Westry, JJ, Freeman and Moore. I’m entirely fine with this as long as we add 3+ transfers to address shooting and rebounding.

Add in PG skills and leadership skills.

 

[FrancoPizza]

So we looking at Dejour Reaves and Roddy Gayle as two transfers.

Still need a C and probably a 3/D wing

Adding Reaves and Gayle while losing Q, Judah, Taylor, Bell, Carey

Reaves / Cuffe / Starling
Gayle / Starling / Moore
Moore / Westry / Freeman
Brown / Freeman
McLeod / Brown / Patterson

Injuries definitely impacted this season

Red lost size, rebounding, and D this year to injury:
McLeod, Patterson, (Carey for stretches)
Benny
Westry

Injury thing has been way overstated. Westry is the only unknown. The others were irrrelevant or never played. You can even make a case they started playing better once Mac was no longer playing.

 

[hoopsupstate]

So we looking at Dejour Reaves and Roddy Gayle as two transfers.

Still need a C and probably a 3/D wing

Adding Reaves and Gayle while losing Q, Judah, Taylor, Bell, Carey

Reaves / Cuffe / Starling
Gayle / Starling / Moore
Moore / Westry / Freeman
Brown / Freeman
McLeod / Brown / Patterson

Injuries definitely impacted this season

Red lost size, rebounding, and D this year to injury:
McLeod, Patterson, (Carey for stretches)
Benny
Westry

Where did Reeves and Gayle get mentioned as portal guys? Gayle is not a great shooter, but good slasher and rebounder. Neve4 heard of Reaves.

 

[Melancer46]

Bell is already clearly an even better shooter.

The bell criticism is starting to sound like Cris Carter all he does is score touchdowns or some concussed grinder complaining that a good goal scorer isn't good on the penalty kill

He shot. 420 as the only shooting threat

I'm not sure I agree, but we're also talking about Senior Year Southerland vs. Sophomore Year Bell which is a pretty big difference developmentally so the fact that it's even a debate probably points to Bell being better long-term. At any rate, I don't think it's clear right now.

Bell is basically just a standstill shooter, particularly from the corner. He isn't really doing anything but camping in the corner and hoping his man leaves him open. Southerland had more range as a shooter, was more comfortable shooting all around the perimeter, and thankfully had more to his game than just shooting so he was able to involve himself in the offense.

But again, we're talking about his senior year; he wasn't really that player until then.

Assuming Bell isn't one of the problems on the team behind the scene, I would definitely welcome him back next season. I think in a perfect world he's a gunner off the bench but we're not in a perfect world so he has to start for us and be a key contributor.

 

[Consigliere]

HE HELD GUYS OUT OF GAMES AND SUSPENDED A PLAYER

Red was very consistent with his standards and punishments. Have to be as a new coach. That’s why the report that Quadir stopped going to class weeks ago puzzles me. If accurate he must have gone to great lengths to hide it, or Red simply couldn’t afford to stick to his standards. Going to class is big.

 

[Red2003]

So we looking at Dejour Reaves and Roddy Gayle as two transfers.

Still need a C and probably a 3/D wing

Adding Reaves and Gayle while losing Q, Judah, Taylor, Bell, Carey

Reaves / Cuffe / Starling
Gayle / Starling / Moore
Moore / Westry / Freeman
Brown / Freeman
McLeod / Brown / Patterson

Injuries definitely impacted this season

Red lost size, rebounding, and D this year to injury:
McLeod, Patterson, (Carey for stretches)
Benny
Westry

I’d like to get some 4D players. Maybe one of them that can do the voice like in Dune.

This thread keeps entertained every day

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Red was very consistent with his standards and punishments. Have to be as a new coach. That’s why the report that Quadir stopped going to class weeks ago puzzles me. If accurate he must have gone to great lengths to hide it, or Red simply couldn’t afford to stick to his standards. Going to class is big.

Is class attendance even mandatory anymore?

How many classes do these guys miss during the season anyways.

As long as you turn in all the assignments and pass all the exams, you'll pass the course. And the last time I checked, SU has an army of academic support staff to keep the kids in line.

 

[Red2003]

I'm not sure I agree, but we're also talking about Senior Year Southerland vs. Sophomore Year Bell which is a pretty big difference developmentally so the fact that it's even a debate probably points to Bell being better long-term. At any rate, I don't think it's clear right now.

Bell is basically just a standstill shooter, particularly from the corner. He isn't really doing anything but camping in the corner and hoping his man leaves him open. Southerland had more range as a shooter, was more comfortable shooting all around the perimeter, and thankfully had more to his game than just shooting so he was able to involve himself in the offense.

But again, we're talking about his senior year; he wasn't really that player until then.

Assuming Bell isn't one of the problems on the team behind the scene, I would definitely welcome him back next season. I think in a perfect world he's a gunner off the bench but we're not in a perfect world so he has to start for us and be a key contributor.

I haven’t seen Paulie win an argument so clearly on that Cuse sports talk radio show ever.

So Bell shot 42% from 3 and was a liability with almost everything else. Truly a one dimensional player. . In the portal we can find a 38% shooter that will rebound and play defense. Bell could be so good which is why it will sting to lose him.

Just looking at the situation I can’t argue with Paulie, he actually had his argument well thought out when Bell was discussed. I’ll take the toughness over a few % point shooting.

If we keep Bell Autry he’ll prob be competing with 3-4 guys at the 3 to start and get mins.

 

[Sherman20]

There’s millions of dollars involved with these decisions and the consequences could last years for the program.

People act like it’s just so easy to just nip these things and all will be good. Or predict what young kids will respond and which won’t. This ain’t a McDonalds where 19 year old kids are making minimum wage and you tell them just not to show back up. These kids became highly paid pro athletes at very young ages and that isn’t always a great combination.

Let’s just play out the tough love approach some want to see. The punishment would have to be Judah or Q or even Bell sitting games and then ultimately leaving the program pissed. Multiple Suspensions or benchings this year could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in future NIL. That’s a big black eye on their resume.

Then you have let’s call them the good apples like Brown or JJ or even Taylor left even with less depth to get their asses kicked up and down the court for 40 mins.

Now all the sudden you have the class of ‘25 recruits that were looking to visit Cuse for a game seeing the best players on the team sitting the bench and wondering what’s going on.

Lastly the casual fans that aren’t so much interested in the things you guys are and they just want to see Cuse win and their favorite player play ie Judah or Q.

The whole ship starts to sink.

Autry may be right and these 20 year olds may be wrong but sometimes the best thing to do is survive the season and then clean house with players leaving mutually and happy.

Autry is responsible for this roster and my guess is managing them this year took some years off his life due to stress. I personally can’t wait to see what next years team does and who’s on it.

I hope Red has a heart to heart with Q after the season and that he responds positively and starts listening to and respecting the coaches (if that’s the issue). I personally think Judah is going to test the NBA draft waters again and we’ll have to find another PG out of the portal anyways.

 

[atlanticuse]

This is like a video game (FIFA / FC 24) - chemistry.
Our players (team) LACK chemistry.
If we had better chemistry, we'd play better.
Then again, unable to finger roll from 2" from the basket is not chemistry. Nor is whining to a ref leaving your team 4-on-5...