Just a few things from a bigger picture standpoint that seem relevant.
Think JB has done a nice job with the rotation thus far
So let's just all agree that JB can never win in this discussion. This year proves it. He's literally given everyone a shot to earn PT and stuck with guys through mistakes, losses, issues, etc. Obviously some of that is because the roster he put together is a bit lacking, but, whatever, he's played a ton of guys. That's a logical approach for a roster that only has three guys you can lean on. Hima is getting minutes when Jesse is in foul trouble. That makes sense. JBA has played some big minutes at times but JB hasn't force-fed him into games either. All four young wing players -- Brown/Bell/Benny/Taylor have gotten pretty solid minutes. I'm with everyone else -- at this point I'm leaning pretty heavy on the Taylor/Brown (more on this below) combo -- but I think it made sense to give Benny as much opportunity as you reasonably could. And Bell, I think, is a bit better shooter than Taylor at this point so I get why JB is trying to make that work. Something tells me we'll still see Benny/Bell, but Brown has averaged 19 mpg in his last seven games and I'm guessing we continue to see that number go up. The one guy (other than Carey who is now injured) who hasn't seen as much action is Copeland, but even Copeland has logged double-figures in minutes five times and played legit minutes vs. St. John's and Pitt.
All things considered, however, I think he's kept everyone engaged and everyone has gotten at least some opportunity. Will be interesting to see how many stick around -- which i guess will be the question annually.
Mintz has matured quickly ... and will he be here next year?
Mintz has clearly emerged as the most interesting Syracuse player if you consider that it's unlikely we do much in the way of postseason this year. That means Edwards and Girard are gone and Judah is the key to next season ... so hopefully he's here. NBA obviously a possibility but I also sorta wonder if some deep-pocketed NIL programs try to lure him away if he's not on the NBA radar.
But, for the time being, I've been really impressed with how Mintz has played. He's obviously electric getting to the basket and 16 pts/4 assists (17.5/5.3 in the last 8 games) with limited turnovers is a really nice line for a freshman PG, who's never really been a PG. But what's been more impressive to me is all the different ways he's found to impact the game. He's improving as a creator for others, he's getting to the line 6 times a game, he draws a ton of fouls out around midcourt and in the backcourt, he has a bunch of steals (averaging almost 3/game in his last 8), he is outstanding at getting skinny and going over the top of screens to disrupt other teams' sets, he rarely gets called for charges. Even his glaring weakness -- 3-point shooting -- is interesting because he's shown great restraint in taking those shots. And, really, his shot doesn't look bad to me. If we see him for another year I'd bet he's a Flynn-type shooter from out there. Dangerous enough to keep you honest.
Anyway, he's had a really nice season. Praying we see him for another.
Edwards' offensive game is frustrating at times
Love me some Jesse Edwards. Kid has really improved and gotten stronger in his time here and I'm happy we have him. We're all happy Hima has been a solid backup this year ... get ready for next year when he has to play more minutes and people are losing their minds about how bad they think he is. It's the way it works on here. So when I'm nitpicking Jesse here, I want to be clear that he's the best basketball player on this team, he's in the conversation with the best bigs we've had since the mid-80s when I was first following this team. He's an excellent player.
Buuuuut ... I'd be lying if I didn't sometimes feel a bit disappointed that he's not just a wee bit better offensively. I'm not expert but it seems like the footwork down there on low-post moves gets really clunky. He's an excellent catch-and-finish big and he's so athletic that he can hurt you in a variety of ways. But his low-post moves lead to awkward, leaning shots way too often for a guy with his size, athleticism and strength. I also would love to see him square up from time to time. Why not?
Anyway -- kid's having a great year, but just wish he could force more teams to double down there. It's interesting but more often than not teams just play him straight up.
Girard's been really solid offensively since the Illinois game
Want to take a minute to say that Girard is having a really nice offensive season (defense still comes and goes a bit ...). The slump he suffered hurt -- really hurt us in painful losses to Bryant/St. John's and took away any chance of competing with Illinois (though that one can hardly be blamed on Girard). But his last nine have been a really nice stretch, all things considered. He's at 19/3/3 in that stretch shooting over .400 from three. That's really solid basketball. But he's also found a way to score a bit inside the arc. Maybe some of that has to do with the competition but he's at 47% on 2-point FGs in that stretch. That's better than his season numbers (around 40%) and coming into the year he had never been above .385 from inside the arc.
He's a bit limited as we all know and he'll have some not great games going forward, but it's worth giving the kid some credit for putting together a solid run that along with Edwards and Mintz has helped us avoid a season where we might be hoping we go on a run to get to .500.
Brown and Taylor have played well defensively
Brown and Taylor have both seen big minutes the past two games. Taylor, of course, has actually gotten solid minutes most of the season. In Brown's case his numbers are up since the Oakland game with the only significant departure from that being the 4-minute game vs. BC, which coincided with Benny's best game in Orange. But generally these guys have been seeing the floor quite a bit. What's interesting is that I have to believe that we've been seeing Benny and Bell b/c JB feels we need the offense. But, while Brown is a bit limited offensively and Taylor is still feeling his way around offensively (the Bryant game as an outlier), their per 40 numbers offensively aren't terribly dissimilar from the Benny/Bell combo.
But what's really been impressive is how good both have been defensively. Our zone rotations aren't perfect, but they are much better with the two frosh. Brown has excellent hands and Taylor has quickness and reads the floor well. Both can rebound (Brown is a really solid rebounder already, Taylor can hold his own). Plus, there is the question of how much you lose offensively -- Benny has seen his shot fall a bit more lately, which is a nice development, and Bell has hung in there despite the feeling that sometimes his minutes are empty calories at times if he's not scoring. But Brown moves around well in the paint, finds soft spots, and grabs offensive boards (thought his 11 vs. VA Tech could easily have been 14 or 15 with the dunk taken away, the foul on the tip-in attempt that they didn't give him shots for in the first half and a little bunny that hit off the back iron) and Taylor can knock down a shot and if he's open.
Bottom line: I think we'll see more of these guys. Not sure JB will (and not totally sure he should) completely abandon Benny and/or Bell, but I'd imagine we'll continue to see Taylor and continue to see far more of Brown (though a healthy Benny will cut into those minutes).
Benny intensity is the key, IMO
The frustration of Benny to me is that he seems to quite often be surprised by the intensity of the game. I don't think it's a surprise that he had a great game against BC b/c he was working in that game. He blocked three shots from the weak side, made several hustle plays, a couple times not coming up with the ball but still battling for it, grabbed 5 offensive boards. That's hustle stuff, so when the jumper starts falling, that's almost grave. Same thing really against St. John's -- good hustle and aggressiveness against an aggressive opponent.
Now, he was sick and missed a game and was likely not 100% going into this game. There's some nasty stuff going around so I don't want to jump all over him. But his first few minutes in the first half were brutal. No need to dig into it, other than to say, I think he just needs that mindset that all of these games are going to be physical, intense matchups and he's got to match that intensity. I think he hustles most or all of the time, but he just needs to be aggressive and looking to use that athleticism on the offensive boards, getting out in transition, hunting weak side block/steal opportunities -- get those things going and the shots will come. We'll see if that happens.
Where do we stand overall?
We aren't the same program we were for most of JB's tenure, sadly. Doubt it will change next year but who knows. I don't get that depressed about it b/c I think you'd generally take the 40-ish excellent years in exchange for the 9 or 10 mediocre ones most of the time. But while I don't think this team has much of a shot to reach the tourney, but I do actually think they can make a solid run at a decent record and a pretty decent finish in the ACC. I'll give JB credit -- and yes, he's the one who put the roster together so you reap what you sow -- but he's done a nice job helping this team be competitive when we're both young and not terribly athletic. All in all, if we end up with maybe 18 wins and get some nice improvement from the Browns and Taylors, that would put us in a spot to potentially be more competitive if Mintz comes back next year. Especially if we can add a good recruit and maybe a transfer. That's the hope at least.
