Some thoughts on 2020-21

[Fly Rodder]

The mushy middle is where most college basketball programs reside. A couple of middling years mixed with some tourney years, with an occasional deep run followed by loss of seniors and maybe a losing season. Then rinse, repeat.

That's not what I want for Syracuse basketball, but it's where we are. Squeaking into the tourney as a 6-10 seed every few years shouldn't be the goal.

 

[SoBristol]

I absolutely believe these guys will improve, just don't think they will improve enough to give us the kind of players we need to improve the team beyond what we've seen the past few years.

Remember Hughes is our clear #1 player. He is going to leave. If one of the current guys takes a big jump forward all we're really doing is replacing what we've lost, so individuals may improve but I'm not sure it leads to an overall collective improvement in the team.


They all need to improve just to account for the loss of Hughes.

The past few years include an 8th seed — which is a good step up from the current team.
I agree about Hughes (big loss on offense) but that loss will,be offset as the 20-21 team can get more inside scoring, better rebounding & more stops. That is where improvement at C and PF can make the difference, along with better depth.

 

[Cuse12]

If we do not have a physical big man to Battle the monsters in the ACC then nothing else matters IMO. It’ll be another bubble season if Edwards or JBA doesn’t emerge as an above average defensive presence. If somehow we get a grad transfer Center then I can see us being top 4 in ACC and a fringe top 25 teams.

Thats how important having a big bodied center with average ACC center skills is.

I just have seen how we were supposed to
take big steps forward when battle and brisset returned, but the center position stayed the same (weak) and look what happened another bubble year.

JB finally admitted he has recruited the center position poorly so I hope he doesn’t stop until he gets a true big man.

 

[realorange]

Certainly a big man to supplement what we have would be great. But let's not forget what Sid has shown he is capable of in the last two games.

Quincy should make a big improvement next year if judged only by how much he has improved since the beginning of the year.

Every year we have this hand wringing about how will we replace someone or how will anyone get better. And every year we seem to manage. Despite naysayers we replaced Battle's scoring and then some.

JG3 was tossed into a situation that he shouldn't have ever been asked to do. Personally, I think he has done very well unless you think he should be compared to Anthony.

Buddy made great strides from his first year and as hard a worker as he is I expect no less improvement next year.

Athletes that have any kind of pride will always work to get better. I definitely look at next year with a half full glass.

 

[pfister1]

Certainly a big man to supplement what we have would be great. But let's not forget what Sid has shown he is capable of in the last two games.

Quincy should make a big improvement next year if judged only by how much he has improved since the beginning of the year.

Every year we have this hand wringing about how will we replace someone or how will anyone get better. And every year we seem to manage. Despite naysayers we replaced Battle's scoring and then some.

JG3 was tossed into a situation that he shouldn't have ever been asked to do. Personally, I think he has done very well unless you think he should be compared to Anthony.

Buddy made great strides from his first year and as hard a worker as he is I expect no less improvement next year.

Athletes that have any kind of pride will always work to get better. I definitely look at next year with a half full glass.

They will improve, it would be ridiculous to think anything else.

That said it is not this slightly above .500 team improving, because this team won’t be together next year as we are most likely losing its biggest part.

The only question that is important is will the returning players improve enough, that when combined with whoever we add to the roster we will offset the loss of Eli (and possibly others) and improve as a team?

Not to sound like a negative Nancy, but we are a slightly better than .500 team playing a favorable schedule in a historically weak ACC. So there will likely be an uptick in schedule and conference competition to overcome as well.

 

[orangecuse]

The past few years include an 8th seed — which is a good step up from the current team.
I agree about Hughes (big loss on offense) but that loss will,be offset as the 20-21 team can get more inside scoring, better rebounding & more stops. That is where improvement at C and PF can make the difference, along with better depth.

The Boss agrees.

 

[TinyManInside]

I absolutely believe these guys will improve, just don't think they will improve enough to give us the kind of players we need to improve the team beyond what we've seen the past few years.

Remember Hughes is our clear #1 player. He is going to leave. If one of the current guys takes a big jump forward all we're really doing is replacing what we've lost, so individuals may improve but I'm not sure it leads to an overall collective improvement in the team.


They all need to improve just to account for the loss of Hughes.

Exactly. Best post in this thread.

 

[TinyManInside]

I think one of the factors that is getting overlooked here is just how bad the ACC is. There are only 4 guaranteed bids as of right now. This SU team is benefitting greatly from a bad league and a favorable schedule within this bad league. If you dropped this year's team into last year's league you'd probably be looking at a 6-12/5-11 type of record. I haven't looked too closely at the recruiting and who is expected to leave early or stay, but I would expect the ACC to be better next year, just from a historical perspective.

 

[Ghost]

I think one of the factors that is getting overlooked here is just how bad the ACC is. There are only 4 guaranteed bids as of right now. This SU team is benefitting greatly from a bad league and a favorable schedule within this bad league. If you dropped this year's team into last year's league you'd probably be looking at a 6-12/5-11 type of record. I haven't looked too closely at the recruiting and who is expected to leave early or stay, but I would expect the ACC to be better next year, just from a historical perspective.

That's a really good point as well - we have a historically bad ACC, and our schedule has probably been the easiest it's been since joining. We were set up well to succeed with even a relatively decent team.

 

[cuseguy]

We’re going to need an impact transfer at or C to be able to win 20 games next year, and that’s assuming a number of returnees see improvement.