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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 1338130, member: 289"] CENTERS Rakeem Christmas 6-9 250 senior- When Rak first committed to Syracuse, a local station described him as “the #1 big man recruit in the country”. That doesn’t seem to have been unanimous, (I suspect one ‘expert’ had said so), and for three years it didn’t seem very realistic, either. Christmas proved to be an athletic but somewhat skinny big man with a lack of real basketball skills. That was because he’d grown up in the Virgin Islands and didn’t start playing the sport until he moved to Philadelphia as a teenager. His glowing reputation seems to have been based on how well he moved for his size because it couldn’t have been based on much else. He didn’t score and didn’t rebound much either. But JB and Mike Hopkins molded him into the type of defensive center Syracuse likes in the center of the zone. He and Baye Moussa Keita combined to shut down the lane during our incredible run to the Final Four in the 2013 NCAA tournament, where we gave up 34, 60, 50, 39 and 61 points in our 5 games, including our loss to Michigan. Last year he finally seemed to be developing an offensive game with some baby hooks and other moves in the paint. He made what would have bene a legendary steal to start the fast break that kept our streak alive vs. NC State, (the legend faded when we lost the next game to Boston College). But Christmas faded like an old Christmas tree down the stretch, along with his teammates. There were stories about how he wasn’t really motivated, had no ‘motor’ running. This year he’s listed at 250 pounds but doesn’t look in any way bulky. He’s been super-aggressive in the early games, (against teams that can’t possibly match up with him). He’s scoring. He’s rebounding. He’s playing defense. He’s leading the team like a senior should. He’s a smart kid who has already graduated and is going for a masters in his fourth year at the ‘Cuse. We just need to see him do the same things against better teams to know what kind of a contribution he’ll make this year. We’ll also need to see how long he can sustain it. We don’t want to fade down the stretch of a long season again. [I]Comments: He sustained it all season, becoming probably our best offensive center ever. He wore down a bit late in the season because after McCullough went down, he had no real back-up and had to play 40 minutes a game. He did a remarkable job of avoiding foul trouble and reached that goal of 40 minutes ten times, (including a 45 minute stint in an overtime game). Quite an achievement for someone who had always shared the position, (he averaged 23.6 minutes per game last season). Teams also got a ‘book’ on him and the team. They constantly doubled or triple-teamed Rak, knowing that we didn’t have the firepower to make them pay for it. They also realized that if their strongest defender could push Rakeem out farther from his ‘comfort zone’, he’d have to make extra moves to get past them or shoot from farther out. That reduced his shooting percentage was only 17 for 45 (37.8%) in the last four games. At the same time the lack of a back-up prevented Rak from playing the dominating defense he’d become known for: he had to avoid fouling to stay in games. As a result we were a mediocre defensive team and a limited offensive team, (we led in two point field goal percentage- a stats we usually dominate and the most important stat to winning in basketball- in only 15 of 31 games.) Rak himself was fouled so many times the refs couldn’t call all of them or the game would have been a parade to the foul line and half the opposing team would have fouled out. [/I] [I]It reminded me of Dwight Freeney on the football team in 2001. Dwight had an amazing year, setting records for sacks, tackles for a loss and turnovers forced. But he also set records for having to adjust his shoulder pads after plays because he was clearly being held on every play. That’s the way it was with Rak. He was fouled on every play. But he fought through it- without responding to too many fouls- to average 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds a game after averaging 5.8/5.1 last year. That plus his winning personality, (belying his all-time great game face0, and academic achievements, (a master’s degree in 4 years while playing a 6 month sport in an 8 month school year) means he’ll always be remembered her with great affection and respect. [/I] Chinoso Obokoh 6-10 215 sophomore.- Chino, like Baye Moussa Keita, is from Africa, (Nigeria, rather than Senegal). Like Keita he’s tall but not bulky and is our back-up center. That leads some people to assume they will be alike but I don’t think so. For one thing, Keita was truly skinny and had narrow shoulders. Obokoh has broader shoulders, and from recent pictures, is already ‘ripped’. He probably already weighs more than Keita ever did and will easily add on more muscle in his time here. I also think eventually he’ll be able to help us on both ends, whereas Keita was always just a defensive banger, (he had terrible hands). The hard-to-find highlights of him in high school showed some offensive moves I never saw from Keita. But for now he’ll have Keita’s role, backing up Christmas and being asked only to play defense and rebound. Obokoh red-shirted last year and should have been a freshman this year but, due to some Draconian NCAA ruling concerning his status when he came to this country, (he played for a Rochester high school), he was deprived of a year of college eligibility. Go figure, if you have time you want to waste. But at least we’ve got him for the next three seasons. In the early going, JB seemed unsure about him, often using Chris McCullough as Rakeem Christmas’ back-up. But that hardly seems like a desirable solution going forward. [I]Comments: Even with McCullough out, Obokoh wasn’t ready to be a back-up center. He got in a few times but Coach went with Rak every minute that he could. He only played 89 minutes all season. Statistically, he did OK, scoring 10 points on 4 for 6 shooting and pulling down 21 rebounds in the equivalent of a little over two full games. But he also committed 19 fouls, including 4 in 5 minutes in one game. To my eyes he seemed to play fairly well on defense. He had one bad moment when Jahlil Okafor plucked a rebound out of his hands and put it in the basket. A lot of people think he’ll never amount to anything but I like him and think he could evolve into a good player, maybe even a starter or a co=-starter someday. We’re going to be depending on each player to contribute more than normal with the NCAA sanctions so we need him to come through for us- and for himself. [/I] DaJuan Coleman 6-9 255 junior- Coleman seemed to be living a dream, winning three state championships at Jamesville-Dewitt, becoming a McDonald’s All-American and going to his favorite school, Syracuse. Since then, it’s been a real struggle. He had trouble adjusting to college ball, where he couldn’t use his huge body, (he was more like 285 back then) to dominate college opposition as he had in high school. He committed too many fouls and held the ball too low, where smaller players could knock it from his grasp. His moves to the basket too often involved putting a massive shoulder into somebody, something the refs wouldn’t let him do, (he wasn’t Shaq). Then came the injuries. He missed eight games with a knee problem as a freshman and injured the knee again last year, playing in only 13 games. He decided on surgery and drastic weight loss, (achieved with a “juice diet”). He’s now rehabbing the knee and building his body back up. But he wasn’t ready to start the season and it isn’t clear he’ll play at all this year. Cuse fans are still hoping he’ll get his chance and that we’ll get to see the talent he was thought to possess. [I]Comments: DaJuan never did complete his come-back, instead opting to retain his two remaining years of eligibility to see if he can get his career back on track. He’s practicing with the team and can dunk. He’s even hit ‘pull-up’ jumpers. His problem is running the court. His other problem is adjusting to college ball, a process that has been delayed. He may take another year to do that. Hopefully by the time he’s a senior we may get to see all that talent he’s supposed to possess. Maybe he can have a senior year like Rakeem’s. Maybe…[/I] [/QUOTE]

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