This upcoming season will come down to one thing

[Alsacs]

IMO and that is how many shooters can we put on the floor who can score.
The zone is going to keep us in pretty much every game. We haven't had 2 shooters on the floor since 2012.
2013, 2014 we have relied on mainly 1 shooter. In 2013, our defense was beyond lethal and got us to the Final Four but it was Southerland or bust. Last year Grant/Fair couldn't shoot from 3 pt range and Cooney wasn't consistent. Our team to better next year needs one forward and one guard who can shoot 3's so teams can't clog the middle against us.
If its Cooney and 4 poor shooters we are screwed.

I have no idea if the SF shooter will be Johnson, Patterson, Gbinjie or whomever we need more shooting. I loved Fair but without spacing teams scouted him and he had no help. Grant/Fair would be good at dividing minutes like one 30 the other 20 and not playing together as much.​

 

[Lawrinson14]

IMO and that is how many shooters can we put on the floor who can score.
The zone is going to keep us in pretty much every game. We haven't had 2 shooters on the floor since 2012.
2013, 2014 we have relied on mainly 1 shooter. In 2013, our defense was beyond lethal and got us to the Final Four but it was Southerland or bust. Last year Grant/Fair couldn't shoot from 3 pt range and Cooney wasn't consistent. Our team to better next year needs one forward and one guard who can shoot 3's so teams can't clog the middle against us.
If its Cooney and 4 poor shooters we are screwed.

I have no idea if the SF shooter will be Johnson, Patterson, Gbinjie or whomever we need more shooting. I loved Fair but without spacing teams scouted him and he had no help. Grant/Fair would be good at dividing minutes like one 30 the other 20 and not playing together as much.​

I think the season comes down to 2 things: Dejuan's knees.

If he cannot play, we have a foul-prone Rak and a green Chino. I think this situation is far more precarious than 3-pt shooting.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think the path to minutes is pretty clear for BJ.

 

[Alsacs]

I think the season comes down to 2 things: Dejuan's knees.

If he cannot play, we have a foul-prone Rak and a green Chino. I think this situation is far more precarious than 3-pt shooting.

Christmas/Keita were servicable as a tandem. I don't expect anything from Coleman. If he can play he would be the backup C IMO. We can't play Rak and Coleman together anyway unless we had 2 scorers on the floor.
We need people who can play defense in the zone shoot well.

 

[Trueblue25]

Gbinije showed a sweet stroke last year at times but i think its better for the team if bj become the man

 

[senorpalmer]

When I saw the title of the thread I immediately thought of perimeter shooting. Needless to say I concur with the OP. Lack of shooting sent last season's team into a nosedive that it never recovered from. Sure there are more questions than just shooting for the upcoming season, but if next season's team can't shoot any better than last year's team, this group will be in big trouble.

 

[jordoo]

You have to have guys who can regularly knock down jumpers other than your sharp shooter. And you are right we haven't had that in a while. I think we can expect Cooney to take another step forward as he did last year and mainly it will be shot selection and consistency as well as possibly going to the pull up a bit more. BUT without other threats around him he will be hounded, have to work to hard and probably press and burn out as the season winds down. MikeG seemed an adequate put possibly not willing enough shooter. BJ is a young shooter so I would expect with more and more time he will make more shots. I thought Patterson showed the ability to make shots and certainly could fill that roll if he gets time. I really think that Kaleb has to be in the mid/low 30's at least to keep teams honest and ChrisMac needs to be at least Mid 30's and make 1 or 2 a game.

 

[thebigeast44]

I think the most likely starting lineup: KJ, Cooney, Roberson, CJ and Rak means only one proven shooter will be on the floor again. We'll see if KJ can help from 3 - he's been working on it. BJ, MG and Patterson are options with MG playing starters minutes at 3 positions. MG could start at SF but I think JB may think the team will be better off if he's the primary backup at PG, SG and SF. We really could use BJ and Patterson to be able to come off the bench and hit outside shots. I'd say BJ would be the favorite to see more minutes than Patterson this year. I hope DC2 gets healthy - we really could use him - having a first year player in Chino backing up Rak is not ideal. If he is healthy, it will be interesting to see if JB starts him and Rak up front as he has done in the past. CJ would likely then start at SF - that would be some tall lineup!

 

[Dave85]

IMO and that is how many shooters can we put on the floor who can score.
The zone is going to keep us in pretty much every game. We haven't had 2 shooters on the floor since 2012.
2013, 2014 we have relied on mainly 1 shooter. In 2013, our defense was beyond lethal and got us to the Final Four but it was Southerland or bust. Last year Grant/Fair couldn't shoot from 3 pt range and Cooney wasn't consistent. Our team to better next year needs one forward and one guard who can shoot 3's so teams can't clog the middle against us.
If its Cooney and 4 poor shooters we are screwed.

I have no idea if the SF shooter will be Johnson, Patterson, Gbinjie or whomever we need more shooting. I loved Fair but without spacing teams scouted him and he had no help. Grant/Fair would be good at dividing minutes like one 30 the other 20 and not playing together as much.​

My vote for "the one thing" would be the score board (offense + defense).

 

[two3zone]

I think the path to minutes is pretty clear for BJ.

I don't see that with Silent G and Roberson/McCullough playing minutes at the 3 as well. 5-8 a game is where I think BJ will be around.

 

[Dave85]

I don't see that with Silent G and Roberson/McCullough playing minutes at the 3 as well. 5-8 a game is where I think BJ will be around.

You may be right. BJ sure looked like he beefed up from the photo the other day. I sure hope he can bang around with the bigger players. I hope BJ is closer to 6'8" this year and 15 pounds heavier. I guess I can see him playing at the 3 spot if he's physically ready.

 

[Trueblue25]

If bj look comfortable doing anything last season surprisingly to me it was rebound

 

[Dave85]

This upcoming season will come down to one thing: Winning games when they matter most!

 

[edowd26]

Team need bjorn.

 

[Dave85]

Team need bjorn.

JB needs to have a tear away blazer!

 

[edowd26]

JB needs to have a tear away blazer!

I need baby aspirin and an AED.

 

[Dave85]

I need baby aspirin and an AED.

Forget baby aspirin, Ecotrin 325 mg baby! And plenty of Plavix on top!

 

[orangefan13]

Its early ....

we don't know what we have two go to guys and two shooters would be even better. You cant win 9 out of 10 with just catch and shoot, that's why they invented defense.

 

[cto]

No one has mentioned our lack of an experienced/tested point guard. I just hope Kaleb Joseph's PG skills are as good as his social skills (he's an immensely likable young man). He had never met Orangeyes or OE's family prior to the wake two weeks ago... but his was so poised and so gracious in talking with the family and other people at the funeral home. I was very impressed by his demeanor and maturity that evening.

 

[Trueblue25]

Kaleb josephs only jobs are to facilitate transition, get the ball in space to our bigs, limit turnovers an be a scoring threat if needed. It seems like a lot but i believe he does not have nearly the same pressure on his shoulders that ennis had. The pressures on cooney, mg and the three sons

 

[SoBeCuse]

I agree with CTO and the OP. Those two are 1A and 1B to me. I hear you Trueblue but often a young PG can fall into the trap of pounding it into the floor and not setting up the offense.

The collective shooting and/or figuring out other ways to score or better position the team to score will be huge. An issue for the players and staff. In case the shooting woes continue; if some of the newer guys playing heavy minutes can pass as well as put it in the floor better than last season's group then it will help things. Cooney improving here as noted above can help this as well.

 

[Dave85]

Kaleb josephs only jobs are to facilitate transition, get the ball in space to our bigs, limit turnovers an be a scoring threat if needed. It seems like a lot but i believe he does not have nearly the same pressure on his shoulders that ennis had. The pressures on cooney, mg and the three sons

I will go out on a limb and claim Kaleb will do just as good as Ennis. I think people are forgetting CJ's contributions carried the team more than Ennis. I think Kaleb will have a better outside shot than Ennis and more assists. Kaleb also seems much faster driving to the basket. I missed Scoop when he left. I missed Triche when he left. I missed MCW and Waiters. I just don't think we are going to miss Ennis that much.

 

[Trueblue25]

I will go out on a limb and claim Kaleb will do just as good as Ennis. I think people are forgetting CJ's contributions carried the team more than Ennis. I think Kaleb will have a better outside shot than Ennis and more assists. Kaleb also seems much faster driving to the basket. I missed Scoop when he left. I missed Triche when he left. I missed MCW and Waiters. I just don't think we are going to miss Ennis that much.

I completely agree with you. And kj may not immediately be a stud like ennis, but i think his style of play alone will take a lot of the pressure off our offense that many of the posters are worried about. Im very excited to see how rak and mg play with kj

 

[Dave85]

I completely agree with you. And kj may not immediately be a stud like ennis, but i think his style of play alone will take a lot of the pressure off our offense that many of the posters are worried about. Im very excited to see how rak and mg play with kj

"He's explosive, he's a good mid-range shooter. He's got to work on his 3-point shooting, which all point guards do," Boeheim said. "He gets to the rim and he's athletic at the rim. He dunks and he can get up. And he's got a good 15-foot mid-range game."
Boeheim, too, appreciates Joseph's maturity. Joseph has played pivotal roles for a prep school program that consistently competes for New England championships. He averaged 16.3 points, 6.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds for a 23-6 team that won its second straight NEPSAC Class AA title.

http://www.syracuse.com/orangebaske...eb_joseph_plans_to_seize_his_opportunity.html

 

[Briancuse]

I think the season comes down to 2 things: Dejuan's knees.

If he cannot play, we have a foul-prone Rak and a green Chino. I think this situation is far more precarious than 3-pt shooting.

Very true, Dejaun needs to stay healthy. But imo the two biggest factors are rak taking his game to the next level, and how good Joseph can be.