Thoughts about next year.

[KevMonstah]

I want to take a look ahead to next year's team. I see a coaching
challenge for JB, simply because I think they put together a team that
isn’t going to play zone D as well as this year, and it doesn’t seem to
improve on the weaknesses of this year.

First off, let’s stipulate that Fair is back, and that him and Grant
are the best two players on the team. Let’s also predict that Obokoh
and Johnson will not see the court much, and that it’s very likely Roberson
and/or Patterson are doomed to the same fate. I think that is the case
because you have too many swingmen-type players: Fair, Grant, Gbinije,
Roberson, and Johnson are all in that 6’7-8" range. I also think that
with four guys in the 6’9" range, one is out. The guard rotation maybe
will start with the four guys (Ennis, Cooney, Gbinije, and Patterson),
but Patterson’s time with decrease. I think you get an 8 man rotation,
which is Fair/Grant/Coleman at forward, Keita/Xmas at C, and
Cooney/Ennis/Gbinije at guard. He might use a ninth, and that will
certainly be Roberson or Patterson, depending on the moment.

Even with all that said, I don't see how JB can get away with playing
only one of the big guys at a time, with two of Fair, Grant, and Roberson.
That is not going to work. Rakeem and Dajuan will complain about PT;
Keita won’t, but you can’t cut his time. So you’re already working with
the negative of how to balance a lineup that consists of Fair and two bigs,
Grant and two bigs, or Fair and Grant plus one big (regardless of who
it is). I don’t see an upgrade in outside shooting unless Cooney improves
a *LOT* and Gbinije can hit from deep. You lose the two PG lineup you had
with MCW and Brandon, because I don’t think Cooney, Patterson, and Gbinije
are great ballhandlers. Defensively, you cannot play Coleman at the center
spot. He’s not mobile enough to step up to the FT line and stop the
midrange jumper, and as Detroit showed (granted, with the best dunker in
college hoops), you can alley oop over him all game long, cuz he can’t leap
to stop it. If he plays the wing, anybody with a decent handle will go
past him, and with a decent shot will get it off over him, because he’s not
quick. With one big playing, the potential is to get beat on the boards
again, but, as Grant is a superior rebounder than Southerland, this might
not occur.

Now before anyone says I'm totally negative on the team, here's what I
think they have going for them. They should have a true low post threat
and a solid rebounder in Coleman, a ton of athletic swingmen, two guys who
should block lots of shots, a shooter who should be better in Cooney, a very
skilled incoming PG, two stars in Fair and Grant, along with a guy who is
a Pitt guard in Patterson. Gbinije was highly rated as a high school
senior. That team will win a lot of games. 320 D-1 schools would love to
have that lineup and those concerns I just see a team like this year that
can't put out a lineup that has no weaknesses. Two years ago, JB had that,
which is why they went 34-3. This year's team couldn't, but it was almost
good enough. I see next year's team as having a talented lineup, and
being very good. Are they good enough? We'll find out. Ideally I'd like
to see JB put a little (lot) more emphasis on a low post game on offense,
run ten guys in and out, and own people with athleticism. I think they might
have to sacrifice a bit on the defensive end with Coleman to get more out of
the offense.


Four days after the end of the year, and already set for next season. Too bad
McCulloch didn't make it into this class, but I'd only want that if Fair leaves.

Kev

 

[goodroc]

Coleman can only play center in the zone - not a chance he can play wing- would not be able to recover quick enough and will drive boeheim nuts-- we have had guys with similar builds to Coleman at center spot (arinze and Hill) what coleman lacks in shot blocking hopefully he can make up with rebounding ..

 

[dasher]

I want to take a look ahead to next year's team. I see a coaching
challenge for JB, simply because I think they put together a team that
isn’t going to play zone D as well as this year, and it doesn’t seem to
improve on the weaknesses of this year.

First off, let’s stipulate that Fair is back, and that him and Grant
are the best two players on the team. Let’s also predict that Obokoh
and Johnson will not see the court much, and that it’s very likely Roberson
and/or Patterson are doomed to the same fate. I think that is the case
because you have too many swingmen-type players: Fair, Grant, Gbinije,
Roberson, and Johnson are all in that 6’7-8" range. I also think that
with four guys in the 6’9" range, one is out. The guard rotation maybe
will start with the four guys (Ennis, Cooney, Gbinije, and Patterson),
but Patterson’s time with decrease. I think you get an 8 man rotation,
which is Fair/Grant/Coleman at forward, Keita/Xmas at C, and
Cooney/Ennis/Gbinije at guard. He might use a ninth, and that will
certainly be Roberson or Patterson, depending on the moment.

Even with all that said, I don't see how JB can get away with playing
only one of the big guys at a time, with two of Fair, Grant, and Roberson.
That is not going to work. Rakeem and Dajuan will complain about PT;
Keita won’t, but you can’t cut his time. So you’re already working with
the negative of how to balance a lineup that consists of Fair and two bigs,
Grant and two bigs, or Fair and Grant plus one big (regardless of who
it is). I don’t see an upgrade in outside shooting unless Cooney improves
a *LOT* and Gbinije can hit from deep. You lose the two PG lineup you had
with MCW and Brandon, because I don’t think Cooney, Patterson, and Gbinije
are great ballhandlers. Defensively, you cannot play Coleman at the center
spot. He’s not mobile enough to step up to the FT line and stop the
midrange jumper, and as Detroit showed (granted, with the best dunker in
college hoops), you can alley oop over him all game long, cuz he can’t leap
to stop it. If he plays the wing, anybody with a decent handle will go
past him, and with a decent shot will get it off over him, because he’s not
quick. With one big playing, the potential is to get beat on the boards
again, but, as Grant is a superior rebounder than Southerland, this might
not occur.

Now before anyone says I'm totally negative on the team, here's what I
think they have going for them. They should have a true low post threat
and a solid rebounder in Coleman, a ton of athletic swingmen, two guys who
should block lots of shots, a shooter who should be better in Cooney, a very
skilled incoming PG, two stars in Fair and Grant, along with a guy who is
a Pitt guard in Patterson. Gbinije was highly rated as a high school
senior. That team will win a lot of games. 320 D-1 schools would love to
have that lineup and those concerns I just see a team like this year that
can't put out a lineup that has no weaknesses. Two years ago, JB had that,
which is why they went 34-3. This year's team couldn't, but it was almost
good enough. I see next year's team as having a talented lineup, and
being very good. Are they good enough? We'll find out. Ideally I'd like
to see JB put a little (lot) more emphasis on a low post game on offense,
run ten guys in and out, and own people with athleticism. I think they might
have to sacrifice a bit on the defensive end with Coleman to get more out of
the offense.


Four days after the end of the year, and already set for next season. Too bad
McCulloch didn't make it into this class, but I'd only want that if Fair leaves.

Kev

We have lost good guys for 37 years. And we still win a lot of games every year. DC, Fair and Grant will be an excellent front court. Will really rebound the basketball. Ennis and silent G will be a excellent back court. Trevor will be a solid back up. The frosh, one of them will emerge. And Baye as a back up 5 is pretty darn good.

 

[Cusefaninvirginia]

agreed, JB already tried playing Coleman at the 4 last fall and it didn't work. So unless coleman loses a lot of weight and picks up a lot of close out speed on the wing (which seems doubtful and frankly, I'm not sure is something we necessarily even want), I think Coleman will only be able to play C for us. And unless Christmas returns to Syracuse with much better offensive skills in the paint, I think we'll be seeing Coleman, Christmas and Keita all splitting time at C and only C. I think our most realistic best case scenario is that Coleman takes a big step forward on the defensive end and continues improving on offense and gets starter's minutes, with BMK also getting real playing time if he continues playing at the high level he played at towards the end of this past year. (It's just seems a lot more likely a sophomore is going to take a big step forward than it is for upperclassmen like Christmas and Keita.) But in any case, someone is likely going to be the odd man out and get reduced minutes. Either they'll all go along with it, or someone will transfer or head to Europe to play pro ball. Either way we'll be improved at the center spot next year. But hopefully JB can keep all 3 happy in case of another injury or eligibility issue at C coming up.

We'll then see Fair and Grant getting the bulk of the minutes at forward with either Roberson or Johnson, depending on who emerges as the better, more college ready player in the fall, getting 10-15 or so mpg off the bench. The fourth forward will get spot minutes against cupcakes and blowouts.

If things break right with us getting one of our centers to take a big step forward, I think we'll have one of the top couple of frontcourts in the country. Fair and Grant with Roberson and Johnson spelling them off the bench could possibly be the best we've had at the forward spots since Carmelo and Warrick in '03.

 

[Col. Bleep]

We have lost good guys for 37 years. And we still win a lot of games every year. DC, Fair and Grant will be an excellent front court. Will really rebound the basketball. Ennis and silent G will be a excellent back court. Trevor will be a solid back up. The frosh, one of them will emerge. And Baye as a back up 5 is pretty darn good.

Agree that frontcourt will be terrific.
But worry about backcourt.

Giving the ball to a freshman point guard is always dicey...no matter what his rep.
And who is going to back him up?
Once again, our backourt looks a little thin...not in terms of numbers as was the case this year.
But in terms of ball handling/team running skills.

 

[dasher]

Agree that frontcourt will be terrific.
But worry about backcourt.

Giving the ball to a freshman point guard is always dicey...no matter what his rep.
And who is going to back him up?
Once again, our backourt looks a little thin...not in terms of numbers as was the case this year.
But in terms of ball handling/team running skills.

I get your point. But after watching Ennis both in person and on tv, I think the kid will be just perfect for us. back up pt scares the crap out of me. But we will rebound the ball.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

[quote="KevMonstah, post: 616487, member: 327a team that

isn’t going to play zone D as well as this year
Let’s also predict that Obokoh and Johnson will not see the court much, and that it’s very likely Roberson
and/or Patterson are doomed to the same fate.

Even with all that said, I don't see how JB can get away with playing
only one of the big guys at a time Defensively, you cannot play Coleman at the center spot.

They should have a true low post threat and a solid rebounder in Coleman
I just see a team like this year that can't put out a lineup that has no weaknesses. Two years ago, JB had that,
which is why they went 34-3.
Ideally I'd like to see JB put a little (lot) more emphasis on a low post game on offense,
run ten guys in and out, and own people with athleticism. I think they might
have to sacrifice a bit on the defensive end with Coleman to get more out of
the offense.

[/quote]
Responses to the selections from above. I do think it is likely that Roberson/Patterson see significant time. Roberson looks to be the third forward and Patterson looks to be battling Cooney for the third guard spot.

I think JB will use DC2, BMK, and Rak exclusively at center. I think he is telling them (Rak) that now. Rak's decision of whether or not to come back will be taking into account that information. He will either accept it, and play like Dion did, or he will move on. Rak has been beat out at the forward position. If he wants to play, he will need to earn time at the center position. Even there, JB, IMO, needs to develop DC2 because of the offensive potential.

The 34-3 team had weaknesses. Poor outside shooting and no post game.

I think it will be a reloading year. There are unknowns on replacing the guards and questions in outside shooting. But there is potential for a dominating front court and the development of a post game. I'm hoping they can do enough to get the Buff/MSG placement (makeup call from this year out West) and use the home court advantage to make another run.

 

[sutomcat]

I want to take a look ahead to next year's team. I see a coaching
challenge for JB, simply because I think they put together a team that
isn’t going to play zone D as well as this year, and it doesn’t seem to
improve on the weaknesses of this year.

First off, let’s stipulate that Fair is back, and that him and Grant
are the best two players on the team. Let’s also predict that Obokoh
and Johnson will not see the court much, and that it’s very likely Roberson
and/or Patterson are doomed to the same fate. I think that is the case
because you have too many swingmen-type players: Fair, Grant, Gbinije,
Roberson, and Johnson are all in that 6’7-8" range. I also think that
with four guys in the 6’9" range, one is out. The guard rotation maybe
will start with the four guys (Ennis, Cooney, Gbinije, and Patterson),
but Patterson’s time with decrease. I think you get an 8 man rotation,
which is Fair/Grant/Coleman at forward, Keita/Xmas at C, and
Cooney/Ennis/Gbinije at guard. He might use a ninth, and that will
certainly be Roberson or Patterson, depending on the moment.

Even with all that said, I don't see how JB can get away with playing
only one of the big guys at a time, with two of Fair, Grant, and Roberson.
That is not going to work. Rakeem and Dajuan will complain about PT;
Keita won’t, but you can’t cut his time. So you’re already working with
the negative of how to balance a lineup that consists of Fair and two bigs,
Grant and two bigs, or Fair and Grant plus one big (regardless of who
it is). I don’t see an upgrade in outside shooting unless Cooney improves
a *LOT* and Gbinije can hit from deep. You lose the two PG lineup you had
with MCW and Brandon, because I don’t think Cooney, Patterson, and Gbinije
are great ballhandlers. Defensively, you cannot play Coleman at the center
spot. He’s not mobile enough to step up to the FT line and stop the
midrange jumper, and as Detroit showed (granted, with the best dunker in
college hoops), you can alley oop over him all game long, cuz he can’t leap
to stop it. If he plays the wing, anybody with a decent handle will go
past him, and with a decent shot will get it off over him, because he’s not
quick. With one big playing, the potential is to get beat on the boards
again, but, as Grant is a superior rebounder than Southerland, this might
not occur.

Now before anyone says I'm totally negative on the team, here's what I
think they have going for them. They should have a true low post threat
and a solid rebounder in Coleman, a ton of athletic swingmen, two guys who
should block lots of shots, a shooter who should be better in Cooney, a very
skilled incoming PG, two stars in Fair and Grant, along with a guy who is
a Pitt guard in Patterson. Gbinije was highly rated as a high school
senior. That team will win a lot of games. 320 D-1 schools would love to
have that lineup and those concerns I just see a team like this year that
can't put out a lineup that has no weaknesses. Two years ago, JB had that,
which is why they went 34-3. This year's team couldn't, but it was almost
good enough. I see next year's team as having a talented lineup, and
being very good. Are they good enough? We'll find out. Ideally I'd like
to see JB put a little (lot) more emphasis on a low post game on offense,
run ten guys in and out, and own people with athleticism. I think they might
have to sacrifice a bit on the defensive end with Coleman to get more out of
the offense.


Four days after the end of the year, and already set for next season. Too bad
McCulloch didn't make it into this class, but I'd only want that if Fair leaves.

Kev

I agree with the others.

Keita and Coleman will split time at center.
Fair, Grant and Roberson at the forward positions.
Ennis, Gbinije and Cooney at guard.

Christmas is not coming back.
No way Coleman is playing forward. It just isn't in the cards.
Roberson is too good to sit on the bench and he has the skill set to help at both forward positions, so he is well positioned to get serious PT.

There is room for one more player to get PT, at least some of the time.

It could be Patterson if JB wants to focus on defense (which he has increasingly valued in recent years), or Johnson if this team struggles to shoot from the outside and needs instant offense from the 3 point circle. Might end up playing both situationally.

But I think the 8 players mentioned first will be the core lineup.

 

[longtimefan]

I'm hoping they can do enough to get the Buff/MSG placement (makeup call from this year out West) and use the home court advantage to make another run.

If we're good we'll get Buffalo. If we're very good (3 seed or better?) we might get MSG. Remember, they gave us the Verizon Center/DC this year. Not likely to put us in the East 2 years in a row unless they have little choice.

 

[SWC75]

I see a team with more depth and shooting ability, stronger rebounding from the bigs, which will allow the guards to release fro the fast break and a still a huge back-court that will make the top of the zone tough, even if Coleman has problems defending inside. If this year's team could win 30 and get to the Final four, next year's team could, too.

 

[Orangezoo]

with the concerns about rak returning- is this impacting cooney? i thought they were tight..

 

[BuffOrange]

I'll believe we're a good defensive rebounding team when I see it. If not, we better own the offensive glass like nobody else.

 

[RF2044]

Christmas is not coming back.

What are you hearing, Tom?

 

[sutomcat]

What are you hearing, Tom?

I hear he is not a fan of college, really hates taking courses and doing school work. Just wants to get out and start making money as a pro somewhere. Decided he was done before the season even began.

Could be wrong but have heard this from multiple sources.

 

[MikeSU02]

I hear he is not a fan of college, really hates taking courses and doing school work. Just wants to get out and start making money as a pro somewhere. Decided he was done before the season even began.

Could be wrong but have heard this from multiple sources.

Good for him for knowing why he wants. I'll gladly root for him wherever he ends up playing.

Time for DC to step up.

 

[orangefan13]

I really think CJ will put us over the top. I really like the thought of Dajuan posting up one on one. CJ is able to take his guy one on one. And two of Gbinije/Ennis/Patterson will be able to beat their man one on one. And if not Cooney will be on the floor instead. With the missing piece being Grant, Roberson, or BJ at the other spot.

Not to say we are as good as, but I could see a similar offensive system to 09-10 in terms of I don't think teams will want to double us very often. We will make them pay when they do.

We might not have as much seniority as 09-10. We might not have the NBA range to spread opponents defense quite as far, nor a shooter as good as Rautins or Wes. But, between CJ, Cooney, Gbinije,Patterson, Ennis, BJ we will have a more solid 3 point shooting 3rd and 4th man then 09-10 I think. That will be a pain for defenders to stay on them and double.

At the same time Ennis is going to drive noticable better then sophmore scoop I think. Scooop ran alot of perimeter PG play that year and entry passes. He had his moments, but rarely drove the lane in the halfcourt. I think Ennis will drive more with his speed and superior dribbling skill.
I just hope Ennis defense is decent against pull up shooting backcourts. I think Cooney patterson will be our best guard defensive lineup, but also feel we need Gbinije or Ennis out there for ball handling.

I expect Dajuan to go faster to the basket then AO went. Both were strong. Dajuan probably won't be quite as dominant as AO, But Dajuan will get his points. I wouldn't be surprised to see Coleman out there late if he can hit some ft's.

And reports sound as if Gbinije is as good of a perimeter driver as sophmore KJO with a better pullup. Sophmore KJO was guarded by teams second best forward defenders, so it might be in our best interests to put Gbinije in the backline for a few minutes a game to get the same matchup.

All that attacking off the dribble will do good when we get up on opponents by 10 points though.

 

[Orangezoo]

cj will be our foundation- it will be up to the others to give us balance and step up to help cj.

 

[chlywtr]

will cj be vocal enough to be the senior leader we need?

 

[jordoo]

If CJ is back we are absolutely loaded next year.

Our starting line up is all highly recruited studs:
Ennis: Scout 5* ESPN #38 Experience=0
MikeG: Scout 4* ESPN #26 Experience=2 (1year Duke 1year practice)
CJ: Scout 4* ESPN #63 Experience=3
Grant: Scout 4* ESPN #37 Experience=1
DC2: Scout 5* ESPN #14 Experience=1
These guys are all very good players and everyone other than Ennis has been in our system for at least a year.
We also have a great recruiting class and an Experinced big (Baye) and experienced gaurd (Trevor) already in place.
This team may take some early lumps and will more than likely take a while to get itself together defensively and sort out the back end of the rotation but they will be wire to wire top10 type team and better offensively than this years team was IMO.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I hear he is not a fan of college, really hates taking courses and doing school work. Just wants to get out and start making money as a pro somewhere. Decided he was done before the season even began.

Could be wrong but have heard this from multiple sources.

Yeah, some guys just don't like being in school. I had roommates like that. Of course, they also weren't 6 foot 8 dudes, so they didn't really have great options.

 

[kuethstheman]

If MikeG is an outside threat and Cooney gets his shot going, given other expected improvements I think you'll see things open up for DC4 on the offensive end. I think it could be a very good offensive team.

 

[StopCoolio]

I just assume this is obvious to everyone, but everyone has figured out that Grant is going to be a beast next year, right?

The guards are a question mark but personally, I'm not worried about Gbinije. We're talking about a top 25ish talent who just sat out a year. Plus he's got the requisite 18 foot wingspan to play the zone. After seeing him half a dozen times or so, I think Ennis is just a really nice fit for us. There is a huge amount of pressure on him though because our alternatives after him are nil.

I think for next season to be really good, we need:
-Ennis to be solid.
-Practice Cooney to be in-game Cooney.
-DC2 to do at least a weak Arinze impression. Low block scorer would make things much easier.
-Patterson(or anyone, really) to be able to handle backup PG duties.

 

[pearl31]

I want to take a look ahead to next year's team. I see a coaching
challenge for JB, simply because I think they put together a team that
isn’t going to play zone D as well as this year, and it doesn’t seem to
improve on the weaknesses of this year.

First off, let’s stipulate that Fair is back, and that him and Grant
are the best two players on the team. Let’s also predict that Obokoh
and Johnson will not see the court much, and that it’s very likely Roberson
and/or Patterson are doomed to the same fate. I think that is the case
because you have too many swingmen-type players: Fair, Grant, Gbinije,
Roberson, and Johnson are all in that 6’7-8" range. I also think that
with four guys in the 6’9" range, one is out. The guard rotation maybe
will start with the four guys (Ennis, Cooney, Gbinije, and Patterson),
but Patterson’s time with decrease. I think you get an 8 man rotation,
which is Fair/Grant/Coleman at forward, Keita/Xmas at C, and
Cooney/Ennis/Gbinije at guard. He might use a ninth, and that will
certainly be Roberson or Patterson, depending on the moment.

Even with all that said, I don't see how JB can get away with playing
only one of the big guys at a time, with two of Fair, Grant, and Roberson.
That is not going to work. Rakeem and Dajuan will complain about PT;
Keita won’t, but you can’t cut his time. So you’re already working with
the negative of how to balance a lineup that consists of Fair and two bigs,
Grant and two bigs, or Fair and Grant plus one big (regardless of who
it is). I don’t see an upgrade in outside shooting unless Cooney improves
a *LOT* and Gbinije can hit from deep. You lose the two PG lineup you had
with MCW and Brandon, because I don’t think Cooney, Patterson, and Gbinije
are great ballhandlers. Defensively, you cannot play Coleman at the center
spot. He’s not mobile enough to step up to the FT line and stop the
midrange jumper, and as Detroit showed (granted, with the best dunker in
college hoops), you can alley oop over him all game long, cuz he can’t leap
to stop it. If he plays the wing, anybody with a decent handle will go
past him, and with a decent shot will get it off over him, because he’s not
quick. With one big playing, the potential is to get beat on the boards
again, but, as Grant is a superior rebounder than Southerland, this might
not occur.

Now before anyone says I'm totally negative on the team, here's what I
think they have going for them. They should have a true low post threat
and a solid rebounder in Coleman, a ton of athletic swingmen, two guys who
should block lots of shots, a shooter who should be better in Cooney, a very
skilled incoming PG, two stars in Fair and Grant, along with a guy who is
a Pitt guard in Patterson. Gbinije was highly rated as a high school
senior. That team will win a lot of games. 320 D-1 schools would love to
have that lineup and those concerns I just see a team like this year that
can't put out a lineup that has no weaknesses. Two years ago, JB had that,
which is why they went 34-3. This year's team couldn't, but it was almost
good enough. I see next year's team as having a talented lineup, and
being very good. Are they good enough? We'll find out. Ideally I'd like
to see JB put a little (lot) more emphasis on a low post game on offense,
run ten guys in and out, and own people with athleticism. I think they might
have to sacrifice a bit on the defensive end with Coleman to get more out of
the offense.


Four days after the end of the year, and already set for next season. Too bad
McCulloch didn't make it into this class, but I'd only want that if Fair leaves.

Kev

is this post in sonnet format?

 

[Cheriehoop]

Coleman can only play center in the zone - not a chance he can play wing- would not be able to recover quick enough and will drive boeheim nuts-- we have had guys with similar builds to Coleman at center spot (arinze and Hill) what coleman lacks in shot blocking hopefully he can make up with rebounding ..

I remember the Jackson at the 4 experiment time too. Not a good look.

 

[orangefan13]

I was always under the impression Jackson was good at the four.

1.He covered the perimeter pretty well, good enough to play the four. Thats what Rak/Dajuan are missing.
2.He rebounded great and athletically for a guy with his weight away from the basket. Probably alittle more verticle then Dajaun. He hung on to the ball after rebounds when 2 opponents were all over him.
3.Nobody was barreling through him, and he had a wide body to man up.

I feel Bigs with his build can play the four if mobile enough. but you have to know they are mobile enough with enough verticle and strength to rebound athletically through contact, or could end up a 5.

Raks build screamed he would easily be able to play the four but his second gear without the ball and first 2 steps were so slow.

I always wondered if Rick became so strong and put on all that weight as a JR because we needed a low post big to compliment AO in the high, or if he did it on his own free will. His senior year he lost a ton of weight and was forced to play the 5 more out of necessity. Really his lack of high post game killed us against Butler because he had played in the low post all season and was forced to play the five because we didn't have AO to do it for 25 minutes.