There's always a difference. We're still banking on a bunch of things we don't know will happen.
It's easy to predict we'll be better. Predicting top 10 is a whole different thing.
Things that I think are equally likely:
Marek makes a big step forward/Marek has already hit his ceiling
Tyus improves his shooting and adds drive-and-dish/Tyus has hit his ceiling
Oshae finishes a lot better/Not being able to finish is who he is.
Sidibe is a 10/10 guy/Sidibe's knees still hurt and he plays spot minutes
The new guys fit right in/The new guys take a year or more to learn the zone
The new guys can shoot/The new guys aren't up to the level of competition (a la Nichols)
The offense flows/The offense sucks
Like I said, if half of those go our way, we'll be doing well. We'll need much more than half to sniff the the top 10.
He was in his FOURTH YEAR OF COLLEGE. Good Lord. He landed (caught and returned to his feet instead of dunking) far more passes for alley oops than he dunked last year. I'd estimate based on nothing at all it was on the order of 5 or 10 to 1 (lands to dunks).
chukwu’s contributions defensively alone are a piece that make this team great. If he can contribute 6 ppg consistently then even better. We dont need him to be an offensive threat. We have 6 guys that should be double digit scorers on any given night.
Tb, fh, ob, md, elijah and jalen carey (remains to be seen on these two)
NBC Pre-Season Top 25
I'm OK with the ranking but "no depth"? Maybe no "proven" depth but I think it's pretty clear that we have some talented bodies on the bench!
I also hope they're wrong about the "ugly, grind-it-out" part.
25. SYRACUSE ORANGE
The Orange have no depth and very little perimeter shooting this side of Buddy Boeheim, but with Tyus Battle back in the fold, I think this Orange team will be able to scrape together enough ugly, grind-it-out wins to be in and around the top 25 all season.
- Who’s gone: Matthew Moyer
- Who do they add: Buddy Boeheim, Jalen Carey, Robert Braswell, Eli Hughes
- Projected starting lineup: Tyus Battle, Franklin Howard, Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Paschal Chukwu
NBC Pre-Season Top 25
I'm OK with the ranking but "no depth"? Maybe no "proven" depth but I think it's pretty clear that we have some talented bodies on the bench!
I also hope they're wrong about the "ugly, grind-it-out" part.
25. SYRACUSE ORANGE
The Orange have no depth and very little perimeter shooting this side of Buddy Boeheim, but with Tyus Battle back in the fold, I think this Orange team will be able to scrape together enough ugly, grind-it-out wins to be in and around the top 25 all season.
- Who’s gone: Matthew Moyer
- Who do they add: Buddy Boeheim, Jalen Carey, Robert Braswell, Eli Hughes
- Projected starting lineup: Tyus Battle, Franklin Howard, Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Paschal Chukwu
also this:I'm OK with the ranking but "no depth"? Maybe no "proven" depth but I think it's pretty clear that we have some talented bodies on the bench!
Good thing we're so much smarter than we were two years ago! I can't wait for the hysteria that ensues when someone picks us outside the top 20!
If half of the what-ifs and expected improvements happen, it will have been an unusually good result.
Cautious optimism, folks! Better for your health and also, it might bring us good luck.
Similar to no one mentioning Wes Johnson preseason. Some guys are hacks.That's a junk misinformed analysis regardless of where he ranks us.
Similar to no one mentioning Wes Johnson preseason. Some guys are hacks.
Actually they could go down if he learns to finish more at the rim.If brissett packs on 10 pounds of muscle everyones rebound numbers are about to go up. He was built like an animal as a freshman.
These online CBB writers are morons.NBC Pre-Season Top 25
I'm OK with the ranking but "no depth"? Maybe no "proven" depth but I think it's pretty clear that we have some talented bodies on the bench!
I also hope they're wrong about the "ugly, grind-it-out" part.
25. SYRACUSE ORANGE
The Orange have no depth and very little perimeter shooting this side of Buddy Boeheim, but with Tyus Battle back in the fold, I think this Orange team will be able to scrape together enough ugly, grind-it-out wins to be in and around the top 25 all season.
- Who’s gone: Matthew Moyer
- Who do they add: Buddy Boeheim, Jalen Carey, Robert Braswell, Eli Hughes
- Projected starting lineup: Tyus Battle, Franklin Howard, Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Paschal Chukwu
I feel like one of the last Boeheim narratives (true or false) that he needs to squash is the one where it says he doesn't do well with teams that are supposed to be good (but does well with the teams that have lower expectations). 2016-17 was the last time with big expectations and it certainly played out there.
NBC Pre-Season Top 25
I'm OK with the ranking but "no depth"? Maybe no "proven" depth but I think it's pretty clear that we have some talented bodies on the bench!
I also hope they're wrong about the "ugly, grind-it-out" part.
25. SYRACUSE ORANGE
The Orange have no depth and very little perimeter shooting this side of Buddy Boeheim, but with Tyus Battle back in the fold, I think this Orange team will be able to scrape together enough ugly, grind-it-out wins to be in and around the top 25 all season.
- Who’s gone: Matthew Moyer
- Who do they add: Buddy Boeheim, Jalen Carey, Robert Braswell, Eli Hughes
- Projected starting lineup: Tyus Battle, Franklin Howard, Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Paschal Chukwu
He must not have seen our depth last year compared to this year. We’re like fat kids at the Golden Corral
If he can just catch the ball cleanly that will lead to 4 more ppg for him as he will either finish or get fouled. We know he can shoot ftschukwu’s contributions defensively alone are a piece that make this team great. If he can contribute 6 ppg consistently then even better. We dont need him to be an offensive threat. We have 6 guys that should be double digit scorers on any given night.
Tb, fh, ob, md, elijah and jalen carey (remains to be seen on these two)