Top 5 with Fab. Top 15 without.

[suhoops4life]

His presence cannot be overstated.

Scrappy SU team tonight regardless. Could've headed down the road of a new year swoon, but hung tough after the shakey start. Pride was definitely on display.

Hopefully, if Fab comes back, the "attitude" will stick around. GO ORANGE!

 

[cusetown1]

still a top team without. They would still be the deepest team in the country going 9 deep. Rak would be very good by season's end he'd make up for the loss.

 

[SoBristol]

Rak is going to be really good -- next year. He was decent last night battling against Yancey Gates; Rak has a lot of promise as a PF, but you really don't want to have him as your primary C.
Cincy has one good inside player -- their forwards were not particularly good.
Without Fab, most of the top 10 teams will expose our weakness inside.

 

[iommi]

IMO we're about 20-25 without Fab.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

We lose our edge without Fab. He gives us some nastiness. Dion can't handle the "edge factor" alone.

 

[44cuse]

still a top team without. They would still be the deepest team in the country going 9 deep. Rak would be very good by season's end he'd make up for the loss.

For whatever reason, and I'm baffled by this, this team lost its edge and attitude without Fab. No way this team is as good without him.

From a depth perspective, he's probably the guy we could least afford to lose because Keita and Rak are not ready for Top 5 play yet night in and night out.

44cuse

 

[cusetown1]

For whatever reason, and I'm baffled by this, this team lost its edge and attitude without Fab. No way this team is as good without him.

From a depth perspective, he's probably the guy we could least afford to lose because Keita and Rak are not ready for Top 5 play yet night in and night out.

44cuse

how can you tell by 2 games? They had a terrible game against ND and had their biggest win last night. yes it would be a big loss, I feel they could adjust. Rak is gaining confidence, it might be a blessing in disguise that Melo was out for a little while. I don't think he will be lost for the year either.

 

[44cuse]

Because I watched the games. Not trying to be flip. I'm being 100% serious. The team that took the floor on Saturday essentially had BT's body language for the whole game. Not good. And while last night was a good performance (not sure I agree it was the best of the year), they still look different than they did with Fab.

Put all the faith in the world you want with Rak, but Fab is more productive and influential in the post than Rak (right now). Agree the minutes will help him, but I find it hard to argue this team isn't better with Fab.

44cuse

 

[All4SU]

As JB has said, the difference in this team between last year and this year is the improvement of Fab and Dion. Take Fab out of the mix, and this squad is very similar to last year's team. Especially on a night when Dion is not playing well.

 

[jdubs30]

IMO we're about 20-25 without Fab.

Maybe any other year, but not this year. It seems like a down year across the board.

 

[ImperialOrange]

How does Fab improve our 3 pt shooting % or Free Throw %? Defense wasn't the issue these last 2 games as much as not being able to score.

Also, we've missed way too many bunnies this year in most every game.

Bottom line, we should win games in which we hold the opposition to 67 and 53 points.