Unless JB Really Wants A Shooter On The Wing

[FRANKIEFAN]

I mean we have 4 freshmen who are looking like they are able to handle minutes for 1 forward spot and the minutes behind Benny at the other forward spot as of right now.

3 guys get legit roles and 1 comes on with the walkons. Hard to tell whos odd man out rn. Need to see whos shots drop when the games matter.

 

[Newhouser]

I did like Bell when he missed hustled his butt back on transition and played D. One miss in the corner he busted down and stopped the ball penetration in the opposite corner. Fear of losing minutes is a good motivator and we haven't had that for a few years.

Not signing off on Bennie after one good half. Guys know how to play or they don't - Copeland and Taylor look like they have a handle on how to play, Benny still has a slow mo vibe to me. That is just something i personally don't like, his skill will tell the tale soon.

I think Symir is going to get spot minutes. Joe and Mintz are not going to come out unless fouls or bone head plays lead to a quick pull. Whoever plays we need to practice feeding the post. We are dreadful at it and have been for years.

Feel better about our backup bigs than I have in a long time. Carey and Brown won't get many minutes I don't think but they both were active and looked like they belonged. I think Brown is a player. Hima is a big man - think he can fill his limited role nicely.

I think we are built for the zone (outside of Joe). My concerns are Benny and shooting.

 

[CuseDream]

It sure seems like Quadir is the best option to start at the 3. Small sample size obviously but he looks like the best basketball player of Bell/Taylor/Himself. Nothing against the other two but man he just seems like a hooper.

Not the shooter like the other two but he put himself in position to grab rebounds tonight and you can tell he has a feel for the game offensively. Going to be hard to keep

him off the floor.

Q bringing that philly style tough and gritty. You love to see it. He will be playing 30+ min a night.

 

[DoctahLexus]

As good as he was on offense once he got going, Mintz man to man D in the first half was horrible. No way of sugar coating it, and kind of hard to blame on freshman nerves. Look at the highlight and watch how many times he completely abandons his man for no reason. Zone mistakes (and he had those too) are more understandable, but it can't be a good sign that he was that incompetent at man to man. I also expected him to look a little bigger out there. Joe and Mintz at the top of the zone is my biggest concern after last night.

I think with Copeland there will be games where we really want his size as a guard up top. It could get real ugly with out him and Sy seeing solid minutes up top if we play a team with 6'5 guards who can shoot.

 

[Orangezoo]

I mean we have 4 freshmen who are looking like they are able to handle minutes for 1 forward spot and the minutes behind Benny at the other forward spot as of right now.

3 guys get legit roles and 1 comes on with the walkons. Hard to tell whos odd man out rn. Need to see whos shots drop when the games matter.

The odd man out will be a rotation I believe. I don't see one or more guys truly "out"

 

[MikeSU02]

He got it going for a stretch. Numbers are a little better than what I thought….was guessing 5-15ish.

Defense is what it is….but he does seem to crank it up when there’s 20,000 and he’s fired up.

Was hoping he’d find a way to bring that energy consistently, even when the crowd is dead and the game doesn’t “matter”.

He got going after JB sat him for making back to back bad plays. We went on a 4-0 run. Sy got hurt, Joe came back in. We kept rolling.

Joe still isnt good on D, but that’s not my concern. thats just what it is. He needs to be 1) mentally tough and square his body on his jump shots. He drifts and also kicks out a leg way to much for a #1 option right now and 2) he has to cut way harder off the ball even if it means a few less minutes.

He’s the dude now. He has to work harder to get good looks, especially when we hit conference play. As a leader, he also needs to set the tone and intensity level.

 

[315tillidie]

Mintz is a beast

 

[MSOrange]

Some may not agree with this comparison but Copeland’s game reminded me of Josh Pace. I wasn’t too excited about Copeland’s shot - in fact I thought it was pretty ugly. But he looks like the kind of player who will just find a way to make plays to help you win.

 

[kcsu]

Some may not agree with this comparison but Copeland’s game reminded me of Josh Pace. I wasn’t too excited about Copeland’s shot - in fact I thought it was pretty ugly. But he looks like the kind of player who will just find a way to make plays to help you win.

Copeland can get to the rack against most guards and should be able to take small forwards in his sleep.

 

[OrangeDW]

Some may not agree with this comparison but Copeland’s game reminded me of Josh Pace. I wasn’t too excited about Copeland’s shot - in fact I thought it was pretty ugly. But he looks like the kind of player who will just find a way to make plays to help you win.

Yeah, he showed that Pace like “nose for the ball” where he might prove to be a good rebounder for his size. Really liked some of those passes he made too, and his effort on defense.

 

[Newhouser]

He got going after JB sat him for making back to back bad plays. We went on a 4-0 run. Sy got hurt, Joe came back in. We kept rolling.

Joe still isnt good on D, but that’s not my concern. thats just what it is. He needs to be 1) mentally tough and square his body on his jump shots. He drifts and also kicks out a leg way to much for a #1 option right now and 2) he has to cut way harder off the ball even if it means a few less minutes.

He’s the dude now. He has to work harder to get good looks, especially when we hit conference play. As a leader, he also needs to set the tone and intensity level.

He definitely needs to figure out how to get looks without the ball in his hands. The play where he dribbled into a triple team at half court last night was the same stupid plays he has made his whole career.

That said our scheme needs to help him get open looks.

 

[721Comstock]

Yeah, he showed that Pace like “nose for the ball” where he might prove to be a good rebounder for his size. Really liked some of those passes he made too, and his effort on defense.

This was the BIG question mark, given reports of him in HS literally not playing any D at all.

Clearly the staff has gotten thru to him that effort on D and the boards = PT.

Agree with prior post that him getting called for a foul on that one board was total BS.
Q had the inside position, and yeah - the 2 guys bumped together going for the ball.
Not everything is a foul, and if anything, that was a foul on the other guy, he was more 'over the back', if that's what you wanna call it there.

Q is a crafty dude.
LOVED that quick pass where he got it from Judah on the baseline, and then quickly shuttled it over to Jesse for an easy slam!
And he hit that really tough baseline J to beat the buzzer, that was pretty clutch and desperately needed there.

 

[Orangezoo]

This was the BIG question mark, given reports of him in HS literally not playing any D at all.

Clearly the staff has gotten thru to him that effort on D and the boards = PT.

Agree with prior post that him getting called for a foul on that one board was total BS.
Q had the inside position, and yeah - the 2 guys bumped together going for the ball.
Not everything is a foul, and if anything, that was a foul on the other guy, he was more 'over the back', if that's what you wanna call it there.

Q is a crafty dude.
LOVED that quick pass where he got it from Judah on the baseline, and then quickly shuttled it over to Jesse for an easy slam!
And he hit that really tough baseline J to beat the buzzer, that was pretty clutch and desperately needed there.

The Josh Pace comparisons are solid - I would put him as a combination of Pace and Z.

 

[OrangeDW]

The Josh Pace comparisons are solid - I would put him as a combination of Pace and Z.

Sounds kinda like a guard we had recently, lol.

Maybe I can finally move on now that we have a replacement?!

 

[Orangezoo]

Sounds kinda like a guard we had recently, lol.

Maybe I can finally move on now that we have a replacement?!

Demeanor and communication skills on the court is a pretty big upgrade though

 

[RF2044]

The Josh Pace comparisons are solid - I would put him as a combination of Pace and Z.

I don't see that [outside of the limited shooting].

Strikes me as more like MCW than Z or Kadary. A little wildness that needs to be reigned in a bit, but once that happens -- watch out.

 

[OrangeDW]

Demeanor and communication skills on the court is a pretty big upgrade though

Finally we can win the body language game!!!

No, I know what you mean - recently we haven’t had nearly enough kids who are out there to get after it on a level higher than most. Need more kids with chips on their shoulders laying it all out there on both ends.

 

[Orangezoo]

I don't see that [outside of the limited shooting].

Strikes me as more like MCW than Z or Kadary. A little wildness that needs to be reigned in a bit, but once that happens -- watch out.

I think his vision is elite hence why I called out Z.. senior year Z more specifically. His commitment and hustle reminds a lot of Pace. Comparisons aside he is a unique player more than anything.

 

[Owens guy]

We played them in Hawaii in 95. I was at that game.

We played Illinois in 1989 Elite Eight too at the old Metrodome. Unfortunately I was at that game.

Syracuse is 1-2 all time against Illinois. Time for us to even that series this year.

3 games​

Syracuse 1-2​

DATE		Opposing Coach		Score	Starters	Notes
12/22/1978​	N​	Lou Henson​	L​	61-64​	Cohen, Headd, Bouie, Shackleford, Orr	Orr 16 pts
3/26/1989​	NCAA​	Lou Henson	L​	86-89​	Douglas, Roe, Coleman, Thompson, Owens	Elite Eight; Owens 22 pts, Coleman 11 reb
12/27/1995​	N​	Lou Henson​	W​	92-66​	Sims, Janulis, Hill, Wallace, Burgan	Janulis 18 pts

 

[dasher]

We played Illinois in 1989 Elite Eight too at the old Metrodome. Unfortunately I was at that game.

Syracuse is 1-2 all time against Illinois. Time for us to even that series this year.

3 games​

Syracuse 1-2​

DATE		Opposing Coach		Score	Starters	Notes
​ 12/22/1978​	N​	Lou Henson​	L​	61-64​	Cohen, Headd, Bouie, Shackleford, Orr	Orr 16 pts
​ 3/26/1989​	NCAA​	Lou Henson	L​	86-89​	Douglas, Roe, Coleman, Thompson, Owens	Elite Eight; Owens 22 pts, Coleman 11 reb
​ 12/27/1995​	N​	Lou Henson​	W​	92-66​	Sims, Janulis, Hill, Wallace, Burgan	Janulis 18 pts

Had the lead at the half, they pressed us and took the lead. And we missed the rebound on a late foul shot miss by them. The nightmares are down to 1 a week.

 

[cuseincincy]

Agree on Copeland and I also think its nice to have 3 options to fill one spot. The really only "open" spot in the rotation. They also have enough versatility to make up the top 7 in minutes. Here is my read:

Copeland - I think those that point out the lack of shooting with him in the starting 5 are 100% correct. But I think they are discounting the fact that it would put 3 guys with PG skills on the court together. Its certainly not ideal and having the shooting coming in off the bench isn't a horrible idea. Not sure its a good idea either.

Taylor - No matter who starts Taylor is one of our top 6 and on the court to end the game. One of the most physically ready players we've brought in as a freshman in a while.

Bell - There is a reason he started. We didn't see it but I assume the coaches have. A knockdown shooter that can run the court would be a nice complement to Joe, Judah, Benny and Jesse.

 

[kcsu]

Sounds kinda like a guard we had recently, lol.

Maybe I can finally move on now that we have a replacement?!

Makes two of us

 

[bballbeadle]

Agree on Copeland and I also think its nice to have 3 options to fill one spot. The really only "open" spot in the rotation. They also have enough versatility to make up the top 7 in minutes. Here is my read:

Copeland - I think those that point out the lack of shooting with him in the starting 5 are 100% correct. But I think they are discounting the fact that it would put 3 guys with PG skills on the court together. Its certainly not ideal and having the shooting coming in off the bench isn't a horrible idea. Not sure its a good idea either.

Taylor - No matter who starts Taylor is one of our top 6 and on the court to end the game. One of the most physically ready players we've brought in as a freshman in a while.

Bell - There is a reason he started. We didn't see it but I assume the coaches have. A knockdown shooter that can run the court would be a nice complement to Joe, Judah, Benny and Jesse.

What??? The coaches see things we don’t???

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

What??? The coaches see things we don’t???

Give me 2 guys who can get to the rack, from different spots on the floor in the same possession and either: a) feed Jesse in close; b) find Joe for an open three pointer; 3) hit a cutter; 4) get to the rack for a shot or: shot a midrange shot.
That's good offense.

 

[Sherman20]

I understand but ill take an all around talent like Copeland all day over a 1 dimensional player. Plus non of Bell or Taylor are lights out shooters. Bell will struggle to get his shot off against ACC defenders unless he can put it on the floor.
Cope,mintz, joe, benny edwards. Thats our 5

I think you’re wrong on Bell and definitely wrong that he won’t be able to get his shot off against ACC defenders. Even JB defended Bell last night and said he went 1-9 from 3, but there will be nights he goes 6-9. He said Bell’s a really good shooter and suggested it was due to first game nerves.