Wednesday Articles

[sutomcat]

I am temporarily filling in for OE as he recovers from surgery. Get well soon Dan.

SU News

Trivia Question: What Syracuse Players Have Played in the NBA Finals (PS; Carlson)

Which Syracuse basketball players have made the NBA finals?

The question was a tricky one. None of them rank among Syracuse's most notable players. They suited up before many of us, including myself, were born. It takes a true fan, and a long-time one, to know the answer.

One dear reader was wise enough, and old enough, to deliver an answer to a question that was beyond even beat writer Mike Waters' expertise. Congratulations to Will Graham, today's ultimate Orange fan.

1. chris carlson @ccarlsononSU
   What three #Syracuse players have played in an NBA finals series? Enter your guess and be hero for the day. http://ow.ly/xzIu8
   

will graham will6786
Follow
@ccarlsononSU dennis duval marty brynes bill gabor
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Frank Howard Talk About His Recovery From Last Year's Knee Injury (PS; Waters)

It was only after he was able to play in a few recent AAU events that Frank Howard received an invitation to play in the Mary Kline Classic.

Howard, a 6-foot-5 junior guard from Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va., played in the Mary Kline Classic's underclassmen game Saturday.

The Syracuse commit appeared to be still shaking off the rust that developed as he sat out for nearly nine months after tearing the ACL in his left knee last July. He couldn't get a shot to drop and had no points at halftime, but he bounced back with 11 points in the second half.
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2014 Draft Profile: SU F CJ Fair (the Juice; Cheng)

The NBA Draft is a little more than a month away, and Syracuse has two players that will definitely get drafted (Tyler Ennis, Jerami Grant) with a possibility for a third (CJ Fair). Today, we take a look at Fair, who returned for his senior season. Fair was the ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year, and led the Orange in scoring at 16.5 ppg.

Here is The Juice Online’s scouting report on Fair:

Strengths: Classic glue guy… Can score in a variety of ways… Consistent and reliable mid-range jumper… Capable slasher… Jab step allows him to create separation… Can hit the 3-point shot… Left-handed shot in the paint is near automatic… Solid rebounder… Wiry frame helps with steals and blocked shots… Has thrown down some highlight reel dunks… Good free throw shooter… Calm demeanor… Never rattled.
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Recruiting

Howard vs Diagne

Impressions of SU Basketball Recruits at the Mary Kline Classic (PS; Waters)

It's not wise to come to a conclusion on a high school basketball player after watching him in just one game.

It's downright fool-hardy to make an assessment if that one game was a charity all-star game in May.

So right from the start, let's put this out there: The following should be considered only an impression of the three Syracuse University commits who participated in the Mary Kline Classic on Saturday at West Orange (N.J.) High School. The evaluations are being made in the context that this was a fun game played in a loosely-organized, barely-coached atmosphere.

Still, the event's two games did put Syracuse incoming freshman Chris McCullough and Class of 2015 commits Moustapha Diagne and Frank Howard on the court with some of the best high school players in the country.
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Derrick Jones Has Syracuse Ups

Thomas Bryant

SU Is Out of Scholarships But Still Recruiting Derrick Jones and Thomas Bryant (PS; Waters)

Moustapha Diagne announced Saturday at the Mary Kline Classic in West Orange, N.J., that he had picked Syracuse University over offers from several other big-time basketball schools.

Diagne's decision brought Syracuse's recruiting haul in the Class of 2015 to four. Diagne, a 6-8 forward from Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta, N.J., joined Malachi Richardson, a 6-5 guard from Trenton (N.J.) Catholic; Tyler Lydon, a 6-9 forward from Pine Plains, N.Y.; and Frank Howard, a 6-5 guard from Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va.

The commitments, combined with the players currently on Syracuse's roster, would put the Orange at the NCAA's limit of 13 scholarship players heading into the 2015-16 academic year.

However, the Syracuse coaches will continue to pursue two highly-rated players in the 2015 class — Thomas Bryant, a 6-10 power forward/center from Rochester, N.Y., and Derrick Jones, a 6-6 wing from Philadelphia. Bryant is the No. 11-rated player in the 2015 class, according to At their request, this network is being blocked from this site., and Jones is ranked 13th.
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Former Players

Born Winner Brandon Triche is 1 Win Away From Winning Italian Pro Title (PS; Ditota)

Brandon Triche could be home within a week.

The former Syracuse University and Jamesville-DeWitt High School guard now plays for Aquila Basket, a professional basketball team in Trento, Italy. Trento defeated Capo D'Orlando today in the Gold League finals 74-69 to take a 2-0 lead in the five-game championship series.

Triche, his team's leading scorer at 16.7 points per game, scored 23 today in a variety of ways. He finished on the fast break. He sank 3-point shots. He beat his defender with a crossover dribble and finished at the rim.

He also fed the post, hit open teammates and threw a sweet no-look pass in transition to teammate Davide Pascolo, who finished the play.

Triche's 23 points included a 5-for-11 performance from the 3-point line.
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Catching Up with Kris Joseph (PS; Ditota)

Kris Joseph seeks stability.

The former Syracuse University basketball forward spent a year abroad. He played professionally for Chalon, a team in the French A League. His second season as a basketball professional followed an unsettling rookie year that included mystifying and marginalizing moves that transformed him from player to puppet.

Within a span of 16 months:

• The Boston Celtics drafted him and released him.
• The Brooklyn Nets signed him, then included him in a blockbuster trade with the Celtics that involved Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
• The Celtics released him a second time.
• The timing of the trade prevented him from signing with another team in last July's NBA Summer League.
• He waited (and waited) for paperwork to materialize from a proposed deal in China before opting for a different deal in France.

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[SmilinBob]

Who would have thought that Triche would be SU's next Rosey Bouie. What an incredible experience to have while still being able to do the thing you love.

 

[SWC75]

Would Syracuse continue to pursue Bryant and Jones if they didn't have a specific idea that a couple of scholarships will open up for them by then?

 

[sutomcat]

Would Syracuse continue to pursue Bryant and Jones if they didn't have a specific idea that a couple of scholarships will open up for them by then?

Other schools routinely do this, and sometimes get burned where they have an extra player on scholarship that they really can't give a scholarship to. I think this happened with Buss and Indiana a couple of years ago.

SU has, to my knowledge, been historically very conservative awarding scholarships, routinely playing seasons with 11 or 12 scholarship players (though they might award the extras to walk-ons).

To make an analogy to plane reservations, I think the Syracuse staff has been willing to book all 13 scholarships but not to overbook, so when a player transfers, gets kicked out of school or leaves the program early to play professionally, the staff has been willing to play with 11 or 12 true scholarship players. As we all know, this has been how the scholarship situation has been for some years now.

This approach can help with the APR, if the extra scholarships are awarded to walk-ons who also happen to be good students. But it also can lead to alarming lack of depth, especially when injuries occur.

Maybe the staff has made a decision to get a little less conservative given the history of the program, where many players do not stay for 4 or 5 seasons, and is willing to throw the dice and overbook given the extremely high probability one or more players scheduled to be on scholarship for 2015-16 will not be around by that point?

 

[SmilinBob]

Would Syracuse continue to pursue Bryant and Jones if they didn't have a specific idea that a couple of scholarships will open up for them by then?

I'd assume a possible transfer due to lack of PT or an X amount going pro.

 

[SWC75]

Other schools routinely do this, and sometimes get burned where they have an extra player on scholarship that they really can't give a scholarship to. I think this happened with Buss and Indiana a couple of years ago.

SU has, to my knowledge, been historically very conservative awarding scholarships, routinely playing seasons with 11 or 12 scholarship players (though they might award the extras to walk-ons).

To make an analogy to plane reservations, I think the Syracuse staff has been willing to book all 13 scholarships but not to overbook, so when a player transfers, gets kicked out of school or leaves the program early to play professionally, the staff has been willing to play with 11 or 12 true scholarship players. As we all know, this has been how the scholarship situation has been for some years now.

This approach can help with the APR, if the extra scholarships are awarded to walk-ons who also happen to be good students. But it also can lead to alarming lack of depth, especially when injuries occur.

Maybe the staff has made a decision to get a little less conservative given the history of the program, where many players do not stay for 4 or 5 seasons, and is willing to throw the dice and overbook given the extremely high probability one or more players scheduled to be on scholarship for 2015-16 will not be around by that point?

I've wondered if all the players we've lost early might have an impact on their recruiting philosophy. I suppose it'a good thing that our problem used to be guys transferring to other schools and now it's guys going pro early.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I think they smell some early-outs to the NBA.

 

[stumpy78]

I think that Cooney, Gbinije or Johnson could be gone after next year. The first two taking their degrees to Europe and Johnson transferring. A lot of high quality bodies at the 2, 3 and 4 slots. I actually think McCullough stays for 2.

 

[SWC75]

I think that Cooney, Gbinije or Johnson could be gone after next year. The first two taking their degrees to Europe and Johnson transferring. A lot of high quality bodies at the 2, 3 and 4 slots. I actually think McCullough stays for 2.

I hope we don't lose BJ. He has star quality.