What the hell are teams going to do?

[edowd26]

next year when our offense matches this years defense???

 

[Alsacs]

Just give this current team 65 PPG in the tournament it could win the NC.

 

[Trueblue25]

next year when our offense matches this years defense???

Pray to their respective gods and offer tribute

 

[kuethstheman]

I'm not sure the defense will be this good next year.

 

[edowd26]

I'm not sure the defense will be this good next year.

efffeeee that sssss, braedon Bayer will be back.

 

[gbo]

next year when our offense matches this years defense???

Isn't that what it is now? Giving up around 60 and scoring around 60.

 

[edowd26]

Isn't that what it is now? Giving up around 60 and scoring around 60.

Come at me bro.

 

[gbo]

Come at me bro.

My man

 

[OrangeFoo]

I'm not sure the defense will be this good next year.

Yeah... not sure how we are going to replace Battle on D. If Hughes can be as good of a defender as Battle and Brissett, Dolezaj, Sidibe all make the leap from Freshman to Sophomore year that you would expect and Bazely, Carey, Boeheim are as good as advertised I would expect us to be a 1 or 2 seed at worst next year.

 

[kuethstheman]

Yeah... not sure how we are going to replace Battle on D. If Hughes can be as good of a defender as Battle and Brissett, Dolezaj, Sidibe all make the leap from Freshman to Sophomore year that you would expect and Bazely, Carey, Boeheim are as good as advertised I would expect us to be a 1 or 2 seed at worst next year.

Being a long-time SU fan, I am of course a pessimist. I see OB leaving and I'm afraid Bazely won't be as good a defender or rebounder as him.

 

[longislandcuse]

If OB comes back, this team should be filthy.

Battle is great up top but Frank is All-ACC Defense and his running mates will be 6'3 Carey and 6'6 Hughes.

Brissett/Bazley/Dolezaj are all tall and athletic with huge wingspans. I actually think Dolezaj could be one of the best wing defenders we've ever had by the team his career is over.

Healthy Chukwu/Sidibe speaks for itself defensively.

The potential is certainly there.

 

[OttoMets]

I'm not sure the defense will be this good next year.

Keep Battle and we've got a shot. Lose him and the defense will be worse. Maybe a lot worse.

But he and Frank are doing an A+ job right now. They're as good as anybody we've had.

 

[realorange]

I'm sure that both Battle and Brissett will test the NBA waters. Battle will likely stay and Brissett?????? Come back or not?
If I'm a GM, Brissett looks better to me than Battle.

 

[edowd26]

I'm sure that both Battle and Brissett will test the NBA waters. Battle will likely stay and Brissett?????? Come back or not?
If I'm a GM, Brissett looks better to me than Battle.

Get the word out. Brisset is really 6'3".

 

[Cusefan0307]

Keep Battle and we've got a shot. Lose him and the defense will be worse. Maybe a lot worse.

But he and Frank are doing an A+ job right now. They're as good as anybody we've had.

I’m confident it will be excellent. We won’t have a midget guard at the top and a 6’5” lateral slow guy on the back line. We’ve had one bad defensive team the last 8 years and that was the reason.

 

[Entropic]

Everyone should just stay and win the championship next year and increase their stock. If everyone stays and we can add actual depth I think we have a great year next year.

 

[SoBristol]

Keep Battle and we've got a shot. Lose him and the defense will be worse. Maybe a lot worse.

But he and Frank are doing an A+ job right now. They're as good as anybody we've had.

Agree -- Tyus and Frank are A+ defenders, and Brissett is right up there with our best rebounders. Keep Battle and Brissett, and we might be top 5 next season. However you see those odds, it is likely that our skinny inside players (Chukwu, Dolezaj and Sidibe) will get stronger and be much improved year over year. Big upside for each of those 3. Then, we see how the chemistry works adding Hughes, Bazley and Carey.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Frank is All-ACC Defense.

Wait what?

 

[OttoMets]

I’m confident it will be excellent. We won’t have a midget guard at the top and a 6’5” lateral slow guy on the back line. We’ve had one bad defensive team the last 8 years and that was the reason.

I don't think the freshman guard will be much good on defense as a freshman. Why? Because the list of good freshman zone defenders at Syracuse is as follows:

- Brandon Triche

Even Battle struggled a lot in his first year. Nearly everybody does. It's not easy to learn those responsibilities, much less to commit them to muscle memory and move in sync with teammates.

 

[Lucid]

I'm not a pessimist, but I am a realist. If we truly are as good offensively next year as we all hope, we likely won't be as good on defense as we are this year because we won't HAVE to be. This defense has sprung from absolute necessity.

 

[longislandcuse]

Wait what?

Sorry, projecting...I'd be shocked if he's not on the All-Defensive team next year.

 

[Arangeman]

Keep Battle and we've got a shot. Lose him and the defense will be worse. Maybe a lot worse.

But he and Frank are doing an A+ job right now. They're as good as anybody we've had.

They disrupt passing lanes as effectively as any pair I can recall. Battle is jumping routes. No easy passes between the guards. Teams really have to focus just making simple passes against us. Has to be taxing.

And Frank is long and disruptive, poking at every ball. Everyone says get the ball to the FT line against the zone. What if you can't?

It's a pleasure to watch those two work together up top. Buy in, coaching, length, talent, instincts.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I'm not sure the defense will be this good next year.

It should be fine as long as Carey and Hughes bring it. Hughes is not a freshman and knows the system. I'd hope that Buddy knows the rotations blindfolded. Generally we're returning more experience than we're accustomed to. And we haven't seen what our 2 centers are truly capable of yet on healthy knees.

This assumes HakAttack does what is necessary to make sure Bris returns. A lot will hinge on that.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Everyone says get the ball to the FT line against the zone. What if you can't?

Teams not familiar with the zone have been too obsessed about getting touches in the paint. This has allowed the guards to sag. Unfortunately Duke is one of the few teams with the height that can neutralize our length. I'm encouraged about JB's comment that the foul line jumper is a lower-percentage shot. Maybe he's realizing that we don't need to collapse if in fact a team can get the ball in there. We know Duke will be able to.

 

[OttoMets]

They disrupt passing lanes as effectively as any pair I can recall. Battle is jumping routes. No easy passes between the guards. Teams really have to focus just making simple passes against us. Has to be taxing.

And Frank is long and disruptive, poking at every ball. Everyone says get the ball to the FT line against the zone. What if you can't?

It's a pleasure to watch those two work together up top. Buy in, coaching, length, talent, instincts.

I'm not sure I ever saw so many deflected passes on attempted ball reversal, skip passes, and kick-outs as I did yesterday. It's not just entry passes like we so often see. I hope everyone remembers this performance for years, because those two are playing the zone about as well as any guard can play it.