To start, these were 2 exhibition games against teams we should have crushed and we did what we were suppose to do. That being said there were multiple teams that struggled against D2 teams this year in exhibition games including Duke. Now Duke will still be a force this year but it should be noted they could have some early season struggles while the players/coaches figure out roles and not chemistry.
Moving on, going off what I just said and it’s pretty obvious the Italy trip has helped us. Just watching some other exhibitions a lot of teams are trying to gel/figure out chemistry on the court, etc...it seems the Italy trip helped our players figure each other out and helped some players understand their roles and teammates strengths/weaknesses.
I would not be shocked if we beat Virginia our first game. Virginia’s whole team is basically being thrown into new roles this year, very inexperienced and it’s good to get them early as I think they will struggle early while finding themselves. By the end of the season I expect them to be the typical Virginia and be a top 5 seed come tourney time. This Cuse team seems to play better as a team, we have more shooters, roles seem to be more defined, and we are able to space out teams with our shooters. Offense should not be a problem this year and we are almost always solid on defense and always get better on that end as the season progresses. I think this team is vastly underrated and Boeheim does his best work when team expectations are low, exactly the case this season.
I think Hughes will Star in the leader role and main scorer, he just has “it”. He can make the difficult shots, he seems to have improvise his passing ability and has been a pleasant surprise so far with the ball in his hands. Buddy seems to be carrying over the momentum he finished with from last season. JG3 is being JG3, I don’t care who you are it’s hard to defend a player when he can literally knock down a shot from anywhere once he passes half court. He may not be the most athletic kid but neither is Trae Young, Steph Curry, Jimmer, GMAC, etc...not saying he is going to have the career those guys had/have but it’s worth noting you don’t need size/elite athleticism to be an elite shooter and be a great player. I think Quincy will be a stud by year’s end and Marek will be the glue guy he’s always been here which needed for great teams. Overall I think this team can be really damn good. The Virginia game and the early season tourney will tell a lot in my opinion to see what to expect this season.
Our biggest question marks are as expected, Carey and the point guard position and our big men. Carey just needs to be serviceable which I think he will be and I think by the end of the year our center position will be fine. There is something about Edwards that makes me believe he’s gonna be a first rounder by the time he leaves here, not saying this year but in a couple years. Prediction and this may surprise some people, I think we end up as a top 6 seed come tourney time, beat Virginia in our first game and only have 1-2 losses come full on ACC play. GO CUSE
Moving on, going off what I just said and it’s pretty obvious the Italy trip has helped us. Just watching some other exhibitions a lot of teams are trying to gel/figure out chemistry on the court, etc...it seems the Italy trip helped our players figure each other out and helped some players understand their roles and teammates strengths/weaknesses.
I would not be shocked if we beat Virginia our first game. Virginia’s whole team is basically being thrown into new roles this year, very inexperienced and it’s good to get them early as I think they will struggle early while finding themselves. By the end of the season I expect them to be the typical Virginia and be a top 5 seed come tourney time. This Cuse team seems to play better as a team, we have more shooters, roles seem to be more defined, and we are able to space out teams with our shooters. Offense should not be a problem this year and we are almost always solid on defense and always get better on that end as the season progresses. I think this team is vastly underrated and Boeheim does his best work when team expectations are low, exactly the case this season.
I think Hughes will Star in the leader role and main scorer, he just has “it”. He can make the difficult shots, he seems to have improvise his passing ability and has been a pleasant surprise so far with the ball in his hands. Buddy seems to be carrying over the momentum he finished with from last season. JG3 is being JG3, I don’t care who you are it’s hard to defend a player when he can literally knock down a shot from anywhere once he passes half court. He may not be the most athletic kid but neither is Trae Young, Steph Curry, Jimmer, GMAC, etc...not saying he is going to have the career those guys had/have but it’s worth noting you don’t need size/elite athleticism to be an elite shooter and be a great player. I think Quincy will be a stud by year’s end and Marek will be the glue guy he’s always been here which needed for great teams. Overall I think this team can be really damn good. The Virginia game and the early season tourney will tell a lot in my opinion to see what to expect this season.
Our biggest question marks are as expected, Carey and the point guard position and our big men. Carey just needs to be serviceable which I think he will be and I think by the end of the year our center position will be fine. There is something about Edwards that makes me believe he’s gonna be a first rounder by the time he leaves here, not saying this year but in a couple years. Prediction and this may surprise some people, I think we end up as a top 6 seed come tourney time, beat Virginia in our first game and only have 1-2 losses come full on ACC play. GO CUSE
