Where are we in the pre-season rankings with AW III

[DirtDog44]

Assume AW III winds up signing with the Cuse. Where do you think we are ranked pre-season? If he is added to the current squad I personally think next years Cuse team may be the most deep and talented group since the mid 80's. Does that mean they will dominate on the court...who knows but we certainly will have a chance to cut down the nets. Based on talent I think we should land in the pre-season 4 or 5 spot, but realistically I see us closer to 11 or 12. Every sportswriter will say "Syracuse is loaded but there are too many question marks...can the new guys gel into the system, will Tyus Battle live up to hype, can Chukwu dominate defensively, can Lydon become team leader and average 18 & 8? Bottom line is this team will only get better as the season progresses as they learn to play with one another. This may lead to some early losses but we will be a nightmare match up come March. We will have Senior leadership and a group of guys that have been there before. Thinks are looking rosey..or should I say orangey up on the hill. Thoughts?

 

[RF2044]

Assume AW III winds up signing with the Cuse. Where do you think we are ranked pre-season? If he is added to the current squad I personally think next years Cuse team may be the most deep and talented group since the mid 80's. Does that mean they will dominate on the court...who knows but we certainly will have a chance to cut down the nets. Based on talent I think we should land in the pre-season 4 or 5 spot, but realistically I see us closer to 11 or 12. Every sportswriter will say "Syracuse is loaded but there are too many question marks...can the new guys gel into the system, will Tyus Battle live up to hype, can Chukwu dominate defensively, can Lydon become team leader and average 18 & 8? Bottom line is this team will only get better as the season progresses as they learn to play with one another. This may lead to some early losses but we
#15 will be a nightmare match up come March. We will have Senior leadership and a group of guys that have been there before. Thinks are looking rosey..or should I say orangey up on the hill. Thoughts?

#15 - 18. We lost our top three perimeter guys from last year, and people will be skeptical. White will be a late add that some [even in the sports media] won't be aware of / pay attention to until the season kicks off.

But then we'll cruise to a victory in some preseason tournament and get a lot of attention, and vault into the top 10. If White comes here and the team gels, they could be top 5 - virtually from wire-to-wire.

 

[AZOrange]

#15 - 18. We lost our top three perimeter guys from last year, and people will be skeptical. White will be a late add that some [even in the sports media] won't be aware of / pay attention to until the season kicks off. But then we'll cruise to a victory in some preseason tournament and get a lot of attention, and vault into the top 10. If White comes here and the team gels, they could be top 5 - virtually from wire-to-wire.

The depth is just incredible. Which looked terrible a couple months ago.

 

[RF2044]

The depth is just incredible. Which looked terrible a couple months ago.

We don't often have an "airport" team, but with Chukwu, Coleman, Lydon, Thompson, Roberson, and Moyer -- we'll sure have one this season.

 

[Briancuse]

I would put us in the top ten, but we will probably be 17th or 18th.

 

[Dave85]

12-15

 

[dasher]

Assume AW III winds up signing with the Cuse. Where do you think we are ranked pre-season? If he is added to the current squad I personally think next years Cuse team may be the most deep and talented group since the mid 80's. Does that mean they will dominate on the court...who knows but we certainly will have a chance to cut down the nets. Based on talent I think we should land in the pre-season 4 or 5 spot, but realistically I see us closer to 11 or 12. Every sportswriter will say "Syracuse is loaded but there are too many question marks...can the new guys gel into the system, will Tyus Battle live up to hype, can Chukwu dominate defensively, can Lydon become team leader and average 18 & 8? Bottom line is this team will only get better as the season progresses as they learn to play with one another. This may lead to some early losses but we will be a nightmare match up come March. We will have Senior leadership and a group of guys that have been there before. Thinks are looking rosey..or should I say orangey up on the hill. Thoughts?

In 2012 we went 34-3. This team isn't better. Ask yourself this...would you rather have White, Gillon and battle this year or Silent G, Cooney and Mali? Now, we have Thompson, Moyer and PC. Plus improvements of Roberson and DC (we hope) but would we trade Mali, Cooney and Silent G for White, Gillon and Battle?

 

[Dave85]

In 2012 we went 34-3. This team isn't better. Ask yourself this...would you rather have White, Gillon and battle this year or Silent G, Cooney and Mali? Now, we have Thompson, Moyer and PC. Plus improvements of Roberson and DC (we hope) but would we trade Mali, Cooney and Silent G for White, Gillon and Battle?

Gillon may be better driving into the lane and getting fouled than Cooney. Battle may be better getting to the rim than Malachi. I can't argue with G because he was the team's leader. White will be 3/4 of G. Hopefully Moyer, TT, and Chukwu meet or exceed our last year's team potentials. I like this year's team having DC and TR as senior leadership. I like it that we have 4 players with Final Four experience.

 

[dasher]

Gillon may be better driving into the lane and getting fouled than Cooney. Battle may be better getting to the rim than Malachi. I can't argue with G because he was the team's leader. White will be 3/4 of G. Hopefully Moyer, TT, and Chukwu meet or exceed our last year's team potentials.

I was asking about a 3 for 3 trade.

 

[Dave85]

I was asking about a 3 for 3 trade.

It's really hard to gauge your comparison. It's a toss up in some ways but of course I would prefer known quantities.

I like this year's team having DC and TR as senior leadership. I like it that we have 4 players with Final Four experience.

 

[cusetown1]

We will be in contention for all the marbles along with 10-15 other teams, that's all you can ask for.

 

[jordoo]

#15 - 18. We lost our top three perimeter guys from last year, and people will be skeptical. White will be a late add that some [even in the sports media] won't be aware of / pay attention to until the season kicks off.

But then we'll cruise to a victory in some preseason tournament and get a lot of attention, and vault into the top 10. If White comes here and the team gels, they could be top 5 - virtually from wire-to-wire.

We may sneak up a little higher like 13 but I agree once we roll through the OOC we will hit top5 and stay there. Its a very talented group of players but one that can easily fly under the radar and one with lots of new pieces so voters will need to see them a few times to realize how good they are.

I bet the coaches in the ACC won't sleep on us when the conference gets together.

 

[andyw715]

Final Four baby!

Who cares about the rankings.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I was asking about a 3 for 3 trade.

That's a difficult question. Our main strength will be the frontcourt.

I'm expecting White and Gillon to be a lot more efficient offensively than Cooney/Malachi.

 

[Dave85]

Final Four baby!

Who cares about the rankings.

I like the way you think.

 

[Briancuse]

That's a difficult question. Our main strength will be the frontcourt.

I'm expecting White and Gillon to be a lot more efficient offensively than Cooney/Malachi.

That is true, but our backcourt is not too far behind it. If Howard takes the soph leap, and Battle is as good as some people think,we could have one of the better backcourts in the conference.

 

[OrangeTarheel]

In 2012 we went 34-3. This team isn't better. Ask yourself this...would you rather have White, Gillon and battle this year or Silent G, Cooney and Mali? Now, we have Thompson, Moyer and PC. Plus improvements of Roberson and DC (we hope) but would we trade Mali, Cooney and Silent G for White, Gillon and Battle?

I wouldn't pick one over another b/c I don't want to put anyone down. They're all great players.

The problem is getting these kids to play well together quickly. Different skill sets coming in, players and coaches need to figure out where the pieces fit best. That can be frustrating early on in the season. Then you have the zone principles that take time to instill. I think this team will have to figure it out as the season goes. Those are some of my favorite seasons anyway, when the kids have the opportunity to make their mark, begin to realize it and deliver something special.

This post is all over the freaking place, totally Bud Poliquan'd it.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Assume AW III winds up signing with the Cuse. Where do you think we are ranked pre-season? If he is added to the current squad I personally think next years Cuse team may be the most deep and talented group since the mid 80's. Does that mean they will dominate on the court...who knows but we certainly will have a chance to cut down the nets. Based on talent I think we should land in the pre-season 4 or 5 spot, but realistically I see us closer to 11 or 12. Every sportswriter will say "Syracuse is loaded but there are too many question marks...can the new guys gel into the system, will Tyus Battle live up to hype, can Chukwu dominate defensively, can Lydon become team leader and average 18 & 8? Bottom line is this team will only get better as the season progresses as they learn to play with one another. This may lead to some early losses but we will be a nightmare match up come March. We will have Senior leadership and a group of guys that have been there before. Thinks are looking rosey..or should I say orangey up on the hill. Thoughts?

I love the enthusiasm and I agree with a lot of these thoughts. But I don't think we are going to be ranked in the top 5 or top 10 if we get White. I think we will wind up in the mid to high teens in the early season polls. We have so many new parts and our top 3 scorers left. Most poll voters aren't going to be that familiar with what we've added, and how well the parts fit.

I'll be happy just to start in the top 25 so our highlights are on Sports Center. This team will take a couple months to gel defensively. Lots of new guys need to learn the top of the zone. I think we realize how good we could be, but I think we are going to surprise a lot of people.

 

[Trueblue25]

Week 1 ranked 18-24

Week 5 ranked 4-8

Week 10 numero uno

End of march, undefeated and cutting down the nets.

10 years later still undefeated