Who Is THE KEY Player this Season?

[Col. Bleep]

I was killing some time last night thumbing through SI & Lindy's. SI lists our "key" players as Triche, Coleman, Grant & Fair. Lindy's is similar.

But neither mentions MCW in that capacity.
In fact, he's gets very little recognition from any of the publications.

I don't get it.

Taking nothing away from the other guys, I think Michael Carter-Williams is going to be the engine that makes the team run. He's going to be THE key. If he plays to his potential and he's on his game...we're going to be tough to beat.

I hate to be an optimist...but I think he could be one of the best guards we've ever had.

OK...please tell me why I'm wrong.

(The poll was supposed to have other names as well ...I don't know why they disappeared. So much for functionality. Write in as needed.)

 

[orangefan13]

There isn't one. Especially not yet.

If Grant is a key player then we will hands down have the best frontcourt in basketball without competition. Curious who from SI wrote that.

Southerland was third in shots attempted per 16 minutes for the Cuse last year. He is athletic, got alot more experience in (he didn't get alot as a soph), has some nice passing skills over the defense for a 6'9 SF (reguardless of what people think), and has some super athleticism to block shots and rebound some. And, hes a senior with 2 years more perimeter experience then CJ Fair who sat behind KJO for two years. He spent the whole offseason as a go to forward playing against some physical older ex college players on a team with no depth putting up 35 plus points at times.

Not sure who will make the most big plays down the stretch. Tough to tell.
Dajuan and MCW seem like the most logicial. Triche had the most shots per minutes of any returning player not just last year but the year before also. CJ and Southerland have the seniority, tons of confident looking offensive ability, and experience to make big game changing plays down the stretch. And Cooney will be a practiced sophmore(all elgibility aside) with a perfect swish form outside. Rak could be the guy to make the biggest plays down the stretch to.

 

[bozophobe]

The votes don't seem to be tallying properly. Hmmm.

I voted MCW as well, but only to respect the choices given and the context. My problem here is that the potential right answer is Trevor Cooney. SU has had, what, 3 guards in 7 years go down with an ACL tear. If that or anything else happens (let's just say a much briefer injury, which is more realistic), then Trevor is a starter.

We're deep enough up front for the loss of one player to not be as significant (at the 3/4, I mean). And there's something vaguely frustrating about CJ and James having to compete for PT - although that can be a huge blessing, too, for the reason mentioned above.

The Grant scenario is a good observation, but again, it'd take quite a Marshall St. scandal to wipe out enough forwards to make him the man.

 

[mark79]

I agree with your MCW assessment. If he plays really well we will be really, really good. I'm not sure if I can say that about anyone else. He has the potential to make us special.

 

[orangefan13]

MCW has the potential to be a NBA allstar.

 

[br801]

MCW has the potential to be a NBA allstar.

Perhaps so. But how about letting him play meaningful minutes in a few college games first? Some of the expectations here (not just yours) seem a bit out of control.

 

[realorange]

Theoretically, MCW can take us to another level. But Triche and Cooney could do an excellent job by themselves if MCW didn't exist. Not saying I want it that way, just saying that there is going to be a good team here and a lot of "keys" to unlock a great season.

 

[jordoo]

Its a tough question but I feel like we know that Brandon, CJ, James and MCW will all be productive players based off of last season. Even though we didn't see tons of MCW I feel we saw enough to know he can hold his own on both ends and be an effective player at the very least. CJ, James and Brandon will be at least as effective as last season while most likely putting up bigger numbers in bigger roles. I expect improvements but even without them these three are proven college players.

For me I see the key player/players being DC2 and Rak. If DC2 can score on legit bigs it makes everything easier for our guards and wings which will be the key to them having good seasons offensively. Of course Coleman will need to be good enough on defense to play 25ish minutes. How much can Rak improve from last season? Can he play alongside DC2 and not be an offensive liability? I think we know he can man the middle effectively but can he be good defensively on the wing? Baye is a solid backup that we know what to expect from but IMO the less he plays the better we are because it means that Rak and DC2 are to good to let Baye get off the bench much.

Cooney is also an important player, he's our 3rd guard out of 3 so he will play. If he is good enough to play 15-20min then we won't have to worry too much about foul trouble in the backcourt or wearing MCW or Brandon out over the course of the season.

 

[stuckinbig11]

How can an untested player (MCW) be KEY? The answer to your question is BT.

 

[Cuseman78]

Dubs is definitely the key.

 

[JoeSU]

I'm still trying to figure out who the key player was from last year. Waiters? Melo? Scoop? Joseph? Triche? Fair?
Hard to imagine us going as far as we did without any one of these guys.

 

[StopCoolio]

I've already chalked up MCW being awesome. I'm just that confident about it, so I lump him in with the known quantities. To me, the key to the season is Rak. If Rak plays like the McD's AA that he was, it gives us a whole different dimension and we start to resemble something like the 09-10 team. I'm pretty optimistic of him making the freshman to sophomore leap and that happening.

 

[arbitragegls]

Need to put my Jack&Coke down and put my two fingers in on this discussion. Obviously I am a Triche cheerleader (and even my NCState source laughs at me for being such a staunch supporter) but there is no doubt...the key is how Triche manages his senior year...this is his team unquestionably...now to see how he handles it!??

 

[cuseincincy]

I was killing some time last night thumbing through SI & Lindy's. SI lists our "key" players as Triche, Coleman, Grant & Fair. Lindy's is similar.

But neither mentions MCW in that capacity.
In fact, he's gets very little recognition from any of the publications.

I don't get it.

Taking nothing away from the other guys, I think Michael Carter-Williams is going to be the engine that makes the team run. He's going to be THE key. If he plays to his potential and he's on his game...we're going to be tough to beat.

I hate to be an optimist...but I think he could be one of the best guards we've ever had.

OK...please tell me why I'm wrong.

(The poll was supposed to have other names as well ...I don't know why they disappeared. So much for functionality. Write in as needed.)

Easy answer and its not even close...MCW is the key player. SU will be good even if some players disappoint. MCW is the only player that can make this team great.

 

[Oakland]

I was killing some time last night thumbing through SI & Lindy's. SI lists our "key" players as Triche, Coleman, Grant & Fair. Lindy's is similar.

But neither mentions MCW in that capacity.
In fact, he's gets very little recognition from any of the publications.

I don't get it.

Taking nothing away from the other guys, I think Michael Carter-Williams is going to be the engine that makes the team run. He's going to be THE key. If he plays to his potential and he's on his game...we're going to be tough to beat.

I hate to be an optimist...but I think he could be one of the best guards we've ever had.

OK...please tell me why I'm wrong.

(The poll was supposed to have other names as well ...I don't know why they disappeared. So much for functionality. Write in as needed.)

Not me. MCW and its not close in my mind. A special season depends on MCW being special. He showed last season that he can dish the ball. He is posed for a classical sophomore jump in performance. He was a big time scorer in HS. He shot the ball very badly in the first half of last season and shot it well in the second half. He has the potential to be the engine and a scoring PG. This would make everyone else on the team better. No one else has the same potential.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I was killing some time last night thumbing through SI & Lindy's. SI lists our "key" players as Triche, Coleman, Grant & Fair. Lindy's is similar.

But neither mentions MCW in that capacity.
In fact, he's gets very little recognition from any of the publications.

I don't get it.

Taking nothing away from the other guys, I think Michael Carter-Williams is going to be the engine that makes the team run. He's going to be THE key. If he plays to his potential and he's on his game...we're going to be tough to beat.

I hate to be an optimist...but I think he could be one of the best guards we've ever had.

OK...please tell me why I'm wrong.

(The poll was supposed to have other names as well ...I don't know why they disappeared. So much for functionality. Write in as needed.)

The key to this season is Southerland. I think with everyone else, we pretty much know what we're going to get. Southerland has the most upside, IMO, and could blow up into somebody who makes us a Final Four team. We need him to be focused and consistent.

 

[RollOrange]

The key to this season is Southerland. I think with everyone else, we pretty much know what we're going to get. Southerland has the most upside, IMO, and could blow up into somebody who makes us a Final Four team. We need him to be focused and consistent.

I too think Southerland has all the tools to be great. He's amazingly athletic and has great form when unleashing from long distance. If he develops the ability to put it on the floor, he's going to be a nighmare to match up with.

 

[OttoMets]

We won't be any good without a good point guard, so Mike's very important.

We won't be great without a handful of great players, so Southerland (higher ceiling than nearly anyone on the team) and Rakeem (perfect college four) are very important.

Rakeem won't get to play the four if Coleman is unable to produce for 25 or so minutes per game, so Coleman's very important.

There are a lot of keys.

 

[IthacaMatt]

We won't be any good without a good point guard, so Mike's very important.

We won't be great without a handful of great players, so Southerland (higher ceiling than nearly anyone on the team) and Rakeem (perfect college four) are very important.

Rakeem won't get to play the four if Coleman is unable to produce for 25 or so minutes per game, so Coleman's very important.

There are a lot of keys.

Yes, but I think that Mike showed us enough that we all feel pretty comfortable that he's going to do a very good job for us this year. Pretty much every basketball writer in America has him pegged as a breakout player this year.

And you could make the case that Coleman is the most important, guy, too, because without him we probably won't have much lowpost offense this year. But I think most of us have a quiet confidence about his game as well.

To me, Southerland could be just what he's been so far - talented but streaky and inconsistent - or he could turn into a dead eye killer for us. I seriously could see him being a surprise leading scorer for us this season. That's why I pick him as the key.

 

[OttoMets]

Yes, but I think that Mike showed us enough that we all feel pretty comfortable that he's going to do a very good job for us this year. Pretty much every basketball writer in America has him pegged as a breakout player this year.

And you could make the case that Coleman is the most important, guy, too, because without him we probably won't have much lowpost offense this year. But I think most of us have a quiet confidence about his game as well.

To me, Southerland could be just what he's been so far - talented but streaky and inconsistent - or he could turn into a dead eye killer for us. I seriously could see him being a surprise leading scorer for us this season. That's why I pick him as the key.

I've got South as high scorer on a pretty balanced team.

We've seen way too many highly-rated freshman bigs fizzle to be too confident about Coleman's production. He's clearly worked hard to get fit; this is a terrific start. Still, he's got to be considered an unproven commodity until he's played a few games against teams who have players of his size and skill level.

Mike's looked like a potential star for a long time, but he may be a bit over-hyped right now. People have pretty high expectations for him. Wouldn't be surprised to see an adequate season with some ebbs and flows. Two question marks for him: a.) defense (had some difficulty with this last year), and b.) shooting (everyone claims he's a great shooter, I like his stroke, but he shot 43% from the field last season - really low for a guard with his size). I don't doubt that he'll be a breakout guy at some point, but he might not play at an all-league level from the get-go.

 

[cuseattle]

Brandon Triche is set up to be the leader of this team. I hope the guys follow his lead. This team has a chance to play unselfishly with a high basketball IQ.