Will Baye Moussa Keita ever be a Starter?

[Su Grad Wannabe]

Agree with dollar bill your basically saying hes not going to improve in 3 years. Anybody watch A.O nd rick there senior Year? Give the kid a chance nd Being able to ply the 4 helps because if DC comes back for his sophmore year Baye can slide to the 4. Imagine Baye with 20-30 more pounds and two more fukkin seasons? And JB always goes with the senior over a rook or soph.

 

[OrangeZone]

as his offense develops, he gets more PT; the other aspects are there. He plays D and hustles. He runs the floor well. I love the way he works. Starter or not, he plays a significant role moving forward.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

I feel that this year Baye Moussa keita will behind Fab and the same with the following year. Then in his senior year depending on who we get Baye may not start his senior year as well. If this happens hell be the best sixth man in Syracuse history.

It depends upon how much Fab has improved. Until he hurt his hand last year, Baye was clearly better than Fab and should have been starting sooner than he did.

Fab needs to step it up this year and if he doesn't then Baye should and will start

 

[cuseincincy]

Impossible to say as of right now. So much conjecture about players coming and going. I can certainly envision him starting either of the next 2 years. I know it is a mortal sin to think that he could possibly start in front of DC since he supposedly would have started last year. If I had to make a guess I would say he'll get 15-20 minutes the next 2 years as a backup. If, and this is still a big if, Melo leaves before his sr year I would not be shocked to see Keita start as a senior. I do not believe he will ever redshirt. That is just some peoples easy way out for figuring out how Melo, Rak, Keita and DC will all play on the same team. I'm sure its happened but I can not remember the last time a veteran player redshirted not due to injury. Senior year, If Melo is gone and Rak is gone I can envision Keita staring at either the 4 orthe 5. I would imagine by his senior year Keita would be as good offensively as Rak will be this year. Using my crystal ball my 2013-2014 starting 5 will be:
1 - MCW
2- Cooney
3 - Grant
4- Fair
5 - Coleman

That would mean Rak, Melo & Waiters will have to leave early. Honestly, that is not likely that all 3 will.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

I would imagine by his senior year Keita would be as good offensively as Rak will be this year.

Pretty strong assessment, since Rak's strength has never been his offense. We'll see how he fares against BE defenses. My personal feeling is that Baye is likely further along than Rak offensively. Defensively, Rak may be further along, although again playing against BE big men is a far cry from playing against much smaller high school players. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Pretty strong assessment, since Rak's strength has never been his offense. We'll see how he fares against BE defenses. My personal feeling is that Baye is likely further along than Rak offensively. Defensively, Rak may be further along, although again playing against BE big men is a far cry from playing against much smaller high school players. We'll have to wait and see.

Most bigs improve over time but some don't. About the only thing I can conclude, based on Seikaly and some of UCons bigs, is that some of those that come in with the least experience are the ones that make the biggest jumps. It would not surprise me if Baye has a higher upside than Rak, but then again, it could be the other way around. Only averaging 10 pts a game as a HS senior means that Rak has a long road to travel to obtain an acceptable offensive game by NBA standards. Will he develop like Otis Hill (who might have had the best footwork of any big in his senior year), etc? or not develop like Roberts, spaz boy, (to be fair - he played without knees)? Unless Rak develops his offense he will not be an undergraduate NBA pick. On the other hand, Baye has actually made a nice baseline jumper during a real game. With more experience, more strength, and good health, he may continue to surprise.

 

[Czar]

I say no. To the people who say we're selling him short, it's just a matter of circumstance. He could have been the starting center on most of the Syracuse teams the past decade except for the Onuaku ones. The issue is the talent around him. Despite what happened last year, we all know Melo has a much, much higher ceiling than Baye and is more talented all round than him. Then we have DC2 coming in after that. And again, we might have Noel coming in even after that. Baye is just a victim of circumstance, but being a consistent #6 is not bad at all. Especially if he can lengthen his game and be able to defend the wing and play some 4 a year down the line.