With the Roster Shaping up

[Jake]

This new lineup regardless of what happens with another center, will be a complete 180 from last year. Red thought he wanted low post, better rebounding, little slow pace than year before. That plan is gone. For good. He will never go back to that. He’s fine if they lose a few rebounds now to have better athletes and scorers. He won 20 games with a run and gun team. He will get back to that

Yep. We kicked the tires on Ballard, but felt he wasn’t a “fit” in style.

 

[nyucuse]

So I’m expecting…

PG:George/Fennel/JJ
2G: JJ/ Kiyan/Kingz
SF: Kingz/Deng/Womack
PF: Freeman/White
C:Kyle/Soure/Freeman

Don’t be surprised if there’s some depth pieces added here and there.

My biggest takeaway….more options that should limit the overuse of JJ.

Thanks, look about right. Slight nits to pick:

I think Kiyan will plan some 3 alongside JJ, to get him on the floor
Deng, if he commits, looks like he a stretch 4 more than a 3 to me. Guessing he sits in a 3.5 forward rotation along with Freeman / Kings / White (and a little Kiyan). Not clear who the .5 would be, but may end up being White given he is pretty raw offensively.

Overall it seems the staff has done about as well as we could hope. My only slight gripe/concern is the 5. Very unproven there at this level between the two additions. One more experienced player capable of filling that role would be ideal, albeit maybe a tough sell given Kyle/Soure signings.

 

[Jake]

Thanks, look about right. Slight nits to pick:

I think Kiyan will plan some 3 alongside JJ, to get him on the floor
Deng, if he commits, looks like he a stretch 4 more than a 3 to me. Guessing he sits in a 3.5 forward rotation along with Freeman / Kings / White (and a little Kiyan). Not clear who the .5 would be, but may end up being White given he is pretty raw offensively.

Overall it seems the staff has done about as well as we could hope. My only slight gripe/concern is the 5. Very unproven there at this level between the two additions. One more experienced player capable of filling that role would be ideal, albeit maybe a tough sell given Kyle/Soure signings.

Agree on all.

 

[dasher]

Yes it would. Does that mean you've heard rumblings?

No I am suggesting it here

 

[Bulldog04]

Any plans on how to improve the defense?

Better depth means if you’re not playing defense, you’re playing the bench

 

[OttoinGrotto]

My biggest takeaway….more options that should limit the overuse of JJ.

On this note, last season, if given a choice between the ball in JJ's hands, or Carlos' hands... JJ is the easy pick.

Next season, if given a choice between the ball in JJ's hands, or George's hands... George is the easy pick.

And that should make a big difference on all kinds of levels.

 

[baggerbob]

Better depth means if you’re not playing defense, you’re playing the bench

And Red originally said he wanted to play fast , with Man to man.
Neither of the first two years did he have that kind of roster. Judah wasn't going to play fast and give up shots.
He was auditioning for the NBA, and thought he needed to score.
Last year you couldn't play that way because you had Eddie and Carlos.

 

[Newhouser]

This new lineup regardless of what happens with another center, will be a complete 180 from last year. Red thought he wanted low post, better rebounding, little slow pace than year before. That plan is gone. For good. He will never go back to that. He’s fine if they lose a few rebounds now to have better athletes and scorers. He won 20 games with a run and gun team. He will get back to that

We didn't seem that run and gun with Judah either. I guess compared to this year's slog.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

So if Deng is out last add to round out the roster, we’ve clearly made a move to upgrade the athleticism and height across the board. Our roster last year was small and full of average athletes. Slow guys. Seems like this overhauling of the roster is all about bringing in better athletes, while also addressing some key weaknesses (point, shooting). Remains to be seen how that translates to an improved defense, but I’m assuming the defense is about more athletic guys guarding other athletic guys. I hope that means JJ and Donnie somehow play better defense through osmosis from the rest of the guys.

Also, only accepting transfers from other P5 schools is a clear change in strategy from last year. Let’s hope Red defines his system with this new group and they create an exciting brand of basketball that returns Syracuse to its rightful place in college basketball.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

So I’m expecting…

Congratulations. It's a small forward.

 

[syrBossHogg]

George > Carlos
Starling = Starling
Kingz > Bell (maybe it's =)
Freeman = Freeman (likely improved)
Kyle < Lampkin

That's an upgraded starting lineup.

Can White replace what we got from Davis? Can Kiyan replace/add to what we got from Taylor? Can Fennell give backup PG minutes?

 

[RedtheGOB]

Any plans on how to improve the defense?

Add a staff member?

 

[grepal]

Thanks, look about right. Slight nits to pick:

I think Kiyan will plan some 3 alongside JJ, to get him on the floor
Deng, if he commits, looks like he a stretch 4 more than a 3 to me. Guessing he sits in a 3.5 forward rotation along with Freeman / Kings / White (and a little Kiyan). Not clear who the .5 would be, but may end up being White given he is pretty raw offensively.

Overall it seems the staff has done about as well as we could hope. My only slight gripe/concern is the 5. Very unproven there at this level between the two additions. One more experienced player capable of filling that role would be ideal, albeit maybe a tough sell given Kyle/Soure signings.

I would love to see another center and a sniper. Do we feel good about Deng coming?

 

[RedtheGOB]

George > Carlos
Starling = Starling
Kingz > Bell (maybe it's =)
Freeman = Freeman (likely improved)
Kyle < Lampkin

That's an upgraded starting lineup.

Can White replace what we got from Davis? Can Kiyan replace/add to what we got from Taylor? Can Fennell give backup PG minutes?

Freeman does not = Freeman. He played all of 10 games his Freshman year and was playing well. Then 2-3 games with a stress fracture. I have expectations he will be significantly better in all areas in November...agree on the rest.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

George > Carlos
Starling = Starling
Kingz > Bell (maybe it's =)
Freeman = Freeman (likely improved)
Kyle < Lampkin

That's an upgraded starting lineup.

Can White replace what we got from Davis? Can Kiyan replace/add to what we got from Taylor? Can Fennell give backup PG minutes?

Kingz is better than Bell. Once Bell tried to expand his game by driven to the basket his whole game declined.

While our starting lineup has improved it’s important to keep in mind our bench has massively improved and our overall athleticism and height is significantly better than last year. Playing short, slow guys didn’t yield great results.

 

[tptcuse]

Better depth means if you’re not playing defense, you’re playing the bench

Of course, that would be great. I am not being snarky, but is there more of a plan than play defense or sit? It seems like effort wasn't the only problem last year. There was no indication that there were sound defensive fundamentals. And I am still unsure if there is any identity. We would all love to see less blowout losses and defense is key to that.

 

[SU Mania]

I am sure we have plans to not be worse. Because that’s impossible. So there’s that.

Let's not tempt fate.

 

[SU Mania]

Better depth means if you’re not playing defense, you’re playing the bench

I'll count that particular chicken when it hatches.

 

[Niastri]

Of course, that would be great. I am not being snarky, but is there more of a plan than play defense or sit? It seems like effort wasn't the only problem last year. There was no indication that there were sound defensive fundamentals. And I am still unsure if there is any identity. We would all love to see less blowout losses and defense is key to that.

The defense was terrible last season. No doubt.

The only bright side is that Freeman dramatically improved over his 14 games. Everybody else was probably physically overmatched or Starling, who has gotten better, but may never be good.

Maybe Freeman got better because of coaching, and guys like Souare and the freshman will get better through coaching as well?

 

[Forloveoforange]

its a big leap hoping starling will automatically become a good defender when he never has been. he constantly just loses track of what is happening (and he also struggles to just stay in front of his man when he is driving) and allows his man to score easy buckets...i am hopeful that will change but dont assume it will. a rim protector will help mask that deficiency but it wont magically fix it. I dont know why that happens to starling so often. it looks like effort...but maybe it is simply lack of ability to lock in and focus. if its that, unless he gets some kind of mental focus training, he likely wont improve on defense. i dont think it is a physical issue...its mental with him.

freeman should be improved but he has to get stronger. i think if he is stronger, he will be better on defense because I think most of his problems were just getting outmuscled by older stronger players...but he "gets" it (unlike starling)...so I actually do assume he will be better

not really remembering george very well...but if he has roughly the same dbpm as carlos...yikes! at least he is 6' 3 so he isnt the shrimp that carlos was trying to pretend to play defense out there...and he may be able to at least do something to defend breakaways (unlike carlos)...transition defense was horrifc this year and that starts with the point guard. that will be key.

kingz should be a big upgrade over bell...i read kingz hgh school coach saying kingz was a great defender so that makes me hopeful with him

yeah kyle seems good ...but is he the starter? is he even capable of starting and playing big minutes? ucla opted to play him as their 3rd stringer, no? and they wanted that to continue this year, as well. his highlights look good. rim protection with him should be a lot better...but hes a 30% foul shooter...i dont know how you can play a guy like that heavy minutes

so yeah, overall, upgrades on defense...but the defense was so bad merely upgrading shouldnt be the question - will the defense be good? thats the real question - and its a lot more iffy.

with all this length, i could see red going for zone - but none of these guys have played zone...so it could easily be another year of peaking in March...and looking clueless until then...defense is about scheme and coordination...its about knowing where to be and where your teammates are and coordination of movements...red hasnt shown he can make that happen before feb/march or so (if that) going zone would make it much more likely that the defense doesnt gel until the season is over again. whatever defense they play they need to finally hit the ground running...the portal era is about 1 year cycles...and not slow builds every single season.

and you mentioned houston...well yeah...defense wins championships...and they are in the title game for a reason..."we wont be houston"...ok...well we should try.

Kyle 30% foul shooting? It was mentioned at upper 30's, but I also saw it at 57%. I think maybe its 57%.

 

[BlackSquirrels]

wouldn't this be a good year to go on a foreign trip?

Considering the number of players on the roster born outside of the United States...NOPE!

 

[dasher]

Considering the number of players on the roster born outside of the United States...NOPE!

What in the world does that have to do with anything?

 

[OrlandoCuse]

What in the world does that have to do with anything?

Student visas are being pulled at an alarming rate.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Freeman does not = Freeman. He played all of 10 games his Freshman year and was playing well. Then 2-3 games with a stress fracture. I have expectations he will be significantly better in all areas in November...agree on the rest.

I do also think he'll be better, I'm just putting him as an = for now until we see him healthy/improved

 

[IthacaMatt]

PLAYER	POS.	HT.	WT.	CLASS	STATUS
JJ Starling	G	6-4	206	Sr.
Donnie Freeman	PF	6-9	205	So.
Kiyan Anthony	G	6-5	185	Fr.
Luke Fennell	G	6-6	190	Fr.
Sadiq White	PF	6-9	200	Fr.
Aaron Womack	SF	6-6	170	Fr.
William Kyle III	C	6-9	230	Sr.	UCLA
Nate Kingz	G/SF	6-5	190	R-Sr.	Oregon St
Naithan George	PG	6-3	185	Jr.	Ga Tech

Right now, it looks like a starting lineup of:

Kyle, Freeman, Kingz, Starling, George.

Bench of Anthony, Fennell, White and Womack.

Other than the lack of a second center, I like this team a lot. If we get a center better than Kyle, I’d think we were nearly a lock for the NCAA Tournament. If we get a lower level warm body, we still have some good players.

I’ve posted a bit in each transfers recruiting thread, but just giving overview thoughts of the lineup as it stands.

Kyle: Extremely athletic and long limbed, I really like him in combination with George. George throws the lob pass with skill that makes it look too easy. Kyle dunks in the same stratosphere as Jeremi Grant and Hakeem Warrick. Kyle runs the floor well, expect him to get some really nice dunks in transition, every game. Kyle is a very plus defender, his agility and long arms allow him to be very switchable in defense without fouling much. I posted a crazy enthusiastic post from an NBA draft board in his thread, seems legit. Not quite the defensive rebounder we would like at center, but boxes out well, and really fights on the offensive glass. Dunks everything from every angle. His UCLA highlights indicate he’ll be catch ball-dunk ball on offense, but his previous year he was his teams go to guy, and demonstrated a decent post game.

Freeman: We all saw him play this year, but he was probably injured and really raw. Lots of improvement quickly as he acclimated to college. Superb defensive rebounder, would have been 3rd in the county in defensive rebounding % if he had qualified. Just the perfect guy to have if you’re going to go with three guards and don’t want to give up on rebounding. Freeman shot .333 from three last year, and .566 on twos, so with Kyle, we’ll have two very good bigs that can finish well around the basket. I think Freeman can shoot significantly better from three than he has shown so far, for what it’s worth.

Kingz: Tremendous offensive player, he does everything on offense, and does it efficiently. Elite shooter, .446 from three on 4.2 attempts per game, .571 on twos. This kid can score, averaging 11.8 on only 7.8 shots. He is probably too selective, we want him shooting more. He also passes well, 1.8 assists to .8 turnovers ratio. Kingz doesn’t rebound much, but at least he’s better than Bell. Still, he’s an average or slightly better defender.

Starling: We all have strong feelings about Starling, even if they’re mixed feelings. He’s really good at some things, really bad at others, but overall he’s a very good offensive player, and scored a lot of points last year for us. If he’s not forced to handle the ball every possession, I think he gets a lot more efficient. We had nobody this past year that was an ACC level point guard. We definitely have one in George next season. One thing I would point out is that Starling, as a sophomore, shot .360 from three in conference play, which was the last time he was able to regularly catch and shoot. Having even another decent combo guard next to him made him much more efficient.

George: George led the ACC in assists per game last season. He has four Points/Assists double doubles and a Points/Rebounds double double. Outside shot he’s going to get our first Syracuse triple double next season. Most of the time he’s on the court, he’ll be the third best defensive reminder, from the point guard position. George is the master of the lob pass. In his highlights, there were a few where it looked lucky it got through, and in the replay you see just how good of a pass it is. He throws it away sometimes, but overall, his turnovers are proactive in trying to create offense, not because he dribbled the ball off his knee or just can’t compete at this level. He’s a legit ball handler. Georgia Tech was a bad offensive team last year. Without George pushing the pace and seeing his teammates up, they would have been terrible. George definitely lost efficiency on his shooting because he was forced to shoot more than he wanted. Nobody else could do anything unless he set them up for a dunk. George assisted on 24.6% off all Georgia Tech’s baskets last year, and scored another 16.7%. His efficiency suffered as a result. George is decent at finishing, he could get better. He’ll appreciate having players who can shoot, drive, and catch the ball and finish next year.

If this turns out to be our starting lineup, I think we’ll be pretty good. Some great athletes, great length at center and power forward. Enough rebounding to effectively use the three guard lineup. We’ll have average to good defense, anchored by Kyle in the middle. The transfers are all even or plus defenders, and I think Freeman gets better with experience. But we’ll be really good on offense, with guys who can hit a three at four positions, and a point guard who can get them the ball when they are open. We’ll have three players who are plus at dribble penetration, and three guards who can pass well enough to get it to the big men who are very good finishing around the basket.

I’m really enthusiastic about the roster at this point. If we get a starter who can push Kyle to being first big off the bench, we look great.

Bigs: Freeman, Kyle, White, Transfer C, Transfer /C

Smalls: Starling, Kingz, George, Anthony, Fennell, Womack, Transfer G/.

Looks like a comfortable Tournament team, especially if the Transfer C is at the top of the depth chart.

Our offense and defense are going to be much better this year than last.

I still think we're going to add another bulkier center, and another forward who can shoot.

Ideally, I'd love to see Deng as the stretch 4 and the big Wichita State kid from Henniger at Center.

That might be too many guys in the front court, but we would have a very deep and competitive team.

But if we get 12 guys, Red's going to have to play at least 10 or 11 of them in the first six weeks of the season, so they all feel like they are part of the team. And his rotations have to be much more predictable.