Baby, Baby, Baby, Ohhhh: Checking in with the Young '14-15 Orange
Halftime for the Orange, hosting a travel weary but feisty Hampton. Everyone is still figuring these guys out through the first 60 minutes of the season, including Boeheim. Here's my quick thoughts on the brand new team:
The Familiar Returnees
Rak Christmas - Much is expected of the senior center, who averaged 5.8 ppg last season. He may very well push double-figures this season, but I'd be more happy with an ACC Defensive Player of the Year nomination, though he won't put up the stats to win it. I don't even know if they do a shortlist of nominations for that...
Trevor Cooney - Starting off the season in a shooting slump! Maybe that means he'll finish on a hot streak?
Michael Gbinije - I actually think he's got the best chance out of these four guys of taking a major leap this season. He will get the minutes. Boeheim seems to trust him.
DaJuan Coleman - Still recovering from a knee injury. Best case scenario is he is playing meaningful minutes by ACC season. Worst case scenario is he never plays meaningful basketball again.
The Vaguely Familiar 'sons
Tyler Roberson - He played over 100 more minutes than either of the other 'sons last season, and thus he cracks the starting lineup this year. The double-double against Kenn. Mt. St. U. is exactly what we need him to bring at the three.
BJ Johnson - CJ Fair played a joke on everybody and snuck back onto the team, flipping his number five to a number two and taking a horribly obvious pseudonym. Either that, or, more terrifyingly, this. Stay tuned to find out which joke the Sports Sauna decides to roll with this season. I do know Josh Pace is somehow involved.
Ron Patterson - He brought the ball up a couple times on Friday with Gbinije sitting out for a mysterious team violation. Best case scenario is he's SU's best shooter this season. In-game, that is. Cooney is the greatest shooter in the history of SU practice. (Crap, I think I'm sick of Cooney! Prove me wrong, Trevor!)
The Guy Whose Back Story I've Have to Explain Several Times to My Dad Before He Remembers
Chinoso Obokoh - He was a redshirt last year, dad. Remember? We had Christmas, Keita, and Coleman so we didn't need him. He might not see much action this year, either, depending on the last guy on this list. We'll need him sorely after Rak graduates.
The Freshmen
Kaleb Joseph - Our new starting point guard. I was delighted to see him pouring in points in the exhibition game. Looks like he can shoot and get to the hoop, but is most interested in passing. He's not Ennis. He's not MCW. He's a different dude. Stay tuned...
Chris McCullough - Holy crap, he's going to be awesome. Very raw, but if you didn't know anything about the team and started watching them scrimmage, you'd pick him to have the best shot in the NBA. Either him, or Cooney, who makes EVERYTHING in practice. (OK, no more picking on Cooney, at least for a full month.) I am very excited about this guy. His development, not Joseph's, might determine how far the Orange go this year. He will be a star by next season. If he is a star this season, SU is going to be in fantastic shape.
The Familiar Returnees
Rak Christmas - Much is expected of the senior center, who averaged 5.8 ppg last season. He may very well push double-figures this season, but I'd be more happy with an ACC Defensive Player of the Year nomination, though he won't put up the stats to win it. I don't even know if they do a shortlist of nominations for that...
Trevor Cooney - Starting off the season in a shooting slump! Maybe that means he'll finish on a hot streak?
Michael Gbinije - I actually think he's got the best chance out of these four guys of taking a major leap this season. He will get the minutes. Boeheim seems to trust him.
DaJuan Coleman - Still recovering from a knee injury. Best case scenario is he is playing meaningful minutes by ACC season. Worst case scenario is he never plays meaningful basketball again.
The Vaguely Familiar 'sons
Tyler Roberson - He played over 100 more minutes than either of the other 'sons last season, and thus he cracks the starting lineup this year. The double-double against Kenn. Mt. St. U. is exactly what we need him to bring at the three.
BJ Johnson - CJ Fair played a joke on everybody and snuck back onto the team, flipping his number five to a number two and taking a horribly obvious pseudonym. Either that, or, more terrifyingly, this. Stay tuned to find out which joke the Sports Sauna decides to roll with this season. I do know Josh Pace is somehow involved.
Ron Patterson - He brought the ball up a couple times on Friday with Gbinije sitting out for a mysterious team violation. Best case scenario is he's SU's best shooter this season. In-game, that is. Cooney is the greatest shooter in the history of SU practice. (Crap, I think I'm sick of Cooney! Prove me wrong, Trevor!)
The Guy Whose Back Story I've Have to Explain Several Times to My Dad Before He Remembers
Chinoso Obokoh - He was a redshirt last year, dad. Remember? We had Christmas, Keita, and Coleman so we didn't need him. He might not see much action this year, either, depending on the last guy on this list. We'll need him sorely after Rak graduates.
The Freshmen
Kaleb Joseph - Our new starting point guard. I was delighted to see him pouring in points in the exhibition game. Looks like he can shoot and get to the hoop, but is most interested in passing. He's not Ennis. He's not MCW. He's a different dude. Stay tuned...
Chris McCullough - Holy crap, he's going to be awesome. Very raw, but if you didn't know anything about the team and started watching them scrimmage, you'd pick him to have the best shot in the NBA. Either him, or Cooney, who makes EVERYTHING in practice. (OK, no more picking on Cooney, at least for a full month.) I am very excited about this guy. His development, not Joseph's, might determine how far the Orange go this year. He will be a star by next season. If he is a star this season, SU is going to be in fantastic shape.
posted by Prof. A at 5:06 PM
2 Comments:
Steve Donahue kept comparing BJ to Fair and Pace, but I think a better comparison in style of play is to Lawrence Moten.
Interesting. I'll keep that in mind. I do think he LOOKS exactly like CJ, especially when I'm watching the game off of watchESPN and the picture starts to lag.
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