Some tweets from Paxton and NYCBuckets talking about who will have a breakout years in the MAAC
William Paxton@wspaxton23h @nybuckets Good choice .... Sidibe as well- Stags could be really, really good upfront!
William Paxton@wspaxton23h @nybuckets @pioneer_pride Malcolm Gilbert too easy ... maybe K.J. Rose?
My choice is Colman Johnson. He started the last 2 games against some Good Comp (Manhattan and Kent State) and averaged 14ppg on 14-of 18 shooting, and 4rpg. I have not heard much about him from practice, except he has got a lot stronger and his body has changed.... from a HS'er to a College player. IMO, Coleman might be our best low post scorer. Being 6-7 1/2 with very long arms ...... he plays like he is 6-9. Plus he he keeps his arms high when he shoots. He does not back down to physical play, but with the added strength, maybe he will start dishing it out. Coming off an injury and surgury, he never got into the groove until the end. He was by far our leader in Block shots per minute played. I see him starting at PF, as Barrow seems to play better as the 6th man .
I think the key for him is that he has to have the confidence and attitude to call for the ball in the low post
Post by nashvillestag on Oct 15, 2013 19:48:54 GMT -5
Well I wonder if "breakout" would include the freshmen and the transfers, who we really don't know that much about yet? And can a player fit that description if he is not a great scorer but adds to the team in other ways (such as Amadou last year)? But yes I would say Coleman would be a prime candidate based on the fact that he finished so strong last year after the rough start because of his injury. And besides Coleman, at least offensively, someone has to score a lot more points than last year if the team is going to be successful. My guess from the returnees is that Marcus has the ability to put a lot more points on the board, so he will have a big jump in scoring average. Again concerning the newcomers it really is just a guess who might be able to consistently score points, but based on things I have heard I think you might see Lincoln Davis do very well in this first season. And I would also list Grennan as a possible breakout scorer in that his previous history (high school) illustrates he has the ability to put the ball in the basket.
I have been expecting Coleman to have a very big year based on how he finished and what SJ said about him last season. But I'm a little worried that we haven't heard more about him. SJ singled out Mo, Marcus and Amadou as being players who will demand minutes. While Coleman may end up starting, the coach did not imply that he's where the other three are right now. I hope CJ is ready because we will need him. But he just may not be ready to perform as an upperclassmen yet.
IMO, both Coleman and Marcus got enough experience last year, that they should have learned enough on what they had to do to take a step-up to play like upper-classmen. As both are likely starters, I think they will bring defense and length to their game. The key question is if they will have a scorers mentality. In HS/AAU, they both were 2nd, 3rd, or 4th option players, and very much team players. Will they have the confidence/attitude to demand the ball when they have the mismatch or good position. They have the talent.
As far as Davis is concerned, I have also heard reports that Davis could be a "special" player..... And we certainly need at least one of our guards to be special. However, most articles that interviewed Sydney have not indicated that Davis or any of our guards have separated themselves from the pack. Nor, do we know what role Davis will play, except that he is competing at PG.
Joe, I agree. I'm still in the tank for Coleman. As far as him being a 3rd option scorer in HS ball, remember Coach Macri's updates during the end of CJ's senior year after he committed to us. His portion of the scoring load kept increasing as the season progressed and he was a monster during the playoffs. The Washington area Catholic league is full of D1 prospects so he wasnt playing nobodies.
I'm going for kind of a long shot but I liked what I saw last year. I think Justin Jenkins is going to step up as a consistent outside threat for us this year. I think he's talented and aggressive.
Joe, I agree. I'm still in the tank for Coleman. As far as him being a 3rd option scorer in HS ball, remember Coach Macri's updates during the end of CJ's senior year after he committed to us. His portion of the scoring load kept increasing as the season progressed and he was a monster during the playoffs. The Washington area Catholic league is full of D1 prospects so he wasnt playing nobodies.
Great point on the competition that Coleman faced while in high school. Indeed that league is annually one of the very best in the nation. So it will be interesting to see if he will have the ability to have a #1 type scoring option mentality now that (minus Needham) this aspect of the team is wide open. Terp, if I'm not mistaken I believe during his senior year in HS there was one big time scorer (forgot his name) who went on to sign with G. Mason. Maybe that is why he was not considered a #1 type guy on that team, right? So again, based on his work at the end of last year for the Stags, I have high hopes for Coleman Johnson! And BTW in the same vein as Coleman concerning prep school competition, Lincoln Davis certainly competed at the very highest level (even better than the DC Catholic league). And he was sucessful most of the time. So this is one of the reasons I am also very high on his prospects. But obviously, unlike Coleman, there is a lot more unknown about him at this time.
Post by ctghostman on Oct 16, 2013 10:40:21 GMT -5
SJ keeps many things "close to the vest" and uses a lot of "coach speak" with the press/fans. Good, bad or indifferent - I don't expect to know too much about CJ, Malcom Gilbert or any of the guards until we see them play in a real game. I generally agree with this tactic but its not great for a message board.
SJ keeps many things "close to the vest" and uses a lot of "coach speak" with the press/fans. Good, bad or indifferent - I don't expect to know too much about CJ, Malcom Gilbert or any of the guards until we see them play in a real game. I generally agree with this tactic but its not great for a message board.
"Coach speak" for sure. And beside not being great for this message board I also think it is a negative in the promotion of the program. But if the team becomes consistently good and wins a championship or two, that would certainly trump what I myself would call a negative in this aspect of how SJ relates his program to the public.
When it comes down to it, everything will unfold when the games begin and we can draw our own opinions. It would be silly for SJ to sit there praising a handful of kids over others. At this point everything is pure speculation on our end. SJ shouldnt be putting pressure on any one player by hyping them up now. It will be interesting to say the least.
I agree that Sydney is not going to come out and directly say who is ahead of other players, especially since nobody has won the job yet. However, if you read between the lines of what Sydney says or doesn't say..... I think you can cetainly get a feel of what is happening. First of all, I think if someone has clearly won a job, like Amadou has as captain, then I think that would have been said. And I think Sydney did put a lot of pressure on Sean Grennan in the CT Post article 2 weeks ago. This is pretty specific of what Sydney's expecations are of Grennan, and what Grennan needs to do.
Johnson: We need production out of him, we need leadership and we need competitiveness out of him. He did spend a full year at Seton Hall, spent a year with us….. so he is one that should be a bit more experience and he needs to show that. It’s his time really to perform, and he’s got to perform for us to have a fighting chance. I do know that (young backcourt) is something that’s a question mark about us. If he can be better, than we can be better than a lot of people think.
Last Edit: Oct 16, 2013 12:55:13 GMT -5 by JoeStag
Post by reindeerfan on Oct 16, 2013 14:16:06 GMT -5
I don't think it is productive for a coach to anoint anyone as this or that, as every player needs to believe they are working hard in practice each day to earn playing time. That said, the coach speak out of Sydney drives me nuts. He also downplays what everyone can do to set expectations low. While that does help you over-deliver on expectations, it doesn't create excitement around your program. After Cooley, listening to Johnson is at times painful. Cooley didn't set unrealistic expectations but he always had something witty or meaningful to say. He got you excited. Sydney needs to find a way to be more substantive in his interviews as you essentially get no information from any of his interviews. His some of the meaningless things you get out of an interview with Sydney 1) So and so has potential (yea everyone does) 2) We're going to need to get minutes from him (yea we need minutes from at least 5 guys) 3) We need someone who can consistantly put the ball in the basket, he might be one of the guys that can do that. (anyone on the team might be able to score some points right?) 4) We don't want to lose our focus on defense, so we'll want to play guys that can defend (Glad he said that, I thought we were going to let the other team score at will) 5) Outside shooting was our Achilles heal, so we need to get some outside scoring from our guards. (while he kind of makes a point, but more or less don't all teams need some outside scoring from their guards?) You get the idea....
After listening to these interviews I walk away knowing nothing that I didn't already know. So I'd love to see him make it a little bit real and deliver a little less coachspeak.
Last Edit: Oct 16, 2013 14:17:05 GMT -5 by reindeerfan
I don't think it is productive for a coach to anoint anyone as this or that, as every player needs to believe they are working hard in practice each day to earn playing time. That said, the coach speak out of Sydney drives me nuts. He also downplays what everyone can do to set expectations low. While that does help you over-deliver on expectations, it doesn't create excitement around your program. After Cooley, listening to Johnson is at times painful. Cooley didn't set unrealistic expectations but he always had something witty or meaningful to say. He got you excited. Sydney needs to find a way to be more substantive in his interviews as you essentially get no information from any of his interviews. His some of the meaningless things you get out of an interview with Sydney 1) So and so has potential (yea everyone does) 2) We're going to need to get minutes from him (yea we need minutes from at least 5 guys) 3) We need someone who can consistantly put the ball in the basket, he might be one of the guys that can do that. (anyone on the team might be able to score some points right?) 4) We don't want to lose our focus on defense, so we'll want to play guys that can defend (Glad he said that, I thought we were going to let the other team score at will) 5) Outside shooting was our Achilles heal, so we need to get some outside scoring from our guards. (while he kind of makes a point, but more or less don't all teams need some outside scoring from their guards?) You get the idea....
After listening to these interviews I walk away knowing nothing that I didn't already know. So I'd love to see him make it a little bit real and deliver a little less coachspeak.
RF, you're exactly right about how Sydney goes about his business, and your comparison with Cooley in this regard is very accurate. In fact your portrayal of a "typical" interview is actually kind of funny in how close it relates to what you hear almost every time. However I will say this. Everyone has his own personality and ability to do a job a certain way. And although you and I are not happy with this aspect of how he runs the program, the fact is that this will probably not change during his time here. But the real important thing is that the team and program become big winners under his leadership. And given the success he had at Princeton I believe he has the ability to do the job. And if that does indeed happen then that in itself will cause plenty of excitement!
Remember SJ doesn't have guys locked into positions like Needham was last year. It's a safe bet Amadu will start but after that the competition is wide open especially at the guards. He is probably keeping the cards just as close to the vest with the players as with the press. Will he play three guards? Will he play a center and two forwards? My guess is that defense against the other team will help to determine the alignment.
In the meantime we can speculate here. Defense may require a deep rotation given the energy that goes into it and the number of players who pick up fouls.
