The Morning After...the sun did come up!

by jimmiejones on Apr 14, 2009 8:39 AM EDT

I was as disappointed as anyone yesterday when the news broke that Jonny Flynn would not be returning to the Orange to lead us to a National Championship caliber season. In fact I think more than a few F-bombs were dropped both mentally and audibly yesterday afternoon. After sleeping on it for a night, I still contend this team is top 15 if not top 10 caliber. Even in losing three starters, you can make the argument that they are still returning 5 starters for next year.

Of course you have the front court of Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson who both started this season for hte Orange. Add to that Wes Johnson, who Boeheim feels is the best athlete on the team, and who started at Iowa State before the transefer. That is one of the best front courts in the Big East if not the nation.

The back court tandem of Scoop Jardine and Andy Rautins both bring starting experience to the team as well. So in losing three starters, SU is still returning five guys who have started at the division one level. That is wholy impressive.

By nature I'm a guy who sees the glass as half full, unless my beer is empty then it is a travesty, but after sleeping on it for a night, I'm still very excited for the team next season. Add to the experience returning, a healthy and more experienced Kris Joseph and Mookie Jones, plus the best point guard recruit minus Flynn since Jason Hart and this team should be just fine. In fact we may start out off the radar screen an bit and those teams always do better at Syracuse.

Now back to work and back to my big orange glass of Kool-aid that gets me through the day!

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Actually, sun didn't come up in DC.

It’s pretty dark and rainy here. Are we doomed?

by voteprime on Apr 14, 2009 10:13 AM EDT reply actions

Same here in NJ

Doom, doom, doom…although maybe an Orange shaft of light can punch through the clouds at some point today. Hope springs eternal.

"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998

by kotite4ever on Apr 14, 2009 10:16 AM EDT reply actions

Sun is up here in New Orleans.

I agree with everything you’ve said, but there is one thing that could derail us next year. Chemistry. Scoop hasn’t played in over a year now. Wes has never played with this team in real game situations. Andy got used to being the sixth man. Maybe these things won’t matter, but they could. That is what gives me pause about this team the most because I love the potential of our front court and I think Andy has vastly improved every area of his game to the point of being a starter hands down. And pre-injury Scoop was a solid player with an eye for passing. Will it come together though?

by NOLACuse on Apr 14, 2009 10:27 AM EDT reply actions

who knows

but I remember before this season started everyone wondered if there was enough shots to go around, and for the most part everyone came together.

by jimmiejones on Apr 14, 2009 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions

That's what was so great about this team.

They finally seemed to gel by the end of the season. Now we’ve gotta start all over again, with chemistry and people finding their roles.

Oi vay.

by voteprime on Apr 14, 2009 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions

Um, am I the only one who thinks we aren't going to be good?

Bear with me here, but I am just not seeing how next year’s team (barring Triche being Jonny Flynn 2.0) is going to be anything better than a middle of the pack Big East team next year. I know the conference will be a little watered down because of graduation and early entries but it won’t exactly be the SEC.

Jardine has yet to prove he can handle the duties of a full-time PG. Even when he was solid as a Frosh he had Flynn doing most of the creating. I think Johnson is going to be a stud too but we can’t expect him to carry a team right away. Jackson and Arinze are good players but neither are #1 options. Rautins will get zero open shots because of a lack of consistent penetration. I am a huge Kris Joseph guy but he needs to make a leap from year one to two like Jackson did this past summer, only he played signficantly less than Rick did. Mookie Jones is coming off hip surgery…

The point is that is a ton of question marks. They may come together and I will be rooting hard for it, but I don’t see how they can even be in the preseason top 25 right now.

by smann on Apr 14, 2009 1:20 PM EDT reply actions

I agree with you to an extent.

I think Scoop can be a very good PG, he just won’t be a scoring point guard. If he can penetrate (which he did some before) maybe Rautins can get those shots. Hard to say if that will happen though since Scoop isn’t a scoring threat and likely won’t draw extra defenders. Rautins was really becoming an all-around player at the end of the year and that will be necessary next year. I really like his passing, but he isn’t a slasher. In fact, unless Wes or Triche or Joseph prove to be slashers, we don’t have any now. My doomsday scenarion is this:

We will have to change tactics without the slashing ability of Flynn or Devo. Wes will be asked to take on the combined scoring burden of Flynn and Harris as Scoop is not a scorer, but a passer. Seeing as how Scoop hasn’t played in a long time, Rautins hasn’t started save for a game or two and Wes has never played with this team the chemistry could take a while to develop. It might not really ever develop. Wes is supposedly a stud, so he will get his, but it might be become of less of a team and more of individual efforts ending in a down year. Maybe a Tournament berth with an early exit, maybe just the NIT. Then we lose Andy, AO and if Wes has a good year, maybe him too.

We aren’t a team that reloads like UNC; we build our talent. Other than Carmelo or Flynn there hasn’t been anyone in recent memory who has been an absolute game-changer coming out of the gate. Warrick, GMac, Devo, Rautins, Harris, Nichols…they all took time. The problem is apparently once our guys are ready to be game-changers they are also ready to leave.

by NOLACuse on Apr 14, 2009 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions

You make good points

I am a pessimist by nature so I am sure I am over-reacting, and I am not saying it will be as bad as I fear, but the same upside is not there as it would have been had Flynn come back

by smann on Apr 14, 2009 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

Can we make a new striped jersey for Scoop?

You know to help him transition from watching games to playing in games… Anyone with photoshop should immediately get on this task and forward the results to Nike ASAP.

by Rocket Ship Science on Apr 15, 2009 8:02 AM EDT reply actions