Pegs' -Rant About SU- Thread

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Wesley Johnson rated top transfer.

1. Wesley Johnson, 6-7 ½, 210, F, Jr., Syracuse: Don't be surprised if the former Iowa State forward winds up being the team's top player. Johnson averaged 12.4 points while playing with an injured ankle his sophomore season at Iowa State but is ideal for Jim Boeheim's system.

Best player? Most likely. We don't have that many good players for 2009.

[Universe]

Yeah he was a solid pickup. Though our roster isn't talented this year, I think it'll be fun to watch.

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Tobias Harris update

Tobias Harris’ father told the media last week that his son really enjoyed his visit to Syracuse - his first official visit to any school - last weekend. Though the prospect looks like he’s going to take his time and make the rounds to the rest of the interested schools, you have to believe Syracuse is a frontrunner after checking out his AAU Roster.

The Unique All-Stars features current Syracuse commits C.J. Fair, Dion Waiters and Fab Melo - the highly touted center prospect who will join Harris’ AAU team for the playoffs.

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All I know is, this recruiting class is already stacked, and Tobias Harris has the opportunity to really push SU over the edge, perhaps challenging for the top spot in the 2010 class rankings. We’ll see.

Wow. That's awesome. It'd be absolutely unbelievable if Harris ended up in Syracuse. We'd have way too many big man, but that would be a problem I wouldn't mind having.

[Kid Chocolate]

Tobias Harris is a BEAST. He'd be their top commit. He's top 10 nationally.

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Definitely. He'd make that team a fab-4.

Dion Waiters talks to Tobias Harris almost every day to make his sales pitch. He's after the missing link, he says. He's after something that will push the incoming class of 2010 straight to the top.

"We're just telling him how good we could be if we can get him," said Waiters, a star shooting guard from Life Center Academy in Philadelphia, who committed to play for Syracuse with the Class of 2010.

"Like that's all we need."

http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/ ... 4062.shtml

I'm hoping Melo plays, just to help out with recruiting Harris

The fact that SU is still in the running for this top player is exciting.

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Wow...is it just me, or has Arinze lost some weight? He's looking in shape

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Basketball returned to the Carrier Dome on Sunday afternoon and the Orange bested Cal State Los Angeles, 97-54, in its exhibition opener. Freshman forwardJames Southerland lead all scorers with 19 points while sophomore forward Kris Joseph had 13.

Southerland was perfect in his Syracuse debut, going 7-for-7 from the field while shooting 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. Southerland poured in 14 of his 19 points in the second half of play. Joseph was 5-for-10 from the field and added three defensive rebounds and a trio of steals. All 13 of his points came after the intermission.

Junior forward Rick Jackson posted a double-double, tallying 12 pionts and 12 boards. Senior center Arinze Onuaku added 10 points and nine boards and sophomore guard Scoop Jardine rounded out double-digit performers with 10 points and 11 assists for Syracuse.

http://www.suathletics.com/news/2009/10 ... 93850.aspx

Good stuff. Southerland surprises me. He looked tall and lanky when I last saw him play. If he can have shooting performances like that, he'll definitely receive playing time...perhaps as an Andy Rautins lite.

Nice to see Scoop with the 11 assists, though. We'll need that kind of production.

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I know he'll never read this, but I'm posting it anyways -

Congratulations, Jim, and thanks.

Good job by Cuse tonight to bring in 800.

[canofan42]

I know he'll never read this, but I'm posting it anyways -

Congratulations, Jim, and thanks.

Good job by Cuse tonight to bring in 800.

[ http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/205645/800.JPG ]

is that an "800", or a "BOO"?

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...whatever Jimmy B wants it to be.

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Great upset. Wes is nuts. Scoop came outta nowhere. Gotta love what you see so far....and they aren't even in shape offensively.

[UConn Net]

Cuse has looked excellent so far, the voters definitely underrated them before the season...and as much as I hate Syracuse, I'm always happy whenever a Big East representative gets a big win against another conference (as long as it's not for a national championship)

[CalamityX04]

Ok Pegs, rant on. Rant me about Wesley Johnson please

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Wesley Johnson....hmm.

He's the perfect guy for the 2-3 zone. He's tall, athletic, long arms, quick. He can get easy steals, crazy blocks, and can out-jump just about anyone for rebounds.

I like the description one announcer gave to him - he's a bit of a floater on offense. He has no real position, doesn't stay in one place, and does a bit of everything.

He can take a defender one-on-one, hit a shot in his face or drive to the hoop. Every once in a while, he'll post up, use the fade-away. He can be a spot up shooter. His jumpshot is great, by the way.

He'll play within the offense. Some games, he'll quietly get his, and by the end of the game, he's got 17 points that you didn't even realize he had. He's pretty unselfish. He can run on the fastbreak. He can take over offensively when needed - go one on one, hit the much needed 3.

His handle isn't that great, but it's good enough for him to take a defender 1 on 1. I could never see him as being the type that consistently creates for his teammates - that role on the team has gone to Rautins, Scoop, and sometimes Triche.

He's not perfect, but he's what SU needs. I'm not sure how good of a man defender he is....but I might as well mention that this team as a whole is pretty awful at man defense, and the one game where they tried it throughout the game, they lost - against LeMoyne. It was exhibition, though.

As for relation to the Nets....I'm not sure why they would draft him. There's already 4 good wing players on the team - CDR, Lee, Hayes, and Terrence. If we picked up Wes, it'll just remind me of when the Hawks picked up a bunch of young wing players despite needing a point guard - in our case, we need a big man. Not sure it'd be a good idea.

[CalamityX04]

Very good breakdown Pegs! thanks!

So how do you compare him to Donte Green(quick history, i was very huge fan for Donte Green come draft time)

Is Wesly a Granger type player?

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Very good breakdown Pegs! thanks!

So how do you compare him to Donte Green(quick history, i was very huge fan for Donte Green come draft time)

Is Wesly a Granger type player?

Greene was VERY immature. Awful shot selection, ball hogging, disruption of offense (with random stupid shots), long spurts of not trying on defense, and not rebounding. He used mostly his athleticism and height to pretty much cruise through games. I wasn't sure he even wanted to be there. He probably would have been one of those HS to NBA players if the one year college rule wasn't created.

Wesley, comparatively, seems to be a more team-oriented player - plays defense throughout the game, plays within the offense, GREAT shot selection (see his percentages!), and a good amount of clutchness.

Not sure if you caught too many games, but Jonny was the clutch player on the team with Donte (Devendorf was out).

Granger....I'm not sure. He doesn't have Granger's size/strength. Also, I think Wes is a better jumper. I'd have to watch 10 games of Granger (I've only seen about 4 to date) to make a good comparison.

You've gotta take into account, though, that Wesley Johnson is also 22 years old (turning 23 in July).

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Syracuse is having trouble grabbing rebounds. And on defense in general.

So what does Wesley Johnson do? Pick up 19 rebounds and 5 blocks. This guy amazes me every game.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxl8--py1Z8

Great highlight vid. Showcasing everything Wes can do.

Early in the season, watching him take some of those contested jumpers, I used to cringe.

Now, I feel like all of them will go in. He's amazing with those.

[Universe]

What a season we got going.

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Coaches across the nation are learning more and more who they can count on to deliver at crunch time.

Which bring us to this week’s question: If you could pick one player to handle the ball with the game in the balance, whom would you choose?

GERRY AHERN’S RESPONSE

Syracuse junior forward Wesley Johnson may not be a pure shooter, but he has catapulted the Orange into college basketball’s elite with his coolness and ability to score in a variety of ways and when it matters most. Before transferring from Iowa State, Johnson was known to have somewhat questionable shot selection, which led to sketchy statistics. Now blossoming in Jim Boeheim’s offense, Johnson is deadly from inside 15 feet, able to pull up and knock down a jumper or use his speed to beat a defender to the basket. Foul him? He shoots 74.1 percent from the stripe. He is building his professional stock by extending his shooting range, knocking down 44.4 percent of his 3-point attempts (over a modest 63 attempts). But his efforts in the spotlight have been most impressive. He broke out in the 2K Sports Classic in November with huge games against Cal and North Carolina and hasn’t slowed down since. In late December, trailing by a half-dozen points midway through the second half at Seton Hall, Johnson took the game over and sparked an 80-73 victory. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds over the final 20 minutes. This past Saturday against Marquette, with teammate and second-leading scorer Andy Rautins shut out, Johnson led a 76-71 victory with 22 points and 15 rebounds. He is the man Boeheim will count on to deliver a deep NCAA tournament run, maybe even a championship.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball ... &type=lgns

Agree 100%. He's a guy Cuse can definitely count on to provide what the team needs. When we're down, he seems to do exactly what's needed to lift us back up.