My early take on Syracuse Basketball 2012-13

Projected Lineup:

G-MCW/Triche
G-Triche/Cooney
C -Toss-up between Rak & DC2 then BMK
F - CJ, James
F - James, Rak (or possibly DC2), Grant

A very good lineup capable of winning 25 or so games and could be a factor in March. If I had to guess a top 10 team--Capable of being better than that but until we see how MCW responds to starter minutes and if Triche can consistently show he can be a go to guy type, and if TC knocks down enough shots... tough to rank them higher at this point.

UNC, UK, Kansas, Baylor and OSU will all lose a lot; arguably more than us. We should be preseason top 10 easy. Landing Noel would catapult us into the top 3 teams in the country and one of the favorites to cut down the nets. Would give our front court a ridiculous amount of talent/length/depth that nobody could counter with.

Grant won't shirt as things stand now. I think he may well have the best skillset to replace KJO though is more of a 4 than a 3 as compared to KJo. Fair's game doesn't start at the perimeter, and James can't slash. Grant will obviously need time, but he may well end up being similiar to KJo two years down the road. Grant is probably the closest to a "pure" 4 we will have on our roster. Fair & James are hybrid 3-4s. DC2 & Rak are best case hybrid 4-5s though both may well be better suited for the 5 spot. Probably the same with Noel if we get him.

I do not see Rak getting token starts again at PF. Rak is still a big project at PF - his collegiate game is at the five spot where he will be ready to be a big factor by next season. I would see Rak starting at the five unless we get Noel.

DC2 is a better AO, kid can score 15 feet extended, rebounds like Rodman, boxes out and carves space. He hustles too, not a lazy moment in either game I've watched. Would love to get Nerlens, but I feel confident and comfortable with this class regardless.

All in all we have quite a few square pegs in the frontcourt that may have to go into some round holes

I hope Boeheim doesn't play his silly game of starting kids & giving them 2 minutes as we have seen the last two seasons. Start em for real or don't start em.

Just doing a quick checklist....

1. We will bring a tough defense just like this year.
2. We will have a good guard defender who can extend in MCW to replace Dion.
3. We will have better rebounding than this year.
4. We will not have quite as good of turnover protection but we will have solid ball handlers.
5. We will have some post moves. We will finally have a big who can play off the dribble (if not a couple)
6. We will have guards that can attack the paint. We lose Dion and Scoop but MCW and Triche will still bring it. Possibly even Cooney.
7. We will most likely have a better three point shooter in Cooney, although Dion came on pretty strong. Same with James.
8. We will have a better three point shooter at SF in James although we have to replace KJO off the dribble that could be a challenge and has to be CJs Job. Grant is in the mix also.
9. We will finally be able to go tall at the four for offensive boards, and if we grab Noel or Rak steps up, we will be able to interchange our bigs in the high and low post. We haven't done that since the 1980's if I had to venture. Quite a stat.
10. We will be really deep again, but worry about depth with injuries (some without Noel or a 4th guard)
11. We bring the experience with Triche and Southerland as Seniors and Fair, Keita as Juniors.
12. I think we will be a pretty good FT shooting team but DC, Rak, and BMK could use some work.
13. I do worry about DC's conditioning. I would like to get him up to the speed of the college game, get him out to some legal college level camps in the offseason to get him ready.

I think this team could have more balance then this years on the offensive end and really convert in the halfcourt and we already know our transition status.

Really there is reasons to think this team next year could be better than this years even. I think the balence could be there and we will be better on the offensive end.