I agree, it's surprising Boeheim sounds uninterested in the portal. Two to three starters from the freshmen is unexpected. I guess the staff thinks the recruits are more ready to start than I do. I've always thought we could start one as freshmen, but not two, especially since they won't be surrounded by top offensive talent. We'll have two returning scorers in Joe and Jesse but they are not go-to guys, the type of guys you can hand the ball to and they will find a way to get their shot even against tough defense. Joe needs help getting his shot. If he's the lead scorer he will get a lot more attention without Buddy next to him.
I've always liked Taylor, but even at IMG post grad he doesn't assert himself as a shooter or scorer. For him to reach his full potential he will have to see himself more as a lead guy rather than as one of five players, but that won't be happening early in his career at SU. Bunch is much more of a player who is always looking for his shot on catch-and-shoots, but Boeheim will have similar problems with him as he's having with Benny--he's a perimeter guy who does not mix it up inside fighting for rebounds, even more so than Benny. Three freshmen starters would be shocking. Copeland is nowhere near ready to run an ACC team better than Symir. I think Maliq Brown will surprise a lot of people who are expecting him to be a project that you're afraid to see with the ball in his hands and that you hope can develop and get on the court when he's a junior. But it's hard to see him starting right away.
Boeheim listed ten guys off the top of his head. Missing was Bol so maybe he expects a transfer, which frankly would not be bad news because it opens up a scholarship. Brown right now does everything he does and a lot more, he's much more of a basketball player than Bol is. Boeheim had mentioned recently that he wants eleven guys next year, so maybe if we only have the ten then we will hit the portal. Swider or Jimmy would kinda be the scoring forward that we need but their limitations in other areas will still be there.
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