Monroe Madness Overview

[rochcuse44]

Attended Monroe Madness in Rochester tonite. It was a fun event, very fan friendly. Some observations:

-Freshmen look good. We have some good shooters. Chris Bunch won the 3 point shooting contest, followed closely by Joe Girard & Justin Taylor.

-Need some work on our dunking (though they put on a show in warm-ups). Carey & Copeland tied for top place in the dunking contest.

-In the scrimmage, Girard & Edwards both excelled. Here are comments on each of the freshmen:

Judah Mintz: Good passing & mid range game. Seems poised. Missed a couple threes. Made a couple drive and dish plays in the scrimmage and made a nice left handed scoop shot in the lane.

Justin Taylor: Can really shoot it. Good shooting form. Made several threes. Looks bigger & stronger than I expected.

Chris Bunch: Really good shooter. In addition to winning the 3 point contest, also made several threes during the scrimmage. Tends to hang out on the wing more.

Qadir Copeland: Seemed better than advertised. Made a couple nice threes and dishes the ball really well. Plays tenacious defense, too. Big guard.

Peter Carey: Surprisingly quick inside. Looks to be one of the better dunkers on the team. Scored inside with his quickness.

Maliq Brown: As advertised. Brings his lunch pail to work. Strong inside and plays solid defense. A bit overmatched rebounding against Edwards, though.

Ajak & Hima also played and were a presence inside, especially on defense. Think they both may have had one basket each during the scrimmage.

Symir Torrence picked up where he left off last year. He brings high energy and strong defense when he is in there and handles the ball really well.

Benny Williams was there, but didn’t play. They said he was “under the weather” and hoped he would be back soon. Apparently, he has had some kind of stomach bug and has missed a week or so.

It will be very interesting this year to see how the coaches mix and match the personnel this year and how they spread the playing time. They also played both some zone and some man to man in the scrimmage.

 

[MikeMcAllister]

Thanks for the report! Appreciate it!

 

[ThePearl]

Thanks for the great report!

Copeland seems to be a positive surprise. Allen Griffin was on Devendorf's talk show this week. Eric asked him who was the biggest surprise of the freshmen. He replied, surprisingly, Judah. Said he knew he was good but not this good. Said he's a combo of Johnny Flynn with Eric's finishing ability. Then Eric asked who was the second biggest surprise. Grif said Copeland. Said he's very competitive, which is surprising to me because I haven't seen that in games or clips. But rochcuse44 says he played tenacious defense last night. I watched a lot of IMG PG games and I never saw that, or at Peach Jam. Really good to hear. In the preseason guide The Almanac, Boeheim said Copeland reminds him of Billy Edelin. Said he can get around anybody and he's always looks to pass. I thought Quadir could be boom or bust for us. Looks like it's leaning towards boom.

What's really going to make this class strong over the next four years will be the supposed bottom three guys--Quadir, Maliq and Peter. The more glimpses I get of Carey, the higher my expectations get for him down the road. He really hustled in the couple clips I saw from last night. Grif said he's a 6'11" pogo stick. And I watched about a dozen of Maliq's Blue Ridge games and have always thought highly of what kind of player he can become.

 

[ThePearl]

I agree with what rochcuse44 said about Bunch. He's like Benny was last year, likes to hang around the perimeter and only goes to the glass when it's a clear path to the ball. But at least in this photo he grabbed an offensive rebound.

 

[ThePearl]

And can someone please explain what the heck is going on in this photo? From one of the many photos posted on syracuse.com this morning.

 

[rochcuse44]

I remember that play where Girard blocked Edwards. Surprised everybody, including Edwards. Looked like Edwards had an open layup inside and Joe came running from out of nowhere and jumped up and blocked it. Good hustle play.

 

[ThePearl]

I remember that play where Girard blocked Edwards. Surprised everybody, including Edwards. Looked like Edwards had an open layup inside and Joe came running from out of nowhere and jumped up and blocked it. Good hustle play.

Joe should frame that photo and hang it on his wall.

 

[rochcuse44]

For those interested in SU Women’s basketball, I’m less familiar with the roster, but a few of them shined:

Dyaisha Fair: A Rochester native who transferred in from Buffalo, she really stood out as running the offense and pushing the ball. Only 5’5”, but she looks like she can penetrate at will. Really good at finding who is open and passing the ball. If she can hit the three a little more consistently, she will be a force.

Teisha Hyman: She has another gear and can turn on the jets and explode inside at a moment’s notice. Good shooter and solid overall.

Alaina Rice: Really good shooter and solid contributor. One of the nicest outside shots on the team.

Asia Strong: Good size and hit some beautiful threes on dishes from Fair.

I apologize for others who may havee shined that I neglected. I didn’t know the roster that well, but these women stood out.

Looks like Felisha Legette-Jack brings a lot of energy to the team this year.

 

[Cusealum05]

Attended Monroe Madness in Rochester tonite. It was a fun event, very fan friendly. Some observations:

-Freshmen look good. We have some good shooters. Chris Bunch won the 3 point shooting contest, followed closely by Joe Girard & Justin Taylor.

-Need some work on our dunking (though they put on a show in warm-ups). Carey & Copeland tied for top place in the dunking contest.

-In the scrimmage, Girard & Edwards both excelled. Here are comments on each of the freshmen:

Judah Mintz: Good passing & mid range game. Seems poised. Missed a couple threes. Made a couple drive and dish plays in the scrimmage and made a nice left handed scoop shot in the lane.

Justin Taylor: Can really shoot it. Good shooting form. Made several threes. Looks bigger & stronger than I expected.

Chris Bunch: Really good shooter. In addition to winning the 3 point contest, also made several threes during the scrimmage. Tends to hang out on the wing more.

Qadir Copeland: Seemed better than advertised. Made a couple nice threes and dishes the ball really well. Plays tenacious defense, too. Big guard.

Peter Carey: Surprisingly quick inside. Looks to be one of the better dunkers on the team. Scored inside with his quickness.

Maliq Brown: As advertised. Brings his lunch pail to work. Strong inside and plays solid defense. A bit overmatched rebounding against Edwards, though.

Ajak & Hima also played and were a presence inside, especially on defense. Think they both may have had one basket each during the scrimmage.

Symir Torrence picked up where he left off last year. He brings high energy and strong defense when he is in there and handles the ball really well.

Benny Williams was there, but didn’t play. They said he was “under the weather” and hoped he would be back soon. Apparently, he has had some kind of stomach bug and has missed a week or so.

It will be very interesting this year to see how the coaches mix and match the personnel this year and how they spread the playing time. They also played both some zone and some man to man in the scrimmage.

Awesome write up, thanks for doing it.

I have heard very positive things about Carey from someone who has seen him in practice, the only concern they mentioned was he may not be strong enough this year but he expects him to be a player moving forward.

 

[Cusefootball32]

For those interested in SU Women’s basketball, I’m less familiar with the roster, but a few of them shined:

Dyaisha Fair: A Rochester native who transferred in from Buffalo, she really stood out as running the offense and pushing the ball. Only 5’5”, but she looks like she can penetrate at will. Really good at finding who is open and passing the ball. If she can hit the three a little more consistently, she will be a force.

Teisha Hyman: She has another gear and can turn on the jets and explode inside at a moment’s notice. Good shooter and solid overall.

Alaina Rice: Really good shooter and solid contributor. One of the nicest outside shots on the team.

Asia Strong: Good size and hit some beautiful threes on dishes from Fair.

I apologize for others who may havee shined that I neglected. I didn’t know the roster that well, but these women stood out.

Looks like Felisha Legette-Jack brings a lot of energy to the team this year.

Fair will be fine, she avg 25 a game last year. She will benefit even more from Hymans Elite playmaking. What position did Alaina Rice play? Last year she was forced to play Center at 5'8. Hopefully she's playing SF this year lol.

 

[rochcuse44]

Rice was out on the wing mostly so likely SF. Looks like she could play SG as well. Definitely shouldn’t be needed at Center this year. She made some nice three pointers during the scrimmage.