Now to the important stuff. Devo's gone. Done for the year. You already know this. Syracuse.com broke that he is eligible for a medical redshirt this year, which is about the best news we can get at this point.
What this means for the team:
- Donte Greene, here's your chance to carry us big fella. You are now our only perimeter player who can consistently create your own shot (and if you think he's a power forward you're kidding yourself). Donte really has to step it up now, and carry this team through scoring droughts.
- The defense needs to step it up. We're losing 17-18 points per game, and we need to make them up on the defensive end. We need to focus in the zone, keep it moving, put the pressure on the opposition. We give up too many easy shots that now must be contested.
- We need an outside shooter. Fly Jonny's opening night aside, I don't trust his jumper at all. I haven't seen enough of Scoop to know about his shooting. Harris is improved, but not a threat. Basically, I'm hoping Justin Thomas can shoot. At this point I have no idea, but right now Donte is our best shooter with Devo and Rautins out.
Fortunately, we had a dominating win over ETSU and the easiest part of our schedule coming up. We need to use these games to perfect the zone and get Thomas acclimated to playing for a big time program, if he is going to get as many minutes as are reported, which is likely with the loss of Devendorf and apparently Josh Wright (too bad Mike Jones left because of lack of playing time, this would have been his chance).
One thing I would like to see is a big lineup with Harris at the two and Greene at the three, with Onuaku and Jackson down low (not my idea, thanks Axeman). I like Harris' toughness at the top, and the length on the bottom. However, putting Onuaku (doubtful) or Jackson on the wing could cause problems, as they may not be quick enough to play there.
At least we have a few games to try things out. Just gotta take care of business.
Let's Go Cuse.