Syracuse Basketball: Player Grades vs. Lehigh

Nov 13, 2015; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Trevor Cooney (10) greets center Chinonso Obokoh (35) during a time out against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks during the first half at the Carrier Dome. Photo Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Chinonso Obokoh- 0 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 1 turnover

Chino blew away my expectations last night. When he was in the game, he was absolutely dominant on defense. He held down the middle with authority, blocking or altering any shot that came within his domain.

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What really surprised me was his lateral quickness and his basketball IQ. Unlike Coleman, who was continually beaten to spots and often bit on the pump fake, Obokoh stayed in front of his defenders and didn’t elevate until the offensive player went up for a shot. Defensively he looked more like Rakeem Christmas than the liability he was last year.

Offensively, well, not much is really expected of him. He set some good screens up top, but other than that was pretty much invisible. He definitely spent too much time outside of the paint, which caused some spacing issues for the Orange.

Even if he’s not going to score the ball or receive it in the post, positioning himself there will help to open the floor as the defense can’t just leave him open.

I’m not sure his offense will ever be something to write home about, but if he can at least get himself into a good spot and crash the offensive glass, he can help the team.

I give Obokoh an overall grade of A-. His defense was out of this world good and if he can continue to play that well, he might be seeing a lot more minutes of action. If you had told me that even a week ago I would have said you were crazy, but seeing him dominate the former Patriot League MVP showed me that he has really improved his game.