Syracuse senior James Southerland twirls a basketball on his finger during the team photo at the 2012 Syracuse men's Basketball Media Day at the Melo Center. Looking down and laughing next to him is Brandon Triche.

(Photo by Dennis Nett / The Post-Standard)

Post-Standard basketball writer Mike Waters answers readers' questions about the Orange, the Big East, all of college basketball and just about anything else. To submit a question, email Mike.

Do you see Syracuse's seniors, James Southerland and Brandon Triche, playing in the NBA?

— Eric from the Syracuse.com chat



Mike: I think both Southerland and Triche will get their chance to play in the NBA.

Oddly, Southerland might have the better odds of finding his way onto an NBA team’s roster even though Triche is a fourth-year starter and Southerland is still coming off Syracuse’s bench. Southerland has the size and length of an NBA small forward. Plus, he’s got outstanding shooting range. Southerland needs to add a lot of strength, but the NBA is always on the lookout for shooters.

Triche has the size and strength to play in the NBA. And he’s got more than enough athleticism. However, he’s not really a point guard and he’s not consistent enough with his outside shot to play the two-guard spot in the NBA. Still, I’ve seen guys like Jason Hart and Kevin Ollie carve out nice NBA careers with not much more talent than Triche.

Triche is an incredibly hard worker. I wouldn’t bet against him.

I know Trevor Cooney hasn't been shooting great, but what do you think about him on the defensive end?

— Fishkill Orange from the Syracuse.com chat

Mike: You're right. Cooney hasn't been shooting the ball very well thus far this season. But he is a very good shooter. I think he's still shaking off the rust from sitting out last season and getting used to the college game at the same time.

I’m glad you brought up his defense, though. Cooney is a tough competitor. I’ve liked the way he plays defense. He knows what he’s doing at the top of the zone defense. He gets a lot of deflections that lead to steals.

Why is Baye Keita listed as Moussa Keita in the box score and referred to as that on TV? If Moussa is his middle name that would seem to be unusual unless he prefers that. It seems like he would be Baye Moussa or Baye Keita but not Moussa Keita.

— Pat

Mike: Oh, the mysteries of Baye Moussa Keita's name. First, we all

struggled with the pronunctiation. Then last year, he asked to just be called Baye Keita.

And now, this year he's gone back to the full Baye Moussa Keita at his mother's request.

Moussa is his middle name. That’s why you’ll see him referred to as Keita in most box scores. Properly, it should be like this: Keita, Baye Moussa.

However, Baye told me that he’s good with being called Keita or Moussa Keita, so you’ll hear announcers use both and they’re correct in either case.

I use Baye Moussa Keita in my stories and Keita on second reference. In person, I just call him Baye.