The 2017-18 Syracuse basketball season kinda, sorta officially got under way last night with an intrasquad Orange vs. White scrimmage in the Carrier Dome. It’s still early and SU clearly wasn’t going a full 100 percent last night but there were a few things that stood out or are at the very least worth monitoring going forward.
Oshae Brissett and Bourama Sidibe Are Ready To Go
It’s no secret the 2017 SU basketball recruiting class left a lot to be desired. Boeheim and the Orange pulled in zero ESPN Top 100 recruits in the class of 2017. However, there has been some hype around Brissett and Sidibe since they got on campus and they proved why last night. Brissett is athletic, long and also has one of the smoothest shooting strokes on the roster. The 6’8 freshman did have some lazy passes, but he seems like he could start on this team and be a double digit scorer when conference play rolls around. Meanwhile, Sidibe also looked more like a Top 75 recruit in the scrimmage. He had some crafty low post moves and seemed comfortable scoring with his back to the basket. With the loss of Taurean Thompson, SU needs Sidibe and Brissett to provide rebounding and scoring help and after last night they both appear ready to do just that.
Marek Dolezaj is Really Skinny and Really Raw
Dolezaj is another one of those incoming freshman from the class of 2017. With limited scouting and film on the Slovakian product, Dolezaj might be one of the most unknown incoming freshmen in program history. For starters, he is listed at 181 pounds and in reality he‚Äôs maybe 150 pounds soaking wet. Dolezaj‚Äôs got plenty of height but he is not going to be backing anyone down in the low post anytime soon. On the bright side, he has some range and a smooth three point stroke. Obviously it‚Äôs unfair to pass judgement on someone after one little intersquad scrimmage, but Dolezaj seemed incredibly raw last night. He clearly has a lot of potential, but it looks like he’s going to take longer to develop than Sidibe and Brissett.
Matt Moyer is Hungry
After sitting out last season with a redshirt, Moyer now enters his ‘freshman” season as a bonafide veteran forward on this young SU roster. It’s a weird position for the 6’8 forward but after last night he looks ready to be a leader. Again, everything from this scrimmage should be taken with a grain of salt. However, that being said, Moyer impressed last night. He added some muscle during the offseason and it showed. The Ohio product easily had a double-double with points and rebounds in the 40 minute scrimmage. I’m not saying that means he is going to be a rebounding machine against the ACC top dogs but SU needs all the rebounding help it can get and Moyer proved last night he has clearly improved in that department.
