There is so little known about Syracuse freshman Marek Dolezaj. The Fizz has detailed this in a recent piece. However, we will learn more and more about the forward as the season moves along.
So here’s what we do know about Dolezaj: he’s a 6-foot-9, super lanky player out of Slovakia, a country that only had players on one percent of NCAA rosters last season. His scouting report labeled him as a shooter.
In the preseason games, we got a glimpse of what Dolezaj can do on the floor. In his first 20 minutes off the bench, he didn’t showcase his sniper abilities. He missed his only attempt. In fact, his only bucket was a layup. But where the Slovak did shine was on defense. He used his lanky frame to pick up five steals and looked very active on that end of the floor. Game two was a lot of the same. He still has not connected from long range, but then again, the Dome brings a strange shooting disadvantage that Dolezaj might still be getting used to.
If the preseason is any indication as to how Boeheim plans on distributing minutes, Dolezaj is looking at playing time in the 10-15 minute range. Over the past couple of years, we have seen a couple of Orange players log upwards of the entire 40 minutes for large stretches of the season, which could see the freshman only used sparingly. But Dolezaj’s defense has shown plenty of promise, which could get him into the game for big situations. If his shot comes around, those minutes can only increase.
He still needs to build up strength, and year one probably won’t be Dolezaj’s finest. But by the end of the season, we could be looking at a player who has a lot of promise down the road at Syracuse.
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