To the surprise of many, Syracuse has a chance to go 3-1 through the gauntlet for Indiana, Florida State, Villanova, and Georgetown. The Orange shocked the Hoosiers at home, Seminoles on the road, lost a tough one to the Wildcats, and have a chance to beat the rival Hoyas this Saturday. You’d think the Orange would need all hands on deck to do what they’ve done, however, star guard and pre-season All-ACC First Teamer Buddy Boeheim has been relatively absent as of late.
Buddy missed three straight threes down the stretch against Indiana, tacked onto his combined 0/9 from three against Florida State and Villanova, he’s 0 for his last 12 threes. That’s the worst stretch he’s had in his career from behind the arc. Not only that, his first goose egg of the season against FSU snapped a 19-game double-figure streak and a 24-game three-pointer streak. Also, Boeheim’s 12 points over his last two games are his worst over two games since February of his sophomore season. Not what you’d expect from a star player in his senior year.
So what‚Äôs happening to SU’s star scorer? Many fans and even some media members made note of this shot in particular:
Buddy has a wide-open shot, one that he’s made time and time again, one that everyone in Madison Square Garden expected him to shoot right away and convert. Instead, he double clutches, lets the defender get close, and fires a brick. This shot begs questions regarding confidence. This is the same guy who was launching near half-court makes in the NCAA tournament with defenders in his face. Now? He’s hesitant to take a wide-open shot. Not good. His hall of fame father attributes the skid to a lack of good looks and thinks he’ll bounce back, putting in the work necessary:
In games when the youngest Boeheim isn’t the team’s top scorer this season, Syracuse is 2-3. His absence is fairly notable, but have faith, Buddy will get better. It would be asinine to believe he won‚Äôt, this is the same kid that shocked the nation time and time again come March last season. Shooters can be streaky, #35 is no exception, he‚Äôs shown that he can be one of the best shooters out there, he just has to get back to that point. Have some faith in the young buck, he will turn it around.
