Before the season began I took my shot. I went out on a limb and made three bold predictions. Now that Syracuse Men’s Basketball is more than halfway through its season, let’s revisit those claims to see how realistic they are coming to fruition.
Prediction 1 – Buddy Boeheim Wins ACC Player of the Year
This is still an attainable prediction. Buddy has been absolutely fantastic this year. The senior is fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.2 points per game and third in three pointers per game at 2.5 a contest. The most impressive part to his 2022 campaign is his offensive duality. Buddy was just a pure shooter last season, but now he is putting the ball on the floor and finishing on the inside too. Plus, Boeheim plays 93% of the minutes. He never comes off the court!
Syracuse’s record is definitely a negative on Buddy’s resume. The Orange are floating around .500 and can’t get out of their own way. When media members decide the conference awards, they also take into account team success. So, with other candidates like Alondes Williams of Wake Forest and Paolo Banchero of Duke on much better teams, it hurts Buddy’s chances.
Chances of Coming True: 15%
Syracuse Makes the Final Four
Hahaha. This was a dream even during the preseason and it is even more unrealistic now. Syracuse is only 9-9, and needs to focus on even making the tournament before it can think about going all the way to the Final Four. The Orange need to be more consistent, work on their defense, and rely on the reserves. If they can do that and earn a tourney berth, who knows with this team. I never count out SU in March.
Chances of Coming True: 1%
Frank Anselem is the Starting Center by ACC Play
Oops. You win some, you lose some. I lost this one. Anselem is lucky if he sees 7 minutes off the bench. Jesse Edwards is a beast and absolutely deserves to keep his starting role. Oh well.
Chances of Coming True: 0%
