It’s been an interesting start to the season, to say the least for Syracuse Men’s Basketball. The Orange are 3-0 but have barely scraped by in all three games against low-major opponents. Yes, those opponents have struggled, however, the transitive property game is very dangerous, especially in basketball. Teams are shooting excellently against the Orange. Yes, some of that is because of bad defense, but also remember that teams will be playing their A+ game and will be extremely motivated in the Dome. That’s especially true for the CNY opponents Le Moyne and Colgate. The game against SU was their Super Bowl. I say all of that because I don’t think you can come to any conclusions about this team after just three games.
Tomorrow against Texas is a big test. The Longhorns started the season ranked in the top 20 before a close loss to a tough Ohio State team. UT has dominated its last three opponents, winning by about 45 points per game. Now, two of those were against Chicago State and Mississippi Valley State, arguably the two worst college basketball programs in the country, but still they dominated teams unlike Syracuse. That being said, I think the Orange have a chance in tomorrow’s game down in Brooklyn.
While they haven’t played great, the ‘Cuse has shown tremendous grit through three games. Adrian Autry’s team will fight until the end and step up in the big clutch moments. That’s an important thing to see. Also, the offense has been really solid through three games, averaging just under 90 points. JJ Starling struggled in the first two games with just 14 and 12 points. They’re getting it done even without Chris Bell making his threes. The junior was one of the best shooters in the country last year but has made just 22% of his deep balls this season. If Chris Bell gets back in rhythm and makes his shots then this offense can become lethal.
Of course, the other part of the game is defense and it has to be better against Texas. Jaquan Carlos has really struggled to keep guys in front him, but he was an All-conference defender last year and at this point, you have to just hope that he can get back to that level. JJ Starling and Chris Bell are both very long athletic players who showed really good flashes on the defensive end last year. This team is still figuring things out and sometimes it just takes time for the defense to come along. But, there’s no better time to get it right than now. Maybe the Orange just play to the level of their opponents. We’ll find out tomorrow. With the raw talent on this team, you have to hope and believe that they can improve.
