Last night’s game for Syracuse against Colgate was way closer than it should have been. Not that that’s anything new after the last few years. If anything, the Orange were up at halftime this year after trailing against the Raiders the last three years after 20 minutes. Most of SU’s players struggled throughout the game. One of the ones who didn’t for a lot of the game though was Donnie Freeman. Yes, he went 0-3 from deep but he probably shouldn’t be shooting three’s that often. Freeman did have six points and five rebounds and most importantly his +/- was 11.
You can’t understate the potential of SU’s newest five-star. He’s the highest-rated recruit since Carmelo Anthony for a reason. His teammates describe him as a unicorn on the floor and as a potential NBA player. Even after struggling a little bit to start the year, he’s been projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. That talent has to be on the floor. He wasn’t playing so badly to the point where he had to be taken out of the game. The athleticism and length will help out on defense.
The most important thing on top of that is that if this team is going to be successful in ACC play and make a run in March, Freeman has to be a big part of the team as the starting power forward. The growing pains will happen at this point of the season. The reward is greater than the risk which just isn’t that high. Eddie Lampkin played 34 minutes and looked exhausted throughout. He appeared to be limping at times and struggled to get to the other end of the floor at points. The Freeman-Jyare Davis combination has true potential which should be used more on the floor.
