Last season, where Syracuse produced a disappointing 7-13 conference record, its offense was stagnant at times. Top offensive weapons Donnie Freeman and JJ Starling both missed time last season; Now ex-Orange Kyle Cuffe and Peter Majstorovic were thrust into foreign offensive roles. A combination of injuries and a lack of depth derailed SU’s season. Its offseason roster construction made sure depth wouldn’t be an issue this upcoming season. ‘Cuse added Naithan George, the top guard in the transfer portal, for an additional playmaking option. It added lob threat William Kyle from UCLA for an extra big man presence in the starting five. Syracuse quickly rebounded from Elijah Moore’s departure (Utah) by adding sharpshooting wing Nate Kingz.
However, the “On paper” team needs molding to fully become ready for the gauntlet that is ACC basketball. Head Coach Adrian Autry talked about shaping this new-look team over the summer, beginning with early summer practices and workouts:
“Well, we got to work in July. A lot of the work was for the summertime was really about getting stronger. Our strength and conditioning coach did a really good job. We mapped it out of how we wanted to build the summer program to lead into now. And so again just you know a lot of time in the weight room. And then you know when we got out on the court, we just wanted to play with a certain pace so we practiced at a certain pace.”
Over the offseason, Syracuse named Rob “Strong” Harris as the team’s new strength coach. Harris fostered a competitive nature in the weight room and was seen using a bone for the Orange’s “Skull Session” workout sessions that were posted to their social media pages. SU wasn’t strong enough to physically beat some of the nation’s best forwards and centers last season: Duke’s Khaman Maluach and Stanford’s Maxime Raynaud had monster nights last year against a ‘Cuse team that didn’t possess real big man depth behind Eddie Lampkin.
Sophmore forward Donnie Freeman, who was a key transitional asset for Syracuse before his season-ending foot injury, is excited by the offense’s increased speed to make opposing defense’s work harder. He excels in transition, and his offensive prowess will expand with the increase of high-level guards (George, Luke Fennell) to receive lob passes and full-court deep shots.
Lastly, the shooting: Syracuse’s leading three-point shooter last season only converted 47 times from behind the arc. Kingz shot the 3-ball at a 44.6% rate, and perfectly slots in at one of the two forward positions as the Orange’s shooting threat. The fast-paced offense gives kingz open looks on kickout passes where the defense is mainly focused on a driving threat.
Each player I talked to discussed the horrors of the summer workouts, with Freeman saying: “Me talking about it does not do justice to how hard it was.”
Bigger, faster, stronger was the headlining message from Syracuse basketball media day.
