LOU 77, SYR 62 – It was another rough night for the state of Syracuse men’s basketball, as they were – once again – outhustled and outplayed by a conference foe in Louisville. Point blank: SU looked like they didn’t want to be there, leaving Carmelo Anthony shaking his head courtside in disgust.
For just the 3rd time this season, SU trailed for the entire game, finding themselves down 18 at halftime. This game didn’t reveal much. Rather, shine light on problems we already knew.
3 point struggles
Last Saturday, Syracuse played a respectable game, falling to Wake Forest 88-83. The offensive explosion – which marked SU’s 2nd highest point total in ACC play – was largely fueled by something they hadn’t done well all season: the 3 pointer. In the loss, the Orange went 10-18 from deep, with all 10 threes coming in the first half. The halftime result: 46-42 SU, showing SU’s upside when able to knock down shots.
That shooting took a turn for the worse today. The Cuse’ shot just 4-19 (21%) from deep, missing its first 10 attempts in a row. 15 of those 19 shots were taken by either Nate Kingz or Nate George, who made just a combined 4. On the other side, Louisville hit 14.
Where’s Donnie?
It’s simple: like America runs on Duncan, Syracuse runs on Donnie Freeman. When SU is at its best, Freeman is running the floor, scoring in transition, and causing a headache inside for opposing defenses. As seen this past weekend in Winston Salem – where Freeman scored 28 points – the Orange were finally able to find open shots and space the floor.
Tonight, he struggled, scoring just 10 points on 3-11 shooting. While he did collect 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double, the forward was unable to find his shot from deep, and struggled to finish from within the paint. The bottom line: Syracuse is not going to win when Donnie Freeman struggles.
Identity crisis
Point blank: you cannot give up 14 threes on the road and expect to win. It’s just not realistic. But what makes it worse? Most of them were uncontested. That’s not a talent issue. That’s an identity issue. Teams that know who they are defensively don’t lose shooters in transition. They don’t jog through rotations, and certainly do not close out halfway. Louisville wasn’t forced into tough shots. Rather, they were stepping into shots with rhythm.
Right now, Syracuse doesn’t have a defensive backbone. As seen last week against Wake Forest, and tonight in Louville, when the offense struggles, there is absolutely nothing steady for SU to fall back on. Adrian Autry loves talking about the idea of having an ingrained defensive identity, but with each ACC match, it’s abundantly clear that his idea is more like an unrealistic dream…
