Syracuse Player Improvements

The Orange are now 6-1 after their first seven games.  While all the games have not been pretty, I think overall as fans we are happy with that record.  The team's offense is clearly improved from what we witnessed over the past few seasons, and the defense is struggling.  

Recent history with the basketball program has been frustrating as players we hoped would make that 'leap' forward in their skill development, failed to do so.  Th

Quincy Guerrier

is season we are blessed to have several players who have shown growth or are better than we expected.

Quincy Guerrier, Alan Griffin, Kadary Richmond and Woody Newton are pleasant surprises this season.

Guerrier is leading the way with a new focus on his interior game and it is paying off big dividends for himself and the Orange.  The Buffalo game was his latest and greatest effort with 27 points and 11 rebounds.  He has been doing that all season, and quite efficiently.  Guerrier is currently averaging 18.0 ppg along with 10 rebounds per game, all done with 66% shooting from the floor and 43.8% from three.  He already has four double-doubles this season, exceeding last season's total by one.  Last year he was content on hanging out on the perimeter, and this year he is doing the hard work down low.

We knew Alan Griffin could shoot when he transferred to Syracuse from Illinois, and he had a nose for rebounding.  He has been better than advertised, with athletic availability that his paying big dividends for the Orange.  He has been erratic and inconsistent with his effort on both ends of the court.  The Northeastern game was the low water mark when he was held scoreless and seemed disinterested on both ends of the court, resulting in him not playing down the stretch of the game.  On the other hand, he has had four games where he has scored 20+ points, and three double-doubles.  The Buffalo game showed his top value to the Orange when he had 24 points and 10 rebounds, including a game saving block on a Buffalo layup as time was expiring.  And though Griffin struggled from three for the game, he made seven of eight shots inside the arc, as well as seven of eight free throws

Coach Jim Boeheim raved about Kadary Richmond in the pre-season, and the young man has looked very promising.  He is using his length, speed and ballhandling to contribute in many different ways, and has earned himself as steady part of the guard rotation.  After seven games Richmond is averaging 26 minutes a game.  He has 4.1 assists a game, along with 4.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 2.6 steals.  He is not a perimeter shooter, but has shown very adept at getting into the paint, and is making 47% of his field goal attempts.

Woody Newton was flying under the radar, and based on some comments from Jim Boeheim, I think he is playing better than even the coaches thought he would at this point.  While Newton isn't playing a lot of minutes, he is part of the 'Boeheim rotation' and gets into every game.  He's made 42% of this three point shots despite not having a reputation as being a perimeter shooter, and he has shown some athleticism on getting to the hoop.

Marek Dolezaj and Buddy Boeheim are delivering what I think we would expect, with some minor improvements.  Dolezaj has had to move over to the center position to replace the injured Bourama Sidibe. While the defense isn't as proficient with him there, the offense is benefiting greatly.  Dolezaj is being used to facilitate the offense with his playmaking, and he is showing off his ability to get to the hoop for short range shots.  Dolezaj is hitting 55% of this field goals, and leads he team with 4.3 assists.  Also importantly, he has avoided foul trouble for the most part. It is clear that when the ball flows through Dolezaj's hands, good things happen.

Buddy Boeheim missed three games and roughly a month of practice due to Covid-19 safety precautions.  It has had an impact on his shooting touch for sure. However, the junior continues to add to his offensive skills and has really made a focus on scoring within the paint.  Good things are happening when he gets inside.  Even when he does not make the shot, the defense does collapse on him, and the SU forwards are able to crash the glass and get the rebounds from the soft touch shots. Boeheim is averaging 15.5 ppg despite hitting only 26% of his three point shots.

Joe Girard and Bobby Braswell are two players who are struggling this year.  Like Boeheim, Girard's shooting touch as been off for most the games this year, and some of the competition has figured out ways of taking Girard out of his game.  He is going to have to learn to make the proper adjustments.  This year when he struggles, Coach Boeheim does have the luxury of a third guard, and he makes the player adjustments accordingly.  Girard has been rebounding well, and twice he has scored 21 points.  Syracuse likely does not beat Northeastern without Girard's six steals, four rebounds and three assists.

Bobby Braswell was thought to be a player that Boeheim was going to have to find playing time for.  Instead he has struggled on the court with rushed shots, and he has fallen behind Woody Newton on the depth chart.  

Bourama Sidibe got injured four minutes into the season opener, and has not played since. He had surgery on this knee and is expected back soon.  A healthy return would provide some big dividends to the defense, though it will be interesting on how the offensive scheme would work once he is available.  He definitely would have been of value against Rutgers and Buffalo, both teams who dominated with big mean inside the paint.

The other disappointment on the team has been the three young centers: Jesse Edwards, John Bol Ajak and Frank Anselem. Despite the need for center help, none of the three have demonstrated enough to  Coach Boeheim to get consistent playing time.  Having said that, Ajak is surprising in that the perception was that he was the biggest project of the three, and yet he is the first one off the bench when Boeheim does bring in a reserve center.  

Overall, the Orange have already provided several entertaining moments for us this season.  Some of the wins haven't been as easy or pretty as we would like, but the team is 6-1.  Hard to dislike that.