How Did the Syracuse Transfers Do in 2018-19

Four former Syracuse Orange basketball players played for other schools in the 2018-2019 season.  How was their performance this past year?

Kaleb Joseph at Syracuse

Kaleb Joseph transferred in 2016.  He wrapped up his career after two years at Creighton this year.  Joseph was one of the Bluejays top reserves this past season.  

He never developed into a starter, and in fact he played more minutes his freshman year at Syracuse than he did his sophomore, junior and senior seasons combined.   Joseph scored 4.3 ppg the past season, with 1.2 assists per game and 1.5 rebounds. He did have a career high 16 points in a win over Georgetown this year.

Taurean Thompson quit the Syracuse basketball team on the first day of school in 2017.  This was his first season playing for the Seton Hall Pirates.  Thompson would play only 278 minutes this season in 27 games, as opposed to 607 minutes for Syracuse his freshman year.   He scored 4.6 points per game this past year, along with 2.2 rebounds per game.  He shot 40.3% from the field, and 24.1% from three point range.  He played a few minutes in Seton Hall's first round NCAA tournament loss.

Matthew Moyer transferred after last season to Vanderbilt.  The NCAA granted him a waiver to play immediately, so he was able to play this season.  Moyer was a top reserve for the Commodores, playing 420 minutes in 31 games, and starting five games.  He scored 3.7 points per game, along with 3.0 rebounds a game.  Moyer shot 34% from the field, and 24.5% from three point range.  Vanderbilt  was 9-23 this season, winless in SEC play and losing their last twenty games of the season.

Braedon Bayer, the walk-on hero of the Michigan State upset in 2018, was a graduate transfer.  He was able to play at Siena this past season.  Bayer would play in 19 games, but saw very limited playing time with only 53 minutes on the season and scoring only 3 points.

Redshirting is Rare

Our friends over at TNIAAM overheard Jim Boeheim state on the Daniel Baldwin show that he has no intention of redshirting any players for the upcoming 2018-2019 season.  This led to a lot of healthy discussion on whether this was the right move or not.  A lot of people seem to think that redshirting Buddy Boeheim is a no-brainer.  But redshirting in college basketball is rare.

Trevor Cooney

I think that’s something that is getting overlooked. Yes, Trevor Cooney did it recently, but most players don’t redshirt, even when their prospects of playing time is limited. It’s also not something solely at the coach’s discretion; it is mutually agreed upon by the player and the coach. A coach cannot force a player to redshirt. Obviously, the Buddy situation is a little different, as Jim Boeheim is both the father/family and coach, so there’s a bit more sway there.

An awful lot of players who have sat out a year talk about how tough it is to be away from the competitive games for a year. Even if they aren’t playing much, they are still playing, and they have the psychological hope of possibly playing. If they announce they are red-shirting, they know they are walking away from competitive games for a year.

Since 2000-2001, here is the list of players who red-shirted for non-medical / non-transfer reasons:

Matt Gorman 2004-05

Trevor Cooney 2011-12

Matthew Moyer 2016-17 (arguably it was an injury move)

I may have missed someone in that span… but even if I did, it’s not a big list. There’s a lot of guys who didn’t redshirt and didn’t get a lot of playing time.

I’m not saying Buddy’s redshirt status is the right or the wrong move, but I think we are putting this situation under the spotlight because he is Jim Boeheim's son. What I am saying is that its not unusual for no player to redshirt.

Consider that the typical roster has 12-13 scholarship players, and is normally going to be comprised on 4-5 guards, 4-5 forwards, 2-3 centers. Most seasons don’t have a redshirt player, so there is almost always a 4th/5th player deep at a position that chooses to play rather than redshirt.

Career and Season Records from 2017-2018

Syracuse fielded a young squad in 2017-2018 with juniors Frank Howard and Paschal Chukwu, sophomore Tyus Battle, and freshmen Matthew Moyer and Oshae Brissett the starters.  Fellow freshman Marek Dolezaj, Bourama Sidibe and Howard Washington completed the bulk of the playing time.

A young squad is unlikely to have many players moving up significantly in the all-time career categories, but there were some things to note.

Tyus Battle

Tyus Battle became the 62^nd player to score 1,000 career points; how now has 1,097 points.  He is 55^th all-time. If he scored 700 points again next year he could move up to 13^th and surpass Rony Seikaly.  Frank Howard entered the top 100, and is now 93^rd all-time with 734 points.  Barring injury he should easily get to 1,000 points next season.

Ohae Brissett’s outstanding rebounding effort his freshman year put him well into the top 100 career rebounders at Syracuse. He is tied for 70^th all-time with Andy Rautins with 327 rebounds.  Paschal Chukwu is also in the top 100, with 281 career rebounds, placing him 85^th all-time.

Frank Howard has moved himself up the charts, and is now 18thall-time in assists with 351.  He needs only 88 assists to move all the way up to 8^th all-time.  Battle is also in the top 100, at 71^st on the list with 134 assists.

Battle is 17^th all-time in three point shots made with 137 made shots.  He should move up to around 5^th all-time next year.  Howard is 29^th with 87 shots made, and Brissett is 37^th with 55.  Considering any player who has ever made a three point shot makes the top 100 list, Geno Thorpe comes in 75^th (with 4), Adrian Autry Jr, Marek Dolezaj and Howard Washington are tied at 83^rd (with 2), and Matthew Moyer is tied at 92^nd (with 1).

Paschal Chukwu is 21^st all-time in blocked shots with 105.  Brissett is 56^th with 29, Dolezaj 58^th with 28, Bourama Sidibe 74^th with 20, Howard 76^th with 19, and Battle 81^st with 15.

Frank Howard is 38^th all-time in steals with 123.  Battle is 51^st with 98, Brissett 87^th with 43, Dolezaj 95^th with 30, and Chukwu 96^th with 29.

Battle is currently the 6th best career freethrow shooter with 82.6%.  Brissett is 18^th at 78.7%. 

The Orange also had several notable individual season accomplishments.

Battle’s 712 points and 19.2 ppg were the most since Hakim Warrick scored 726 with 21.4 ppg in 2004-2005. 

Brissett’s 327 rebounds were the most since Rick Jackson had 360 in 2010-2011. Brissett’s 8.8 rpg was topped by Rakem Christmas in 2014-2015 with 9.1

Chukwu’s 91 blocked shots were the most since Darryl Watkins had 112 in 2006-2007.  His 2.5 blocks per game was equaled by Rakem Christmas in 2014-2015.

Brissett’s 174 made free throws were a freshman record, and the most by any Orangeman since Jonny Flynn made 180 in 2008-2009.

Tyus Battle set a school record for minutes played with 1,443;  Howard has the 2^nd most all-time with 1,422 and Brissett is 4^th all-time with 1,411.  Jonny held the previous record with 1,418 in 2008-2009.

On the downside, Oshae Brissett led the Orange with a 33.1% three point shooting percentage. That was the lowest percentage ever for a team leader, breaking the mark set by Lawrence Moten back in 1992-1993 with 33.6%.  Brisstt's effort was the 60th best 3 point shooting season for Syracuse out of 74 players who qualified.  Howard was 63rd and Battle 64th.  

Tyus Battle is only the third Syracuse player to be named All-ACC First Team. The other two were Rakeem Christmas in 2015 and C.J. Fair in 2014.

A few oddities too about the 2017-2018 Orangemen. They were widely reported throughout the season to have the tallest team in the NCAA. The starting five:  Howard 6’4”, Battle 6’5”, Moyer 6’8”, Brissett 6’8”, and Chukwu 7’2”.  Reserves Dolezaj 6’9” and Sidibe 6’10” definitely helped that average.  The shortest regular player on the squad was Washington at 6’3”.

Coach Jim Boeheim won his 1,027 game as a head coach for Syracuse, and was involved in 1,218 wins for Syracuse basketball as a player, assistant coach and head coach.  He won his 50th ACC game.  He coached in his 33rd NCAA tournament.

The Orange Offense 2017-18

The Orange basketball team has some unusual statistical oddities occurring this season. This is being driven by the reliance on three guys to do virtually all of the scoring: Tyus Battle, Oshae Brissett, and Frank Howard.

Hopefully Matthew Moyer continues to exploit the defensive coverage being given to him and he  keeps improving his value as a fourth scorer. A tip of the hat to Howard who recognizes that Moyer is getting weak coverage and giving him the ball in those situations.

The Orange have a three headed offensive attack right now with three guys averaged 15.4 ppg or more.  The 1993-94 team was the last team with three guys with 15+ ppg:  Lawrence Mote 21.5, Adrian Autry 16.7, and John Wallace 15.0.  The 2012-13 team, which made the Final Four had a leading scorer C.J. Fair with just 14.5 ppg, lower than all three scorers this year.  The 2011-12 team's leading scorer had 13.4 ppg (Kris Joseph), and 2010-11 had 14.3 ppg (again Joseph).

The downside is that the fourth leading scorer on this year's squad barely averaged 5.3 ppg (Pascal Chukwu).  I have to go back to 2004-05 to find a team where the fourth leading scorer was even remotely close to that low, and that was Terrence Roberts with 7.2 ppg.  Fourth leading scorer on the 2001-02 team was Hakim Warrick with 6.1 ppg.  Fourth leading scored on the 1989-90 team was Dave Johnson with 6.5 ppg.  You would have to go all the way back to 1948-1949 to find a Syracuse team where the fourth leading scorer averaged 5.4 ppg or less.

I'd expect Moyer and Marek Dolezaj's numbers to improve as the year moves on, and for them to end up in the 6-7 ppg range; I'd also expect our top three scorers numbers to start to dip as the others on the team start to score more.

But it is interesting from an historical perspective how unusual our point spread is right now.

Seven Big Questions for 2016-2017

Orange fans hopes are very high for the upcoming men’s basketball season.  There indeed is a lot of potential on this squad, and the team may go ten players deep, something that has not happened often in coach Jim Boeheim’s career.

It is with almost certainty that the Orange will be a better team this year than the squad from last year.  But fans must keep in mind that last year’s team, before the NCAA tournament, may have been one of the worst squads that Boeheim has ever had.  The team was 19-13 in the regular season, and was 5-6 versus AP Top 25 teams.  That record was deservedly good enough to get into the NCAA tournament, particularly with the strength of some of the Orange’s wins.  But by Syracuse and Jim Boeheim standards, it was a mediocre season.  That is, until the NCAA tournament, where the team jelled, and made an improbably run to the Final Four.

It is also unlikely that no matter how good this year’s team is, that they will not get to the Final Four.  Several of Syracuse’s top teams have never made the Final Four.  Teams need to be playing very well as a unit, and get the right match ups, plus have players step up when they need to. 

This year’s team will be very hard to predict.  There are a lot of questions about what the squad really is comprised of. It does have a ton of potential. 

Question 1:  How good will Tylor Lydon be this year?  Last year he was the #4 option on the offense, 

and he was a terrible mismatch for opposing teams. This year he will likely be the #1 option. He is still a mismatch, but defenses will focus more on him.  Lydon has a terrific motor with a lot of hustle, and plays defense well. He should be better this year than last.

Question 2:  How good are the centers?  DaJuan Coleman is a fifth year senior, beset by injuries throughout this career. He started to play his best basketball in the NCAA tournament at the end of last year.  While there is no expectation for him to be a star, can he put up good numbers in 20-25 minutes of play?  Similarly, what do the Orange have in Paschal Chukwu?  He is a 7’2” player with a great wingspan and the ability to run the court.  He came as a raw talent and spent a year as a redshirt.  Can he be the shot blocking force that fans envision?  Does he have the ability to play defense other than blocking shots, and does he bring anything to the offensive end of the court?

Question 3:  Who will play the point, and how solid will that play be?  John Gillon and Frank Howard are the two point guards for this season.  Gillon is reportedly very quick with an average perimeter shot, a great ability to push the ball, and to press on defense. He is small, so he is not the prototypical guard for the top of the zone, though his speed may compensate for that.  Howard has the length to play the top of the zone, and has played in Boeheim’s zone for a year.  He showed last year that he is a terrific passer, with a good ability to get to the hoop, but very limited shooting range. Has his shooting improved?

Question 4:  How will the two fifth year seniors fit in?  The previously mentioned Gillon and Andrew White join Syracuse as graduate transfers.  White is reportedly a terrific shooter, though NBA scouts did indicate he needed to stay in school another year to develop more.  The two players have a ton of collegiate experience, and that brings a lot of value.  But both have no experience in Boeheim’s system, and how well will they play zone defense?  Do the personalities of both players allow them to be ‘team players’, or are they going to be self-focused? 

Question 5:  How good are the freshman? It seems that Tyus Battle is a terrific athlete and will see a lot of time at the shooting guard position. Taureen Thompson will see some time up front, and Matthew Moyer will try to find some time at the small forward position.  Do these players adjust well to being secondary players, if necessary? Particularly of concern would be Battle who may already have an eye on going to the NBA.  Can the freshman deliver?  For every Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, you have a Tyler Roberson and Kaleb Joseph.

Question 6:  Speaking of Roberson, which Roberson will we see this year?  Roberson did not make the big jump from his sophomore to junior season that you often see with players. He still had a limited shooting range, and most infuriating was that his effort and production was inconsistent.  There were nights of ‘plugged in’ Roberson where he pulled down 20 rebounds against Duke. And then there were nights that he barely registered in the stat column, frustrating Boeheim to the point that he publicly criticized his lack of effort.

Question 7:  How does this team gel?  Do the sum of the parts exceed the components, or do the individual efforts exceed what the team does?  Great teams do the former; poorer teams do the latter. 

We have a Hall of Fame coach who loves his job, and is as focused as ever.  Boeheim is publicly praising this team, and polls have the team in the top 20 preseason.  I’d love for the parts to come together, for the Orange to have a great season, one where the offense flowed well, and the defense continued to shut-it-down. 

We will start to find out November 11^th.