Congratulations to Boeheim's Army 2021 TBT Champions

Boeheim's Army, the team comprised of six Syracuse alumni and four guests, won the The Basketball Tournament (TBT) last night with a dramatic 69-67 win over Team 23.  Keifer Sykes hit the game winning three point shot in the Elam ending to give Boeheim's Army the win. Boeheim's Army beat out 63 other teams to win the $1 million prize.

The game was a fun, tight affair for most the night, with a lot of aggressive defense and some clutch shooting.  

It was truly a magical Syracuse affair as four members of the Boeheim family were in attendance:  Jim,  Juli, Jimmy Jr, and Buddy.  All three Syracuse assistant coaches were also there:  Adrian Autry, Gerry McNamara, and Allen Griffin.  Syracuse booster and Boeheim's Army chairman of operations Adam Weitsman pledged $1 million donation to local Syracuse charities in honor of the win.

Tyrese Rice led all of BA's scorers with 86 points and 18 assists.  Chris McCullough was right behind him with 81 points, and a team leading 42 rebounds.  D.J. Kennedy, the TBT's all-time leading scorer, and 5-time tournament champion, had 35 points and 42 rebounds.

Keifer Sykes was the hottest shooter for Boeheim's Army hitting 50% of his three point attempts in the tournament, with 11 baskets in 22 attempts.  Eric Devendorf also hit 50%, making 4 of 8.

C.J. Fair has the best +/- for BA in the tournament with a +38, despite playing in the third fewest minutes, and half of what the leaders played.

A special thanks for the memories to Eric Devendorf and Tyler Lydon, who both have announced that they are retiring from professional basketball after last night.

Below is the composite scoring for all of Boeheim's Army over the six game tournament.

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.

Balanced Scoring Against Duke

The Orange pulled the big upset over Duke last night, taking down the Blue Devils 64-62 for Syracuse's first win at Cameron Arena.

Tyler Roberson was the most impressive player on the court, scoring 14 points and pulling down 20 rebounds, in the process setting an Cameron Arena record for most rebounds by an opposing player. Roberson also pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.  He had help up front as Tyler Lydon had 9 rebounds of his own.  

The Orange had a strange shooting anomaly for the game.  The team shot 47.8% from three point range led by Trevor Cooney's 4 for 9. The shot only 37.5% from the free throw line, and they shot an abysmal 29% from inside the arc (two point range).  Michael Gbinije and Roberson were a combined 15 of 26 from two point range.  The rest of the team which was comprised of Cooney, Tyler Lydon, Malachi Richardson, DaJuan Coleman and Franklin Howard shot a horrendous 3 of 28 from the floor, or 10.7%!

The hidden gem in the game was the balanced scoring from the Orange.  Four players led the team in scoring with 14 points a piece:  Roberson, Gbinije, Cooney and Richardson. 

That rarity has actually happened twice before in Syracuse basketball history.

On December 14, 1982, Syracuse beat Ohio State 91-85.  Erich Santifer, Leo Rautins, Tony Bruin and Gene Waldron each scored 19 points while leading the Orangemen to victory.

The first time it occurred was January 6, 1912.  Syracuse beat the University of Toronto 45-28.  Sol Bloom, Walt Davey, Lew Castle, and Clarence Giles scored 8 points a piece to lead the Orange in scoring.