Frank Howard - By The Numbers - 2019

Frank Howard wrapped up his Syracuse career with a disappointing senior season hampered by a preseason injury that lingered all year and a banned substance suspension to end the year.  

Here are the numbers to remember Howard's career:

Frank Howard

992 points scored for #63 all-time at Syracuse.  If he had not been suspended, he likely would have reached the 1,000 point plateau.  Instead he gets to supplant Danny Schayes as the player closest to reaching that mark without achieving it.

284 rebounds for 90th all-time.  He has one less than teammate Tyus Battle, and roughly the same number as Trevor Cooney (285), Scoop Jardine (282) and Eric Devendorf (277).

435 assists for 10th all-time.  He's in the same company as Brandon Triche (438) and Lazarus Sims (432).

138 three point field goals made for 18th all-time.  That's about the same as Adrian Autry (139) and Jason Hart (139).

23 blocked shots for 72nd all-time.  That is the same number as teammate Tyus Battle, as well as Herman Harried and Erich Santifer.

166 steals for 21st all-time.  He is in close company with DeShaun Williams (168) and Josh Pace (161).

31.9% three point shooting percentage for 48th all-time.  The nearest shooters to him are Billy Owens (32.3%), Ryan Blackwell (31.7%) and Lawrence Moten (31.6%).

68.3% free throw shooting percentage for 82nd all-time.  Similar free throw shooters include Scoop Jardine, Derrick Coleman, Luke Jackson and Billy Owens.

Howard led the Orange in assists in both his junior and senior seasons.  His 84 assists as a senior were the fewest ever by the Orange team leader.

Tyus Battle - By The Numbers - 2019

Tyus Battle surprised many Syracuse fans when he bypassed the 2018 NBA draft and came back to Syracuse for his junior season.  Battle did improve some aspects of his game, particularly his efficiency, but overall the season was disappointing for the team.  Battle has announced he is going into the 2019 NBA draft, and I would be surprised if that were to change this year.  

Here are the numbers to remember Battle's career:

Tyus Battle

1,647 points for 16th all-time.  If he had not missed the ACC Tournament, he most certainly would have passed C.J. Fair (1,660 points), and possibly Eric Devendorf (1,680 points).

285 rebounds for 89th all-time.  He has one more than teammate Frank Howard, and roughly the same number as Trevor Cooney (285), Scoop Jardine (282) and Eric Devendorf (277).

214 assists for 44th all-time.  He's similar to Trevor Cooney (215) and Josh Wright (217).

179 three point field goals made for 9th all-time.  That's about the same as Todd Burgan (178).

23 blocked shots for 72nd all-time.  That is the same number as teammate Frank Howard, as well as Herman Harried and Erich Santifer.

135 steals for 31st all-time.  He is tied with Ryan Blackwell and close to Eric Devendorf (134).

33.5% three point shooting percentage for 37th all-time.  Comparable three point shooters to him are Trevor Cooney (33.7%), DeShaun Williams (33.6%) and Adrian Autry (33.3%).

80.3% free throw shooting percentage for 12th all-time.  Similar free throw shooters include Danny Schayes and Trevor Cooney.   Battle is one of only 12 Syracuse players to shoot 80% for their career (minimum 100 attempts).

Battle led the Orange in scoring in both his sophomore and junior seasons.  The last player to lead the team in scoring back-to-back years was C.J. Fair in 2012-13 and 2013-14. 

Battle fell four assists short of leading the team in assists.  If he had accomplished the feat, he would have been the first non-point guard since Andy Rautins 2009-10 to lead the team in assists.

Battle holds the Syracuse record for most minutes per game for his career in the NCAA tournament with 39.6 minutes a game for 5 games. 

Battle was a Second Team ACC Player his sophomore year, and Third Team ACC Player his junior year. 

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.

Syracuse Orange Basketball - By The Numbers 2018-19

The Syracuse Orange basketball team ended the season on a sour note losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  On the bright side, they did comfortably make it into the tournament, earning an eight seed.

Here's some team level numbers to remember the year by:

Syracuse was 18-11 in games Frank Howard played.  2-3 in games he did not.

Syracuse was 5-1 in games that Marek Dolezaj started.  15-13 in games he did not.   Four of his starts were ACC games.

The Orange were 3-8 versus AP Top 25 teams.  The 11 games against ranked teams ties the school record set in 2005-06 and again 2015-16.

The Orange were 1-5 versus AP Top 5 teams.  The 6 games against top 5 teams ties the school record set in 1995-96, and again in 2017-18 (last year).  

The following is a list comparing 2018-19 statistics to the other 42 seasons in the Jim Boeheim era:

• 808 field goals made were the 2nd fewest in the Boeheim era (2014-15 is lowest with 763)
• 42.40% field goal percentage was the 2nd lowest (2017-18 is lowest at 41.7%)
• 68.5% free throw percent was 23rd lowest (1987-88 is lowest at 60%)
• 274 three point field goals was 3rd most ever (2015-16 is highest with 315)
• 824 three point attempts is 2nd most ever (2015-16 is highest with 876)
• 33.3% three point percent is 23rd highest ever, right in the middle of the pack (1986-87 is highest with 40.3%)
• 408 assists is third lowest (2017-18 is lowest with 395)
• 1176 rebounds is 8th lowest (1984-85 is lowest with 1,064)
• 424 turnovers is 7th lowest (2013-14 is lowest with 306)
• 162 blocked shots is 9th lowest (1994-95 is lowest with 141)
• 2,370 points is 7th lowest (2014-15 is lowest with 2,096)
• 69.7 points per game is 4th lowest (2017-18 is lowest with 66.6)
• 12.0 assists per game is 3rd lowest (2017-18 is lowest with 10.7)
• 34.6 rebounds per game is 2nd lowest (1984-85 is lowest with 34.3)
• +3.7 Point differential per game is 5th lowest (2017-18 is lowest with +2.8)

The last time the Orange has a negative point differential was 1968-69.  That was also the team's last losing season.

Syracuse set the NCAA Single Game home attendance record of 35,642 versus Duke on 2/23/2019.

Tyus Battle's 17.2 ppg was the lowest for the team leader since C.J. Fair had 16.5 ppg in 2013-14.

Oshae Brissett's 7.5 rebounds per game was the lowest for the team leader since C.J. Fair has 6.4 in 2013-14.

Frank Howard's 2.9 assists per game was the lowest for the team leader in school history.  The previous record was 3.1 by Ross Kindel in 1976-77.

Tyus Battle's 76.3% free throw shooting was the lowest for a team leader since Damone Brown's 75.0% in 1998-99.

Should the Orange be Shooting so Many Threes?

The perception is the Orange are a poor shooting three point team.  They are shooting only 32.8% from three point range.  However, I would suggest that number is greatly biased by horrendous three point shooting by the team earlier in the year.  The team shot 29.9% against the non-conference opponents, making 87 of 291 attempts.

The team was even worse in its first five games of the year, when it made only 23.3% of the shots, making 24 of 103 attempts.  The team has shot 35.1% starting with the Ohio State game.

Buddy Boeheim

As the team entered ACC play, it got even better. Here are the breakdowns for the first nine ACC games.

Notre Dame 41%

Clemson 23%

Georgia Tech 21%

Duke 44%

Pitt 46%

Miami 47%

Virginia Tech 32%

Boston College 42%

Pitt 32%

The team is shooting 36.3% in ACC play.  Some of the individuals are really shooting well since conference play started.  

Buddy Boeheim leads the way making 17 of 33, or 51.5%.  That's outstanding.

Elijah Hughes is shooting 37% (27-73), FRank Howard 37.3% (19-51) and Marek Dolezaj 50% (5-10).  

Earlier in the year Frank Howard was missing from the lineup, which messed up the ball movement. Even when he returned, it took several games for him to get back up to speed.  That definitely had an impact on all aspects of the offense, including three point shooting.

The problems for the Orange isn't that they shoot a lot of threes. The problems are when they shoot the wrong threes. If they are shooting early in the shot clock without working to get an open shot, or if they are not moving the ball well, and then forced to shoot as the clock expires, then they are likely to fail. But when they move the ball around properly, move it into the paint and then back out, things work well.

2,000 wins for the Orange!

The Syracuse Orange basketball team had an impressive win over Miami on January 24th, winning 73-53.  The Orange had a hot night shooting from the perimeter, making 13 three point shots, and had a tough interior defense with 11 blocked shots along with many altered shots.  It moved the Orange to 5-1 in the ACC, and put them in a tie for first place.

The game also marked the 2,000th win for the Syracuse men's basketball program.  The Orange are the fifth program to win that many games.  The top five are:

Kentucky           2,263
Kansas               2,248
North Carolina  2,232
Duke                  2,144
Syracuse            2,000

The Orange have only had seven full time head coaches (plus a brief tour by Mike Hopkins when Jim Boeheim was on suspension).  Victories by coach:

Jim Boeheim   1,041
Lew Andreas      358
Ed Dollard          152
Roy Danforth      148
Marc Guley         136
Fred Lewis            91
John A.R. Scott     64
Mike Hopkins         4


126 of those wins have come against Colgate.  366 were in the Big East Conference, 55 in the ACC conference. 

Go Orange!!

Paschal Chukwu's Big Numbers Against Duke

Paschal Chukwu had arguably the best game of his career in Syracuse's upset win over Duke on Monday night.  The 7'2" center pulled down 18 rebounds, scored 10 points, and made two clutch free throws down the stretch to ensure the win.  He did that against a Duke front line that had Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett.  Both those gentleman had big nights too; Chukwu wasn't stopping them.  But he was impacting the ability of the rest of Duke's players to drive the paint.  They had to be content shooting from the perimeter, and the Orange pushed them back and dared them to beat them from there; Duke failed.

Would you believe...

Paschal Chukwu

...that Paschal Chukwu has had twelve games at Syracuse with 10+ rebounds?

Chukwu has definitely regressed this season; I think we would all agree he isn’t playing at the same level as he did last year.

Yet, if you look at his productivity per 40 minutes, it is up this year:

8.6 points vs 7.9 points

12.8 rebounds vs 10.0 rebounds

3.7 blocks vs 3.6 blocks

1.

65% FG shooting both years

63% FT shooting both years

7 steals vs 1.0 steals

His turnovers and his fouls are both up this year. 

2.3 turnovers vs 1.6 turnovers

6.8 fouls vs 4.6

His is maddeningly inconsistent, last year and this year. He misses so many shots he should make, and has more turnovers than he should for as little as he touches the ball. 17 turnovers this year and 31 field goal attempts. Just maddening.

Yet, in many ways he’s been productive at times, particularly in the rebounding and shot alteration capacity. He’s never met the expectations I think we had, but he’s also far from a bust.