Mintz's Frosh Accomplishments

Judah Mintz was one of the more electrifying freshman at Syracuse for quite a while.  He struggled at times with playing under control and learning his playmaking responsibilities, but there was no doubting his ability to beat defenders off the ball and get to the basket.  Mintz led the team with 4.6 assists per game and was second in scoring with 16.3 points per game.

Mintz 521 points was the sixth most ever scored by an Orange freshman. His 16.3 ppg was the fourth best by an Orange freshman, trailing only Carmelo Anthony, Lawrence Moten, and Donte' Greene.

While Mintz did struggle with playmaking at times, he still had 148 assists, good enough for eighth on the Orange frosh list.  His 139 free throws were fourth on the all time list, and his 59 steals was good enough for seventh.

Mintz lead the team in scoring 11 different times, with a season high 24 points in a win over Monmouth and also in the home loss to Pittsburgh.

Here is a link to all the freshman basketball records at Syracuse.

Boeheim versus Opposing Coaches

Jim Boeheim completed his illustrious head coaching career at Syracuse when he retired March 8, 2023. He finished with 1,116 wins and 441 losses. Along the way he faced 416 different head coaches from Dana Altman to Gary Zarecky.

There were 39 head coaches he squared off against that he did not beat. None of them were more than two times.   There were 266 he faced that he never lost to. Emmett Davis has the dubious distinction of going 0-13 versus Coach Boeheim.

Jim Boeheim faced Jim Calhoun the most often with 55 games between the two of them.  Boeheim holds the slight edge of 28-27 in that series.

Coaches Boeheim Coached Most Games Against

Coach	Years	Games	W	L
Jim Calhoun	1977-12	55	28	27
John Thompson	1979-98	46	21	25
Rollie Massimino	1979-92	33	18	15
Mike Brey	2001-23	31	21	10
Lou Carnesecca	1977-92	30	18	12
P.J. Carlesimo	1983-94	29	25	4
Jim O'Brien	1982-00	28	22	6
Leonard Hamilton	1986-23	28	19	9
Rick Pitino	1986-17	26	11	15
Paul Evans	1985-94	23	16	7

Calhoun is also the coach Boeheim beat the most often, closely following by his good friend P.J. Carlesimo.  

Coaches Boeheim Won Most Against

Coach	Years	Games	W	L
Jim Calhoun	1977-12	55	28	27
P.J. Carlesimo	1983-94	29	25	4
Jim O'Brien	1982-00	28	22	6
John Thompson	1979-98	46	21	25
Mike Brey	2001-23	31	21	10
Leonard Hamilton	1986-23	28	19	9
Rollie Massimino	1979-92	33	18	15
Lou Carnesecca	1977-92	30	18	12
Paul Evans	1985-94	23	16	7
Dom Perno	1977-86	18	13	5
Jim Christian	2015-21	15	13	2
Emmett Davis	1998-10	13	13	0

Calhoun also has the distinction of being the coach that beat Boeheim the most often.   John Thompson is close behind with 25 wins.

Coaches Boeheim Lost Most Against

Coach	Years	Games	W	L
Jim Calhoun	1977-12	55	28	27
John Thompson	1979-98	46	21	25
Rollie Massimino	1979-92	33	18	15
Rick Pitino	1986-96	26	11	15
Mike Krzyzewski	1989-22	18	5	13
Jamie Dixon	2004-18	20	7	13
Jay Wright	2002-21	22	9	13
Tony Bennett	2014-23	15	3	12
Lou Carnesecca	1977-92	30	18	12
Mike Brey	2001-23	31	21	10
Leonard Hamilton	1986-23	28	19

A full list of all of Boeheim's coaching opponents can be found here.

Syracuse Senior Day - Big Senior Games

Syracuse senior center Jesse Edwards finished off his senior regular season with a flair leading the Orange to a 72-63 win over Wake Forest.  Edwards had 27 points on 11-15 shooting along with 20 rebounds, including eight offensive boards.  He also have five steals and two blocks to solidify his dominance on both end of the courts.

There have been five other big senior night moments by players in the past twenty years, though not all leading to wins.  Appropriately, two of those players had the uniforms retired last night.

Hakim Warrick, in 2005, scored 36 points leading the Orange to a 91-66 win over Providence. Hak made 12 of 17 shots that night for the easy win.

Gerry McNamara, in 2006, scored 29 points in a disappointing 92-82 loss to #4 Villanova. GMac was 5-12 from three point range and had 8 assists, but that was not enough.   He would follow that game with an outstanding Big East tournament leading the Orange to four straight wins and the Big East Championship.

Michael Gbinije in 2016 scored 34 points in a 75-66 win over North Carolina State. Silent G made 8 of 13 three point attempts as well has 6 assists and 3 blocks in the victory.

Though technically a grad student and not a senior,  in 2017 Andrew White scored 40 points on senior night hitting 8-9 three point shots in a 90-61 victory over Georgia Tech.  

Buddy Boeheim, last year, scored 30 points on senior night in a 75-72  loss to Miami.  Buddy made 5-8 from three point range, and had 2 steals, but that was not enough to overcome the Hurricanes.

ACC Road Wins 2022-2023

The Orange beat Florida State 76-67 last night in Tallahassee behind the strong second half efforts of Joe Girard, Judah Mintz, and Jesse Edwards.  This was the Orange's fifth ACC road win this season.  Winning on the road can be tough, especially in conference games.

Five road wins is a lot for the Orange in ACC play, but not the school record. They had seven road wins in their first season of the ACC back in 2013-2014. And in 2019-2020 they had six road wins. 

Here's a chart of all the road wins for the Orange in ACC play.

The Orange have two more road games this season against Clemson and Pittsburgh.  They have only three home wins so far. Part of that is the tougher competition has been at the Dome, and part is they have played eight road conference games, and only six at home. Their schedule is backloaded with home games comprising four of the last six.

Go Orange!

Baye Moussa Keita Fundraiser

 Former Orange center Baye Moussa Keita is raising money for a youth basketball camp that he is involved with in Senegal. 

Baye Moussa Keita

He is looking to raise money for the following:

• 2 x basketball backboards and installation cost
• 2 doors and installation cost
• 4 outdoor lights
• New storage unit
• 150 T-shirts
• 150 Socks
• 30 basketballs
• Bags transportation cost ($200 each x 8)
• 6 bags for prizes for top 3 girls and 3 boys Academically
• Painting

Here is the link to his GoFundMe page.

Syracuse Starters Playing Less

An anomaly for this Syracuse season is the playing time for the starters; there's nobody playing a ton of minutes every game.  Girard leads the team with 33.8 mpg. There are 14 players in the ACC with a higher usage rate.

Last season four Orange players averaged 34+ mpg: Buddy Boeheim 38.0, Cole Swider 34.5, Joe Girard 34.1, and Jimmy Boeheim 34.7.

Tyus Battle

Leaders for recent seasons:

2021-22 Buddy Boeheim 38.0

2020-21 Buddy Boeheim 36.2

2019-20 Elijah Hughes 36.7

2018-19 Tyus Battle 36.3

2017-18 Tyus Battle 39.0

2016-17 Andrew White 37.2

2015-16 Michael Gbinije 37.9

2014-15 Trevor Cooney 37.3

2013-14 CJ Fair 37.8

2012-13 Michael Carter Williams 35.2

2011-12 Kris Joseph 32.2

You have to go back to 2011-12 with Kris Joseph to find the team leader with that low a minute per game usage.

Orange Improving From Three

The Orange have rather quietly developed into a proficient three point shooting team over the last few weeks. The team has shot 44% from three point range over the past six games (44-101) with the Pitt game being the only poor effort. That stretch of games included Cornell, Pitt, Boston College, Louisville, Virginia, and  Virginia Tech.

Joe Girard

It is no surprise that Joe Girard is leading the three point charge. The senior shooting guard has made 22 of 48 three point attempts over the past six games, hitting at a 47% clip.  His 22 made shots is half of made threes for the Orange during that period.  

However, it is not only Girard who is hitting at a hot clip. The rest of the team has made 22 of its 53 attempts, for a 41.5% percent.  This includes:

• Chris Bell: 8 for 17, 47% 
• Justin Taylor: 5 for 12, 42%
• Benny Williams:  3 for 6, 50%
• Symir Torrence: 2 for 3, 67%
• Judah Mintz: 3 for 13, 23%

As you can see from that list, Mintz is the only one on that list who has struggled to make three point shots during that stretch.   Chris Bell has been very hot recently making 75% (6-8) over the past three games.

It will be interesting to see if this is an anomaly, or is this Orange team really a three point threat? 

Unfortunately with the good comes the bad. The Orange are making 44% of their threes, but only 47% of their shots inside the arc.  That is an area of the game they will have to continue to work upon.

My assumption is that opposing defenses are sagging off of the Orange perimeter, with the exception of Girard, leaving most of the players with clean looks. Fortunately the Orange are making those defenses pay for that. Eventually teams will adjust and cover the perimeter more, which should help the Orange insider, particularly Jesse Edwards and Maliq Brown.

It is nice to see this run of hot perimeter shooting. One concern about the Orange in the preseason was where their perimeter offense would come from. They knew they had Girard, but the rest were unproven underclassmen.