3 things to watch - CBS | Syracusefan.com

3 things to watch - CBS

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Co 2020 Cali Winner, Rcd/Rcpts/TD Rcpts (5)/TFL
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3 things to watch vs. St. Rose: No. 1 -- Outside shooting
Syracuse shot 18% from 3-point range in its first exhibition game, 3-of-16 from beyond the arc. The Orange also missed a lot of open jump shots. Brandon Triche was 2-of-11, C.J. Fair 2-of-6 and Kris Joseph 3-of-7 from the field, so shooting is an area Syracuse will look to improve upon against St. Rose. Orange RapidReports

3 things to watch vs. St. Rose: No. 2 -- Defense
Syracuse played man defense instead of the 2-3 zone against Cal State L.A. It’s not unusual for Jim Boeheim to play man in exhibition games, but with the opener Saturday against Fordham, Syracuse will likely go back to the 2-3. St. Rose is a guard-oriented team, so the Orange’s zone will get a good test. Orange RapidReports

3 things to watch vs. St. Rose: No. 3 -- Minutes
In Syracuse’s first game nine players saw at least 15 minutes. Expect Jim Boeheim to be a little stingier delving out minutes against St. Rose. Keep an eye on the PF position in particular. Against Cal State L.A., Rakeem Christmas started and played 19 minutes, and C.J. Fair came off the bench and played 18 minutes. Orange RapidReports
 
All 3 are good points. It's difficult to draw any conclusions from exhibition games because, as you stated, so many players get PT and the defense is altered. But I am very concerned about our half court offense. This is a point also made recently by General20.

Who is going to step up from the outside? If someone emerges and opposing defenses start playing out on us, can we get any reliable low post scoring out of Melo and Keita to provide balance?

It's going to take a few games for the offense to gel and guys to get back into game form, but it better happen soon. We play another top ten team (UF) in a little more than 3 weeks.
 
Outside shooting -- the real issue is Triche, our starting shooting guard. He got good shots in the first exhibition, showed his usual good form, missed in bunches. He can and will do better. If not, we struggle in the beginning of each half and Scoop and Dion end up with more shots.
Defense -- our starting perimeter guys have been playing that zone for 2 years at least. Not one of the 3 is Andy Rautins, but they were OK last year. Issue is how quickly the bigs learn and whether they can block enough shots to make up for the mistakes you have to expect.
Minutes -- PF is not an issue, really. Top 3 forwards and top 3 guards all will get their chances. Might want to focus on MCW and Southerland -- how much opportunity will those two get and what will they do to earn a spot in the rotation in the real games?
 
Outside shooting and whether MCW shows some of the promise that a lot of us expect. MCW was a little shaky in his first game.
 
Outside shooting and whether MCW shows some of the promise that a lot of us expect. MCW was a little shaky in his first game.

I think MCW was just excited and tried to show too much. Anyone that saw him walk over the competition in the dribble, pass, shoot (whatever they called it) know that he has the ability to be very smooth and very quick at the same time.
 

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