Orangeyes Daily Articles for Friday for Basketball

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Welcome to Korean American Day!

A treaty was signed between the United States and Korea in 1882, which formalized peaceful relations built on friendship and commerce between the two countries. Shortly thereafter, students, politicians, diplomats, and businesspersons from Korea began visiting the United States. Then, the SS Gaelic arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on January 13, 1903, carrying 102 Korean immigrants. Over the next two years, around 7,500 Korean immigrants arrived in the United States, most of whom worked on sugar plantations in Hawaii. Korean American Day commemorates the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States and honors the contributions of Korean Americans to the country. The holiday has been observed by states and municipalities and has been designated by the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

SU News

Observations from Syracuse’s 82-72 win: Success from deep, Maliq Brown shines (DO; Vasudevan)

Virginia Tech lost four-straight games heading into Wednesday night, but the losses had all been by single digits. The Orange took hold of the game early, though Virginia Tech showed why it has stayed close against opponents, going on a 10-0 run to get back within 12 in the second half. But it wouldn’t be enough, as SU continued to build on its lead off turnovers from Virginia Tech, leading to a double-digit loss against the Orange.

Syracuse was led by a 21-point performance from Joe Girard III while four other SU players finished with double-digit points. Maliq Brown recorded a double-double as well, the first of his career.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 82-72 win over Virginia Tech:

Early trouble from Justyn Mutts​

Like most teams expecting Syracuse to open with the zone, the Hokies had a plan coming into Wednesday night — get the ball to Justyn Mutts in the middle of the court and see how the Orange would react. Syracuse hasn’t been collapsing on players in the middle of the paint, leaving Jesse Edwards to deal with potential scorers while also focusing on plugging passing lanes back or defending the kick-out options instead.

Mutts caught the ball near the top of the paint on Virginia Tech’s first possession, quickly turning around and floating the ball in with his right hand. He mimicked that play a few more times in the possession, using his soft hands to rattle the ball into the basket, answering an Edwards alley-oop seven minutes into the game.

But Mutts was more dangerous when he shared the rock, either passing back to the top of the key or turning around and waiting for another Hokies’ player to emerge open. Usually, someone from VT got behind Edwards, and Syracuse didn’t rotate to help until later in the first half.

On back-to-back plays two minutes in, Mutts forced fast, low passes to Grant Basile, who stationed behind Edwards at the start of both possessions. No help came either time and Basile hit both easy shots directly under the basket.

Success from deep​

Virginia Tech likes to shoot from beyond the arc, especially with a threat like Sean Pedulla, who’s shooting 35% from 3-point range. The Orange, not so much. Girard is averaging 3.1 3-pointers per game, but has attempted the second-least number of 3s in the ACC.

Still, Virginia Tech allowed Syracuse to fire from long-range early and Syracuse chucked up three-straight 3-pointers in the opening three minutes of the game. Only the first one actually fell through with Chris Bell nailing the shot from the left corner after the Orange threw it to Edwards inside.
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Syracuse Basketball: Observations – good and bad – from win over Hokies (itlh; Adler)

Syracuse basketball has now won eight of its last 10 games, after the Orange picked up perhaps its best victory of the 2022-23 season on Wednesday night in defeating Virginia Tech at home by 10 points.

Heading into this Atlantic Coast Conference showdown, the ‘Cuse stood at No. 131 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, while the Hokies were at No. 50. To my knowledge, Virginia Tech is the high-rated squad in the NET ratings that Syracuse basketball has conquered to date in 2022-23.

After the Orange’s 82-72 defeat of the Hokies, the ‘Cuse climbed to No. 118 in the NET rankings, while the Hokies fell to No. 58 at the time of this writing. As we discussed in another recent column, given the Orange’s weak non-conference strength of schedule, Syracuse basketball (11-6, 4-2 in the ACC ) will need to pile up high-quality conference triumphs to bolster its resume.

Knocking off a solid Virginia Tech group (11-6, 1-5) is a good first start. Up next, the ‘Cuse will host Notre Dame on Saturday, Jan. 14, beginning at 7 pm and airing on the ACC Network. In early December, the Orange beat the Fighting Irish on the road, 62-61.

What went right – and wrong – for Syracuse basketball in its 10-point victory over Virginia Tech.​

The Orange shot well from the field
Against the Hokies, per ESPN data, the ‘Cuse connected on 50.8 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc. That’s excellent. What’s more, the Orange didn’t hoist up a ton of 3-point attempts, going 8-of-16 from deep.

It’s important for the ‘Cuse to connect on a decent amount of 3-pointers, and at a strong clip, but Syracuse basketball is at its best when it is attacking the rim and scoring easy buckets out in transition after turning over its opponents.

Joe Girard III had himself a game
Senior shooting guard Joe Girard III paced the Orange with 24 points, and he hit on 10-of-20 shots from the field and 3-of-7 from long range. He added three assists and two steals. Per SU Athletics, Girard has reached double-figures in scoring 10 times in a row.

The Virginia freshmen were awesome
Freshman forward Maliq Brown recorded his first double-double in a ‘Cuse uniform. The three-star player in the 2022 class tallied 11 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 34 minutes. He was 5-of-7 from the field.

His good friend, freshman wing and 2022 four-star prospect Justin Taylor, produced 10 points, two rebounds and one block in in 28 minutes. He went 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown. Both Taylor and Brown hail from Virginia. They’ve known each other for a long time. And they have bright futures on the Hill.
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How does Bell’s rebounding numbers compare to past small forwards? (Mike’s Mailbox) (PS; $; Waters)

History can provide a lot of lessons and plenty of perspective, too.

That’s what we get in this week’s Mailbox as a reader asked me to delve into the record books to shed some light on an issue Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has brought up many times this season.

We’ll also get into opinion vs. reality when it comes to Syracuse games, a little bit of when and why substitutions are made and ACC rivalries other than Duke-North Carolina.

As always, if you have any college basketball-related questions, please email to mwaters@syracuse.com.

Q: How does Chris Bell’s rebounds per minute rate compared to other freshman small forwards during Jim Boeheim’s tenure?

Bill N.

Mike: This question provided an opportunity to gather some data that would really put Jim Boeheim’s criticism of Chris Bell’s lack of rebounding into perspective.

Bell, Syracuse’s 6-foot-7 freshman, has started every game this season. He is scoring 6.7 points per game and knocking down a more than respectable 37% of his 3-point attempts.

But Bell has struggled to rebound. He’s averaging just 1.5 rebounds per game, while playing an average of 18.6 minutes per game. That comes to one rebound for every 12.6 minutes that Bell is on the court.

Compared to Syracuse’s small forwards over the past 25 years, it’s the lowest rebounds per minute rate.
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Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images

Syracuse basketball freshman Maliq Brown records first career double-double (TNIAAM; Szuba)

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team earned an important victory over Virginia Tech on Wednesday night. In what was one of the more complete games of the season from Syracuse, freshman forward Maliq Brown stood out with the first double-double of his college career.

Brown came off the pine to score 11 points and grab 12 rebounds in 34 minutes of playing time. He continues to address what Syracuse needs at forward. He’s played 70 minutes over the last two games despite coming off the bench.

“It doesn’t matter who starts. It matters who’s playing,” Jim Boeheim said following the game.

Brown provided an instant spark in the first half against Virginia Tech by getting involved around the basket. He’s been Johnny-on-the-spot, finishing around the rim and offering a big lift on the glass for a team that has desperately needed to find ways to close out defensive possession with its rebounding.

“He’s going to be a great player the rest of the year for us,” said Joe Girard immediately following the game.

Brown has yet to take a shot outside the paint this season and he’s shooting a team best 63.8% from the floor as a result.

“He stays around the basket. That’s what he does. That’s where the ball is. That’s where he gets some rebounds,” Boeheim said.

Maliq Brown’s shot chart | CBB Analytics

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What to watch for: Syracuse v. Notre Dame - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)

Syracuse hosts Notre Dame on Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome at 7 p.m. (TV: ACCN). Here are four things to watch for in the game:

Will Joe Girard stay hot?

Ever since Joe Girard was shut out of scoring against Illinois on Nov. 29, Girard has been on a torrid pace. He’s been in double-figures in 10 consecutive games, and has elevated his scoring to 17.2 ppg, which leads SU. His 24 points on 10-20 shooting was a vintage performance from Girard, who scored the majority of his points insider the arc (17 points) for a game-high 24 points. Girard busted out of his early season slump against Notre Dame, when he scored 20 points on 9-18 shooting (2-10 downtown) in a surprising 62-61 win over Notre Dame. As Girard goes, so does Syracuse, and the Orange can only hope he can keep up his incredible run.

Can Jesse Edwards end his slump?

On the flip side, Jesse Edwards, once Syracuse’s leading scorer, has cooled off significantly over the past four weeks. Starting with the Dec. 12 game against Monmouth, Edwards has only shot the ball more than 10 times in a game twice. In that seven game stretch, he’s also only hit more than 50 percent of his field goals twice. Jim Boeheim lamented after the Virginia Tech game that Edwards gets pushed around far too often down low, which has limited his effectiveness. That said, Notre Dame could be just what Edwards needs to get back to his dominant self. He scored 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds against the Fighting Irish in the team’s first matchup, and without a legitimate big man to match Edwards inside, he could be in for a rebound game.

Will Maliq Brown play major minutes again?

When Maliq Brown has been given extended minutes, he’s made the most of them. In his past two games, Brown has averaged 35 minutes, scoring 10.5 ppg and adding 10.0 rpg. He notched the first double-double of his career against the Hokies, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and did so without any of the offense being run through him. In the last eight games, Brown has played 20 or more minutes four times. In those games, he’s averaging 9.5 ppg and 6.3 rpg. Boeheim praised Brown following the Va. Tech win, saying that he’s playing starter minutes despite not being a starter. That bodes well for Brown getting more time and separating himself from the rest of the underclassmen at one of the wing spots.
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On The Block On Demand 1-12-23 (ESPN; radio; Axe)

Brent Axe discusses how Syracuse got both what they wanted and what they need last night. Later, Josh and Jordan join him for the Mount Rushmore Draft of best Sports Nicknames.

Mike Waters "On The Block" 1-12-23 (ESPN; radio; Axe)

Mike Waters, college basketball writer for Syracuse.com, joins Brent Axe to discuss last night’s win and the emergence of Maliq Brown.

Syracuse hosts Notre Dame following Girard's 24-point game (abc7chicago.com; AP)

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-8, 1-5 ACC) at Syracuse Orange (11-6, 4-2 ACC)

Syracuse, New York; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Syracuse hosts the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after Joseph Girard III scored 24 points in Syracuse's 82-72 win against the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The Orange are 8-3 in home games. Syracuse ranks sixth in the ACC in rebounding with 33.3 rebounds. Jesse Edwards leads the Orange with 10.7 boards.

The Fighting Irish have gone 1-5 against ACC opponents. Notre Dame ranks third in the ACC shooting 37.7% from 3-point range.

TOP PERFORMERS: Girard is averaging 17.2 points for the Orange. Chris Bunch is averaging 0.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Syracuse.

Trey Wertz is averaging 9.6 points and 3.4 assists for the Fighting Irish. Nate Laszewski is averaging 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 53.1% over the last 10 games for Notre Dame.

LAST 10 GAMES: Orange: 8-2, averaging 78.3 points, 32.7 rebounds, 16.3 assists, 8.8 steals and 5.8 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points per game.

Fighting Irish: 3-7, averaging 66.4 points, 28.2 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 4.8 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.8 points.


ORANGE ZONE: Catching up with Syracuse basketball (youtube.com; podcast; Orange Zone)

It's the end of college football season and with that we say goodbye to the gridiron until next fall. Or course the Orange Zone is more than happy to finally say hello to the hardwood and turn our full attention on the rest of Syracuse basketball season.

Why Voice of the Spiders Bob Black doesn't bleed orange (wtvr.com; Casadonte)

Bob Black entered his 40th season as a Richmond Spiders basketball broadcaster this year.

Hall of Fame Richmond Spiders head basketball coach Dick Tarrant helped put the Spiders on the college basketball map back in 1984 with an NCAA win over Charles Barkley's Auburn team.

That started a long tradition of the small school from the South taking down some of the game's biggest names.

A tradition that didn't begin until Black arrived on campus.

"I tell Dick Tarrant all the time, it had nothing to do with John Newman, John Davis, and Greg Beckwith," Black said. "[It had] everything to do with Bob Black, but he didn't buy that."

"Well, that's quite a coincidence," Tarrant said with a smile. "That's all I can say."

Beckwith, the Spiders Hall of Fame guard turned analyst has sat next to Black for the past 20 years as his on-air partner. But he first met a much younger Black during his playing days and recognized Black's talent immediately.

"He had this little squeaky voice when he started out. But I knew he was from Syracuse and I knew he was good," Beckwith said. "He makes my job easy on the play-by-play. He's so smooth, so good, so knowledgeable. It just makes it so easy and so comfortable for me."

To help celebrate his milestone, Black and the school put together a Top 10 list of the most memorable games he's called for the Spiders.
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Other

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), a newly discovered, rare comet, is set to brighten the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years in January and February 2023. In this photo, a photographer observes Comet Hyakutake — a different comet — soar overhead in Pennellville, N.Y. Photo: David Lassman/ Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard's archives

Rare, green comet to brighten night sky for first time in 50,000 years (PS; House)

Get ready to look up, Upstate New Yorkers: A rare comet is set to brighten the night sky for the first time in 50,000 years.

The newly discovered comet, Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), was discovered last March when it was within Jupiter’s orbit. The greenish “cosmic snowball” hasn’t soared close to Earth since the last ice age, according to NASA and other astronomy experts.

And starting this week, stargazers have a chance to catch sight of the elusive comet — no telescope necessarily needed.

The comet will be closest to the sun on Jan. 12 and nearest to Earth on Feb. 2, NASA said.

“Comets are notoriously unpredictable, but if this one continues its current trend in brightness, it’ll be easy to spot with binoculars, and it’s just possible it could become visible to the unaided eye under dark skies,” NASA wrote on its “What’s Up” blog.

For the best chance of catching early sight of the comet, sky-gazing folks in the Northern Hemisphere should plan to stay up past midnight, according to EarthSky. The comet will most likely be visible to the unaided eye at night toward the end of January when Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) approaches Polaris, the organization said.

The comet won’t be the only celestial treasure to cross the night sky this month.

Three planets —Jupiter, Saturn and Venus — can be spotted without binoculars or a telescope at different points throughout January, according to NASA. And in the few hours after sunset, bright winter constellations will light up the sky.

 

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