Like everybody, I was concerned after the Buffalo exhibition. It was discouraging to see some familar patterns rear their ugly heads -- squandering a big lead, letting a lesser team hang around, bad turnovers, an inability to defend, allowing an inferior team with lesser players out-execute us on both ends of the floor and cut the lead down to 4, while we responded with uninspired one-on-one iso play that resulted in poor possessions, lack of cohesion in our offensive sets, and seemingly no "Plan B" adjustments from the coaching staff.
But I also didn't post any of this, recogizing that we had a bunch of new guys who hadn't played together much [and that is true even of the two returning starters, who had injuries that rarely had them on the court at the same time last year], and that we used lots of funky lineups that we probably wouldn't / won't see during an actual game. So I eagerly wanted to see the SECOND exhibition game, to see how the team would improve from the initial lackluster outing. Unfortunately, the question marks remain.
I get why people were excited about this squad. We have two McDonald's All Americans. Through the portal, we added a point guard [a huge weakness from last year's team] who led the ACC in assists. We also added a top shooter, and an athletic big from UCLA who was considered a top mid-major portal prospect the previous year, before injuries derailed his season. We also added quality depth in Betsey and Souare, bolstering an anemic frontcourt, along with an impressive array of HS prospects that included a stud in White, Carmelo Anthony's kid, and an Australian guard who's excelled in international play. There was even a thread last week openly asking how many times this talented squad would eclipse the 100 point mark -- which seems premature and overly optimistic in retrospect.
But anyone who watched some of the other exhibition games these past two weeks, comparing how we played to other P4 squads, would see a big difference in our team's readiness factor -- especially given that this is an NCAA or bust season that could end our head coach's time at the helm at Syracuse.
Here are some quick observations so far, I'll try to keep things balanced:
An entirely brand new squad. During the UB game, the announcers commented on how we had 11 new players on this year's team. ELEVEN! I knew we had massive roster turnover, but didn't realize that -- essentially -- we'd turned the entire roster over. And the two returning players [both McD's all americans] both have big question marks. so it will undoubtedly take some time for these guys to figure out how to play together. The problem is, we don't have much time for them to get their act together before we head out to Vegas. The clock is ticking.
Depth. But the news isn't entirely bad. We've added a lot of experience and talent, both via the portal and from the HS ranks. Given who we've seen start, our second unit is comprised of Fennel, Anthony, Betsey, White, and Soure. Now, three of those guys are frosh. The other two were bit players from Cincy / Georgia Tech, who have played intermittently at those previous schools. All five of these guys will have their ups and downs, but will certainly have their moments -- especially White, Betsey, and Anthony -- who could go for double digits any given game. I don't expect that to happen with any consistency, but the potential is there. Having a full "hockey line" of capable substitutes means that we not only are capable of going 10 deep, but also that we have some positional versatility -- with guys like Betsey being able to spell both forward spots, Soure playing both 4 and 5, Anthony playing both 3 and 2, Fennel playing both 1 and 2, etc. Having 10 decent scholarship players also means [on paper] more competitive practices, which hopefully will help drive improvement.
Abysmal Shooting. One of the biggest concerns I have -- carried over from last year -- is the lack of consistent three point shooting. We have several guys who CAN make threes -- in no particular order, JJ, Kingz, Donnie, Betsey, Anthony, and Fennel. But the problem is, none of them consistently knock down shots. Against Pace, we had a lengthy stretch in the first half when Pace took the lead, where we had guys force up threes. We had George / JJ chucking up airballs, our starting PF [Donnie] settling for threes, Kiyan cranking up jumpers from 27 feet -- why didn't we run a play to get a shot for the one guy on the squad who actually IS a knock down jump shooter, Kingz? I get that JJ and Donnie are the leaders, the guys who should touch the ball every single offensive possession, but too often it seems like our half court sets are run with no purpose, and end up with someone forcing something instead of working to get the best shot. It looks like outside shooting will again be a problem this year.
Did we overestimate George? Of all the offseason additions, I was most excited about the addition of George. It has been a long time since we've had a true point guard, and the hope is that his experience will enable him to step right in and run the show, helping this team of athletes actualize their potential and score in transition. And we've seen some of that -- we are going to score a LOT off of lobs, once George gets into the lane. But he's also shown some limitations. He can't hit the broad side of a barn from outside [yes, I know he will make SOME shots, but he is shooting-deficient], which will affect how opponents have to defend him. And he hasn't done as good of a job pushing the ball as I'd hoped -- maybe because he isn't all that athletic. I'm hoping that George gets more comfortable as the team gets acclimated to one another, and we see him emphasize his strengths.
Donnie the wing? Donnie Freeman is the most talented player on this team. Period. He has oodles of athleticism. He's a good rebounder. And while we all make fun of the Rothstein reports about players being taller, he's grown every bit into being 6-10. He rebounds well. He runs the floor. He has a good mid-range shot. But that's part of the problem -- he seems more comfortable taking turn around jump shots than he does scoring in the paint. I want to see him do more damage down low, and then play outside, not the reverse. There is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that he's going to be a first round pick after this year, but I hope he can actualize his potential THIS YEAR for Syracuse, and not just be a guy that in three years is a solid NBA player, while we all scratch our heads, wondering what might have been if he'd tapped into his potential earlier.
Rebounding should be a strength... but is it? I don't know what the numbers ended up being last night [haven't looked at the boxscore], but at one point late in the 2nd half we'd been outrebounded. By Pace. This is inexcusable for a far superior athletic team, especially one that has both Kyle and Freeman, who are both plus rebounders.
JJ. I love Starling. Hometown kid, who excels at taking it to the rim. But far too often, it seems like he gives up as many points as he scores. And now that he's a senior, I think we can dispense with the hope that his shooting is going to straighten out this year. Maybe the reports about him having a broken hand / finger / whatever this summer means that it was a setback that will cost him improvement vis a vis shooting, but we need a guy like him to be a difference maker. Instead of a McD's all american, too often it just seems like he's just a guy out there, who does some good things but also does some bad things. We need him to be better than that.
Kingz. It is unrealistic to expect that Kingz would shoot as well as he did at Oregon State [~43% from three]. But even if that percentage slips a little, he could still be our designated bomber -- and we'd all be happy with him knocking down 37 - 38% of his trifecta attempts. And unlike the guy he replaced, Chris Bell, Kingz is versatile and not just a one-dimensional shooter. But for long stretches of both exhibition games, he's been the invisible man. Why? Do we even try to get him the ball? Or is he going to be stuck in limbo watching JJ / Freeman / George dominate the ball?
Defense. So far, the defense has looked poor. Red talked a lot this offseason about pressuring the ball, and using our depth to attack opponents. And our guys do run around a lot to try to make things happen, but even guys from UB / Pace took us off of the bounce and got to their spots on the floor, or drove and kicked it out for wide open shots. Players like JJ have been defensive liabilities throughout their careers, but we simply have to do a better job. If we have difficulty stopping teams like UB [picked to finish near the bottom of the MAC] and Pace, what are we going to do against peer programs who can generally match our athleticism?
Coaching. The more I watch our teams, the more I have my fear confirmed that Red and this staff are no-trick ponies. Most of the time, I have difficulty trying to figure out what the game plan is on both sides of the floor. Do we just roll the ball out, hoping that having a better PG than in year's past will make things work? Why do our offensive sets always seem to devolve down into one-on-one iso ball? Is there a strategy on defense beyond "we're going to play harder?" Empty words. The execution has been poor.
Again, we haven't played a regular season game yet, so I don't want to be too pessimistic. I remember when we looked really shaky in 2016 the first several games, and then went out and beat some terrific teams in the Atlantis tournament, en route to an eventual Final Four run [despite some mid-season speed bumps]. I'm not sure that this team has that extra gear. We have depth, we have talent, and we have athleticism -- but we struggled in both exhibition games.
Remains to be seen whether this team will coalesce into something greater than the sum of the individual parts.
