Syracuse closed out its preseason with a 77-58 win against Carleton in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday. The Ravens, who have won 14 of the last 17 Canadian national championships, were led by center Biniam Ghebrekidan who scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. 

Elijah Hughes led the Orange with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Joe Girard III finished with 14 points and Buddy Boeheim added 12 points and four assists. 

Below are three takeaways from Syracuse’s final preseason tune-up before the Orange begin their season hosting defending national champion Virginia on Nov. 6 in the Carrier Dome. 

Halfcourt offense

When Carleton pressed its guards forward, Brycen Goodine couldn’t break free. He dribbled left and right, lost the ball a few times and double-dribbled. Running a full court game, due to tight defense in the backcourt, the Orange struggled. After some rough, sloppy play in the early part of the game, Syracuse controlled the pace of the game and broke down defenders off the dribble. 

Hughes demanded the ball after the Goodine double-dribble and patrolled the offense with a steady pace. When he worked between the elbows, he showcased an improved crossover dribble, which drew defenders in. As Syracuse started to beat people to the rim, the defense crashed in, leading to wide open shots from beyond the arc. 

“(Hughes) can run it,” Boeheim said about Hughes taking the ball up the court after Jalen Carey and Goodine struggled. “If he runs it we have a different attack… so we will have him do that.

In the halfcourt, SU can highlight its strength — shooting — and get to the rim with off-ball movement. Several times, Syracuse players broke down defenders at the top of the key, which drew attention away from the wings. Because defenders cheated up to stop the Orange’s shooting threat, SU players cut to the rim. Sophomore Robert Braswell and Hughes, among others, scored baskets backdoor.

Buddy buckets 

Buddy Boeheim is a dangerous option out of the baseline inbound set. He knocked down three-pointers in that situation twice in the first half against Carleton. 

On the first, Buddy passed the ball into Marek Dolezaj who had boxed his man out. Buddy then stepped quickly to the corner, snatched a handoff from Dolezaj and swished a 3-pointer. His second was more straight forward. A bounce pass brought the ball into Boeheim on the wing and he sank another triple. 

Buddy finished with three long balls. Through two scrimmages, he’s established himself as the likely second scoring option behind Hughes. With limited time on the shot clock, Buddy often found himself with the ball dribbling for an open shot. On one drive in the second half, he forced movement from the Carleton defense and swung the ball down low to Quincy Guerrier for a basket. 

Buddy established himself as an outside threat last season. With more offensive responsibility this year, his ability to dribble off shot fakes and distribute could be critical to the Orange’s success.

Rotation still unclear 

Jim Boeheim said in the postgame press conference after Daemen that SU “can’t play 12 guys.” Due to exhibition play, SU has run with a deep rotation to give minutes to players who might need to earn them. But, aside from the starting-five, SU’s quest to find the typical seven-to-eight-man rotation it typically employs is unclear. 

“It possibly could get to ten,” Boeheim said of his rotation. “But it’s more likely that it’s going to be eight or nine in actuality…somebody goes in and plays well like Robert [Braswell] did the first game, he played more. He didn’t really get hot tonight.”

The Orange have depth at a lot of spots on the floor, but Boeheim noted that deep rotations aren’t conducive to players gaining a rhythm on the floor. Girard III, Goodine, Jesse Edwards, Guerrier and Braswell have all contributed solid minutes for SU. Girard III and Goodine are vying for minutes in the backcourt, where SU’s most productive offensive players occupy the roles, and Guerrier, Braswell and Edwards are all looking to rotate in for forwards minutes, where all three getting significant time is unlikely.

Published on October 29, 2019 at 10:08 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary