Syracuse Basketball Rest of Season Outlook

Right now we just don’t know what good Syracuse basketball really is. There have been ups and downs and dynamite individual performances. There have been laid eggs and inconsistent play to be sure. There are moments where you think this team could make noise in the NCAA Tournament should they get there while on the bubble. Stop me if you’ve heard that before.

Truth be told, as of this writing, they are getting better and that is a good thing because sports often times are about timing. Get hot at the right time and anything can happen. Syracuse has a few really good things going for it. The trio of Jesse Edwards, Joe Girard and Judah Mintz are players you can usually count on. The 2-3 Zone looks better and tighter. SU can always find a way at home in February. The ACC is terrible (that could also work against you because of a lack of quality wins) and some games can get stacked in the win column. Syracuse’s coaching is always a positive factor.

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But they also have work to do. Can they get Benny Williams or Chris Bell to play consistent at both ends? If they could get one that would be huge. Both have so much potential. Or maybe Maliq Brown or Justin Taylor, both of whom are improving and play a solid, fundamental game, can shine even more. Syracuse is for sure a deeper team than in recent years but they need that consistency from 4-6 guys. Can they steal a win or two against Clemson or Duke or Virginia? Stay tuned.

You just don’t know what team will show up on a nightly basis. But, hey, that’s the story around college basketball in a lot of places. February has to be the month for this team to make up ground. Remember, they don’t have a win against a ranked team, got blown out at the Dome by Bryant and Colgate, lost to St. John’s and got mopped by Illinois by 29 points. SU needed overtime to beat Richmond. There are two other huge factors to consider.

One, Syracuse is a very young team. You are either young and dominant (Carmelo Anthony) or young and raw. Mintz is young and can be dominant

(needs work on that jump shot, though), but SU’s other first year players are raw, which creates that inconsistent play mentioned before. Some may say you’re almost a sophomore at this point and it’s time to figure things out. Not that simple with a raw group. Secondly, the Orange, on any given night, can light it up from 3-point range. If a few things aren’t going their way one night, but they go 9-20 from 3, it masks a lot of other problems. Think of an average secondary and ground game and offensive line but you have Patrick Mahomes to bail you out.

Same deal. And we know the 3’s start and end as a team if Girard can get going.

Syracuse, since it joined the ACC, hasn’t been that great in the ACC Tournament. On paper, SU doesn’t look the part to go win the whole thing to secure an automatic bid. However, with the league being way down, this would be the year to do it.

So we wait and wonder and go to the games and watch the games to see how it all unfolds. Hoops season gets us through the brutal weather. But once we near midFebruary and think about Spring, every game is even more crucial.

Part of Spring is March. The madness and buzzer-beaters and late game drama. Wall to wall basketball. Syracuse can still get there, for sure, but there is work to be done.

After all, Jim Boeheim has always said one very important thing through his nearly 50 years of coaching on the SU Hill.

People really only remember how you play at the end.

Mike Lindsley has been in sports media for 20 years and is the host of the ML Sports Platter Podcast. Download and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Play. Follow and subscribe on Twitter and YouTube @mikelsports.