Syracuse Orange Season Preview – CBB Handicapping
This is Syracuse’s swansong in the in the Big East Conference before joining the ACC (booh). That is a lot of history on the way out which is kind of what happened to the Orange at the end of last season too.
Syracuse Orange Odds to Win (By bovada.lv)
Big East
2011-12 Record: 34-3
Odds to win title: +2000
Odds to win conference: +500
Key losses:
Dion Waiters – Athletic and smooth scorer parlayed top reserve role into being a top NBA pick – which is not an easy thing to do.
Fab Melo – Unpredictable big man is now also on an NBA roster. Without him last year the team really struggled but in many ways he failed to live up to potential as a recruit.
Kris Joseph – Last year’s leading scorer didn’t have a killer senior season but was still a very consistent threat.
Top Newcomers:
Dajuan Coleman – Beefy freshman pivot could easily supply the bulk that left with Melo and more. Still trying to see if there is a relationship with Orange great Derrick Coleman
Jerami Grant – Lean wing is a big time scorer who looks like the heir apparent to Joseph and Wesley Johnson.
Top Players
Brandon Triche – Senior point guards are always a nice thing to keep you cozy in March. The only question is whether he is up for being a leader instead of a spoke in the wheel.
C.J. Fair – Top returning forward should see his opportunities to score and rebound go up. With increased minutes he could quietly post a double-double.
The Orange have just one true starter returning in Big East first team guard Brandon Triche. Triche will try and steer a ship of hungry reserve players seeking glory in expanded roles joined by a couple of very impressive freshmen.
Last year Syracuse was surprisingly a poor rebounding team. They did and do have size likely playing regularly 5 players 6’8” or taller. I really like the combination of Fair and James Southerland up front as they complement each other well. Fair is the better rebounder and defender while Southerland is the more aggressive shooter and scorer. The Big East loves their big men and in newcomer Dajuan Coleman coach Boeheim may have one of the biggest at 275 pounds. If he can be a factor upfront and stay out of foul trouble than this team has an extra dimension that others might not be able to match. [ad-6571516]
This is a top 20 team but probably not much of a threat in terms of the title.
Strengths
While the Orange will be counting on some frosh contributions the overall strength of this team is experience. The likelihood is that they will start two seniors, two juniors and a sophomore, all of whom have played on successful teams that have been through the wars in the Big East and March Madness. Having a lead guard that is a senior – Brandon Triche – is a rare commodity at a program liye Syracuse in the current era.
Weaknesses
Syracuse lost all of its best scorer sfrom last year so it begs the question of who is going to get buckets when they need them the most. Triche is a solid player but he has never proved himself as a go to scorer before this year and sometimes it is hard to change your stripes so to speak. Freshman Jerami Grant might be a good place to look for the production that departed guard Dion Waiters provided last year when he almost led the team in scoring off the bench and was big down the stretch in games but that is a lot to assume for a first year player.
Top Games
Nov 9 – Huge opener vs highly thought of San Diego State team. Will be a big boost in rankings for whoever wins especially SDSU.
Jan 19 – Road trip to Louisville who some think is the best team in the country. First of two this season against the Cardinals.
Prediction:
Syracuse should challenge in the Big East this season (though the schedule-makers did them no favours in their exit year) but this team is not as good as last year’s and has a tough conference schedule in this unbalanced league. Their record and play will probably make them a 3 or 4 seed but they will be a dangerous out in the tournament when their freshmen should be peeking.
