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Jim Boeheim has never been one to chew his words. Over the past two days, he has seen his team look troubled in attack, in defense and, overall, look nothing like the top 25 of the pre-season that was to be among the best of ACC. Syracuse entered Madison Square Garden, the favorite to win the 2K Classic. He leaves empty-handed and needs to be reset. The Orange lost on Thursday against a team of UConn emotions, then 80-65 against Oregon a day later. After the two matches, Boeheim did not hold his frustration. "I'm more than concerned," he said Friday. "We have to play a lot better at the offensive. Our defense is far from being the same as last year. There is no doubt that we have a lot of work to do. "
Under Boeheim, Syracuse became famous for its devastating zone defense. The opponents shot 39% of the field against Orange last year, the fifth lowest mark in the country. UConn (49%) and Oregon (50%) easily exceeded this figure. Syracuse did not allow a single team to score 80 points in regulation last year. He has just dropped 80 points in consecutive nights. The problem is simple to diagnose but difficult to solve: the area does not cause as much disturbance as it usually does. Oregon was able to move the ball around the perimeter with ease and to find a free space in the high post and along the baseline. Syracuse had no answer for the sensation of the first year, Bol Bol, in the painting; on his 19th birthday, Bol lost 26 points and captured five offensive rebounds.
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Perhaps more disturbing are the offensive woes of Syracuse. On Thursday, Orange shot 39% of the area and 27% of the three, prompting their Hall of Fame coach to say "we can not do anything". It was proved Friday, while the percentage of shooting of his team fell to 35% in total. and 18% deep against the Ducks. Hesitant to go to his basket against Bol, Bol, Syracuse was content to let fly 28 flying. Only five found the mark. The two best Syracuse players, Tyus Battle and Oshae Brissett, had a series of two particularly difficult games. Battle, a junior goaltender voted for the first All-ACC team this season, having averaged 19 points per game last season, needed 27 shots to score 30 points in the Garden. Brissett was even worse, shooting 3 goals out of 15 and 2 against 12 in both defeats. "It's just not there," said Boeheim about the second year. "He does not play at the level we need him. We need him and Tyus to play at a high level and they are not. "
The reality of Syracuse's offensive outlook is simple, according to his coach. "If our guys can score that we think we can score, everything will be fine," said Boeheim. "If it does not, everything will be fine." Orange's staff is such that there are only a few reliable scoring options, all of which are perimeter players. Syracuse has nothing offensive about it, a problem that seems unlikely to change. Paschal Chukwu and Marek Dolezaj are not physical enough or clever enough to take offense. UConn's Eric Cobb pushed them into the fight on Thursday and has no chance against Oregon's Bol-Kenny Wooten's pre-game pitch Friday. Wooten Dunking everywhere in Dolezaj is a pretty representative summary of the match down.
The easy excuse for the Syracuse struggles is that there was no senior guard Frank Howard in New York. Howard averaged 14.4 points per game a year ago and, like Battle and Brissett, played more than 38 minutes per night. But if Howard's return will be helpful (Boeheim said he hoped to find him back at training this week), his replacement in the starter's lineup, freshman Jalen Carey, was the best player of the season. Orange, suggesting that Syracuse's offensive problems were deeper than Howard's absence. . There are very few players who can constantly stretch the floor and have no weak presence. One would think that playing against a zone defense every day will prepare Syracuse to face the Oregon area. Instead, he seemed disjointed and unsure of himself. "We have to play more together," Carey said. "Every practice will count. Every day will build chemistry. "
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As Syracuse returns home with a bad taste in his mouth, Oregon's victory saved a trip that began with a disappointing defeat against Iowa. Dana Altman did not think his team was fighting hard enough against the Hawkeyes, and Bol was visibly disengaged for much of the night. Not wanting to return across the country with two losses, Oregon improved the intensity and dissected the Syracuse defense. The star was Bol, who showed his unique and fascinating skills to about 60 scouts in the NBA. At 7'2 ", Bol can handle the ball as a guard and has an extremely soft feel around the rim. He also nailed a three for good measure. "I think last night was a kind of awakening," said Payton Pritchard, a junior guard, who added 18 points. "We can not just go through the teams. Our preparation before the match must be better. In a certain way, we might be able to look at [losing] like a good thing. "
Perhaps losing will also be a good thing for Syracuse. The Orange will have no ranking in their next match, and perhaps the lower expectations will dispel some pressure for a team that always seems to be in the bubble. "We will react appropriately," promises Battle. Boeheim said he could show up at a little training once Howard returns, playing it alongside Carey and bringing down Battle to all three. Maybe this will rejuvenate this team. At the moment, there are more questions than answers, the only thing certain is that the practices of Syracuse will not be very funny this week. It was a team that was supposed to avoid the bubble and reach head high in March. So far, the road ahead is long, but Syracuse's no-win trip to the Garden has given no reason to believe that the next Sunday of the selection will not be even more intense in four months.
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