Syracuse students agree: We're finally back on campus!
It was a win, but Syracuse's last game against Georgia Tech was offensive to the eyes. Syracuse won 46-45 in what could only be described as offensive due to lack of offense. But the win is a win and Syracuse has won five in a row and is undefeated in ACC play. Now Syracuse has their Dome opener for the conference as FSU comes in hoping to get a much needed conference victory. Syracuse will need to do the same if they want their March hopes to stay very much alive and off of the dreaded bubble. The game plan for this one is again surprisingly similar to that of Georgia Tech. FSU isn't a good outside shooting team, much like GTech. They will probably get three or four at best. Which means the majority of FSU's points come from the paint. Shooting just 27.5% from beyond the arc, Syracuse should again barely guard the line and instead try and pack the paint with bodies, making it difficult for FSU to score inside, as well as forcing them to take a bunch of 3's they probably won't make. Cooney and Gbinije have been excellent in their last few games, and Christmas has been rock solid, including being COLD BLOODED from the free throw line. However, one other person needs to step up. Literally anyone. Joseph, in 17 minutes on the floor against GTech, managed to not turn the ball over, and dish out assists, but he also had zero points. You can't afford to have a player on the floor and score nothing. Similarly, McCullough was a ghost on Wednesday. He couldn't hit the ocean from a boat for most of that game. Syracuse missed a ton of layups in the contest, and I don't expect that to continue to be the case, but wow. If Christmas catches the ball a little closer to the basket than he managed to at GTech he should go nuts in the Dome today. If anyone else (McCullough, Joseph, Patterson, Roberson) manages to score some buckets, I think Syracuse can stay ahead on this one as well. I'll take the Orange by 6. This game is available nationally on ESPN U / WatchESPN at 8:00pm. John will be on campus. I'll be in the home office. Stay tuned later today for a rare Orange::44 Podcast!
Labels: ACC, Basketball, Preview
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