Syracuse students agree: Louisville is still very hateable.
Syracuse has had a week off after laying an egg at NC State. The team as a whole shot pretty poorly from the floor, with the exception of Frank Howard, and even he didn't have the best game from a point guard standpoint. But he seemed to be the only player in the 2nd half making shots. Tyus Battle wasn't much of a factor. Brissett and Hughes were not present at all. And Syracuse missed a bunch of shots, especially in the 2nd half. Every time the team got the game close, they failed to make several shots in a row. But now Syracuse returns home to take on Louisville under coach Chris Mack in his first year at Louisville. Syracuse knows what they're getting in Louisville. They are going up against a very solid defensive team. Syracuse will need to find ways to make easy shots. But the key part of that sentence is making shots. Syracuse will probably be fooled into taking a lot of early threes. That's fine if Hughes, Battle, Boeheim, or Howard are making them. If they aren't, Battle, Brissett, or somebody tall will have to make shots inside, or somehow create turnovers for runouts. Syracuse must also put on a solid defensive effort, battling Louisville C Steven Enoch and F Jordan Nwora. If Syracuse can force tough shots for these players, who aferage just over 50% from two, Syracuse will have a good chance of winning the game. Louisville is prone to turning over the ball, so if Syracuse can dig in, Syracuse has some shots to get points off turnovers against a coach that probably won't be as good as beating the 2-3 as Rick Pitino was. Despite what I think will be a close game, and despite having a restful week compared to Louisville, I think Syracuse is probably going to come up just short in this one. I don't think they're looking ahead. I think it's just Syracuse will just not be able to close out a close game with the shots not falling as of late. I'm taking the Cards by five. This game is available nationally on ESPN / WatchESPN at 7:00pm. John is in the Dome. I'm in the home office. GO ORANGE (and everyone stay healthy for Saturday)!
Labels: ACC, Basketball, Louisville Sucks, Preview
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