Syracuse students agree: 5 is nice, but 6 is better.
The Orange are riding the hot hand in the ACC. Winners of the last 5 games, Syracuse now travels to Clemson. While Syracuse is undefeated on the road, Clemson is a little more formidable of a team than the other teams they've been playing. But that being said, Syracuse has a chance to get all the momentum heading into a match with Duke.
In a lot of ways, this game will probably be like facing Notre Dame. Clemson has a strong post presence in Aamir Simms, who averages 14.3ppg and 7.6 rebounds. Sidibe and Dolezaj will have to be careful to not get in foul trouble, while providing some stops on the defensive end. And that's the main matchup like it was against ND. Obviously Syracuse has found a good balance of scoring lately. And like against Pittsburgh, even when Hughes has a "down game", he's still adding ten points. Buddy Boeheim has found a lot of points in the paint lately, even when not able to drain the long ones. And obviously MVP Dolezaj has been scoring as well. What has also helped is Sidibe contributing in points and actually being a scoring threat to make defenders respect him enough to possibly give opportunities to the others. If Syracuse is able to contain Simms, both in the paint, and from 3 with the Zone defense, Syracuse should have a nice day. I would have said before the last ND game if it was a loss that against Clemson would be the same result. But now with the resurgence of a competent Sidibe, as well as the offense clicking, I can't pick against Syracuse in this one. I'm taking the Orange by 7.
This game is available regionally at 7:00pm. Check your local listings here. Both John and I are watching at home. Enjoy and GO ORANGE!
Labels: ACC, Basketball
0 Responses to “Syracuse - Clemson Preview”
Post a Comment