I have decided that the reason we're seeing once in a generation events like losing back-to-back home games to non-conference teams (including Old Dominion!) is that I didn't start a thread for the team this year.
I haven't gotten to watch much of the team this year other than the end of the second half of the Ohio State game and the Georgetown game, but this team is a complete mystery to me. They should be so much better than last year's team, but it is not coming together. Is Frank Howard's injury really making that big of a difference-maker? Can they bounce back in ACC play?
The thing that drives me nuts with Syracuse every year since the 2010-2013 run ended is why it seams like every team that SU plays shoots so much better than we do. Can Boeheim not recruit shooters? Does he not want to?
The problems with SU hoops, in no particular order:
1. No post up players. None. Zero. In the past, they've always had SOMEBODY as a low-post presence. Onuaku. Etan Thomas. Ricky Jackson. Rakeem Christmas. SOMEONE. Now, they don't have anyone. Like, not a single guy posts up ever. The entire offense is outside-in.
2. Boeheim's P&R offense sucks so bad. And it sucks primarily because the guy he always has set the screen is someone like Sidibe or Chukwu, neither of whom represents ANYTHING resembling an offensive threat. So defenses don't respect the P&R and they can easily defend it. When's the last time SU got a real easy look off the P&R? It almost never happens. It's running it for the sake of running it, and that's pointless.
3. They never ever ever ever ever box out. I thought I'd put together a little picture presentation (and I have the pics so I could do it) but I don't know if I want to go through it like that. Just trust me - look at any highlight and you'll see that they all just watch the ball, turn to the hoop, and maybe step towards the basket. There is never ever ever any effort to box a guy out. I know it's zone, and it's harder to box out in zone, but they don't even TRY to find a guy and put a body on him. They give up SO many offensive rebounds each game. Last night Buffalo got 18 offensive rebounds. That's essentially 18 extra possessions. I don't care how good defense you play; if you give the other team 18 extra possessions, it's going to be almost impossible to win.
To this point: Buffalo took 5 more field goals and 7 more free throws than SU did - with the same number of turnovers (so those negate each other). Given that each field goal could have been a three, that's potentially 22 more points that Buffalo could have scored vs. Syracuse (not counting and-ones on three point attempts). Of course they didn't convert all those, but they converted SOME, and won by 12. You can't give the other team the free opportunity to score 22 more points than you, unless they shoot horrifically and you shoot the lights out.
4. They still suck at free throws. 5-13 last night. In big spots when two free throws would have kept them in it, they brick both at the line. I mean if they shot 11-13 from the line (not impossible) then they'd have been in the game still.
5. They turn the ball over way too much. They don't do well against pressure defense and they make stupid decisions and poor passes and they force way too much.
Now, they have great, long, athletes. All over the place. Athleticism isn't the problem. This is a coaching problem. I've long been a Boeheim supporter, but it's time. It's time to move on. His system isn't good. His offense is terrible. They do so many of the basic things so poorly. Give coach K this talent and they're top 10 in the country at minimum.