It may be hard to believe, but the Syracuse Orange have just five regular season games remaining on their schedule before the Big East Tournament, and ultimately the NCAA Tournament. The stretch run is upon us, and a brutal schedule awaits the Orange, with Georgetown, Marquette, and Louisville as opponents in four of their final five games. Needless to say, now is the time for Syracuse to start playing its best basketball, something we’ve rarely seen out of them this year.
Heading into the stretch run, it’s hard not to like what Syracuse brings to the table, at least in theory. They possess a lot of traits that traditionally have helped teams win games in March: talented guards, capable shooters, veteran players, athletic big men, and solid depth. But even with all of that, the 22-4 Orange haven’t yet played their best basketball, at least they haven’t played to the high level that they’re theoretically capable of playing.
With lead guards Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche, the Syracuse backcourt should be as good as any in the country. However, far too often Carter-Williams is taken out of, or takes himself away from, his strengths as a playmaker and a distributor and focuses too much on scoring. He hasn’t proved himself to be a capable enough scorer on a consistent basis to force teams to double team him and re-open passing lanes for him to get the rest of the team involved. As for Triche, despite stepping up his play and taking over games on multiple occasions this year, he has also had plenty of off nights in which he can’t find his shooting touch. At times, the team is too dependent on Triche’s scoring, making it hard for them to win if he has an off night.
With James Southerland back on the floor, Syracuse has a great outside shooter that’s able to stretch the floor. However, Trevor Cooney has yet to emerge as the outside scoring threat he was supposed to be for the Orange this year. With Triche’s inconsistencies and Carter-Williams not being a reliable outside shooter, the Orange’s perimeter shooting is not what it could be, and it’s not what they need it to be in order to get more out of its half-court offense.
The trio of Triche, Southerland, and C.J. Fair gives Syracuse a strong veteran presence that can be helpful in March, but outside of those three the Orange is lacking experience in key places. After Carter-Williams was a non-factor during Syracuse’s trip to the elite eight last year, he will be expected to lead the team through this year’s tournament and face pressure-filled situations that he’s never experienced before. There’s no doubt Carter-Williams has gained a lot of experience and grown throughout the season, but his margin for error will be small in March, and he’ll have to be able to rise to the occasion. Whether he’ll be able to do that remains in doubt.
With Rakeem Christmas, Baye Moussa Keita, and the possible return of DaJuan Coleman, the Orange have the kind of athleticism from their frontcourt players that few teams have, even the teams that will play deep into March. However, Christmas has underwhelmed all season and not been the kind of dominant big man he has the talent to be; Keita can give the Orange a good defensive presence, but he will never provide a viable option offensively; and Coleman’s role is uncertain going forward because of his knee injury, and he may not get himself back in the rotation even after he’s deemed healthy to return to action. Unless Christmas is able to assert himself more and fulfill some of the talent he has, Syracuse will not have the kind of play in the interior that can make a difference in March.
Depth wise, Syracuse is going with an eight-man rotation right now, which gives them plenty of depth moving forward. However, Cooney and Jerami Grant could see a drastic reduction in playing time, as the competition Syracuse faces gets tougher and Jim Boeheim relies more on his veteran players. So, while it may seem like the Orange has enough depth to get through March, they could easily get down to four full-time players and a two-headed center, which would alter how the team looks going forward.
Obviously, there is a lot to like about Syracuse heading down the stretch and moving into March. They wouldn’t be 22-4 and atop the Big East if there wasn’t. But in all the areas where they are strong, Syracuse may not be as good as they appear to be. The team has rarely played to its full potential this season, and with just five regular season games left, they are running out of time to start. In theory, Syracuse has all the ingredients to be a team that can contend for a national championship, but we just haven’t seen them put it all together yet, and the time to start doing that is now upon us.