The Syracuse Orange (4-1) have to quickly bounce back from last night’s overtime loss to Houston. This afternoon, the Orange will take on the Kansas Jayhawks (4-2) in their second game of the Players Era
Festival. The game tips at 3:30 on TNT and here’s what we’re watching for:
Kevin: Cuse Conditioning
Adrian Autry wants to play fast and push the pace, but how will Syracuse come back after a physical challenge like Houston to take on a talented Kansas squad? Donnie Freeman is out. JJ Starling and Tyler Betsey have already missed some time and Naithan George went 38 minutes against that tenacious Houston defense. Can these guys regroup after yesterday’s battle? If the Orange want to emulate post-season tournament scheduling in Vegas, they need to bounce back and show that all the summer work wasn’t just for the Instagram likes.
Calvin: Outside Shooting
Syracuse shot 8/31 against Houston on Monday, and while they were able to hit some shots in big moments, the overall shooting definitely hurt them. After a tough overtime game against a very physically demanding Houston team, they are going to be very tired, so it is likely they will not be as keen to drive and get tough buckets. It will be very important to watch and see if Syracuse can clean it up from the outside, as those shots are going to be even more important tomorrow than they were today, as well as being a good preview for the third game.
Augie: Free Throws
The Orange went 12/29 from the free throw line against the nation’s second best team and still took them to overtime. Also, the misses from the charity stripe were also a point of emphasis against Monmouth. It’s a glaring issue the Orange need to deal with, and no better opportunity than having a chance to address that issue right away 24 hours later. Someone needs to step up and knock down shots at the line if the Orange want to have a chance to beat Kansas. I think this team has the talent to knock off the Jayhawks, but the game can’t be decided at the line..
Dom: Balanced scoring attack
When it was announced Donnie Freeman would be out for Players Era, the big question that came to mind was who was going to replace his production? Against Houston, that was mostly Tyler Betsey, who drilled four threes off the bench and ate up a lot of the minutes at the four that would’ve gone to Freeman. Syracuse also had six different players reach at least 10 points versus the Cougars, and it will likely need a similar result against the Jayhawks, another opponent that ranks as one of the best defenses in the country.
Szuba: Defensive intensity
Syracuse has shown it can stop teams this year. How does the defense hold up less than 24 hours after a dogged effort vs. Houston? Kansas isn’t a great offensive team this season and struggles shooting from outside — giving up weakside threes might not be problematic for the way Syracuse was defending last night. Rebounding is a part of defense, however, and Kansas is just about average in that category. Bill Self’s squad isn’t as much of an offensive rebounding threat as Houston. If Syracuse can force Kansas into misses and close out stops by rebounding I like Syracuse to win this game.
