The Syracuse Orange (15-14, 6-10) stay on the road for an ACC game against the #24 Louisville Cardinals (20-9, 9-7). Tip-off is at 9:00 p.m. EST on The ACC Network and here’s what we’ll be watching for in this one:
Kevin: Ride the hot hand
I was only able to watch the first 15 minutes of the Wake Forest game and I was impressed by the way Sadiq White was playing, so imagine my shock when I looked at the final box score and saw he only got 12 minutes. In a game where the Orange needed defense and rebounding,
why was White not out there more? It’s been a theme all year and with three (?) games left in this era, forget about lineups and analytics and play the five guys who are doing well. At this point, at least try whatever you can to finish above .500
Dom: All comes down to the defense
Louisville has underwhelmed its preseason expectations, but this is still quite a dangerous squad that could pose problems for the Orange defense. The Cardinals are the best scoring offense in the conference. They make their threes and free throws. They crash the defensive glass, holding opponents to one shot. The one weakness to exploit is Louisville turns the ball over the second-most times per game in the ACC. Outside that, the Cardinals can score on anyone. If Syracuse has any chance, it’s getting stops, short and simple.
Szuba: Fight or flight
You don’t have to be Dick Tracy to figure out where things are headed for Syracuse basketball. We’ve seen a lack of fight out of this team of late and frankly, it’s understandable — how could one get up and compete with morale at a level this low and so little left to play for? A goal of finishing over .500 is hardly motivating. Irrespective of result, it’ll be interesting to see if this team responds to Adrian Autry’s post-game rant on toughness or whether the team decides its no longer interesting in going to battle.
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What will you be watching for?
