College basketball season has arrived and tonight the Syracuse Orange (0-0) welcome the Binghamton Bearcats (0-0) to the JMA Dome. Game tips off at 7:00 with coverage on ACCNX. Last year Binghamton finished
15-17 and here’s what we’ll be watching for tonight:
Kevin: More intensity from the start
The Orange slept through the first half against Pace and while I don’t get too worked up about that sort of performance in an exhibition game, hopefully it was a wake up call. Syracuse needs to come out focused on getting to the rim on offense and engaging better defensively. Too often Syracuse settled for jumpers and didn’t rotate on defense. This schedule is set up to try and win games big, so getting a great start is important. Let’s see if the message was received tonight.
Dom: Margin of victory
For this game, I’m obviously watching for how all the pieces start together and, as Kevin noted, if there’s intensity on defense after that Pace game. That said, with non-con starting up, I can’t get out of my head how the Orange had tight wins over Le Moyne (by four), Colgate (by two) and Youngstown State (by nine, in double-OT). It’s one game so fans shouldn’t overreact, but it can definitely be telling if Syracuse wins by three, 11 or 17. On one hand, these are the games early in the year for the team to get chemistry on the court and work out the different lineups. Yet, these are also the ones that after three or four of them, can show a clear trend of just how good the roster is.
Sam: Lineup combinations
There were multiple lineups in the exhibition games where I found myself turning to James or whoever else was next to me and saying, ‘there’s no chance we see this for even a single minute during the regular season.’ But that begs the question, what lineups will we see? Is Sadiq White going to play more at the 3, 4, or 5? How much of Donnie Freeman at the five will there be? How much do we see Tyler Betsey and Kiyan Anthony? And will JJ Starling slide over to point guard when Nait George needs a breather?
Szuba: Defense and lapses
Syracuse had plenty of lapses in play in both exhibition games. Does this team take things seriously now for a full 40 minutes or does it succumb to those same lulls in action? That, and I’m curious on how the defensive intensity and focus will be now that this officially counts.
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What will you be watching for in this one?
