At halftime of the Orange’s win over Drexel, I finally ventured into the comments and as expected it wasn’t pretty. The Syracuse defense was not up to the task and people were experiencing deja vu….but in the second half the Orange reminded us that this is a new year and new team as they pulled away to a comfortable 80-50 win. Here are three takeaways from the win:
Smothered and Covered
The score was 37-32 at the half. By the time Drexel hit the 40 point mark, there was only 6:52 left in the game and
the basket by Eli Beard made it a 63-40 game. To hold any D1 team to 8 points in a 13 minute stretch is impressive but when you consider that Drexel had five offensive rebounds in that stretch, it shows how committed the Orange were to defending with energy and intent.
Board Woes
Speaking of rebounding, that’s been the biggest issue through three games for Syracuse. Drexel out-rebounded the Orange 39-36 thanks to 18 offensive rebounds. Syracuse was much better in the second half, but some of the issues stem from the attempts to block shots. On one possession, I watched two Orange defenders commit to protecting the rim, but as they attempted blocks, the other Syracuse players didn’t crash the boards hard enough. You want your post players challenging at the rim, so the perimeter defenders need to react quicker to help out if shots aren’t blocked. Against good teams you won’t get away with so many second chances at the rim.
The Nates Regulate
Naithan George had 7 assists and 0 turnovers yesterday in 30 minutes of action. Nate Kingz only had 7 points, but added 9 rebounds and committed 0 turnovers in 33 minutes. These two veterans were brought in to add stability and it showed yesterday. Kingz hasn’t unlocked his 3-pt shooting yet, but has proven to offer more on the defensive end than expected. George has shown what a true floor general can bring to a team as he gets the Orange offense settled and can still attack the rim.
What were your takeaways from this one?
