SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Orange kept it interesting far longer than fans were hoping in their second exhibition game of the season, but eventually pulled away for an 75-57 win over Pace inside the JMA Wireless Dome. SU trailed by as many as five in the first half, and trailed for over 13 minutes, before grabbing the lead for the final time with 12:52 to play in the game.
Not all threes are good threes
Generally, it’s a good strategy to shoot more threes. Aside from layups and dunks, they’re the most analytically efficient shots in basketball. Syracuse shot 5-21 from the outside on Wednesday, and many of those shots — especially in the opening frame — were not good looks. Naithan George is not a terrific shooter. He should not be taking contested or transition pull-ups. But he wasn’t the only one taking ill-advised threes either, Kingz took a few off-balance ones, and Anthony took some from way out there.
Advertisement
“We took bad shots, uncharacteristic shots,” Red Autry said. “We were stagnant. I don’t think we were moving and cutting. When we got the ball in the middle, we held on too much, the ball stuck.”
Interestingly, JJ Starling passed up a few looks that one would expect a player of his caliber to take, even as he’s not an excellent shooter himself.
“I was really really passive today,” Starling said. “That’s on me, I’ve gotta do better. I gotta have that mentality that it’s the last game of the season, and I didn’t have that tonight.”
He went on to reassure that the finger injury that he suffered earlier in the offseason was not bothering him at all, and was not the reason for his passivity. In the two exhibitions, Starling averaged just 7.5 points, making just six field goals.
Advertisement
In the second half, Syracuse’s offensive philosophy shifted towards trying to pound the rim. The easiest offense the Orange had all day was when it was able to get the ball deep for a dunk, and that was emphasized early in the second frame. After shooting 2-12 in the first half, SU didn’t attempt a triple until nearly eight minutes into the second.
Donnie Freeman’s defense
There was no denying Donnie Freeman’s defensive struggles last season. He consistently was out of position and didn’t communicate well. Against Pace, he bothered the Setters’ perimeter forwards with his length, playing more aggressively than he did at any point last season during the first half.
He also switched onto guards and held his own, once again using his long arms to restrict movement, and getting right in the faces of the offensive players.
Advertisement
Although there were a few lapses, especially in the second half, getting beat to low post positioning. That’s what stuck with Freeman.
“I feel like my awareness (could’ve been better),” Freeman said. “I lost my man a couple of times, my length made up for it a few times, but my awareness of what’s going on, I feel like I could’ve tried to make better plays on the ball.”
Freeman also had a strong offensive outing, scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds with three assists.
Urgency on the glass, anyone?
For all the qualms I had with Eddie Lampkin last year, he flipped the rebound battle in Syracuse’s favor simply by being on the floor. His presence in that category alone is sorely missed, as the Orange struggled immensely on the glass.
Advertisement
On a key second-half possession, the Orange let Jabari Nurse get a long rebound at the elbow and had nobody home to protect the rim as he made his way there for an easy layup. Even when Syracuse started to get more offensive rebounds, it allowed plenty.
The Orange allowed 10 offensive rebounds and were outrebounded 31-27 by Pace.
Sadiq White’s debut
Syracuse’s highest-ranked freshman missed the first exhibition game with an upper-body injury, but made an instant impact in the second. On his first defensive possession, he rejected a jumper, for one of his three swats. White was a human highlight reel, throwing down four dunks, and draining two massive second-half threes, something that was not part of his game in high school.
Advertisement
In a game where Syracuse is struggling to find energy, White is exactly the type of player who can bring that.
“Anytime Coach Red puts me in the game, I’m going to go out and play to exhaustion,” White said. “Because why not? It’s an opportunity that he gave me to be here, and I feel like I owe it to the fans, I owe it to muy team, and I owe it to myself.”
He finished with 14 points and four rebounds in just 16 minutes of action
When did the energy shift
The Orange played groggily for most of the game. Autry peppered some full-court press in the first and second halves to try to instill some energy, but it didn’t fully shift until those threes by White ignited a big run. Syracuse’s bench was a lot more engaged as the game moved closer to its finish, with a big reaction for Nate Kingz’s triple in the final minutes pushed the lead out to 20.
Advertisement
Syracuse sleepwalked through games against Le Moyne, Colgate, and Youngstown State last year to start the season. This game felt awfully similar to those for the first 30 minutes.
SU returns to the Dome floor for the first game of the regular season on Monday against Binghamton.
