Syracuse Basketball Player Profiles: The Starting Five

Feb 14, 2015; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Roberson (21) dunks the ball against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half at the Carrier Dome. Photo Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Tyler Roberson

Roberson was a mixed bag last year. He was an absolute monster on the boards for much of the season, and even saw several games where his offense started to come around. However, there were also a number of games where he looked lost offensively and couldn’t hit a jumper to save his life.

Roberson spent much of the offseason working on that jump shot and also bulking up. Whereas last year he was a bit undersized, he looks to have added a solid 15-20 lbs of muscle and now looks like he can be even more dominant on the glass. That’s a very good thing, as he will be needed to help fill the rebounding void that Christmas left.

Roberson had two 17 rebound games last year and ended the season as the second leading rebounder. He also averaged a tidy 8.3 points per game. The biggest hindrance to his game was the lack of many moves when driving to the hoop. He mastered the spin move, but became a one-trick pony with it last year and eventually teams were able to take it away from him. Hopefully he has a few more moves this year, and if so, he could see some good numbers offensively.

I’m predicting Roberson to be around a 10 points and 10 rebounds guy this year. I think his physicality and athleticism will put him in position to grab a ton of offensive rebounds and get some easy put backs. If he has truly improved his shooting stroke, those point totals could be even higher.

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