Syracuse Basketball vs. Gonzaga: 4 Keys to the Game

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Mar 20, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Trevor Cooney (10) goes up for a shot while guarded by Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders forward Perrin Buford (2) during the first half of the second round in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

Limit the Mistakes

Against Dayton and MTSU, both first halves were very closely contested. One of the main reasons for that was turnovers. SU had 10 against Dayton and eight against MTSU in the first half alone. It kept both teams in the game.

In the second half, things changed dramatically in both games. The Orange finished with just 15 total turnovers against Dayton, just five in the second half. Against MTSU, they finished with 10 total. That’s right, they had only two turnovers the entire second half!

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And as you saw, the second half of both those games were SU routs. If the Orange can play 40 minutes of that kind of basketball, they are going to be incredibly hard to beat.

Aside from just bad passes and giving up steals, the Orange also need to play smart with defenders in front of them. For whatever reason, refs have targeted Syracuse basketball rather drastically for offensive fouls. The team has a whopping 81 offensive fouls in 34 games. I wish I could find stats on where that ranks them overall in the country, but I guarantee you it’s top 10.

While some of the calls have been warranted, a lot of them have left fans shaking their heads in disbelief.

So here’s the deal. While we might all agree many of the calls are bogus, clearly the refs are making them. So how about we just don’t put ourselves in position for those 50/50 calls.

What I mean is, no more reckless drives by Richardson into the teeth of the defense. No more plays where Roberson bowls over his defender going to the rim. Play smart. If there’s a defender in front of you, don’t go at them. Go around them or pass to someone else.

For screens, make sure that you are 100% stationary before setting it. Unfortunately they’ve called a number of those as illegal as well, and there’s not much that can be done about it other than just making sure the feet are set before making contact.

The last mistake they need to limit is the poor shot selection. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be taking open shots, as they absolutely should. Even Roberson, Howard, and Coleman should. What I mean is, no more of the off balance fadeaways, the attempted layups in heavy traffic, or the hurried shots with no one under the basket to rebound, Unless your Michael Gbinije that is; he can shoot whatever he wants to.

If Syracuse basketball can accomplish these four things, they have a very real opportunity to advance to the Elite Eight. Gonzaga is a good team, but they aren’t invincible. They, much like SU, are just peaking at the right time and playing their best basketball.

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Also like SU, they haven’t gotten much respect. That’s what makes this game so interesting. It’s two teams who have been cast off by the media, called soft, called undeserving. This is their chance to prove themselves.

I expect an incredibly competitive game tonight, but in the end I think the Orange pull out a close one. I think we’ll give up plenty of points on the interior, but I think we’ll hold their 3-point shooters in check and make them one-dimensional.

I think Roberson continues to play well and keeps us close on the boards, and I expect Mike Gbinije to light it up on offense. Final score: SU 71, Gonzaga 67.

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