Syracuse Basketball: The Orange will be giant during the 2018-19 season

As the upcoming season for the Syracuse basketball team quickly approaches, the Orange will be putting a team out on the floor that features a number of tall contributors.

With the 2018-19 college basketball season only a few weeks away, the anticipation is at an all time high.

Between freshmen standouts such as Zion Williamson and Bol Bol, and standout seniors Ethan Happ and Luke Maye, this season has all the makings of a great one. For Syracuse, it will be a tall one.

Jim Boeheim has always recruited for his 2-3 zone. This requires a lot of length up top, and it is useful to have long wingspans down low as well. This season, however, Boeheim’s zone might be one of the program’s tallest in recent memory.

Yes, the Orange have had recent teams that have been very tall. However, those teams still often featured a few undersized players.

Take 2011-12 for example. The Orange’s starting five of Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche, Kris Joseph, Rakeem Christmas, and Fab Melo had two players over 6-foot-10. However, at guard, Jardine was listed at 6-foot-2 and Triche at 6-foot-4.

Not too shabby, but nothing like this season as Syracuse will showcase Frank Howard at 6-foot-5 and Tyus Battle at 6-foot-6 as their guards. Those could be small forwards for some teams (cue Notre Dame and Bonzie Colson).

What really makes the Orange’s 2018-19 team different is the fact that it doesn’t lose much height off the bench.

Sure, Howard Washington and Jalen Carey are the smallest guys out of the core 11 as each measure at 6-foot-3. However, with a 6-foot-6 shooting guard in Elijah Hughes and center Bourama Sidibe at 6-foot-10, Syracuse can practically shuffle in any lineup, and still have the height advantage over their opponent by a lot.

And it’s not just about bragging rights of having one of the tallest teams in the NCAA either. It really is a huge component to how the Orange’s defense could be dominant this season.

The Duke Blue Devils have an advantage over Syracuse, talent wise, this year. However, the Orange’s projected starting lineup of Frank Howard (6-foot-5), Tyus Battle (6-foot-6), Oshae Brissett (6-foot-8), Marek Dolezaj (6-foot-10), and Paschal Chukwu (7-foot-2) holds an incredible eight inch advantage over Duke’s projected starting five of Tre Jones (6-foot-2), RJ Barrett (6-foot-7), Cam Reddish (6-foot-8), Zion Williamson (6-foot-7), and Marques Bolden (6-foot-11).

Yes, Duke, perhaps the tallest of teams Syracuse will play all season long (with a 6-foot-7 off guard) will still have a starting lineup almost an entire foot shorter than the Orange. This will most certainly be a strong point for Syracuse throughout the upcoming season.

For one more measure, look at the NBA. In a study done by 538.com, the Milwaukee Bucks had the tallest NBA roster in 2016, with an average height of 6-foot-7.25 per player.

The Orange’s usual roster of 11 players this upcoming season has an average height of 6-foot-7 per player. So yes, Syracuse would have one of the top five tallest teams in the NBA this year, let alone college basketball.

The 2018-19 season should be one for the books due to a lot of reasons for the Orange.

With the entire starting lineup and more back from a year ago, plus the additions of Jalen Carey, Elijah Hughes, Buddy Boeheim, and Robert Braswell, Syracuse will have a lot to look forward to. Height being at the top of that list.