Syracuse Basketball: 7 Bold Predictions for the 2019 Season

2. Howard Washington Wins the Starting Point Guard Position Battle

You can shake your heads all you want, but I truly feel Howard Washington wins point guard duties next year for the Orange. Some of you may all be thinking the former high school star and Jordan Brand classic nominee Jalen Carey deserves the starting gig to replace Frank Howard. However, I’m here to tell you to expect the guy who’s been in the system three years to get the nod over someone who has only been in it for one.

Washington is a playmaker who can also shoot well. He reminds me of Tyler Ennis a little bit but a little rawer. He is a talented passer who can drive the lane for layups but also has the court awareness to kick out to the perimeter for an open three for Hughes, Boeheim, or Brissett.

Carey is quick and is a better scorer overall than Washington at this stage, but he is less polished. Maybe with an offseason of work he’ll be much improved. Right now though he is a turnover machine, which is normal for a freshman guard, but one who still has a lot to learn about running an offense. He will get there, but it might be better if he learns behind Washington first until he is ready to be handed the keys to the team.

Washington took a step back this season mostly for health reasons, but he also knew the point guard position was already filled by two guards already in Frank Howard and Jalen Carey. With Battle returning this past season, he knew minutes would be few and far between. So instead, he waited and year and now he’ll have a shot to prove his worth.

Sure Syracuse basketball has an extremely talented combo guard in Joseph Girard coming in next season, who we all expect will get minutes next season, but we don’t expect him to start. Therefore the guard rotation will be loaded once again. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. I can remember a couple of years ago when the guard rotation was so thin it consisted of mostly Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije and we hardly had any rotation at all. So it’s nice to have depth for once.

Just to give you an idea here’s two ways I can see the guard rotation going down. The first one is if Tyus Battle returns next season:

PG: 1. Howard Washington 2. Jalen Carey 3. Joseph Girard

SG: 1. Tyus Battle 2. Buddy Boeheim 3. Brycen Goodine or Joseph Girard

Here’s how the guard rotation might look without Battle returning for his senior season:

PG: 1. Howard Washington 2. Jalen Carey 3. Joseph Girard

SG: 1. Buddy Boeheim 2. Brycen Goodine 3. Joseph Girard

As much as I’d like to add Elijah Hughes to this guard rotation, It’s more likely he’ll slot in as a shooting forward instead. Though I can definitely see either Girard or Goodine redshirting and Elijah Hughes playing some shooting guard if that happens.

Either way, there’s so much talent next year, I just see Washington, the guy with proven upside and multiple years learning the zone under his belt being the winner at point guard to start the season. I can’t promise Carey won’t usurp him during the season, but I feel pretty good that Washington should be penciled in as the starter next season.