Syracuse Basketball: Boeheim’s Army, Gael Nation; full preview

Boeheim’s Army and its squad of former Syracuse basketball stars will face Gael Nation in the 2nd round of TBT. Here’s a full preview of what’s to come.

The elite group of Syracuse basketball alum barely escaped We Are D3 in the opening round of the Syracuse Regional. In less than 24 hours, Boeheim’s Army has to quickly turn things around for their next opponent Gael Nation.

Round 1: Boeheim’s Army vs We Are D3

Boeheim’s Army struggled from beyond the arc (5-of-17), started off the game slow, and quite frankly got lucky at the end of the game with We Are D3 missing so many layups and wide-open perimeter shots.

The one big thing Boeheim’s Army needs to work on is getting the ball down low to Arinze Onuaku. or Hakim Warrick. Six attempts each from the field aren’t anywhere near enough.

Round 1: Gael Nation vs Team Fancy

The stars rose to the top, AJ English and Mike Poole combined for 49 points on 18-of-28 shooting. While shooting an insane 8-of-11 from deep combined.

Gael Nation also took care of their free throws (10-of-11 or 90.9 percent). But perhaps the most impressive statistic was their efficiency: +118 with only one player in the negative.

Round 2: Boeheim’s Army vs Gael Nation

Boeheim’s Army is facing a squad mainly consisting of Iona college alumni who are very dangerous:

• Four members of Gael Nation shot at least two 3-pointers apiece, only one member of Boeheim’s Army hit more than one three-pointer (Jordan Crawford) in the opening round.
• In the opening round, there was a marginal difference between Gael Nation and Boeheim’s Army in points from turnovers, points in the paint, second-chance points, fast break points, and bench points.

Although one area Boeheim’s Army could look to exploit is creating instant offense off of turnovers. Team Fancy scored 25 points off of turnovers against Gael Nation in the opening round, with the 2-3 zone and occasional man-to-man defense Boeheim’s Army could feed in transition.

The other apparent weakness was the offensive rebound differential: 16-to-6 in favor of Team Fancy which resulted in 22-second-chance points for the squad.

Hopefully, the initial round was a serious wake-up call for Boeheim’s Army. While this may be the most talented team they’ve ever put together, that doesn’t guarantee anything.

"John Gillon said it best after the opening round win, “if we play like individuals anything can happen, even a No. 8 seed beating a No. 1 seed.”"

This Boeheim’s Army vs Gael Nation game will take place at noon at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College. You can also watch the game on ESPN nationally.

The winner of Boeheim’s Army and Gael Nation will face the winner of Armored Athlete and Brother Love in the Syracuse Regional championship game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the SRC Arena at Onondaga Community College.