Syracuse Basketball: Where is Howard Washington? (mailbag)

Jermaine Trotter: How does Syracuse basketball plan on improving on shooting and defense?

Paul ‘Boy Green’ Esden:

"Uhm not playing Virginia every night? lol That seemed to be the sentiment in the locker room after the game and from Jim Boeheim himself in the post-game presser. A lot of the players seemed upset/motivated in the locker room to get back out there and compete. The shooting is going to be better, this team is going to shoot a ton of threes and with all the options on this team, I think they’ll be more successful than not. Buddy Boeheim, JG3, Elijah Hughes, and more will step up to the plate. In terms of the defense, I thought it was overall very solid. Again Virginia was held to 48 points, what more could you have asked for?"

Neil Adler:

"Practice, practice, practice – and time, time, time. With a relatively inexperienced and young roster, Syracuse has work to do for it to begin to come together as a cohesive unit. A lot of uniformed folks out there think that the vaunted 2-3 zone is a lazy person’s defense, but Jim Boeheim’s zone is complex and intricate, so we all have to exercise some patience before getting too frustrated by any defensive struggles. Plus, the Orange only allowed 48 points to the defending national champions, Virginia, on Nov. 6 in Central New York. That’s not too shabby. As far as shooting goes, the ‘Cuse has an abundance of offensive weapons, particularly from beyond the arc and driving to the basket, and the players just have to sort out ball movement, screening, and spacing for everything to gel. Putting the ball in the bucket will also help improve things. Let’s see how Syracuse does against a really good Colgate crew this coming Wednesday on the Hill."