Syracuse Basketball: Don’t throw the towel in just yet on the Orange

Syracuse basketball is in dire straits, but don’t throw in the towel on the team just yet. Here’s why there’s legitimate reasoning to be optimistic.

Syracuse basketball has lost three out of its last four games. The Orange are currently on the outside looking in as it pertains to the NCAA tournament. Finally, its best player, Elijah Hughes, suffered a groin strain that kept him out of the last game and likely could keep him out for even longer.

If all that wasn’t enough, up next the Orange take the road for back-to-back contests vs Florida State and Louisville. Both teams are currently in the top-10 and combined have only lost one home game all season (26-1).

Most Orange fans seem to be reaching for the towel with just seven games remaining in the regular season.

STOP. WAIT. HOLD ON A SECOND!

Before you throw in that towel and give up on the season, there’s reason for optimism.

Let’s go back to that last game vs NC State on Tuesday night in the dome. Hughes in pre-game warmups strains his groin, attempts to play through it and then pulls himself out a few minutes into the contest.

The Orange appeared shell shocked on the court and were unable to do anything offensively. Syracuse fell in a hole down 20-11 midway through the first half and seemed destined to be blown out by the Wolfpack.

Then the Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim gathered his troops and made adjustments on the fly. Syracuse who at one point looked dead in the water, suddenly was back in the game.

Now ultimately the Orange lost the game 79-74, they collapsed late, but the point remains.

Despite losing the team’s top scorer, who averages north of 19 points per game, the second leading point-getter in the ACC, Syracuse stayed alive.

If this team could stay alive in the middle of a game in a situation they weren’t prepared for (playing without Elijah Hughes), then what do you think they’ll do with days of preparation?

Before the towel is thrown in on the Orange, perhaps we should give Boeheim the benefit of the doubt.

For example, earlier this year a lot of people brought up the very real possibility that Syracuse could endure its first losing season EVER under Jim Boeheim. Since then the Orange has completely turned things around.

It won’t be easy to possibly play without Hughes (we’ll learn his status Saturday morning), but with days to prepare, perhaps, Jim Boeheim can concoct a gameplan to maximize the talent he has on the roster. Considering what has transpired over the last 43 years and earlier this year, Boeheim deserves our faith.