With Elijah Hughes on to the NBA, the focus shifts to Joe Girard III and Buddy Boeheim to run the Syracuse basketball offense. That may lead to a breakout season for Marek Dolezaj.
Syracuse basketball is in for a change next season, as leading scorer and playmaker, Elijah Hughes, is headed to the NBA. This leaves Head Coach Jim Boeheim with an interesting situation – finding a new star to lead the Orange.
The likely suitor will be another guard. Syracuse has long been known to rely on their wings to create offense, and Joe Girard III and Buddy Boeheim already did a lot of that last season. They both have the talent to go off for 20 or 30 points on any given night, and their three-point shooting abilities make for a deadly combination.
However, one player that often goes under the radar, yet has all the tools to take charge next season, is Marek Dolezaj.
Dolezaj, who will be a senior this upcoming season, made a significant leap in his scoring output, averaging 10.4 points per game last season, after just 4.1 ppg the year before. He also grabbed a career high 6.4 rebounds, dished out a career best 2.7 assists.
Most of this was due to an increase in confidence – he averaged 12 more minutes of playing time last season after earning the trust of Coach Boeheim thanks to his hustle, game in and game out. However, it was also notable that he put on a bit more weight, perhaps leading to his mentality to score the basketball, which Syracuse fans hadn’t seen during his first two years on campus.
While I’m not expecting Dolezaj to become a 20 and 10 type of guy, it wouldn’t surprise me if he averaged a solid 15 and 8 next season. Syracuse basketball hasn’t seen those type of numbers from a player 6-foot-10 or taller since Tyler Lydon put up roughly 13 and 9 during the 2016-17 season.
Clearly, it’s been a few years since the Orange have had a four or five guy really make a noticeable impact. Oshae Brissett had two great years with the Orange, but at 6-foot-8, he played undersized for the Orange under the hoop.
If Dolezaj can turn it up another notch for the ‘Cuse, it could make for their best offensive team in quite some time. Girard and Boeheim are going to need help, so if Dolezaj can turn into a steady offensive option, it would only do wonders for the Orange.
And I’m sure we’d all be fine with a few more ‘Slovakian Slams’ anyways!