CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander made a really silly comment about Syracuse basketball in 2020-21, if you ask me.
Matt Norlander and his colleagues at CBS Sports are excellent analysts and journalists, and I follow their coverage of Syracuse basketball and Orange football on a daily basis.
However, and I mean no disrespect, but Norlander’s assessment of the ‘Cuse in a new piece where he projects the top-68 teams for the upcoming campaign is way, way off.
Norlander ranks Syracuse basketball No. 53 around the country. That’s fine. I think it’s too low, personally, with my projecting of the Orange in the pre-season arriving somewhere between No. 25 and No. 35.
But the low 50s isn’t abhorrent, given that former star forward Elijah Hughes, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s leading scorer in 2019-20, left the Hill after his redshirt-junior term for the pros.
Then again, KenPom does arrange the ‘Cuse at No. 29 in its pre-season rankings for 2020-21, which is encouraging, particularly given the defensive rating that Syracuse basketball received.
So Norlander is fine with his No. 53 ranking for the Orange, as far as I’m concerned, but check out what he said about the ‘Cuse in his write-up.
"“Adios to Elijah Hughes, so what will Jim Boeheim and company do about keeping SU’s offense in the near-upper-class of power-conference hoops? Buddy Boeheim is growing into a reliable scorer but the huge question with Cuse is how this team jells given that seven freshmen have been welcomed into the fold. Marek Dolezaj (good in spots) and Joe Girard (key sophomore season ahead) are back, but this team could have the thinnest rotation in the ACC.”"
A CBS Sports writer says that Syracuse basketball has a thin rotation, and we disagree with that.
Okay, well, first of all, Norlander mentions seven freshmen. The Orange has a five-member 2020 recruiting class, including Illinois transfer Alan Griffin, a junior, as well as a redshirt freshman in John Bol Ajak. Thus, unless I’m missing something, Norlander is including walk-ons when he refers to the ‘Cuse group of freshmen.
Secondly, he doesn’t discuss Griffin at all, which is pretty short-sighted, since numerous national pundits have pegged Griffin, a talented wing, as a top-20 transfer nationwide heading into the 2020-21 stanza.
Finally, and this I truly don’t get, but Norlander says Syracuse basketball “could have the thinnest rotation in the ACC” in the soon-to-start season? Huh?
A few days ago, we wrote about the Orange’s strong depth. Replacing Hughes is a huge challenge, but to call the squad’s rotation thin is a bit ridiculous. But to reiterate, no disrespect here, Matt.