Syracuse Basketball: What the Orange needs to do to go dancing in March

Syracuse basketball has to focus on a handful of areas to ensure an invitation to March Madness.

The 2020-21 season is, hopefully, about to begin this coming week for Syracuse basketball and many other teams. This will prove a stanza unlike any other, because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, and all of us ‘Cuse fans out there are eyeing our boys’ proposed term opener this Friday on the Hill versus Bryant.

That being said, schedules around the country are still getting ironed out, squads including the Orange have had to put their hoops activities on pause due to positive Covid-19 tests, and it’s entirely up in the air how many games each Division I team will actually play in the upcoming campaign.

Syracuse basketball is not ranked in the Associated Press and Coaches pre-season top-25 polls. The Orange is projected to finish No. 6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, per the league’s pre-season media poll. Some bracketologists view the ‘Cuse as an NCAA Tournament-caliber team, with which I agree.

For the Orange to hear its name called on Selection Sunday next March, there are numerous items that likely have to transpire, and we’ve outlined them in this column.

First and foremost, the squad’s defense, often porous in 2019-20, has to get vastly better. A year ago, Syracuse basketball usually didn’t have an issue scoring points, but the ACC’s leading scorer from 2019-20, former Orange star and newly drafted pro Elijah Hughes, is no longer on the roster.

The 2-3 zone has to act as one cohesive unit. Defenders must react more quickly and get out to cover shooters more effectively. To that end, while the zone makes it tough for the ‘Cuse to outrebound its opponents, because of so many long rebounds, the Orange absolutely has to fare better in this arena. This applies to the big men as well as the guards.

Production at the center spot is critical, and it all starts with senior Bourama Sidibe. If he can follow up his strong play toward the end of 2019-20 in this coming term, that will prove huge for the team. Averaging around eight points and eight rebounds per contest is ideal.

My assumption is that the starting backcourt of sophomore point guard Joe Girard III and junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim will collect their share of points. But with Hughes out of the equation, who will comprise the other main scoring contributors?

For Syracuse basketball to succeed, points need to get generated on a consistent basis by the likes of Sidibe, junior small forward Alan Griffin, sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier and senior power forward Marek Dolezaj.

What’s more, some modest contributions from freshman combo guard Kadary Richmond, redshirt sophomore forward Robert Braswell and sophomore center Jesse Edwards would prove a plus.

Syracuse basketball has to hone in on these additional facets to reach the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

The Orange had competent long-range shooters a year ago, and that is true again in 2020-21. But the ‘Cuse will want to improve its efficiency, which stood at 33.0 percent in the most recent term.

One thing that drove me and a ton of other Syracuse basketball fans nuts in 2019-20 was all the needless fouls that led to guys such as Sidibe fouling out. That has to reverse course in 2020-21.

By extension, as players including Sidibe, Guerrier, Griffin and Dolezaj assertively drive the lane and perhaps notch offensive rebounds, they are going to get fouled. That puts pivotal importance on free-throw shooting. We all know that Girard is basically automatic from the charity stripe, but others in the line-up have to connect from a credible clip, too.

In 2020-21, the Orange is expected to have 27 regular-season games, including 20 ACC and seven non-conference battles. The ‘Cuse has to do better at home than in 2019-20, but the squad also has to secure some road conquests.

Additionally, Syracuse basketball needs multiple marquee victories, whether it’s over Georgetown and Rutgers in the non-conference slate, or against high-quality league foes such as Virginia, Duke, North Carolina, Florida State, Louisville, Miami and Georgia Tech, among others.

Last but not least, balanced scoring is great, but with Hughes gone, will the Orange have a go-to guy when closely fought games are winding down? Boeheim is probably the best bet, although I wouldn’t count out Griffin.