Syracuse Basketball: Orange needs to clean up these three things ASAP

Head coach Jim Boeheim, though, did see some positives in the Syracuse basketball loss at Rutgers.

For the majority of its road contest versus No. 21 Rutgers on Tuesday night, Syracuse basketball found itself down, but not out. Sure, the Scarlet Knights managed to drum up a double-digit lead over the Orange here and there, but credit the ‘Cuse for hanging around.

Then, with about seven minutes to go in the second half of this ACC-Big Ten Challenge battle, Syracuse basketball squeaked ahead of Rutgers (4-0). This shocked and delighted me, along with numerous other Orange fans.

With about five minutes to go and the ‘Cuse clinging to a three-point edge, sophomore point guard Joe Girard III took a contested, slightly off-balance 3-pointer that didn’t go in, the Scarlet Knights would then go on a big-time run in the waning minutes, and Rutgers would send the Orange to a 79-69 defeat, the first setback of the 2020-21 campaign for Syracuse basketball.

Honestly, heading into this bout, the ‘Cuse faced an uphill climb due to the team missing two starters in senior center Bourama Sidibe and junior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim.

That the Orange hung tough with a top-25 foe, on the road, is cause for optimism. But that sequence from Girard also proved indicative of several frustrating facets to this encounter for Syracuse basketball (3-1).

Poor shot selection, a wide deficit in the rebounding department and a porous 2-3 zone mightily contributed to the ‘Cuse falling to the Scarlet Knights.

Syracuse basketball better get to work in cleaning those components up prior to its next meeting, which is the squad’s inaugural 2020-21 Atlantic Coast Conference clash at Boston College this coming Saturday afternoon.

Without Sidibe anchoring the middle of the ‘Cuse 2-3 zone, the Orange got outrebounded by Rutgers, 42-26, according to ESPN statistics. The Scarlet Knights also corralled 13 offensive rebounds. That won’t do.

Rutgers connected on 48.3 percent from the field, and its guards often penetrated the Syracuse basketball defense at the top or on the wings with relative ease.

The 2-3 zone’s perimeter movement absolutely needs work, as the Scarlet Knights connected on 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, and that included a handful of wide-open looks that just didn’t go in.

Finally, I lost count as to how many of my fellow Orange fanatics corresponded with me on social media during this game about the relative awfulness of ‘Cuse shot selections on offense.

So many hurried 3-point attempts at the beginning of offensive series, particularly in the first half. Syracuse basketball did a better job of getting into the paint after intermission, but by and large the offense was missing solid flow and rhythm.

Hopefully, when the Orange pays a visit to the Eagles on Saturday, we will see some improvements in these areas.