Barring injury (“knock on wood”), I get the sense that Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has a primary eight-man rotation for the time being, particularly while graduate student center Bourama Sidibe is out for at least a few weeks with an injury.
To that end, unless something shifts in the early part of the 2021-22 campaign, which officially gets underway in a matter of days, it’s likely that the Orange’s starting five will be junior point guard Joe Girard III, senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim, senior forward Cole Swider, graduate student forward Jimmy Boeheim and junior center Jesse Edwards.
I could foresee freshman forward Benny Williams as the first reserve off of Jim Boeheim’s bench. That brings us to junior guard Symir Torrence and sophomore center Frank Anselem.
Grand proclamations before the regular season has even commenced seem a bit over the top, however, for my money, I think that Torrence and Anselem could prove huge X-factors for the ‘Cuse in 2021-22. I’ll explain why.
Syracuse basketball needs Symir Torrence and Frank Anselem to shine.
Torrence, who is from the Syracuse area and was recruited by the Orange out of high school a few years ago, transferred to the Hill this past off-season from Marquette.
He isn’t a sharp-shooter from deep like Buddy Boeheim and Girard, but Torrence brings other positive attributes to the ‘Cuse line-up. He is a strong and physical guard who appears to excel on the defensive end, which is key for the Syracuse basketball 2-3 zone.
Torrence boasts athleticism that some may say could be lacking, at least a little bit, in Boeheim and Girard. I also believe that Torrence is a proficient facilitator and can drive with precision to the basket. He brings something different to the roster than the other Orange guards.
After the ‘Cuse crushed Le Moyne by 40 points in the Orange’s second and final exhibition tune-up, head coach Jim Boeheim discussed Torrence and Anselem as part of his post-game press conference.
Boeheim said that Torrence is working hard to learn the Syracuse basketball system, and he’s getting better all the time. Boeheim added that Torrence knows there are multiple deep threats on the Orange roster, and when those guys are being overplayed by defenders, that will provide opportunities for Torrence to slash to the basket and finish around the rim.
Both Torrence and Anselem are improving, and they’re trying to figure out their roles on the team, Boeheim said. I’ve always been high on Anselem, who barely played at all a stanza ago. He has tremendous athleticism and upside, in my opinion.
Versus Le Moyne, Anselem earned 13 minutes of court time, and he finished with three points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block, according to statistics provided by Syracuse.com.
If one of the starting guards or Edwards runs into foul trouble in future games, or if there is an injury to one of them, Torrence and Anselem could be in a position to play a lot of minutes. And the ‘Cuse will need them to significantly contribute if Syracuse basketball is going to have a successful season.