Syracuse Basketball: Deep dive on Orange defense reveals ugly numbers

The Syracuse basketball defense needs to vastly improve if the Orange is going to improve upon its current 5-5 record in the 2021-22 season.

Head coach Jim Boeheim has spoken about the ‘Cuse zone defense on more than one occasion. The Orange fan base is extremely frustrated with the defensive performance to date.

And I’m sure ‘Cuse players aren’t satisfied with how the team’s defense is faring at this juncture in the 2021-22 stanza. I won’t shy away from saying the zone is struggling, however, I know the Orange players are working hard, and I will never personally attack a young man for trying his best.

That being said, in the wake of the latest loss for Syracuse basketball, a 79-75 setback on the road to long-time rival Georgetown this past weekend, Boeheim was pretty blunt about the team’s defense.

So I’ve gone ahead and dug through some statistics provided on the NCAA’s Web site that detail just how sub-par the Orange defense is, at least for now.

Get ready for a bunch of less-than-stellar numbers on the Syracuse basketball defense.

Obviously, these stats will fluctuate daily, but at the time of this writing, the Orange was allowing 77.9 points per game, which is No. 326 out of the 350 Division I men’s basketball squads listed on ncaa.com.

Opponents are connecting on 42.7 percent of their shots versus Syracuse basketball, which puts the ‘Cuse at No. 206.

Additionally, Orange foes are making 34.1 percent of their 3-point attempts against Syracuse basketball, and that places the ‘Cuse at No. 240.

This is an important statistic, because the Orange zone entices opponents to take a lot of 3-pointers. If the Syracuse basketball defense isn’t good against 3-point shots, that’s a troubling sign.

The ‘Cuse registers 25.9 defensive rebounds per contest, which is No. 172. By extension, the team’s overall rebounding margin is minus three boards per affair, or No. 294 nationally.

Syracuse basketball blocks 3.8 shots per game, which is No. 117. The Orange’s scoring margin is No. 244, as the ‘Cuse scores and allows basically the same number of points per encounter.

In steals per game, the Orange’s 7.9 is tied for No. 93. As it pertains to turnovers forced per contest, the ‘Cuse collects 12.80, which is tied for No. 228 across the country.

I’ll end on a somewhat positive note. Syracuse basketball accumulates 14.1 personal fouls per game, which is tied for No. 31 nationwide.