Syracuse Basketball: Despite rough start to season, there are bright spots

A challenging recent stretch that involved playing some formidable foes and the Orange traveling a good amount has left Syracuse basketball at 5-5 as the non-conference docket winds down and Atlantic Coast Conference competition goes into full force.

Head coach Jim Boeheim has said in recent press conferences that he believes the team is improving. The defense has to get better, without question, and the Orange absolutely has to tighten things up on the glass.

With only a couple of games between now and the end of the year, the ‘Cuse has the opportunity to work through things during its upcoming practices, and hopefully Syracuse basketball can turn the corner and find its rhythm as 2022 approaches.

Like many other fans, I’m frustrated with where the Orange presently resides. But not everything is doom and gloom for the ‘Cuse, in my humble opinion.

There are positive facets to the Syracuse basketball season to date.

I get that the Orange is 5-5, and the team’s number of wins and losses matter the most. That being said, I’m encouraged by the center position, for one.

Junior Jesse Edwards is averaging 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest. Sophomore Frank Anselem, whom I would like to see get a bit more court time, is collecting 2.4 points and 2.5 boards a game.

So between them, the centers are averaging 14.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per encounter. Given the team’s offensive woes at the center spot in recent years, that’s solid production.

Edwards is also blocking 2.6 shots per game, which at the time of this writing was in the top five within the Atlantic Coast Conference, according to league statistics.

For all the struggles that the ‘Cuse has had on the boards, senior forward Cole Swider and Edwards are doing their part. Swider, at 7.4 rebounds per affair, is in the ACC’s top 10. Edwards is in the top 20.

Junior point guard Joe Girard III is having a stellar 2021-22 term. He is in the ACC’s top 15 in scoring, the top five in assists, No. 2 in 3-point shooting percentage, and No. 1 in 3-point field-goals made per game.

Graduate student forward Jimmy Boeheim is also in the top 15 of the ACC in scoring, and he’s connecting on a strong 43 percent from beyond the arc.

Senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim, Girard and Swider are all hitting on at least 88 percent from the free-throw line. As a team, Syracuse basketball is making 75.8 percent of its attempts from the charity stripe, which is No. 2 in the ACC.

Collectively, the Orange is also in the ACC’s top five as it relates to assists per game, steals per contest, 3-point shots made per encounter and assist/turnover ratio.

In numerous recent columns, I’ve focused a lot of attention on where Syracuse basketball is faring poorly, so I only thought it fair to share some optimism in this column!