Syracuse Basketball: Jim Boeheim lauds balance, it wasn’t just 1 or 2 guys

Syracuse basketball put it all together in the team’s impressive blowout victory against Wake Forest over the weekend.

In his post-game press conference after the Orange defeated the Demon Deacons, 94-72, on Saturday evening from the Carrier Dome, head coach Jim Boeheim was extremely pleased with his squad’s overall balance, and understandably so.

The ‘Cuse (10-11, 4-6) shot quite well from the field as a whole and from beyond the arc. But the Orange made a concerted effort to drum up a lot of its offense from inside the perimeter.

Additionally, this result was a true team effort. Everyone on the roster contributed in a meaningful way, including the three primary reserves for Syracuse basketball.

It wasn’t just one or two guys, Boeheim said. It was five guys, he added. Really, though, it was more like eight guys, and even more than that, if you include the late-game buckets from some players further down the Orange bench.

Jim Boeheim detailed why Syracuse basketball dominated the Demon Deacons.

The point here is that the ‘Cuse destroyed Wake Forest (17-5, 7-4), one of the best groups in the Atlantic Coast Conference, because the entire Orange line-up was in on the party. And that’s how, I believe, this team can reach its full potential.

And by full potential, I don’t know if that’s getting to the post-season, whether that’s the Big Dance or, more likely, the NIT. For me, it’s about the 2021-22 Syracuse basketball squad putting all of the pieces together and performing as a cohesive unit on both ends of the floor.

That’s precisely what transpired on the Hill versus the Demon Deacons. Yes, senior shooting guard Buddy Boeheim had 30 points, with the red-hot Cole Swider, a senior forward, tallying 18 points.

Yet the scoring was still balanced, otherwise. The Orange held its own on the glass. And, in a vital statistic, the ‘Cuse committed just five turnovers, as compared to 17 for Wake Forest. As Jim Boeheim said, that’s a dozen extra possessions for Syracuse basketball in an ACC clash versus an up-tempo Demon Deacons crew that had been scoring about 80 points per contest.

So if we’re talking balance, it’s one thing – and an important one at that – for everyone on the Orange roster to meaningfully contribute. The other critical component when it comes to balance, though, centers on how the ‘Cuse was fabulous on both ends of the floor.

Syracuse basketball has shown, on many occasions, that it can score in bunches. But the team’s zone defense held Wake Forest to about eight points below its 2021-22 scoring average, and in the second half, the Demon Deacons managed a paltry 30 points.

Boeheim noted that it was a stellar offensive AND defensive performance for his group, and that’s why the Orange was able to crush a high-quality foe such as Wake Forest.