Syracuse Basketball: Observations – good and bad – from SU exhibition win

Hi, Benny Williams
Williams’ jump shot looks much improved, at least through one exhibition game, and he was a beast on the boards against IUP. He finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Williams had a ton of confidence on Tuesday night. His athleticism and energy were on full display. He’s going to have a strong sophomore stanza, in my opinion.

Judah Mintz is the real deal
Mintz, a 2022 four-star prospect, got the start at point guard. Like the other freshmen, we can expect some mistakes from him as they all adjust to the collegiate game.

However, Mintz is uber-quick and gets into the lane with seemingly relative ease. He has a decent-looking jumper and isn’t shy about pulling the trigger. I hope that the team’s zone defense can force a lot of deflections and steals, because seeing Mintz in transition will be fun.

Man defense, say you?
Okay, so this was an exhibition contest, and head coach Jim Boeheim did put his boys in a man-to-man defense at times. Is that going to continue through the 2022-23 term? I’m not convinced of that, but we’ll see.

A campaign ago, when the ‘Cuse went 16-17 overall, the Orange struggled on the defensive end. This year’s group is likely to fare better, because it’s more athletic and physical.

But the 2022-23 roster is also fairly young, so I wouldn’t expect the squad to roll out a defense similar to 2013 anytime soon.

The Syracuse basketball zone enticed IUP to hoist up a lot of 3-pointers, and the Crimson Hawks didn’t shoot all that well from the perimeter. We’ll see if this sort of scenario occurs in the regular season.