Syracuse Basketball: Top observations by Jon Rothstein from SU practice

College basketball insider Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports recently headed to the 315 to check out a Syracuse basketball practice led by first-year head coach Adrian Autry, as the Orange’s fall practice calendar got underway early last week.

Rothstein, one of the top national pundits out there, is a lot of fun with his posts on X. As he checked out a recent Orange practice, he put out a handful of posts on X, and also did a Q&A with Autry, which I highly recommend checking out.

In one post on X, Rothstein gave his early prediction on the Syracuse basketball starting rotation in the 2023-24 season. Rothstein is forecasting sophomore point guard Judah Mintz, sophomore guard J.J. Starling, sophomore small forward Chris Bell, junior forward Benny Williams, and junior center Naheem McLeod.

That’s the same starting five that I’m projecting for the ‘Cuse, at least for the onset of the 2023-24 stanza, which begins in early November.

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein provides some insights on Syracuse basketball in 2023-24.

Another Rothstein post on X read, “Syracuse will not look like the Syracuse that we’ve seen during the past few seasons. The Orange are determined to play stifling, man-to-man defense under Adrian Autry. Most athletic team this program has had in 4-5 years.”

Syracuse basketball has 13 scholarship players on its 2023-24 roster. It is athletic, deep and versatile at every position group, and the team’s backcourt is going to be fabulous this coming term.

Autry has said on numerous occasions since taking over from the legendary Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim in March that he will primarily utilize a man-to-man defense, while sprinkling in some zone.

Autry has also said that he wants to play at an up-tempo pace, perhaps using a press more than in other previous years, while pushing the ball out in transition on offense.

In his Q&A with Rothstein, Autry says the team’s depth, experience and versatility will be huge strengths for the Orange in 2023-24, and I wholeheartedly agree with Coach Red.

Rothstein also said via X that Syracuse basketball may go “small” in certain situations, using sophomore forward Maliq Brown from time to time at center. This could prove intriguing. Brown gives up some height to the Orange’s four true centers, including presumed starter McLeod, but Brown is an extremely physical player and an excellent rebounder.

Over the off-season, the ‘Cuse saw senior center Jesse Edwards, an All-ACC performer in 2022-23, transfer to West Virginia. Replacing Edwards is no easy task, but I think that McLeod, the three other centers, and Brown here and there can do a solid job at this position.

Rothstein noted that Mintz is more confident and effective with his perimeter shooting, something that other experts have confirmed of late as well. Mintz was on the ACC’s 2022-23 All-Freshman team, and if he boosts his shooting percentage from 3-point land, Atlantic Coast Conference and All-America honors could be in store for Judah this season.

Sophomore guard Chance Westry, a former long-time recruiting target of the Orange, transferred to the ‘Cuse this off-season after dealing with injury and not playing much in his freshman stanza at Auburn.

The 2022 four-star, top-40 national prospect has been cleared for all basketball-related activities, Rothstein said on X, although Autry says that Westry is being “brought along slowly.”

Westry, in a recent interview with TJ Smith of PennLive, said in part, “This season is big for me. I have high expectations of myself and am glad to be back where I was at a year ago before surgery. I’m ready to play the best basketball of my life.”