It has now been four games since leading scorer Donnie Freeman, the sophomore power forward, returned to the Syracuse basketball line-up after missing the previous nine encounters due to a lower-body injury.
In that quartet of Atlantic Coast Conference affairs, the Orange is 3-1, with two wins on the road. The 'Cuse (12-5 overall, 3-1 in the ACC) will travel to lowly Boston College on Saturday afternoon. Assuming Syracuse basketball takes care of business against the Eagles, the Orange is eyeing a 13-5 overall record, and a 4-1 mark in the ACC, as the league docket soon will get more challenging.
Foes such as Virginia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, North Carolina and Virginia, among others, will test Syracuse basketball over the next three weeks. It won't be easy to prevail in those match-ups, but with Freeman back and settling in nicely, it does seem like the 'Cuse roster - as a whole - is starting to come together and gel, to use a basketball cliche.
Freeman is the guy on this roster. There's no doubt about it. He opens up the Syracuse basketball offense in numerous ways, and since Freeman's return, the Orange offense is clicking on all cylinders.
Make no mistake. The 'Cuse still has work to do. Rebounding is a concern, especially as it relates to the Orange allowing opponents a lot of offensive boards and, as a result, giving up too many second-chance points. Turnovers also remain a problem area.
Syracuse basketball is seeing its various pieces start to fit together.
However, in recent games, the 'Cuse is shooting quite well from the field and better from both the free-throw line and beyond the arc. Syracuse basketball has shown a propensity to shine in fast-break points and points off turnovers.
In the team's 94-86 home triumph over Florida State on Tuesday night, the Orange dished out 22 assists, an indication that the team is flowing better on offense - more ball movement and player movement, although the ISO ball nonsense is still somewhat prevalent, and it's annoying.
Regardless, Freeman is a beast. Senior center William Kyle lll is unbelievably athletic and consistent. Over his last two games, senior shooting guard J.J. Starling is 14-of-21 from the field. Junior point guard Naithan George had 13 assists against four turnovers in the win over FSU, and that's a good ratio for him.
Hello, Tyler Betsey. The sophomore forward went 6-of-8 from downtown on Tuesday evening. He's up to 41.1 percent from 3-point range this season. Redshirt senior small forward Nate Kingz hasn't been overly impressive lately, and maybe some of his minutes should go to freshman wing Kiyan Anthony, who is proficient in scoring near the basket but has mightily struggled from long range.
Sadiq White Jr., a talented freshman forward, has tremendous defensive instincts, and he can carve out a solid role, even amid Freeman's return. Redshirt sophomore Akir Souare is a serviceable backup center who plays with a ton of energy and is pretty darn good on defense.
It was going to take a few games before this 2025-26 roster adjusted to Freeman coming back, and head coach Adrian Autry appears to have figured out his rotations, at least for now. We'll have to see how Syracuse basketball fares as the competition gets tougher, but the Orange is trending in a positive direction within the ACC pecking order.