Following along with the recent Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team win over Albany 102-85, I felt this overwhelming feeling of hope. It wasn’t perfection as Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry shared in his post-game press conference, but there was definitely a decent-sized run where I saw what I feel like could be a NCAA tournament team.
Look I get it. This team is 5-4 not 9-0 or even 8-1 so I get the skepticism BUT I think there are things to consider as well. I know to some people all they care about is winning but I like to try and look at things differently, and I think this team still has potential.
First off, JJ Starling is out for an indefinite period of time right now after starting off by leading this team. His return when healthy will only help because in my opinion, JJ is that guy who will be able to step back in and do what’s needed to help this team win.
Syracuse basketball showed some encouraging signs in its win against Albany.
Donnie Freeman and Elijah Moore are freshmen both looking like they’re getting better every game. Freeman even led the team in scoring in the Albany win despite not being in the starting lineup due to not feeling well, according to Coach Autry.
Chris Bell, who started the season struggling and was 0-3 from three in the game but perfect from the free-throw line, hit other shots and finished with 18 points overall. And I still believe within him lies that guy we saw last season who still has the ability to go 6-6 from three at some point in this season.
Eddie Lampkin isn’t diminishing the legacy of 44…he is providing a lot of great and impactful work. Watch the highlights of the games alone and see how often he is factored in, especially with his passing ability and his ability to rebound as well.
There are still 22 games remaining on the schedule plus the ACC tournament. What I saw in that Albany game as the first half went on and the second half began made me now more optimistic about those 22 games and their chances. I don’t care if it’s Albany because I know someone will say “yeah but it was just Albany and they should win that.”
It wasn’t about the opponent but about how the team found ways to produce without the guy who led the team before an injury took him from the team. It was about a team finding ways to play together and young players and shooters possibly finding new confidence who can help propel this team to winning games. It was about pulling away from an opponent in a way fans find comfortable.
Now we wait and see if this team can build on that run, crack down more on defense and make a run worthy of the tournament committee finding them to be too good to leave out. I think they can and I hope they do too.
Maybe they just needed to see how to work together better and more confidently or whatever but I hope they sit down and watch the tape and do more of whatever it was they did in this game during the big run.