GAME #3 RECAP - Syracuse 79, Colgate 75
Well, that was a roller coaster ride
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FILM THREAD
I’ll try to clip some film and them out to you guys a little later today/tomorrow, but wanted to get the recap post out to you this morning.
GAME ANALYSIS AND QUICK THOUGHTS
Syracuse is somehow 3-0 — when it’s all said and done, this team is still undefeated, has beat everyone on their schedule, and will head to Maui soon for more challenges
The return of Benny Williams was a whimper - I’m not sure if it was other guys playing well, getting accustomed back into the flow, or trying to get conditioning back, but Benny looked a little lethargic in his first official game of the season. He only logged 9 minutes and was 0-4 from the field. It wasn’t his best showing, but Syracuse will need him to be a contributor on this team to have real success
How did Syracuse come back? There are a few things here:
Their defensive pressure was disruptive - both in the half and full court. They forced some turnovers, got some pick-6 steals, and Colgate started doing some really silly things. All the turnovers led to QUICK points instead of having to grind it out in the half court.
CHRIS BELL hit 6 threes and a lot of them in crucial times - 3s to keep the team breathing, 3s to stop the bleeding, 3s to to get runs going, a 3 to tie the game. He also had some drives to the rim for finishes over the course of the game. Syracuse will be tough to beat if he or Justin Taylor have nights like that.
When you add Chris Bell shooting well, Judah Mintz getting going, defensive disruption, and Colgate silliness…well, you saw what happened.
Defensive disruption made life difficult for Colgate in the second half. A lot of the fanbase (including myself) was complaining about the lack of effort and energy in the first half. And it was bad. But that shifted when some things started to go well for the Orange in the second, the crowd got behind them, and they made a few runs. Syracuse got in the passing lanes, raised their pickup point, and started flying around….and good things happened.
This was a massive comeback…but there is still a LOT to be desired
Colgate had their way on the offensive glass for most of the game
Syracuse looked very soft and pouty when things weren’t going their way
The offense was still very random (fortunate Bell got going) and seemed aimless at times
The defense still tries to use their athleticism to make up for a lack of solid, sound, disciplined effort - that won’t work on the rest of the schedule outside of 2-3 games
STAT SHEET
A few things that stand out:
Dominating the turnover battle was massive for Syracuse. As well as Colgate played in the first half, they ended up turning the ball over on 25.7% of their possessions. That’s wild.
This stat also comes into play when you compare points per shot attempt. Take away turnovers, and Colgate was 1.12 points per shot attempt vs. Syracuse’s .94 points per shot attempt. Over 100 possessions, you’d be looking at a score of Colgate 112, Syracuse 94. But hey, turnovers count.
The assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.86 is fantastic. Syracuse won’t win this game if they don’t take such good care of the ball.
Even with Chris Bell going 6-14 from 3 (42.8%), Syracuse shot 28.1% as a team.
Of other note:
Justin Taylor + Chris Bell = 8/19 from 3 for 42.1%
The rest of the team = 1/13 from 3 for 7.6%
PLAYER BREAKDOWNS
Judah Mintz was doing silly things in the first half - we’ve seen this a little over his career - silly fouls, not moving his feet, not sprinting back on defense. Once he got pulled for a few minutes in the first half, he was much, much better. He’s still maturing as a player and it was good to see him settle and play the way we all know he’s capable of in the second half. Coupled with Chris Bell, he’s one of the main reasons Syracuse got back into the game. He finished with great numbers - 23 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds. He was 6-15 from the field (0-3 from 3) and spent a lot of time at the free throw line - again (11-14).
Chris Bell was huge for the Orange last night. Without his shooting and (gasp) driving to the rim, this thing might have gotten away from Syracuse even more in the first half. He was 6-14 from 3 (that’s over 1.2 points per shot attempt - which is outstanding). He was brought here to score and hopefully a game like tonight sets the tone for him for the rest of the season. Did he stuff the stat sheet? No. Did he still play well defensively and hit massive shots for Syracuse? Yes. Will I take this stat line from Chris Bell every night? 100%.
JJ Starling had a strong first half while Judah Mintz was struggling to get going. I think they complement each other well. He finished with a nice stat line as well - 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists…and he played 39 minutes.
Justin Taylor was 2-5 from 3 (analytically, we’ll take that all season), but couldn’t get much else going for him. He did grab 6 rebounds and is still so dependable on the floor. He finished with 28 minutes.
Maliq Brown made the game-sealing steal and dunk and is starting to look like his old self. He looked closer to 100% and was doing Maliq things - impacting the game in ways that don’t always pop up in the box score. Whether we like it or not, he’s going to have to play the 5.
Naheem McLeod struggled last night - he seemed a little slow to rebounds, a little slow on defensive rotations, and he isn’t a real threat in the pick-and-roll game. He scored 2 points, had 3 rebounds, and tallied 3 blocks in 20 minutes of play. It’s going to be interesting to see where he fits on this roster come ACC play.
Quadir Copeland took some ill-advised three-pointers (they were daring him to), but besides that, he scored 4 points, had 3 rebounds, and snagged 2 steals in 9 minutes. Chris Bell was playing too well and Justin Taylor’s offense was needed - that’s probably why his minutes dropped in this one.
Kyle Cuffe was quiet in this one - he played 8 minutes, was scoreless, and grabbed a rebound.
Benny Williams, as mentioned above, is going to need a little time to get reacclimated into things.
DNP = Mounir Hima (coach decision), Peter Carey (coach decision), Chance Westry (injury)
NOW WHAT?
Syracuse has a couple of days to practice, prep, and travel before they tip-off the Maui Invitational against Tennessee on Monday at 2pm.
Tennessee is pretty good, Final-4 able, and potentially the best team Syracuse will play all season.
We’ll talk about them later.
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