The sky appears to be falling in Syracuse. And quite frankly, it has little to nothing to do with the onslaught of snow that has come without having even officially turned the page to winter. It’s actually the onslaught of losses by the, once in the Top-25, Syracuse Orange, who fell to 6-4 following a 78-71 loss to rival Georgetown.
Sports are emotional, so with every take comes the question of whether it’s an overreaction or an insightful analysis. This isn’t solely about this one game that saw the Orange shoot 14-25 from the charity stripe. Neither is it predicated on the fact that defense allowed 45-second half points on 50 percent shooting, though that’s a clear recipe for disaster.
But all of a sudden, a team with incredible promise, rife with so much talent, has now lost 4-of-6 games including losses to UConn and Georgetown. Forget that they’re both long time rivals (I know it stings when you lose to them), but Syracuse now is devoid of any impressive non-conference wins with two glaring slip-ups.
It’s been a tough stretch to watch. SU has scored 29 fast break points in the last six games with nine of those coming in the win over North Florida. Yep, that North Florida. The team they beat by a measly six points after leading by as many as 24…in the second half.
One of the issues has been the inconsistent guard play. When your guards are causing havoc it opens up the floor for the shooters. The absence of that level of production has led to a struggling offense with no true identity. And as evidenced by the aforementioned fast break stat, they’re not doing a great job of pushing the tempo and scoring baskets with the defense on its heels. Those types of easy buckets allow your offense to get in rhythm and takes pressure off of everyone on the floor.
When the lights come on, you need your best players to shine in these big games. Tyler Lydon did so by scoring a game-high 29 points on 12-of-13 while grabbing nine boards. It was an excellent game for the sophomore, who’s struggled immensely to begin this campaign. Coming into this game, he was second to last in offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) ahead of just Paschal Chukwu.
Andrew White, who led the team in that category, simply didn’t have it. He finished with 12 points on 3-of-11 in 40 minutes. He and John Gillon (13 points) were the only other two that finished in double figures.
Pearl Washington Day at the Dome wasn’t ruined. The celebration was heartfelt, the reception was well deserved and his legacy will forever live in Syracuse. But a team he despised in Georgetown came to the salt city and delivered another blow to the Orange’s postseason hopes and it won’t get easier with conference play approaching.