Louisville basketball: How to beat Syracuse, from their perspective

Louisville basketball will back out on the road to face a tough and win needing Syracuse on Wednesday. We caught up with the Orange experts.

After two weeks of tough losses and close calls, it’s time to turn the page to the next opponent for Louisville basketball. The Cards are set to hit the road to travel up north to take on familar foe, Syracuse, in the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse, much like Clemson, is a team fighting for their NCAA Tournament life as they are currently sitting at 11-8 overall, and 8-4 in the ACC heading into the toughest part of their schedule, with four of their next six games coming against teams ranked in the top 20. Joey Brackets of ESPN.com currently has the Orange has one of his last four teams in, meaning they would be playing in the opening round game as an 11 seed.

For Louisville, Chris Mack and his squad will be looking to move on from the ghosts that have haunted them through the past three games. As we’ve pointed out time and time again over the last few days, the losses have hurt and there’s no doubt that they could have long lasting effect – but we at Big Red Louie don’t believe they will. Chris Mack is a coach who preached toughness over everything, and with that being the case it’s time to prove that his team can bounce back strong from disappointing losses and close calls.

Syracuse presents an interesting challenge for the Cards, relying fully on a 2-3 zone defensively and playing behind big time scoring options in Tyus Battle, Elijah Hughes and O’Shae Brissett, all three of whom are in the top 30 scorers in the ACC. Louisville has struggled against teams with multiple scorers who possess length, and that’s exactly what Syracuse is going to bring.

Louisville and Syracuse have split the series 2-2 over the last four years since Louisville joined the ACC, with the most recent win for Louisville coming in 2016-17 and Syracuse last season, in a game where they played with just six scholarship players on the road.

We are very familar with Syracuse from the battles in the Big East, but it’s good to get a new look and perspective on this year’s team. That’s why we connected with Paul Esden, the Site Expert for FanSided’s Inside the Loud House, a site dedicated to covering Syracuse athletics.

Find out a little bit more about the current Syracuse team, the challenges they present, and what exactly Louisville is going to have to overcome if they are going to move to 10-4 in the ACC.

This team came into the season with a lot of hype and potential as a top 4 finisher in the ACC. Though the season is by no means over, what has happened that’s left Syracuse short of expectations?

Inside the Loud House: That’s the million dollar question. After making it all the way to the Sweet 16 with 5.5 guys on the roster, of course, the expectation was so much higher for a team returning all five starters from that run and adding some dynamic pieces. The woes happened early and often in non-conference losing games they shouldn’t have (Old Dominion) and not taking advantage of an early season tournament (losing to Oregon and UConn). In conference play, the up and down nature of this team continued. For example, in a 72-hour span, Syracuse got smacked by an underwhelming Georgia Tech team, then beat Duke at Cameron Indoor. We’d need the mystery gang to get back together to figure this one out. They have the talent, but they just are super inconsistent, that’s the best way I can put it.

Tyus Battle is the go-to guy for Syracuse, but who are some other names that Louisville will have to stop defensively?

Inside the Loud House: Tyus Battle is clearly the straw that stirs the drink for the Orange, but they have several other weapons on this team that can go off. I’ll start off with Oshae Brissett. He’s been frustratingly inconsistent, recently his play has improved with a stretch consisting of three straight double-doubles. But then in the most recent outing for the Orange, Brissett just never showed up vs NC State.

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When he’s on he can go for 20 and 10. Elijah Hughes is in his first season with Syracuse after transferring over from East Carolina. There’s no secret to his game he’s a dynamic three-point shooter, but if you take that part of his game away he has really struggled. Although he’s more than just a three-point shooter, but I think sometimes he forgets that. A secret sauce guy to keep an eye on is Buddy Boeheim, he’s been electric from deep as of late and can make threes if he’s covered or not. As a freshman, he’s still developing the rest of his game, but he’s gone off a few times this season.

It feels like Syracuse has had several seasons where they finish with double-digit losses, make the tournament by the skin of their teeth and then go on a deep run. Is that a possibility with this team? If so, how?

Inside the Loud House: Same song and dance once again. This team wasn’t supposed to be on the bubble for the first time in a long time, but as we’ve documented they’re right squarely back on it. I think Syracuse enjoys the adrenaline rush of being so close to falling into the dark abyss but also flirting with deep runs in March. This team has the talent, the coaching (Jim Boeheim in his 43rd year with the program) and the veteran leadership to go on the road and win (evidenced by their 5-2 record in true road games). Their senior point guard Frank Howard averaged 15 points per game last year, but this year missed four games to start the season due to an injury. He had a coming out party of sorts vs NC State, but much of that was fool’s gold or hidden behind some silly fouls and turnovers. If he can get going without the nonsense, I think it can spread to the rest of the team and then the Orange could be dancing deep once again.

Even with several prolific scorers Syracuse’s offense ranks 93rd in KenPom’s adjusted offensive rankings. Why do you think that is?

Inside the Loud House: Well, I don’t want to beat a dead horse because that’s inhumane but it’s inconsistency. There’s a glimmer of hope though the Orange have Buddy Boeheim developing, Joe Girard III is the most prolific scorer in New York state history (he’s coming in 2019-20), and some other studs are on the way. I imagine the Syracuse offense next season has the potential to be spectacular. But this season, despite the depth, Jim Boeheim is sticking to his veterans and he won’t budge. In some respects, he’s stubborn and won’t adapt, but in others, I have to respect what he’s done over four decades at the helm and Syracuse fans just have to trust the process. Brissett hasn’t taken that sophomore leap many people thought he would, Paschal Chukwu has the mobility of a parked car in the middle of the 2-3 zone and has been a relative non-factor all season. I think Syracuse just plainly haven’t lived up to the enormous expectations that were thrust at their feet.

Louisville has really struggled offensively with teams that play pressure defense. How good is this Syracuse team on the defensive end of the ball?

Inside the Loud House: I think Syracuse could press more than they actually do, Jim Boeheim vehemently disagrees. The overall patented 2-3 zone isn’t nearly as elite as it was at the end of last season and through the tournament, but it’s pretty stout. When you have Battle and Howard at the top of the zone and they’re 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-6 respectively, that’s a crazy wingspan to try and get past. The interior as I mentioned previously is a weak spot and can be had based on the matchup. But the true way to beat the zone is with hot perimeter shooting over the top and you saw that in the NC State game and others this season. They’re very good, they could be better, but it’s the offense that has been a problem for SU.

What’s your prediction?

Inside the Loud House: This is a tough question to answer, perhaps the toughest you’ve asked so far. I’d imagine that this Syracuse team is going to come out with some sizzle in this Wednesday night ACC affair. They’ll have plenty of rest heading into this one (a week off) and they know their tournament status. While Louisville is supremely talented and ranked very highly, this is a 50-50 game according to the analytics and Syracuse better play like it.

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This Cardinals team has impressed me and I think it’ll go down to the wire, but I’ll give the edge to Louisville, but I expect a very good showing from the Orange: 75-70.

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