Louisville basketball: Getting to know the Syracuse Orange

We get to know Louisville basketball’s next opponent the Syracuse Orange with Inside The Loud House.

It’s been a rough couple of days for Louisville basketballs fans after back-to-back losses against .500 competition in Georgia Tech and Clemson following a 10-game winning streak.

Issues seemingly all over the floor reared their ugly heads in both games as the Cards struggled defensively against two very sub-par offensive teams. Things were probably worse on the offensive ends, especially considering how good Louisville’s been this season, as the Cards combined to shoot 34 percent from the field and a miserable 17 percent from deep.

What compounded the two losses was the body language and fall out from the players, none more so than Jordan Nwora. In arguably his worst game of the season against Georgia Tech, Nwora was benched late down the stretch before being pulled from the starting lineup all together against Clemson as Chris Mack tried to send a message to his team.

As our own DJ Bien-Amie wrote, it was an inexcusable mistake by Chris Mack that probably played a bigger role in the loss to Clemson than many would like to admit including Louisville’s head coach.

The Cards will look to put all that past them on Wednesday as they welcome another fairly underachieving ACC team to town in Syracuse. While Jim Boeheim’s team is still dangerous due to the deep-shooting from guys like Buddy Boeheim, and Joe Girard, they’ve struggled recently and it’s a huge reason why they are 14-11 at this point in the season.

Coming off of two games where Louisville struggled to hit shots from deep and quite frankly took way too many three’s (51 combined) this is not the game I personally want on the schedule. Last year when Louisville traveled to Syracuse they shot 28 3-pointers total, hitting just six, on their way to a blow out loss.

If the Cards aren’t careful and changes to the lineup aren’t made, we could be chartering on similar waters. This Syracuse team is far different than last year as Tyus Battle and O’Shae Brissett are gone handing the team over to former transfer Elijah Hughes.

To get a better idea of what to expect we sat down with Syracuse expert Paul Esden Jr. who covers the Orange for FanSided’s dedicate Syracuse site, Inside The Loud House.

For those who haven’t kept up much with Syracuse, give us a quick synopsis on expectations for the team heading into the season and how those have turned out 3/4 of the way through the year.

Inside the Loud House: Heading into the year there were a lot of questions. Syracuse lost 80 percent of its starting lineup from the previous season (Tyus Battle, Frank Howard, Oshae Brissett, and Paschal Chukwu). The only returning starter from 2018-19 was Elijah Hughes. On last year’s squad, Hughes was a third or fourth option at best and on this year’s team, he’s the No. 1 guy. Elijah has more than lived up to that billing and has evolved into one of the top players in the entire conference.

In terms of team success, it’s been a series of ‘what ifs’.

During non-conference play, Syracuse got destroyed by opponents and looked befuddled. When ACC play started in earnest in January, Syracuse picked up the pace but fell short in an array of games. In the six losses during conference play, the Orange lost each game by less than four points each. That’s really the difference from this team being 14-11 and this team being 20-5.

Looking through Syracuse’s player stats it doesn’t look like scoring has been an issue this season considering the Orange score over 74 points per game and have four players averaging double-figures. What’s been the biggest cause of the up and down season?

ITLH: Early in the year, Syracuse was a really good three-point shooting team. That helped them score those 74 points per game. Buddy Boeheim has averaged 40 percent from deep, Elijah Hughes has scored double-digit points in every game this season outside of NC State (where he played less than three minutes), and freshman guard Joe Girard III has been electric.

Although over the last 10 games or so Syracuse has been abysmal from deep. Jim Boeheim says the answer to the sudden drop-off isn’t rocket science, the team just isn’t finding the bottom of the net. Opposing teams haven’t really done anything special it’s simply a case of the Orange falling into a cold spell that they haven’t been able to fight their way out of. Despite the disappearance of the perimeter game, Syracuse has still found creative ways to score points whether that be at the charity stripe or from inside. But the biggest up-and-down seasons is 100 percent the inconsistent deep shooting stroke.

Last season Louisville shot 28 three’s when they matched up with Syracuse, the majority of which were bad looks forced by the patented Syracuse 2-3 zone. Defensively, do you see Syracuse attempting to replicate that game plan or will they do something a little different this year with the players they have?

ITLH: That will be the gameplan once again for the Orange. Although I’ll say this, the 2-3 zone this year isn’t as great as it has been in the past. This well-oiled machine has hit some bumps in the road. There are a few reasons for that: losing four starters didn’t help, there is a ton of youth on the squad with an infusion of freshman, and the biggest problem and it’s not just this year it’s been a long time since Syracuse has had a formidable presence on the inside. The 2-3 zone is all about forcing opponents to take rushed shots and hopefully poor looks from beyond the arc and simply playing the percentages.

Where has Syracuse thrived this season and what would you say is their biggest strength?

ITLH: That’s a very interesting question. Syracuse has thrived when they can get the three-point shot going early which opens up the rest of the offense. They have an array of weapons that can make things happen and they really vibe well with each other. When Elijah Hughes can throw down a ferocious slam or send an opposing shot into the stands that momentous energy is infectious to the rest of the team. Now, what’s their biggest strength? Here’s where I and Jim Boeheim are going to disagree.

With the 2-3 zone, one of the major benefits is getting steals and then getting it going in transition. Despite a shortened bench (which is a problem every year), this team can run-and-gun in the fastbreak to get some easy buckets. Boeheim has said several times this year that his team can’t run, but the analytics tell a different story.

What have teams done this season to take advantage of Syracuse on the defensive side of the ball?

ITLH: Syracuse knows it, my grandma knows it, you know it, and obviously opposing coaches know it: Syracuse doesn’t have a big man. The big men they have, Marek Dolezaj, Bourama Sidibe, and Quincy Guerrier are prone to getting into foul trouble. What opposing teams do is get it on the inside and get the Orange into foul trouble. There are a handful of cheap calls that each player just gets, but overall they can be had on the interior. Once those guys foul out, all hell breaks loose.

Of course, there are a few ways to beat the 2-3 zone. You can shoot over the top of it and teams have had some success with that. The other part of the game they can take advantage of is around the foul line getting it in there for the mid-range jumper. Although the biggest issue has been the foul trouble and with a shortened bench the Orange has nowhere to go when that happens.

Who’s the player for Syracuse that Louisville fans should be watching out for when it comes to having a big game?

ITLH: I’ll give you a few.

Elijah Hughes is the leading scorer in the entire ACC. He can strike from deep, he can get it going on the inside, but he can be prone to taking some poor shots in the heat of the moment. Also, he suffered a groin strain in pregame warmups for the NC State game last week. Hughes played in less than three minutes of that game and a few days later was able to fully suit up for the Florida State game (although he had a scary fall eight minutes into the game) but was able to shake it off and keep playing.

Buddy Boeheim, the son of Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, has proven that he’s more than deserving of being on a D1 program regardless of what his last name is. Although the problem is Buddy has been ice cold lately, in the last game vs the Seminoles he put up a fat donut in a three-point loss to FSU. He’s a perfect catch-and-shoot player who can be deadly, Buddy has struggled when he’s been forced to create his own opportunities.

Joe Girard III is a little firecracker. He scored over 5,000 points in high school at Glenns Falls and is a super emotional player that can get hot quick. Although same as Elijah, he can be prone to taking some horrible shots. But boy he’s a fun player to watch.

Although the player that Louisville should watch out for is the Slovakian Slayer Marek Dolezaj. He’s the unsung hero of the Orange hoops squad. Marek does all the little things and is quite the stat-sheet stuffer: he gets rebounds, steals, blocks, and has gotten better at scoring the basketball. Dolezaj is creative with how he can get to the cup and he’s willing to do whatever it takes for the team. Watch out for him he’s a scrappy guy that you wouldn’t expect to make an impact, but he does in every game.

Finally, what’s your prediction?

ITLH: For Syracuse basketball, this is an absolute must-win game. The Orange are 14-11 on the season, 7-7 in the conference, and have lost four out of its last five games. It’s pure desperation mode and unfortunately, that situation involves facing a top-25 Louisville team that has only lost once at home all season long.

This is the Orange’s last chance at a quality win on the resume during the regular season. This team almost upset Florida State this past weekend and this time around they get the job done and pull off the improbable dub. Buddy Boeheim won’t follow up this game with another donut, which will help things. Elijah is only going to get healthier since his injury from last week. It won’t be easy, but Syracuse gets it done on the road winning this game 74-68.