Players’ Era Festival film study: scouting the Syracuse Orange

LAS VEGAS – In the first round of the Players’ Era Tournament, the Syracuse Orange (4-0) will take on the second-ranked Houston Cougars (5-0). This should be an entertaining game between two historically significant programs.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the ‘Cuse. They were randomly my favorite team growing up. I had all the gear! I loved guys like Etan Thomas, Jason Hart, Preston Shumpert, Gerry McNamara, Hakim Warrick, and, of course, Carmelo Anthony. We have now come full circle, as Melo’s son Kiyan is one of Syracuse’s best players.

The younger Anthony is solid, but my head of the snake for this one is point forward #1 Donnie Freeman. Freeman is a match-up nightmare who can play inside or outside. He is super athletic, has excellent length, and can score in multiple ways. He will play in the NBA.

Old school Syracuse is gone, with Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. New coach Adrian Autry is forging his own path, running in transition, getting in the paint on offense, and playing strictly man-to-man defense. I

Syracuse Offense Notes

• Syracuse loves to run in transition and attack the rim. If nothing is there, they will kick out to the open shooter.
• They are similar to Auburn in many ways. They are big, athletic guys who want to get the ball in the paint to score or draw a foul. They have shot seven more free-throw attempts than three-point attempts, typically a sign of a team that pounds the ball in the paint. In comparison, Houston has shot 134 three-point attempts vs 54 free-throw attempts. Nothing wrong with either, but two very different styles.

Orange Defense Notes

• ‘Cuse has had 280 possessions of defense this year and has run ZERO zone defensive sets. They exclusively played the 2-3 zone for the 47-year Boeheim era.
• Syracuse likes to run a full-court, man-to-man trapping press. They like to put #1 Freeman defending the inbounds passes with his length, and then try to double-team the guard who first catches. If you can get it inbounds, you have an opportunity for a fast break, but it’s important not to take a quick/rushed outside shot when you break the press. That’s fool’s gold.
• The Orange also runs the same face guard press that Auburn ran. They want to make it very difficult to get the ball inbounds, then they play full-court, m2m. This is used mainly just to run some time off the shot clock.
• The Orange tend to hedge on-ball screens.

Syracuse Personnel

(*Indicates likely starters)

*#1 – Donnie Freeman – 6’9″ – SO – Forward – 18ppg, 5rpg, 2apg, 1bpg, 1spg.

• Former McDonald’s All-American. Point-Forward. REALLY talented kid; Future NBA player;
• Extremely long/athletic three-level scoring forward. Plays outside the arc, but is an excellent driver;
• Can finish with either hand in the paint and does a good job of drawing contact; Shoots a ton of free throws (28-36, 78%);
• Capable of making the three, but hasn’t shot many or been consistent: 3-11 (27%).

*#11 – Naithan George – 6’3″ – JR – Guard – (Georgia Tech) – 12ppg, 7apg, 4rpg, 2spg.

• Point guard; Great ball handler and passer;
• Can shoot it from deep (4-6, 67%);
• Good at scoring in the paint with his left hand. Nice floater;
• They like to run a dribble hand-off (DHO) for him to get downhill to the paint.

*42 – William Kyle III – 6’9″ – SR – Forward – (South Dakota St., UCLA) – 10ppg, 9rpg, 3bpg.

• Big/athletic forward. Elite shot blocker;
• Good scorer around the basket;
• Would have been a great Coog. He plays hard, rebounds, blocks shots.

*#4 – Nate Kingz – 6’5″ – RS SR – Guard – (Westmont, Southern Idaho, Oregon State) – 8ppg, 5rpg.

• World traveler. 4th college. LEFTY;
• Really good player;
• Best when getting to the basket to finish with his left hand;
• Can shoot the deep ball. Good at shooting it off an off-ball screen.

*#2 – J.J. Starling – 6’4 – SR – Guard – (Notre Dame) – 6ppg, 1rpg.

• Will be his second game back after a lower-body injury;
• Former McDonald’s All-American. Solid defender;
• Went viral for his airball free-throw. It was ugly;
• Good at driving to the basket; Is going to try to get it back to his right hand to shoot;
• Capable of making the three-pointer, but only has one attempt (1-1, 100%);

#7 – Kiyan Anthony – 6’5 – FR – Guard – 15ppg, 3rpg.

• Former McDonald’s All-American;
• Son of Basketball Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony;
• Very confident freshman. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts this game over Starling;
• Good at driving to the basket;
• Second best outside shooter on the team;
• Gets a little shaky when blitzed.

#5 – Tyler Betsey – 6’8″ – SO – Forward – (Cincinnati) – 7ppg, 2rpg.

• Big forward transfer from Cincinnati;
• Capable outside shooter. 12 of his 16 shot attempts have been from beyond the arc; (4-12, 33%);

#0 – Sadiq White Jr. – 6’9″ – FR – Forward – 7ppg, 3rpg.

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• Played at IMG with Chase McCarty;
• VERY athletic/explosive. Above the rim scorer;
• Wants to get it in the paint for a short shot or dunk.

#55 – Bryce Zephir – 6’4″ – GR SR – Guard – (Chipola, North Texas, Salt Lake, Montana State) – 2ppg, 2rpg.

• Premier World Traveler. 5TH College; Has seen the entire world at this point;
• LEFTY. Stocky guard;
• Capable three-point shooter (1-2, 50%);

Cheat Sheet

Watch I’m Watching For…

1. Who guards Donnie Freeman? Freeman is a 6’9″ match-up nightmare. He can play outside and drive vs. a big man, or he can play inside vs. a guard. I’d try Eman on him to start, but it could very well be Chris or JoJo.
2. Year of the Freshmen. This will be another game filled with star freshmen. Kiyan Anthony said last week that they expect to win one of their first two games in Vegas. Then corrected himself and said they’ll win both. We shall see…
3. Contrasting Styles. Houston would like to slow things down and get a good jump shot. Syracuse would like to speed things up and get a layup or a trip to the free-throw line. This one could be fascinating.