Syracuse Basketball: Jim Boeheim raves about 2016-17 roster
After making the Final Four last season, Jim Boeheim says he feels even better about his 2016-17 roster.
It’s very rare for a team that lost its top three scorers and made the Final Four unexpectedly to be even better the next season.
But that’s exactly what head coach Jim Boeheim believes.
In fact, the head coach told FanRag that he hasn’t felt this good about a roster since 2011-12.
“I probably haven’t felt this good about a team since we had Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters, and Fab Melo during the 2011-12 season,” Boeheim said at Syracuse’s practice on Tuesday. “We’ve got size. We’ve got length. We’ve got shooting. We can play big or we can play small. We’ve got options.”
“Tyus Battle is as good as any first-year player in the country,” Boeheim said. “He’s a really talented player and Paschal Chukwu is going to help us on defense. He’s going to be really good in back of the 2-3 zone.”
That 2011-12 team that Boeheim is referring earned the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Elite Eight. They finished the season 34-3 overall and won the Big East regular season title.
While it’s unlikely that Syracuse will win the ACC regular season or conference tournament titles, they are almost certainly expected to be a top-five team in the league and a potential top-25 squad for most of the season.
The Orange lose the leadership abilities of Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney, and the sharp shooting of Malachi Richardson, but they are deeper, longer and possess more versatility.
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Just take a peak at their roster. The Orange return Franklin Howard, future pro Tyler Lydon, monster rebounder Tyler Roberson and veteran DaJuan Coleman. They were also very active on the transfer market, adding two graduate transfers, Nebraska’s Andrew White and Colorado State’s John Gillon, and one sit-out transfer (who is eligible this year), Providence’s Paschal Chukwu.
On top of the more experienced players, ‘Cuse has an impressive trio of freshman, four-star small forward Tyus Battle, four-star power forward Matthew Moyer and four-star power forward Taurean Thompson.
Syracuse is still figuring out their point guard position, but Howard has apparently improved by leaps and bounds this off-season, while Gillon has the experience and knack for putting the ball in the hoop.
They have five players who are between 6’4″ and 6’8″, giving Boeheim plenty of options at the two, three and four positions. That length and flexibility will also help on the defensive end where they can create turnovers by disrupting the passing lanes.
And on the back line, Lydon and Chuwku can block and alter shots at the rim.
Lydon, in particular, gives the Orange a unique advantage. The 6’9″ sophomore can play from the three to the five, make shots from the perimeter, protect the rim, contribute in transition, score on the block and defend on the perimeter. He’s agile, mobile and skilled, and should have all the abilities to take the next step in 2016-17.
So, yes Syracuse has more pieces than they did in 2015-16. They should be much more consistent and they won’t have to deal with a Boeheim suspension in the middle of the season.
But this does not mean that they will definitely make the Final Four – the competition is greater this season than in year’s past. They will have a tougher road standing in their way, and of course, they play in the same league as the National Championship favorites.
Regardless, Boeheim is right, this is a team that SHOULD be feared.
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