Jim Boeheim won his 900th game as a coach in a 72-68 win over Detroit on Monday night. Here are my grades from the game:
CJ Fair: C+
For the second straight game, Fair put up 8 points and 6 rebounds, though he made a near-critical mistake, fouling Juwan Howard Jr. with 55 seconds left to put him at the line with SU clinging to a 6 point lead. The Orange are going to need more from Fair come conference play, and he’s going to need to be more aggressive.
Rakeem Christmas: B+
Another solid performance from Christmas, with 7 points and 8 boards in 19 minutes. But we didn’t hear much from Christmas at the end of the game.
DaJuan Coleman: C
Pretty quiet night for Coleman. He played 17 minutes, and only had 4 points and 4 boards to show for it.
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Brandon Triche: C
Triche was 1-6 from the field and 5-9 from the free throw line in 29 minutes and could never really get it going. But, I would’ve preferred he played 30, because he fouled out with 90 seconds left and the Orange desperately needing some senior leadership.
Michael Carter-Williams: B+
We’re getting spoiled as Syracuse fans with the numbers MCW is putting up. He’s putting together quite a string of double-doubles, and Monday was no different with 12 points and 10 assists, and made five clutch free throws. But he made a couple of costly turnovers down the stretch, and finished with 6 of them.
James Southerland: A-
Southerland continues to have the hot hand, and was 5-8 from downtown for a game-high 22 points. Still, you would’ve liked to see him be more assertive in the final minutes.
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Baye Keita: C
This was one of the least active games Keita has had in a while. He got his usual 10 minutes of burn, but only had one rebound during that time.
Trevor Cooney: C
Cooney is going through typical freshman growing pains, and had another off night with 3 points. But with only three guards on the roster, the Orange are going to need Cooney to grow up faster.
Jerami Grant: B-
Grant went 3-5 from the free throw line, which was his best performance from the season at the charity stripe. Something to keep in mind as the season goes on, because he’s shooting 35 percent from there.
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