2017-18 Syracuse basketball: Best and worst case scenarios

Battle
Battle seems in line for a big season
Battle
Battle seems in line for a big season

As Syracuse gets closer to opening its 2017-18 season, we take a look at the best and worst case scenarios for each player.

Frank Howard

Best Case: Howard develops a reliable outside jumper and becomes a consistent distributor, while wreaking havoc with his length at the top of the zone.

Worst Case: Howard’s junior season mirrors his sophomore year, and he loses his starting point guard job to Geno Thorpe.

Geno Thorpe

Best Case: Thorpe steps into Andrew White’s shoes as a top ACC scorer and pushes himself into NBA draft consideration.

Worst Case: The guards around Thorpe don’t develop as quickly as hoped, and Thorpe is asked to take on too much of the burden like he did in his time at USF.

Tyus Battle

Best Case: Battle becomes Syracuse’s best scorer in the last five years and keeps Syracuse’s streak of first round NBA selections alive.

Worst Case: He struggles with his outside shot and isn’t quite ready to handle the alpha dog scoring role on the team.

» Related: Does experience necessarily translate into wins for Syracuse basketball?

Howard Washington

Best Case: The heady point guard shows flashes of Tyler Ennis, always making the right pass and taking the smart shot as a backup point guard.

Worst Case: Washington is in over his head against bigger ACC guards and struggles to find a spot in the rotation.

Paschal Chukwu & Bourama Sidibe

Best Case: Chukwu and Sidibe form SU’s best 1-2 center punch since Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson, averaging a combined 3+ blocks per game.

Worst Case: Neither fully figures out the defensive scheme like Chinonso Obokoh and both struggle at everything on the offensive end outside of dunking.

Oshae Brissett, Matthew Moyer & Marek Dolezaj

Best Case: All three prove to have underrated offensive games and display a deft outside touch to ease the scoring burden from Thorpe and Battle. The trio also picks up the zone quickly and easily.

Worst Case: Their outside shots never materialize and all three get muscled around (Dolezaj is listed as 6’9″, 180) against bigger, stronger opponents in conference play.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.