There is something special about this year’s Syracuse men’s basketball team besides its No. 1 ranking and undefeated record. During its impressive start to the season, the Orange has played at the slowest pace of any Syracuse team in the last decade – 61.5 possessions per game, according to Ken Pomeroy’s statistics.
At halftime of Syracuse’s victory over High Point, the No. 2 Orange led 3-6 Panthers (ranked No. 258 in the KenPom rankings) by a mere three points. High Point had shot 6-12 from the beyond the arc, and immediately Tweets started pouring in claiming that if the Panthers could keep up this shooting then they would have a chance to pull off the upset.
One would think that CJ Fair’s status as a frontrunner for ACC Player of the Year and a Preseason 3rd Team All-American would establish him firmly as the Orange’s go-to star. And if that’s not good enough, the Orange have Jerami Grant, who is being mentioned in the 1st round of 2014 NBA mock drafts, coming off the bench.
Syracuse fans got their first taste of the 2013-2014 squad last week during the team’s exhibition tour in Canada. While the overtime victory over Canadian powerhouse Carleton proved Tyler Ennis can expect to play a lot of minutes this season, questions remain about what roles the other freshmen will have.
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