Syracuse’s season appears on the ropes after a loss to Miami. We chatted with former Syracuse guard Andrew Kouwe on this week’s The Juice on the Cuse Podcast to get his take on the Orange’s recent struggles.
Kouwe, a guard on SU’s 2003 national championship team, discussed why the Orange is struggling on defense. KenPom ranks Syracuse as the No. 205 defense in the country as it gave up 88 points in the loss to Miami.
But Kouwe pointed out that even though Syracuse has struggled to get stops late in the game, SU’s defense showed positive signs against the Hurricanes. Miami shot just 34 percent from the field and shot 4-14 from beyond the arc in the first half, for instance.
The Hurricanes shot 57 percent in the second half, but that was more the result of the Orange getting sloppy with the ball, Kouwe said. The Orange committed an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers, which led to 25 Miami points. UM also dominated in fast break points, 18-3.
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SU still has an opportunity to reel off several wins in a row in a ‘bounce back,’ Kouwe said. He points to the Orange’s high IQ team and the ability for several different players to be able to go off for 20 points on any given night. That includes the recent emergence of Jesse Edwards, who scored 22 points and added eight rebounds.
Afterward, editor in chief Brad Bierman calls in to discuss the state of the Orange, which is .500 14 games into the season for the first time in the Jim Boeheim era. He puts that in historical perspective.
We also bid a melancholy happy trails to former Syracuse football coach Greg Robinson, who passed away from a form of Alzheimers earlier in the week.
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