Just some quick hits after Tuesday night’s exhibition contest between Syracuse and Southern New Hampshire, which the Orange claimed, 72-58, despite an unattractive second half.
Off the top, there really shouldn’t be anything taken as an absolute from an exhibition game. That said…
- No matter how you slice it, the failure of the starting five to score a field goal in the first five-and-a-half minutes of the second half in concerning. Symir Torrence hitting a 3 to take the lid off the basket was good, but certainly not something to be counted upon.
- The Orange were outscored by six points in the second half. By a D-II team.
- SU will be playing zone this season. Jesse Edwards was somehow not credited with a single blocked shot in the first several minutes of the second half despite affecting several SNHU shots by simply going straight up in defense. Edwards simply needs to carry that over to the regular season to be a great deterrent inside.
- Benny Williams seems to have a sixth sense about when to cut to the rim. He should focus on that with several guards on the roster looking to penetrate and being willing to set teammates up instead of shooting from outside.
- Maliq Brown is going to play for this team in consequential games this season. He works his way into easy baskets and rebounds. He’s too good to just go to waste, playing in a manner that makes scoring inside seem easy. Simple, in control… he has a big future at SU, just over a long timeline.
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- Hopefully, the two buckets Chris Bell got late in the game will carry over to the regular season.
- The number of fouls committed by a couple players (Mounir Hima – 4, Judah Mintz – 5) is less than ideal for their expected roles.
- Aside from established players in Joe Girard and Edwards, minutes will probably be up for grabs in the first few games. Williams and Mintz have the lead at their positions and Bell is the likely opening day starter, but time is available for several players to grab.
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