Palmar: ACC Tournament proved Syracuse lacks depth to win in March
Syracuse only has four players averaging at least six points. With Dominique Darius injured, our beat writer argues its lackluster depth will lead to an early exit in March. Courtesy of The Atlantic Coast Conference
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Less than two weeks ago, I sat on press row in Gas South Arena, watching Syracuse get boat-raced by Louisville in the first quarter of its Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Quarterfinal matchup. It lost that game 87-61. That’s all I had to see.
Not even an hour after the final buzzer, I began writing my dispatch in a media workroom in the bowels of the building. A nearby television displayed North Carolina’s quarterfinal matchup against Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels separated late, advancing to the ACC Tournament Semifinals with an 85-68 victory over the Hokies.
The parallels were striking. Louisville and UNC don’t have a single player averaging at least 12 points per game, and yet, they both reached the ACC Tournament Semifinals.
There are seven Cardinals averaging more than eight points per game, and six Tar Heels doing the same. Duke — the eventual ACC Tournament champions — also has six players scoring at least eight points per game. Even the final ACC Tournament semifinalist, Notre Dame — a team widely viewed as the quintessential example of heliocentrism around Hannah Hidalgo — has six players averaging at least seven points per game. Do you see the trend here?
These are teams that are built to win. It doesn’t take long to see Syracuse doesn’t fit that mold.
It’s not the first time I’ve made this observation, but I’ll say it again. The Orange have four starters — Dominique Darius, Laila Phelia, Sophie Burrows and Uche Izoje — averaging double digits, and no one else averaging even six points per game. When No. 9 seed Syracuse (23-8, 12-6 ACC) takes on No. 8 seed Iowa State (22-9, 10-8 Big 12) in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, that lack of depth is why it’s doomed to suffer an early exit.
On the surface, SU’s roster construction doesn’t have any glaring drawbacks. After all, that very roster led the Orange to an 11-win turnaround in one year.
But that’s easy to say when Syracuse has somehow managed to avoid any significant injuries nearly all year. When one of those four is hurt — like Darius is, missing March Madness with a hand injury — or has an off night? SU is in a world of trouble. There’s no way around it.
As soon as Darius went down in the third quarter against Cal, the Golden Bears turned a 21-point halftime deficit into a four-point game. Syracuse’s offense looked stagnant without its primary ball-handler, and if not for Izoje’s heroics, SU could’ve easily gone home a round earlier.
The Orange ultimately survived against a Cal team that didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament. But Darius’ absence loomed large against the Cardinals the next day. Syracuse tried out Olivia Schmitt and Camdyn Nelson at the point, but both struggled to facilitate its offense. That led to SU’s lowest-scoring day since Jan. 8.
“We just have to handle the ball,” Phelia said after the ACC Tournament defeat. “And understand that, because Dom is not out there, everyone needs to be able to partake in that.”
It’s wishful thinking but unrealistic. Syracuse doesn’t have a roster built to withstand the loss of Darius. Or Phelia. Or Burrows. Or Izoje, for that matter. When one goes down against an NCAA Tournament-caliber opponent, so do the Orange.
When one of those four is hurt — like Darius is, missing March Madness with a hand injury — or has an off-night? SU is in a world of trouble.Mauricio Palmar, Columnist
Felisha Legette-Jack has tried to find that fifth starter all season. For a time, it looked like Shy Hawkins was the answer. The sophomore ranks fifth on the team with an average of 5.5 points per game, and she’s started 17 of SU’s 31 games on the season.
“She’s so special,” Legette-Jack said of Hawkins back in January. “She cares about the team more than herself.”
It’s impossible to know exactly what Legette-Jack thinks of Hawkins now, but if her playing time is any indication, that opinion might have shifted recently. She started just one of Syracuse’s last four games and received single-digit minutes in both of its ACC Tournament matchups.
Journey Thompson has been Legette-Jack’s fifth starter lately, but outside of a four-point first quarter against Cal, she hasn’t been as impactful as the other four. How about Aurora Almon? A good rebounder, yes, but she can’t be the bench scorer SU needs. Jasmyn Cooper, maybe? While her 11-point performance against the Cardinals showed promise, she’s still a freshman and hasn’t gotten consistent volume.
In his 19-year tenure as Louisville’s head coach, Jeff Walz has won 513 games and been to four Final Fours. He knows what it takes to make a run in March, and his rosters are optimized to do so. After his team’s victory over SU, Walz pointed out that Elif Istanbulluoğlu — who ranks fourth on the team with 9.8 points per game — only scored five against Syracuse.
But, Walz said that when the Orange focused on her, it opened up opportunities for secondary players like Reyna Scott and Mackenly Randolph to shine with 15 and 12 points, respectively. It’s not just a single knockout blow — it’s death by a million cuts.
“That’s what’s made us good all year,” Walz said postgame. “Our ability to have seven or eight (players) that can score the basketball.”
Syracuse hasn’t had that luxury all year. It’s the reason why — despite how impressive this season’s turnaround has been — there’s still a gulf separating teams like Louisville from teams like SU.
After that defeat, I asked Legette-Jack what makes game-planning against a team like the Cardinals so tough, with so many players who can score at any time.
“We did it the year before (last) — we beat them — and we had people that understood the assignment,” Legette-Jack said. “They were just better than us today, and we’ll continue to grow and get better, too.”
Correct. Louisville was better than Syracuse on that day.
Here’s the kicker: If the Orange don’t find secondary scoring options, particularly ones who can replace Darius’ absence down the stretch, odds are the Cardinals — and high-caliber, 20+ win teams like them — will be better than Syracuse on the next day. The day after that. And the day after that. And every other day until SU’s inevitably brief NCAA Tournament run ends.
Mauricio Palmar is an Assistant Sports Editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at mjpalmar@syr.edu or on X @mpalmarDO.
