Syracuse offers glimpse of offensive identity in 10-point win over GT
Syracuse offered a glimpse into a possible offensive identity in its 82-72 win over Georgia Tech Tuesday. Aaron Hammer | Staff Photographer
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Donnie Freeman didn’t know he hit a career high in points until after the game. What he did know entering the contest was that he would play at center more than he had in the past.
Freeman poured in 27 points, proving once again he’s the engine that runs the Orange.
In Syracuse’s (10-5, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) 82-72 win over Georgia Tech (10-6, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) Tuesday, the Orange showed a glimpse not of who they are yet, but who they could be. Across the game’s first 25 minutes, guards drove the rim with ease, 3-point attempts were open — and converted on — and Donnie Freeman looked the part of a top scorer in the conference.
SU nearly collapsed in the final minutes as its offense returned to a pitiful form of turnover-laced basketball. But it provided a hint with its best offensive first half of the season.
“I was proud of our guys because they really shared the ball and moved and screened and played for each other,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said. “We got to continue to do that.”
The talk is well documented at this point. Referring to an offensive identity and Syracuse in the same breath would be a mistake for much of Autry’s third year at the helm. With J.J. Starling taking fewer shots and Freeman on the shelf for nine games, there was no obvious avenue for an immediate fix.
Luckily for the Orange, Freeman’s return has proven to ignite them. In his first game back last week versus Clemson, he didn’t catch fire until the second half as Syracuse force-fed him. But in Atlanta Tuesday night, Freeman was ready to go from the jump. He rallied off a straightaway 3 and a dunk early as SU built a lead.
It was when Freeman moved to the five where the Orange turned it on. Without Freeman over his nine-game absence, SU’s offense performed as a predictable circus with horrendous spacing. Freeman’s ability to both shoot from deep and put the ball on the floor opened things up. Center William Kyle III said Freeman is one of the most gifted offensive players he’s ever played with. The sophomore proved it when Kyle was both on and off the floor alongside him.
“It gives us a different look,” Autry said of having Freeman. “The games without him, we were way more perimeter oriented. I thought that was some of our struggles now that we can mix, go down and go inside.”
Freeman knew he would play some center, but his role increased as Kyle and Akir Souare moved into foul trouble. Autry described further that Freeman has the ability to receive the ball below the free-throw line, which he felt no other SU bigs could do when he was out. With Freeman at center, Syracuse played a lineup involving Tyler Betsey at the four with three guards. The unit moved the ball rapidly, earning open looks for Naithan George inside and Kiyan Anthony outside, both combining for 20 first-half points to aid Freeman’s nine.
It replicated exactly what Autry desires.
“(Our guards have) got to be able to make plays quick,” Autry said on Dec. 31 after the loss to Clemson. “Our bigs have to do a better job of presenting themselves. Those are the things we can tweak, the pace of (the offense). We want to play a little bit faster.”
Freeman won’t always be able to play at center based on the matchup, but with Georgia Tech without center Mouhamed Sylla and the rest of GT’s big men in foul trouble, Freeman became a force. To kick off the second half, Freeman ignited on a 9-0 personal run, pushing Syracuse’s lead to 20 points.
Betsey and Nate Kingz really didn’t get much going, combining for a 2-for-7 night from deep. J.J. Starling, who was forced to be a microwave scorer last season, missed all three 3-point attempts while finishing 2-for-10 from the field. Yet the Orange still produced a well-oiled offensive machine.
Then SU came crashing back down to reality.
As the Yellow Jackets chipped away at their deficit, SU became stagnant in the half-court. When the Orange attempted to push the pace, they almost pushed it too much for their own good. George coughed the ball up multiple times, even tripping over his own feet in the process. Multiple inside passes were batted away with ease.
And all of a sudden, a 20-point lead diminished to five. Syracuse fell into an over five-minute drought without a field goal. It produced 11 second-half turnovers compared to only four in the contest’s opening frame.
“I thought the first half we moved, we got open, we got the ball to where we needed to get it,” Autry said. “In the second half, we didn’t do that.”
Despite a close loss to Duke at Cameron Indoor, Georgia Tech is not by any stretch of the imagination a top team in the ACC. To top things off, the Yellow Jackets were injured.
Yet as the Orange navigate the early stages of their conference schedule, which appears easier than most, they must find themselves an offensive solution. Syracuse revealed a glimmer of one on Tuesday. Progress.
