On the block: A position-by-position breakdown of No. 2 Syracuse vs. North Carolina
Syracuse's Jerami Grant will go head-to-head with North Carolina's James Michael McAdoo on Saturday. Sterling Boin | Staff Photographer
Point guard: Tyler Ennis, 11.7 PPG and 5.6 APG & Nate Britt, 6.0 PPG and 2.8 APG
Syracuse’s star senior errr… freshman point guard has been nothing short of phenomenal this season, posting a 4.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, which includes just 18 turnovers in 15 games. He can score but doesn’t need to to be effective. Like Ennis, Britt is a freshman point guard. But unlike Ennis, he plays like one. His assist-to-turnover ratio stands at a paltry 1.5 and he has struggled to shoot. On the season Britt is shooting 37.3 percent from the field, and a measly 16.7 from beyond the arc.
Advantage: Syracuse
Shooting guard: Trevor Cooney, 13.9 PPG and 45.3 3PT% & Marcus Paige, 17 PPG and 4.4 APG
Cooney came into the season as SU’s biggest wildcard after a putrid 2012-13 campaign. But it didn’t take long to show he had turned a corner, splashing 7-of-8 from long range in a season-opening win against Cornell. The redshirt sophomore also averages 2.1 steals per game. Cooney is a good scoring option for SU, but Paige is the best scoring option for UNC. Paige scored 32 points against then-No. 3 Louisville, and 23 against then-No. 11 Kentucky, and can beat defenses in may ways.
Advantage: North Carolina
Small Forward: C.J Fair, 17.2 PPG and 5.6 RPG & J.P. Tokoto, 10.1 PPG and 5.7 RPG
While Fair has earned superstar status for the Orange, Tokoto, a sophomore, is making his way up the same ladder. He has been handed a larger role this season and he’s done well with the opportunity. He’s shown flashes of brilliance defensively, collecting five steals and four blocks against Davidson on Dec. 21. He’s also gotten stronger with the basketball, having given up only 30 turnovers in 415 minutes compared to 31 in 302 minutes last season. But Fair’s leadership and play this season puts him on a different level than most players in the country.
Advantage: Syracuse
Power forward: Jerami Grant, 12.3 PPG and 6.1 RPG & James Michael McAdoo, 14.4 PPG and 6.5 RPG
Grant has freak athleticism, skying high for shot blocks and massive dunks in the early going. He’s scored in double figures in 11 of his 14 games this season, and is coming off a double-double against Virginia Tech. Grant may not start every game, but he’s almost always on the court at the end of games. The way people talk about Grant is the way they used to talk about McAdoo. McAdoo’s the proverbial star that never was. His scoring numbers, while good, have not increased from last year. He’s an offensive threat, and is capable of having a big game, but he’s also capable of flopping like he did during a four-game stretch this season where he averaged just eight points per contest.
Advantage: Syracuse
Center: Rakeem Christmas, 5.6 PPG and 3.9 RPG & Joel James: 3.7 PPG and 4.4 RPG
Christmas has developed into a far more dangerous scoring threat than he was last season. Yet his defense in the 2-3 zone still leaves much to be desired. Like Syracuse, UNC is dealing with injuries at the center position. James was out the previous four games before returning to play in eight minutes against Miami. James has started in every game he’s played but has yet to record double figures in either rebounds or points scored.
Advantage: Syracuse
compiled by Sam Blum, asst. copy editor, sblum@syr.edu
