Two teams who need a win badly
The Syracuse Orange (9-10, 3-5) return home on Saturday for their first match-up with the Pitt Panthers (12-6, 3-4). Tip-off is at 12:30 pm on ESPN2 and here’s what we’re watching for:
Kevin: Help JJ
The Orange need some other players to step up and make plays consistently. Against Clemson, a couple of guys hit shots early, but too often the offense stalled because Clemson took away Starling and his teammates couldn’t make a decisive move. Some of the credit goes to the Tigers, but a few Orange players looked afraid to shoot. The lack of a secondary playmaker kills this offense against good teams and it should be a priority in the transfer portal.
Finn: Defensive Focus
Too often this year, and particularly against Clemson, I have seen SU defenders switch off when they are defending off-ball. Most of the players on the roster could improve in this facet, and they will certainly have to against a Pitt team that will punish their mistakes. The Panthers are third in the ACC in field goal percentage, seventh in three-point percentage, and first in free-throw percentage. Lapses and dumb fouls will not slide if the Orange want to secure a win.
Sam: Defending the ball screens
Jaland Lowe and Ish Leggett are the only high-major duo averaging 14 points and 3.5 assists per game in conference play. The Panthers run more ball screens per game than anybody else in the ACC, trying to get those two going, and it has worked, however during the most recent four-game losing streak, Pitt has struggled to establish the ball screen attack against some of the ACC’s top defenses (They have faced 3 of the top 5 ACC defenses over this timeframe). As I’ve gone over, SU’s ball screen defense has been poor all year, not being able to find a scheme that works consistently for the personnel. This has the makings of a mismatch for the Orange defense, especially with a week for Pitt to prepare.
Mike: Discipline
Pitt has not only the best free throw percentage (79.1%) in the ACC, but also the number nine mark in the entire nation. It’s bad enough that they’re a great shooting team – inviting them to the line early is just begging for trouble. It seems SU can’t control when their shooting shows up but they most certainly can cut down on handing out tickets to the charity stripe.
Max: Secure the rock
Pitt might be on a four-game losing skid, but the Panthers have improved at forcing turnovers during this downward spiral. Jeff Capel’s defensive unit forces takeaways at an 18.5% clip per KenPom (third-best in ACC play), while the Syracuse offense is one of the worst at maintaining possession (18.9% turnover rate, third-worst in conference play). The Orange can’t afford to throw away extra opportunities in what’s projected to be a close game.
Dom: Make the weak links score
As mentioned above, this game will obviously come down to two factors — does Syracuse rotate well enough defensively and can the team protect the ball and not give the Panthers easy points. One thing that didn’t happen against Clemson but did happen against Notre Dame — being aggressive with the main ball-handlers and forcing the secondary/rotation players to go get a basket. Lowe and Leggett are a strong backcourt pairing for Pitt, but no one else jumps off the stat sheet offensively for Pitt so maybe the strategy should be similar to that Fighting Irish matchup.
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What will you be watching for in this one?