Syracuse’s season-opener a year ago featured a bizarre, come-from-behind win against Bryant where the Orange had to rally after the Bulldogs led for 32 of 40 minutes.

Tuesday against Lafayette, Syracuse made sure it didn’t happen again. The Orange trailed for the first possession of the game, but created a firm 20-point lead midway through the first half which they maintained for the rest of the game.

For the start of Jim Boeheim’s 46th season as the Syracuse head coach, he stuck with the same starting lineup as the previous two exhibition games, featuring Cole Swider, Jesse Edwards, Joe Girard III, Jimmy Boeheim and Buddy Boeheim.

Here are some observations from Syracuse 97-63 win in its season-opener against Lafayette:

Jimmy Boeheim in the paint

For Syracuse’s first points of the 2021-22 season, Jimmy drove in the right lane and scored off the glass. He drove in the left lane and duplicated the effort moments later. The ball moved around the perimeter before finding Jimmy inside once again for another two, and then Girard lobbed one up to him for a layup.

In his first official game playing for his father and alongside his younger brother, Jimmy finished 8-of-9 for 18 points and added another five rebounds.

He provided a strong presence in the offensive paint, and even played center briefly once more when Edwards picked up two fouls and Frank Anselem went out briefly. Jimmy also flashed potential from beyond the arc, nailing a 3 late in the second half to stretch SU’s lead to 86-59. He hit another perimeter shot on an assist from his younger brother, finishing 2-of-3 from deep.

Joe Girard from downtown (and as a facilitator)

Girard didn’t miss from beyond the arc on Tuesday. The point guard was 5-of-5 from deep and 6-of-9 from the field for 20 points. He tacked on a team-high seven assists too behind what seems to be an increased role as one of SU’s primary facilitators.

Symir Torrence found Girard at the top of the arc for a 3-pointer, and the point guard hit another deep one on a fast-break when he was wide-open.

Girard continued to flash the creativity that he brought to SU’s exhibition games. Boeheim and teammates have cited growth that the point guard has made in his vision, and Tuesday, that showed once again. Girard drove along the baseline and unleashed an underhanded pass to Edwards for a dunk. He lobbed one to Jimmy during the first half that ended in a layup. Girard nailed a 3 after Anselem showed his length to get an offensive board.

Winning the boards

Syracuse won the offensive rebounding battle 11-8 and the overall one 48-30. After Swider missed a first-half 3-pointer, Jimmy was there on the boards to secure the offensive rebound and put it back.

Swider ran down an offensive board after Benny Williams floated a shot from the left side just a little too far. It turned into two points for Anselem. On another sequence, SU missed two shots but got both rebounds back.

Syracuse scored 44 points in the paint, an impressive amount for a perimeter shooting team albeit against lower-level competition in Lafayette. Swider was the Orange’s top rebounder (12 boards) by more than double.

A return to strong free-throw shooting

Syracuse ranked 16th in the nation in free-throw shooting percentage last season, finishing 78.2% as a team from the line. But in the Orange’s two exhibition games to open the season, against Division II Pace and Le Moyne, SU shot an atrocious 38% and 68.4% respectively.

The Orange are a better free-throw shooting team, Boeheim said after the Pace game, and Tuesday’s 10-of-13 outing was proof of that. The only miss of the first half came from Edwards after he drove inside and got fouled at the under-16 media timeout. Edwards missed the first but hit the second.

Girard and Buddy were perfect from the line, and SU got much closer to its free-throw shooting from last season.

An off 3-point shooting day for Swider, but still a strong outing

One of Boeheim’s frustrations with Girard last season was his defensive performances on off-shooting days. When Girard struggled, Boeheim pulled him regularly because Girard grew too frustrated to defend.

Swider had one of those off-days against the Leopards. His shots from behind the arc weren’t falling the same way they did in SU’s exhibition games (though he did heat up late in the second half), and he finished 2-of-7 from deep. But defensively, Swider was Syracuse’s top rebounder, finishing with 12 boards. He added one block and two steals. Naturally, his defensive responsibilities are different than Girard’s were, but the principle remains — he didn’t switch off.

Swider missed two 3-pointers in a row from the left corner to open the game, and couldn’t find his rhythm after that. But he forced an airballed-3 from Lafayette by closing down his man on the perimeter moments later. He ran down an offensive board to get Anselem second-chance points in the paint.

In the second half, Swider missed another 3-pointer after Girard dished him the ball, but then hustled back and contested on a rebound that went SU’s way moments later. When the 3s weren’t falling, he started going inside instead, finishing a layup after Edwards got a block on one instance, and driving into the paint for another two. He finished with 14 points.

Syracuse on the fastbreak

Twenty-four of Syracuse’s 97 points came off the fastbreak. After the shot clock ran out on the Leopards in the second half and Edwards grabbed a rebound and Girard ran coast-to-coast. He missed the layup by a slim margin but went to the free-throw line instead.

Earlier in the first half, Lafayette had the shot clock run out once more and the ball moved quickly from Swider to Buddy to Girard at the top of the arc, and the point guard unleashed a 3-pointer that swished.

Torrence got in the lane, intercepted a pass and drove down the floor. He couldn’t convert the quick two from the endline, instead bouncing his effort off the edge of the backboard, but Syracuse looked dangerous in transition.

Published on November 9, 2021 at 9:13 pm

Contact Roshan: [email protected] | @Roshan_f16