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No. 11 Syracuse’s improbable NCAA Tournament run ended in the Sweet 16 on Saturday night at the hands of No. 2 Houston. Behind Buddy Boeheim’s 30 and 25 points in the first and second round, respectively, the Orange flattened No. 6 seed San Diego State and squeaked by No. 3 seed West Virginia.

Below is The Daily Orange’s report card for Syracuse’s season, which concluded in the Sweet 16 on Saturday with a 16-point loss to the Cougars. We asked our writers to provide a letter grade, and a valedictorian, as part of their evaluation of SU’s season. 

Overall offense

Andrew Crane: A, Buddy Boeheim

The balance and versatility of Syracuse’s offense throughout the season is what stood out to me, and it’s why I’m giving them the top grade here. Early in the season, Quincy Guerrier commanded possessions inside and evolved into a constant presence that was absent in his freshman year. But as the season went on, Buddy and his tear in March became the top option by far and made him the valedictorian of the offensive group. Alan Griffin and his ability to string together 3-pointers — like early in the second half of the regular-season finale against Clemson — provided some balance for the Orange’s offense, although those stretches were sandwiched by so much inconsistency. Syracuse didn’t necessarily have the best shooting percentages in the country, per KenPom, but they operated with a top-25 efficiency rate. The key pieces are returning for the 2021-22 roster to produce at the same rate, or a better one, too.

Anthony Dabbundo: A-, Buddy Boeheim

Syracuse had its most efficient offense since 2012, and its late season hot shooting propelled the Orange into the NCAA Tournament and Sweet 16. The only reason this isn’t a flat A is the poor shooting Syracuse had early in the season. Games against Northeastern, Pittsburgh, Virginia round one and Clemson make it difficult to overlook in the grading. While the grade is weighted toward the end of the season and postseason, too many points were lost when SU slacked early in the season. The valedictorian is Buddy, who is the microcosm of the Orange’s offense. Bad early, great late. His breakout stardom in March sets him up for a potential superstar 2021-22 season if he can maintain his improved shooting form. 

Danny Emerman: A, Buddy Boeheim

Dabbundo’s evidently a far tougher grader than I. I’m not sure what more you could’ve asked for out of this offense. Even when the shots weren’t falling early in the season or around COVID-19 pauses, SU more than often weathered droughts by pounding the ball inside. It was a jump shooting team that didn’t fall in love with 3-ball to a fault. The 23rd most efficient offense in the nation, per KenPom, is no joke.

And SU’s engine, when it mattered most, was Buddy. He became a phenomenon in March — rightfully so — while he keyed the Orange’s miracle tournament run. The strides he made as a playmaker and ball handler allowed SU to be more multidimensional, and had defenses spinning. He’ll be back, and Syracuse’s offense should be even better next year.

Overall defense

Crane: B-, Kadary Richmond

This may be a lenient grade, but Syracuse’s surge at the end of the season and success of the zone in the opening weekend of the tournament is why it’s this high. They somehow survived an entire season without a true center anchoring the middle, which meant Marek Dolezaj played out of position for essentially the whole year. What really helped prevent some games from becoming disastrous was Kadary Richmond’s spark off the bench, causing disruptions and creating turnovers for opposing offenses. He’ll be a major force at the top of the zone for the next three years (or maybe four, depending on what he does with the extra year of eligibility).

The zone had some incredibly low lows in 2020-21, especially the 64-point half it allowed to Pittsburgh and the scoring bursts it gave up to teams like Buffalo and Bryant — mid-major teams that pushed SU to the brink before the Orange did just enough to win. Richmond has to be the valedictorian here, mostly because he was, for a good chunk of the season, Syracuse’s most effective defender altogether.

Dabbundo: C+, Kadary Richmond

The Orange’s defense did some extra credit and recovered from a disappointing first few months of the season. It began with Bryant, who scored 84 points on the Orange. Buffalo nearly put up 100, Pitt scored 96 and Virginia scored 81. The Orange’s zone at times looked disengaged. It missed assignments and often slept through early portions of games against NC State and Notre Dame. Late improvements as Jesse Edwards, Richmond and Robert Braswell joined the rotation helped SU get a passing grade here. But the poor defense is why the Orange nearly missed the NCAA Tournament. 

The valedictorian is Richmond, who excelled at the top of the 2-3 zone and was third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in steal percentage as a freshman. 

Emerman: C, Marek Dolezaj

SU’s defense held it back all year, until the very end when it showed moderate improvements. The bizarre offseason likely made it difficult for freshmen and transfers to learn the zone concepts. Bourama Sidibe’s injury in the season-opener upshifted everyone. Opponents regularly took advantage inside and on the offensive glass. SU recorded the 77th most efficient defense, but its opponents shot just 31.8% from 3. That wasn’t all because of great closeouts; the Orange’s defensive numbers might’ve looked even worse had teams made more open looks. 

It felt like SU never found the right lineup balance in terms of getting enough shooting and defending on the court at once. Lineups with Richmond, Edwards and Braswell were often the best defensively, but that meant putting two of SU’s better scorers on the bench. The Orange leaned more heavily on the scoring-heavy lineups, and it showed. 

Syracuse asked Dolezaj, a senior, to clean up messes all over the place, from inexperienced players still learning the zone to guards allowing penetration into the lane and undersized rebounders around him — an undersized 5 in his own right. Dolezaj played smart and hung tough with players with up to 50 pounds on him. 

Shannon Kirkpatrick | Presentation Director

Rebounding

Crane: C, Quincy Guerrier

In addition to overall defense, rebounding was the second issue that plagued Syracuse throughout the entire season. Games like North Carolina reflected the lows, when offensive rebound totals neared defensive rebound numbers, but there were other times when the Orange held their own on the glass. With Dolezaj sometimes nonexistent on rebonds, Guerrier was forced to become SU’s primary rebounder — one of his main tasks off the bench last season. He finished as SU’s leader with 8.4 rebounds per game, and those numbers helped him record four double-doubles in his first seven games.

The lack of a true secondary rebounder is why this grade is so low. Joe Girard III started to grab more throughout the postseason — mostly a result of the zone forcing long 3-pointers — but Guerrier having to man the boards on his own sunk the Orange numerous times throughout the year. With Edwards continuing to grow into his role, it might not be long before that secondary option, or even a substitute for the primary one, emerges.

Dabbundo: C+, Quincy Guerrier

All Syracuse rebounding grades must be on a curve, as the inherent weakness of the 2-3 zone is defensive rebounding. The Orange have never been a great rebounding team out of the zone. But Syracuse was decent at attacking the offensive glass despite the issues on the defense. The injury to Sidibe also hampered the SU lineup’s size in the middle. In Syracuse’s loss to the elite rebounding team Houston, SU nearly played the Cougars even. While it’s been a liability in the past, it wasn’t why Syracuse was eliminated from the ACC or NCAA Tournament.

The valedictorian is Guerrier, who led the Orange in both offensive and defensive rebounding rate. Guerrier’s role in the frontcourt helped alleviate the loss of Sidibe, when compared to last season. 

Emerman: C, Jesse Edwards

Defense and rebounding are intricately linked, and the issues for each stem from the same roots. The lack of interior presence was an issue as soon as Sidibe went down against Bryant. Guerrier and Griffin occasionally picked up the slack on the defensive boards, but neither were consistently physical enough inside — especially against big teams like North Carolina. The fact that Syracuse never lost a game it won the rebounding battle in is astounding. 

As for the valedictorian, it’s the center who wasn’t ready all season. Edwards was thrust into a bigger role in Sidibe’s absence, and he was mostly effective. He always played hard, and collected 20.5% of misses per KenPom, best on the team. When Edwards was on the bench, seemingly every Orange defensive rebound was tipped out or bobbled inside around a horde of opponents. Edwards provided some more security, and his insertion into the lineup also allowed Dolezaj to slide to his more natural position where he could snag more long rebounds and ignite fast breaks.

Depth off the bench

Crane: B, Robert Braswell

Syracuse’s bench did exactly what it needed to do down the stretch, with Richmond, Edwards and Braswell all playing valuable minutes throughout the tournament run. But for a while, Richmond was the only viable option SU had, and that’s why this grade is so low. Braswell started 0-for-12 on 3-pointers through his first five games, but then hit 4-of-5 against Pittsburgh in his first breakout game. Then, runs like he had in ACC Tournament games against NC State and Virginia further etched his role into the Orange’s rotation heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Braswell gets the valedictorian nod in this category because of that drastic improvement throughout the year, finishing 29.8% from 3 and averaging just under four points per game. He’ll occupy a similar role next year too, with the opportunity to boost this group’s grade for the next report card following the 2021-22 season.

Dabbundo: B+, Kadary Richmond

Like many of the other categories, the past few weeks have improved Syracuse’s grades. Richmond, Braswell and Edwards have been major contributors down the stretch run. They needed Richmond to help the defensive backcourt. Braswell took many minutes from Griffin while Griffin had issues in the 2-3 zone defensively. And Edwards, with his good games and bad games, occasionally sparked the Orange’s defense and helped on the glass. Against UNC, Houston and San Diego State, his presence in the middle was noticeable. The valedictorian of this group though is Richmond, who flashed all kinds of potential at both ends for the future. Assists, steals and dribble penetration all aided the Orange, and he even made a few 3s in the NCAA Tournament.

Emerman: A-, Kadary Richmond

Jim Boeheim typically plays a short bench, and he continued that trend this year. Only Richmond, Edwards and Braswell saw meaningful minutes off the bench. But just about every game, at least one of those three reserves made a significant impact. There was a stretch of the season where Richmond looked like the best guard on the team. Braswell was always steady and stout defensively. Edwards sured up the frontcourt against bigger opponents. 

The three key reserves changed games on a matchup-by-matchup basis. They gave SU different looks, making it more malleable to various styles of play. Richmond, who proved he belonged in the ACC almost every time he touched the court, is the clear-cut valedictorian of the group. Boeheim said he’s one good summer from being great, and there’s no reason to bet against that for next year. 

Potential for the future seasons

Crane: B

Even with the late-season run, I’m still not convinced that there’s a really strong long-term outlook for this Syracuse program. The short-term future? It’s super bright for SU, with most of its core likely returning, and it’ll be joined by Benny Williams in the incoming freshman class. They have the potential to reach the top-tier of the ACC and perhaps make another run into the tournament’s second weekend. But after that, the recruiting question becomes a concern again — as well as the ever-looming question of when Boeheim’s retirement will inevitably arrive.

Dabbundo: B+

It’s easy to see how Syracuse will return most of its roster from this season and ride the momentum off of a Sweet 16 appearance to be nationally ranked and be a potential top 5 or 6 seed in next year’s NCAA Tournament. If that sounds familiar, it’s exactly what people expected to happen in 2018-19 when the Orange were No. 16 in the preseason AP Top 25. Syracuse underachieved then because none of its key players really developed in Tyus Battle, Frank Howard and Oshae Brissett. This team projects better than that with a three-man backcourt of Girard, Richmond and Buddy returning. They complement each other pretty well, better than Howard and Battle ever did offensively. 

In the frontcourt is where things become more tricky. Williams is coming in as a five-star forward to join Guerrier, Griffin and Braswell. Then there’s the center position, where it’s Edwards and maybe a potential transfer. It’s going to be the most active NCAA transfer season ever, but like 2018-19, next year’s SU team will start with a much higher floor than this year’s team had. How high the Orange’s ceiling is comes down to player development, the transfer portal and the true performance of Williams as a freshman. There’s no reason the Orange should be on the bubble next year, but it’s tough to assess now with the transfer situation as hectic as it appears it will be.

Emerman: B+

It’s hard to project too far into the future of a program with a 76-year-old coach who’s past one retirement plan already. But for the immediate future, SU is brimming with potential. The core of Buddy, Richmond, Guerrier and incoming freshman Williams should contend with any in the ACC. Factor in the veteran Girard and a potential transfer center. If everything breaks right, the Orange could vie for a conference title in 2022.

Beyond that, who knows? The main long-term questions include when Boeheim retires, who succeeds him and whether that coach can recruit. Those are lofty questions nobody’s qualified to answer with confidence.

Published on March 28, 2021 at 11:49 pm