Among the many reaosns why the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team has lost double-digit games repeatedly lately, one of the biggest is the fact that they’ve been playing 4-on-5 on offense since 2016. As SU’s focused heavily on defense, there’s been a premium put on defensive play at the center position — so much so that they’ve barely been a factor at all on offense.
If Syracuse wants to get out of the current rut, it probably demands an improvement at the 5, and the entire frontcourt in general. And if the Orange are poised to improve at all despite major departures from the starting lineup, it also likely calls on those same forwards to take several leaps in terms of production.