It’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s annual exchange with The Juice Online since another edition of Cornell-Syracuse is upon us. The Juice Online’s Wes Cheng filled us in on what to expect from the Orange as they host the Big Red Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Carrier JMA Wireless Dome. Check out our Big Red rundown for The Juice Online here.
1. Tell us about The Juice Online.
The Juice (then called The Big Orange) was founded in 1992, one of approximately 50 independent publications devoted to the coverage of its school’s athletics programs. In 2002, it became a full-color, glossy magazine which was owned by Fox Sports. The print product ceased publication in June 2010 and was relaunched as The Juice Online in December 2010. In February 2012, The Juice Online partnered with SportsNet New York, the official television home of the New York Mets and New York Jets. As part of SNY.tv’s Blog Network, The Juice Online supplements SNY’s coverage of more than 125 college football and basketball games, as well as other college sports programming.
2. What are the major storylines with Syracuse coming into this season?
The Boeheim boys are no longer around. Last year, Buddy and Jimmy Boeheim started for the Orange, and while it was a nice storyline for the Boeheim family, it didn’t produce results on the court. The Orange floundered to a 16-17 record, the first losing season in the 47-year tenure of Jim Boeheim. It was one of the least athletic teams that Boeheim ever coached, and SU’s once vaunted 2-3 zone finished 207th in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rating. By contrast, in SU’s improbable 2016 Final Four appearance, the Orange finished 18th. With three starters gone from last year’s team, the Orange retooled their roster in the offseason with six new players. The Orange are far more athletic now, but they’re learning on the go with two freshmen (Judah Mintz and Chris Bell) in the starting lineup. That has resulted in some ugly losses (a 73-44 rout at Illinois), and also some surprising wins (a road win against Notre Dame).
3. Who are Syracuse’s standout players?
Judah Mintz was a consensus top 50 recruit in the 2022 class, and he’s shown why so far. The freshman point guard is averaging 14.1 points and a team-high 3.9 assists per game, and is coming off a 24-point, five-assist performance against Monmouth. Mintz has the ability to get inside at will and he’s gotten more proficient at finding his teammates (a career-high 10 assists against Georgetown on Saturday). Senior center Jesse Edwards is also putting together an All-ACC caliber season, leading the team at 15.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Finally, Syracuse’s best shooter is Joe Girard, who has not shot as well from downtown so far (34.2%), but is still averaging 14.7 points per game.
4. Predictions for the game.
Syracuse is not a shoo-in against mid-majors (see Raiders, Colgate and Bulldogs, Bryant) this season. Even against 1-9 Monmouth, the Hawks led by five points late in the first half, and had a brief one-point lead in the second half at the under-16 media timeout. Cornell is no pushover this season and has only lost its two games against high-majors Miami and Boston College by a combined four points. I see this game going down to the wire, with Greg Dolan pumping in seven three-pointers to pace Cornell as the Big Red lead for a majority of the game. But I also predict Syracuse rallying, with a late Mintz floater in the lane in the waning moments being the difference in a 81-80 win.