With the departure of Malachi Richardson, guys like Tyus Battle will need to step up and produce for the Orange.
Malachi Richardson's departure means that Syracuse will need players like Frank Howard, Malachi Richardson and John Gillon to step-up and produce on the offensive end. Battle's reputation as being a good scorer makes him the obvious choice to start at shooting guard next season.
Richardson averaged 13.4 points per game, 2.1 assists per game, and was a consistent performer for Syracuse's offense. His production will be missed, but Tyus Battle has an opportunity to showcase his skills on the offensive side of the ball.
Jim Boeheim sat down with Adam Zagoria to discuss Battle:
"He's rated in the same area as Malachi in terms of ability," said Boeheim. "He's not as good of a shooter, but he's a tremendous athlete, so we think Tyus Battle can come in and make a huge difference.
He had this to say about the team next year:
"In one sense, I'm sure there are some players thinking 'we're going to get a lot more shots now' next year, and that would be true," Boeheim said. "We think our freshman can come in and help us. We think Tyler Lydon is ready for a big role. We think Frank Howard is ready for a big role in the back court. We picked up a great fifth year transfer (Colorado State's John Gillon) who averaged 14 points per game in college, we think he's going to be ready to help us."
Battle is much better at driving to the hoop than Richardson is, but his jump shot is not as strong as Richardson's. However, Battle can play some point guard and is a better play-maker than Richardson.
Here are some highlights of Battle to get you excited...
