Syracuse basketball is back, sort of.
The Syracuse Orange basketball season unofficially got started Friday with media day at the Carmelo K. Anthony Center and the Orange vs. White scrimmage in the Carrier Dome. The team split into two squads and faced off against one another in four 10-minute quarters. Ultimately the Orange squad took down the White with a final score of 77-72.
While it would be silly to put much stock into essentially a game of pick-up, there were some takeaways.
Frank Howard still in walking boot
Senior point guard Frank Howard is still out and didn’t participate in the scrimmage. He walked around Melo in his walking boot and only took it off briefly for team photos. He acknowledged that his injury is minor and really isn’t much of a concern. He also noted that while he’s out it will give freshman Jalen Carey an opportunity to step in.
Speaking of...
Jalen Carey sprains ankle
The scariest moment of the night occurred when freshman guard Jalen Carey went down to the ground with an injury and the entire building went silent. He had to be helped off the floor by Jim Boeheim and Brad Pike, but eventually it was ruled a sprained ankle.
SU's Pete Moore says Jalen Carey suffered a left ankle sprain.
— Syracuse Basketball (@syrbasketball) October 13, 2018
Elijah Hughes is a player
Boeheim raved about Elijah Hughes this summer and much has already been made about his potential as a shooter, but Hughes also showed great court awareness during the scrimmage. Twice in the first quarter he looked to find Buddy Boeheim spotting up — he’s also a willing passer. Syracuse will utilize that skillset this year.
Buddy Boeheim takes crown in three-point contest
At halftime the teams split into a three-point contest in which players took five shots from five different positions round the three point arc (corners, wings, top of the key) and Buddy knocked down 15 and 16 in the first two rounds and then hit a half court shot to beat Oshae Brissett in the contest.
Granted, these shot were uncontested but Buddy can really fill it up from range. It’ll be interesting to see if he can carve out minutes this season as a spot shooter and hunting shots off screens.
