Stay aggressive on offense

Jim Boeheim gave the warning as early as Syracuse’s exhibition win over Le Moyne on Nov. 7.

‘It’s hard to run against good teams,’ the Syracuse head coach said then.

That much has proven true through seven Big East games. With higher caliber competition and no Eric Devendorf, the SU offense has resorted to a slower tempo, oftentimes with adverse results.

No, the Orange can’t run like it did before the Big East started, but SU needs to stay aggressive on offense to avoid coughing up leads like it did Monday against No. 9 Georgetown.

In that game Syracuse led, 58-51, with 4:34 left. Rather than put the Hoyas away, SU laid back and bled the shot clock. The result? SU scored just four total points over the rest of regulation and overtime, losing 64-62.

Jonny Flynn pinpointed that passiveness as Syracuse’s downfall, and a mistake SU can’t make again when it has a lead late in the game.

– John Clayton, asst. sports editor

Maintain the defensive intensity

No one in the Syracuse locker room in the Verizon Center wanted to admit what seemed so obvious.

After 45 minutes of high-octane basketball, there had to have been some tired legs, right?

Paul Harris said there was too much adrenaline running through him to feel tired. Donte Greene said he could play another overtime.

But there had to have been some explanation for why Syracuse was outscored, 13-4, by Georgetown in the final nine-plus minutes of Monday night’s game.

No buzz word has hovered around Syracuse this season more than ‘fatigue.’ And lapses will happen in Big East basketball. But these past two games have highlighted SU’s struggles in maintaining defensive intensity for all 40 minutes, something that could be the difference between a win and another heartbreaking loss.

Against a small athletic team like Providence, Syracuse will need to save its legs so it can keep making stops.