Syracuse: Initial takeaways from the revamped Orange's first exhibition game

A deep dive of our first official glance at this year’s Orange.

Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team returned to the court for the first time since last spring, giving fans plenty to focus on with a retooled roster and plenty of change over the offseason.

Syracuse got out to a strong lead and never looked back in what turned into a 00-point win over Clarion on Saturday, but the real story was less the outcome of the game and more how the new-look team performed during its first of two exhibitions. For all Orange fans, it was our first look at the new additions, returning talents, initial impressions and lineup combinations after months of waiting for basketball season to get here.

There is plenty to discuss with this new-look team, but here are the three main takeaways from Syracuse’s 101-73 exhibition win at home versus Clarion:

Newcomers showcase their strengths

Out of the core depth, seven new players played significant minutes: three freshman (Donnie Freeman, Elijah Moore and Petar Majstorovic) and four transfers (Jaquan Carlos, Eddie Lampkin, Jyare Davis and Lucas Taylor). Overall, the newcomers collectively highlighted what they all could bring to the table in 2024-25.

Starting off with the freshman, Freeman (16 points, 7 rebounds) showed the promise he has as a three-level scorer. Freeman took three three-pointers and made one, scored effectively in the mid-range and had his fair share of post touches. Based on that first game, it’s clear he can be an effective weapon at different points on the court but not be too relied upon to score 15 to 20 a game.

All of Moore’s (7 points, 2/5 from three) attempts were from three, proving he’ll primarily serve as a spark-plug outside shooter with good size at the two and valuable spacing in a small but impactful role. Lastly, the early Majstorovic comparisons to Marek Dolezaj are certainly intriguing. He played like a jack-of-all-trades forward who will be in passing lanes, not command too much usage and move the ball.

Among the transfers, Carlos (14 points, 10 assists, 3 steals) served as the primary on-ball initiator and ball-mover, the kind of floor general archetype fans were really interested in the program having. Again, if his scoring role can be more secondary over primary, he’ll play a critical role distributing to the rest of this team and preventing the offense was sitting in quicksand with stalled possessions.

Lampkin (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) also made his presence known early, both in the post as a scorer and rebounder as well as a facilitator at the top of the key or in the post. Both Taylor (3 points, 3 assists, 1/6 shooting) and Davis (2 points, 4 rebounds, 1/4 shooting) didn’t explode from the jump, but will at least hold up defensively and play roles filling in the gaps.

We’ll preface this all week: don’t overreact to one exhibition game versus a Division II opponent, but early foundation is there for what all the new acquisitions can bring to the table and the roles they might serve moving forward.

Revamped offensive system

The broad takeaway: less isolation and powering straight forward to force help, way more ball movement and off-ball action.

With Carlos as the main distributor, J.J. Starling (17 points, 7/9 shooting) played way more off-the-ball which puts less pressure on him to dribble and attack in isolation constantly. Lampkin had his moments in the post and on the perimeter moving the ball. Collectively, this team is going to be more pass-happy compared to last year looking at how things played out in this first exhibition.

Will that hold up against tougher competition? Time will tell, but Adrian Autry’s priority this coming season is clearly to move the ball more and have players who do not have the ball moving in some sort of action: setting screens, cutting to the basket, spotting up in the corners, etc.

Tapping into the versatility

Experimenting with lineups defined this exhibition. While a handful of players clearly played one position, there was plenty of malleability with the five-man units.

The different frontcourt combos were probably the biggest thing to note in the Clarion game. Majstorovic-Lampkin got the initial start, but we also saw Freeman next to Lampkin, Freeman playing at the five with Davis and even a late stretch with Majstorovic and Freeman. In the second half, Naheem McLeod saw his playing time mainly next to Davis.

Some other observations: Starling did see a small instance playing the one, Taylor was at both the two/three and there was a stretch where the Orange went with a three-guard look. Carlos at the one, Chris Bell (16 points, 4/8 from three) at the two and Davis at the four were the main guys who played at just one position in the exhibition.

With the game just being an exhibition, Autry is still seeing what he has to work with, identifying which combinations could work and balancing out the team’s strengths and weaknesses on the court. Will Syracuse have a similar strategy in their next exhibition game, or will fans see what could be more of what the “finalized” rotation on day one when the Orange take the court next against Slippery Rock this coming week?