Just when Syracuse seemed to have corrected one of its biggest problems, another crept up. While the Orange has found its shooting stroke in recent games, it still hasn’t gotten an all-around quality offensive performance as a team.

Sure, the Orange has been knocking down shots with greater ease. But instead of having several guards scoring, it’s falling on only one or two to carry the load.

‘We’ve got to be ready to shoot,’ junior guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas said. ‘It’s more about us as shooters not being ready to shoot and being ready to knock down shots and make plays.’

Syracuse (11-5, 0-2 Big East) will get its next opportunity to have an all-around solid offensive performance when it hits the road to play Pittsburgh (8-7, 0-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center. The Orange won its final three games of its nonconference schedule before falling to Rutgers, shooting 45.5 percent from the field during that stretch. The issue, though, was that Tyson-Thomas was the only guard who put together quality performances, scoring 15 points against both Niagara and Colgate. SU is still searching for all of its guards to step up and help pack a scoring punch to help the Orange win its first Big East game.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

Instead, Syracuse’s scoring has come mainly from its frontcourt, with senior forward Iasia Hemingway averaging 15.6 points and junior center Kayla Alexander averaging 15.4 points per game. Tyson-Thomas enters Saturday matchup with the Panthers scoring about 12 points per game, and those three players make up the bulk of SU’s offense. When they’re off the court, the scoring consistency leaves with them as the Orange’s offensive depth remains shallow.

‘I don’t think there’s anything specific, we just have to be more focused and more ready to make shots.’ Tyson-Thomas said. ‘We have to step up.’

Tyson-Thomas is the only guard that really has.

Elashier Hall – who started the season on a scoring tear that included a 20-point performance against Long Beach State in the opener – is averaging 9.7 points. La’Shay Taft is adding a meager 4.9 points per game. And Syracuse’s point guards, Shanee Williams and Rachel Coffey, have combined for a slim total of 6.2 points per game.

SU hoped to straighten out its scoring woes when it resumed its conference schedule against Rutgers on Tuesday. Instead, it was more of the same against the Scarlet Knights.

Fourteen from Hemingway, 12 from Tyson-Thomas and nine from Alexander. In terms of scoring, it was the usual suspects.

Most of all, though, SU is going to need all of its players to improve their outside shooting abilities. For many of Syracuse’s nonconference games, the Orange’s guards were anemic from the perimeter, relying on the inside presence of Hemingway and Alexander to make up the scoring.

With such cold shooting performances, opposing defenders paid less and less attention to the guards and collapsed on SU’s scorers in the paint. That made it increasingly difficult for Alexander to score at will.

The few times when the guards were being defended consistently, the junior center had much more room to work.

‘It makes it a lot easier, because then I have more space to work with and to attack the basket,’ Alexander said. ‘When our guards are being pressured, it makes it a little easier in the paint.’

The Orange hasn’t made it any secret that it relies on Alexander in the low post to provide the bulk of its points. When SU struggles from the outside, it goes inside consistently.

Against Pittsburgh, Syracuse could have the perfect opportunity to right its ongoing struggles.

Ranked dead last in the Big East in scoring defense, the Panthers are allowing an average of 66.8 points per game to opponents. And that’s mainly against the lowly teams Pittsburgh faced during its nonconference slate.

Syracuse is hoping to expose that defense and get its offense on track any way it can.

‘We just played the way we play,’ head coach Quentin Hillsman said. ‘If you close out, we’re going to attack you off the bounce. If we get the ball inside, that’s what we’re going to do.

cjiseman@syr.edu

 

Published on January 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman