Previewing Syracuse's 2023-24 Bigs
Syracuse basketball's season kicks off on Nov. 6 against New Hampshire at the JMA Wireless Dome.
We are doing a position-by-position preview to get ready for the season, and today, we look at Syracuse's big men.
A mostly unheralded freshman last season, Brown proved to be a very valuable rotational piece. Brown earned playing time by just being a solid, dependable player who stayed within his limitations.
The sophomore did the bulk of his work close to the rim, shooting just under 70 percent overall from the floor, with a large part of that success coming due to 101 of his 106 attempts being listed as “close 2’s” at T-Rank.
Brown also was an effective rebounder last season, nearly matching center Jesse Edwards’ offensive rebounding rate while barely being edged out of second on the team in defensive rebounding rate by Mounir Hima.
There is some chatter about Brown possibly playing some minutes at center this season after making a couple cameos there last year.
While he is not a great shotblocker, Brown does play good positional defense and exhibited active hands last year, finishing third on the team in steal rate.
As tipped off by his class designation, Carey spent the majority of his freshman season on the shelf due to a knee injury.
What little time Carey spent on the floor last season (20 minutes over three games) came as the third center in the rotation, suggesting he is a little more of a developmental prospect than being ready to go out of the box.
Carey also missed the Orange Madness event prior to the season due to an unrelated injury, but played in the first exhibition game.
Hima transferred to the Orange from Duquesne and acquitted himself fairly nicely as the reserve center on the team.
While he saw modest playing time (200 minutes over 27 games), Hima finished third on the team in offensive rebounding rate, second in defensive rebounding rate, and tops in block rate.
That limited action allowed Hima to be very aggressive on defense, looking to block or at least alter opponent shots.
The flip side of the coin is Hima did not show much on offense, including a limited shooting range. While the team is likely not looking for Hima to extend his shooting range, simply finishing more consistently around the rim would be an acceptable goal.
There is a slim chance McLeod could end up as the most impactful addition to the Syracuse roster, even exceeding J.J. Starling.
McLeod transferred to the Orange after being a sometime player and starter in two seasons at Florida State. The center even had likely his best game of the season against SU last season, coming off the bench to post 16 points and eight rebounds while blocking shots by Jesse Edwards and Judah Mintz.
As suggested by that last note, McLeod’s likely biggest influence is expected on the defensive end of the floor.
McLeod provided an excellent last line of defense for FSU last season, essentially matching Edwards’ block rate while playing in a man scheme.
He was also an excellent offensive rebounder, but disappointing on the defensive glass for his size.
The biggest man on the roster is also pretty limited on offense, as he shot 38.6 percent from the field last season on shots that were not dunk attempts.
Patterson is the lone incoming freshman on the roster, arriving on campus as a
project at center after being ranked outside the top 300 recruits in his class. The composition of the roster will afford Patterson the time he will need to develop, adding muscle while improving and rounding out his skill set.
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