Previewing Syracuse's 2023-24 Wings
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 wings.
Bell had an up-and-down freshman campaign, starting all 30 games he appeared in, but logging just 20 minutes per game, alluding to how he and Justin Taylor essentially shared the small forward spot.
While he was often removed from games due to his shooting being off, his case for more playing time seemed hampered by some defensive shortcomings, including rebounding. Bell had the lowest rebounding rate on the team outside of the starting backcourt last season.
Bell had a solid, but streaky effort behind the arc, connecting on 34.5 percent of his shots from deep. While he had one game of five 3s and three others of three, Bell also had long stretches struggling from long range, including a late eight-game stretch making just 5-of-31 attempts (16.1 percent).
Bell, however, did perform the best of all the Orange on shots classified as “far 2’s” at T-Rank, connecting on 46 percent of those shots, and shot 80 percent from the foul line, underscoring his shooting ability.
More than anything, Copeland established himself as a glue guy on the roster, filling in at both forward and guard while also being his teammates’ biggest supporter whenever he was not in the game.
Copeland averaged a little over nine minutes a game in 20 appearances as a freshman, but did reach double figures in playing time in four of his final five games.
While it is a near-certainty that his erratic playing time did not help, Copeland struggled with his shooting during the season. The fundamentals appear to be there, as evidenced by his 13-of-15 effort at the foul line, but Copeland shot just over 34 percent overall, including 1-of-9 from long range.
Copeland exhibited high effort on the floor, grabbing at least five rebounds in a game four times, including against Pitt when he scored ten points and grabbed five boards in 12 minutes.
One area of improvement for his sophomore season would be to take the simple play given by the defense, as Copeland had more turnovers than assists on the season, some seeming to come from trying for the phenomenal play instead of the routine one.
Taylor was the other half of the all-freshman combo at small forward last season. A two-time starter who played in 29 of 32 games last season, Taylor was an effective, but streaky three-point shooter, hitting 39.3 percent from deep last season. Taylor had a five-week streak of conference play where he hit 16-of-30 from long range, as well as an earlier 8-for-17 stretch.
Beyond that, Taylor missed the other 14 threes he attempted as his playing time often rode on his shooting success. In games where he made at least one trey, Taylor played 23 minutes per game, but averaged 11.6 minutes in those where he did not connect from deep.
Entering his sophomore season, Taylor’s body has bulked up, as his listed weight jumped 13 pounds over the previous season. Hopefully, that additional muscle will help him improve a passable defensive rebounding rate and give him a little more reason to drive toward the basket to improve his low free throw rate and finishing near the basket (3-for-12 on “close 2’s” at T-Rank).
Taylor showed he is a solid foul shooter and being able to do a little more off the dribble when opponents close out should result in some easy points for the Orange.
Westry, who transferred to the Orange after missing a substantial part of his freshman season at Auburn and redshirting, suffered an injury in practice prior to the start of the season and will miss substantial time.
There is a good possibility his injury will leave him on the outside of the rotation looking in when he returns to full health and game conditioning.
Westry was a top-50 recruit nationally in high school and saw action in 11 games for Auburn last year before shutting things down shortly after New Year’s Day.
Williams has been a tantalizing prospect going back to his high school days and through his freshman season, where his limited playing time left him mostly as a mystery to Syracuse fans. His sophomore year saw him begin the season as a starter, lose that role for a while, then reclaim it later in the season. Williams did play enough to finish fourth on the squad in scoring at 7.2 points per game and third with 4.1 rebounds per outing.
There were some highlight games last season for Williams, who logged double-doubles against St. John’s and Boston College, as well as going 5-for-6 from three en route to a career-high 24 points at Pittsburgh.
Some holes in Williams’ game were also on display, as he shot 37.8 percent on “far 2’s” at T-Rank while taking more of those shots than any other frontcourt player last season. Williams’ 39.6 percent mark from 3-point range over the season is a little deceiving, also, as he had only 48 attempts, giving his 9-of-13 closing streak more weight than it probably merits.
One potential concern for Williams is that he is listed at 210 pounds this season after 208 as a sophomore. With the Orange switching to primarily man-to-man defense this season, Williams’ lack of bulk could put him at a disadvantage during the season’s grind of higher-quality opponents. He may need to use every bit of his athleticism to compensate for that difference.
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