Fresh off a 72-52 loss to Connecticut in their exhibition opener, the Orange return to action against Gerry McNamara’s former team, Siena, on Sunday at MVP Arena in Albany.
Here are three things to watch for as Syracuse continues its preseason tune-ups.
The Health of Several Syracuse Players
On Tuesday, Syracuse used a starting lineup of Garwey Dual, Aiden Tobiason, Gavin Doty, Sadiq White Jr. and Samson Goodrick. Dual, still recovering from a collarbone injury from July, was limited in action, playing just 10 minutes.
Tobiason played even less than that, suffering a lower body injury minutes into the matchup against the Huskies, and he was forced to the bench for the night. Similarly, reserve forward Mark Morano was sidelined due to a lower leg injury.
While Dual isn’t known as an offensive player, Tobiason and Morano are two players that will be counted on to shoulder the scoring load this season. With both missing on Tuesday, the Orange struggled on offense, shooting 30.6 percent from the field and 4-19 from downtown.
Morano is likely to make his preseason debut against Siena, while Tobiason is officially day to day. If either or both play, it will be worth keeping track of how they affect the offense.
Rotating Rotations
McNamara wasted no time going to his bench on Tuesday, with 12 players seeing action. It will be worth noting which players continue to gobble up minutes.
Moesch, Doty, Kiyan Anthony and White played the most (between 25 to 30 minutes each), but several other players got significant time, including Amarri Monroe (19), Folefac (15) and Luke Wilson (20).
It became clear on Tuesday that Moesch will play a big role as a true freshman, and I would expect to see Monroe and Wilson—two of SU’s more prominent transfers—get more minutes as they acclimate to the program.
Return of the Mac (Namara)
McNamara spent two seasons at Siena, and brought a program that had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2010 and brought them back to March Madness in his second year.
He built up plenty of good will during that time, and when he left for Syracuse, he took several players with him, including Doty, Goodrick, Francis Folefac and high school commit Ryan Moesch.
Expect there to be a warm reception for the three players, and a loud one for McNamara in his return to Albany.
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