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Stephen F Austin preview
Well, it sure is nice to be previewing Syracuse as an NCAA tournament team. After a two year absence the Orange is back in the tournament as a #3 seed in the South taking on NCAA newcomer Stephen F Austin. Game time is set for 12:15pm Friday in Miami.
What do you know about Stephen F Austin?
Well, the first thing that jumped into my head was this: “Steve Austin, astronaut, a man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology…” And that’s before we even get to Stone Cold Steve Austin. But alas, the university is named for the Father of Texas, as is the capital of Texas.
As I said, the Lumberjacks are making their first appearance in the Big Dance. Last year, they narrowly missed the tourney, winning the Southland Conference regular season only to lose in the conference tournament and ended up in the NIT. They sport the last two conference player of the years in forward Josh Alexander (last year) and center Matt Kingsley. These two are the main scoring threats, averaginig 14.5 points and 16.2 points respectively. They will be counted on heavily if the Lumberjacks want to entertain thoughts of a huge upset.
Size will be a concern for the SFA, with a backcourt that consists of starts Girod Adams and Eric Bell that are both under 6 feet tall. Neither shoot the many 3s either, so the Orange zone will be concentrating on Alexander who hoists up nearly 7 3s per game.
SFA’s style is very deliberate. They rank near the top of the NCAA in defense and their offensive style will be to slow the game down and value the ball. They won’t be successful at trying to match Syracuse’s desire for an up tempo game. The Lumberjacks go 9 deep with only Alexander and Kingsley logging more than 30 minutes.
Possible Orange concerns
This is the type of opponent that tends to render Arinze Onuaku invisible. He doesn’t seem to be much of a factor when the opposition lacks a true low post threat. This may be the type of game where Syracuse plays more of a smaller lineup with Rick Jackson and AO sharing minutes.
Keys to victory
Make the Lumberjacks shoot 3s. Bell at 5’3″ likes to pass first and maybe second and third. Make him shoot jumpshots. If their guards are shooting that means the zone is doing its job.
Play aggressive. Flynn and Devendorf will have decided height advantages and should use them early and often to get to the rim. If either of SFA’s big men get in foul trouble they will be in a world of hurt.
Relax. Neither team has any real tournament experience. Shaking off early jitters in an arena that could be quite empty and ready to root for the underdog will be important.
Prediction:
This game should be a nice warmup for what will be a much tougher game come Sunday. I expect the Orange to get out and not let SFA play their style. There is just too much talent and hunger for this team to be complacent now. Syracuse 75 SFA 61
