Summary:
- On O, turn and attack from the high post, even if it's one dribble toward the basket. We will win inside and create a war of attrition that Syracuse cannot counteract.
- On O, keep our shooters in the game i.e., no wasted minutes
- On D, extend the defense with heels on the 3-point line. Plug our noses and hope Syracuse has an average day attacking our guards.
Provided we play close to the gameplan I outlined our best game today will on average beat Syracuse, barring 'Cuse hitting an absurd percentage from deep. We have the right pieces to get this done, moreso than ND, Duke, and Clemson, the latter of which won in the Dome.
I picked Syracuse by 7, close to the Vegas by 5, due to our inconsistency in rotations and lack of commitment to a plan of attack. The good news is Syracuse will not mix it up on D. In theory that should require less thinking as the game goes on. But in the end, in recent Syracuse has played far closer to their top end on a consistent basis than we have, so I'm taking the Orange.
For what it's worth, I'm going with the gold GT basketball t-shirt underneath my media-neutral gray pullover for today's game.
