Syracuse 2009-2010 Basketball Betting Prediction, Odds, Lines,

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Syracuse 2008-2009 Record: 28-10, 11-7

Syracuse 2008-2009 Post Season: NCAA

Syracuse Coach: Jim Boeheim (799-288 at Syracuse, 799-288 overall)

Syracuse Projected Starters:

• Scoop Jardine, Sophomore, Guard, DNP last season
• Andy Rautins, Senior, Guard, 10.5 points per game
• Wesley Johnson, Junior, Forward, DNP last season
• Rick Jackson, Junior, Forward, 8.3 points per game
• Arinze Onuaku, Senior, Center, 10.3 points per game

Syracuse Player to Watch: Arinze Onuaku

Syracuse Key Losses: G Eric Devendorf, G Jonny Flynn, F Paul Harris, F Kristof Ongenaet

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2009-2010 Syracuse Season Preview

Take away the top three scorers from any team, and it’s easy to think of terms like ‘rebuilding’ and ‘down year.’

On the surface, Syracuse is facing that situation, thanks to the departures of Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris, who accounted for 45.1 points per game and 53.7 percent of the shots taken last year.

Flynn, a first-round NBA Draft pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves, would have been one of college basketball’s best point guards this year, while Harris had become an efficient interior performer, and Devendorf was a dynamic – albeit annoying – perimeter weapon.

All three could have come back this season. All three decided to leave early, and Syracuse is weaker for it. Or at least that’s what the conventional wisdom says.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has a way of making these difficult situations a little easier, and he has one big reason for Orange fans to believe things should be just fine this season: Wesley Johnson.

Flynn, Harris and Devendorf may be gone, but the Iowa State transfer has the potential to be the big-time contributor Syracuse needs.

Syracuse Backcourt

The backcourt needs to be rebuilt, but the Orange are fortunate to have Scoop Jardine returning from a stress fracture that kept him our all last year.

The 6-1 playmaker is not going to score much but will control the team and play good on-ball defense. It will be interesting to see if Boeheim makes good on his promise char 6-4 freshman Brandon Triche will start at the point. Unlike Jardine, Triche can score and distribute, but he is green and perhaps not ready for such full-time responsibility.

Expect senior sniper Andy Rautins to start at the two spot after making 36.6 percent of his 3-pointers last year. Rautins spent part of the summer playing for the Canadian national squad and has demonstrated the ability to run a team. Triche can swing to the two spot, and sophomore Mookie Jones, who played only nine games in ’08-09 due largely to a hip injury, can handle work at either the two or three.

Syracuse Frontcourt

Boeheim certainly thinks Johnson is a player. Syracuse frontcourt of Johnson, Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson could be the best they have had in many, many years.

One of the great things about Boeheim is that he doesn’t sandbag. When Harris came to campus, he predicted the forward would be a one­and-done type. It didn’t happen that way, but at least Boeheim wasn’t trying to make the heralded recruit sound like a minnow. After watching Johnson practice for a season, Boeheim knows what he has in the small forward.

Johnson averaged 12.4 points as a Cyclone sophomore and should team with the burly Onuaku and Jackson for a formidable forward wall. He’s a multi-talented 6-7 player who was invited during the offseason to the Lebron James Skills Academy, so the potential is there. Both Jackson and Onuaku should thrive, too, at both ends, although each needs to improve some truly abysmal free-throw shooting.

Depth up from will come from 6-7 sophomore Kris Joseph, who proved to be a fine defender last season, 6-7 freshman James Southerland, a spindly inside-out type, and 6-11 DaShome Riley, a freshman who lacks scoring polish, but who will help on the backboards and defensively.

It’s not the deepest from line in the league, but the starting three could be outstanding.

2009-2010 Syracuse Predictions

In a Big East that has several teams going through transitions, Syracuse will be fine. Obviously, Triche and Jardine have to deliver at the point, and Johnson must be as good as advertised. But with Boeheim’s stingy zone defense and an interior tandem that should make things difficult for anybody daring to venture into the paint, the Orange have some reliable pillars to lean upon while the rest of the team comes together.

Syracuse Finish in the Big East: 8th
Syracuse Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

Syracuse Betting Odds

Syracuse Odds to Win 2010 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament: +4000
Syracuse Odds to Win the Big East: +1000

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