Syracuse men’s basketball begins to find offensive identity

Up by 47 points with just over three minutes remaining, Quinnipiac transfer Amarri Monroe put his body on the line, diving for a loose ball to force a steal for Syracuse. 

“What Amarri did there is what this program needs to be,” coach Gerry McNamara said postgame. “Laying it on the line every single possession, it’s who we need to be all the time.”

That play is what Sadiq White says is exactly what McNamara instills in the team.

“Up as big as we were, for him to dive on the floor like that just shows his competitiveness,” White said. “We go in saying go hard every day, playing for one another, it’s just the focal point of our team.”

The Orange cruised to a 102-49 victory against Central Connecticut State Thursday evening, but it was the effort of the team that McNamara felt was the bigger win.

Syracuse shot just over 64% from the field as a team, a drastic improvement from their 39% clip Monday night against New Haven. It’s a sign that after several weeks of subpar shooting, the team may finally be finding an identity on offense. 

Luke Wilson saw a heavy increase of involvement on the offensive end of things. The Appalachian State transfer dominated with physicality in the paint, going five-of-six from the field and forcing three trips to the line.

“I came out way more jacked up and ready to go,” Wilson said of his mindset Thursday compared to Monday. “I had to come out ready to kill and dominate, and I did that.”

Another improved area for the Orange was the shooting of Gavin Doty and Mark Morano. The two combined to go 50% from beyond the arc. McNamara’s face lit up when asked specifically about the play of Morano.

“The kid’s got bigtime potential,” McNamara said of the Slovenian freshman. “He’s got a gift that we desperately need to use. He shoots the blood out of the ball, and I need him to shoot it when he’s open.”

McNamara joked that he screamed at Morano after passing up an open three. “I yelled at him so much from the previous play, he had to take the next one.”

One of the most notable changes in the rotation for the Orange in this one was the increased usage of guard Ryan Moesch. The freshman led the team with 27 minutes after playing just 17 against New Haven on Monday.

The increased minutes is something McNamara attributes to Moesch’s ability to push the tempo on offense. There were multiple times he was able to find White and Wilson in the paint for an easy dime.

“Shoot, they trust me back there,” White said, speaking of a play where Moesch found him for an alley-oop. “Having guys like Gavin or Ryan or Morano, I get them a good screen and I know they’re going to look for me first and foremost. I love it.”

As productive as Moesch was in pushing the ball, McNamara believes there’s still much more to improve upon for the New York native. 

“Tonight I told him you’re the guy,” McNamara said. “The guy that’s an elite point guard that’s just got complete command of the game, and he was playing so well.” Moesch ended with a team-high seven assists.

While things were flowing offensively for the Orange, McNamara put on his perfectionist cap and stressed that things are far from where they need to be. 

“We’re getting better, but it’s not there yet,” McNamara said. “We had two back-to-back screens we didn’t communicate on.” 

McNamara pointed to a specific moment where Moesch and Abdramane Siby went for steals but couldn’t come away with it. “My rule is if you go for it, you’ve got to get it, and we didn’t get a couple of those,” he said.

Syracuse will have to be at the McNamara standard for their upcoming matchup Monday when they travel to face Indiana at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.