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Syracuse Orange basketball was slow last season.
How slow was it?
Syracuse Orange basketball was so slow, Trevor Cooney is still pulling up for a missed three-pointer. (Terrible)
Seriously though, as Donna Ditota notes, SU was 234th in the nation in Pomeroy stats that target pace of offensive play. At 18.5 seconds per possession, the Orange were below the national average (18 seconds).
So, Jim Boeheim has a decree for the 2014-2015 season...push it...push it real good...
"If [Kaleb Joseph's] good, if he can push it, that will help us," Boeheim said. "We're going to try to push it more. That will help (Rakeem) Christmas and (Tyler) Roberson especially. I think it will help us if we can run.
"But sometimes, you can't. If your defense isn't good enough and you don't get some stops, if you don't get some steals, if you don't get opportunities to go, that makes it hard to run."
Boeheim blames opponents digging in against the 2-3 zone and SU's inability to score transition baskets on what slowed things down last season. He says there's only so much he can do but a lot of it will be up to Syracuse's ability to clamp down on defense themselves, never a guarantee.
Also, watching this probably helps. Maybe.