Syracuse Basketball Statistics: Orange Bigs Struggling Around the Rim & More

This past week saw Syracuse finish a relatively difficult three-game road stretch by winning at Duke and nearly upsetting Virginia on Sunday in Charlottesville.

Now, SU has a relatively easy five-game stretch on deck before its schedule shifts back into high gear, at least according to the numbers. Below, we have more on that, the ineffectiveness of SU's big men around the rim and other statistics and numbers trends relating to the Orange.

Coleman and Roberson are both below average at the rim

Against Virginia, Dajuan Coleman finished 0-of-2 from the field while Tyler Roberson went 3-of-9. Both struggled to make shots around the rim, something that has become a trend for the two big men in recent weeks.

Both Coleman and Roberson are now below average in finishing near the basket. Coleman is shooting just 57% in that area and Roberson is only slightly better at 58%, according to Shot Analytics.

Both players have helped the Orange in other areas — particularly on the glass and the defensive end — but it will, obviously, continue to hurt SU if it doesn't have a reliable low post presence on offense.

Win Shares

Unsurprisingly, Syracuse guard Michael Gbinije has accounted for the highest number of SU's wins, according to win share estimates by Basketball-Reference, which take into account both offense and defense.

The statistic is at least somewhat flawed, as, for example, it is often difficult to quantify what each player contributes defensively in the 2-3 zone. So keep that in mind, but I figured I would share each player's win shares:

Something else I found interesting: Per 40 minutes, only Howard and Joseph account for fewer wins than Cooney of SU's scholarship players.

What are Syracuse's odds to sweep its home stand and Boston College?

Syracuse's next four games will all be played at the Carrier Dome, and according to kenpom.com, SU will be the favorite in each game.  In order, the Orange host Notre Dame (Jan. 28), Georgia Tech (Jan. 30), Virginia Tech (Feb. 2) and Florida State (Feb. 11). They then visit Boston College (Feb. 14), another game they'll be favored in.

Kenpom.com estimates that Syracuse has a 61% chance to beat Notre Dame, a 73% chance to beat Georgia Tech, an 82% chance to beat Virginia Tech, a 67% chance to beat Florida State and an 85% chance to beat Boston College.

That means that SU has, at least mathematically, a 20.8% chance to win all five games. While it's probably unlikely, doing so would put the Orange at a very respectable 8-5 in ACC play before a difficult five-game stretch to close conference play. That stretch includes games against Louisville, Pittsburgh, NC State, North Carolina and Florida State.

If it feels like the Orange have had an especially challenging schedule this season, it's because they have. Syracuse has the 20th most difficult schedule in Division I this season, according to kenpom.com's strength of schedule rating. By that metric, only three ACC teams — Florida State, Virginia and Wake Forest — have tougher schedules.