Earlier this season, Syracuse didn’t have a team identity. Was it the defensive juggernaut from last year’s NCAA Tournament? Did it finally have more of a scoring punch? There was no obvious answer in its nonconference slate with four losses and a pair of two-game losing streaks.

After losing to Florida State by 18, Elijah Hughes was asked whether the Orange had an identity, then, or were still searching for one.

“Kind of both,” he replied.

Soon, we’ll know who this Syracuse (17-8, 8-4 Atlantic Coast) team really is, or isn’t. Six games remain in the regular season, four of those against currently ranked teams. Three will be in the Carrier Dome, a building where the Orange have traditionally mounted upset bids. In a season of ups and downs, SU’s final stretch can either propel it into the NCAA Tournament or prove that its inconsistency isn’t going away. That’ll start Wednesday night against No. 18 Louisville (18-8, 9-4), the first step to revealing what type of squad Syracuse could be.

“You can let a loss like (NC State) drag on you and mess up your next two games,” Frank Howard said, ”or you can build on it and come back strong.”

Three wins in five days defined Syracuse’s season a year ago. Sneaking into March Madness after an imperfect regular season was all forgotten when the Orange charged to the Sweet 16. But their postseason success came with added expectations, SU head coach Jim Boeheim pointed out earlier this season.

Even with all five starters back and additions on the perimeter, maybe it was unfair to expect a huge jump forward from a team that’s stagnant offense hindered it. But whatever the reason, SU simply hasn’t shown a consistent version of itself.

Losing at home to Georgia Tech was a brutal defeat. The Yellow Jackets have lost nine of their last 10 since then. But 48 hours after the defeat, the Orange were celebrating in Cameron Indoor Stadium after upsetting No. 1 Duke. Maybe Syracuse was living up to its preseason ranking, but a blowout loss at Virginia Tech showed SU wasn’t in the top-echelon of college hoops.

“You have to get over it,” Boeheim said. “You have to have a short memory.”

But the weirdest part of Syracuse — which entered the season ranked No. 16 in the country — is it rarely has the same problems. Sure, center play has been a question mark all season long, but 3-point shooting has led to wins, while also being SU’s biggest weakness in its worst losses. SU’s defense has held off star players — projected top-3 NBA pick RJ Barrett shot 8-of-30 — before getting burned by other standout performances mere days later.

“Part of it is, your offense goes bad, and I think you lose focus sometimes,” Boeheim said.

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The gauntlet of what Boeheim called Syracuse’s “ridiculous” back-end of its schedule starts with Louisville, but continues on to No. 1 Duke, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 3 Virginia. All four of those teams rank in the top-20 of KenPom’s adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies. The Blue Devils are fully healthy and looking for revenge, the Dean Smith Center is a tricky place to play and UVA’s brand of man-to-man defense has caused SU to struggle in past games.

There’s no arguing how difficult a stretch this will be, with the only lightweights coming away against Wake Forest and Clemson. And while the Orange had shown an ability to win on the road, their most recent trip to NC State ended in a blowout loss.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently lists Syracuse in his bracketology as an 8-seed. Maybe the Orange don’t need those ranked wins to sneak into the postseason, but they can’t afford a 1-5 or 0-6 stretch to close the regular season. Somewhere, this inconsistent SU team will have to find ways to win games.

“All that matters is how many games you win,” Boeheim said. “Doesn’t matter how many you win by or how many you lose by … Win 10 games and you lose eight games by 30, it doesn’t matter. We don’t wanna do that, but it doesn’t really matter how much you lose by.”

While Hughes knows Syracuse is still searching for its identity, he also said the Orange won’t go down easy — that they’ll fight until the end. If Syracuse doesn’t cement a further style on the court, an obvious question comes to the forefront: How far can heart take a team?

We’re about to find out.

Billy Heyen is a senior staff writer for The Daily Orange where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at wmheyen@syr.edu or @Wheyen3.

Published on February 20, 2019 at 12:22 am