Autry Adds Detail & Defense To Syracuse Orange Preseason

Syracuse University men's basketball coach Adrian Autry knows that he will be under the 'Orange microscope,' as he tries to fill the shoes of Jim Boeheim. For 47 seasons Boeheim was the voice of Syracuse hoops, leading the Orange to 33 NCAA tournament appearances, including 5 Final Fours.

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Autry's team has been working hard together since the summer. At least for the first few years, the 51-year old head coach will be facing comparisons to his predecessor. Donna Ditota of syracuse.com, broke down some early evaluations from Autry's players.

Several of the Orange have commented about Adrian Autry's hands-on approach, which is apparently a big change. Quadir Copeland told syracuse.com, “Coach Autry likes to do a lot of explaining. Our oldest players, I think, are juniors. It’s kind of just a lot more explaining and he likes to get into detail a lot. Having Joe (Girard) and Jesse (Edwards) last year, Coach Boeheim kind of let them do a lot of the explaining. This year, Coach Autry’s super involved. Everybody’s involved more. I like it.”

The players said that Autry has focused a lot on conditioning and competing in everything that they do. A major change may be on its way for the Orange on the defensive side of the ball. Boeheim himself was asked by The Athletic, what type of defense would he install if he were starting a new program in 2023. The Hall of Fame head coach responded immediately, “Man-to-man. Just too many good shooters. Too many coaches that know how to attack zones. I would try to play almost 90 percent man, but I’d like to have a good enough zone to play 10-20 percent.” Wow, that's a bit of a departure for what Syracuse fans are used to seeing. Player told syracuse.com that they have not practiced the 2-3 zone defense during the preseason.

Adrian Autry will have all of Syracuse watching him this season. The Orange were picked 8th in the ACC Men's Basketball preseason poll, with North Carolina and Duke securing the top two spots respectively. Syracuse will play the College of St. Rose in an exhibition game at the JMA Dome on November 1st. The Orange will open their regular season on November 6th vs. New Hampshire, again at the JMA Dome.