Syracuse Basketball: 5 Bold Predictions for Orange's 2014-15 Season

Before you know it, the Syracuse basketball team will be playing games that count. The Orange began their exhibition season with a 76-68 win over Carleton University. For the second straight year, the Canadian school gave Syracuse everything it could handle, but the Orange were again able to prevail.

The Orange have one more exhibition left against Adrian College before the regular season begins Nov. 14. Syracuse's first game will tip off the 2K Classic against Kennesaw State. 

With the season right around the corner, let's start breaking down what we can expect to see from this year's iteration of Syracuse hoops. Here are five bold predictions for the Orange for this season.

An Underclassman Will Lead the Team in Scoring

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The expectation for this season is that Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas, the upperclassmen, will be the focal points of the offense this year. That may be the case, but neither of them will lead the team in scoring.

Both will contribute, but an underclassman will end up leading the way on the scoresheet. The three best bets are Kaleb Joseph, Ron Patterson and Chris McCullough. All three had strong showings against Carleton, with Joseph dropping 19, Patterson adding 15 and McCullough scoring 14.

Sure, it was just one game, but all three showed encouraging signs of what they were able to do. Patterson hit four of the five threes he took. McCullough stuffed a few around the rim and even stepped out and hit a three. And Joseph was able to get to the rim off the dribble as well as hitting a few jumpers.

Because there will be so many new parts to this team, opportunities to score will be spread around more. Because of that, look for one of the young players to step up and lead the way on the scoreboard.

The Offense Will Be Better Than Last Year

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There may not be better players on this team compared to last year, but the offense will at least run a little more smoothly.

On last year's team, the main offense was either isolations for C.J. Fair, Trevor Cooney running off screens or Tyler Ennis trying to create in the paint. This year, things will be different.

Rakeem Christmas is going to be much more involved, and Jim Boeheim was calling his number a lot in the second half against Carleton. The two freshmen both showed they weren't shocked by the step up in competition, so as they get more comfortable, they will continue to contribute on offense.

Kaleb Joseph plays aggressively, and that will help dictate the pace on offense. The offense played at a sluggish pace last year, but that was because Ennis made sure to find the team the best shot. Will Joseph make more mistakes than Ennis? Probably, but he will also be able to create opportunities for himself and others off the dribble and in transition.

It may take some time, but by the time the ACC schedule heats up, expect the offense to look much more fluid than it has in the past.

B.J. Johnson Will Be the Odd Man out of the Rotation

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There are only so many minutes to go around, so some players will invariably get left out of the rotation. Of the players in the running for minutes this year, B.J. Johnson will be the one who gets squeezed out.

It mostly comes down to his position. The last spot in the rotation is pretty much going to come down to Johnson and Ron Patterson, and Syracuse is deeper at forward than guard, so Patterson will likely get more minutes.

We already discussed how Patterson looked in the first game. If he can continue to hit shots with some regularity, it will only increase his minutes. And the Orange have Chris McCullough, Tyler Roberson and Michael Gbinije ahead of Johnson at forward, so Johnson will struggle for playing time.

If foul trouble crops up and causes McCullough or even Chinonso Obokoh to play center, Johnson might have an opportunity. But unless he comes in and shoots the lights out, that opportunity will most likely be short-lived.

Rakeem Christmas Will Sniff Averaging a Double-Double

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We aren't ready to fully commit to Christmas and say he will average 10 and 10, but he should at least be in the neighborhood.

As he has before, Christmas battled foul trouble in the first half against Carleton. But in the second half, Christmas took over and ended up with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting. It's reasonable to assume Boeheim will go to Christmas down low more often, so he should have no problem getting five buckets a game.

The challenge for Christmas will be on the backboards. He only pulled down three rebounds against Carleton. Christmas has had a tendency in the past to check out of games for minutes at a time. He can't do that this year if he wants to be one of the leaders of the team.

Another thing that will affect Christmas is how well he stays out of foul trouble. Christmas had to sit for portions of the first half against Carleton, which was also a recurring theme last year. If he can stay on the floor, he should have little problem putting up impressive numbers in his final season.

Syracuse Will Have at Least 2 Losses Before Conference Play

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There will be no 25-0 start this year.

Syracuse fans are used to the Orange rolling through their preseason schedule before conference play starts. Those days are over. There are plenty of tough games on the schedule before the Orange get to 2015 and ACC play.

Because Jim Boeheim will be working in so many new players, it may take time for the team to get its bearings. Just look at how the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing right now. You can't just put new pieces together and expect it to work right away.

In addition, Syracuse is playing some good teams early on. Cal and either of Iowa or Texas will both pose a challenge. Then in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Syracuse travels to Ann Arbor to face Michigan. The Wolverines love to bomb threes, so they could easily make it rain on the 2-3 zone.

Syracuse's early season schedule also includes a home game with St. John's and a trip to Villanova. There will be very few gimmies this year for Syracuse. Some tough road games early on could easily set Syracuse up for multiple losses before conference play begins.