Syracuse Basketball: Each Orange Starter's Most Impressive Stat

Despite losing freshman Chris McCullough for the season, the Syracuse basketball team was able to get past Wake Forest in overtime Tuesday night. The Orange are off to a 4-0 start in conference play and sit tied atop the ACC standings with second-ranked Virginia.

The Orange may have a few more losses than fans are used to at this point in the season, but they have been striking when you consider how much the team lost last year. 

Jim Boeheim's rotation is again short, and the starters have been the main contributors so far this season. With that in mind, let's look at each starter's most impressive stat. With McCullough out, Tyler Roberson stepped into the starting lineup, so we will look at him along with the rest of the Orange starters.

Kaleb Joseph

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Perhaps unfairly, Kaleb Joseph has been held to a high standard early in his freshman season. It's not his fault; Orange fans and coaches were spoiled by what Tyler Ennis did last year.

Joseph has been more of your typical freshman point guard. He has shown flashes of his playmaking ability (especially in transition), but he has made some poor decisions and has looked uncomfortable running the offense.

However, Joseph is averaging five assists per game, and that has to be his most impressive stat. In fact, he averages more assists than Duke's Tyus Jones (4.9), one of the top freshman point guards in America.

Joseph's inexperience executing in the half court has led to him losing minutes down the stretch of games recently. But he also has had some big games that have kept the Orange competitive. Look no further than his 10-point, 10-assist game against Villanova, in which he played the entire game.

Joseph's playmaking was one of the main reasons the Orange were in that game. As the season wears on, he needs to draw from that experience to better run the offense against the tough defenses in the ACC.

Trevor Cooney

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Where else can we go with Trevor Cooney? 

After starting the season slowly, Cooney has found his stroke of late and is shooting 39.2 percent from three-point range on the season. His 28-point outburst against Florida State gave fans flashbacks to when he dropped 33 on Notre Dame last year.

During the team's seven-game winning streak, Cooney has been torching the net. He has shot 44.3 percent from deep during that stretch and has had scoring games of 28, 21, 20 and 18. He and Michael Gbinije have been the Orange's only threats from deep, and the team has needed every bit of their contributions.

The big question is whether Cooney can keep it going the entire season. We know what happened down the stretch last year. Because of his importance, Cooney will likely play just about every possible minute the rest of the season. We will have to see if he can keep his legs fresh the rest of the way.

Michael Gbinije

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We have to stay on the perimeter for Gbinije. Donna Ditota of The Post-Standard chronicled the Orange's shooting improvement recently, and it has as much to do with Gbinije as it does with Cooney.

On the year, Gbinije is shooting 41.7 percent from deep. It has gotten to the point that if Gbinije can step into an open shot, you expect it to go in. He's not a catch-and-shoot player like Cooney or Andy Rautins, but if he spots up on the perimeter, he's a threat if Joseph penetrates and kicks or if Rakeem Christmas passes out of a double-team.

With one fewer scoring option now, Syracuse needs everything it can get from Gbinije. If he has it going, the Orange are a different team. 

The other most impressive aspect of Gbinije's game can't be explained by the stat sheet. He is again the team's backup point guard, and he handled all of the Orange's ball-handling duties with Joseph on the bench because he was struggling.

Christmas is the team's best player; there is no question about that. But because of Gbinije's versatility and improved shooting, he is just as important as any other player on the Orange this year.

Tyler Roberson

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It was clear against Wake Forest that Roberson is still uncomfortable on offense. Nearly every time he caught the ball, he seemed unsure of what to do with it, and he passed up some good, open looks.

The Orange don't need Roberson to be a top scoring threat. They have Christmas and Cooney for that. But Roberson can impact games without scoring, and that his where his most head-turning stat comes in.

At first, 6.6 rebounds a game might not seem all that impressive. But when you watch the games, it's easy to see Roberson's impact on the glass. Sometimes it seems like he is cleaning rebounds off the top of the backboard.

He has great timing on his jumps, and he is strong and athletic enough to compete with just about anyone on the glass. In addition, Roberson has had two games this season with 17 rebounds and two more with 10. Now that he will have more playing time, his rebounding numbers should increase. If he continues to crash the glass, he can affect games just as much as anyone else.

Rakeem Christmas

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What can you say about Christmas? After last year, it seemed C.J. Fair was the poster boy for the "wait-your-turn" system Jim Boeheim is running at Syracuse. But so far this year, Christmas deserves his own poster as well.

Christmas averaged 5.8 points a game last year on 3.6 shots a game. This year, Christmas' scoring has spiked to 18.2 points on 11.7 shots per game. His 35-point outburst against Wake Forest is a perfect example of what Christmas does for this team.

Christmas can do just about anything down low. He can score over either shoulder. He can catch the ball facing the basket and push shots or score on spin moves. And he can step out and shoot a mid-range jumper.

Cooney said it best, per Diota: "It's ridiculous what he did for us."

As was the case with Fair last year, the offense goes through Christmas this year. Not only is he putting up big numbers, but he is also making 58.8 percent of the shots he takes. And when he gets the ball down low, he knows what to do with it.

"I catch it and if they're playing me one-on-one, I know that's my time to go," Christmas told Ditota. "If they're doubling me, I find Trevor and Mike wide open and they make tough shots."

The Orange have a chance in any game because of what Christmas does for them. If he keeps going at this pace, he will be in the conversation for ACC Player of the Year.