It isn’t going out on a limb to say that Tyler Roberson was the biggest reason Syracuse was able to grab its biggest win of the season against Duke at Cameron Indoor. He grabbed 20 rebounds, including 12 offensive boards and posted a double-double as the Orange began their mighty turnaround. Now, the forward has not only fallen off on the score sheet, he has fallen out of favor with his head coach, Jim Boeheim.
After Syracuse’s home loss to Pitt, Boeheim had some choice words for the forward. After playing 25 minutes, Roberson only posted 4 rebounds and failed to score. In his post-game press conference, Boeheim said, “If I had anyone else, he wouldn’t play a minute.”
Roberson’s performance on Saturday was just the latest in a series of disappointing games for the big man. He has been held under ten points in each of his last four games, Over the same stretch, Roberson is averaging just over 4 rebounds per game, about half of his season average.
Everyone knows that in order for the Orange to be successful, they need to shoot the ball well. However, a problem that once seemed to be behind them has reared its ugly head again, rebounding. There is no denying that Syracuse lacks rebounders and overall depth in the frontcourt. Overall, Syracuse is a small team, as shown by the use of Tyler Lydon as a center, and Syracuse’s one true center, DaJaun Coleman, has not been able to assert his dominance.
As such, Syracuse desperately needs Tyler Roberson to be the player that he has shown he is capable of being. His rebounding has proven to be pivotal in several games this season in addition to the Duke game. He grabbed 15 boards to help the Orange come from behind to beat Virginia Tech.
The point is, agree or disagree with what Boeheim had to say about Roberson, he desperately needs Roberson and, some may argue, Roberson needs his team and his coach to support him as much as he has helped them.
2 responses to “The Rise and Fall of Syracuse’s Tyler Roberson”
I rad an article, an interview with Roberson’s AAU coach, from his recruitment time frame. Roberson was the NJ POY
as a senior. His AAU coach said Roberson was the next Kevin Durant. He said Roberson would be the #1 draft pick
in the NBA when he came out. Fast forward 3+ years and you see a player seemingly way under-developed offensively.
Roberson has no confidence in a 15 ft jump shot and too often appears disinterested in performing on some of the best
stages in D1 basketball. You have to wonder if this is why players like Ennis,Grant and McCullough checked out on the early side
of their college careers.
Roberson will play Saturday for sure. You might think that its because Boeheim doesn’t have much choice here and you might be correct BUT when Robbybreaks out and rebounds like we know he can do,he is too valuable to be anywhere except on the court during a gamePoor recruiting and required evaluation has put Kaleb Joseph on the roster and sucks up a valuable scholarship in light of the sanctions being levied on the Orange. Jimmy has brought in fantastic pgs for his team,no doubt BUT heavers them too much when comparing to the front court. Lydon is a bright spot when discusing the front court.