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Finding the Silver Lining in Three Postponed Games

Being forced to postpone three games is never a good thing, but could there be one positive aspect of it?
Mike McAllister|
Finding the Silver Lining in Three Postponed Games
Finding the Silver Lining in Three Postponed Games

Syracuse basketball was forced to pause all team activities for the second time this season as a result of contact tracing stemming from a positive COVID-19 test within the Buffalo Bulls program just one day after playing against the Orange. The pause also led to three games (Notre Dame, Wake Forest, North Carolina) being postponed. Syracuse's next game will be on January 6th against Florida State. 

How is anything about that positive? Well there could be one, believe it or not. That positive would be the return of starting center Bourama Sidibe. Sidibe left the season opener just a few minutes in after suffering a torn meniscus. He had surgery on December 1st and was expected to be out at least four weeks. 

There was hope that Sidibe would return by the end of this month. Head coach Jim Boeheim said during his radio show Wednesday night that the team is eager to get Sidibe back and he should be able to return against the Seminoles. 

"The only good news about not playing the games is he should be back for the next game," Boeheim said. "We thought he might even play at Wake Forest."

In Sidibe's absence, Marek Dolezaj has moved from forward to center and Alan Griffin has slid into the starting lineup. Dolezaj has performed well all season, and is fourth in the ACC in assists at 4.3 per game. He is also averaging a career high 12.6 points along with six rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 55.2% from the floor. 

The return of Sidibe would give Syracuse a better defensive presence in the middle and on the glass. As Syracuse gets into the heart of ACC play, his availability will be important. 

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Mike McAllister
MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting.  EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans.  After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years.  Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports.  Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College. 

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