Why Naithan George is Syracuse basketball’s most critical transfer

As we countdown to tipoff for the Syracuse basketball season beginning on Nov. 3, The Juice Online will be doing a player-by-player preview. Today, we look at Syracuse transfer guard Naithan George.

While he was not the first player Syracuse landed from the transfer portal, Naithan George is the most proven and most important. A native of Toronto, George spent two years at Georgia Tech, where he did not appear in the first three games of his career, came off the bench for one, then started every contest after that.

George is a traditional point guard who runs a team, as evidenced by his leading the ACC in assists last season with 6.5 dimes per game. Not only did George reach double digits in assists in five games last season (and six in his career), but he also ranked 32nd in the country in assist rate. In short, George is a top-tier set-up man who gets his teammates the ball in position to score.

That ball-dominant, pass-first style does lead to George turning the ball over. While giving the ball away just over three times per game and committing at least five turnovers in eight games last year, George still turned in an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.15-to-1. While that was a slight backslide from his freshman season, that would be the fifth-best mark in the last 25 years at Syracuse.

While not as good as his passing, George's shooting is a growing skill

George is also a solid, improving shooter, but showed an increasing tendency last season toward taking mid-range jumpers. As a freshman, he was quite effective on those shots, making 49-of-101 (48.5 percent) of shots listed as “far 2’s” at T-Rank. Last year, however, George took even more attempts from the mid-range, but only made 41.7 percent (58-of-139).

The improvement in George’s shooting is shown in his results from behind the line, both free throw and 3-point. George has a low free throw rate over his first two years, but his effectiveness jumped from 69.0 percent as a freshman to 78.9 percent last season. His 3-point shooting trended upward, as well, rising from 31.4 percent to 33.9 percent, while also increasing his number of 3-point attempts from 102 to 177.

George needs to be part of an overall defensive improvement for the Orange

The other side of the ball is where George has made some strides, but still needs work. George is more of a solid defender than anything else, while he has improved his steal and defensive rebounding rates and cut down his already low fouls per 40 minutes over his first two seasons.

That low foul rate may be a sign of George allowing space to his man. While Georgia Tech was not a good defensive team last season, of the seven Yellow Jackets who logged at least 500 minutes, George ranked sixth in defensive rating, suggesting he can make improvements on that end of the floor.

Another facet where George has improved, but needs to continue growing, is in his results against high-quality opposition. Last season, his steal rate was more than halved and his shooting percentages, especially from beyond the arc, slid significantly against top opponents.

In 19 games versus top-100 opponents, George shot 31.3 percent from long range, and in ten matchups with top-50 teams, that percentage plummeted to 25.5 percent. Those difficulties also dragged down his offensive rating to nearly 20 points off his overall season mark.

A big role awaits, along with the responsibility that comes with it

That is not to say George will not be a valued contributor to the Orange this season. This squad is more talented than either of the two he played with at Georgia Tech, so he could be both a contributor to and beneficiary of a “higher tide lifts all boats” situation.

George is a lock for the starting lineup and the lion’s share of the minutes at the point. He will bear a major responsibility in making sure the offensive talent on the roster gets to eat. Improvement on the defensive end by George (and his teammates) will help translate those assists in wins.

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