Tyler Betsey gives Syracuse upside and potential as a stretch 4

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 forward Tyler Betsey.

Tyler Betsey was an interesting transfer addition to the Syracuse roster as the sixth and final player to come to the Orange through the portal. Hailing from Windsor, Connecticut, the 6’8” power forward originally chose to attend Cincinnati from a long list of high-end power conference teams. A top-50 national recruit, Betsey’s combination of size and shooting ability headlined his profile.

Betsey played in 34 of 35 Bearcat games, averaging modest numbers in 11.2 minutes per game over the season as the eighth or ninth man in their rotation. Dispersal of minutes bounced a lot for Betsey, as he logged 16.0 minutes per game in the first eight contests, then dropped to 10.0 minutes in the following nine games.

The next nine games, he rose back up to 13.7 minutes per game, but saw just 38 minutes total in the final eight Cincy games.

A link between Betsey's shooting success and his playing time at Cincinnati?

Functioning as a stretch four, Betsey took the majority (81 of 112) of his field goal attempts from beyond the arc. He made 26 of those 3’s over the season, good for a 32.1 percent mark. But, the stretches of more or fewer minutes offered a moderate correlation with his shooting:

Games 1-8: 11-for-23 (47.8 percent)

Games 9-17: 5-for-24 (20.8 percent)

Games 18-26: 8-for-27 (29.6 percent)

Games 27-34: 2-for-7 (28.6 percent)

Betsey was given a greater opportunity early in the season against generally lesser opponents (six low-major teams, Georgia Tech, and Villanova, against whom he logged his fewest minutes in that opening stretch). Seeming to fall out of favor when Cincinnati’s schedule got tougher, he still bounced back to earn minutes by playing double digits in eight of nine conference games before seemingly falling out of favor late in February.

Betsey is an unfinished project who needs the rest of his game to catch up

The advanced stats back up that assessment of Betsey as a stretch four. He had a low usage rate for the Bearcats, backed up by low marks in both assist and turnover rates. In short, Betsey was used primarily as a shooter and, based on his shot distribution, a floor stretcher.

While his playmaking and ballhandling can still be developed, especially if he will remain on the perimeter on offense, the biggest areas for Betsey to target improving are rebounding and defense. Betsey was okay as a defensive rebounder for Cincinnati, but had a low offensive rebounding rate, although part of that is due to generally being parked outside the arc.

And the defensive end needs to be a focus for that improvement

Most concerning was his play for an excellent defensive team, which may have borne some responsibility for his inconsistent minutes. The Bearcats ranked 22nd at KenPom in adjusted defensive efficiency, but Betsey ranked last in both defensive rating and defensive win shares among the nine players on Cincinnati who saw regular rotation minutes. Given SU head coach Adrian Autry’s focus on defense during his remarks during media day, Betsey looks like he may have a way to go before becoming a serious contributor.

And, that’s fine.

Again, Betsey was the last transfer to be added to the roster and with only Tiefing Diawara to join the SU program after him. As a result, scaled-down expectations for Betsey are probably to be expected for this season. While he has major conference game experience, Betsey can still be a developmental player, fitting in with the Orange at about the same point on the roster as he did with the Bearcats last year.

Betsey has good tools to work with. He just needs to work with them during of another year of apprenticeship on his path to becoming a craftsman.

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