Battle For New York Weekend: Interview with The Juice Online ME Wesley Cheng

With the St. John’s Red Storm set to face the Syracuse Orange in the — arguably — aptly named Battle For New York, Storm The Paint had a chance to sit down with Wesley Cheng and ask him four questions. Wesley is the Managing Editor of SNY’s Syracuse site, The Juice Online.

If you have been so caught up in your Johnnies, well, Wesley provides some nice insight into the Orange and if you want even more Cuse related news, insight and information you should probably head to their website The Juice Online here (for those afraid to lick links; http://sujuiceonline.com/)

Note: STP in the big bold font. Wesley in the normal, human font.

Tell us about The Juice Online

The Juice (then called The Big Orange) was founded in 1992, one of approximately 50 independent publications devoted to the coverage of its school’s athletics programs. In 2002, it became a full-color, glossy magazine which was owned by Fox Sports. The print product ceased publication in June of 2010 and was relaunched as The Juice Online in December of 2010. In February 2012, The Juice Online partnered with SportsNet New York, the official television home of the New York Mets and New York Jets. As part of SNY.tv’s Blog Network, The Juice Online supplements SNY’s coverage of more than 125 college football and basketball games, as well as other college sports programming.

What are the expectations for the 2014-15 Syracuse team?

The last six seasons have been unprecedented successes for the program. Starting in the 2008-09 season, the Orange has averaged 29.5 wins a season, which is the best six-year stretch in program history. During that time, SU has reached the Final Four and the Elite Eight, something that has also never happened. I say all of this because Syracuse is likely in for a rebuilding year. The Orange lost its top scorer (CJ Fair), top bench player (Jerami Grant), one of its interior defenders (Baye Keita) and clutch guard (Tyler Ennis). In past years, the Orange has been able to reload on the fly, but that appears to have finally caught up to SU. In a 73-59 loss to Cal in the 2K Classic in November, the inexperience really showed, leading several columnists, including ESPN’s Jeff Goodman to write the Orange off as an NIT team. I think it’s far too early to be making those kinds of predictions, but the bottom line is that compared to past years, the expectations are significantly reduced.

Who are the key players on this team?

The first name that jumps out is Chris McCullough. He’s currently listed (probably too high) as the No. 7 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by NBADraft.net. The freshman forward has a silky smooth jumper and high basketball IQ, but he’s also 6’10” and 220 pounds, so he really needs to pack on some muscle if he wants to play at the next level. You’ll probably see a healthy dose of another Syracuse big man, Rakeem Christmas. In year’s past, he’s been a complementary player on offense, but the Orange has made a conscious effort to get the ball to him more, and he’s developing his interior game. The third player to watch for his Trevor Cooney, Syracuse’s best outside shooter. Cooney shot 37 percent from downtown last year, but he’s really struggled this season, and is down to 27 percent. The worst part is, Cooney doesn’t have much help because as a team, as Syracuse is shooting just 20 percent from beyond the arc. The last guy to watch for is freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph. We’ve been spoiled by precocious guards in the last two years (see Michael Carter-Williams and Ennis), and while Joseph certainly has the potential to be a great point guard, he plays very much like a college freshman. He’s not much of a threat to shoot the ball, but he enjoys pushing the pace and is best in the open floor.

Predictions for the game?

I know that St. John’s fans want to dub this the “Battle for New York,” but I think a lot of Syracuse fans scoff at this idea since it hasn’t been much of a battle lately. The Orange has won 15 of the last 16 games dating back to the 2001 season, and games played at Madison Square Garden have been heavily dominated by Syracuse fans (though the game in 2013 was much more even). That being said, this is the Red Storm’s best shot at toppling Syracuse in years. This should be a tightly contested, low scoring game, with SU ultimately holding serve in the series. 56-52 Orange.

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Head on over to The Juice Online today as well as STP Managing Editor Joseph Nardone reciprocated Wesley’s interview over there.