Adrian Autry calls Syracuse basketball’s toughness into question: ‘You gotta be tough to play college basketball’

Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry chooses his words carefully when addressing media. Typically measured in public speech, Autry is mindful of his words, considerate of both their impact and the feelings of those he’s speaking about.

So it felt significant when he expressed public frustration following Syracuse’s 88-83 defeat to Wake Forest. Autry’s emotions were controlled, but he spoke firmly in the post-game presser and aired grievances about his team.

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Autry didn’t mince words when talking about Syracuse’s defense. He called the collective toughness of his team into question.

“It’s been a struggle all year for us. In college you gotta be tough,” Autry said. “You gotta do tough things, you gotta make tough plays. You gotta have resistance, you gotta be able to defend. We just don’t do that. We’ve been inconsistent all year and that’s reflected in our record.”

Syracuse dropped to 15-14 overall and 6-10 in the ACC after Saturday’s loss. Wake Forest’s offensive numbers were staggering. The Syracuse defense gave up 58% shooting to the Demon Deacons, including 56% from three.

“That’s been a challenge all year to get people to care about that end of the floor and not only the offensive end of the floor,” Autry said. “Until that mindset changes our results are going to be mixed.

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“But you gotta be tough. And you gotta be able to play both ends of the floor in college basketball. We’re just not doing that consistently.”

Syracuse began the 2025-26 season with defense as the focal point. Tough man-to-man defense was to be the centerpiece with which the team based its identity. Stops would be this team’s calling card; tracking kills and pumping up the energy from the bench (aka the juicing station) we’re meant to reinforce that intention. Somewhere between the win over Tennessee and the start of ACC play the team’s defensive intensity started to wane.

Wake Forest out-rebounded Syracuse 30-18 and had ten…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/adrian-autry-calls-syracuse-basketball-170000598.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-01 17:00:00

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