Freshmen at the Point

Syracuse University and Coach Jim Boeheim have been fortunate to often be able to start an experienced point guard for the Orange.  In his first 37 seasons on the Hill, Boeheim has only started a freshman point guard seven seasons.  Tyler Ennis, for 2013-2014, will be the eighth journey with freshman running the team.

The first freshman point guard for Boeheim was unquestionably the most gifted freshman point guard.  Pearl Washington stepped onto Syracuse's campus in 1983, and electrified the crowds with his playground style of basketball.  The Pearl's freshman campaign was a fantastic individual highlight reel, including his game winning half court short to beat Boston College, and his outstanding Big East Tournament effort, where he scored 30 points in the semi-finals against Villanova, and 27 in a memorable Syracuse-Georgetown finals, a game the Orangemen would lose in overtime.  

Syracuse would go 23-9 that season, including 12-4 in the Big East, largely behind the efforts of Washington and sophomore Rafael Addison.  The Pearl would average 14.4 ppg and 6.2 assists. He was also very turnover prone with 3.5 per game, and also foul prone at 3.1 per game. The Pearl would log 34 minutes a game, and did have the luxury of Gene Waldron in the backcourt.  Waldron had been Syracuse's starting point guard the previous two seasons, and provided some steady play.

The next freshman to start at point guard for Syracuse was something of a surprise.  Syracuse had a team loaded with experienced talent for the 1989-1990, but had just lost superstar Sherman Douglas to graduation the previous season.  Boeheim wanted to get all his talent on the court to start the game and moved high flying senior Stephen Thompson to the point, playing sophomore guard Dave Johnson at shooting guard, along with a monster front line of Billy Owens, Derrick Coleman and LeRon Ellis.  

The move of Thompson to the point hurt the team for two reasons. First, Thompson was not a natural point guard, and was uncomfortable in the position. He was not proficient at running the offense.  Second, Thompson was the best finisher on the team, loved playing near and high above the rim, something he could not do from the point guard position.  So after fifteen games into the season, Boeheim inserted unheralded freshman Michael Edwards into the starting lineup.  

Edwards would play the point competently, which was all the team was asking of him.  Syracuse would go 26-7, and win the Big East Regular season championship.  Edwards would score 6.3 points per game and have 5.0 assists per game.

Adrian 'Red' Autry, was highly touted out of high school, and would immediately replace Edwards at the point in the starting lineup the next season (1990-1991); Edwards would still start but moved to the shooting guard position.  Autry was a big guard at 6'4", and was able to run the offense very well.  Syracuse would have a very successful season going 26-6, and 12-4 in the Big East winning the Big East regular season championship.  Billy Owens was the big story on the team, and most of the plays went through Owens one way or another, taking some of the burden off of Autry.

Unfortunately the Orangemen's post season did not go well, as they were one and done in the Big East Tournament and NCAA with shocking losses to Villanova and Richmond.  Autry finished the season with 9.7 ppg and 5.3 apg.  Like the Pearl, he was turnover and foul prone, with 3.6 and 3.4 averages respectively.  

It would be another six seasons until a freshman ran the Syracuse offense. In 1996-1997 highly heralded Jason Hart started for the Orangemen.  It was a very experienced team with seniors Jason Cipolla and Otis Hill, and juniors Marius Janulis and Todd Burgan all starting.  The team was coming off of a surprising Final Four season, and there were some reasonable expectations for a strong season. The Orangemen would start the year ranked 13th in the country in the AP polls.

However, by mid season, the team had dropped out of the polls with four losses by December 14th.  The loss of the talent and veteran leadership from John Wallace and Lazarus Sims from the previous season was clearly felt. Hart was a solid defensive guard, but tended to make poor shot decisions and game play decisions on offense.  He would shoot only 37.9% from the floor, and average 3.0 turnovers a game.  The Orange had no other point guard to really help him out, so Hart played about 35 minutes each game.  He did average 9.6 ppg and 5.8 apg, decent numbers for a freshman.  

The Orangemen would finish 19-13, and would lose in the first round of the NIT Tournament.

The next time a freshman point guard started for Syracuse, the end result would be the first NCAA National Championship for the Orange.  In 2002-2003, red-shirted freshman Billy Edelin was slated to be the starting point guard; however, NCAA violations from activity in another basketball league prevented Edelin from playing in the first 12 games of the season.  So Boeheim turned to another freshman, Gerry McNamara, and made him the point guard.

The results were far better than anyone could have expected. McNamara played the point position well, and the team had outstanding ball movement.  Superstar freshman Carmelo Anthony had a lot to do with that, as he drew a lot of defensive attention; but Anthony wasn't the only star on the team, and players knew their roles.  McNamara would play a very strong game at point guard, and was excellent at the inside/outside game with Anthony and Hakim Warrick.  McNamara would get the ball to one of those big men, and if defenses collapsed too much, they would kick it back out to McNamara who would drain the three point shot. 

McNamara would remain the starting point guard for the whole season, even after Edelin returned, and would play 35.2 minutes per game.  Once Edelin returned, McNamara would get some opportunities to play the shooting guard, but still would log more time at the point. It wasn't until the championship game that Edelin saw more time at the point than McNamara.  Syracuse would of course finish the year 30-5, 13-3 in the Big East, and would win the National Championship. In that game, McNamara would hit six three point shots in the first half to help the Orange get a large early lead.  

McNamara would finish the year with 13.3 ppg, and 4.4 apg.  He was good at not turning the ball over with only 2.4 turnovers a game, and while not a great defender, he was very adept at stepping into the passing lanes for a quick steal, averaging 2.2 steals a game.  

Jonny Flynn would be the next freshman to run the Orange, for the 2007-2008 season. Flynn was electrifying, a guard with great quickness and some flair in his play.  He was a good playmaker, but the team struggled.  A preseason injury took sharpshooting junior Andy Rautins out for the year, and midway through the season his classmate Eric Devendorf would tear his ACL and miss the remainder of the season.  Syracuse would end up with a lot of defensive and rebounding talent on the team, but not many polished offensive players.  Freshman Donte' Greene was the best offensive weapon, and the game tended to focus the offense on him, and unfortunately it often ended with him.  The lack of depth due to injuries forced three starters, including Flynn, to play 35+ minutes a game.

The Orange would finish a disappointing 21-14 that year, including 9-9 in the Big East.  Flynn would have an impressive freshman campaign with 15.7 ppg and 5.3 assists, and would be the Co-Rookie of the Year in the Big East.

The last freshman to start at the point for Syracuse was Brandon Triche in 2009-2010.  This may have been the best all around team in Syracuse history, with a devastating post season injury shortening their run.  Syracuse started the season unranked, and by March 2nd, 2010, they would be the #1 ranked team in the country.  They would enter the NCAA tournament as a #1 seed, however, they lost center Arinze Onuaku to a knee injury in the Big East Tournament, and the hurt them in a close lost to Butler in the tournament.

Triche played well at point guard all season.  He had the luxury of being on a veteran team, and having a veteran back up point guard to support him in Scoop Jardine, a sophomore in his third year at Syracuse.  Perhaps the biggest advantage was most of the offense flowed through senior Andy Rautins, the teams top three point shooter and top assist man.  

Triche would spend a lot of time at the shooting guard position, along with the point guard position, as Boeheim rotated Triche, Jardine and Rautins as needed.  Triche was steady, but Jardine usually played the point at the crunch minutes at the end of the game.  

Triche would finish the year with 8.1 ppg, and 2.8 apg.  He shot an excellent 40% from three point range, often as the luxury of defenses considering him the fifth best scoring option on the floor. Triche took advantage of those opportunities.

Tyler Ennis will be the eighth freshman point guard, and has no true backup.  There will be a lot of minutes the 6'2" guard will have to play. He will be blessed with an outstanding senior in C.J. Fair who has a great inside/outside game, and several promising players who could provide strong offensive support, such as Trevor Cooney and Jerami Grant.  Ennis will have his work cut out for him; the preseason activity in Canada looked very promising, and if the Syracuse team can develop so that it can rely on Ennis to run the offense, and not have to provide it, then it could be an excellent freshman year for him, and an excellent season for the Orange.

Let's sit back and see what happens. Let's go Orange!

Season is Over

It is always bittersweet when the season is over, with the exception of 2002-2003.  A loss is always the last game of the year, and it is tough to end that way.  Player's careers end, and the team as you know it ceases to exist.

This year's team did not disappoint me.  It was a flawed team, as many in the NCAA were.  They lost their mojo down the stretch of the regular season, and that did disappoint me, particularly with it being the last year of the Big East.  However, they redeemed, and revitalized themselves in the Big East Tournament, and carried that success over to the NCAA tournament.

The Orange would dominate their first four games of the NCAA tournament, making tournament worthy teams look inept on offense. Syracuse was playing their zone defense at its best, generating high turnovers, reducing shooting percentages, and simply frustrating teams out of their game plans.

Last night the Michigan Wolverines were able to jump out to a 36-25 halftime lead, primarily for three reasons. The first was that Mitch McGary kept his phenomenal post-season play going, doing his best Bill Walton impression with his shooting, rebounding and passing.

The second was Michigan's ability to hit the shots in the first half. A couple of bench players came in and made some three point shots, and Michigan made a couple of 30 foot three point shots in desperation.  

The third was that Syracuse could not handle Michigan's defense, could not figure out how to score.

I will digress for a second here while I rant about my feelings of the national media and halftime shows. I often wonder if they watch the same games I do. I have more of a feeling that they make up their minds before the game begins, and then use the action in the first half of the game to justify their positions.

Look, Michigan made some nice plays in the first half against Syracuse's defense.  Michigan also made some incredibly difficult shots.  A team runs a defense to force another team to take shots it doesn't want to take; that is how the game works. If that other team happens to make those difficult shots, you tip your hat to them.  You don't need to adjust your defense to account for it, though all the experts at halftime indicated that is exactly what the Orange would need to do.

The experts made very little reference to the fact that Syracuse's offense was struggling against Michigan's underrated defense. That was the real story of the game. 

I could not believe the experts were suggesting that Syracuse, down by 11, would need to adjust its defensive scheme to win the game.  Nonsense. 

Instead, Syracuse did exactly what it needed to do. It turned up the pressure a little with its zone, kept playing its solid defense, and slowly brought themselves into the game. 

C.J. Fair had an outstanding game, and Michigan had very little answer for him.  He ended up hitting 9 of 20 shots, but it sure seemed like he was hitting more than that.

Jerami  Grant game in and gave the Orange a much needed lift, something he hasn't done for a while.  His seven rebounds in seventeen minutes were very important.  

Syracuse's defense stymied Michigan's offense in the second half. The NCAA Player of the Year, Trey Burke, could never figure out the defense.  He scored only 7 points on 1-8 shooting, and had only 4 assists. Tim Hardaway Jr was 4 of 16 from the field.  The sharp shooting Nik Stauskas, who had just torched Florida with 6 for 6 three point shooting, and had a 43.9% three point shooting on the year, was held to 0 for 4.

The Orange did a lot right last night, and should be proud of their accomplishments. They got back into the game, and had a few pivotal moments where it was theirs to take, but the breaks did not fall.  The biggest moment down the stretch was during Syracuse's big run, and Carter-Williams had the great defensive play on Hardway, drawing the charge on the trap just beyond half court. That play would have been a dagger into the Wolverines souls, and given Syracuse the ball.

Instead, the referee erred and called it a blocking foul on Carter-Williams.  This had the triple impact of not giving Syracuse the ball, giving the Wolverine free throws, AND giving Carter-Williams his fourth personal foul, which would be extremely critical a minute later when he fouled out.

I don't want to hark on that moment, though in the tide of a game, that was huge. It cannot be understated.

Nevertheless, the bottom line why the Orange did not win was that Carter-Williams, Brandon Triche and James Southerland could not deliver throughout the game.  As well as Carter-Williams had played in the tournament, he struggled on Saturday night. Defensively he was outstanding (look at Burke & Hardaway). But offensively he did nothing; his passing and running of the offense was negated, and he turned the ball over 5 times.

Triche played a decent game, but Syracuse needed more from him.  They needed him to be able to hit a three point shot; he wisely only took two (he missed), but a big night from Triche shooting would have helped.  He was smart and realized he could drive to the hoop, and kept doing that late in the game. A very wise move... the type of move he kept forgetting about all year.  It was questionable whether or not he charged on this last foul; I applaud him for deciding to take it to the hoop.  It was the right decision, just the wrong outcome. Hidden in Triche's game was his outstanding defense (MCW had help in shutting down the Michigan guards), and his ball handling. Triche had 8 assists and only 2 turnovers for the game.

Syracuse really missed James Southerland. Michigan played him tight, but he did get a few open shots.  If Southerland had made a couple of those shots earlier in the game, something he had done all year long, that would have made a huge difference.  Syracuse also missed Southerlands defensive play and rebounding that he had excelled at lately.

Keep in mind that Southerland was missing some open shots that he normally makes, and two bench players for Michigan (Albrecht & LeVert) went 4 for 5 from three point range.  That type of thing makes a HUGE difference in a tight game.

Syracuse still had its chances in the last minute, despite the fact that its two starting guards were both out of the game, and they had no real ball handler on the court.  

The team never gave up. They played as a team down the stretch, they gave it all they could.  It was a game they could've won, and that will bother the players.  But the Orange never folded, like they did at points this year. They never panicked.  The team had offensive limitations all year, and those limitations could not be overcome down the stretch against a Wolverine team that was playing with real defensive intensity.

So, my thanks to the Orange for a wonderful season.  It's not a National Championship, but you gave us all a fun ride through the NCAA Tournament.

Brandon Triche in Review

Brandon Triche has one of the most difficult careers to define at Syracuse. Is he an overrated local player who was fortunate enough to be along for the ride on three great Syracuse squads? Or is he an integral part of those teams that defined whether they one or loss the games? Triche has started a school record 146 games, soon to be 147 come this Saturday.

Three Point Shooting: If you don’t think getting open looks and having defenses sag off of you don’t make a difference, take a look a Triche’s three point shooting season by season. As a freshman he made 40% of his shots (32 of 80). He benefited a lot because opposing defenses had to respect Andy Rautins on the perimeter, Wesley Johnson everywhere on the court, Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson with their high percentage shooting inside, and Kris Joseph slashing to the hoop. A great situation for a freshman sharpshooter to be in, and Triche delivered.

As a sophomore, Triche became the main three point shooter, and his percentage dropped to 33%. Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph also took to shooting the trey, but nobody was a serious threat… at least not of the level of Rautins and Johnson.

Ditto with his junior season; there was no great three point shooters, though a bevy of guys who all shot in that 35% range. Triche hit 35%.

This season Triche inexplicably has dropped to 29%. That is just plain awful for a guy who shoots as much as he does. And his career has shown that he should be about a 34%-35% shooter in this situation.

Free Throw Shooting: Triche struggled at the line his freshman year, hitting only 63% of his free throws. His sophomore season, Triche became an iceman at that free throw line, hitting 84% of his charity shots, including a school record 37 consecutive free throws. Triche dropped a little his junior year, hitting 77.5%, but still was a solid shooter, and was often on the court the last few minutes of the game because of his stellar free throw shooting.

His senior year, Triche is hitting 74% of his free throws. That’s an average number, somewhat respectable. But he now seems to miss all the crucial free throws, the complete opposite of the previous two years.

Clutch Shooting: Triche was often removed from the court his freshman year during crunch time because Jardine was a much better clutch shooter. Yet late in his sophomore season, and throughout his junior season, Triche was seemingly always the guy who would step up and make two critical shots in a row to start a Syracuse rally, or to stop an opposing team’s rally. Even early this season that occurred, and yet that has seemed to completely disappeared from his resume.

Ball Handling: Triche was the steady ball handler his junior season, the guy you wanted on the court during crunch time because he wouldn’t make mistakes. He had a 1.9 assist to turnover ratio that year, which is fine for a 2-guard. This season Triche has twice the number of turnovers, and a 1.27 assist to turnover ratio. The frustrating thing is that a lot of his turnovers appear to be of the freshman variety; that is, poor decision making and sloppy passing.

Driving to the Hoop: Triche is a strong player and has always been excellent at driving to the hoop. It seems like he has settled for more three point shots this year than in the past. Statistically speaking, that is not true. 38.5% of his shots this year are three pointers, compared to 40%, 48% and 41.1% for each of his first three years. So he is taking a higher percentage of his shots inside the arc, albeit a small difference. It just doesn’t seem that way.

He is also shooting at about the same frequency as he has in the past; if anything, it is a little bit less. His junior year, he had a shot every 2.9 minutes. This year he has a shot every 3.0 minutes.

Rebounding: Triche is a good rebounder for a guard, averaging about 3.4 rebounds a game. That’s not record breaking, nor even in Michael Carter-Williams league, but it is a respectable number for a 2-guard. That has remained somewhat consistent for his career.

Reputation: I have read a lot of fans derisively state that the only reason that Triche got a scholarship to Syracuse was that he was Howard Triche’s nephew. Furthermore, that the only reason Jim Boeheim plays him is because of that same reason, and that he wouldn’t start for most top 25 teams

There is no evidence to support that. New York State has a reputation for turning out high quality high school basketball players. Recruiting the New York State Player of the Year, for the highest school classification, would be a plum in the cap of any coach. Brandon Triche earned that distinction his senior year at Jamesville-DeWitt.

Syracuse has been 121-25 in the four years that Triche has played, including 55-17 in the Big East, one of the toughest, if not the toughest conference in the country. That includes two Big East Regular Season Championships, and a 29-12 record against top 25 teams. He is a 6’4” guard with the ability to rebound, drive to the hoop, play some point guard, and in most seasons, make a three. Guys like him will start for most top 25 programs.

Conclusion: Overall, I do not know what to make of Triche’s career. This Final Four run has clearly helped his legacy. During one stretch of this season when James Southerland was out of the line up, Triche would lead the Orange in scoring four out of seven games, including a victory on the road to #1 Louisville. The only loss during that period was an overtime loss to Villanova, where Triche led the team with 23 points. So he has been the big man for a period of this year; we all just seemed to have forgotten that with his terrible play down the regular season stretch.

If I was pushed for an answer, I would say he is a great complimentary player. He is the type of guy that Championship teams have on their starting roster, but not the star of a team. You don’t win championships without guys like Brandon Triche in your lineup, but you also don’t win championships if your team is dependent upon guys like him.

On to the Elite Eight

A recipe for disaster for Syracuse would be a game where James Southerland is held to 3 points, Michael Carter-Williams has only one assist, and Carter-Williams is the leading scorer on the team.  Yet that is exactly what happened in the Syracuse / Indiana game, and the Orange won handedly. 

I must admit that I thought this team had no chance of making the Final Four, and now they are one very winnable game from being there. Marquette is a tough opponent, and either team could win the game, but this is not a case where Syracuse has to slay Goliath to advance. 

The Syracuse defense has been outstanding in this tournament, and really has been consistently strong all season.  It really hasn’t been a question of whether they could stop their opponents. It has been a question if they could put together enough offense to outscore their opponents. The Orange haven’t been playing perfect on offense, and still are making some ugly unforced errors, but they have been doing enough on offense to win.

Indiana had a game plan that refused to let Syracuse get the ball to Southerland. That is a very smart game plan.  The Syracuse guards responded with the correct action, and that was to take the ball to the hoop, and have the guard play dominate the game.  I hope this mindset of driving to the hoop carries over to today’s game, because when Brandon Triche and Carter-Williams drive the lane, good things happen.

Good luck to the Orange today! It should be a great game.

A Farewell with Redemption

The Big East Tournament has turned into a fond farewell for the Syracuse players and the fans.  The magic and aura of the madness in Madison Square Garden will dearly be missed, something we all are becoming more aware of each and every game Syracuse advances.  Tonight it will end. 

Fortunately for the Orange, the Tournament is going to bring a positive resolution for many involved.  The backdrop of the poor performance by the Orange over the past few weeks, only heightens what we can observe today.

First, congratulations to Trevor Cooney. We have been hearing about how well he plays in practice, but had yet seen that play in Big East action. Last night, was his coming out party with 10 points, including a couple of threes. More impressive was his hustle, solid defense, and rebounding. He could not have chosen a better stage.

Baye Keita did his Gerry McNamara impression, and calmly drained seven out of seven free throws.  He did a yeoman’s job of handling Georgetown’s big men, and had a team high 13 points.

James Southerland… what a way to shake off some shooting rust.  He has tied the Big East Tournament three point shooting record with his 16 treys, and he still has one game left to play. I am glad to see the senior get some glory in MSG; it allows us to forget his poor shooting down the stretch of the season.

And it was great to see Brandon Triche show some emotion, and get his game back on track. The senior has meant a lot to the Orange over four years, and it was so disappointing to see his season fall apart over the last few weeks. He has had the opportunity to make some treys in the tournament, and has made some excellent decisions in driving to the hoop.  That is the type of play that Triche has shown in the past when he leads this team; it fuels the Orange offense and allows it to fire on all cylinders.

C.J. Fair had a poor game shooting and uncharacteristically made some poor decisions, something he would surely like to forget. But his emphatic dunk in overtime that gave Syracuse the four point margin should erase all memories of that. That dunk will be remembered as one of the greatest in SU history.

It is tough leaving the Big East, and it was very disappointing to close out the regular season playing poorly. Losing to Georgetown in a non-competitive situation in the Dome really hurt. We have all become accustomed to fierce games between the two teams, and that loss was anti-climatic.

Last night’s game erases that memory. A 58-53 overtime win just added to the legacy of the series.  It is unfortunate it is the last meaningful game between the two schools.  Even if the Orange had lost last night, it would have been a fitting conclusion… a hard fought physical games, and something to appreciate. The fact that Syracuse won makes it far sweeter.

Finally, the man who is really getting his due is coach Jim Boeheim.  I hope no one doubts how much the Big East Conference has meant to Boeheim. He has stated that the past two years, but people may just take it for granted. Having the opportunity to play Georgetown last night was extra special for him; you could tell by his emotions down the stretch and post game.  Typically the only emotions you will see from Boeheim in a game are anger and stoicism.  Last night you could see that Boeheim really wanted to win the game; it was very special for him. He was displaying excitement about the players positive scoring in the last few minutes of the game and in overtime.  His moist eyes in the post game interviews revealed any more.  The Georgetown series is now officially over.

I’ve been blessed to be old enough to be able to watch all the Big East Tournaments since inception. This is meaningful to me.  Just think about how meaningful it is to Jim Boeheim? He lives and breaths college basketball, and loves the Big East. This isn’t just a hobby for him; it has been an integral part of his life, and he knows it is going away forever.  It has to make him feel very happy knowing that his team put on a good show during their last Big East Tournament.

I think that is all he wanted from this week. And I think Syracuse fans would all agree.

2011-12 versus 2009-10

The 2011-2012 season ended painfully, with an Elite Eight loss to Ohio State.  The pain of the loss was not so much the particular game, which in itself was horribly officiated on both ends of the court. No, the pain was watching a tremendously accomplished Syracuse team compete without one of its key players in Fab Melo.  That squad was one of the deepest squads in Syracuse history, but the depth at center was not present.  There was a big drop off between Melo and Baye Keita, and there was no real backup to Keita.

I never wrote a recap on this blog about last season, because it was too difficult to do. It also was eerily similar to two seasons prior, the 2009-2010 season, where an equally great team lost its center, Arinze Onuaku, for the post season. That also cost that team in the post season.

Those two teams were great squads on the hill, both achieving #1 rankings at some point in the season, both winning the Big East regular season, and both earning #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.  They had different paths to those seeds.  The 2009-10 squad started the season unranked, went 8-2 versus top 25 teams, and climbed to #1 by March 2^nd.  The 2011-2012 squad started the year with high expectations with a pre-season rank of #5, and never dropped below that all season, rising to #1 by December 17^th.  They would go 6-1 versus top 25 teams.

There is no doubt that the 2011-2012 squad accomplished more. They went 34-3, reached the Elite Eight, and tied the Big East season mark with a 17-1 record. The 2009-2010 squad was impressive at 30-5, reaching the Sweet Sixteen and going 15-3 in the Big East. But you have to acknowledge that last year’s squad accomplished more.

The question I want to propose is which team was better? If the two squads were to meet on the court, who would win?

The 2009-10 squad went seven players deep with no other player appearing in half the games.  This was a team with well-defined roles for all the players, and with a lot of NCAA experience.  There were two fifth-year seniors in Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku, and a fourth-year junior in Wesley Johnson.  Rick Johnson was a junior, Scoop Jardine a third-year sophomore, and Kris Joseph a sophomore.  Brandon Triche was the only inexperienced player as a true freshman.

This squad was extremely proficient at running the half-court offense with Andy Rautins running most of the offense.  Syracuse’s inside-out game was outstanding, with Onuaku and Jackson pounding the ball inside with high precision (67% and 59% respectively).  Johnson and Joseph were extremely adept at driving to the hoop and skying about the rim.  Rautins, Triche and Jardine were all good ball handlers, and because of Rautins’ adeptness at making the three point shot from deep range, teams had to focus on him on the perimeter and on the big men inside. This gave open shots to Triche, Johnson and Jardine, and Syracuse was extremely good at making the three point shot.  Between those four, they made 41% of their three point shots (202 of 498).   

The team had four good free throw shooters in Rautins, Johnson, Jardine and Joseph.  Rautins was extremely good in making 82% of his charity shots.   The team was prone to some careless turnovers from Jardine, and some overly aggressive passing from Rautins.

However, it was the team’s defense that made them a #1 team.  Their ‘Shut It Down’ defense would clamp down on opposing teams, and prevent them from scoring for 5 to 8 minutes of the game.   Onuaku and Jackson were not especially tall, but they were very wide bodied and took up a lot of space along the baseline at 235 lbs and 265 lbs respectively.  Triche (6’4”) and Rautins (6’5”) were tall and rangy up front, preventing easy looks from opposing players inside.  Johnson and Joseph were explosive from the wings intercepting passes and taking off down the court.   The team was not particularly adept at shot blocking, but very good at maintaining its defensive positioning, and good at rebounding.

Let’s go forward two years to the 2011-2012 team.  Syracuse would go 9-10 players deep each game.  A very explosive backcourt with a four man rotation of Brandon Triche, Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Michael Carter-Williams. It was also a very experience backcourt with Triche a junior (and three year starter), Jardine a fifth-year senior, and Waiters a sophomore.  Jardine and Waiters were very adept at tipping passes and running the fast break, something Syracuse did extremely well. 

Kris Joseph provided the interior offensive game with his drives to the hoop, though the lane was not nearly as clear as he had found it two years prior. Syracuse did not have any great three point shooters, but they had five guys who could make about 35% of their shots in Jardine, Triche, Waiters, Joseph and James Southerland. 

The team was extremely good at shot block and altering shots, led by Fab Melo and his three blocks a game. They were also very adept as a team at stealing the ball, and with the ten man rotation, the players were always fresh; Joseph led the team in minutes played and that was about 32/game.   C.J. Fair did a little bit of everything to make sure the job was getting done.

The team did not run its half-court offense very well.  It relied on the fast break to generate most of its points.  However, the guards were very adept at taking their defenders one-on-one and driving into the paint to make things happen, particularly Waiters and Triche. Waiters was extremely explosive, and Triche very strong.  The team had four good free throw shooters in Triche, Waiters, Joseph and Fair.  It hurt that Jardine struggled at the line, since he played the point, but he would often get removed late in the game to prevent that situation.

The two teams would be an interesting matchup.  Up front would be a tough matchup both ways. Up front you would basically have Rautins/Triche/Jardine versus Waiters/Triche/Jardine.  The latter three would be more adept at driving the lane (particularly Waiters), and in pestering offensive players. The former three would be more adept at preventing players from getting into the lane, and in shooting deep (with Rautins).  I would have to give an edge to last year’s squad up front because of Waiters and the more experienced Triche/Jardine combo.  It would not be a huge edge.

The interior play is where I think the 2009-2010 squad would have a big edge. Wesley Johnson was the  Big East player of the year. He was explosive at getting to the hoop, and could pull outside for three.  Onuaku and Jackson were polished interior scorers, and they knew how to get offensive and defensive rebounds.  Joseph was a better player in 2011-12 than in 2009-10, but he struggled last year without other players to open the lane for him.  Christmas and Melo were very limited offensively (as was Keita); Fair would be the only other scoring threat inside, and he would pick up those garbage points. 

 

I think the size and experience of Jackson and Onuaku would take a lot of advantage over the inexperience of Christmas and Melo.  It’s true Melo would block some shots, but big body players are often good at avoiding the blocks by creating separation and going strong to the hoop. 

Both teams would be able to run the court, and run it well.  I don’t think fatigue would come into play for the 2009-10 squad, because they played their whole season with only 7 players anyhow.  I think the answers to two questions would determine the outcome.

1^st – could last year’s squad limit the second and third chance shots that the 2009-2010 team specialized in with its rebounding?

2^nd – could last year’s squad generate enough fast break opportunities to limit its exposure in the half court? 

For those who watched last year’s games, you would know that the team struggled all year to get rebounds, and prevent second chances.  I don’t see how the 2009-2010 squad would be any different, and they would probably get their fair share of second shot opportunities.

And I do not think last year’s team would generate enough fast break opportunities to offset  their half-court liabilities against a team that was ‘Shut It Down’ in the half-court defense. Basically, we would have a team that struggled in the half court set (2011-2012) trying to score against a team that specialized in stopping that exact same thing. 

I think 2009-2010 comes out on top. That’s not a knock on last year’s team. I thought the 2009-2010 team was going to win the National Championship. Their teamwork and unselfishness were outstanding (and much of that carried over to last year’s team).  That 2009-2010’s biggest weakness was they had no player outside of their top seven, and that came back to get them. 

Southerland for 35

James Southerland led Syracuse to a Big East / SEC Challenge win over Arkansas with a great night of shooting, scoring 35 points for the Orange.  Southerland tied the school record for three point shots in a game, making 9, tying Gerry McNamara and Andy Rautins.  Southerland has always had the shooting touch, and it is nice to see the senior get a chance to show his stuff on national television.

 

Southerland hit nine out of thirteen three point shots for the game.  He is the first Syracuse Orangeman to score 30 points since Wesley Johnson scored 31 against Gonzaga on March 21st, 2010 in the NCAA Tournament three seasons ago.

 

His 35 points was the most by an Orangeman since Jonny Flynn scored 35 against Providence on January 28th, 2009, four seasons ago.  Southerland's effort was the most points by a Syracuse bench player ever, and the first time a bench player scored 30+ points in a game since George Hicker did it against West Virginia on February 19th, 1966.

 

I find it ironic that the last six times a Syracuse player has scored 30 or more points, they have done it on the road.  Southerland was at Arkansas, Johnson in the NCAA against Gonzaga, Flynn at Madison Square Garden against UConn, again Flynn, this time at Providence, and finally Eric Devendorf at Villanova. The last Syracuse player to score 30+ points at home was Demetris Nichols with 37 against St. Johns in February of 2007.

 

Almost lost in the night was the fact that Michael Carter-Williams fell one assist short of a triple double.  He had 10 rebounds, 17 points and 9 assists.  A collegiate triple double is tough, with only 40 minutes of play. It has been done only nine times in Syracuse history, by five players, the last being Allen Griffin in 2001. That list also includes Derrick Coleman, Lazarus Sims, Leo Rautins (3x) and Dave Bing (3x).  I would bet even money that Carter-Williams will accomplish the feat is his collegiate year, particularly if he stays around through his junior season. He is an assist man, the points come easy, and at 6'6" a big rebounding night is always possible. I do find it ironic that he missed his triple double by the assist, considering he leads the nation in that category.

 

Brandon Triche once again showed that he is a big moment player, stepping up in the crunch time in the second half, making 10 straight points to stop a late Arkansas surge. Triche has the reputation of making the shot when one is needed, and he did it again.

 

Congratulations to the Orange on a fine win and to James Southerland on his great night.

A New Carrier Classic

The 2012-2013 Syracuse Basketball season kicked off with some fanfare as the Orange took on the #20 ranked San Diego State Aztecs in the ‘Battle of the Midway’, upon the USS Midway in the Carrier Classic.  Of course, when I hear Carrier Classic, I still have images of Syracuse beating Michigan State and Magic Johnson, or GeneWaldron bombing Iona with 40 points.  But a new era, a new age, and the Orange were able to participate in this new memorable series.

Memorable will be what the game will go down as, even if it was not a well-played game.  An outdoor game with a strong breeze off the bay and strong sunlight in the eyes of the players can wreck some havoc on the games plans of both teams.  The fact that neither team could shoot a perimeter shot on the right side of the court (from the viewing audience) brought some interesting strategy into the game.  One has to wonder why Steve Fisher never instructed his players to stop taking the three point shots, as they finished a horrendous 1 of 18.  Jim Boeheim and the Orange figured it out fairly quickly, only taking four three point shots, all in the first half, and then abandoning that for the rest of the game.

There is not a lot you can take away from this game in terms of how the Orange will play for this season, as the game put limits on what teams could or could not do.  However, there were a few things I observed that made me smile for this upcoming year.

Syracuse was definitely the bigger team with the better inside game. The Orange, however, played the second half of the game shooting into the bad side of the court, where they took no perimeter shots.  Yet, they were consistently able to drive to the hoop from their half court set, despite the fact that the Aztecs knew that was the only offensive play the Orange would be able to run.  Brandon Triche did this two or three times; no one should doubt his athletic ability to get to the hoop.  I am not sure how Boeheim is going to get Trevor Cooney playing time with Michael Carter-Williams and Triche in the backcourt.  Then again, Boeheim was masterfully able to accomplish the four guard rotation last year.

DaJuan Coleman is HUGE.  He looked like a man-child on the court next to the rest of the players.  He will definitely clog up some space in the middle.  I liked the fact that Baye Keita was displaying the aggressive and active form he had most of his freshman season.  Valuable minutes from him will critical at times this upcoming year.

C.J. Fair did a lot of everything, which we all have come to take for granted. I think he pressed a little bit too much in the first half with taking too much of the offense upon himself, but it is a good sign he is asserting himself.  Rakeem Christmas was a defensive force with 5 blocked shots, and pulled down 6 rebounds (I would’ve liked more boards). 

The Orange jumped out to a 17-4 lead, and never let San Diego State back into the game.  They made the free throws when they had to make the free throws. They made the defensive stops when they had to, and they countered with strong offensive play whenever the Aztecs threatened. Those are good signs.

I look forward to the rest of this new season. Go Orange!

You Cannot Play Them All

Jim Boeheim cannot win praise from his detractors, regardless of what he does.   You would think Syracuse was mired in an underperforming season with a record of 20-10 instead of being 33-2, ranked #2 in the country with a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.  Fans love to second guess head coaches, and Syracuse fans are no different.

Historically Boeheim has gone only 7-8 players deep on his roster, preferring to keep his top talent on the court as much as possible.  This season, he has gone 10 players deep most of the season and yet he still gets criticized for not giving some players more playing time.

I like Brandon Triche’s game a lot. He is likely the team’s best three point shooter  and clearly their best free throw shooter.  He is the best rebounding guard on the team, and while not flashy, he is a solid point guard, and he is a three year starter with tons of experience.  Yet he sits a lot, and that is quite reasonable considering the best offensive talent on this team is the backcourt players.  You have to find time for Scoop Jardine and for Dion Waiters; Boeheim does an excellent job of getting them all playing time. 

A faction of the fan base criticize Boeheim because he does not play Michael Carter-Williams more.  MCW plays in most games, about 3-7 minutes of time.  Considering there are three talented guards ahead of him in terms of experience, and current talent level, I think it says a world about how good Boeheim thinks he is by getting him that time.  He is getting some seasoning and experience, and being handled well by being put into situations he can succeed, and being held from situations where he can fail.  I think it will be invaluable for him come next season; and if the need arose this season, he would play more.  My guess is MCW will be a start for Syracuse and in the NBA someday.  Right now, that is not his role.

Other fans question why Boeheim doesn’t play to his strength and run a three guard offense. That is looking at only half the picture.  A three guard offense would definitely help the offense; there is no doubt about it.  However, what is the greatest strength of this team? It’s zone defense, a defense so good that a lot of fans in forums call it the best Syracuse defense they have ever seen.  Syracuse cannot play that zone with three guards; that would require Triche or Waiters to play the wing and guard a forward, which could be disastrous.  Do you really want to take away the best asset of the team, their zone defense, in order to get more playing time for a guard?  And going to man-to-man is not the solution; the team does not practice that well enough to effectively use it and Boeheim and his staff recruit players ideal for zone defense, not for man-to-man.

I have seen many fans question why Trevor Cooney was redshirted, when the team could clearly use his three point shooting.  Boeheim cannot currently find enough time for a talented Michael Carter-Williams on the court, and you want him to find time for Cooney?  Furthermore, we do not even know how good Cooney is with defense or ball handling at this point in his career.  I do not know how you would find reasonable playing time for him, and having him lose a season as the fifth guard makes no sense.

Rakeem Christmas is the interesting player in the mix. I know some fans are looking at Christmas’ Kansas State effort of 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots as evidence that Boeheim should have played him a lot more.  Those numbers are huge, and should not be taken lightly.  I do think Christmas is far more comfortable at center than forward.  I also think Christmas is a better rebounder than Melo, in fact, much better, and likely a better offensive player.  Christmas has been playing organized basketball for years, where as Melo only a few season, and I think Christmas is more comfortable with the ball in his hands. He is by no means an offensive juggernaut.   Christmas is okay at defense in the center position, but does not have the dominating shot blocking, the body size, nor the zone understanding that Melo does.   So there is a loss of defense without Melo, which would be expected as Melo was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

I think Boeheim and his staff want Christmas to develop into a power forward, a role Christmas is not comfortable with now.  I think Christmas is likely failing his defensive assignments as a forward, and is not the offensive threat that Joseph, Fair or Southerland is, so he is the fourth forward behind  three other veteran forwards.  I would like to see a couple more minutes out of Christmas each game, and he does have a very quick hook from Boeheim.  However, in a best case scenario, Christmas was not going to get too many more playing minutes at the forward position. 

Southerland needed the playing time to open up the Syracuse perimeter game, and he has developed his rebounding and defensive skills.  Fans love C.J. Fair, and Fair usually brings that spark to the table, along with adding in all the statistics stuffing needing to help the team.  Kris Joseph is the best scoring forward on the team, and the most experienced player on the team. 

You could have played Christmas instead of Baye Keita at center, but remember they want to develop Christmas a forward which will help him in his pursuit of a professional career, and Keita can only play center.  Keita needs to develop too, and Syracuse needed Melo on the court as much as they could.

I think minor changes could have been made at various points in the season, but they would have been minor, and with no impact on the season results.  Remember, Syracuse is 33-2. 

Some tidbits of information:

Rakeem Christmas has now started five games at center, and he has had rebound totals of 9, 1, 7, 7 and 11.  Fab Melo averages only 5.8 rebounds a game.  Of course, shot blockers are often out of rebounding position, so you trade off one ability for another.

James Southerland has scored 43 points in the four post season games, shooting 8 of 17 from three point range, and chipping in 24 rebounds, and 8 blocks. 

Where as C.J. Fair disappeared to? The man was a stat sheet stuffer all season.  In the postseason run, Fair is 2-17 from the field, including misses from point blank range, and open 10 foot jumpers.  He has 17 rebounds, but 11 came against UNC Asheville; only 6 in the other three games combined.   This has coincided with him starting, but that cannot be the reason as he did not suffer when he started three games during Melo’s first suspension.

Triche found his shooting touch as the regular season ended, but he has struggled in the post season. He is 1 of 10 from three point range, and surprisingly 4 of 10 from the free throw line.

Dion Waiters struggled for much of the season at the free throw line, but has shot 16 of 18 from the charity stripe in the post season.   He has also made 25 of 45 shots during that time frame, and has had only three turnovers.

Scoop Jardine has made seven of his eight free throw attempts in the post season, and has 17 assists the past three games. However, he has also had 14 turnovers the past three games, which has to stop.

Kris Joseph, who has logged more playing time than any other Syracuse player this post season, has continued his month long shooting problems. Joseph is 8 for 31 in the post season from the field, including 2 for 13 from three point range.  He was held reboundless against Cincinnati and had only one rebound against Kansas State yesterday. 

Milestones Entering the NCAA

Congratulations to the Orange for earning a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament. And congratulations to the UConn Huskies for winning five straight and winning the Big East tournament. The Huskies now tie the Hoyas for most Big East Tournament championships with 7.

Some quick notes on milestones for the Orange. Brandon Triche now holds the school record of 37 consecutive free throws made, breaking Mike Lee's record. He does not yet hold the Big East record for consecutive free throws made, which is 41. More notably, that record is held by a Syracuse player. So how is that possible? More on that later in the article.

Rick Jackson has played 141 games for Syracuse, and trails only Stephen Thompson (144 games) and Derrick Coleman (143 games) for games in a Syracuse uniform. A trip to the Sweet 16 would tie him for the school record, and Elite Eight would break it for him.

Jackson has 349 rebounds for the season. Earlier in the year he was on pace to break Coleman’s single season school rebounding record of 422. However, he now needs 74 rebounds to do that; if the Orange were to go to the national championship with 6 more games, he’d have to average 12.3 rebounds a game. That’s not to negate the fact that big Rick has had an outstanding season rebounding. He’s been consistent game after game this year.

Jackson now has 256 career blocked shots, which is good for seventh all-time at Syracuse. 7 more blocked shots would get him to 5th all time, passing Darryl Watkins and Jeremy McNeil. I never would have thought Jackson was that much of a shot blocker, but the statistics state otherwise.

Syracuse’s loss to UConn in the Big East Tournament was coach Jim Boeheim’s 300th career loss. It was going to occur, and really, for a guy with 855 wins, who cares?

Scoop Jardine needs 10 more assists to become the 8th Orangeman to have a 200+ assist season (Sherman Douglas did it three times).

Kris Joseph has 956 career points. He should get to 1000 points in the NCAA tournament. It would be very disappointing to all the Orange faithful if he did not (the implications being how poorly the Orange would have done).

Brando Triche has made 84.6% of his free throws this season, the 16th best season in Syracuse history (minimum of 50 attempts).

So who holds the Big East consecutive free throw record? The answer is Gerry McNamara. GMac started the streak in his first Big East game against Seton Hall on January 8th, 2003, and broke his streak during the Georgetown game on February 3rd, 2003. He, however, did not make 37 in a row? Why? Because the Orangemen played Missouri on January 13th, 2003, and McNamara missed a free throw in that game. It was a non-Big East game, so it did not impact his Big East shooting streak, but it did snap his Syracuse streak. McNamara would have two 30 free throw streaks that season.

Let’s go Orange!

Hello Melo!

Holy mackerel! Was that Fab Melo dominating a game? Mr. Melo, where have you been all year? I'm not complaining... glad to have you in March.

For those who missed the game, freshman Fab Melo played 22 minutes off the bench today, including most of the crunch time in a see-saw battle. He scored 12 points on 5 for 5 shooting from the floor, had 4 rebounds, and 1 beautiful pass to Rick Jackson from the high post. Even a nice close out on a three point shooter in the last 30 seconds of the game.

All of this was following his then-season best effort against DePaul where he went again went 5 for 5 from the floor. The last two games, Melo has scored 22 points, pulled down 10 rebounds on 10-10 from the floor and four blocked shots, in 38 minutes of play.

Brandon Triche led the team in scoring with 22 points, icing the game in the last 20 seconds with his free throw shooting. He went 8-8 from the free throw line, extending his streak to 37 consecutive free throws, along with a solid 5 assists and 6 rebounds.

Rick Jackson just missed his double double with 'only' 9 rebounds, but another nice day for Jackson, including 4 blocked shots, five offensive boards, and some clutch rebounds in traffic down the stretch. And C.J. Fair gave a nice spark off the bench with 7 rebounds in 14 minutes of play.

UConn is up next. Bring on the Huskies!

2010-2011 Milestones

Syracuse has a younger team in 2010-2011 than in the past few years, but that does not mean the squad does not have a chance to reach some significant milestones.

Jim Boeheim entered the season with 828 wins and #6 all-time on the Division I All-Time Win list. He’s moved up to #5 passing Jim Phelan’s 830 wins. He won’t be moving any higher up this list this year with Mike Krzyzewski active and at #4 with 868 (start of year), Adolph Rupp at #3 with 876, Dean Smith at #2 with 879, and Bob Knight at #1 with 902. Krzyzewski, on the other hand, it going to move up to #2 this year, easily passing Rupp & Smith.

I show the university currently having 1788 wins. 12 more will give the institution 1800.

Entering this season, Rick Jackson has 786 points, needing 214 to hit the 1000 point plateau. He should pass that around mid-season, and finish around #33 all-time at Syracuse.

Jackson has 570 career rebounds, plus 42 already this season, moving him up to 612, #28 all-time. If he averages just 10 rebounds a game this year, he should move to #8 passing Billy Owens. If he stayed at his current pace of 14 rpg (which he won’t), he would finish around #3 all-time.

Scoop Jardine has 499 career points. He needs 501 to reach 1,000 which is not out of reach. If he scored around 14.4 points a game this year, he would get there. Kris Joseph is in the same situation with 495 career points, needing 504 this year.

Jardine started the year with 233 assists and is currently at 253 putting him at #33 on the all-time list. He could finish the year somewhere around 480 assists all-time, putting him at #7 all-time. Two solid back-to-back seasons would give him a shot at being #2, surpassing Jason Hart. Sherman Douglas’ record of 960 should be safe.

Brandon Triche has 32 three point field goals after his freshman year. If keeps his current pace of 70 for this year, he will be #15 all-time at Syracuse. If he averaged 70 a year for the next three years, he would finish around #3 all-time at Syracuse. The Syracuse single season mark is 107 set by Gerry McNamara.

Four freshman have the potential to see significant playing time, so some freshman records should be observed. I do not think any of these will be broken, but they could. Blocked shots is something that Fab Melo and Baye Moussa Keita both do well, and both could move into the freshman top 10:

Freshman blocks:
91 Roosevelt Bouie
68 Derrick Coleman
65 Craig Forth
64 Jeremy McNeil
59 Rony Seikaly
57 Donte Greene
48 Etan Thomas
44 Rick Jackson
42 Otis Hill
39 John Wallace

Most points by a freshman is 778 by Carmelo Anthony, and that is not going to be broken this year.

The SU record for most fouls by a freshman is a 120 set by Derrick Coleman. Melo could take a run at that one. The all-time Syracuse record for fouls was by Otis Hill who as a junior had 134 fouls. That may also be possible.

The SU record for foul disqualifications for a freshman is 11 set by Rony Seikaly (this is also the all-class record). Melo already has 2 this year, so he could make a good run at that mark (hopefully not).

The freshman assist record is 199 by Pearl Washington. With none of the freshman taking on the role of point guard, and Syracuse two deep with Jardine and Triche, that is not going to be broken.

The freshman rebound record is 349 by Carmelo Anthony. That would require about 10 rebounds a game. If Keita had enough playing time and enough big 15 rebound games, he could challenge it, but I think he’ll play about 20 minutes a game, and be luck to average 5-6 rebounds a game.

The Syracuse all-time season field goal percentage is 66.8% set by Arinze Onuaku last year. There are guys on this team who in theory could challenge that mark: Jackson, Melo or Keita if they get enough chances. But my guess is no one will come close.

The SU record for rebounds in a season is 422 set by Derrick Coleman. If Jackson remains committed to rebounding, he could take a run at it. Jackson is averaging 14 rebounds a game right now, which would obliterate the record; however, that number is unrealistically high, with his 22 rebound performance skewing that. Nevertheless, an average of about 12.1 rebounds a game would give him a shot at the season record.

2010 Results After Two

Congratulations to Coach Jim Boeheim for this 831st career winning, giving him sole possession of the title of 5th all-time winningnest NCAA Div I basketball coach.

And congrats to the Syracuse football team for its 7th win, making the team bowl eligible for the first time since 2004, and guaranteeing their first winning season since 2001. All of this with two games left on the schedule.

Syracuse basketball is 2-0, and the team is starting to show its character for the year, with a solid win over a good mid-major program (Northern Iowa) and a win over one of its easier local teams (Canisius). Both games involved a tight first half, with a solid defensive effort throughout the game, and a explosive run to start the second half.

Rick Jackson showed us today the reminder of how well he can play when focused with a 17 point, 13 rebound effort againt Canisius. We do have to remember that he has shown that ability before and then disappeared, but it is a good early sign. Brandon Triche seems to be fitting in comfortable with his shooting guard role, hitting 4 of 9 three point shots. And I always like having a shooting guard who can also play the point.

Scoop Jardine had 8 assists today which puts a smile on my face; I wish he had taken less than 19 shots from the field in the first two games. I always like the point guard to pass first, shoot later, particularly early in the game as to involve his teammates. 12 assists and only three turnovers so far is excellent news.

C.J. Fair and Dion Waiters are showing signs they will be pushing for their share of playing time, and Mookie Jones and James Southerland look like they want to both earn the title as designated three point shooter off the bench. So there may be some good depth, though I think it may be situational.

The Orange have also shown that they are staying committed to executing the Syracuse zone defense. I think that may be the most positive of all the good news so far.

The center position is going to be interesting. Fab Melo is having a ton of foul problems early in this season, having fouled out of both games after a combined playing time of 31 minutes. Fouling out in 13 minutes against a much smaller Canisius is something that I hope is a good learning experience for the freshman. It is tough to tell really how good he may be with the limited playing time.

Baye Moussa Keita has played rather impressively in his reserve role. The freshman pulled down 15 rebounds against the Griffins earlier today, in only 17 minutes of play. That is the most rebounds by an Orangeman since Paul Harris had 16 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin in the 2009 NCAA tournament. Keita did manage to foul out of the Northern Iowa opener in 18 minutes of play, a rather impressive feat for both SU centers to pull in the same game. But I am impressed with the early showing of Keita, and having some early signs of strong potential for him is excellent news as it looks like Melo will definitely be getting some bench time this season due to his foul troubles. Bernie Fine is definitely going to have his work cut out for him. I had hoped to find an early career parallel with Rony Seikaly. But Seikaly, even as foul prone has he was as a freshman, managed to not foul out of either of his first two games, against two quality opponents, Georgia Tech and DePaul. Seikaly played 32 minutes with 3 fouls in his first game, and 29 minutes with 4 fouls in his second.

This is the type of season where the non-conference schedule becomes vitally important for the Syracuse freshman to learn how to play the college game, make the adjustments to the officiating and to the speed of the game.

What to Expect in 2010-2011?

The 2010-2011 season is almost upon us, and as is the life in collegiate basketball, the churn of the team continues. Last season was a magical ride, that ultimately ended too early, but had the Orange running at the top echelon of collegiate hoops for the bulk of the competitive season.

Last season was a surprise, and many factors came together to make the team one of the strongest in Syracuse basketball history.

1) The emergence of Wes Johnson as a top tier NCAA basketball player. Coach Jim Boeheim was telling everyone how good Johnson was in practice in 2009-2010, and how good he thought he would be. Yet no one wanted to believe the Hall of Fame coach, despite Boeheim having a long history of understating how good the new players were. Johnson ended up being better than I believe Boeheim even believed he could be.

2) The re-emergence of the shutdown zone defense, something that was not seen operating in its full beauty since the 2002-2003 season. The improvement in the zone defense itself should not have been a surprise as the change in personnel alone signaled an improvement would occur in the zone. Eric Devendorf never pretended to play defense, and Paul Harris never understood the nuances of playing zone defense. Jonny Flynn, as talented as he is, was more suited for man-to-man defense, and undersized for the top of the key in the zone defense. Those three were switched out for a 6’4” Brandon Triche at the top of the key, 6’5” Andy Rautins who was a master of zone defense, and 6’7” Wes Johnson whose natural athleticism and understanding of the game allowed him to fill that back end of the zone well. Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku were both a year older and more mature, and the extra year of playing in the Boeheim zone only benefited them. So we knew the zone would be better; I don’t we think could have anticipated that it would have been a phenomenal defense. That was the surprise.

3) A selfless team led by two selfless players in Rautins and Johnson. The 2009-2010 team made the extra pass, played a style of basketball the rewarded teammates for hustling down the court. The team moved the ball well around the perimeter and inside-out, resulting in some outstanding interior shooting by Jackson and Onuaku, and some excellent perimeter shooting by Rautins, Johnson, and Triche.

4) Experience, experience, experience. Syracuse did have three new starters in the squad in 2009-2010, but Rautins was a fifth year senior, and Johnson a fourth year junior, both with plenty of collegiate experience. Jackson was in this third year of the program, and Onuaku in this fifth. Scoop Jardine came off the bench as a third year sophomore. Kris Joseph was in his second season as a reserve with plenty of experience his freshman year, leaving only Brandon Triche as the inexperienced player. This team had a lot of experience, particularly in the correct positions.

5) An easier schedule in 2009-2010 than in 2008-2009. Now don’t get me wrong; last season was a very difficult season, and Syracuse was outstanding in playing that season. Last year they played 10 games versus top 25 teams, and the Orange went 8-2, including 6-0 versus top 10 teams. The only losses to top 25 teams occurred when Arinze Onuaku was no longer effectively in the squad. In 2008-2009, they played 15 games versus top 25 teams; that is an absurb number, and the Orange went a respectable 7-8. They played 4 games against top 5 teams, going 1-3.

Clearly, a lot of things went well for the Orange last season. Addition by subtraction. Maturation/improvement from all the key players; that doesn’t always happen. I team that bought into the ‘team concept’ and played outstanding team defense.

The coaching staff is back, and that constant had led to the ongoing success in the Boeheim era. The single concept of Jim Boeheim being there every year is absolutely vital for the program’s continued success. Keeping the key assistants in Mike Hopkins, Bernie Fine and Rob Murphy is also vital.

Syracuse is bringing in some top flight talent, which is a change from last year where there were no top 50 recruits in SU’s starting lineup. Syracuse does have some experience coming back, which again will help them out. Scoop Jardine will be a fourth year junior, and Rick Jackson a pure senior. Kris Joseph will be in his third year, and was third in minutes for the Orange last year. Many, including myself, are expecting Joseph to continue to elevate his game. Brandon Triche now has a year of collegiate basketball under his belt, and Mookie Jones is now in his third year with the program. James Southerland had a year of practicing against Onuaku and Johnson last year, so I am eager to see how he has improved.

The incoming freshman are highly touted. Fab Melo is being counted on for some valuable minutes at the center. Replacing Onuaku will be very difficult, and Melo is a different style player, and only a freshman. Freshman centers are often the least disciplined players in their first years, having to make the biggest adjustments, so it will be asking a lot for Melo to be star in year one. But he could be. Baye Moussa Keita, a lanky but athletic freshman, will back him up.

Syracuse will be a little bit smaller at the top of the key with Jardine (6’2”) replacing Rautins (6’5”); but Jardine is not inexperienced at the zone. Freshman Dion Waiters, at 6’4”, should be a nice piece of the zone at the top, if he understands the concept.

The loss of Onuaku in the back of the zone will hurt a lot. Arinze took up a lot of space horizontally, and had tremendous strength. Rick Jackson will likely play some center this year, and has a similar build, but that removes size from Jackson’s former position. Melo, at 7’, would definitely fill up space, but he will have a lot to learn. Joseph at 6’7” should be a good replacement for Johnson. Sophomore James Sutherland and freshman CJ Fair, both at 6’8”, should be able to provide some wingspan on the back of that zone.

If the returning players from last year can convince the new players to buy into the concept that won so many games last year, and some of the players continue to develop, 2010-2011 can be another exciting year.

2010 Milestones Reached

The 2009-2010 season has wrapped up, and we have to say farewell to a couple of fifth year seniors in Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku. Though neither was a four year starter, they both did put up some notable career statistics, and this season saw a few other highlights.

Before I move on, here is the trivia question for today. Rautins and Onuaku were fifth year seniors, and because of injuries in their career, they played a year beyond their class graduation (2009). Who were the three Syracuse basketball players who should have been seniors on this year’s team?

Back to the statistics. Rautins finished his career as the 2nd all-time three point shooter at Syracuse with 282 three point shots made, trailing only Gerry McNamara’s 400. Rautins is 10th all-time in 3 point pct with 37.4%.

Andy Rautins, of course, is forever linked to his father Leo, and we can check how they compared. Both are in the 1000 point club, Andy with 1,121 pts (46th all time) versus Leo’s 1,031 (53rd). Leo has the edge in points per game, leading 12.1 to 8.8.

Leo shot 76.7% from the free throw line (18th all-time) versus Andy’s 76.3% (20th all-time). Leo had 423 assists (9th) versus Andy’s 347 (16th). Leo had 529 rebounds, Andy 327 rebounds.

Arinze Onuaku set both the all-time best marks and all-time worst. Onuaku’s career field goal percentage is 64.8%, the school record for a player with 200 or more field goal attempts. On the downside, Onuaku’s career free throw percentage is 39.5%, the worst for any player with 200 or more attempts.

Onuaku broke the single season record for field goal percentage this year with 66.8% (153 of 229), breaking the record he set last year at 66.7%. Onuaku finished his career with the #1, 2 and 6 best season field goal percentages ever.

Onuaku also joined the Rautins clan in the 1000 point club, finishing with 1,232 (36th all time).

Onuaku is 11th all-time on the blocked shot list with 148. His teammate, Rick Jackson, is currently 10th on that list with 173.

On the all time Syracuse three point percentage list (career), Wesley Johnson and Brandon Triche rank 3rd and 5th respectively at 41.5% and 40.0%.

I am not sure how many people realize how much of a three point shooting team the Orange were this year. In Syracuse Orange history, only 14 times has a player shot 40% or better from three point range. Four of those players were in this past season: Mookie Jones hit 44.6% (25 of 56, 2nd best all time), Wesley Johnson 41.5%, Rautins 40.7% and Triche 40.0%. That is quite a quartet of shooters with fine seasons, despite the fact that three point range was extended last season.

The Syracuse team shot 39.1% from three point range, 2nd best in team history, trailing only the 1986-1987 team that shot 40.3%. And when you consider that Syracuse made 244 of 624 shots from three point range this year, versus 100 of 248 shots that year, the feat is more amazing. The 244 three point shots made were fourth most in school history, trailing the 2005-2006 season record where they team made 260 (but shot only 33.9%).

65% of the teams field goals this year were made associated with an assist (1042 field goals, 673 assists), which is the highest percent in school history. This broke the record of 64% set in 1999-2000.

Brandon Triche had the 2nd best freshman three point percentage (40%), trailing only DeShaun Williams 41.8%. Triche also had the 8th most assists by a freshman with 99 (Pearl Washington holds the record with 199).

How did Carmelo Anthony and Wesley Johnson match up? The two played the same number of games so its an interesting comparison. Anthony clearly had the scoring and rebounding edge (22.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg vs 16.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg). Johnson is the better pure shooter, beating Anthony in all three shooting percentages: field goal (50% vs 45.3%), free throw (77.2% vs 70.6%), and three point percentage (41.5% vs. 33.7%). Anthony took far more field goal shots (612 vs 412) and was fouled far more (238 free throw attempts vs 145).

They had nearly identical assists, turnovers and steals. Johnson blocked 64 shots compared to Anthony’s 30. Anthony was definitely the better player, but Johnson was clearly the better shooter, and slightly better as a defender.

Coach Jim Boeheim earned his 800th career win in the season opener, and is now the 2nd winningest active coach, with 829 total.

Scoop Jardine set the school record for most points scored in a season without starting a game, with 318 points. This broke the record held by Wendell Alexis, who had 298 points without starting in his junior season.

Going back to the trivia question. The answer is: Paul Harris (who left in 2009 as a junior), Mike Jones (who left in 2007, as a freshman) and Devan Brennan-McBride (who left in 2008 as a sophomore). Neither Rautins nor Onuaku were part of this freshman class, nor was Eric Devendorf, who like his classmates Rautins & Onuaku, missed a season because of injury and would’ve been a fifth year senior if he had stayed.