Syracuse Senior Day - Big Senior Games

Syracuse senior center Jesse Edwards finished off his senior regular season with a flair leading the Orange to a 72-63 win over Wake Forest.  Edwards had 27 points on 11-15 shooting along with 20 rebounds, including eight offensive boards.  He also have five steals and two blocks to solidify his dominance on both end of the courts.

There have been five other big senior night moments by players in the past twenty years, though not all leading to wins.  Appropriately, two of those players had the uniforms retired last night.

Hakim Warrick, in 2005, scored 36 points leading the Orange to a 91-66 win over Providence. Hak made 12 of 17 shots that night for the easy win.

Gerry McNamara, in 2006, scored 29 points in a disappointing 92-82 loss to #4 Villanova. GMac was 5-12 from three point range and had 8 assists, but that was not enough.   He would follow that game with an outstanding Big East tournament leading the Orange to four straight wins and the Big East Championship.

Michael Gbinije in 2016 scored 34 points in a 75-66 win over North Carolina State. Silent G made 8 of 13 three point attempts as well has 6 assists and 3 blocks in the victory.

Though technically a grad student and not a senior,  in 2017 Andrew White scored 40 points on senior night hitting 8-9 three point shots in a 90-61 victory over Georgia Tech.  

Buddy Boeheim, last year, scored 30 points on senior night in a 75-72  loss to Miami.  Buddy made 5-8 from three point range, and had 2 steals, but that was not enough to overcome the Hurricanes.

Syracuse Basketball All-Transfer Team

There haven't been a lot of transfers in the Jim Boeheim era at Syracuse, though there have been a few more impactful ones than you might remember. Notable transfers in the Boeheim era include Ryan Blackwell, Jason Cipolla, LeRon Ellis, John Gillon, Michael Gbinije, Wesley Johnson, Michael Lloyd, Kris Onganaet, Le Rautins, and Andrew White III. It will be interesting to see how Paschal Chukwu does.

Wesley Johnson

If we look outside the Boeheim era, we would note players such as Wilbur Crisp, Eddie Dollard, Charley Dolley, Gerry McFadden, Chuck Richards and Fred Saunders. Richards was probably the most impactful of that group, teaming with Dave Bing to form a formidable one-two punch. Saunders ended up in the NBA, and Crisp and Dolley were big stars in early years of Syracuse basketball.

If we restrict ourselves to the Boeheim era, who would your starting transfer five be? Leo Rautins and Wesley Johnson are my easiest picks for the starting lineup. Andrew White III was the best shooter to transfer to SU, and he lit up the scoreboard last season. Center would have to be LeRon Ellis. Not a lot of competition there; Ellis did under perform at SU, but he was big time talent and good enough to get some time in the NBA. Toughest decision for me is what to do at the point guard position?

Go with the more traditional point guard in Michael Lloyd, who had one solid season at SU. Or go with Michael Gbinije, who was not a true point guard, but was adequate at the position. Ultimately, I think I would go with G. He was a better defender and a more versatile player than Lloyd. I think Lloyd was a little too much shoot-first mentality. Plus with Leo Rautins on the team, I have a point forward, which reduces the pressure on the point guard.

My starting five would be:

PG Michael Gbinije

SG Andrew White III

SF Wesley Johnson

PF Leo Rautins

C LeRon Ellis

What would your squad be?

Where's The Slipper?

The Orange have made the Elite 8 as a #10 seed.  Yet, they have failed to reach Cinderella team status in the national media nor in social media. They in fact are vilified and treated as a pariah.  The Orange have knocked off Dayton, Middle Tennessee State and Gonzaga on their path to the Elite 8.  It's by no means a murderers row, but it is also a group of teams good enough to knock #6 Seton Hall, #3 Utah and #2 Michigan State out of the tournament.

I understand that some people think that Syracuse should not be in the tournament.  They look at the overall record of the Orange, look at the cheap and flawed RPI rating, and make their assumptions from there.  If they looked at what the Orange's record was comprised of, and looked at all the non-RPI metrics (such as KenPom.com), they would easily see the Orange deserved to be in, especially compared to the bubble teams.  Ironically, Syracuse, by the NCAA committee's own admission, wasn't even a bubble team... there were 6 other at-large teams seeded lower than the Orange in the tournament.  You would be very hard pressed to find 7 teams who didn't make the NCAA who were more deserving that Syracuse.  

Syracuse has all the makings of a Cinderella team.  Consider:

Two fifth year graduate students starting in their backcourt with Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney.  Both could have left under Graduate student transfer rules, and played for schools that were not hampered by NCAA penalties, yet both chose to stay.  And both are fine students.

Michael Gbinije... perhaps the most underrated player in the country.  And quite the gentleman.  When asked whether all the poor talk about Syracuse was bothering him, his succinct response was 'Thank you for the motivation'.  And then after a long pause 'that's all I have to say on that'. 

DaJuan Coleman's recovery from two devastating knee injuries and an 18 month absence from the game.

Three freshman in Tylor Lydon, Malachi Richardson and Frank Howard with unique styles and refreshing energy.

Starting the tournament as a #10 seed.  No #10 seed has ever made the Final Four.  Three #11's have done it, but no #10.  

A team hampered by scholarship reductions to have only a 9 player squad.

The 30 day suspension of Coach Jim Boeheim which was a devastating blow to the team both directly on the court with the team going 4-5 in his absence, and off the court regarding retarding the team's development and progression through the season.

If the slipper fits, then one is Cinderella.  Where's our Ball?

Balanced Scoring Against Duke

The Orange pulled the big upset over Duke last night, taking down the Blue Devils 64-62 for Syracuse's first win at Cameron Arena.

Tyler Roberson was the most impressive player on the court, scoring 14 points and pulling down 20 rebounds, in the process setting an Cameron Arena record for most rebounds by an opposing player. Roberson also pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.  He had help up front as Tyler Lydon had 9 rebounds of his own.  

The Orange had a strange shooting anomaly for the game.  The team shot 47.8% from three point range led by Trevor Cooney's 4 for 9. The shot only 37.5% from the free throw line, and they shot an abysmal 29% from inside the arc (two point range).  Michael Gbinije and Roberson were a combined 15 of 26 from two point range.  The rest of the team which was comprised of Cooney, Tyler Lydon, Malachi Richardson, DaJuan Coleman and Franklin Howard shot a horrendous 3 of 28 from the floor, or 10.7%!

The hidden gem in the game was the balanced scoring from the Orange.  Four players led the team in scoring with 14 points a piece:  Roberson, Gbinije, Cooney and Richardson. 

That rarity has actually happened twice before in Syracuse basketball history.

On December 14, 1982, Syracuse beat Ohio State 91-85.  Erich Santifer, Leo Rautins, Tony Bruin and Gene Waldron each scored 19 points while leading the Orangemen to victory.

The first time it occurred was January 6, 1912.  Syracuse beat the University of Toronto 45-28.  Sol Bloom, Walt Davey, Lew Castle, and Clarence Giles scored 8 points a piece to lead the Orange in scoring.

Myth of Hopkins Rotation Depth

A common theme I have seen on Syracuse basketball forums this year is that Mike Hopkins is going to his bench more often than Jim Boeheim; in particular, that Boeheim never pulls Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney to play others. 

The evidence from those proponents of this idea point to the reduced minutes that Cooney and Gbinije have had under Hopkins in the weaker non-conference games.  It is true that both players see reduced playing time for those games.  Cooney played 36 minutes against Colgate, 34 against Cornell, 28 for Montana State, and 36 for Texas Southern.  Truly, Cooney's minutes were down in those games.

However, that is not a matter of Hopkins deciding to go deeper than Boeheim does; rather it is an indication of who the opponents are.  Boeheim, contrary to the opinions of some, also historically goes deeper into his benches against the easier non-conference opponents. Consider Conney's numbers from 2014-2015: Kennesaw St (33), Hampton (36), Loyola (27), Holy Cross (33), LA Tech (40), Colgate (29), Long Beach State (40) and Cornell (35).  Boeheim actually used less of Cooney than Hopkins did in those same types of games.  

Meanwhile, Gbinije had 39, 39, 33 and 40 in those same four non-conference games this year (Colgate, Cornell, Montana State and Texas Southern).  Silent G had no reduced playing time, except for the Montana State game.  

The images of how Jim Boeheim coaches are imprinted on fans memories, particularly those who dislike him or his style.  It is absolutely true that Boeheim goes to a shorter bench in the tighter games.  However, that is not a true statement for Boeheim regarding the easier non-conference games.  He routinely rotates and tests out players in those games.  Now he may not test out the players that you as a fan may want to see more of, but considering he sees those players each and every day in practice, I trust that Mr. Boeheim (and Mr. Hopkins) have a far better understanding of the players' abilities than you or I.

Data from Cooney and Gbinije is from ESPN.com.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/56997/trevor-cooney

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/56115/michael-gbinije

Another Winning Season

The Syracuse win over Boston College was an enjoyable game, and different than what Orange fans have become accustomed to.  Syracuse has not had too many walk-away wins this year, and this game really was never in doubt over the last 6-7 minutes with the Orange winning 70-56.

The game did have a historical perspective to it.  The win moves the Orange record to 16-8 for the year, and with only seven games left on the schedule because of the post-season ban, it guarantees the Orange another winning season.  

We take winning for granted in Syracuse, as the Orange have not had a losing season since 1968-1969 when the team went 8-16.   That is 46 seasons of winning basketball.  The school has only had sixteen losing seasons ever, and the program started in 1900-1901.  I am not sure which basketball program has the longest streak right now for consecutive winning seasons, but 46 is very impressive. 

For perspective, remember that Duke, one of the best programs out there, had a losing season in 1994-1995.  Mike Krzyzewski also had losing seasons in 1981-1982 and 1982-1983 with Duke.  Kansas was 13-16 in 1982-1983.  North Carolina was 8-20 in 2001-2002.  Georgetown was 13-15 in 2003-2004.  UConn was 9-19 in 1986-1987. Kentucky was 13-19 in 1988-1989.  

Kaleb Joseph had a coming out party tonight!  He was aggressive to the hoop, and went 7 for 7 from the floor for 14 points.  Welcome Kaleb!

B.J. Johnson also got some significant playing time and made some three point shots. He hit four of twelve, on his way for 12 points for the night.  That shooting is not going to break any records, but considering how poorly he has been shooting, that was very nice to see.

Michael Gbinije continues to play at a very high level.  8 of 11 from the floor for 21 points, coupled with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.  Gbinije has been extremely impressive as of late.

Rak Christmas was handcuffed tonight by several double and triple teams, and he ended up with only 7 points, though he did get 10 rebounds and 3 nice blocks.

Let’s go Orange!

Free Throws Do Matter (Again)

It was a shame to watch the Orange fight back gallantly against the Hurricanes yesterday, and see them fall up short.   The Orange played hard, and they never gave up despite two prolonged scoreless stretches in each half that let Miami pull out ahead.

The shame was the poor free throw shooting by the Syracuse players. This issue has been a thorn in the Orange side for years; it seems the Orange are having a collective freeze on their free throw shooting right now.  The Orange hit only 8 of 19 free throws against the Hurricanes, missing the front end of some crucial one-and-ones, and missing some critical free throws in the last couple of minutes that would have allowed them to win the game.  The Orange made some clutch jump shots, some clutch rebounding (thanks Tyler Roberson!), and some nice defensive stops.  But they have to make some of their free throws.

Michael Gbinije is the worst culprit. Yesterday's loss dropped his season average to 48.9% (23 for 47).  Gbinije was not terrific before this year, but 64.6% last season was bearable.  He is now 11-23 in conference play.  For a player that Jim Boeheim wants to be running the offense in clutch moments, that is just not tolerable.  You can see that Gbinije is a total mess right now, with different forms on his free throw attempts each time to the line.

Trevor Cooney is a terrific free throw shooter.  Yet, he is in a funk in conference play making only 21 of 34 free throws for 61.8%.  Several of his misses over the past few games have been in crunch time.

Rakeem Christmas had been a rock and clutch player at the charity stripe. Yesterday, he bombed making only 5 of 11 attempts. 

Ron Patterson has not shot much in his career. He does not give much glimmer of hope as he has made only 2 of 8 attempts for the season.  At least Patterson does have the humorous quote of the season mentioning earlier in the year that his free throws were 'close'.

By comparison, Tyler Roberson is shooting well from the line. In conference play, he has made 71.4% of his shots, hitting 10 of 14 attempts.

A dilemma for Boeheim could be what to do with Kaleb Joseph.  His play has improved during the game, and his turnovers have cut down, but he was very rocky earlier this year when under pressure.  Joseph, however, has made 16 of 19 free throw attempts in conference play, for 84.2%.   He  has not shown the ability to shoot from the perimeter, and defenses are leaving him wide open.  He still makes big mistakes on defensive positioning.  But he has been making his free throws.  

I have got to imagine that Boeheim rides Cooney and Christmas down the stretch of games, hoping they can revert to form, and he keeps the ball out of Gbinije's hands during obvious fouling situations.  I'm not sure he wants to give up all the positives that Gbinije brings during crunch time to give some time to Joseph, but it will be something he is surely evaluating.

Also noteworthy in the game was that Syracuse played only six players during the contest.  Four of those players (Christmas, Roberson, Cooney and Gbinije) played the entire game.

The Elusive Triple Double

Triple Doubles are a rare commodity in college basketball.  There have only been nine triple doubles recorded in Syracuse Orange history; the last one occurred 14 seasons ago when Allen Griffin accomplished it against Pitt with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.  Lazarus Sims, Derrick Coleman, Leo Rautins (3 times) and Dave Bing (3 times) are the only other Orangemen to accomplish the feat.  

Michael Carter-Williams was the perfect type of player to get a triple double.  A tall point guard who liked to drive the lane, and was strong at offensive rebounding.  It seemed destined he would complete the feat after some near misses, but he never did.  The other style of player to get a triple double is a forward who is adept at passing  (ala Leo Rautins), but the Orange have not had a player of that style for a while.

Michael Gbinije

Michael Gbinije might be able to get the triple double, if the stars align correctly.  Gbinije is Syracuse's starting small forward, but he spends a lot of time running the offense at the point.  In two of the last three games, Gbinije has had double digit rebounding efforts.  The Wake Forest game is the closest he has come to a triple double when he had 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 17 points.  

Gbinije's career high in assists is 8, which he did against Long Beach State earlier this year. He had 6 rebounds and 24 points in that game.

10 assists will be tough for Gbinije to get. Syracuse is not a high scoring team, and therefore there is a smaller potential for assists to begin with.   If he had a good night of feeding Trevor Cooney and Rakeem Christmas, and they both had big scoring nights, that could help him a lot. But right now there really are only three scoring threats on the Orange: Cooney, Christmas, and Gbinije, and Gbinije cannot get an assist to himself.  A big game by Tyler Roberson or another Orange player would help.

Gbinije is more likely to get 5-6 rebounds in a game than 10, but he does have that potential.

I do not think he will accomplish the feat.  He does get the playing time, but I think the assists will be out of his reach.  But I will be rooting for him to do it.

Shooting Woes

The Orange seemed stunk in a season long slump with their three point shooting, with a 20.9% accuracy for the season. The Syracuse team has not been shy about shooting beyond the arc, having taken 129 shots over the first 8 games, an average of 16 a game.  Unfortunately, they are making about 3.3 a game.

Trevor Cooney has been the lightning rod for the most criticism.  In part that is fair, as he is a junior, one of the most seasoned players on the team, and came to Syracuse with a reputation of being a perimeter shooter.  His bombing of Notre Dame last season showed he could do it when he lit up the Fighting Irish for 9 three point baskets on 12 attempts on his way to a 33 point night.  Cooney has hit only 13 of 46 attempts this season, for a success rate of 28.3%.

Cooney is, however, the best three point shooter on the team.  I am not just talking from a observation perspective.  Statistically, his 28.3% is the best on the team... and by a large margin. Here is the rest of the crew:

B.J. Johnson:   5 of 23 for 21.7%

Kaleb Joseph:   3 of 14 for 21.4%

Michael Gbinje:   3 of 21 for 14.3%

Ron Patterson:   2 of 18 for 11.1%

As a group, that foursome is 13 of 76 for 17.1%.  

All hope should not be lost.  It is highly unlikely that the Orange as a team are that bad at shooting the three, and things should come around.

Here are a list of the five worst three point shooters in Syracuse basketball history, minimum 30 attempts:

Paul Harris:  22 of 98 for 22.4%

Damone Brown:  20 of 89 for 22.5%

Elvir Ovcina:  37 of 153 for 24.2%

Louis McCroskey:   36 of 141 for 25.5%

Josh Wright:  34 of 120 for 28.3%

To give some perspective of how bad those five were as three point shooters, consider that Stephen Thompson, one of the all time great Orangemen, but a horrendous three point shooter, is only 9th worst at 30.3% (26 of 86).  So the five worst shooters are pretty bad.  

Right now, ALL five Syracuse perimeter shooters would be worse than #5 Josh Wright, and four would be worst than Paul 'I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn' Harris.  So unless Jim Boeheim coincidentally recruited the five worst shooters in Syracuse history at the same time, it is highly unlikely the shooting performance is indicative of their actual ability.

Trevor Cooney is an enigma. He is a 34% career shooter, and has been a disappointment for all three seasons, with high expectations based on Boeheim's comments about his ability.  Opposing defenses are keying on him, but even when he gets open, his shot is not falling. 

We would expect the Orange shooting to start to regress to the mean at some point. They aren't likely to ever be a great perimeter shooting team, but they should be in the 30-33% range, at a minimum. Just keep taking the shots.

Or, perhaps give walk-on Carter Sanderson more playing time (playfully said).  Sanderson is a graduate student at Syracuse, and is on the team because he still had a year of eligibility left after completing his undergraduate work at Lipscomb University.  Sanderson made 32.4% of his three point shots at Lipscomb, 55 of 170.  

Anyhow, there will be a brighter future in the team's shooting. I just hope it is sooner than later.