Arinze Onuaku Debuts in the NBA

Arinze Onuaku worked hard for the past three years to rehabilitate his injured quadriceps and to improve his game so he could make it to the NBA.  That all paid off last evening as he had his NBA debut with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Onuaku played 15 minutes in the Pelicans 95-90 loss to the Indiana Pacers.  He scored only 2 points, but added five rebounds and three assists during his time on the court.  

Onuaku injured his quadriceps in the Georgetown game of the Big East tournament in 2010, ending his senior season and crushing any hopes he had in being drafted by the NBA.  He rehabilitated his leg, and played basketball in Lithuania for one year, before playing in the NBDL last year.  

Congratulations to Onuaku for making it back!

Carter-Williams Explosive NBA Debut

Former Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams had a spectacular NBA debut last night, leading his Philadelphia 76'ers to a 114-110 win over the two-time defending world champions Miami Heat.  

Carter-Williams had a strong first half where he had six steals, and helped the 76'ers jump out to a 19-0 lead.  The Heat would fight back, including a terrific third quarter, but Carter-Williams put away the game in the fourth harassing LeBron James in the lane, and making some clutch free throws.

Carter-Williams had a stat line that any rookie would be proud of.  He had 22 points on 6-10 shooting, with 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 9 steals and only 1 turnover. He was never a good perimeter shooter at Syracuse, but he managed to hit 4 of 6 from three point range.

Congrats to MCW on an excellent NBA debut.

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!

OrangeHoops Hall of Fame 2013

In 2007, OrangeHoops inducted its charter class into the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame: Dave Bing, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Vic Hanson, and Pearl Washington. The next four years saw the addition of Billy Owens (2008), Billy Gabor (2009), Lawrence Moten (2010), Louis Orr (2011), Roosevelt Bouie (2011) and John Wallace (2012).  So the list now stands at 11. Another year has passed, and now it is time for the 2013 inductee.

I established my rules for the OrangeHoops Hall of Fame back in 2007 and you can catch up on them here. 2013 does have six new eligible candidates (using the fifteen year rule): Marius Janulis, Todd Burgan, LaSean Howard, Sam Spann, Erik Frazier and Jason Mallin. 

Burgan is by far the best of that bunch.  He was a classic Syracuse mid size forward, able to play the shooting guard, small forward and power forward positions.  He is currently the 17th leading scorer in Syracuse history; he was a decent scorer, rebounder, ball handler, perimeter shooter and defender. Not great at anything but good across the board.  Janulis was one of the best spot up three point shooters in Syracuse history, making about 40% of his attempts.  He was a pure shooter, but not a strong ball handler or defender.  

LaSean Howard was a reserve swingman for two seasons at Syracuse. Unhappy with his playing time, he transferred to Hampton University after his sophomore year, where he would be an average player.  Spann was a reserve forward for one season at Syracuse playing in only 8 games, and would transfer to Fairfield University after his freshman year.  Frazier and Mallin were both walk-ons.  Though Burgan was a talented player, I don't think he is at the top of the list for Hall of Fame consideration. 

I think this year’s viable top candidates come down to the following ten, listed chronologically: Lew Castle, Joe Schwarzer, Lew Andreas, Vinnie Cohen, Leo Rautins, Stephen Thompson, Rony Seikaly and John Wallace.

Castle was a two time All-American at Syracuse, and was captain and leading scorer of Syracuse’s only undefeated team, the 1913-1914 squad that went 12-0.

Schwarzer was a two time All-American, and was captain and leading scorer of the 1917-1918 squad that went 16-1 and was retroactively named the National Champions by the Helms Foundation.

Andreas coached Syracuse basketball for 27 seasons, including the 19-1 1925-1926 squad that was awarded the Helms Foundation National Championship. He had a career record of 358-134, and he was the Syracuse Athletic Director for 28 years (1937-1964).

Cohen was an All-American, the first Syracuse player to average 20+ points a game in a season, and led the team to the NCAA Elite Eight in 1956-1957.

Rautins was a terrific ball-handling forward with a nice shooting touch, solid rebounding and scoring skills. He is most well known for his game winning tip in basket to win the Big East Championship in triple overtime against Villanova in 1981.  Rautins also recorded two triple-doubles in Big East action.

Thompson was an explosive swingman, with incredible quickness and vertical leap, and excellent defensive skills. He was extremely adept at playing above the basket though he was only about 6'2". He teamed with Sherman Douglas to perfect the alley-oop basket.  Thompson was an extremely proficient scorer, despite the fact he was a terrible perimeter shooter.  

Seikaly was an All-American, a standout defensive player whose outstanding play in the 1987 NCAA tournament took Syracuse to the brink of its first tournament championship.

All are worthy players, and tough selections to make.  I designed my selection rules to make it tough; the Hall of Fame should be the 'best of the best', and I would rather have a line of worthy players outside the Hall of Fame, than cheapen it by having lessor players included.

I have got to go with Rony Seikaly for the 2013 selection.  Seikaly came to Syracuse as a raw talent with very little basketball skills other than a tomahawk dunk.  Despite that, Jim Boeheim took advantage of his athletic ability and size and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup his freshman year.  Seikaly would develop into a solid defensive threat his sophomore season, but it was not until midway through his junior season that he started to become a solid all around center.

It was likely Seikaly's improved play, more than anything else, that helped propel Syracuse's run through the NCAA tournament in 1987, allowing Syracuse to advance to the National Championship game.  Seikaly would take on Florida's fame Duane Schintzius in the NCAA tournament.  Seikaly would shut down Schintzius, while scoring 33 points himself.

Seikaly would lead the team in scoring his senior year, no small feat on a team loaded with talent in Sherman Douglas, Derrick Coleman and Stephen Thompson.  He would earn 2nd Team Big East honors his junior and senior seasons, and at the time his career ended, he was the 4th leading scorer in Syracuse history and the 2nd leading rebounder.  He would be the 9th pick of the 1988 NBA draft, and would have a solid NBA career.   He would finish his Syracuse career as arguably the greatest center Syracuse ever had.

Congratulations to Rony Seikaly.

It's All About The Money

I'll put this on the table, just to get it out of the way: I understand it is all about the money.  Big time collegiate sports is all about the money, and nothing else.  If joining the Chinese Athletic Conference, and having Syracuse play every football game in Beijing guaranteed the University a 10-fold increase in profit, they wouldn't even hesitate to make the move. No doubt about it.

That does not mean I have to like it. I hate the fact that a great basketball conference like the Big East, was forced to expand over the years to accommodate the football schools, and then eventually disbanded when more money was elsewhere.  I hate the fact that Syracuse is going to the ACC, and won't be playing schools it regionally should.  I hate the fact that Syracuse plays 'home games' in New Jersey, and have the visiting fans outnumber the Syracuse fans 2 to 1. 

I understand it is all about the money.  But it doesn't have to be.  It would be nice to see decisions made on principles (other than principles on how to make money).  

I can dream.

A New Iceman at the Line?

Baye Keita entered his junior season as a 56% career free throw shooter, making only 31 of 55 career attempts. He was not the worst free throw shooter in Syracuse history; there are several worst, with Herman Harried, Arinze Onuaku and Derek Brower leading the way.  But he was a poor shooter.

After the first three games of the 2012-2013 season, Keita was even worse, shooing 49% from the charity stripe, making only 18 of 37 free throws.  He was at that point a 53% career free throw shooter.

I do not know what got into Keita at that point. Perhaps extensive practice was finally paying off. Maybe he got a DNA swap with Gerry McNamara (Syracuse's all-time free throw shooter at 89%).  Maybe extensive praying paid off.  Who knows?

What we do know is that Keita would shoot seven for seven from the line against Georgetown in the Big East semi-finals, helping to propel the Orange into the Big East Championship.  Without each and everyone one of those made free throws, Syracuse does not go into overtime in that game. 

But Keita did not stop there.  He shot an okay 4 for 6 against Louisville in the Big East tournament.  A mere 0-1 against Montana in the first round of the NCAA.  Then a decent 7 of 10 versus California in the NCAA 2nd round.  Keita followed that up with a 3 for 4 effort against Indiana in the Elite Eight.

Not only was Keita making his free throws, but his form looked good in those games. He would made 21 of 28 free throws in his last seven games of the season, a nice 75%.  I do not know about you, but I honestly felt more comfortable down the stretch with him at the free throw line than Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche.

Hopefully Keita has found his shooting touch, and this will be a sign of good shooting for 2013-2014.

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.