Rautins on Fire

In case you've been pulling a Rip Van Winkle the past few games, you are fairly aware of the recent hot shooting that Andy Rautins has been displaying. His 29 point, 9-16 from three point range against Coppin State pulled the headlines, but he's followed it up with a 7-10 effort against Seton Hall, and then earlier tonight a 4-8 effort against South Florida.

Rautins is a 'apparent' streaky shooter, like many perimeter shooters. But we should not take this recent streak too lightly. Not only has Rautins made 20-34 three point attempts (59%), but he has been the leading scorer for Syracuse for each of the last three games, averaging 23 points a game. His outstanding effort in the Seton Hall game likely didn't make a difference, but the monstrous effort in the Coppin State was absolutely needed, and Syracuse needed all of Rautins shots tonight in the low scoring South Florida game.

These may be some of the 'easier' defenses that Syracuse (and Rautins) will see this year, but take into consideration that his teammates are not hitting their shots, especially from the perimeter, that Eric Devendorf was suspended for a couple of games, and that Jonny Flynn hurt his hip and has struggled recently, and we could have been looking at some ugly losses on the team resume.

Rautins is now 44 for 108 on the season, or 40.7% from three point range. Based on his season average (and we are almost at the midway point), Rautins is on pace for about 104 three point baskets this year. The Syracuse record is for a season is 107 by Gerry McNamara, so Rautins has a shot at it. I think his pace will slow down as Devo gets back into form, and Flynn picks up his pace, but it would be great if Rautins could keep his shooting going.

Merry Christmas 2008

For Christmas this year, I want for the Syracuse Orange:

Twelve plus Big East Wins
Eleven more years of Boeheim
Ten threes for Andy
Nine blocks for Arinze
Eight wins in January
Seven steals for Jonny
Six NCAA Tourney Wins
Five Final Four Appearances
Four thunder dunks for Paul
Three points at ease
Two good halves of hoops nightly
And a NCAA Championship to go with 03

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to you all. I hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends, and my this be a jolly and blessed time for you all.

Overrated, not!

I have been seeing a lot of posts on Syracuse message boards that the Cleveland State loss showed the Orange are overrated. I would beg to differ; in college basketball, particularly 10-12 games into the season, the rankings are typically ‘earned’ not ‘given’. Syracuse is (was) ranked number 11 because they earned it. They started the season not among the top 25 teams in the country, and clawed their way up.

They beat solid Kansas (7-2) and Florida (7-2) teams in the CBE tournament, and beat an Atlantic Ten foe Richmond (5-5) and an ACC foe Virginia (4-3). Now Kansas and Florida probably were overrated at the time Syracuse played them, and both have dropped out of the top 25 (though they are still hovering around in the ‘also receiving votes’ area). But a single loss, on a half court shot by Cleveland State does not negate the resume Syracuse has put together so far. A few more losses like that would hurt, but the CSU game alone is not going to make a difference.

The Memphis game has loomed big on Syracuse’s schedule since the pre-season, but the Memphis has taken some lumps and is currently 5-2, ranked #23. Ironically, if Syracuse beats Memphis, that team will also likely drop out of the top #25 (leaving Syracuse with no current top 25 victories… ironic, isn’t it?).

The loss of Eric Devendorf to a suspension for six games will hurt the Orangemen; he is definitely the sparkplug on the team. For tonight’s game against Memphis, an injured Jonny Flynn is going to make the competition even that much tougher. One thing is clear, the Orange are going to need several players to step up during the next six games.

On one hand the Devendorf suspension could not have been timed better. The six game suspension will force him to miss the Memphis and Coppin State games, and then the first four Big East games: Seton Hall, South Florida, DePaul, and Rutgers. There is no such thing as an easy Big East game, but the first four games of Syracuse’s schedule is the softest part of their Big East schedule for the year.

The Orange can little afford to lose those first four Big East games; wins in the conference are going to be tough to come by. Devendorf in the lineup would make that task much easier. Syracuse needs Andy Rautins to step up his play, more specifically his shooting. Rautins has been shooting poorly for most of the season, from every point on the court and from the free throw line. And Syracuse really needs to have a ‘sniper’ out there. Rautins has been playing very well in other aspects of the game, with solid ball handling, good defense, and some rebounding. He may be handling the ball (at least in terms of minimizing mistakes) better than anyone on the team; however, the Orange desperately need him to start shooting.

Arinze Onuaku has to start asserting himself. He has the skill and the size to have some 25 point games, and Syracuse could use a few of those, particularly now. Rick Jackson has been playing better lately, and Syracuse needs the play to keep at that level.

Kris Ongenaet has been invisible most of this season. Nobody expected him to put up big offensive numbers, but he’s offering virtually no offense at all. His rebounding and defense have not been the same contributions as last year, and Syracuse needs that.

The freshman Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph are starting to get the experience on the court, and develop the comfort that comes with that. With Devendorf out of the lineup, Jones and Joseph will likely have the opportunity of more playing time, and they need to take advantage of that time. Jones missed some early season action due to injuries, but has been impressively lately. He’s shooting 40% from the three point range in limited attempts (15); let us see if he can have a big night from three point range and bring Syracuse that other perimeter player they desperately need.

Joseph showed early in the season that he has a strong slashing move to the basket, something Syracuse really has missed for a few seasons. I would love to see him and Flynn get some good chemistry together, so that Joseph can move to the hoop without the ball and get the good feed when needed.

Paul Harris has to continue to be a monster on the boards. He still has not learned to temper his athleticism, and frankly scares me every time the ball is in his hands. Syracuse needs him to be strong to the hoop, and get all those rebounds. A gained rebound is just as important as a made basket; it’s another opportunity for Syracuse to score (and one less for the opponent).

Devendorfs suspension ends right before Syracuse begins its the murderous 10 game stretch that is going to make or break their season. If the rest of the Orange can learn to play without Devo for those six games leading up to then, perhaps the Orange will be a stronger team as a result.

Hey, I love the fact that Syracuse is currently 10-1. If you had shown me their schedule and told me they would be 10-1 by December 19th, I would have been ecstatic. 11-0 would have been better, but 10-1 is what I had hoped for.

9-0 and unstoppable Onuaku

Arinze Onuaku is off to terrific start to his junior campaign. He is averaging 13.3 points a game, with 7.8 rebounds, despite playing only 27 minutes a game (and typically not for foul trouble, but just to get some rest). However, those aren’t his impressive numbers. 79.4% is the number to look at. That is Onuaku’s field goal percentage for the season. When Onuaku gets the ball inside, he is virtually unstoppable, and for his last 17 attempts he has been, making each and every one of them (credit Brent Axeman for noting that one).

At Onuaku’s current pace he would shatter the Syracuse single season field goal percent record. The current record is 65.4% by Roosevelt Bouie in the 1979-1980 season, when he made 189 of 289 attempts. Onuaku’s effort is especially noteworthy because Syracuse has been playing some tough basketball teams this early season. They have not faced any dominant centers like they will in a few games this Big East season, but there are not too many players in the country with Onuaku’s build, so those types of matchups are going to be rare not matter who they play.

That’s not to suggest that Onuaku is Superman. His kryptonite is the free throw line, where he continues to challenge Terrence Roberts for the distinction of being the worst ever for Syracuse. However, I did question earlier this year why Syracuse was not feeding Onuaku the ball more often, instead relying on the three point shot or driving the lane from the perimeter. It would seem to me that you would want to feed Onuaku as much as you could, which should soften up a lot of defenses.

I know there have been some occasions where Onuaku has not played aggressively and has not worked to get open inside. Notably, he took some flak in the Cornell game for getting outhustled down low (though it we need to be fair and report that he was 5-5 from the floor that game). But there are a lot of moments in the game where Syracuse does not appear to be trying to work the ball down low. That comes under the responsibility of the point guard.

Let’s look at the numbers of two Syracuse players this season, both prorated to 40 minutes of playing time.

Player 1:

14.5 points, 5.8 assists, 2.6 turnovers, 2.6 steals, 32% from 3 point range, 70% FT pct.

Player 2:

21.5 points, 5.8 assists, 3.6 turnovers, 1.9 steals, 41% from 3 point range, 74% FT pct.

Which of those players is the point guard, and which is the shooting guard? It’s a little obvious if you’ve been watching Syracuse basketball this year; Jonny Flynn is player #2. A little less obvious is player #1 which is Andy Rautins. However, doesn’t it seem like player one has more of the stats of a point guard? Clearly a better turnover to assist ratio, and more steals, along with a lower scoring average.

I had mentioned earlier this year that I was concerned that Flynn was leading Syracuse is scoring every single game. Don’t get me wrong; Flynn is having an outstanding early season, and is a very special player. He has been making the clutch shots, and Syracuse is 9-0. But Flynn came to Syracuse with a reputation of being a strong playmaker, and I’m not seeing a player like that right now.

I remember the legendary Magic Johnson was always credited with sacrificing his own scoring to make sure his teammates scored. If Magic was on a fast break with an easy layup, he would always dish the ball off to a trailing teammate to reward his teammate for hustling down the court with him. I have not seen that selflessness from Flynn yet. I segued into this earlier by stating I did not think the team was getting the ball to Onuaku down low enough. And that responsibility falls on Flynn.

Flynn had an off shooting night against Long Beach State on Saturday. I have no problem with that; those nights occur. But Flynn ended up with only two assists. I would have expected my team’s point guard to have a big assist night, a big playmaking night in a game where he realized early he wasn’t shooting well. And he did not end up having that night.

Syracuse could go quite far this season, particularly with Flynn playing the way he has been playing. I am just of the belief that the primary job of the point guard is to elevate the play of all his teammates. It does bring concern to me that he is not developing that reputation right now in games that do not require him to score for Syracuse to win. There will be more than one game remaining this season where Syracuse will need Flynn to be the hero to win. Letting his teammates be the hero for some of the other games would pay big dividends down the stretch.

5-0!!

Syracuse has done itself a big favor and virtually guaranteed itself a berth in the NCAA tournament this year, barring a complete collapse by the team. It’s only November, but the wins over top 20 teams Kansas and Florida can not be underestimated in their importance for the total value of the season. These are two neutral court wins (though Kansas was hardly on a neutral court) against ranked teams from major conferences. Add in the win against Richmond, and that is three wins that look good on the ledger come selection time.

More importantly, Syracuse has shown that they have the ability to both hold a lead and to come from behind, a missing element from last season. Florida made a strong run for the lead in Tuesday’s game, and Syracuse withstood that storm. Kansas had Syracuse on the ropes, down by 12, in front of a hostile crowd, and Syracuse came back and won that game. I believe these will go a long way in building confidence for the team.

Here’s three things I really liked about last night’s game:

1) The Orange played some inspired man-to-man defense to get back into the game. They hustled, they stayed focused, and they did not give up. I’d like the players to be less resistant to the zone, so they could be more versatile of a team, but as long as they are playing some defense, it’s an improvement.

2) Arinze Onuaku showed me some defensive hustle last night in the critical moments of the game. I think Onuaku is often too quiet on the court, but his two lightning quick blocks on the Kansas shot and the put back really sent a strong message to Kansas. And 12 rebounds to go along with it.

3) Andy Rautins seems to have found his shooting groove. I believe he can be a 40% shooter from three, and a few more nights like the games he had against Florida and Kansas, and he’ll be set. He also played some inspired defense.

4) Jonnny Flynn has elevated his game to the next level. He still tries to do too much at times, but when the game is on the line, he does have that knack for making the basket.

Now for the bad:
1) Far too many stupid turnovers. Many of these are unforced, and we’re seeing them from everyone. The Orange have got to take better care of the ball.

2) Paul Harris, I love his hustle (when it’s one of those nights he decides to hustle), and there’s nobody I would prefer to have get a crucial rebound than him. His man-to-man defense is spectacular at times. But on the offense, he’s a liability. Harris seems to be a turnover waiting to happen, a bull in a china shop. And Harris has to learn that he is not ‘the guy’ when it comes to crunch time in the game. Syracuse is blessed to have both Eric Devendorf and Jonny Flynn, and Harris is going to have to learn to defer to them. There’s a reason the opposing defenses are leaving Harris open for three during crunch time.

3) Free throws. Yeah, this is Syracuse basketball. No lead is too safe to protect from the Orange woes at the charity stripe. Even our good shooters Flynn and Devendorf are missing the clutch free throws (perhaps they should take a lesson from Onuaku who went 3-3 last night!). Flynn and Devo are good free throw shooters, so make the shots and ice the game

4) The bench looked weak. Rick Jackson looked lost in both the Florida and Kansas games. Kris Joseph looked good against Florida, but like a newbie in the Kansas game. Rautins is playing well, and that’s about it. Nobody else off the bench is getting any real playing time.

And one last thing. Flynn is playing very well right now, and I’m glad to see him step it up. I would feel happier if he wasn’t the leading scorer for each of Syracuse’s first 5 games. He is the point guard, and a few more assists, a few less points, would probably be beneficial to Syracuse in the long run. Flynn needs to make sure his teammates are always involved, and he needs to sacrifice a point here and there to get an easy assist. He’s the floor general and he needs to run that offense and make sure all the parts are running well.

Now, we are 5-0. A much better start than probably most Syracuse fans expected (I must admit I thought the team would need to develop more). It feels very good to be 5-0 at this point, with two very good wins under the belt. 5-0 starts aren’t as easy in recent times as you may think. In the six previous seasons Syracuse has gone 5-0 only twice (see list below). Four times they had lost a game by the fifth game, including the 2002-03 championship season, where they lost the season opener.

The recent trend of an early season loss is rare for Syracuse. From the 1984-85 season to the 2001-02 season, Syracuse went 5-0 14 times; only four times in that 18 year span did they fail to reach that mark. They had matched that failure rate four times in the past six years. And it is not like they played all easy early season games during that 18 year span. They beat teams such as Duke, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, Southern California and Boston College, among others, in those first five games. Syracuse used to bring home a lot of trophies in the early season from the pre-season NIT, the Great Alaska Shootout, and the Maui Invitiational. So it is refreshing to see the Orange settle back into familiar country.

Here’s how Syracuse started the first five games for each season from 1984-85 through this year:

1984-85 5-0
1985-86 5-0
1986-87 5-0
1987-88 3-2
1988-89 5-0
1989-90 5-0
1990-91 5-0
1991-92 5-0
1992-93 5-0
1993-94 4-1
1994-95 4-1
1995-96 5-0
1996-97 3-2
1997-98 5-0
1998-99 5-0
1999-00 5-0
2000-01 5-0
2001-02 5-0
2002-03 4-1
2003-04 4-1
2004-05 5-0
2005-06 3-2
2006-07 5-0
2007-08 4-1
2008-09 5-0

Being a Sport, In College

The following article is courtesy of a guest writer for OrangeHoops.

Being a Sport, in College

I enjoyed my four years at college, and it’s not because of the parties and unlimited fun that most of my peers took great pleasure in. No, I was kind of a misfit in this crowd because of my love for sports; both the kind on TV and that takes place on the field. Yeah, I was a jock, and I was not ashamed of the fact. The fact that my best friend was a cheerleader was proof that opposites do attract, but then, I digress. The point of this essay is to detail the advantages that are open to a woman who loves sports and is raring to try out for most of the teams in college:

· You’re in great shape: You don’t have to force yourself to diet or go anorexic like some of your friends because your natural instinct is to hit the gym to keep in shape for that basketball match next week. And when you enjoy working out and running around on court, exercise becomes something that’s a part and parcel of your life, which means there’s no need to follow that strict diet in order to get into that fabulous dress you and your friends have been eyeing.

· You can hang out with the guys: I don’t know if anyone else would consider this a plus, but I’ve always been the kind of girl who gets along like a house on fire with the opposite sex. My closest friends are guys – I find that I can be myself with them and that they understand me a lot better. And the best part is, when they’re your friends, you don’t get unwanted sexual attention from people you’re not interested in romantically.

· You can skip classes: One aspect I loved about sports in college was that we had legitimate reasons to skip class and hang out on the court. Yeah, I did miss a bunch of lessons, but I’m lucky enough to have been blessed with brains as well as muscles, so I did manage to catch up by cramming during exams.

· You get that adrenaline rush: Say what you will, but playing a sport is the best way to fuel your need to feel high. No amount of drugs (not that I’ve experimented) or alcohol gives you the same kind of rush that a well-fought win in a game brings. And since it’s the good kind of high, you can’t get enough of it.

· Your future husband’s gonna love you: Every guy dreams of the perfect girl, the one who not only lets him spend all of a Sunday on the couch with an unlimited supply of beer and chips and a string of wonderful games on the idiot box, but also joins him and cheers along. Well, I just happen to be that perfect girl, so I can safely assume that I won’t be getting a divorce because I nag too much!

By-line:
This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of online university. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.

2-0, Many to Go

The Orangemen are off to a 2-0 start. Manhandling LeMoyne was expected, and Richmond was a good early season challenge. I think like a lot of fans, I would have hoped for an easier win; partly because it would have been easier to watch, but also because it would have been an indicator of how much better Syracuse was this season than last.

The expectation clearly would be that the Orange would be better this year. The team lost only one player from last year, 1st round pick Donte’ Greene. Losing the talent of a first round pick can hurt a team. But look at what the Orangemen gained for this season: an extra year of experience and maturity for Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Kris Ongenaet, Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson ; the healthy return of Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf; the arrival of highly tauted freshmen Kris Joseph and Mookie Jones. That’s a lot of significant plusses versus the one minus. So without even playing a game, we could feel confident they were better than last year.
The team is better, but the schedule this year is significantly tougher too. The conference schedule is absurdly difficult, and the non-conference schedule is one that Dick Vitale would not complain about. So Syracuse is going to lose some games this year, and likely some non-conference games.

That is what made the win over Richmond so crucial. Syracuse cannot afford the bad losses this year, and a loss to Richmond, at home, would have been a bad loss . That does not mean that Richmond was not a difficult team to play; they were. Their motion offense can be difficult to handle defensively, and they had some guys who can shoot threes, and Atlantic 10 teams had beaten Syracuse three times in a row.

There were things I was happy to see in the Richmond game. Eric Devendorf played like the Devo we knew pre-injury. He played with emotion, he took and made some crucial shots, and he took over the game at the right moment and time. He also showed the typical Devo careless turnover (seven of them) and some shaky defense at times. His contributions on the court greatly exceeded his errors.

Jonny Flynn showed he can still score and drive the lane. He made some impressive three point shots early on. And 27 points is a good night, no matter who you play. Arinze Onuaku was a stud inside, making every shot with ease in the first half, and most in the second (though missing a few gimmes). Kris Joseph showed some flashes of talent in his time on the court, and Ongenaet provided his usual quiet but necessary rebounding.

However, as nice as all those positives were, there was nothing new… no signs of growth for the team. We’ve seen Devo, Flynn and Onuaku play that way before, routinely. This was a game the team likely would have lost last year, but with Devo and Rautins on the court, we had expected (at least I did) that the meltdowns so prevalent last year would be less likely this year. Now, it is only two games into the year, so there is not a lot to look at for growth; I am just saying that we have not seen any yet.

Syracuse settled for playing on the perimeter far too much, shades of last year. Onuaku was unstoppable inside, and yet Flynn stopped feeding him the ball with about seven minutes to go in the first half. Why?

Devo wore his emotions on his sleeve as he always has, and rose his level of intensity in the second half. But I did not feel it was that contagious to his teammates. I would like to see Onuaku get fired up some time. I realize he could serious injure someone if he were out of control, but how about a scowl or a shout now and then? Paul Harris decided to be ‘no show’ Paul for the Richmond game. He played Jekyll and Hyde last year with his intensity vacillating game to game, and he just wasn’t there that night.

All summer we kept wondering how coach Jim Boeheim was going to spread the playing time at the guard position. We all knew that Jonny Flynn was too tired last year having to play every minute of every game down the stretch. With Rautins and Devo back, Harris able to play the guard, and freshman Mookie Jones also able to play time there, Flynn was clearly going to get his break. Instead, Flynn played 39 of the 40 minutes. Now historically, Boeheim has always ridden his point guards; Sherman Douglas and Pearl Washington almost never left the game. But the constant theme last year was how tired Flynn was, so I expected a change.

Rautins and Devo both got their playing time, with 26 and 31 minutes respectively. Syracuse played a lot of three guard offense, with Rautins taking the forward defensive position. I’m sure we will see a lot of that this season.

Jonny Flynn is a decent free throw shooter, making 78% of his shots last season. But also similar to last season, Flynn missed the crucial free throws down the stretch. Not enough to cost Syracuse the game, but enough to allow Richmond to hang around and have a shot at it. The ball is going to be in Devo, Flynn and Rautin’s hands down the stretch; Flynn’s going to have to starting making those.

Rautins was very cold from the perimeter, going 0-5 from three point range. He was taking the three point shots from long distance, and his shots were consistently long. I’m confident he’ll start making them, but it would have been nice to have seen him make them now.
Syracuse has a very deep bench, and Boeheim only went eight players deep. Freshman Mookie Jones did not even play, and Rick Jackson played only nine minutes. Again, Boeheim almost always goes to a short bench in close games; I am just surprised the Jones did not get into the game in the first half.

Syracuse is lacking a strong scoring presence from the forward position. Harris can score, but he prefers to do it by having the ball in his possession and driving from the perimeter like a guard; Syracuse does not need another guy who can drive from the perimeter. Ongenaet only gets garbage shots. They need a guy who can slash to the hoop without the ball and get the feed, and I have not seen that yet. I’m hoping Kris Joseph will be that guy.

But hey, it is only two games. Syracuse is 2-0; they’ve done what they need to do at this point. The positives we expected were there. There is a lot to build upon and still a lot of potential for the team. I’m very confident the NCAA tournament is in their future, and the team will be a lot of fun to watch.

Let’s go Orange!