We Are #1

The Syracuse Orange are now the unanimous #1 ranked team in college basketball, following the weekend where they beat Duke in a thrilling overtime game, and former #1 Arizona lost to California.  Many fans, and particularly the media, will say this is meaningless.

I disagree.

College basketball, for me, has always been about the journey.  It is about the thrill and excitement of each game.  It is about how the team grows and develops, and how specific players grow into their roles.  It is about the ebb and flow of the season.

The #1 ranking is something to be proud of.  It is an accomplishment; it is not the ultimate accomplishment, but it is nevertheless a goal to achieve.  The players and coaches work hard for every game, and the #1 ranking gives them, and the fans, a good benchmark for what they have achieved so far.

The post season is important, and it is what you build the season towards.  However, I am not a believer that it is National Championship or bust.  For me, it is about being the best that you can be.  I am not disappointed about an overachieving team losing a game and ending their season; I am disappointed about a team that I had high expectations for bowing out very early in the postseason.

I hold a high importance on winning conference regular season championships.  I think it is great to be the best team over a prolonged period of time. I also enjoy it when the team wins the conference tournament.  A good run with exciting play in the NCAA tournament is a lot of fun. 

I was not disappointed with the 1986-1987 team that lost to Indiana on the Keith Smart shot.  That team shook off a lot of demons for the program, allowing the team to advance far into the tournament.  Making it to the championship was surreal; the fact they came within a shot of winning it all was unbelievable.  It was heartbreaking when they lost, and it wasn’t until the 2003 championship that the heartbreak was totally gone. But I have never considered the 1986-1987 season disappointing.

The same with the 1995-1996 season.  That was a proud moment, not a disappointment.

The game is about the moments.  The 2003 National Championship was a great feeling, and a fantastic moment, particularly the Hakim Warrick block.  It was a culmination of 24 years of being a Syracuse fan, and having it all pay off with a win. Very tough to explain that feeling, but a wonderful one.

It is not my only great memory from Syracuse basketball.  Syracuse beating North Carolina in the Elite Eight in 1987 is very high on my list.  Other NCAA memorable games include Syracuse beating Georgia in the 1996 NCAA tournament, and Syracuse beating Texas in the 2003 Final Four.

I have memories from games I attended in person.  The Syracuse – Georgetown game in 1990 when the Orangemen overcome a large deficit to beat the Hoyas in overtime in front of a then record crowd at the Dome remains a top memory for me.  Pearl Washington hitting the half-court shot to beat Boston College in 1984.  Gene Waldron bombing Iona with 40 points in the Carrier Classic in 1983.  Sherman Douglass setting the all-time assist record and SU scoring record in 1989 versus UConn.

Big games such as the Duke / Syracuse game last weekend are what it is all about. That game was fantastic, and it will remain fantastic, regardless of how the season plays out.

The Big East tournament has brought many great memories. Far too many to mention them all.  Pearl Washington versus Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas in the early 80s.  Gerry McNamara carrying the Orange on his back his senior season with perhaps the greatest single MVP performance in Big East history. 

The greatest moment for me is the Syracuse / UConn six overtime game in 2009 is at the top.  That game wasn’t for a National Championship, and it wasn’t even for the Big East Championship. The game was just a quarter final game in the tournament.  Yet it was everything I love about college basketball, with two teams playing their heart out, tremendous skill being shown.

Regardless how the 2013-2014 season ends, it will likely end as a great memory to me.  They have overachieved in so many ways right now. It is rightful to hope for a National Championship, because this team can win one.  However, I don’t think it would be a great disappointment to me if they do not win it.  It will be a disappointment to me if they don’t play well in the NCAA tournament, but if they lose to a team that outplayed them , so be it. 

Right now the Orange are ranked #1, and that is something I am enjoying.  That enjoyment does not disappear because next game, or next week, or next month, they lose a game.  Today's moment is today's moment, and that is what is important. I will worry about tomorrow's moment when it presents itself.

The Orange Beat Duke

The Orange are at 21-0, uncharted waters for the Syracuse basketball squad. They should also move up to #1 in the nation come Monday night, following #1 Arizona’s loss to California on Saturday night. 

The Syracuse / Duke game at the Dome on Saturday night was college basketball at its finest. Two well coached teams playing in front of an extremely hyped NCAA record crowd, in a tight well-played game. The two winningest coaches in men’s Division I history, with teams with collegiate All Americans, McDonald’s All-Americans, and highly touted freshman. Both teams committed only eight turnovers each in the game, and only a combined two in the second half. There was well executed offense and well executed defense. Add in a dash of the game being the first game between Syracuse and Duke in ACC conference play, and throw in a dramatic three point basket to send the game into overtime, and you have a great game. 

Both teams played very well. Here’s some of the numbers for Duke: 15 of 36 from three point range (41%); 18 offensive rebounds; 20 assists and only 8 turnovers; 89 total points; the opponent was held to only 3 three point field goals. If you told Mike Krzyzewski his Blue Devils would post those numbers, I am sure he would have felt his team won the game. And Syracuse Jim Boeheim would have been concerned about those numbers. 

Syracuse, however, had some impressive numbers of its own. The Orange shot 57% from the floor, had only 8 turnovers, a +5 rebound margin, only 8 turnovers, 9 blocked shots, and an impressive 26 – 32 from the free throw line. Those types of numbers will win most games. It was an interesting game. Krzyzewski’s game plan seemed to recognize that the Blue Devils would not be able to beat the Orange on the inside, and he was committed to working the three point offense. Duke ran that offense well, though it was surprising they did not challenge the Orange more inside. Then again, when you successful from the perimeter, and unsuccessful inside, it is alluring to keep going outside. I think Amile Jefferson was outstanding at cleaning up Duke’s perimeter misses, especially in the first half. Duke did struggle inside when it did try to run its offense there. A tip of the hat to the Orange who were smothering inside on their defense. Whenever Duke thought they had an open opportunity, the Orange (primarily Rakeem Christmas) were there to block or alter the shot. 

Defensively, Duke had problems all day with the Orange inside. Jabari Parker and Amile Jefferson both picked up 4 fouls costing them valuable playing time in the second half, and both ultimately fouled out. And when Jefferson or Parker were not on the court, C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant had a field day. Krzyzewski was stuck in a hard place; Jabari Parker likely faced the toughest front court he’s seen, and struggled with it. In three weeks, the rematch should be interesting, as both teams do have areas they can improve upon, and they have adjustments they can make. 

The Orange are playing at a very high level right now. The win against Duke was a combination of all five starters playing well, and the bench contributing enough to let most the starters get some rest. C.J. Fair had a career high 28 points, and proved he was worthy of Naismith consideration. When the Orange needed him to score, he scored. He recognized and took advantage of the defensive mismatches when he saw them. A brilliant game. 

Jerami Grant just continued to keep his stock rising. He had an outstanding day on the boards, with a total of 12 rebounds, and Duke was hard pressed to stop the long limbed explosive leaper. They fouled him several times, and Grant made them pay for every single foul by making 10 out of 10 free throw attempts. I was concerned when he picked up his third foul early in the second half, but he played smart and did not pick up another. 

Rakeem Christmas was a difference maker in the game. He showed up and was aggressive on both ends of the court. Defensively he shut down the Blue Devils with 6 blocked shots and two steals. On the offensive end of the court he made 2 out of 4 shots, and had four offensive rebounds. Baye Keita and Christmas, the two headed monster, had 9 points, 6 blocked shots and 16 rebounds in 45 minutes of play. That type of contribution from our center position will go a long way in winning games. 

Trevor Cooney was shadowed all night and had a tough time getting open for three point attempts. No problem for Cooney as he mixed up his game and drove the lane for layups, and pulled up for mid range jumpers. Twice in the game he had a chance for a three and twice he nailed it. Cooney also is displaying more confidence with his ball handling and provided Ennis relief on the full court presses from Duke. 

Tyler Ennis played like Ennis does every game. Flawlessly running the offense with 9 assists and only 2 turnovers. He threw Duke for a loop when he decided to score himself, rather than work the ball, and I am sure that helped to loosen the defense up on the inside for the rest of the game. 

Michael Gbinije had 12 minutes of solid basketball where he provided some good defense and three assists. Tyler Roberson had five minutes of time in the first half where he presented himself well. He had a nice drive along the baseline which drew the defense to him, and finished off a fast break with an impressive dunk.

You know it was a great game when Jim Boeheim flashed a big smile after Duke's Rasheed Sulaimon drained the 3 point shot as time expired, sending the game into overtime.  It was an epic game and Boeheim realized it. He had coached 1,255 games at Syracuse, and he knew this one was a special one.

Ennis Down the Stretch

Twenty one games into the season, and the Orange are 21-0.  Syracuse fans have gone through their share of nail biter games, and Syracuse's exciting 91-89 overtime win against Duke was no exception.

I think the Orange faithful have gotten to the point that we feel the Orange will win any close game down the stretch. It surely seems that way, and of course, they have so far this year.  We feel like Tyler Ennis is Superman down the stretch.  Again, the evidence of the wins would suggest that is correct.

ESPN has some stats about how well Ennis has done the stretch this year. As good as he has seemed to be, the statistics indicate he is even better than that.  Against Duke yesterday, starting with 5:00 minutes left in the second half, Ennis had 3 assists, 0 turnovers, and scored 8 points on shooting one from one from the floor and 6-6 from the free throw line. 

One the season, during the last five minutes of the game, Ennis is shoots 50% from the floor, has 17 assists and 0 turnovers.  To make those statistics even more impressive, you should realize that Ennis only plays the last five minutes of close games; so those stats are during crunch time. When the game is under control, Ennis typically would not be on the court at that time.

Furthermore, ESPN points out that if you took Ennis' production from the last five minutes of the game, and projected it to a 40 minute game, he would average 28.3 points per game, with 7.5 assists per game, and the Orange would have a scoring margin of +23.5.

Five games this season, Syracuse has been trailing at the last five minute mark of the game.  In those five games, they have outscored their opponent by 37 points (7.4 per game).

I know that Ennis is a freshman, and he will make mistakes.  Nobody is perfect.  But so far, he is playing close to it during crunch time.

Where Syracuse Recruits

Benn Stencil put together an interesting map tool that will show you where each college and conference recruits their players.  I have been tracking the high schools and states that Syracuse basketball players have historically come from at OrangeHoops.org, and have in fact written about it before, but I have never gone the extra step of illustrating it.  

Here is where the current Syracuse team comes from:

No big surprise; the majority of Syracuse players come New York, Pennsylvania and the Maryland area.  Historically speaking, the majority of Syracuse basketball players have come from New York state.   Pennsylvania and New Jersey have been strong, as have Maryland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. In the late 80s, early 90s, Syracuse had the Los Angeles pipeline going on, picking up players like LeRon Ellis, Stephen Thompson and Mike Hopkins.

My thanks to Sean Keeley at SB Nation for tuning me into this mapping tool.

Syracuse and Creighton: An Unusual Series

The Creighton Bluejays joined the Big East this year, and Syracuse joined the ACC at the same time, so the two teams will never meet in Big East competition.  The two schools have met before, thirteen games in all, with Syracuse winning eight of those.

The interesting thing about the Syracuse/Creighton series was the nature of their home & away series from 1929 to 1932. The two teams were scheduled to play two games each year, for a total of eight games over the four years.  However, travel in 1930's America was not always easy and definitely could be time consuming, particularly if you wanted to go from Syracuse, New York to Omaha, Nebraska.  

So the teams had a unique scheduling where they would play two home games in Syracuse the first season, then two road games in Omaha the second, two more in Syracuse the third, and finally two more in Omaha the fourth. And furthermore, to be efficient with the use of time, the games were played on back-to-back nights.

If that was not interesting enough, take a look at the breakdown of the games.  For each season, the team that won the first night, lost the second night of the back-to-back.

This was the era of Syracuse's fabled Reindeer Five basketball led by the speedsters Ev Katz, Dan Fogarty, Ken Beagle and Tuppy Hayman, along with Slim Elliot and/or Johnny Harwood depending on the year.   

Another Notch in the Belt

Syracuse pulled off another victory today, this time beating #22 Pitt 59-54 at the Carrier Dome.  The Orange continue to test their mettle by yet grinding out another close game down the stretch.  Syracuse led most of the second half, only to see the Panthers take the lead late in the game.  Pitt lead 52-49 with 2:39 to go in the game; the Orange would reclaim the lead with 1:30 to go a layup by Tyler Ennis, and they would never relinquish that lead down the stretch.

If Syracuse fans have not figured it out yet, the Orange have a special young man in their point guard. Ennis is an extremely poised individual, and seems to make all the right decisions.  He had yet another game with only one turnover. I thought if any team was going to fluster him it would be Pitt with their brutish defensive style, but Ennis had not problem with it.

Instead he scored six straight points while giving the Orange a lead and a small cushion of lead in the last two minutes of the game.  I do not know how this season will end up, but I am enjoying every minute of it right now.  I am not sure where I would rank Ennis among Syracuse's all-time great point guards, but he warrants discussion in that group.  That in itself is quite a compliment.

Syracuse broke 30,000 for the game, giving them 75 games all-time. They now have a 50-25 advantage in those games. The trend also continued with these large crowd games being low scoring. The 59 points for the Orange today was the most points by the winning team in the last five 30k games.

By the way, did you know that Pitt now has the second most 30k games in the Dome?  Number one is Georgetown, of course, with 17 games.  Pitt is now second with 8, and Syracuse is 6-2 against Pitt in the 30k games.  I was surprised to see that Pitt had surpassed UConn, Villanova and St. John's; while Pitt has been very good for quite a while, they just never seem to be quite the same draw for SU fans.  And really, if you look at when the games occurred, its not the recent Pitt success that gave them the 8 games.  They played 30k crowds in 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 2003, 2004 and 2014.  It had been 10 years since Pitt was that type of draw.

Jim Boeheim beat Jamie Dixon for the second straight game today, but Dixon still holds a 10-5 advantage over Boeheim and Syracuse.  A lot of talk this week has been on why Dixon is so good against Boeheim and SU's zone.  First of all, let us not discount the fact that Pitt has been a top 10 / top 20 program for most of Dixon's career.  He is a quality coach with a quality program.  

I don't think, however, it is so much a matter of Dixon figuring out the zone, as much as Pitt playing a style that very effective against the zone. Dixon's mentor Ben Howland also had success against Syracuse the last couple of seasons before he left for UCLA, and Dixon coaches very much like Howland.  Both coaches like an aggressive in-your-face defense, with a strong emphasis crashing the boards for offensive rebounds and taking good care of the ball of offense.  

I think Pitt's success against Syracuse is more a result of them consistently having a strong offensive rebounding edge, than Pitt being excellent at dissecting the zone.  To me it is more of a case of Pitt throwing the ball up on the boards and then going and putting it home with aggressive play.  The one area the zone is particularly week against is defending against offensive rebounds, because defensive players do not have player assignments to block out, and that plays to Pitt's strengths.

Add in the fact that Pitt is not careless with the ball, and they are aggressive on defense, and they make things happen. They make their own breaks in the game and take advantage of them. 

The one thing that has always frustrated me with watching Dixon's teams in the NCAA is that I do not feel they have an offensive scheme. They are extremely focused on their defense and their rebounding, and when they have to beat six talented teams in a row, teams that are also crashing the boards relentlessly, it becomes very difficult for Pitt to them find the go to guy they need.  This year they have Lamar Patterson, an excellent all around player.  They may be able to ride him for post season success if they can figure out how to truly rotate their offensive scheme around him.  

Anyhow, it was a big win today for the Orange.  18-0! Let's go Orange!

All Time Toughest Opponents

Syracuse basketball fans have had it very fortunate over the years. In the first 112 years of varsity basketball, the Orangemen had only 16 losing seasons.  Of those sixteen seasons, four of them occurred before 1911, and nine of them prior to 1950.  The last losing season was 1968-1969.  The current 2013-2014 will add another winning season for the Orange, and losing seasons do not appear to be on the short term horizon. Fortunate indeed.

Syracuse has played 280 different teams since 1900.  Only 25 of those schools have a winning advantage over the Orange.  Ten of those schools have played Syracuse only once, and beat the Orange in that lone appearance. This includes Austin Peay, Baldwin-Wallace, Cleveland State, Denison, Denver, East Liverpool, Oral Roberts, Texas A&M, Tulsa and Williston Seminary.

Eastern Kentucky, Crescent Athletic Club, Illinois, and the St. John's Military Academy all have a 2-1 advantage over the Orange.   It is unlikely that Syracuse would ever play Crescent Athletic Club or St. John's Military Academy again.

Clemson, Iowa and Schenectady County East (whomever they are) have a 2-0 advantage over Syracuse. The Orange will now meet Clemson regularly, so the true nature of that series will resolve itself.  Iowa will likely require a couple of pre-season or post-season tournaments to get the matchups.

That leaves eight programs that have a real historical advantage over the Syracuse basketball squad.  There used to be nine, but Syracuse evened up the series with North Carolina with their win yesterday.  These are the teams, historically speaking, the Orange would not want to meet in a critical game:

#8:  The Oklahoma State Cowboys hold a 3-2 edge over the Orange.  OSU has won the past two games in the series, and the two teams have split their two matches in the NCAA tournament.  Oklahoma State was one of the teams Syracuse beat on its way to the national championship in 2003.

#7:  The Bradley Braves have a 3-1 edge over the Orangemen.  Bradley was a power house team in the early 1950s, when Syracuse faced them three times. The Orangemen upset them 76-75 in the National Campus Tournament finals in 1951.  Bradley upset the Orangemen in the 1982 NIT Tournament.

#6:  The Ohio State Buckeyes have a 5-2 advantage over the Orange.  The two teams have met twice in the NCAA tournament, with Ohio State beating the Orangemen both times; the last time was the Elite Eight in 2012.  The two teams first met in 1911.

#5: The Maryland Terrapins have a 5-2 edge over the Orange.  The two teams are now in the same conference, but only for one year, as the Terrapins move to the Big 10 next year. That is a shame, because geographically they would have made a real fine rival in the ACC.  Maryland beat the Orangemen the first five times they met, with Lefty Driesell on the bench.  However, the Orange have won the last two games in the series.  The two teams have met four times in the post-season, splitting those games.

#4:  The City College of New York (CCNY) Beavers have an 8-5 edge over the Orangemen.  CCNY was once a power house in college basketball, from the 1920's until the 1950's under legendary coach Nate Holman.  The Beavers' program was overshadowed and decimated by the infamous point shaving scandal of the 1950s, and it now a Division III program.

#3: The NewYork University Violets (NYU) have a 12-9 edge over Syracuse.  NYU was a power house in the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s in college basketball, and the Orangemen played them routinely then.  NYU holds the distinction of handing the Orangemen their worst margin of defeat ever.  Of course, the 1961-1962 Syracuse squad was the worst team ever fielded on the Hill, with a 2-22 overall record.

#2: The Kentucky Wildcats have an 8-3 advantage over the Orangemen. The Wildcats have long been one of the most established and successful programs in college basketball, so this should come as no surprise.  One of the notable early games was in 1964 with #9 ranked Kentucky beating unranked Syracuse 110-77.  It was notable because the Adolph Rupp coached Wildcats starred future Laker manager Pat Riley, while the Orangemen were led by two gentleman named Dave Bing and Jim Boeheim.    While the Orangemen have not had tremendous success against the Wildcats, it should be noted that Syracuse is 2-0 versus Kentucky at home, and 1-2 versus Kentucky in the NCAA tournament (one of those losses being the 1996 National Championship game).

#1: The Louisville Cardinals have been a thorn in Syracuse's side for much of its recent history.  The two teams first met in 1964, which the Cardinals won 67-62.   It's been a struggle since then as the Cardinals hold a 15-7 edge over the Orangemen. It doesn't seem to matter who coaches, whether is it Peck Hickman (2-0), Denny Crum (4-3)  or Rick Pitino (9-4) but Louisville has the Orange's number.  Louisville held only a 6-4 edge as of 2006, but then they won seven straight against the Orange.  Recent history as Big East foes has intensified the rivalry, and with Louisville moving to the ACC next season, there will be plenty of time for the Orange to rectify this imbalance.

Let's go Orange!