It's a Win but Yuck

The good news is the Orange won today 68-66 to get themselves to 10-4 and 1-0 in the ACC.  The bad news is they blew a nineteen point lead, and could not seal the win with their free throw shooting.

Syracuse led by nine points, 62-51, with 2:22 left to play.  They would go to the free throw line sixteen times from that point on, and would make only six of them.  Those ten missed free throws almost cost the Orange the game.  

We cannot even pin the poor free throw shooting on one player; this was truly a team effort:

Ron Patterson, 2-6

Michael Gbinije, 1-4

Tyler Roberson, 1-2

Trevor Cooney, 1-2

Rakeem Christmas, 1-2

In that same time period, the Hokies made three 3-point baskets, two 2-point jumpers and a layup for 15 points.  The Hokies had a chance to win the game with a last second three point basket, but fortunately for the Orange that the Hokies had to rush the shot and the Orange played good defense on the play.

But, it was a win, a road win at that. And a win is a win.

As an interesting note of trivia:  Ron Patterson played 183 minutes of collegiate basketball, and was in his 22 game, before he made his first free throw.  

Non-Conference Rankings

Syracuse has completed its non-conference schedule with a record of 9-4.  They have eighteen ACC conference games coming up to help build their resume for the NCAA, along with the ACC tournament games.  The Orange will have their work cut out for them, and will have the opportunities to do so.

The ACC currently has five teams in the AP Top 25:  #2 Duke, #3 Virginia, #5 Louisville, #14 Notre Dame and #19 North Carolina.  Syracuse will play Duke twice, and each of the other teams once, so as it stands rights now they have six opportunities to beat ranked team.  That will likely change as the season progresses, as teams move up and down the rankings, but it gives a good starting point.

The initial part of the ACC schedule for Syracuse is a favorable one, and the Orange will need to take advantage of it because the back end of their schedule is murderous.  Syracuse plays its first seven ACC games against non-ranked teams, and four of those are at home. The last seven games of their ACC schedule has them playing five games against teams ranked 14 or higher, including Duke twice. 

Syracuse’s 9-4 non-conference record is not going to help them, but it is not going to hurt them too much. They did not have any terrible losses on their schedule, with all four wins being against major conference schools.  KenPom.com has Villanova at #6, St. Johns at #23, California at #72 and Michigan at #74.  Iowa gets credit for being an impressive win as it is a team from a major conference and KenPom has them rated #33, but none of the other wins are notable.

A 9-4 non-conference record is the 2nd worst record since Syracuse joined a conference in 1979-1980.  In 1981-1982, the Orangemen were 8-4 with non-conference losses to unranked St. Josephs, Fordham, Ohio State and #4 ranked DePaul.  This was the team led by triumvirate of Leo Rautins, Erich Santifer and Tony Bruin, and the team finished 7-7 in the Big East, 16-13 overall with an NIT bid.  Not a good sign for this year’s team.

The Orange have been playing much better since their loss to St. John’s.  Trevor Cooney has found his shooting touch and diversified his game.  Michael Gbinije has improved his all-around game, plus improved his shooting, and Rakeem Christmas has cut down on the silly fouls giving him more playing time and remained a consistent steady inside force. 

The parts are coming together but the Orange need more progression from others players.  Chris McCullough has to learn how to handle being pushed around.  Kaleb Joseph, or Ron Patterson, needs to step up and take control of the point guard position.  Either B.J. Johnson or Tyler Roberson has to become more reliable on both the defensive and offensive end of the courts. 

It all starts with the Virginia Tech game this Saturday. Go Orange!

Top 10 Highlights of Syracuse Basketball in 2014

Happy New Year to all the Orange fans out there.  As 2014 comes to close, here are my top 10 highlights from Syracuse basketball for the year.

1. Syracuse beating Duke 91-89 in overtime on Feb 1^st before an NCAA record crowd 35,446.
2. Tyler Ennis’ 35 foot game winning basket against Pitt for a 58-56 victory at the Peterson Center on February 12th, extending the Orange's winning streak to 24 games.
3. Syracuse’s school  record 25 game winning streak set against North Carolina State on Feb 15^th.
4. Syracuse reaching #1 in the polls on February 3^rd, with the Orange being 22-0.
5. Jim Boeheim throwing his coat and being ejected against Duke on Feb 22 at Cameron Indoor Arena.  It was Boeheim’s first career ejection, as he argued that C.J. Fair’s game winning shot should have counted; instead Fair was called with charging.
6. Trevor Cooney scoring 33 points against Notre Dame on February 3^rd.  He was 9 of 12 from three point range, and 11 of 15 from the floor in the 61-55 win.
7. Syracuse beating Western Michigan 77-53 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament behind Trevor Cooney’s 18 points.
8. Syracuse beating Miami 49-44 on January 4^th, behind C.J. Fair’s 15 points. This would be Syracuse’s first game in ACC conference play.
9. Syracuse beating North Carolina 57-45 on January 11^th before 32,121 fans at the Carrier Dome. The Orange would lead by as much as 19 points with four minutes to play.
10. Syracuse beating Kennesaw State 89-42 on November 14^th to start the Kaleb Joseph & Chris McCullough era, kick off 115^th season of Syracuse basketball and Jim Boeheim’s 39^th season as head coach.

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to wish all the Orange fans out there a very Merry Christmas! I hope you stockings were full of neat stuff, and that Old Saint Nick came down that chimney with a bagful for you and yours.

Appropriately, the only way to wish a truly Orange Christmas is:

Shaking Away Preconceptions

I think sometimes we as fans let our preconceptions of what a player or coach does cloud the reality of what we see.  There is a common perception among Orange fans that Jim Boeheim always plays a tight rotation of 7 players, and he is unwilling to change.  

Statistically, that is not true.  And surprisingly, we only have to go back two and three seasons to see contrary situations.

Using a guideline of players who played 10+ minutes a game, and who played in virtually all of the games they were eligible to play in (where they were not limited by injury of suspension), here is a breakdown from 1989-1990 to 2013-2014 of the number of players in Boeheim's 'rotation' (data from OrangeHoops)

2013-2014: 7

2012-2013: 9

2011-2012: 9

2010-2011: 8

2009-2010: 7

2008-2009: 8

2007-2008: 7

2006-2007: 7

2005-2006: 7

2004-2005: 8

2003-2004: 9

2002-2003: 8

2001-2002: 8

2000-2001: 7

1999-2000: 8

1998-1999: 8

1997-1998: 7

1996-1997: 7

1995-1996: 7

1994-1995: 8

1993-1994: 7

1992-1993: 8

1991-1992: 7

1990-1991: 7

1989-1990: 7

Over those 25 seasons, Boeheim did employ a seven man rotation thirteen times.  But, that means twelve times he employed a larger rotation.  Nine times he had an eight man rotation, and three times he had a nine man rotation. In 2012-2013 and 2011-2012 he had the nine man rotations... very recent indeed!

I do no think there is any doubt that Boeheim likes to play his primary five as much as he can.  And clearly a seven or eight man rotation is his norm.  He does however adjust to the talent he has.

Boeheim appears to be unwilling to play a player who has not proven himself in practice. He does not appear to be a coach who wants to play a guy 'just to give him experience'. Instead, he always works to put his team in the best position to win for that game.

It is true that Boeheim's bench will shrink during truly big games.  I would submit however, that is true for most if not all coaches. You play your best players when you need to play your best players.

In 1995-1996 Syracuse played a tight bench all season, and Kentucky, who was the dominant favorite that season was touted for the incredible depth of the team and how masterful Rick Pitino was for playing so deep into his bench.  And Kentucky did play 10 deep all season long; no player on that team averaged more than 27 minutes a game.

In the championship game, Syracuse played seven deep as they had done all year. But look at what Rick Pitino did.  Pitino, who is a great coach, went only eight players deep, and four of his starters played 27 or more minutes. Tony Delk played 37 minutes and Anthony Epps 34.

Part of that was because it was a real big game for Kentucky, and Pitino wanted his best players on the court (i.e. just like Boeheim). And part of that was that the game pace and tempo, which was dictated by Syracuse, not Kentucky, allowed Pitino the opportunity to keep his starters in the game longer.  However, read that last point again.  Pitino, in one game because of tempo, kept his starters in longer.  Boeheim plays with that tempo all 35+ games all year.  And by the way, which set of players do you think were less fatigued in that game? The guys who averaged 35-38 minutes a game all year, or the guys who averaged 22-27 minutes a game?  My money is on the guys who are used to playing those minutes.  

But I digress.  

The original point was that Boeheim never plays more than seven deep (which is false), and Boeheim won't change or adapt (which is also false). When Boeheim has the talent, he plays the talent, and when he has a small set of talented players, the rotation is smaller.

An interesting side note: back in 1977-1978, during the Louie 'n Bouie era, Syracuse went 11 players deep (10 if you don't want to count Marty Headd as a regular), and 12 players on the team had enough quality time per game they played to average 3.4 ppg or more.

The Orange Are Improving

The Orange are improving, which provides me with some sense of relief.  It seemed early in the season that the team was never going to improve.  The 49th consecutive win against Colgate came rather easily, and with this team, prior to tip off, it may not have been easy. But there was nothing to worry about.

Trevor Cooney has gotten his game back on track and continues to keep himself involved in the offense as a playmaker, not just a shooter.  That type of play can only continue to help the Orange as the season progresses. It will take pressure off of Kaleb Joseph, help open up the middle of the court, and force defenders to guard Cooney honestly.

Rakeem Christmas has proven himself to be a strong inside presence this year both offensively and defensively.  The key will be how many minutes can he stay on the court without getting into foul trouble.  

The sophomore class continues to be inconsistent, but bright spots due appear. Ron Patterson had his opportunity to shine with a nice game against Colgate (13 pts on 3-6 three point shooting).  Proper perspective would remind you that it was against Colgate; however, Patterson has done very little recently and has been a healthy non-play in some of those games. So it was nice to see him get some quality time.

Chris McCullough seems to be regressing. He can definitely rebound but offensively he is really struggling, and defensively he isn't always in the right position.

The team is improving, and it will be interesting to see how much better they can get.

I am more concerned with the defense than the offense right now.  The bright side is that Jim Boeheim has found the team does reasonably well with their press defense, so there is a defensive scheme that works. The dark side is that they team is struggling with its bread-and-butter zone defense.  It seems to me that there is poor backside rotation covering the holes, and the wings are still slow at getting out on the shooters.  I am not sure that is something that can be fixed quickly in the season.  It can improve, but the key to a zone defense is everyone moving as one, and not allowing gaps to occur.  It is a very difficult defensive concept, one that takes time, and I think having only two returning starters is hampering that development.

It is good however to be going into the Christmas holiday with a recent victory.

Go Orange!

It's Going To Be a Rough Year

Here's where the 2013-2014 Syracuse Orange are, summed up fairly well by a man who should know:

"This isn't like the last six years. We're going to struggle to win a game. We're going to struggle to win a game, any game that we play. This game is not going to beat anybody that's any good if they don't play better. That means all 18 games in the ACC. I don't care if somebody thinks, oh, they're not that good. They're good enough. Trust me. We have to play a lot better, we have to get better and we have to figure that out and we'll see. Again, I don't know, I wouldn't want to be overly-confident about that right now because we're not talking about the difficult things we'd like to try to do. We're trying to get the basic essentials down and that's not good at this stage."

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim at the Louisiana Tech post game press conference, December 14th, 2014.