March 26, 2006
take your pick
Which team's season would you rather have?
Team A: You feel cheated for most of the season. Your favorite basketball team never really seems to mesh well, forcing you to pick last-minute wins over Manhattan and Rutgers as the top moments of the regular season. One of the most popular players of all time - the starting senior point guard - has a difficult, if individually productive, season. You feel sorry for him, but realize that your team just might not have what it takes to win games in a top-notch league. Going into the conference tournament, your hopes are extremely low as you expect to be bounced quickly into NIT competition.
The tournament arrives a few days after an attendance record setting home loss to Villanova. You figure that the time has come to just get it over with. Then, out of nowhere, the eight regulars come together as one unit and play their best basketball of the season for four days straight with much of the nation watching on TV. You beat the #1 ranked team in the country. Your team's senior point guard creates the best pre-tournament storyline of the year, turning critics who called him "The Most Overrated Player" into fools by throwing daggers in clutch situations, winning three games by doing so. Your Hall of Fame coach swears on TV. You get to see your team celebrate on the floor of Madison Square Garden, not only sharing hugs with each other but with your program's most familiar historical figures as well.
The city surrounding the school goes crazy for a week, giving t-shirt designers a chance to cash-in and bloggers an opportunity to wax poetic about the great value of sports. Man or woman, young or old - everyone's suddenly having a good time together because of your inspiring team. All in all, it's the most enjoyable event since the university's students and its local fans had a chance to bond over some bonfires and broken saplings.
Then, it all comes screeching to a halt with an ugly upset in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Nothing goes right. A feisty, defensive-minded Texas A&M team gives the bracket its necessary second 12-over-5 upset, just as it's stated in the tournament rulebook. The worst part comes when the famed senior point guard blames himself for the loss. The entire city goes into a funk, many fans expressing their frustration through boycotts of any more basketball, noting that the early exit hurts even more the second time around. You have to wait until November to watch your team again, and you feel as if someone's stolen all the celebratory feelings right out from under you. Yes, you won the conference tournament, but was it really meaningful enough? Ugh.
OR:
Team B: Your squad has the most talent in the nation, and everyone knows it. Each of the starting five will play in the NBA, not to mention the subs off the bench. Your team finishes the regular season at the top of the deepest conference of all time, full of confidence and swagger. You can't be beaten. Then, a bunch of overachievers from the snowbelt steal your thunder in New York City. Your own Hall of Fame coach fails to make the press reels, though he's voted "Coach I'd Least Want to Play For" by the players in your league. You leave Madison Square Garden somewhat upset, but buoyed by the notion that you'll enter the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed, the favorite to take home the championship trophy.
Then a week later the #16-seeded Albany Great Danes have all spectators on the edge of their seats as they expose your team to be lazy and overconfident. Albany holds a double-digit lead well into the second half and fans everywhere text-message each other, cheering for you to lose (though most of them would suffer financial catastrophe by doing so). Your squad manages to pull away in the end, but the damage has already been done: every team preparing to face you now knows that you're actually very beatable.
Two days later, your team barely holds off an underachieving #8-seed, demonstrating a lack of heart and desire to win. Fans of the program become nervous, because they see the same thing as everyone else: your team is incapable of caring enough to play to its potential. Throughout the week that follows, several papers and magazines publish stories about how your squad was lucky to get through the opening rounds, but should be encouraged anyway because the team showed "they can win even though they aren't playing well."
The second weekend of the tournament goes much like the first. Down by 4 points to the Washington Huskies of the lowly Pac-10 with 0:20 to play, it takes monumental mistakes from the opposition and a near-miracle three pointer to force overtime. Unlike the shots made by the famed senior from Team A, which prompted descriptions such as "Magical!" or "Overrated!?" this shot was greeted with exciting pronouncements like "Survive!" and "Close-Call!" Yes, your team wins the game, but yet again they do so with the smallest doses of heart and desire. Good thing they only have to play a Cinderella #11-seed to win the region and move on to the Final Four, right?
Oops. Your team lays an egg in the regional final against George Mason of the Colonial Athletic Association. The team is up nine at halftime, but somehow they still manage to blow the lead down the stretch. A different senior steps in to force overtime in this game, but the Patriots end up proving that heart with hustle eventually wins over talent with listlessness. As a #1 seed and the undisputed favorite to win it all, the fans characterize the season as a failure. You feel personally embarrassed by the lack of effort in the second half against a clearly less-athletic lineup. You believe your players have no significant motivation to win, and your team has suddenly become the victim of the greatest upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament. The end of the season leaves you without any sense of satisfaction or enjoyment. You cry into your cereal each morning for a full week after the loss.
I'll take my team any day. Go Cuse.
March 17, 2006
unhappy ending
If this were a movie script, the writer would be fired immediately upon its submission. Then, after terminating the author, the studio responsible for producing the film would make the pre-game training montage longer, cut the feature to 88 minutes instead of the original 118, and end it on a high note with some smiles and a trophy in Madison Square Garden - just the way we like it.
This was not how it was supposed to go, even for Cuse fans who watched this game with a certain amount of caution, knowing just how frustrating the Aggies can be when they're at they're best. The Orange were supposed to go out in style - perhaps in a thrilling overtime loss to Duke or even a last-second nail-biter against Texas. A second first round defeat in two years, though? Maybe that was somewhat foreseeable, however unpleasant to the audience. A first round loss in which the team's clutch player is completely unable to perform? Unthinkable. Utterly impossible to cope with effectively.
The last thing I was prepared for in this game was Gerry McNamara's stat line: 23 minutes, 2 pts on 0% FG, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 rebound, 3 turnovers. McNamazing just didn't have it tonight, whether it was a bum leg or bird flu - he simply couldn't lead his team in the manner in which we are accustomed to.
During the post-game press conference - while desperately restraining himself from jumping the press table and strangling every reporter dumb enough to ask the same "disappointment" and "injury" questions three times over - Gerry was a player who had just seen his worst case scenario come true. He had finally encountered a game in which he believed he'd done more harm than good for his teammates, and no amount of reassurance or reminders of past heroics were going to make him feel any better. McNamara wanted nothing to do with post-game questions or analysis - if anything, he wanted more time on the clock. He left his last collegiate players' press conference angry and despondent. Even in defeat, Gerry's heart got the best of him.
Although G-Mac and Boeheim refused to talk about anything that happened before tonight, (with exception to Boeheim skillfully summarizing his star player's exceptional career in a few sentences, forcing the tunnel-thinking reporters to find a new line of questioning) it should be noted that this team need not be remembered for another early exit. These 2005-06 Syracuse Orange should be celebrated as Champions. Sure, the NCAA Tournament is the annual measuring stick against which all programs are evaluated, but these players wouldn't even have had the chance to play this evening without the most memorable four days in all of basketball this season.
It's been said a million times, but it really can't be stressed enough: the Syracuse Orange basketball team would have been left to the National Invitational Tournament committe members if not for some serious drama and excitement last weekend. Just eight days ago, it was considered common knowledge that the Cuse had just finished a sub-par season and Gerry McNamara's best days were well behind him. Barring any miracles, the Orange were going to play another game or two in the Carrier Dome, sporting a couple nifty-lookin' NIT banners on the scorer's table. Then, to the dismay of each and every professional analyst, this team proved that they were capable of beating the top programs in the country, doing it on a big stage when it mattered most.
Unfortunately for the team, (and us) they just couldn't keep their momentum. At this point, though, we can still look back and realize just how special that four-game run really was. Cincinnati. Connecticut. Georgetown. Pittsburgh. I'd be willing to bet your life savings that this year's NCAA Champion won't see a four game stretch that difficult, let alone having to do it on consecutive days (the Huskies can't play themselves, you see). These 2006 Orangemen captivated every single basketball fan in the nation and their best player will always be remembered for doing so, whether he likes it or not.
Winning back-to-back Big East Tournament championships is something to be proud of, and an accomplishment that this team will be able to build upon next year. There isn't a program yet that's won three in a row, and the Cuse looks to me like they might have the talent and experience to pull it off - the first true Big East Dynasty. All in all, this team had a highly successful season - their only true disappointment comes in the form of one departing senior. The problem is, that particular detachment is the loss that hurts the most.
March 12, 2006
CHAMPIONS!
March 11, 2006
the legend of gerry mac
And now for his next trick, McNamazing will put an entire city on his back and carry them to another improbable victory...
Guess what, everybody - the rule book has officially been changed. The bar has been set so high, I don't know even think that big boy Roy Hibbert could reach it with the stepladder in my mom's kitchen (and that dude is big, as my Ace would say). Gerry Mac has brought the house down again, and this time he did it all after being down 15 in the final 20. Wow.
Could there be a better story in sports this year? At this point, I think it would take a Jason McElwain-led event on international television to upstage what our boy from Scranton has done these past three days. Somehow, as if by magic, #3 has pulled this team together to form a completely different entity. Just think - it was less than a week prior to Thursday's win over Cincinnati that this same ballclub got beaten over the head with five sledgehammers on DePaul's homecourt, and they hardly even batted an eyelash. Now all of a sudden these Syracuse Orange are mowing down top-ranked teams with an uncanny sense for drama and nearly unparalleled game-ending highs.
This story has all the makings of a true Syracuse Legend, with Gerry leading the charge. Of course he has an invaluable amount of help from his teammates - Nichols, Watkins, Devo, and Stormin' Gorman all put in some serious work tonight - but all in all, this is G-Mac's tale to tell. This tenacious Syracuse senior has already given us plenty of reasons to miss him in the years to come, but he still doesn't feel his legacy has been completed just yet. The kid wants so much to win this tournament, and he's showing us all that if you want something bad enough, it can be possible for you to create the means to do it.
McNamara was in a zone tonight where he simply couldn't be touched (especially during that last threeball at 0:48 when Georgetown was actively avoiding him for some reason... I guess they didn't see the 10,000 highlight replays of the UConn game). Coming off screens, cutting through the lane, catching and shooting - Gerry was on fire, and refusing to be pushed out of New York without a fight. Then, to cap it off, instead of taking the winning shot himself - as all four G'Town players converging around him thought it was Gerry's plan to do so - he finishes the game with one of the prettiest bounce passes in transition you'll ever see and a ball-hawking strip, stealing victory out from the Hoyas' hands.
This is three nights in a row that #3 has reset the standard of Syracuse University basketball heroes. I know in my mind that no one could ever top the skill of Bing, the exploits of Pearl, or the athleticism of Coleman and Owens, but tonight my heart is beginning to disagree. Gerry may not have all the traits of a Hall of Famer or even an NBA bench warmer, but he's still managed to firmly plant himself at the peak of my Orangelist. My sporting soul pulls for the Cuse to be in a close match down to the wire, just so Gerry Mac can make us all explode with the kind of energy we've shared these past few days. There's nothing like the feeling this kid can create within Cuse fans, just by willing himself to win the big one and playing as hard as he can because he knows this could be his last chance to do it all.
In the past few days alone, I've had more contact with all of my friends and family across the country than I've had in months. Everytime I pick up the phone someone else is sharing their personal story of these G-Mac Moments, whether they had to watch on a neighbor's TV, listen to a buzzerbeater on the computer, or catch updates through their phone's text messaging service. Something magical is happening to Syracuse fans everywhere this weekend, and it seems to me that it's primarily the work of a kid they used to call overrated. Absolutely everyone is enjoying these moments together, from co-workers who hardly ever follow the team to strangers in the street who have shared the same passion for years, but never knew it until now.
The heart and determination exhibited by this basketball player and his group of hustle-first teammates has been powerful and contagious - we all want to buy into what's happening, if only so we can experience a small part of it. Yes, it's just the Big East Tournament - a series of games our team has won before without flinching - but now it's become something much bigger than that. To me, this team's effort in these three games has shown Syracuse fans the essence of sport, and we've found that we simply can't get enough. Gerry's got us all hooked, and we're starting to believe they're destined to be champions.
After the West Virginia game, Boeheim noted to the press that he felt Gerry McNamara may have the biggest heart of any player he's ever coached, ranking him right next to Sherman Douglas (and Rod Tidwell). Considering how often Jimmy B. likes to stress his lengthy experience at this University, it's very considerable praise to be put upon one of his players. If I were to venture a guess tonight, though, I'd bet this four-year starter - one of the Top-5 Orangemen in nearly every tangible statistical category - has since moved a spot higher inside his coach's mind. After watching him give us everything he's got - just to win a few games in the Big East - I'm ready to keep him there forever.
Bring on the Panthers. Let's see what happens next.
March 10, 2006
just a reminder
If I'm Gerry McNamara, I'm getting on the floor each night with one thought in mind: "They don't believe I can do this." Then, I'm taking that thought and using it to rip apart whoever happens to be attempting to stop me from running my team all the way to the Big East Tournament title.
Here's a reminder, in case any of us have lost our momentum after the UConn game, straight out of the pages of Sports Illustrated's Big East players' poll:
• MOST OVERRATED PLAYER:
Gerry McNamara, SYRACUSE .... 27%
"People said he'd be the conference player of the year, but he hasn't shown me anything."
In a way, it helps Gerry (and all of Syracuse) that the poll was done anonymously. That way, G-Mac can play every Big East game as if he's playing against the dope who had the nerve to call him out. Thursday afternoon it was Jihad Muhammed who was quoted in a national magazine underestimating him. Yesterday, it was Marcus Williams who had told everyone he didn't deserve any recognition. Tonight, my guess is that Gerry will convince himself that Ashanti Cook was the one foolish enough to issue such a challenge.
This team should be on a mission. Tonight they have the chance to make another powerful statement, especially since the basketball world is expecting the Orange to quit while they're ahead. If these Orangemen have enough gas to get there I'm hoping they win that second Big East Trophy in two years, just so Gerry Mac can wave it in the faces of everyone who doubted him... Right before he knocks 'em in the mouth with that NCAA Championship Ring, of course.
March 09, 2006
Team Effort
CUUUUSE!!!
Incredible game today. I don't know about all of you, but I'm completely exhausted after watching one of the greatest games of the last quarter century for this Syracuse basketball program. If there was ever a time for me to expend all my energy screaming at a television monitor, jumping up and down with every play, falling to my knees when a J.Wright shot rims out, or pumping my fists and celebrating loud enough for the neighborhood to hear, it was this afternoon.
These Orange showed from the very start that they weren't going to just roll over, hit the snooze, and wait for Selection Sunday. As soon as the ball was tipped everyone watching and listening all over the country knew that the Cuse were in New York City to play with fire once more. For 44 minutes and 54.3 seconds of the contest, this team played with more heart and determination than they had shown all season. Terrence Roberts (8-11, 16pts!) and Darryl Watkins (6-11, 17pts!) went toe-to-toe with a Husky frontcourt that seemed absolutely impenetrable only 29 days ago, and refused to back down. Demetrius Nichols plugged up passing lanes and contested every shot within 10 feet of him, then ran the floor on the opposite end to make the athletic plays we've been expecting his entire career. Eric Devendorf showed his highest level of intensity, bringing the ball upcourt almost exclusively but not commiting a single turnover (of course he also managed to get into a scrum with Hilton Armstrong, a potential lottery pick twice his size). Meanwhile, the play off the bench from Louie McCroskey and Josh Wright helped push the team when they needed it most. Lou hustled to every ball he caught the smallest glimpse of, while denying his urge to take foolish shots and Josh - a sophomore with less experience than most - kept an even keel during pressurized moments the likes of which most players will never experience.
Throughout those entire 44 minutes and 54.3 seconds of gametime today, this team played as a single unit. Nine different Orangemen stepped on the floor, and nine different Orangemen played with a common purpose. Instead of each player trying to make the game his own, they crisply passed the ball to one another and created opportunities for easy buckets. After the overtime-ending buzzer had sounded, Jimmy B. was sure to make note that his squad had finally played their best offensive game of the season, implementing his gameplan about as well as he could have hoped for. These players were truly exciting to watch, (or listen to, which most fans were forced to do) and they made me proud to be an Orange fan.
Nevertheless, no matter how well the team played, they were still up against the undisputed #1 basketball team in the entire country. Even though they had done as we all had hoped for, (they really did play their absolute best game of the year!) they still needed that little extra effort to get over the line drawn between win and loss. As always, McNaclutcha was there to save the game with a full supply of his own brand of heart and determination.
Gerry may not have shot the ball as well as I would have liked, (we're sure to forget he was only 3 for 14 when we look back on this one) but he showed everyone why the absolute last adjective anyone should have ever used to describe him is "overrated." The kid from Scranton played injured today, (leg problems) but still managed to make some exceedingly brilliant plays against a team whose coach admits, "The first thing we always try to do is stop McNamara."
G-Mac went to town on the UConn defense in the first half, finding seams and delivering several smooth passes to the suddenly soft hands of Watkins and Roberts, who found themselves taking advantage of inside opportunities seemingly on every possession. The big men stepped up their game tonight, helping McNamara look even better by consistently finishing around the rim. As a result Gerry took control of the game with his full-court vision, moving in sync with the other Orange players throughout his share of the 44 minutes and 54.3 seconds he spent on the court.
However, there was still those 5.7 seconds between regulation and overtime, when #3 just had to do it on his own. Coming out of a UConn timeout with 11.2 on the clock, when everyone in MSG (including Calhoun, who was incensed by the lack of defensive pressure from Rashad Anderson) knew Syracuse's gameplan, Gerry gave us that extra bit of willpower necessary to beat the best team in the land. McNamazing took the cross-court pass from Devendorf and very calmly dribbled upcourt to drill the NBA three that saved his senior season with 5.5 seconds remaining. Then, instead of over-celebrating, he and his teammates got back down the court as a single unit so they could get a body on Marcus Williams before his attempt at a buzzerbeater.
Gerry McNamara made another showstopping play today, (I'm having trouble remembering any basketball player who ever hit two bigger shots on back-to-back days, though I'm sure there's one or two) but the reason these Orangemen won was that they played 99.9% of the game as nine parts of a single whole. They showed true grit today, and they made sure we won't have to attend any more home games until November - just the way it should be.
March 08, 2006
Tournament Hopes Grow in the Garden
This one was for all the naysayers, the doubters, the pessimists. Mr. McNamazing comes through yet again, if only to prove that the "overrated" voters of the coaching world, the anonymous Big East player in Sports Illustrated ("He's never shown me anything") and - most especially - those local Gerry-haters know next to nothing about this game and the influence of the best players who practice it.
A certain Hall of Famer said it best: "Without Gerry McNamara, this team wouldn't have won ten games. Not ten." Consider it gospel, folks, because without the play of McNarrific today you'd all be ready to tell your bosses you no longer want those days off next Thursday and Friday. After yet another clutch performance, (17pts, 9 assists, 3 steals, 1 enormous three) Gerry - the best player on this team, regardless of how good you think Eric is going to be in the future - has shown us that these Orange aren't ready to come home just yet. I've spent the last few days fruitlessly trying to come up with some way to pay homage to my favorite player of the last 15 years, but now I'm celebrating the opportunity to postpone such an effort for at least another week.
As soon as that off-balance typically-gritty shot dropped through the net, (and Jihad Muhammed's last gasp fell about half an inch too short) my mind immediately conjured images of 7 foot shot-stopping Huskies and another Hall of Famer who seems to know all the most damaging Orange weaknesses. Yes, Syracuse made their case for the 8th NCAA spot from the conference by taking 2 of 3 from a Cincinnati team who shares the same space on the bubble, but all the same questions still remain. Just how much wreckage did the DePaul loss create? Can a team still get in with a losing regular season conference record? What about that 3-10 record against the Top 50?
My point is this: as of this morning, Cincinnati was considered an 8 or 9 seed in the tournament. Somehow, although Syracuse had a better record, the Orange were considered to be on the outside looking in. By looking at the Bearcats' schedule, one would find losses to Dayton (RPI 176) , Xavier (97), and Louisville (63). The lowest RPI-ranked team to beat Syracuse this season, however, was DePaul who currently sits at 89. The rest of the losses came against Top-50 opponents.
Secondly, Syracuse played a more difficult Big East schedule than Cincinnati - the Bearcats get their #4 strength of schedule rating from their non-conference games against Memphis and LSU - and only finished one game behind them in the standings. Aside from the two games against Cincinnati, the Orange had to play Connecticut and Villanova twice each (combined Big East record: 28-4), while Cincy played West Virginia and Louisville twice, (combined BE record: 17-15) winning 3 of 4. To me, this is a clear indication that the Orange are a victim of the conference's unbalanced schedule. I recognize that the Cuse could have made life a lot easier on themselves by winning just one of those four games against the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country, but it seems to me that if Cincinnati had to play the same schedule as the Orange they would be 7-9 as well instead of 8-8.
Third, and most notably, Syracuse won the season series from the Bearcats. It's simple - by beating Cincinnati twice in three times, the Orange demonstrate that they are just a better team head-to-head. If Cincinnati is in the tournament, as the experts say, then the Orange must be included as well.
Sadly, for the reason of the DePaul mess, this is not reality for most analysts and they are the ones normally responsible for a significant portion of the influence over the committee's decisions. Even though Syracuse has only lost to one team outside of the RPI Top 50 while supposedly Top-15 squads like North Carolina, (losses to #77 Virginia, #83 Miami, #112 USC) Oklahoma, (#52 Colorado, #111 Nebraska, #132 Missouri) and UCLA (#59 California, #112 USC) have had significant struggles, they're considered a bubble program. To me, this is a joke.
Unfortunately for SU, it looks like they'll have to beat UConn tomorrow in order to gain some security in their tournament prospects. Again, it's in the realm of possibility, but they have to play their absolute best game of the season to make it happen. Who knows - maybe Gerry's got one more trick up his sleeve. Perhaps he'll manage to make all those naysayers feel even more foolish for publicly doubting him. The kid's got heart, and right now it would be unwise to count them out considering the save he pulled off today.
Go Cuse.
A certain Hall of Famer said it best: "Without Gerry McNamara, this team wouldn't have won ten
As soon as that off-balance typically-gritty shot dropped through the net, (and Jihad Muhammed's last gasp fell about half an inch too short) my mind immediately conjured images of 7 foot shot-stopping Huskies and another Hall of Famer who seems to know all the most damaging Orange weaknesses. Yes, Syracuse made their case for the 8th NCAA spot from the conference by taking 2 of 3 from a Cincinnati team who shares the same space on the bubble, but all the same questions still remain. Just how much wreckage did the DePaul loss create? Can a team still get in with a losing regular season conference record? What about that 3-10 record against the Top 50?
My point is this: as of this morning, Cincinnati was considered an 8 or 9 seed in the tournament. Somehow, although Syracuse had a better record, the Orange were considered to be on the outside looking in. By looking at the Bearcats' schedule, one would find losses to Dayton (RPI 176) , Xavier (97), and Louisville (63). The lowest RPI-ranked team to beat Syracuse this season, however, was DePaul who currently sits at 89. The rest of the losses came against Top-50 opponents.
Secondly, Syracuse played a more difficult Big East schedule than Cincinnati - the Bearcats get their #4 strength of schedule rating from their non-conference games against Memphis and LSU - and only finished one game behind them in the standings. Aside from the two games against Cincinnati, the Orange had to play Connecticut and Villanova twice each (combined Big East record: 28-4), while Cincy played West Virginia and Louisville twice, (combined BE record: 17-15) winning 3 of 4. To me, this is a clear indication that the Orange are a victim of the conference's unbalanced schedule. I recognize that the Cuse could have made life a lot easier on themselves by winning just one of those four games against the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country, but it seems to me that if Cincinnati had to play the same schedule as the Orange they would be 7-9 as well instead of 8-8.
Third, and most notably, Syracuse won the season series from the Bearcats. It's simple - by beating Cincinnati twice in three times, the Orange demonstrate that they are just a better team head-to-head. If Cincinnati is in the tournament, as the experts say, then the Orange must be included as well.
Sadly, for the reason of the DePaul mess, this is not reality for most analysts and they are the ones normally responsible for a significant portion of the influence over the committee's decisions. Even though Syracuse has only lost to one team outside of the RPI Top 50 while supposedly Top-15 squads like North Carolina, (losses to #77 Virginia, #83 Miami, #112 USC) Oklahoma, (#52 Colorado, #111 Nebraska, #132 Missouri) and UCLA (#59 California, #112 USC) have had significant struggles, they're considered a bubble program. To me, this is a joke.
Unfortunately for SU, it looks like they'll have to beat UConn tomorrow in order to gain some security in their tournament prospects. Again, it's in the realm of possibility, but they have to play their absolute best game of the season to make it happen. Who knows - maybe Gerry's got one more trick up his sleeve. Perhaps he'll manage to make all those naysayers feel even more foolish for publicly doubting him. The kid's got heart, and right now it would be unwise to count them out considering the save he pulled off today.
Go Cuse.
March 03, 2006
what just happened!?
You cannot be serious.
No - really - did that actually just happen?
Now I could almost understand losing by a few points to a desperate DePaul team playing their final home game and looking to redeem their entire season with another big upset (they also beat Seton Hall - probably a key indicator that SU was in for a surprise though it seems almost no one picked up on it...especially the Orange). A small loss on the road? Understandable, I suppose, though still quite upsetting and still an indisputable reason to kick the Cuse down to the NIT... THIRTY NINE POINTS!!!? Not within fifty miles of excusable, let alone bearable.
Like I said last time, Syracuse is going to score about 70 points per game, no matter where the points come from - the only thing that's going to produce wins is some solid defense. When a team like DePaul, who was averaging 4.9 three pointers per game at 29.9% before last night, is allowed to hit 57% of 28 treys in one game it is not only because they have the Jason McElwain hot hand - it's because the opposing defense isn't doing its job. I don't care if the Cuse played Faith Heritage last night - they would have lost to any team with the pitiful effort they put forth on the defensive side of the ball. If they had played a good shooting team like West Virginia or Villanova last night, forget 39 - the Cuse would've lost by 50. At least.
It's been said several times by several people throughout the course of the entire season: In order to make it to the NCAA's in this league, you cannot afford to lose to the teams in the bottom half of the standings. Up until last night, Syracuse had been doing a good job of winning the games in which they were the clear favorite, and I would have said they were a lock for the tournament, despite the record against the Top 50. However, after last night this team now finds themselves in a deep hole, scratching for a handhold they can use to climb out and get back into the Tournament.
Let's hope last night was just an extremely poorly-timed aberration. Hopefully the Orange won't bring the same effort into Gerry's last home game - if they do, it won't matter if the senior scores 50, because the Wildcats will easily run the Cuse right out of their own building. Syracuse has to come home prepared to win and they have to play their best game of the year in order to pull it off. It definitely is in the realm of possibility, but after watching these Orange yesterday I'm beginning to think they'll need the entire record-breaking crowd on the court with them to do it.
Much like the Blue Demons of DePaul, these Syracuse Orange have found themselves in a desperate position against a heavily favored opponent on Senior Night. Perhaps, if we're lucky, the same outcome could result from a similar situation. Maybe Villanova will forget to guard Mr. McNamara and allow him and his buddies to drop 16 threes in the Dome. Maybe Allen Ray and Randy Foye will forget to jump into passing lanes, giving Gerry and Josh a chance at double-digit assists. Maybe, if 35,000 people can will it to happen, the Cuse can redeem their entire season with one big win when they need it most.
.....well, maybe not.
No - really - did that actually just happen?
Now I could almost understand losing by a few points to a desperate DePaul team playing their final home game and looking to redeem their entire season with another big upset (they also beat Seton Hall - probably a key indicator that SU was in for a surprise though it seems almost no one picked up on it...especially the Orange). A small loss on the road? Understandable, I suppose, though still quite upsetting and still an indisputable reason to kick the Cuse down to the NIT... THIRTY NINE POINTS!!!? Not within fifty miles of excusable, let alone bearable.
Like I said last time, Syracuse is going to score about 70 points per game, no matter where the points come from - the only thing that's going to produce wins is some solid defense. When a team like DePaul, who was averaging 4.9 three pointers per game at 29.9% before last night, is allowed to hit 57% of 28 treys in one game it is not only because they have the Jason McElwain hot hand - it's because the opposing defense isn't doing its job. I don't care if the Cuse played Faith Heritage last night - they would have lost to any team with the pitiful effort they put forth on the defensive side of the ball. If they had played a good shooting team like West Virginia or Villanova last night, forget 39 - the Cuse would've lost by 50. At least.
It's been said several times by several people throughout the course of the entire season: In order to make it to the NCAA's in this league, you cannot afford to lose to the teams in the bottom half of the standings. Up until last night, Syracuse had been doing a good job of winning the games in which they were the clear favorite, and I would have said they were a lock for the tournament, despite the record against the Top 50. However, after last night this team now finds themselves in a deep hole, scratching for a handhold they can use to climb out and get back into the Tournament.
Let's hope last night was just an extremely poorly-timed aberration. Hopefully the Orange won't bring the same effort into Gerry's last home game - if they do, it won't matter if the senior scores 50, because the Wildcats will easily run the Cuse right out of their own building. Syracuse has to come home prepared to win and they have to play their best game of the year in order to pull it off. It definitely is in the realm of possibility, but after watching these Orange yesterday I'm beginning to think they'll need the entire record-breaking crowd on the court with them to do it.
Much like the Blue Demons of DePaul, these Syracuse Orange have found themselves in a desperate position against a heavily favored opponent on Senior Night. Perhaps, if we're lucky, the same outcome could result from a similar situation. Maybe Villanova will forget to guard Mr. McNamara and allow him and his buddies to drop 16 threes in the Dome. Maybe Allen Ray and Randy Foye will forget to jump into passing lanes, giving Gerry and Josh a chance at double-digit assists. Maybe, if 35,000 people can will it to happen, the Cuse can redeem their entire season with one big win when they need it most.
.....well, maybe not.
