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.
