Aaaaand We're Back!

Heading into last night's Big East showdown against the #6/#7 UCONN Huskies Jim Boeheim had never lost 5 straight games as head coach of the Syracuse Orangemen. Thankfully, he still hasn't. Syracuse went into Connecticut and walked out with a much needed 66-58 victory. The Orangemen hadn't won on the road against UCONN since the 1999 season.

Syracuse managed to overcome not scoring a single point in the game's opening 5:31 and managed to take their first halftime lead since January 15th against Cinci when Rick Jackson slipped home a shifty hook shot as time expired on the opening frame, giving SU a 26-25 halftime lead.

In the first half Syracuse's defense of Huskie star Kemba Walker was amazing. Walker was held to just 5 points in the first half. Syracuse had allowed opposing teams to score 40+ points in the first half three straight games heading into last night's contest, however UCONN scored just 25 points in the 1st half. Walker finished the game with a season low 8 points, a job well done by the Orangemen's guards at the top of the 2-3 zone.

Coming out of the halftime intermission, it appeared to be the Brandon Triche show. Triche scored the first 7 points for Syracuse in the first 2:17 out of the gate, and helped push Syracuse's lead to 33-27. As Connecticut mounted a valiant comeback, cutting Syracuse's lead which had ballooned to as many as 9 points down to a mere 1 point with 4:56 left to play, Brandon Triche swished a 3-point jumper from the corner to put the Orangemen back up 4 points and provide a much needed cushion against the #6/#7 team in the nation as Syracuse held on for the win.

Baye Moussa Keita played by far his best game in his very young Orangeman career. Despite fouling out (on an absolutely brutal call late in the game) Keita pulled down 11 rebounds, made a season high 6 steals, scored 4 points and added 2 blocks while playing a season high 27 minutes for the Cuse. Keita was changing shots in the lane, using his long arms to swat pass attempts into the center of the zone, and playing like a man possessed to help Syracuse knock off one of the best teams in the nation and putting an end to the Orangemen's 4 game losing streak.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Fab Melo played a mere 3 minutes and his only statistical achievement in the game was his 1 personal foul.

Rick Jackson recorded his 15th double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and pulling down 13 rebounds to lead the Orangemen. Kris Joseph began the game extremely off, however managed to make a few big plays down the stretch. Joseph, the Orangemen's leading scorer on the season, finished 3 of 11 from the floor for 11 points.

Once again Scoop Jardine's shooting woes continued to mount, as he shot 2 of 11 from the field, however Scoop made his foul shots in the final minutes of the game and grabbed a key rebound as the game clock wound down.

Brandon Triche lead Syracuse in scoring with 16 points, while shooting 2 of 7 from 3-point range. He made his shots when it counted though.

Up next for the Orangemen are the USF Bulls on Saturday at 2PM in Tampa, Fl. The game will be televised live on the home of the Big East Network, SNY. With eight games remaining on the Syracuse schedule, there's plenty of hard work left to do.

After a trip down to Tampa, Syracuse will play Georgetown, Louisville, and West Virginia, with the Louisville match up being played on the road. Syracuse (19-4, 6-4 Big East) can not afford to have a let down against the Bulls, as the schedule will not be easing up for the Cuse any time soon.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Is UCONN Just What the Doctor Ordered?

Four straight losses by an average of 11.75 points per game. Never before have the Orangemen lost five straight games under Jim Boeheim. Tonight, Syracuse will take on the #6/#7 Connecticut Huskies (17-3, 5-3 Big East) at the XL Center in Hartford, CT at 7PM on ESPN.

Maybe this level of competition will finally light a fire under the collective bottoms of the Syracuse Orangemen basketball team?

There's a lot of turmoil surrounding the team right now. Four game losing streak. Getting thumped at home by Seton Hall. Some idiots hiding behind a keyboard who thought they would start a point shaving rumor. Dion Waiters suspension rumors. None of this is going to matter when Syracuse takes the court in Connecticut. All that matters is fighting hard for 40 minutes and walking out with a HUGE conference win.

Just one win can turn around all the bad press, bad vibes, and negative energy circling the program. Who better to record that win against than Jim Calhoun and our old friends at UCONN?

Standing in the Cuse's path back to respectability is superstar Kemba Walker (6'1" 172 pounds). The junior is averaging a team high 24.2 points per game and is one of the most lethal players in the country. Walker's season low is 14 points, which came against Marquette on January 25th, and he registered a season high 31 points twice, most recently against Pittsburgh on the road. Walker is the real deal. Stop Kemba Walker, and we might just be able to stop the UCONN Huskies.

If Syracuse has a snowball's chance in hell at stopping Walker, it's going to have to be from the top of the zone. Unfortunately for Syracuse, the top of the 2-3 zone has been absolutely horrible during this 4 game losing streak. Maybe this kind of match up will help Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche elevate their game to the next level. Or, maybe they will fold and allow Walker to torch them for long 3-pointers and penetrate into the zone and get the easy mid-range jumpers. It's up to Scoop and Triche if Syracuse will be successful tonight.

The only other Huskie averaging in double digits is Alex Oriakhi (6'9" 240 pounds) who is averaging 10.7 points and 9 rebounds per game. Oriakhi had a season high 18 points against Kentucky way back on November 24th and a season high 21 rebounds against Texas on the road on January 8th. The past two games Oriakhi has found himself in foul trouble, however the rate at which fouls have been called against Syracuse versus called FOR Syracuse has been staggering of late, so I'm sure that will not be a factor.

In order for Syracuse to be successful they will need to channel the energy we saw in the zone defense the first 18 games of the season that carried the Cuse through bad shooting performances. If Connecticut scores 40+ first half points, it's safe to say our chances of winning this game are slim. The Orangemen have absolutely got to find a way to limit second chance rebounds and somehow manage to slow down Kemba Walker.

If Syracuse can do that, then we have a chance.

Is This Rock Bottom ??

Well, that sucked. The Syracuse Orangemen's 18 game winning streak seems like it was all a dream right about now as the Cuse is in the middle of a 4 game losing streak. Watching Duke lose to St. Johns yesterday helped me keep my head up, but in the end Syracuse has lost to two teams that we haven't lost to in years. Literally. Syracuse hasn't lost to Marquette since the 1980's.

Another slow start. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you want to look at it, Morgan State and Norfolk State played the longest 3 minutes of basketball in recorded history and Cuse fans watching on ESPNU were tortured until they were able to join coverage around the under 12 minute time out in the first half.

Marquette jumped out to a 10-3 lead and was in control the entire first half. When the half-time buzzer rang the Orangemen found themselves down 11 points. Once again, Syracuse was getting beat on the glass and being careless with the basketball. On Syracuse's final four possessions of the first half they turned the ball over three times.

The most frustrating part of the second half was when Syracuse was down one with the ball in Marquette's end and COULD NOT INBOUND THE BALL. Inbounding the ball is certainly day 1 stuff, however this Syracuse team could not overcome the inbound pass on two occasions with a chance to take the lead. The Orangemen were able to tie the game, but could never get over that hump.

Once again Syracuse was out-rebounded, although this game was by a narrow margin (2). Baye Moussa Keita led the Cuse in boards with 7, and added 4 points and 2 blocks before fouling out. He played some major minutes for the Orangemen and helped out on the glass on a day when Rick Jackson was held to just 4 rebounds.

Rick Jackson finished the day 6 of 7 from the floor for 14 points, however he was held to a season low in rebounds. Kris Joseph led the Orangemen with 18 points. The most interesting person on the floor was Scoop Jardine, however.

Scoop Jardine finished with a career high 13 assists and 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting. He also was credited with 5 turnovers, although in true Scoop fashion of late, it felt like many more. There were times late in the second half when I honestly felt worried every time Scoop touched the ball, and since he's the team's point guard, that's not a good feeling to have!

Speaking of point guards, Dion Waiters did not spend one second off the bench in this one. While Jim Boeheim took to the airwaves last week and said there was no issue with Dion Waiters, it's extremely curious to notice he didn't get any playing time on Saturday. Mookie Jones picked up 4 first half minutes while another regular contributor, James Southerland, also sat on the bench for the duration of the game.

In Southerland's place, freshman C.J. Fair had another strong outing. In 15 minutes of action Fair finished the day shooting 5 of 7 from the floor for 10 points and picked up 3 rebounds and 3 blocks. C.J. Fair should continue to see increased minutes, as his shot selection is always in high percentage areas and he is not afraid to pick up rebounds in the lane, something James Southerland has struggled to do of late.

Where do we go from here?

The loss, Syracuse's 4th straight, drops the Orangemen to 5-4 in Big East play and 18-4 overall on the season. It also drops Syracuse to 7th in the Big East Standings. The Cuse took another hit in the rankings this week, coming up 17th in both the AP & ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Polls. This week is a tremendous opportunity for Syracuse to get off the canvas and salvage a season which once seemed so promising.

The Orangemen will first travel to #5 UCONN on Wednesday at 7PM. Syracuse will follow that up with a trip (which is by no means a vacation) to Tampa, FL to take on USF at 2PM. If Syracuse can find a way to win these two games, that will do a lot towards increasing the confidence around this program.

On a side note, if there was one class I wish all SU players would enroll in, it would be "How To Draw a Foul." It's been 5 years since I was a student at Syracuse University, is that course still offered?

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Syracuse Travels to Marquette with the Season on the Line

If you are a fan of Syracuse basketball, you are sick of losing right about now. We could live with losing in Pittsburgh and get over a loss to Villanova. But what we witnessed on Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome is something we are all going to need rectified, and quickly.

The last time the Orangemen won a game was January 15th against Cincinnati. When we take the court on Saturday at 3:00PM on the road in Marquette it will have been two full weeks since the Cuse has tasted victory.

Right now, the main problem for Syracuse is protecting the basketball and taking the time to find the proper high percentage shots. And defense. Running down the floor and throwing up 3 pointers and runners in the lane are no longer going to cut it. Shooting 4-10 or 3-11 from the floor is not going to beat many Big East teams when that's the production out of your starting guards.

Missing layups and being out-rebounded by unranked and over matched teams can not and should not happen. And if Syracuse wants to save a season that started 18-0 and reached a #3 ranking in the country, than the Cuse are going to have to buckle down and get to work Saturday against the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Thankfully for Syracuse, Marquette has 4 losses in their past six games. Unfortunately for Syracuse, they haven't lost to the underachievers of the Big East (like Seton Hall). The Golden Eagles' four losses have come against Pittsburgh on the road, in Louisville, in Notre Dame and at home against UCONN. They have lost the 4 games by an average of 5.5 points. Syracuse lost their last game to then 2-5 in Big East play Seton Hall by 22 points!

Although Jim Boeheim went on the air with The Score 1260 yesterday and said his team did not quit on Tuesdsay, the effort displayed by Syracuse was never there. Seton Hall jumped out to an early 10-2 lead before Syracuse even knew what hit them, and the Cuse never recovered to even make it a game. From start to finish it was a complete embarrassment for the team, the university, and the alumni. How can Seton Hall score 90 points in a 40 minute game on Syracuse at home? The Pirates averages 68.1 points per game, 208th in the nation!!

We know we can play better than this, we've seen it. Now that we got what should be the worse loss of the season out of our system, we have to pick up the pieces and move forward.

Rick Jackson needs to keep being Rick Jackson. A double-double machine. Kris Joseph needs to be Kris Joseph and lead this team in scoring. Scoop Jardine needs to play like a true point guard and CREATE opportunities for his teammates while taking the ball to the hoop and generating high percentage shots for himself. Brandon Triche needs to play with a head on his shoulders and not throw blind passes in the lane to no one, while knocking down outside shots and playing tough defense at the top of the zone.

Fab Melo needs to find a way to do whatever he did in the second half of the Cincinnati game and keep doing it for every second he's on the floor. It's not too much to ask to use your 7-foot frame to establish position inside and grab every rebound that comes off the hoop. If you aren't going to score that's one thing, but its no excuse not to rebound the ball and play defense.

As for the guys off the bench, when they get on the floor they have to energize the guys who are out there through strong defense and smart play. Coming out and going 0-2 from 3-point range in the first 40 seconds you are on the floor isn't why Jim Boeheim is putting you in the game.

Frankly, I'd like to see C.J. Fair get more minutes. If he takes a shot, more often than not its right around the rim, and he can rebound the basketball in the lane.

Normally I'd dissect a few key players on the opposing team during a preview such as this, however today I'm not going to do that. Syracuse needs to shut down any opponent that touches the court. The defense has to be as good as the defense that held Notre Dame to 58 points in the Carrier Dome on new years day.

One might say that to think an 18-3 team has a must win game in late January is "crazy," But make no mistake, this is a must win game. After Saturday, Syracuse will face-off against #5 UCONN, travel to USF, host #20 Georgetown and then travel to #19 Louisville.

Lose Saturday, and I have very little faith in this stretch of games. However, if we can win, then we can use those next four games to springboard ourselves back into respectability with the nation's elite and begin to gear up for a serious tournament run.

The question for the team is, what kind of season do you want to finish with?

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

The Morning After

Waking up this morning was like waking up from a bad dream.

Did that really happen?

Is it possible that Seton Hall (a team that was 2-6 in the Big East, a team that had an 8-12 overall record, a team that Syracuse hasn't lost to at home since 2006) came into the Dome and absolutely blew out the #9/#10 ranked Syracuse Orangemen?

That's the reality we are waking up in today. Syracuse, after winning 18 straight games to open the season, have now lost three straight games and the latest is the most humiliating.

It's one thing to lose to #4 Pittsburgh on the road. It's one thing to lose to #7 Villanova at home. But to lose to unranked and outmatched Seton Hall in this kind of fashion. To not only lose at home, but to be blown out. That is completely and 100% unacceptable for a program that was just last week ranked #3 in the nation.

Immediate feelings after the loss: Shock. Embarrassment. Humiliation. Disbelief. Anger. Disappointment.

Could 90-68 really be the final score? And can Syracuse really be on the losing end? If you missed the game and just saw the final score you would have definitely thought that the person giving you this information got the order of the teams wrong. But no. This is real.

From the opening tip to the final buzzer the Syracuse Orangemen were out worked, out hustled, out shot and were lacking the sense of urgency and poise necessary to make this a game.

If I were Jim Boeheim I would have told my players to stay in the locker room after the game. I would have told them to keep their sneakers on, and that we are waiting for the stands to clear out, because there's going to be practice. No basketballs. Just your sneakers and a whistle. Be ready to run. In hockey, they call it a bag skate. I'm not sure what they call it in basketball but to quote Herb Brooks in the movie Miracle, "you guys don't want to work during the game, no problem, we'll work now."

Rick Jackson was Rick Jackson. 12 points 11 rebounds 6 blocks 3 steals 3 assists. Unfortunately Scoop Jardine was the Scoop Jardine we have been seeing lately. Scoop was 4 of 10 from the field for 11 points with 2 assists and 3 turnovers. Brandon Triche was 3 of 11 from the floor and 1 of 6 from 3-point range to also finish with 11 points and 3 assists (and 3 turnovers).

James Southerland started in place of Fab Melo, and only succeeded at being invisible. Southerland was 1-5 from the field, 0-4 from 3-point range, had just 2 rebounds in 19 minutes and for much of the time he was out there he was difficult to even notice on the floor. Kris Joseph finished with 17 points to lead the Orangemen in scoring.

The defensive effort by the Cuse was 100% unacceptable. How a team like Seton Hall can score 90 points on you in a 40 minute game is beyond me. Jeremy Hazell came out of the gates literally on fire and finished with 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting from the floor (5 of 10 from 3). Not one player on the Syracuse team could match his intensity on either the offensive or defensive side of the ball.

I think going forward C.J. Fair should take some of the minutes we are watching James Southerland receive. He actually understands how to run a full court press, a facet of the game that looks lost on the rest of the team, and he can rebound the basketball. Fair was 3 of 5 from the floor for 6 points with 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 16 minutes. Dion Waiters finished 0-4 from the field. His only other stat was that he had 1 foul in 14 minutes.

Where do we go from here? It looks like Syracuse has three tough road games coming up against Marquette on 1/29, in UCONN on 2/2 and in South Florida on 2/5. The Orangemen better not treat that trip to Tampa like a vacation, because they will come home with the same level of embarrassment we are all forced to live through today.

This team needs a serious gut check. They need to find out if they are going to just shrivel up and die or if they are going to start hitting back and earning some of the respect back that they have most definitely lost after last nights game. The good news is that there are plenty of ranked opponents left on the Orangemen's schedule. It's not as if we play in the ACC and we only have one ranked team on our schedule. There will be opportunities to get some big, big wins under our belt as the season moves along, and they better take advantage of it!

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Syracuse Looks to Snap Two Game Skid Against Seton Hall

Syracuse is struggling. That's a given. The Orangemen, who won their first 18 games of the season, have now dropped two consecutive Big East games against two top tier teams in the nation (then #4 Pittsburgh and #7 Villanova).

Seemingly the poster child for the past two defeats is Scoop Jardine. Scoop has combined to make 5 of his last 21 shot attempts (23.8%) from the floor in the past two games, and watched the final 6 minutes of the Villanova game on the bench. He has pulled down zero rebounds in the same stretch and scored a mere 2 points in 22 minutes against Villanova (1-8 from the field).

It's clear Syracuse is going to need to get their mojo back. If a person was faced with a long dry-spell or felt as if they were lacking in mojo, they would head out and try to track down a slump breaker. Thankfully for Syracuse, they won't have to look too far. And thankfully, we're looking at the Seton Hall Pirates.

Like an ugly girl at a party, The Pirates enter the Carrier Dome tonight at 7PM with an overall record of 8-12, and a very poor 2-6 mark in Big East play. Since Syracuse defeated Seton Hall in Newark, NJ on January 8th 61-56, the Pirates have gone 1-3, and have lost three games in a row (at Pittsburgh and two home games against Georgetown and Rutgers). Seton Hall may very well be our slump breaker.

The Orangemen need to treat this game as a springboard. Use it as an opportunity to get their legs back under them, get their confidence back, and get back some swagger that the team hasn't had since watching Kris Joseph go down with a concussion in the game against Cincinnati.

Since the tangling with Syracuse, the Pirates have gotten their leading scorer Jeremy Hazell (6'5" 188 pounds) back from a hand injury and a gun shot wound. Although Seton Hall is 1-3 since his return, Hazell is averaging 15.5 points per contest. Hazell is averaging 19.1 points per game on the season (he missed 13 games), and had he been in action against Syracuse 17 days ago, the outcome might have been very different. In the seven games Hazell has played, he has failed to score in double digits just once, January 15th in Pittsburgh, when he was held to 9 points on 3 of 13 shooting.

When we last saw the Pirates Herb Pope (6'8" 236 pounds) pulled down 20 rebounds and scored 14 points. It seems as if that game kicked some life in Pope, as he's averaged 15.25 points and 10.25 rebounds since January 8th. The 20 rebounds against Cuse was Pope's season high, as were the 16 points he dropped on Georgetown on January 18th.

In the last meeting between the two squads Pope and Jeff Robinson (6'6" 230 pounds) combined to out-rebound the entire Syracuse Orangemen basketball team. Robinson pulled down 14 boards and added 17 points to help keep the Pirates in the ball game. Although Robinson hasn't been pulling down rebounds at nearly the same pace, he has been scoring the ball, averaging 12.8 points per game over his last four.

For Syracuse, they absolutely and desperately need to get their guards going. Syracuse can not afford another stinker from the guards, not just on offense but defensively as well. They must help out rebounding the basketball. It can not be all Rick Jackson underneath. And the same goes for James Southerland.

Southerland had an impressive 8 rebounds against Cincinnati, however in the following two games (both losses) James has grabbed only 1 rebound in a combined 54 minutes of action. With Southerland standing 6'8" I'm not even sure how that's possible. He has to get involved in rebounding the basketball otherwise he's going to see his minutes dwindle in favor of a player who can rebound the ball, a player like C.J. Fair.

C.J. had a season high 9 rebounds in the loss to Pittsburgh while helping fill the void left by an injured Kris Joseph. Fair also scored a season high 16 points in 36 minutes. However, on Saturday Fair played just 10 minutes and had 1 rebound. Not great numbers, but he should have seen more time off the bench, especially with Syracuse getting beat on so many rebounds late in the 2nd half.

Kris Joseph returned from his concussion to score a team high 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting Saturday against Nova. He made his first 4 three-point attempts before missing his final 3 tries of the game from long distance. While he had just 3 rebounds in 34 minutes, expect to see that number increase as he is averaging over 5 boards per game.

Tip-off tonight is at 7PM on SNY and as usual, be sure to check back in with The Cuse Connection following the game for full recap and analysis.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Villanova Unleashes 3-Point Clinic on Syracuse

When Rick Jackson misses an uncontested monster slam in the first five minutes of a game, it can't be a good sign for the Syracuse Orangemen. Jackson was able to recover and score 16 points along with 15 rebounds, however the Cuse could not keep up the pace with which Villanova was knocking down 3-pointers. Nova made 11 of 24 3-point shots (8 in the first half) and knocked off the Syracuse Orangemen 83-72 in the Carrier Dome in front of a crowd of 33,736, the second largest on campus crowd in NCAA history.

While the officiating at times was extremely stressful, the loss should fall squarely on the shoulders of Scoop Jardine and Dion Waiters, two Philadelphia born Syracuse guards. Waiters shot 2 of 12 from the field (1 of 7 from 3) and Scoop Jardine was 1 for 8 from the floor (0-3 from beyond the arc). Jardine was only credited with two turnovers however he was the culprit in many more failed offensive drives. Jardine finished with just 2 points and 3 assists. Waiters had six points 5 assists and 2 steals for the Cuse, slightly better than Jardine's numbers but not enough to get it done.

Apparently Villanova had a very clear recollection from the devastating defeat in the Dome last season, because they came out shooting unconsciously from long distance, particularly Maalik Wayns, who scored 17 first half points on his way to a 21 point game. Both Coreys (Fisher and Stokes) finished with 16 points and Nova shot 22 of 24 (91.7%) from the foul line. Villanova came into the Carrier Dome like they had something to prove, something to avenge, and they left with a very important Big East victory.

Down 10 points with 4 minutes to play, Syracuse was able to narrow the deficit to a mere 4 points with 2:37 on the clock, however Villanova's foul shooting was the difference down the stretch.

Down 8 points with 3:07 left on the clock Rick Jackson got absolutely bear hugged by Maurice Sutton, but the officials must have been gazing at the large number of Syracuse fans in attendance because no foul was called. Seconds after Syracuse cut the lead to 4 points however, Kris Joseph was called for a foul for breathing heavily on a Nova player which sent them to the line for a 1-and-1.

Down six and gaining momentum, Syracuse appeared to force Nova into a 5-second violation on the inbound, however after six or seven seconds elapsed Nova's bench was granted a time out as the officials said Jay Wright was calling for it prior to the 5-second violation. Coming out of the time out Dion Waiters barely brushed against a Nova player and the Wildcats were back on the line for 2 more points. But as I said, we are not going to blame the officials for this loss. Just pointing out the obvious.

The loss brings Syracuse to a still extremely impressive 18-2 record overall, 5-2 in the Big East. Villanova grabs a leg up on the Orangemen with the win, improving to 17-2 record and a 5-1 Big East Record. Syracuse will move on and play Seton Hall on Tuesday at 7PM on the home of the Big East Network: SNY.

Not that this is at all related to the outcome of the game, but I'd be upset with myself if I didn't bring this up. It was unfortunate we all had to see the fan with the "Syracuse is Good" sign in the student section. You're paying a tremendous amount of money for a college education, certainly you have the capacity to come up with a more clever sign. It was neither ironic nor amusing.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com