It’s not time to hit the panic button yet for Syracuse fans, but it’s getting dangerously close. SU dropped its second straight game in a matter of 48 hours on Monday, matching Saturday’s excruciating lose to the Hoyas with an ugly second half collapse against Marquette, 74-71. The Orange hasn’t been able to close out a competitive game down the stretch in over a month, and it’s offensive game continues to look stale.
Here’s the Fizz Five, top takeaways from SU‚Äôs loss to the Golden Eagles.
- Free Throws
Something has to click. Two straight games Syracuse let leads slip away in the second half, and could not get to free throw line. They took just 12 against the Hoyas and 7 against Marquette. What’s worse is that SU didn’t even attempt to work the ball into the paint in the second half Monday. Jim Boeheim’s crew took a microscopic two free throws in the second half. Compare that to the 28 Marquette took. The Golden Eagles drained 29 throughout the night compared to just five for Syracuse. Marquette had a +24 discrepancy at the line. No team will win with that disparity. The Orange settled for jump shots once again, but can not continue to be content to let shots fly from deep.
- We Need More CJ
The lack of creativity on the offensive end means CJ Fair needs to get more touches. As effective as he’s been this season, he does not get the ball in the paint as frequently as he should. He was 8-11 from the field tonight, but conspicuously disappeared in the second half when the game mattered. If you take away his garbage bucket with ten seconds left, Fair didn‚Äôt score in the final 13 minutes of the game. Good things happen when he touches the rock, whether it‚Äôs driving to the rim or dishing off to the open man. We all know he has a passive personality, but he needs to be more aggressive demanding the ball at the free throw line.
- Big Bodies Underneath, Big Problems for SU
SU‚Äôs frontline without DeJuan Coleman is tall, lanky and athletic. That‚Äôs pretty obvious. But throw an absolute tank in the middle of that zone – aka Devante Gardner – and the¬†Orange has all sorts of problems. Keita, Christmas and Southerland tend to lose some of the flashers on the baseline when they play together, and were straight up pushed around against Marquette‚Äôs 6‚Äô8‚Äù 290 lb. junior down low. It‚Äôs been tough for the SU bigs to guard against a true post-up player, and if they face someone as dominant as Gardner again in March, it’ll be big trouble. Sometimes the size advantage just isn‚Äôt fair, but that‚Äôs why locating the forward underneath and putting emphasis on boxing out is so critical.
- Frantic Backcourt
The pace of the game in the last ten minutes for SU was out of control. Some of that has to do with Michael Carter-Williams, but not all. Brandon Triche took a few forced shots in the second half (he hit just one jumper after halftime) and so did Southerland. SU tried to speed up the game down the stretch as its lead dissipated. It was almost as if Carter-Williams would try to run a transition game off of inbounds passes. It can’t work. The pace became too chaotic, and it played right into Marquette’s favor.
- Is This Team Clutch?
Jim Boeheim said after SU’s win against Cincinnati a month ago his squad had no business winning that game or the Louisville matchup beforehand. Since then, SU is 0-5 in games that were competitive down the stretch. The Orange couldn’t handle the slow game plans in the second halves against Georgetown and UConn, and blew late leads against Villanova and Marquette. This comes down to establishing a consistent scorer in the clutch. Triche has flashed signs of this ability throughout the Big East schedule, but not during this recent rough stretch.
Posted: Kevin Fitzgerald
13 responses to “Fizz Five: Inching Toward the Panic Button After Syracuse’s Loss at Marquette”
CURRENTLY,(perception can still change over next 2-3 weeks)…This is looking like a team that is either a one-and-done or a sweet sixteen at most. They need to win either the Loiusville or Georgetown game and probably make the semis in the Big East tourney to still have a 4 seed or higher.
But this article hit the nail on the head with what’s wrong right now…
I got home lastnight just in time to watch the last 5 minutes of the game and it looked like a continuation of the Georgetown game.
If they continue to play like this and I believe that they will we should be prepared to accept the fact that,in the last season of the Big East Conference Syracuse misses out going to the NCAA Tournament and has a hard time getting invited to the NIT.
Be prepared fans.”SYRACUSE NEEDS TO WIN THE BIG EAST TOURNAMENT IN ORDER FOR THEM TO GO TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT IN MARCH.
Ron, I don’t think that is the case at all. But anything higher than a 3 seed right now in the tourney is pretty much a fantasy for this team. They definitely have a 4 or 5 seed look to them. Beating Louisville and Georgetown one more time for revenge on top of DePaul may work wonders…and a 3 seed in the east.
What you all say we change the subject here and talk about the 2013 football schedule that was released today.
My thing is after the schedule is released I go through and predict how many games Syracuse will win and put it on the wall in my “Syracuse Room”bfor all to see when we play cards etc,etc,etc.
My prediction this year is based on how well we play the very first game against Penn State Aug 31st.
If Syracuse should win I have them going 9-3 overall during the regular season and winning a “BOWL GAME” sometime after Christmas to finish 10-3 for the season.
I have them losing to Clemson,Wake Forest and Florida State.
My thoughts on the team:
I’d take scoop over MCW. Whoever told MCW that leaving your feet when you pass is a good way of passing should be punched in the face. MCW can‚Äôt shoot and is not strong enough to finish through contact. BT rather shoot jump shots then drive even though he’s bigger and stronger than 95% of the guards he plays against. This all brings me to J-South what good does his spacing do for 1. a guard that can‚Äôt finish through contact and another that thinks he’s a jump shooter? J-south might give you 3-4 three’s a game but going to give up 10-12 points defensively b/c he relies on his athleticism to try and make up for his lazy ass D that he plays 90% of the time.
Grant needs to and should play more.
MCW, BT and J-South need to start getting the hook if they chuck up any 3 pointers /w out letting fair touch the ball.
Why didn’t cooney play more in the 2nd half? Unlike the other 2 he put the ball on the deck and got into the lane and made things happen.
Offense was still pretty bad last night but at least it was better than its been in some of their other recent games most notably that ugly Georgetown game… but yes the team just is not clutch in the end of games. Probably wouldn’t have been horrible to give DaJuan Coleman a look tonight he’s the only guy that could’ve bodied up on Davante Gardner who just ate Keita & Christmas alive
I blame this so called “great coach for not pulling over these guys and reminding them that the way they got to Syracuse was not showboating at every opportunity.Stupid passes to teammates who are three feet away who are thinking you are finishing your shot is an automatic turnover.
Answer to winning this is Grant, Grant and Cooney.Coach your layed back ora is hurting the team, they dont have the fight in them.Bring back the fight you have the talent. SU falls behind and gives up|
after a horendous turnover by mcw that gave marq the lead he played like a scared little girl. its horrible to watch, did same thing in uconn and nova games.
Good analysis of the CUSE slump…
Thing is alot of what ails us can be corrected/tweaked. Right now the team is a collection of bad habits, poor substitution patterns and a loss of confidence.
I truly believe this team can be a force at MSG and on into the NCAA tourney.
@Orangeinva
Agreed completely with your post. I just hope they work on their issues and play focused. Tough to correct all that in two weeks :-/
Something tells me MCW is already in NBA mode and doesn’t care as much as he did. Hard to blame him when you have people all around you telling you you’re a top 10 pick in the draft at 19/20 years old.
It’s not time to panic at all, G’town Marquette are both ranked in top 25. Indiana and Florida just lost to unranked teams. Syracuse isn’t losing to bottom teams of Big least. If they were losing to Depaul, South Florida, or providence then I’d say its time to panic.
My hope is the team will get hot in march rather then now. The big dance will be crazy. How many teams have put together 5 game winning streaks this yr after non-conf. play ended? An that would be enough wins in a row just to get to the final 4. Just get in and get a seed 1-3 an let it roll b/c who knows who will win it this yr.