In what could be a final Big East tussle with nemesis Louisville, #12 Syracuse (22-7, 10-6) falls 58-53. The end of the regular season has not been kind to the Orange. Four of the last five games of the season are against ranked opponents, and the loss to Georgetown last weekend snapped the 38-game home winning streak. The ugly loss to the Hoyas also started what is now a three-game skid.
Now losers of four of the last six, Orange Nation is pointing fingers. Senior Brandon Triche is supposed to be a leader, but was dismal again, going 2-for-11 from the field including 0-for-3 from deep. He finished with almost as many turnovers as points (8 to 7).
Michael Carter-Williams had 11 points, and shot only 3-of-10. He also looked out of control when the Orange needed smart possessions late. C.J. Fair led the team with 19 points, but needed 20 shots to get there. The offense has run aground, unable to create high-percentage shots, nor knock down the open looks when they’re there. The attack looks erratic and unconfident. There is no production coming from the post: Rakeem Christmas, Baye Keita and Dajuan Coleman combined for two points.
The late season swoon has officially been declared an emergency. If the bigs down low can’t score, at least they can rebound and play good defense. But¬†Rak contributed only three rebounds and four fouls.¬†The skid raises questions about¬†Syracuse’s future in the NCAA tournament. After having an inside track to winning the Big East regular season crown, the Orange sit tied for 5th in the league standings now. A tall task awaits SU next weekend at Georgetown. The Orange could be a six or seven seed at Madison Square Garden.
To accomplish anything in March the offense needs to find ways to beat the zone. The ball is not moving, the guards are making poor decisions, and shots aren’t falling. The Orange has been careless with the ball, and there’s little offensive rebounding to turn misses into baskets.
There’s still hope the Orange have enough time to turn this around. After the game Jim Boeheim insisted he still liked this team. But without some major improvements it could be a very short stay in March for SU.
Posted: Austin Pollack
7 responses to “Downight Offensive: Syracuse Again Can’t Find the Hoop, Loses to Louisville”
The reality is this team just isnt that good right now. I’m not saying they cant be good but right now there is no inside presence, Triche is in a slump. carter williams is making some poor decisions. Yeah it looks great when he takes off from inside the foul line for a dunk but he never makes it. Fair is the only on playing ok right now. Southerland is one dimisional, a three point shooter. This isnt Jimmy B’s faoult though, this team was supposed to have Fab Melo and Dion. The two things it needs a scorer and an inside presence.
We can’t score and Trevor plays 4 minutes.Tell us Jimbo ,how does that make any sense?
Cooney is not an option at this point- looks lost out there, andis not getting to the right spots on the floor to put one up. Worse yet, he looks scared, as soon as he gets a pass he’s ready to pass it to someone else. Need a game when both Southerland and Triche are consistently hitting from the outside. And what’s with our big men, they have no hands and also lack any confidence. Need Coleman to get some more minutes, as he is the future pivot starting next year……
Totally agree with Smitty, without Fab and Dion this team has got too many question marks to beat good teams consistently…….
I have a strange suggestion since the centers aren’t producing at either end y not slide Grant to Center and Run this Line UP
MCW SG Triche pg SF Fair, PF Southerland, and Grant at Center. What’s the worst that can happen this team is playing horrible right now try mixing things up. And here’s another just maybe JB you can try playing a little man since the Centers arent scaring anyone anyway.
The biggest problem with this teams is there is no leadership end of story. Triche is suppose to be that guy and he’s not. Jb just needs to start benching people that are playing like crap.
Start Coleman. Ride him a while. Bring Grant off bench to spell DC and rotate JS into middle on defensive end. Rak becomes 3rd option in middle. And Cooney needs more minutes. He needs to be able to get into flow of game and be relaxed into his shots. He plays good defense and right now team needs more options on offense going into tourney.
MCW is NBA material=Really??