General20
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I haven't had a spare moment lately to write about SU, but for this game I had to make time. I've always said that as a Syracuse fan you get a chance to be on top of the basketball world at least once every season. This is one of those moments, and in this case its not just the magnitude of the win but the entertainment quality of the game.
Am I the only person who had a flashback to Fred Brown throwing the ball away in the final seconds of the '82 championship game when Siva threw the ball away to MCW? Anytime you get a historic Syracuse win and a flashback of a historic Georgetown loss in the same moment, you know you've seen something special.
Since I haven't been able to post in a while I want to talk about how this team has developed and where it is heading as I break the game down.
In a nutshell this game was about defense and Brandon Triche.
As early as the first exhibition game Syracuse showed an inability to defend (Boeheim played zone which he never does during exhibitions stating that they needed more time to practice it). Their bad defense culminated in the Temple loss. Temple scored repeatedly around the basket in a way that I dont think I have ever seen before against a Syracuse defense. Syracuse needed to press just to keep the game close, you could literally count the number of stops their zone got in that game on your fingers.
Things started to turn around defensively as Syracuse entered Big East play, but until Louisville Syracuse hadn't played anyone particularly well suited to exploit this weakness. Dieng and Behannan are a far greater physical force down low than anything Syracuse has seen so far . . . neither had a good game offensively, and that must be noted.
In the first half of this game Louisville (like Temple) was able to get to the basket often and with great success. Part of this was Boeheim playing possum. Ive noticed that Syracuse will play a straight up 2-3 zone early in games, even though it might give up some baskets that a 2-3 zone adjusted to the other team's strengths wont. These few early game points are the payment, the return comes in the second half when the opposition attacks a particular "weakness" they were able to exploit in the first half that just happens to be exactly what Boeheim wants them to attack . This also forces the opposing coach to change strategies going down the stretch which 9 times out of 10 is a recipe for disaster.
Syracuse's interior defense was good in the second half, and historically good in the last few possessions - Lousiville forced the ball inside, exactly what they were able to successfully do in the first half . . . exactly what Boeheim set them up to think they would be able to succeed at doing - but going down the stretch there was NOTHING available down low for them. Those avenues had been cut off.
I learned that one weakness I thought the team had (interior D) might not be so big of a weakness after all. And more than anything else that is what I will take away from this game.
The hero in this regard is Fair. He has never been a bad defensive player, but he is on a whole other level this year. He is a legitimate intimidating presence down low blocking shots, pushing people around, and giving us a lot of what we lost in Fab Melo.
Grant also deserves credit. He played solid D against Nova but got abused on the boards - only coming down with about half the balls he got his hands on. That is understandable, considering you are never going to see that kind of physicality in High School. It only took him one game to make an adjustment. Against Louisville he was ready for the pounding, and I dont think anybody doubts that he is physically able to handle it. He's a very quick learner, and a coaches dream.
One last note on defense, there is still room for growth and most of that growth will come from Christmas who I still think has quite a bit of unreached potential he can get to THIS year, as far as being a shot blocker/intimidator.
On the other side of the ball, Syracuse faced a major challenge. Louisville is without question the best defensive team in the country. We had to hit some 3's against their zone early to have any chance and Triche was able to. If he had been anything less than red hot from deep, Louisville would have won, its that simple (losing Southerland takes away some of the wiggle room we have in this regard). His great game made Louisville change their defensive philosophy. Everyone in Triche's vicinity shaded towards him like they were magnetically attracted. You can give Triche ALL the credit for the points Carter-Williams scored going down the stretch. He only had openings because Triche got them for him. In the first half when Louisville was playing Triche straight up, MCW couldn't do anything offensively.
I want to talk about Carter-Williams now, and how important he is to the team. The South Florida game is the best illustration of this. We beat them 55-44 and I dont know anybody who thought Syracuse had a good game overall. Yet they did play good defense. I also think that Triche who scored 20, Southerland who scored 17, ad Fair who had a double-double all played well. Even though Syracuse played good D, and even though all three of Syracuse's veterans had good games, they still played poorly as a team overall BECAUSE Carter-Williams had an off night. My point is they need him. He is extremely important.
Triche did all the work today, scoring, and even taking over the ball handling duties when Carter-Williams couldn't cut it, but we cant afford to have Carter-Williams as a second banana every night - especially if Southerland never comes back. One of the big problems Carter-Williams had was ball handling. The reason he had trouble handling the ball is because he cant score. This might sound odd, but its true. Russ Smith was in his jock because he was not worried about Carter-Williams blowing by him and scoring. Triche was given more room to operate because Louisville knew that if Triche got in the lane he was scoring, its a respect thing. Carter-Williams isn't getting respect, because he hasn't earned it. Even his passing skills (which are considerable) are rendered close to useless, because he is not demanding a double team even when he beats his man off the dribble. If you want to be a truly elite passer you have to make the defense worry about stopping you from scoring first.
My point is this, Carter-Williams learning to put the ball in the basket more efficiently will open a lot up. He will be able to move the court more freely, he will be able to pass the ball to teammates easier and with more effectiveness, and the team as a whole will be much, much better.
When you are a top ten team who beats the number one team on the road, you have to think about what it will take to win a national championship. In my opinion, Syracuse is still a long shot to win it. If Carter-Williams can shoot better from deep, and convert more efficiently around the basket they have the potential to become THE favorite. Carter-Williams has all the physical tools to do just this. Can he do it this year, or will it take another year of development? To me that is the key that will determine just how far this team goes in March.
Some other small things. Grant is doing an admirable job filling in for Southerland so far, and I'm as big a fan of Grant as anybody, but we will really miss Southerland if he never comes back. The big difference between the two is spacing. Southerland allows Syracuse to space themselves in a way that gives defenses nightmares. Grant and Fair both like to operate in the same areas. Teams dont have much tape yet on how we play without Southerland, but that is changing fast and pretty soon they will be able to defend what we are doing more effectively than they have so far. Both Fair and Grant (who I think remains in the line up even if Southerland comes back) will benefit from him being around so keep your fingers crossed.
Coleman and Cooney - neither played much, but neither looked intimidated.
Since the beginning of the season I've thought that Coleman would come good offensively by the time March rolled around, but I was unsure he could play enough D to earn the PT to show it. For Coleman that light has officially turned on offensively. This was not a good game to show it (Louisville has the best defensive center in the country) but there is a huge difference between how he's playing now and how he played early in the season. The impressive thing is that he's making equally huge strides defensively. This year he's probably not going to be great defensively and that will keep him on the bench at the end of games, but he can be good enough to play decent minutes and contribute a decent amount of points and rebounds. Next year . . . he is going to be a beast. The best center in the ACC by a country mile. Mark it down.
Cooney was not intimidated by the Louisville press, and he plays consistently solid D. All he has to do now is get a few 3's to drop. Its not like he is taking (or will ever be asked to take) contested 3's. If he can hit one out of every three wide open shots he gets he can be a valuable contributor off the bench. I am still hopeful this will happen.
One last note on the Triche, the game MVP. People are going to remember his scoring, and rightfully so, putting up 23 points on 9-13 shooting against the best D in the country is incredibly impressive, but its his passing that is really impressing me. Not just in this game, but all year long. In High School Triche was a phenomenal passer and for some reason that never translated to college. This year it has. Carter-Williams may lead the country in assists and still be the second best passer on the team. An interesting thought, because Triche does not handle the ball nearly as much as Carter-Williams but really makes the most of it when he does.
Am I the only person who had a flashback to Fred Brown throwing the ball away in the final seconds of the '82 championship game when Siva threw the ball away to MCW? Anytime you get a historic Syracuse win and a flashback of a historic Georgetown loss in the same moment, you know you've seen something special.
Since I haven't been able to post in a while I want to talk about how this team has developed and where it is heading as I break the game down.
In a nutshell this game was about defense and Brandon Triche.
As early as the first exhibition game Syracuse showed an inability to defend (Boeheim played zone which he never does during exhibitions stating that they needed more time to practice it). Their bad defense culminated in the Temple loss. Temple scored repeatedly around the basket in a way that I dont think I have ever seen before against a Syracuse defense. Syracuse needed to press just to keep the game close, you could literally count the number of stops their zone got in that game on your fingers.
Things started to turn around defensively as Syracuse entered Big East play, but until Louisville Syracuse hadn't played anyone particularly well suited to exploit this weakness. Dieng and Behannan are a far greater physical force down low than anything Syracuse has seen so far . . . neither had a good game offensively, and that must be noted.
In the first half of this game Louisville (like Temple) was able to get to the basket often and with great success. Part of this was Boeheim playing possum. Ive noticed that Syracuse will play a straight up 2-3 zone early in games, even though it might give up some baskets that a 2-3 zone adjusted to the other team's strengths wont. These few early game points are the payment, the return comes in the second half when the opposition attacks a particular "weakness" they were able to exploit in the first half that just happens to be exactly what Boeheim wants them to attack . This also forces the opposing coach to change strategies going down the stretch which 9 times out of 10 is a recipe for disaster.
Syracuse's interior defense was good in the second half, and historically good in the last few possessions - Lousiville forced the ball inside, exactly what they were able to successfully do in the first half . . . exactly what Boeheim set them up to think they would be able to succeed at doing - but going down the stretch there was NOTHING available down low for them. Those avenues had been cut off.
I learned that one weakness I thought the team had (interior D) might not be so big of a weakness after all. And more than anything else that is what I will take away from this game.
The hero in this regard is Fair. He has never been a bad defensive player, but he is on a whole other level this year. He is a legitimate intimidating presence down low blocking shots, pushing people around, and giving us a lot of what we lost in Fab Melo.
Grant also deserves credit. He played solid D against Nova but got abused on the boards - only coming down with about half the balls he got his hands on. That is understandable, considering you are never going to see that kind of physicality in High School. It only took him one game to make an adjustment. Against Louisville he was ready for the pounding, and I dont think anybody doubts that he is physically able to handle it. He's a very quick learner, and a coaches dream.
One last note on defense, there is still room for growth and most of that growth will come from Christmas who I still think has quite a bit of unreached potential he can get to THIS year, as far as being a shot blocker/intimidator.
On the other side of the ball, Syracuse faced a major challenge. Louisville is without question the best defensive team in the country. We had to hit some 3's against their zone early to have any chance and Triche was able to. If he had been anything less than red hot from deep, Louisville would have won, its that simple (losing Southerland takes away some of the wiggle room we have in this regard). His great game made Louisville change their defensive philosophy. Everyone in Triche's vicinity shaded towards him like they were magnetically attracted. You can give Triche ALL the credit for the points Carter-Williams scored going down the stretch. He only had openings because Triche got them for him. In the first half when Louisville was playing Triche straight up, MCW couldn't do anything offensively.
I want to talk about Carter-Williams now, and how important he is to the team. The South Florida game is the best illustration of this. We beat them 55-44 and I dont know anybody who thought Syracuse had a good game overall. Yet they did play good defense. I also think that Triche who scored 20, Southerland who scored 17, ad Fair who had a double-double all played well. Even though Syracuse played good D, and even though all three of Syracuse's veterans had good games, they still played poorly as a team overall BECAUSE Carter-Williams had an off night. My point is they need him. He is extremely important.
Triche did all the work today, scoring, and even taking over the ball handling duties when Carter-Williams couldn't cut it, but we cant afford to have Carter-Williams as a second banana every night - especially if Southerland never comes back. One of the big problems Carter-Williams had was ball handling. The reason he had trouble handling the ball is because he cant score. This might sound odd, but its true. Russ Smith was in his jock because he was not worried about Carter-Williams blowing by him and scoring. Triche was given more room to operate because Louisville knew that if Triche got in the lane he was scoring, its a respect thing. Carter-Williams isn't getting respect, because he hasn't earned it. Even his passing skills (which are considerable) are rendered close to useless, because he is not demanding a double team even when he beats his man off the dribble. If you want to be a truly elite passer you have to make the defense worry about stopping you from scoring first.
My point is this, Carter-Williams learning to put the ball in the basket more efficiently will open a lot up. He will be able to move the court more freely, he will be able to pass the ball to teammates easier and with more effectiveness, and the team as a whole will be much, much better.
When you are a top ten team who beats the number one team on the road, you have to think about what it will take to win a national championship. In my opinion, Syracuse is still a long shot to win it. If Carter-Williams can shoot better from deep, and convert more efficiently around the basket they have the potential to become THE favorite. Carter-Williams has all the physical tools to do just this. Can he do it this year, or will it take another year of development? To me that is the key that will determine just how far this team goes in March.
Some other small things. Grant is doing an admirable job filling in for Southerland so far, and I'm as big a fan of Grant as anybody, but we will really miss Southerland if he never comes back. The big difference between the two is spacing. Southerland allows Syracuse to space themselves in a way that gives defenses nightmares. Grant and Fair both like to operate in the same areas. Teams dont have much tape yet on how we play without Southerland, but that is changing fast and pretty soon they will be able to defend what we are doing more effectively than they have so far. Both Fair and Grant (who I think remains in the line up even if Southerland comes back) will benefit from him being around so keep your fingers crossed.
Coleman and Cooney - neither played much, but neither looked intimidated.
Since the beginning of the season I've thought that Coleman would come good offensively by the time March rolled around, but I was unsure he could play enough D to earn the PT to show it. For Coleman that light has officially turned on offensively. This was not a good game to show it (Louisville has the best defensive center in the country) but there is a huge difference between how he's playing now and how he played early in the season. The impressive thing is that he's making equally huge strides defensively. This year he's probably not going to be great defensively and that will keep him on the bench at the end of games, but he can be good enough to play decent minutes and contribute a decent amount of points and rebounds. Next year . . . he is going to be a beast. The best center in the ACC by a country mile. Mark it down.
Cooney was not intimidated by the Louisville press, and he plays consistently solid D. All he has to do now is get a few 3's to drop. Its not like he is taking (or will ever be asked to take) contested 3's. If he can hit one out of every three wide open shots he gets he can be a valuable contributor off the bench. I am still hopeful this will happen.
One last note on the Triche, the game MVP. People are going to remember his scoring, and rightfully so, putting up 23 points on 9-13 shooting against the best D in the country is incredibly impressive, but its his passing that is really impressing me. Not just in this game, but all year long. In High School Triche was a phenomenal passer and for some reason that never translated to college. This year it has. Carter-Williams may lead the country in assists and still be the second best passer on the team. An interesting thought, because Triche does not handle the ball nearly as much as Carter-Williams but really makes the most of it when he does.
