By Sean Quinn
If you a measure a team by big games, Syracuse looks oh so small. They have lost to their last three ranked opponents and were outplayed for most of the largest attended game in college basketball history against Notre Dame on Saturday. In the thick of the most critical stretch of the season, with three straight ranked Big East foes ahead of them, Syracuse needs to start finishing strong.So far this season it’s been the Gerry and Hakim show, and that’s fine, if you want to watch the Final Four from you living room. Other players need to contribute offensively for the Orange. Prior to the Connecticut game, the tandem combined for 93 of SU’s 129 points in their last two games. They combined for just 26 points in the loss to the Huskies Monday night, primarily due to the poor play of McNamara and the foul trouble Warrick found himself in, picking up his fourth foul with over 11 minutes to play. The Huskies, like the rest of the country, figured out Syracuse: if you slow down Gerry and Hakim, the rest of the team can’t beat you.
This should be a challenge for the Orange. Players like Josh Pace, Billy Edelin, and Terrence Roberts are being slapped in the face by the Big East and they need to respond. Pace is third on the team in scoring with almost 11 points per game and has played well as of late, contributing 10 in the win against the Irish and 14 against UConn. It’s a different story for the rest of the Orange. Prior to the match up Monday night, he was the only player other than Warrick and McNamara to score more than four points in the last two games.
Billy Edelin is a player who averaged almost 14 points last season and has the ability to drive and score at will. Terrence Roberts played well Monday night, putting up 12 points, most of which when Warrick was on the bench. In his previous five games, however, he only had six field goals. These are two players that have the ability to step up for Cuse and they need to do it now.
Urgency is not something Jim Boeheim is worried about, though, he’s been here before. This is essentially the same team as last year, just with a more explosive Hakim Warrick, a ready and steady Billy Edelin, and a group of grown up sophomores. Boeheim has to be pleased with Warrick and the way he can take over a game as he did against the Irish. Boeheim also has to like what he sees out of Billy Edelin. He hasn’t put up consistent numbers all season, but his playing time has increased and he played arguably one of his best games all year Monday night, running the offense with comfort and dishing out six assists. Let’s not forget Edelin has missed a number of games this year, sat out from mid-Febraury on last year, and has yet to play anywhere near a full season during any year due to off the court distractions. If Edelin remains composed and can be a solid point guard, good things can happen, especially for Gerry McNamara. Cuse’s all-time leader in threes had to handle the point most of last year and for parts of this year, preventing him from playing to his full effectiveness of catching and shooting.
What hasn’t been effective for Cuse has been their sophomores. At the beginning of the season Boeheim said this team would only go as far as their sophomores could take them. Demetris Nichols has seen his playing time decrease more and more with the presence of Billy Edelin back in the line up. Nichols has scored only two points in the last four games and didn’t even take the court against Connecticut, after being a starter at the beginning of the year. Louie McCroskey has struggled shooting the ball, going 5-18, with 12 total points in the last three games. He has become increasingly reluctant to shoot the ball when he has an open look and his confidence took a hit against Notre Dame when he missed a few wide open perimeter shots. Daryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts appear to be Boeheim’s last hopes for the sophomore class this year. Both have seen their minutes increase over the course of the year and the two combined for 16 points and nine rebounds Monday against UConn. They have to do a better job, however, of protecting the defensive glass, as Syracuse has given up 26 offensive rebounds in the past two games en route to being out-rebounded by 14 total boards in the past two contests.
It’s not just the sophomores that have to play better. It’s a total lack of execution late in games on both ends of the court that have cost Syracuse in their last three losses. They let Oklahoma State go on a late run back in December. Against Pitt, the offense went cold in the latter part of the second half, not scoring for almost six and a half minutes. Monday night it was the same story. Syracuse had a five point lead, 61-56, with 8:10 left in the game. They let UConn go on a 9-0 run. Then after Josh Pace tied up the game with over three minutes remaining, the Huskies closed to end the game on a 9-1 spurt. This is not the kind of collapses you expect from a team with as much experience as Syracuse.
One thing you do expect is for Gerry McNamara to start playing better. He shot 4-18 Monday night, including 1-9 from beyond the arc. He has made some bad passes in the last few games and has been rushing shots and passes. He will calm down and start hitting shots.
If Gerry gets going, hopefully will the rest of the Orange. Syracuse can either come out of the next three games with three wins and a total grasp of the concept of a team game, or they can come out with two or three losses and look even more dazed and confused than they are now. The whole country doesn’t believe they are contenders, but they have a chance to prove that they are in the next week and a half.