#2 Syracuse Fends off St. Johns in a Close One

by James Finneral

The Orange took the stage at Madison Square Garden ready to face off against the St. Johns Red Storm. Coming into the game Syracuse knew there was one main guy they needed to stop and that was D'angelo Harrison, a scoring guard for St. Johns averaging 19 points coming into the game. At the beginning Syracuse came out with some fire with two quick buckets from DeJuan Coleman followed by some scoring from C.J Fair and Tyler Ennis. Heading into halftime Cuse was ahead 39-27. In the second half Harrison took over scoring the first 7 points for St. Johns and bringing the Storm back into the ball game. Jerami Grant was a big part of the Orange success in the middle of the second half with his scoring, rebounding and his shot altering defense. Down the stretch it was the two stars that lead the way. Tyler Ennis and C.J Fair scored all of the Orange buckets from the 7 minute mark and on. Despite the effort from St. Johns outscoring Syracuse by 7 in the second half it was not enough to take them down and Syracuse finished the game winning by a score of 68-63. C.J Fair finished with another very nice showing scoring 21 points with 5 rebounds. Tyler Ennis had the largest impact on the game with his 21 and 6 assists scoring 15 points in the first half to give Cuse that nice cushion. Jerami Grant had a large effect on the game with his 14 points off the bench and one momentum changing two handed block to close out the game. To be honest I am a little surprised at how successful this team has been so far taking down quality teams such as California, Minnesota, Baylor, Indiana and now St. Johns. They face their toughest task yet on December 28th against #8 Villanova. The one thing I stress about with this team is that they have not yet played a top 10 team and that will change very soon.

MVP of the Game: Tyler Ennis, pg

Syracuse Orange 2013 Maui Invitational Champions

by James Finneral

What a great way for the Orange to kick off their season by taking home the hardware at the 2013 Maui Invitational. They are undefeated in the two times they have taken part in the tournament.

#8 Syracuse vs. Minnesota

Minnesota was the first test for Syracuse in the Maui Invitational. They are a well disciplined team with the back court leadership of Austin and Andre Hollins. They came out with fire power with three point shooting from Trevor Cooney and buckets from C.J Fair. Despite their efforts they only lead by three points at the half. Fair took over in the second half, taking it strong to the hoop and drawing fouls. In the end Syracuse grinded it out taking the victory by a final score of 75-67. Fair logged a double-double in the victory with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

#8 Syracuse vs. California

California was the next team they played. The Golden Bears were searching for revenge after the Orange eliminated them from the NCAA Tournament last year. Once again they had there work cut out for them facing the back court of Jabari Bird and Austin Cobbs for California. Both teams had successful first half's on the offensive end a lot of offensive rebounding for California and Syracuse was knocking down jumpers. The first half concluded with the game tied at 41 a piece. It was Tyler Ennis' game in the second half. Using more of the scoring point guard approach by taking it to the rack and shooting with confidence. Once Cuse jumped out to a good lead and California big man, David Kravish got into foul trouble it was all over. With 28 points from Ennis in the game Syracuse rolled to a 92-81 victory. Trevor Cooney also had a very notable performance dropping 23 points.

Championship Game #8 Syracuse vs. #18 Baylor

This was quite a finals matchup to see who would take home the championship. Baylor's front court consisting of Cory Jefferson and big time prospect Isaiah Austin. However the Bear's back court is not really as good as Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis which ended up giving them a huge advantage in the game. Cuse played very well in the first half having an easy time converting on offense. At half time they were up 38-30. The second half was not a great team effort. C.J Fair was the soul reason they held onto the lead scoring 14 points in the second half finishing with 24. They lost the battle in the second half by one point, but thanks to the tremendous effort by Fair down the stretch they were able to hold on and win 74-67. Fair was awarded the MVP for the tournament making his campaign even better for the Wooden Award this year.

This was an excellent way to kick off the season. They will face much better teams in the ACC, but they did beat some high quality teams and got the chemistry kick started. This team is looking very good with a balanced backcourt nice athleticism in the front court and a star player in C.J Fair. We will see how the rest of the season plays out, but it was a nice run in Maui.

C.J Fair, MVP of the Maui Invitational

Why the Orange May Be Off to a Quick Start in the 2013-2014 Season

by James Finneral

Who's ready to kick off a fresh season of college basketball? I know I am.

The Syracuse Orange had a depressing end to their season last year losing to the Michigan Wolverines in the Final Four. Although there was a sense of disappointment, Syracuse went above and beyond just about everybody's expectations as many people thought they would be upset  early on in the tournament.

Last year is over and this season is a clean slate for the Orangemen to fill with a load of victories. Syracuse lost their starting point guard, Michael Carter-Williams, three point shooting forward, James Southerland, and the senior leadership of Brandon Triche. This is quite a loss, but they are still in very great shape because C.J. Far decided to return for his senior year. The 6'6" small forward lead the team in both scoring and rebounding with 14.5 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. He never received the attention he truly deserved because of the incredible NBA talent of Carter-Williams, but Fair should be prime for an excellent senior season. They also have a very fresh recruiting class coming in with the likes of five star point guard, Tyler Ennis, Tyler Roberson, skinny but shifty, B.J. Johnson, and Brewster Academy guard, Ron Patterson. More notable returns include Jerami Grant who showed a lot of potential last year as well as Rakeem Christmas.

With all this talent Syracuse can definitely have a successful season. I think they will get off to a quick start because they are playing in the Maui Invitational this year. This year in the tournament there are some quality teams, but the Orange seem to be the clear favorite to win. Gonzaga, Baylor, California, and Minnesota are other high quality teams in the tournament. If one team will give them trouble it will be Minnesota, but even they are missing some of their crucial components from last year.

Winning any tournament will boost up a team's spirits. If Syracuse can win the Maui Invitational it will give them the confidence to take down some of the tough opponents in the ACC such as Duke, Pitt, and UNC. The start of their season could very well set the tone for another great run.

C.J. Fair, forward for Syracuse

Kaleb Joseph Commits to Syracuse

by James Finneral

On his visit to Syracuse University this weekend 6'3" point guard Kaleb Joseph verbally committed to Syracuse University. Joseph is currently attending Cushing Academy where they won the NEPSAC AA Championship. Before hand Joseph only had Providence, West Virginia, and Syracuse on his list of choices. Out of those choices the Syracuse program has been more successful over the years especially with head coach, Jim Boeheim still commanding the Orange. Syracuse has a pretty bright future ahead this is already their second commitment for the class of 2014. Along with Joseph they also have 6'10" big man Chris McCullough who is currently ranked 7th in the nation. This one two punch combination gives the Orange the #4 recruiting class for this year. Kaleb Joseph is ranked 51st overall in the nation for his class. He is a great addition to the Orange team because of his physicality and athleticism at the point guard position. Joseph is developing each and every month. If he can get his body ready for the college level over this next year, he will be a force for the Orange. Syracuse was able to steal an amazing prospect this week who has potential to even go to the NBA.

Kaleb Joseph, Cushing Academy Point Guard, and Syracuse Commit

The Potential of Michael Carter-Williams

        by James Finneral

     

 After four very successful seasons at Hamilton Wenham Regonal High School and St Andrews School, Michael Carter-Williams "MCW" committed to play basketball at Syracuse University. In his high school years he averaged over 20 points per game and went from being a shrimp at 5'9", to the towering 6'5" point guard he is today. The Orange were expecting a great young talent as Carter-Williams was a McDonalds All American and the 21st ranked recruit in the nation. It was obvious that MCW's heart was set on Syracuse as he committed to the school in his sophomore year over other nice programs such as Providence, Temple, and Virginia Tech. In his freshman year at Cuse he had the luxury of learning from their great backcourt consisting of Scoop Jardine and the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Dion Waiters. The team went to the elite eight and the learning experience was exactly what Michael Carter-Williams needed.

      Anyone who is a college basketball fan heard about the success of Michael Carter-Williams in his sophomore season. He averaged 12 points per game as well as 7.7 assists per game (third in the nation). He was the heart and soul of the Syracuse team leading them to the Final Four, when most thought they would be upset early. Carter-Williams was named to the Big East second team. NBA took notice and his draft stock rose drastically.

        In most projection MCW was the second ranked point guard behind Trey Burke, who bested him the the Final Four. Most teams believe he has the potential to be a special NBA player with his 6'5" height giving him an advantage over any point guard he faces, and his tremendous length and athleticism. He was drafted 11th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, where they have huge expectations for him to fill the shoes of Jrue Holliday, who was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans.

      Carter-Williams shined in his NBA summer league debut 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Multiple coaches who witnessed the game stated "That kid from Syracuse has a very bright future". This young man has a very bright future due to his skill set and his willingness to learn from his mistakes. The 76ers have a young team that could turn into one of the elite clubs in the NBA.  

Michael Carter-Williams in NBA Summer League Action!

Tribute to the Syracuse Orange Season

This was a season, and a team that I will not forget in a very long time. Their season was filled with many ups and many downs, but in the end they are still known as one of the elite programs in mens division one basketball. Jim Boeheim can add one more Final 4 to his list but in the end they were not able to get that title. Some may consider this team inconsistent, I consider them resilient a team that can lose 5 out of 9 games in a stretch getting embarrassed by Georgetown twice and then make a run to the finals of the Big East Tournament defeating Pitt and Georgetown to get there and then make a run to the Final Four defeating California, Indiana and Marquette to get there. This team has nothing to be ashamed of they are a great team that everyone thought was bad.

Offensive MVP: The 2012-2013 Syracuse Orange offensive most valuable player is C.J Fair the junior  most people like Billy Adie may know him as the guy with the headband. C.J's amazing athleticism lead to many amazing plays. He could go up and get you an offensive rebound, he could shoot the ball from mid range and a little bit from three point range, and he could come out with an amazing dunk or spinning layup that most players at his level can not do. This talent made him the leading scorer for Syracuse with 14.5 points. He was probably Syracuse's most consistent player especially on offense and that is why he deserves this title.

Defensive MVP: The defensive MVP for Syracuse this year is Michael Carter-Williams. This man had an excellent season especially for a sophomore. Carter-Williams lead the team in steals with 2.8 per game and the teams third leading re bounder with 4.9 per game as a point guard. This young man is very gifted and he has earned the right to be the defensive MVP.



Unsung Hero: The unsung hero for Syracuse is the backup center, Baye Keita. With a shaky starting center in Rakeem Christmas the Orange needed Keita to step up in crucial games. Over the course of the Big East Tournament Christmas fouled out in the majority of the games leaving Keita as the only option. He filled in for Christmas and played much better than him. Keita could have been the driving force that almost won Syracuse the Big East Tournament. His momentum carried over into the tournament and played a pivotal role in their success. This guy stepped up when no body though he would.






Overall MVP: The most valuable player on the Syracuse Orange for 2012-2013 is Michael Carter Williams. There is some controversy over who this should go to, but Triche is flat out worse than Carter -Williams, Southerland didn't even play the whole season because of his academic issues not that he would have won it. C.J Fair was the runner up although he was more consistent, Michael Carter-Williams made his team better he was the conductor of the offense and the best player on the defensive side of the ball. He brought an unmatched energy to the floor and it was because of him that they beat Indiana and Marquette and when he did not perform like against Michigan they crumbled and could not
pick up the slack. This guy was the leader of the team and has a bright future ahead of him whether he stays or goes.



Honorable Mentions: The honorable mentions go to the two seniors on the starting five, Brandon Triche and James Southerland. These guys were the two best three point shooters on the team but more importantly they brought a lot of leadership and guided the team when they needed help. One of them has a good chance of going to the NBA but the other one not so much.



Overall it was a great season and I am very glad that I covered it. I will be writing occasional entries on recruiting and what to expect for next year, but thank you all for sticking with me for the season.

GO ORANGE!

Syracuse Dominates Marquette on Both Ends of the Floor Leading Them to the Final Four

Saturday March 30th 4:30 PM ET Verizon Center, Washington D.C: Everything was going well for Syracuse as nothing went Marquette's way leading the Orange to a 55-39 victory. After the game concluded Marquette coach Buzz Williams said, "They beat us from start to finish. We collectively tried  everything we knew to try."The Golden Eagles tried just about every trick in the book to find the weakness in the Syracuse 2-3 zone. It started with a little run for Syracuse at the begining of the game consisting of a couple of three point jumpers and trips to the foul line. Davonte Gardner for Marquette was playing tough but the Orange defense was at a whole different level negating any chance Gardner had at an offensive rebound or a loose ball. Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche shut down Vander Blue who has been playing some of the best basketball in the tournament. At the end of the first half Syracuse only had 24 points but their defense was so good that they held Marquette to 18 points in the first half. The domination continued in the second half with Syracuse pouring on the points and stil in lockdown mode on defense. Vander Blue and Davante Gardner were the only players that were contributing offensively. Syracuse ended up destroying the Golden Eagles. It was an overall solid effort for Cuse with C.J Fair scoring 13 points with 6 rebounds, James Southerland with 16, and Michael Carter-Williams continues his amazing run in the tournament scoring 12 points, snatching 8 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists. This is the first Final Four for Syracuse in the past decade in their run they defeated some great teams such as California, Indiana and lastly Marquette. They play Michigan for the right to go to the championship game. The Wolverines are a very good team who are very well coached but if Cuse keeps their defense up I do not see how anyone could beat them.

Final Four

The Fate of the Orangemen in the NCAA Tournament

This entry will be a brief explanation on what to expect from the Orangmen in this years NCAA Tournament. This season has been very wild and unpredictable for Syracuse. At one point they were the 3rd ranked team in the country and the next day they lose to an un ranked Temple team. They can win 8 games in a row and then lose 7-12 games to end the regular season. For the Orangemen all it comes down to is if they can get on a streak. With the likes of Michael Carter-Williams, Brandon Triche, C.J Fair, and James Southerland they are obviously a very talented team. When all of those players are on top of their games, then they are going to be very difficult to beat. A great example of this is in the Big East Tournament when the Orange won three straight games taking them to the championship game. In that span they defeated Pitt and Georgetown who they lost to during the regular season. This team has the players to compete with any team in the nation they just have to come together. Michael Carter-Williams needs to keep doing what he is doing and getting everyone involved in the offense because he is truly one of the best point guards in the country. If Brandon Triche and C.J Fair, and James Southerland can get open looks from outside they will eventually start to heat which will open up shot fakes leading to drives to the lane for easy layups. Rakeem Christmas is a real factor in their success. They need him on the glass for every possession. He is not a scorer, but if he can just grab rebounds it will really help out.

The Orange are coming off of a nice win against a sharp shooting Montana team defeating them by a score of 81-34. It was just a great overall effort by Syracuse. Shots were falling, and Montana was having difficulty against the length of the Orange zone. Brandon Triche is looking like his old self lately scoring 20 points in the last game as C.J Fair had 13. Michael Carter-Williams had 9 assists as expected but he also had 8 rebounds. This team just needs to get on a streak at the right time and they will be very difficult for any team to beat in the entire tournament.

Cuse Pulls off a Close One in Madison Square Garden

Cuse Pulls off a Close One in Madison Square Garden

Thursday March 14th Madison Square Garden New York: #19 Syracuse took the victory over #17 Pitt 62-59 in a game that seemed to be over at the end of the first half.

The two teams are rivals, but only met once over the course of the regular season resulting in a 65-55 Pitt win. Going into the Big East Tournament Pitt was the 4 seed in the conference as the Orange were the 5 seed. The Panthers had the first round by where Syracuse had to play the previous day against a resilient Seton Hall team. The rest may have helped Pitt a little, but Syracuse’s first round game was more beneficial.

In a pre game interview Brandon Triche passionately stated. “ We know that this game means a lot to us as a basketball team and as a program, this could very much jump start us to the NCAA Tournament, so we know how important the Big East Tournament is.” Syracuse had struggled towards the end of the regular season, but after this game it was obvious that they were starting to get hot at the right time.

In the first half Pitt did not have the presence of mind to shut down James Southerland as he knocked down 5 three pointers in the first half. Everyone else chipped in with a bucket or two which added up to a grand total of 40 points. The Orange defense was solid in the first half holding Pitt and their explosive offense to 27 points.

As the second half started things were much different. Syracuse did not score for the first 4 minutes and were turning the ball over like crazy. Although the offense was poor the Orangemen defense was still playing very strong only holding Pitt to a couple of buckets. Pitt went on a little bit of a run near the end of the game. With 30 seconds left Syracuse was up by 3 points as Talib Zanna completed and and one, but missed the foul shot. Syracuse would be fouled and ended up holding on for the victory.

Everyone in the Syracuse starting lineup finished with at least 10 points except Rakeem Christmas. Southerland went 6-6 from 3 point range finishing with 20 points. C.J Fair had 13 points with 7 rebounds, Triche scored 12 and Michael Carter- Williams scored 11 points with 7 assists. Baye Keita only scored 4 points, but was a real presence on the defensive end once Christmas fouled out.

The Orange did get their revenge against Pitt because they are truly a better team with more talent. Syracuse is now in the semi finals game against none other than the Georgetown Hoyas. This will be the last game the two will meet as conference rivals before Syracuse moves to the ACC. The Orangemen are 0-2 this season against the Hoyas, but they will be searching for revenge and they will come out with fire.

Baye Keita, center for Syracuse

#17 Syracuse Edges Seton Hall in the First Round

#17 Syracuse Edges Seton Hall in the First Round

On March 13th 2013 in Madison Square Garden Seton Hall took on #19 Syracuse who seemed to be the home team. It was scary for Syracuse fans throughout the game watching their team struggle to get into any offensive rythm at the beginning of the game. The Orange may have had isssues at the start, but they were able to pull out the victory 75-63 with some offensive domination in the second half.

Seton Hall started off the game raining from behind the arc with 3 three point field goals in the first 3 minutes of the game. As this was going on Syracuse was having trouble figuring out the zone of the Pirates. Brandon Triche was the only Orangeman to score in the first 6 minutes of the game.

Just as Seton Hall was starting to become comfortable James Southerland stepped into the equation. Ever since his embarrassing day at Louisville, Southerland has been lighting up the scoreboard each and every game he plays. He is one of their top rebounders, but his 3 point shooting has been the real story in the past few games. After that poor offensive effort by the Orange Southerland knocked down 5 three pointers to conclude the first half of play. Triche scored a few more buckets tieing the game at 34 as the first half came to a close.

Momentum was definitely shifted towards the Orangemen with the fan support and the offense beginning to function normally again. Rakeem Christmas started off the half with some major dunks that got the fans on their feet. The real defining moment of the game was when Brandon Triche hit the wide open three pointer from the top of the key to put Syracuse up by 9 points. From then on out the Orangemen fended Seton Hall off and won the game.

At a post game interview Syracuse head coach, Jim Boeheim said. “Our offensive movement was the best it’s been, probably all year. We really moved the ball well.” Earlier in the game Syracuse struggled to get into and offensive flow, but at the end of the game it was Seton Hall having troubles on offense. Neither defense was amazing throughout the game there were just spurts when one team was able to score and the other was not. Aaron Cosby tried to get the Pirate’s offense going with 22 points, but one guy can not win a game for you.

For Syracuse C.J Fair had 16 points and 8 rebounds as Brandon Triche went off 17 points and 5 assists. Southerland really lit up the scoreboard in this game scoring 20 points off of 6-9 shooting from behind the 3 point line.  Seton Hall could not find a way to stop him which ultimately led to their demise. Michael Carter-Williams had trouble scoring the ball considering he only attempted 6 field goals in the game, but he was the one dishing out all of the passes to Southerland, Fair and Triche finishing the game with 14 assists.   

Seton Hall put up an excellent effort in the game. At the beginning it seemed that Syracuse was the underdog in the game because they were outplaying the Orangemen. Overall Syracuse was the team with much more talent which really showed in the second half and that ultimately lead them to the win. Against a better team Syracuse probably would not have been able to score so much in the second half and pull off that comeback, but they did what they had to do to win and they got the job done.

Michael Carter- Williams, guard for Syracuse

#17 Syracuse Cuts the Rope with DePaul

Sorry I have not been able to write anything recently I have been pretty busy, but I am happy to write about this game. Syracuse was coming off of their worst losing streak of the season having dropped three straight. The game took place at the Carrier Dome where the Orangemen hosted unranked DePaul. It was evident that it was all Syracuse right from the jump. Having four of the five guys in the starting lineup scoring in double figures is always a good thing. It was a pretty dominant day on the boards especially in the first half. The outside shots were not falling for Syracuse, but there inside shooting and free throw percentage was very impressive. As the first half came to a close Syracuse was leading by 9 points where the score was 35-26. The second half was much of the same with the dominance on the boards leading to easy inside shots. The defense was very solid causing DePaul to turn the ball over 17 times. Syracuse had a scoring field day in the second half totaling in 43 points compared to the 31 from the opposing team. The final score was very lopsided due to the consistency of the Orangemen overall attack it ended up being 78-57 giving Syracuse their first win in quite some time. This really was James Southerland's game. He did not have any success from the perimeter, but his inside game scored him the bulk of his 22 points and he lead the Syracuse rebounding grabbing 10 boards. Michael Carter-Williams lead the defensive charge with 4 steals but only dishing out 5 assists which is sub par for him. C. J Fair is really looking like the best player on this team right now he is by far the most consistent of all the players. Lately even during the losing streak he had been scoring and rebounding more efficiently than anyone on the team. He dropped 16 points on DePaul and had 7 rebounds. Brandon Triche is starting to regain his confidence scoring 15 points with 4 assists to go along with it. Rakeem Christmas did not play well but it was his most impressive outing in a while with 5 blocks. The Orangemen have their final game of the regular season away at Georgetown. They will be looking for revenge after losing to them earlier. Then it is off to the Big East Tournament and then to the Big Dance where we will really see how good the Orangemen are this year.

James Southerland, forward for Syracuse

#8 Syracuse falls to #11 Georgetown

The Hoyas came into Syracuse and did not do anything too special, they just played some quality basketball. It was a very defensive game in the first half. Neither team was able to really have an edge on the other in any category. At the end of the first half Syracuse had a two point lead. In the second half it was all Georgetown. They came out of the locker room fired up and shots were falling for them. The score of the second half was 36-23. Syracuse and Georgetown were both very close in rebounds, assists and field goal percentage. The determining factor in the game was the solid defense by the Hoyas wile Syracuse lagged in the second half. Due to the poor defense in the second half by Syracuse they lost by a final score of 57-46. It was a one man show by Otto Porter Jr. for Georgetown. He finished the game with 33 points and 8 rebounds. C.J Fair and James Southerland made solid efforts to keep the Orangemen in the game scoring 13 points and 8 rebounds a piece. Brandon Triche scored 10 points, but everyone knows that is sub par for him. Michael Carter-Williams had an off game too only scoring 7 points and 5 assists which is extremely odd for him. Although I am upset about this tough loss for Syracuse, I am also a Georgetown fan and have a lot of respect for their program. The Hoyas are an excellent team and have a lot of potential to go far in the tournament. Syracuse has a tough road ahead to end the season with games against #17 Marquette, a rematch with #10 Louisville who will be looking for revenge and they end the season with none other than the Georgetown Hoyas. If they beat all of those teams expect Syracuse to have a very nice seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Otto Porter Jr. forward for Georgetown.

#6 Syracuse Bounces Back Against Seton Hall

After being completely outplayed by the Uconn Huskies, Syracuse was very hungry for a win and it was evident. Coming off of a poor shooting night they came out firing. It was Brandon Triche, C.J Fair and Michael Carter-Williams carrying the scoring load through the majority of the first half. Seton Hall is not a joke team and actually stayed with Syracuse throughout the first half only down 36-30 heading into the locker room. The Orangemen played just as well in the second half as the first. They nearly doubled their lead and ended up shooting a remarkable 40% from beyond the three point arc. The Pirates dug deep to come back but it was mostly a one man show by Fuquan Edwin with 21 points as the rest of their team did not perform too well. As for the Orangemen they had many great individual efforts which lead to a great team effort. Brandon Triche lead the way in scoring with and amazing 29 points he also snatched 6 rebounds and 5 assists. My boy C.J Fair had another sensational game with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Carter-Williams had a solid scoring day with 14 points but he had a field day on the glass with 9 rebounds. He only dished out 3 assists which is not going to cut it if he wants to retake his title as the best passer in college basketball. James Sotuherland is finding his way back into the Syracuse offense after scoring a very impressive 11 points against Seton Hall. Nothing too special in this game just some solid Ornagemen basketball. If Syracuse plays well they can compete with any team in the country. This win was a nice bounce back that they needed after being embarrassed by the arch rival, Uconn.

#9 Syracuse Mops the Floor with St. Johns

Sunday February 10th was one of the most impressive games that Syracuse played all year. They were firing on all cylinders and never let up the entire game. With James Southerland back after his academic problems, they looked like a whole different team. The Orangemen were hitting their outside jump shots all game especially the beginning of the game jumpstarted by threes from C.J Fair and Michael Carter-Williams. They ended the game shooting 45% from behind the arc. Syracuse also shot over 50% from the field overall. Anyone who watches basketball knows that any team in the nation is difficult to beat when shooting 50% from the field. Going into halftime the Orange had a commanding 13 point lead and were not looking to give any of it up. In the second half they were able to build on their lead beating St. Johns by 6 in the second half. There was not too much more to the game it was just a solid performance by Syracuse and St. Johns could not compete. The final score of the game was 77-58. There were many notable performance such as C.J Fair and Michael Carter-Williams scoring 18 points a piece. Fair ended up with 9 rebounds s well and Carter Williams had 8 assists with 6 steals. Brandon Triche did his usual thing scoring 16 points but he recorded 7 assists and 5 rebounds. He is proving to his team that he is not all about the scoring. A solid return for James Southerland scoring 13 points. D'Angelo Harrison is an excellent point guard for St. Johns but did not stack up to Michael Carter-Williams and that was the big difference. It was not supposed to be a very close game, but it was not supposed to be that large of a blowout.

Brandon Triche, guard for Syracuse.

#9 Syracuse Triumphs over #25 Notre Dame

After coming off of two straight loses to unranked opponents, the Orangemen were pretty pumped up to have the Fighting Irish coming into The Carrier Dome. Syracuse is undefeated against top 25 opponents meaning that all 3 of their loses came from unranked teams. Syracuse came out with fire starting with baskets from Rakeem Christmas and Jerami Grant. The Irish hung around for the first half ending with Syracuse leading 30-24. In the second half, Syracuse proved they were the far superior team beating them by 11 points in the second half alone. Jack Cooley of Notre Dame put up another double, double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Syracuse finished off the game knocking off the Irish 63-47. The Orangemen really stepped it up compared to their last game. They shot 49% from the feild, only having 9 turnovers. They hauled in 29 rebounds 10 of them coming from C.J Fair. Fair put in another great effort scoring 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block. Michael Carter- Williams dished out 8 assists, but is struggling to find his groove scoring the ball. Rakeem Christmas played a big role filling in for James Southerland recording 4 blocked shots. Brando Triche did not score much but had 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Notre Dame is a high quality team who has beat Cincinnati and been catching fire recently. The Orangemen just outplayed them in nearly all categories. Notre Dame went into Syracuse's house expecting to win, but the Orangemen proved that this is their house and no one is allowed in it.

Rakeem Christmas, forward for Syracuse

#6 Syracuse Gets Embarrassed by Pitt

It was a rather depressing day for the Orangemen squadron as they walked into Peterson Events Center to play one of their Big East rivals, the Pittsburgh Panthers. Syracuse was coming off of a loss to Villi nova, and figured well Pitt is un ranked so they're probably not that good. Even though Pitt really is not very good, the Orangemen made them look like a Top 25 team, turning the ball over 14 times. Syracuse may not have handled the ball very well, but they caused some havoc on the other end causing 19 turnovers for the opposing team. Well if you just look at those numbers then you would say, how could they have lost by 10 points. The bottom line was that shots were not falling for the Orangemen and they were falling for Pittsburgh. Shooting 36% from the floor was not going to cut it against a team shooting 48% from the floor. At the end of the first half it was only a 2 point game. Things became out of hand in the second half where the Panthers took over and ended up defeating Syracuse by a final score of 65-55. In the second half especially the missing presence of James Southerland was felt. The academically intelligible senior could have stopped Pittsburgh from grabbing offensive rebounds and could have shut down Pitts big man. C.J Fair really did everything he could to keep the team into the game finishing up with 20 points and 3 steals. Michael Carter-Williams had a bit of an off game, only dishing out 2 assists as opposed to the 9 that he averages. Brandon Triche scored 14, but he was the main cause for all the turnovers throwing the ball away 6 times in the game. Overall the Orangemen did not have the worst game ever, but the poor shooting  the turnovers, and the missing James Southerland, really hurt them against a fellow Big East team. 

C.J Fair, forward for Syracuse.

The Orangemen of Syracuse 2013

After losing some of their key players of 2011-2012 in Dion Waiters and Scoop Jardine, not many people thought this would be a strong Syracuse team. The Orangmen have proved all of the doubters wrong by defeating the former #1 team Louisville and once again sitting at one of the elite spots in the NCAA. They are currently 18-2 and sit at the top of the Big East division. Of course they have an excellent coach in Jim Boeheim, but a large portion of their success is due to the players on the team. First off they have Michael Carter-Williams who averages 12.6 points per game, gets 3 steals  , and leads the league in assists with nearly 9 a game. He has come up clutch in key games such as the Louisville and Cincinnati games. Williams is paired in the front court with senior superstar Brandon Triche, who is the teams leading scorer with 14 points a game. Big man James Southerland is the teams second leading scorer with 13.8 points, but for someone of his build he only grabs 5 rebounds per game. He has also proven not to be very clutch, fouling out in the game against Temple finishing with only 2 points as the Orangemen proceeded to suffer a harsh first loss. Overall he is a great talent that has helped out this team. I may be a little bias here, but C.J Fair is the center piece of this Syracuse team. He may be my favorite player in the nation, but honestly this guy can do it all. He i another one of their players that averages 13 points, but he elevates and grabs 7 boards each game. His quickness and agility are hard to match when he is out in transition. With a guy like Carter-Williams around, Fair is becoming a force when it comes to scoring the basketball. This is a team with a lot of potential and upside, but also has the chance to be upset in a few games. If this team catches fire come tournament time, it is going to be tough for anyone to stop them.

James Southerland. forward for Syracuse

#3 Syracuse Edges #21 Cincinnati

       With a weekend full of great basketball, what a great way to end it with a showdown between two of the Top 25 teams in The Syracuse Orangemen against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Orange Men were coming off their greatest victory of the season, taking down the #1 team in the nation, Louisville, and their star point guard Peyton Siva. They did not have much time to celebrate the victory because they had to gear up for Sean Kilpatrick and this vicious bearcats team. The game was pretty intense as expected with a tight game, neither team playing great defense, but Syracuse was able to end the half on top by a score of 22 to 18. After the half it was apparent that Sean Kilpatrick wanted this win for his team producing 21 points with 5 rebounds. Unfortunately for the Bearcats the only other person playing well was JaQuon Parker. On the other side Michael Carter- Williams put up his second great effort of the weekend posting 16 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Although Cincinnati ended up winning the second half, Syracuse ended up holding on for the victory by a score of 57-55. More notable performances by C.J Fair and Brandon Triche each dropping 13 points a piece. After a great weekend for the Orangemen, knocking off the #1 in the nation as well as the #21 ranked team, they are well on there way back to the top of the rankings. This is a club that can bounce back from tough loses and end up defeating some of the best teams in the country.

Michael Carter- Williams guard for Syracuse

Unranked Temple Defeats #3 Syracuse

Unfortunately for Orangemen fans and myself Syracuse suffered a painful loss to the Owls of Temple University in the last few minutes of the game. It was an extremely competitive contest throughout the first half, but anyone watching the game could tell that Temple was hungry for a victory. As the first half came to a close the score was 40-38 with Syracuse out in front. Temple came out of the locker room fired up and ready for a big upset. Khalif Wyatt did everything he could to help out his team with 33 points, 4 assists, and went a perfect 15-15 from the free throw line. Anthony Lee also played a key role in Temples success contributing 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Temple started to take control of the game as the second half progressed. Syracuse was not even playing that poorly just their transition defense was a little shaken and the Temple Owls were just too much to handle. Of course the Orangmen fought back into the game as time was winding down. They ended up making one or two stupid mistakes which lead to fast break points for Temple and then had to foul them in desperation. Even when the game was practically over Michael Carter- Williams was still going strong taking it coast to coast for an easy layup. He finished the game with 13 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. When the final buzzers sounded the score was 83-79 giving the Temple Owls a key victory to hand Syracuse their first loss of the season. Some outstanding performances include C.J Fair from Syracuse with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and a block. Also the senior Brandon Triche had a fairly solid game where he posted 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. As a Syracuse fan I am always biased towards them, but Temple was able to outplay them both offensively and defensively and that is what lead to their victory.

Khalif Wyatt, guard for Temple