Critics love to say SYR has been past the sweet 16 only twice in 16 years but they don't mention that both those times SYR went to the national title game and one of those times they won the title. SO let's see if they make it past the sweet 16 without Melo.

There's a lot less pressure on the team now and you really have guys who underperform night after night. Waiter scored 28 against Cincy in loss and the rest of the team scored 40-combined. Hopefully everyone comes to play every game-- they really have noting to lose.

What a bad year for SYR. But you know what they say, it's always darkest before the dawn.

Syracuse can forget about the Final Four, Ottoman...

(03-13-2012 05:05 PM)snowycuse Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 04:44 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  This isn't a Syracuse problem, it's a Fab Melo problem. Lets all try to remember that. Syracuse fans know where to place the blame. We need to follow their example.
CJ

It looks like it was Syracuse and not the NCAA that declared Fab ineligible. So Fab screws over his team and the community. What good is the NBA rule requiring guys to go to school for a year if they can leave without accomplishing a damn thing in the class room and put their school on probation through bad conduct or low APR scores?

Schools have to decide if they want to take that risk...as most of the "straight to NBA" players after 1 year are usually easily pegged while still in HS.

There's good reasons why Anthony Davis and Mike Gilchrist were the #2 and #3 players ranked overall coming out of HS on rivals.

Teams/coaches that go after players like that have to decide if its worth it.

Since UK and Calipari do it seemingly every year...its obviously worth it to them...(even though John Wall & at least 1-2 other UK players had a terrible/low GPA 2 years ago)

(03-13-2012 06:45 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  Syracuse can forget about the Final Four, Ottoman...

Not exactly true.

Competition was not the same but the team was at its best early in the year running out of the full-court press and Fab is not a part of that. If Boeheim for the first time in his damn life can start coaching and run a 40-minute press going small at center this team could be dangerous. With Fab in the lineup we have to go into the half-court and Cuse is not a half-court team and cannot rebound anyway. We should have been rotating in and out all year out of the press.

On offense you can play Southerland or Fair and pull them out leaving the lane open for Waiters and Scoop who are better going to the basket anyway. Lets face it we cannot rebound with the guys we have left and could not rebound coming into the game with Fab so we just need to give up trying and go spread teams out.

The key is a 40 minute track meet out of the press. Everyone but Boeheim knows it is what we need. Too often Cuse gets caught up in half court battles with teams like Vermont or Butler come tournament time.

I agree snowy, Syracuse should full court press much more often then they do. One of their biggest assets is depth and they can use it to their advantage by pressing. It really got to Cincinnati late in that game.

really.....it's a loss but not devestating....Cuse can still roll

come on guys represent!

That is going to mess up my bracket final pick.

(03-13-2012 04:01 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I always wonder where TexanMark vanishes to on these terrible news cycle days. There have been plenty this season.

Sorry I couldn't entertain you 24/7 but I had work and home duties. What can I say...Fab Melo doesn't like to study. He has checked out mentally and now the Cuse have to pay. You feel better?

(03-13-2012 09:53 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  I agree snowy, Syracuse should full court press much more often then they do. One of their biggest assets is depth and they can use it to their advantage by pressing. It really got to Cincinnati late in that game.

A good team can beat the Syracuse press, and without Melo to hold the middle, anyone who beats the press will find that soft spot in the middle of the Orange zone to attack...

(03-14-2012 08:43 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 09:53 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  I agree snowy, Syracuse should full court press much more often then they do. One of their biggest assets is depth and they can use it to their advantage by pressing. It really got to Cincinnati late in that game.

A good team can beat the Syracuse press, and without Melo to hold the middle, anyone who beats the press will find that soft spot in the middle of the Orange zone to attack...

I agree...but if the press creates enough turnovers it might compensate for those times. We still have 9-10 athletes on the team that can run with most Top 25 teams...we'll see what Boeheim does. Hopefully, UNC-A cooperates and plays dead for us on Thursday.

(03-14-2012 08:43 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 09:53 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  I agree snowy, Syracuse should full court press much more often then they do. One of their biggest assets is depth and they can use it to their advantage by pressing. It really got to Cincinnati late in that game.

A good team can beat the Syracuse press, and without Melo to hold the middle, anyone who beats the press will find that soft spot in the middle of the Orange zone to attack...

I agree but you are missing the point. Syracuse does not score well in the half-court and without Melo a "good team" as you say will tear them apart anyway inside. By pressing for 40 minutes the hope is that you keep the offense in transition something any team in the country will have difficulty handling Syracuse with and produce turnovers.

Cincy was lights out in the first half and Cuse came back in the second half off the press. The thing is Cincy still scored just as many points the difference was Syracuse stopped allowing 3's and created opportunities.

My concern is the Boeheim puts Rak or Keita in the middle and clamps down inside leaving 3-point shooters open. I would rather press and extend the zone and trade baskets for 40 minutes knowing at the end of the day we should have the advantage against most teams if we play at a rapid pace.

(03-13-2012 04:07 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  good grief....good job cuse...good job

git yer arses to the acc and take your stench with you

Nah. UC exploited the hole in the zone at the foul line. (something UConn didn't do often enough) It allowed them to get open looks from the 3 point line. Melo consistently played too low in the zone and conceded the jumper. In the second half, SU turned up the pressure, Wright played scared, and SU got back in the game. However, the hole in the zone at the free throw line was still there. UC just couldn't make the pass.

On offense, Cuse needs someone to contribute to help DW out. BTW, he should have been conference player of the year. He clearly was the best player at MSG. Why Triche gets as many minutes as he does is a headscratcher? He is clearly a weak link. Dumb decision after dumb decision. Anyway, against man, SU will score some points. Their wings can take most guys off the dribble and get inside. Against zone, they need someone else to step up. DW can't shoot all the jumpers. The wings have to make some shots to keep the defense honest or it will be an early exit.

In short, I can still see SU making a deep run in the tourney. But, someone, anyone, has to help DW out. If the rely on DW like they did at MSG, they will get bounced early.

SU beat Cincy at Cincy without Melo.
The three point shooting has always been a weakness for the zone. At MSG CIncy hit the three in the first half, they stopped falling in the second half. Simple as that.

Even after that great first half, with 5 seconds left inthe game, Cincy was up by 1. The ZOne extended to cover the three point shooters.

I wouldn't press unless SYr is down. The zone defense is what carried the team this year and SYR needs to set it. We got just as many steals off the zone as we did off the press.

Hopefully Melo's early departure helps Noel with his decision. We're loaded again next year with Cooney and Coleman- Noel would be the cherry on top. We're going win something big real soon.

(03-14-2012 11:41 AM)dogma Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 04:07 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  good grief....good job cuse...good job

git yer arses to the acc and take your stench with you

No problemo fellas. Glad we've been the most consistent team from the start of the Big East to have built the conference (while you were building CUSA) so now you have a place to play. But we'll take our "stench" and go.

And what are you guys, thugs, mugs or wanksters? And when you play Xavier again should I bring my knife.

(03-14-2012 11:04 AM)snowycuse Wrote:  

(03-14-2012 08:43 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 09:53 PM)Bearcat_Bounce Wrote:  I agree snowy, Syracuse should full court press much more often then they do. One of their biggest assets is depth and they can use it to their advantage by pressing. It really got to Cincinnati late in that game.

A good team can beat the Syracuse press, and without Melo to hold the middle, anyone who beats the press will find that soft spot in the middle of the Orange zone to attack...

I agree but you are missing the point. Syracuse does not score well in the half-court and without Melo a "good team" as you say will tear them apart anyway inside. By pressing for 40 minutes the hope is that you keep the offense in transition something any team in the country will have difficulty handling Syracuse with and produce turnovers.

Cincy was lights out in the first half and Cuse came back in the second half off the press. The thing is Cincy still scored just as many points the difference was Syracuse stopped allowing 3's and created opportunities.

My concern is the Boeheim puts Rak or Keita in the middle and clamps down inside leaving 3-point shooters open. I would rather press and extend the zone and trade baskets for 40 minutes knowing at the end of the day we should have the advantage against most teams if we play at a rapid pace.

IMO what defense Boeheim chooses will be determined by the opponent. Extend the zone against good shooting teams, and contract it against teams that prefer to work it inside. But against some teams it won't matter which way he attacks their offensive strategy. They'll have talent enough to compensate. What the Orange need to hope for is that the teams that match up well against them lose before they face Syracuse, which is a distinct possibility...

On a side note, if WVU gets past Gonzaga, the matchup between WVU and Ohio State should be very interesting. I like the Mountaineers chances, if WVU gets that far...

(03-14-2012 12:17 PM)Ottoman Wrote:  

(03-14-2012 11:41 AM)dogma Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 04:07 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  good grief....good job cuse...good job

git yer arses to the acc and take your stench with you

No problemo fellas. Glad we've been the most consistent team from the start of the Big East to have built the conference (while you were building CUSA) so now you have a place to play. But we'll take our "stench" and go.

And what are you guys, thugs, mugs or wanksters? And when you play Xavier again should I bring my knife.

Ottoman...that CUSA we built was pretty strong...Marq, UC, UL and USF all were in the top 8 of the BE in the final BB standings...2 of the 3 co-BE champs in football were also from CUSA.

MAYBE you will have success like UC had switching conferences...but you WILL become second fiddle to the Carolina lead ACC basketball teams that dominate the ACC.

Very mature mocking UC basketball yet Cincinnati has more NCAA National Championships than you, more final fours and a higher winning % in the NCAA tournament than Syracuse. Cincinnati went through one of the toughest rebuilds in recent memory and yet we still compete well with the "Mighty Syracuse" in one of their best BB seasons ever. Remember...

71-68 - Cincinnati gives Syracuse second loss in Big East semifinal

Just a side note because you when Syracuse failed to step up after the Toledo football game Toledo ended the year going 8-1...Karma bit Cuse and they ended the year 2-6.

(03-14-2012 12:17 PM)Ottoman Wrote:  

(03-14-2012 11:41 AM)dogma Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 04:07 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  good grief....good job cuse...good job

git yer arses to the acc and take your stench with you

No problemo fellas. Glad we've been the most consistent team from the start of the Big East to have built the conference (while you were building CUSA) so now you have a place to play. But we'll take our "stench" and go.

And what are you guys, thugs, mugs or wanksters? And when you play Xavier again should I bring my knife.

Oh man! Nice! I get it, we're thugs mugs and wanksters because of that brawl! That brawl that Xavier was in, too! Holy sh*t man you're creative as hell! I'd never heard those before!

Hey ottoman! Can you, like, do a fun little riff about Mick Cronin being short? I bet you'll come up with some zingers! Dude you rock at jokes! Oh and whoa, did you know that if you change one (!) letter in Yancy Gates' name, it turns into Nancy Gates?!?!? Work with that! Don't hide your creativity in a bushel basket, son.

(03-14-2012 11:41 AM)dogma Wrote:  

(03-13-2012 04:07 PM)Bearcats#1 Wrote:  good grief....good job cuse...good job

git yer arses to the acc and take your stench with you

Gladly...I'll leave a giant tube of Prep H for you guys' Butt Hurt as a parting gift.

(03-14-2012 11:51 AM)MU88 Wrote:  Nah. UC exploited the hole in the zone at the foul line. (something UConn didn't do often enough) It allowed them to get open looks from the 3 point line. Melo consistently played too low in the zone and conceded the jumper. In the second half, SU turned up the pressure, Wright played scared, and SU got back in the game. However, the hole in the zone at the free throw line was still there. UC just couldn't make the pass.

On offense, Cuse needs someone to contribute to help DW out. BTW, he should have been conference player of the year. He clearly was the best player at MSG. Why Triche gets as many minutes as he does is a headscratcher? He is clearly a weak link. Dumb decision after dumb decision. Anyway, against man, SU will score some points. Their wings can take most guys off the dribble and get inside. Against zone, they need someone else to step up. DW can't shoot all the jumpers. The wings have to make some shots to keep the defense honest or it will be an early exit.

In short, I can still see SU making a deep run in the tourney. But, someone, anyone, has to help DW out. If the rely on DW like they did at MSG, they will get bounced early.

Good post...Scoop and Kris Joseph (both Seniors) were nonfactors. If they play their B games (versus their D games) the Cuse could still make the Elite 8 without Melo. I'm not convinced they will.