This game is all about two things that are right in front of all of us, but sometimes we don’t see them. One, this is a rivalry, like it or not. Maybe not the biggest one in the country, but this game is between two teams that are rivals and the fan base will make sure to drive home the point of this being a rivalry. Second, this game is about the inside game. If Thabeet can be an asset inside for UConn then this game isn’t going to go well for the Orange. If Onuaku can play the same way he did against Hibbert, then the advantage goes back to SU.

In this game the records go out the window, and the only thing that matters is the forty minutes on the hardwood. More than anything else the determining factor in this game will be the “will to win”. More than the talent, more than the pazzazz, more than the glory and the glamour, this is going to be about who is willing to do the most to have more points than the other team at the end of the game.

The odds don’t matter in this game, even if the Las Vegas gurus are saying that Syracuse is a 1^1/2 favorite. The only thing that matters is the intesity and willingness of the ten players on the floor for the 40 minutes of game. When it’s all said and done, what do I think of this game? For once I will not pick the game, because as I said before, this is about the intensity and that can’t be judged until the game begins. Neither team wants to give up their winning streak and both want the game to bolster their standing in the Big East, and that will make for a great game once it is all said and done.

Syracuse won yesterday, beating Villanova 87 to 73, against a team that had beaten them a bit ago. From what I saw, SU shouldn’t have lost the first game, not that they did a great thing in winning the second one. Villanova is playing in a conference that’s supposed to be among the best yet they’re putting 3 or 4 guards on the floor. Watching the game I felt both embarassed and dumbfounded watching a 6′4″ or 6′5″ player guarding Greene or Onuaku. So yes, the Orange won a good game because they played within themselves, but don’t ask me to think they went into Philadelphia and dominated a stronger opponent, because Nova is definitely not a better team than SU right now.

Let’s check my key points for SU:

• Don’t let anyone have a big time game. Syracuse needs to have a good game defensively, this isn’t the Carrier Dome and they can’t go out and think they will outgun anyone. Not in the Big East, not now. They need to play a calm game and keep anyone from “going off” on them. I was wrong on this point, since Corey Fisher did have a big game (21 points) and the Orange still won it going away.
• Control the ball. The turnovers are always a bit of a problem for SU. They’re even more of a problem when they play on the road, since they’re not scoring in the high 80’s. I think SU did this as well as they could (except for the first 10 minutes of play). The Orange seemed to have controlled the tempo of the game and they made sure that Villanova could not get into their rhythm at all.
• The dynamic duo needs a huge game. Greene and Flynn both need to have a great game. Flynn needs to guide the team and run it as efficiently as possible, Greene needs to pound inside and work on the outside as well. Donte also needs to stop going for 3’s so much, his 30% shooting average shows that it isn’t his best weapon. Flynn and Greene had 41 points combined (almost 1/2 of the 87 scored by SU) but it was Paul Harris who surprised us all with 28 points.

So now with a 16 and 7 record, 6 and 4 in the Big East, the Orange attack what I think is the hardest part of their schedule. It begins at home with UConn coming in very hot, then going down to South Florida, coming home to the Hoyas and then Louisville and Notre Dame on the road. That could easily be a 1 and 4 stretch right there. And if it is, then the last three games would be the key to SU going to the big dance or not. And head coach Boeheim’s team would be facing Pitt, Seton Hall and Marquette, once again teams that can easily be a win or a loss.

However, having said all of that, with the way this team is playing can you really pencil in any game as a sure loss right now? I can’t, even though I am still a firm believer that sooner or later this team is going to hit the proverbial wall and then it will be over for the season. But until then let’s climb aboard the bandwagon and enjoy the ride.

The Orange have the revenge factor on their side as they travel to Philadelphia to play this game. They will also have to remember that they can’t get into foul trouble like they did last game, especially with Antonio “Scoop” Jardine still awaiting the word from the University Judiciary Board on what will happen next. From what I have read around the Internet, Scoop did travel with the rest of the team but, when asked, an SU official did not say whether he would/could play. On a side note, if he plays with this all pending, it will show how desperate the team is for a win and how much power the UJB really has.

For the Orange the keys to the game are as follows if they wish to come home with a W and still hoping to be part of the NCAA’s when it is all said and done:

• Don’t let anyone have a big time game. Syracuse needs to have a good game defensively, this isn’t the Carrier Dome and they can’t go out and think they will outgun anyone. Not in the Big East, not now. They need to play a calm game and keep anyone from “going off” on them.
• Control the ball. The turnovers are always a bit of a problem for SU. They’re even more of a problem when they play on the road, since they’re not scoring in the high 80’s.
• The dynamic duo needs a huge game. Greene and Flynn both need to have a great game. Flynn needs to guide the team and run it as efficiently as possible, Greene needs to pound inside and work on the outside as well. Donte also needs to stop going for 3’s so much, his 30% shooting average shows that it isn’t his best weapon.

In the end, will all of this be enough to beat Villanova at their house? I’m sure that if you ask the Orange fans they would say yes, if you ask the Wildcats they would say no. But if you ask me I will tell you this, the team that makes the fewest mistakes and plays the most as they should, will win this game. Right now, I have to give the edge to `Nova because they’re at home and because this season they’ve shown that they can beat the Orange. From what I see on the Vegas lines Villanova is a four point favorite against Syracuse. That isn’t much seeing as how this conference was truly trying to prove that home court means a lot.

I think that in the end this game might just be a lot more than 40 minutes. I keep saying that the SU team is going to hit a wall sooner or later, between injuries and all these freshmen, and they will just not be able to make it to the finish line. This could be the game that is the “proverbial” wall. If SU loses this game it might just begin to go from a roller coaster year into a plummet of an ending. In a lot of ways this season is taking the same course as the football season, being the year of “the what if”. Both teams had injuries to key players and both teams will always wonder if that destroyed a year that could have been.

First off the island was Andy Rautins. Actually he never made it to the island. He lost his spot before the game began. Then you had Josh Wright, who had been voted off the island a while ago, but somehow came back (bear with me, remember this is imaginary) and then voted himself off the island once again. I think the tribe leader would love to have that vote re-done right now. But too late, Wright is gone and so are his chances to ever win Survivor: Orange Nation. At the same time we also had another voted off the island when Eric Devendorf hurt himself. And so three are now gone from the island and there is one at tribal council right now, waiting to see what his fate will be.

Yes, I am talking about Antonio “Scoop” Jardine. I remember in one of the earlier seasons of Survivor (the real one) one of the members was voted off for eating a can of beans. Not $115 worth of night munchies, just a can of beans. If this was the real survivor Scoop would be tossed off the island pretty quickly, but in this version he might just have to sit out a few challenges.

Now I know that this comparison to the TV show is a bit of a stretch, but in a lot of ways this year seems to have taken as many twists and turns as the reality show. However, the biggest thing that this team has to learn from the comparison to the popular show is that the only way to win at Survivor is with team work. The ones that try to do it on their own will never make it to the end, they will eventually be voted off. This team needs to do that from now until the end of the season. If they don’t, they will all be exiled to the NIT island when the big council votes (aka the Selection Committee for the NCAA Tournament).

I don’t agree with the people that have said that, besides Greene and Flynn, this team has no scoring weapons. They have a good inside man in Onuaku, who can pound it and get people into foul trouble. If you don’t go down low and work there then the three pointers will always be contested ones. Teamwork will give a lot of people a good chance at winning this game of Survivor and it will give this team a good chance at March Madness. It’s all up to the leader to make the rest of his tribe believe that.

In response to Farmer’s resignation Athletic Director Dr. Gross replied that “He has established a strong base from which we can grow the program to achieve national success”.

That is all fine and dandy, but I have to ask two questions here. First, if Syracuse is that “special” university why is the coach leaving to “pursue other oppurtunities”? And even more importantly, how is a 35.9% winning percentage a way to have built a strong base? If I am not mistaken HC Farmer did not have much success here at the `Cuse, and while he might have been a very good coach he has not improved much the teams here.

I do wish Patrick Farmer all the best at wherever he goes next.

In my opinion, not really. I think that this was a game that Syracuse should have won. They didn’t win because they’re young and inexperienced and because I think the coaching staff should have told them to back down a bit in this tight game. The Orange shot too many times with more than 20 seconds on the shot clock. In a tight game, when you’re the underdog, that is a huge no-no. I don’t blame the players as much as I blame the coaches for not telling them that or for not reinforcing it during the game. Just think about it, between Jonny Flynn and Donte Greene they took 42 shots and missed 28 of them. Had the tempo been a bit slower, they might have taken 5-7 less shots, which means the Hoyas might have not scored as many times as they did, and the Orange would have won the game.

I’m also seeing that someone from the local media here in Syracuse, that kept saying these kids can play all day long without getting tired, hasn’t mentioned that fitness assessment since this game. Those kids were dead on their feet, with Greene getting crameped in overtime. So let’s stop with the “they’re kids, they don’t get tired, etc etc”. These kids are fighting with all they have against teams that have more bodies, they do get tired and it shows. Flynn wouldn’t have had the drought he had in the second half if he’d had a bit of a breather.

The other thing I find a lot of people are saying is that Flynn and Greene are the only options. I totally disagree. Arinze Onuaku is playing great and can get the points. The offensive schemes of Syracuse should involve getting a touch down low, if just for the defense to have to move a bit and get tired. The one pass, drive and shoot that SU is doing with Flynn or the pass, look and shot by Greene is making it so that the opposing teams are not using much energy guarding the Orange.

In the end I think this game came out as it did for two major reasons. One, the Orange didn’t manage the shot clock as well as they could have and two, I think that Greene is taking way too many shots that he shouldn’t. Both of these issues can be easily fixed, but the key is will head coach Jim Boeheim tame his number one option in Greene and risk having him then not shoot enough? My answer to that is a big fat “no”. I’m not going to blame Jonny Flynn, as some people have, because I think that he’s a good player and even if he isn’t playing within himself, that is more because he has no support rather than his being a hog with the ball.

Let’s see how my predictions are going as far as I see the rest of the SU schedule.

SU at Georgetown - Loss, this shouldn’t be close. 13-7
Result: Georgetown won, but it was close. This could be a good omen for SU.

SU vs. Providence - Win, SU should handle this one. 14-7
SU at DePaul - Loss, it would be win if at home. 14-8
SU at Villanova - Loss, same game as the one at the Dome. 14-9
SU vs. Connecticut - Win, but if UConn turned the corner this could be scary. 15-9
SU at South Florida - Win, however, on the road and after 2 tough games. 16-9
SU vs. Georgetown - Loss, this is going to be a hard one for SU. 16-10
SU at Louisville - Loss, the Cards are getting healthier and SU is getting worse. 16-11
SU at Notre Dame - Loss, but I wouldn’t be surprised if SU won the game. 16-12
SU vs. Pittsburgh - Loss, the Orange will not hold off Pitt. 16-13
SU at Seton Hall - Win, this should be an easy one for SU if at home. 17-13
SU vs. Marquette - Loss, and it might be a give up game if the games go as I see. 17-14

I know that some people are thinking that this game could have been different if the officiating had been a bit less “ticky tack” on all the calls. That’s certainly a valid point but that’s the way the game was called and having watched the game not just once, but twice, there’s no way anyone is going to convince me that the refs were one sided on their calls. They called the game basically the same across the board. Some people have said that if Donte Greene had not fouled out on a bad call the outcome would have been different. To that I say “yes, you are right”, but on the other hand what is a player with two fouls doing playing late in the first half with his team leading? Had Greene been on the bench, where he belonged, that fifth foul would have not been his fifth, and he would have been in the game for a while more.

Then there is the story of Paul Harris and head coach Jim Boeheim having a little “discussion” about Harris shooting a three pointer, being pulled out of the game for it and not being able to get back into the mindset of the match. Once again, to me this is just more evidence that this team is playing too much “one on one” and not enough team ball. You need to get everyone involved in the flow of the game. However, I also think that to shove microphones in players faces (especially young ones such as college kids) right after a game and even worse, a loss, isn’t the best way to get meaningful quotes from them. Maybe this was said in the heat of the moment, maybe it was what the kid wanted to say, but it did not come out right, whatever the case this is just not the way all of this should be playing out.

Now, let’s review the keys of the game and see how Syracuse did.

• Ball movement/Assists. Syracuse needs to share the ball on offense, they can’t afford to play one on one ball against `Nova. If they don’t do this they’re going to lose this game in a big way. The tempo of the game is going to be affected by this “key to the game”, whoever is able to control it will win the game, in my opinion. They didn’t do this at all in the game. Most of the plays during this game were one pass and shoot or drive to the lane. This was definitely not a team game and it showed in the end. The Orange only had 10 assists, which is not going to help this team win.
• No turnovers/holding on to the ball. Just like the motion of the ball, this is going to be very much a key factor for the Orange team. They need to stop throwing away the ball and giving easy points to the opposition. Against a team like the Wildcats, giving up 16 turnovers (as the Orange are doing of late) means digging a hole they might not be able to climb out of. The Orange is getting back up with the turnovers, they had 19 overall, and while that is just as many as Villanova had, the Orange could have won this game if they had a few less. In order to win in the Big East these kinds of things need to be fixed.
• Play within yourselves. This team needs to do what they do best and not try to do what they can’t do. If all the members of the Orange understand that they might be able to win this game. If they try to overdo things they will lose this game. Once again, just like the first two keys to winning this game, this one was not met either, far from it. Greene and Flynn shooting 2 for 12 from the arch is not playing “within themselves” in my opinion, and it showed. Jardine with 8 turnovers is not playing within himself. And this is to just mention two of the more outstanding things.

The Orange will be playing against the Georgetown Hoyas tonight and I will have a preview of this game in the afternoon, but for now the fan base should worry about this last game, because I have a feeling this is the preview of things to come. If we were to split up the 18 conference games into three blocks of six games, I would say that these first six were the easiest of the three blocks. Syracuse finished that first block with a 3 and 3 record, meaning that they could possibly go below .500 in the rest of the 12 games. And even with a .500 record in the next dozen games it would put SU at a 19 and 12 record for the season. That is not the best record to have going into the post season tournament for the conference. Yes, SU would probably win 1 or 2 games, going over 20 wins, but they will also get another loss, bringing them to 13 losses for the season and that will just be too many to make the big dance this year.

This is how I see the rest of the season going for Syracuse:

SU at Georgetown - Loss, this shouldn’t be close. 13-7
SU vs. Providence - Win, SU should handle this one. 14-7
SU at DePaul - Loss, it would be win if at home. 14-8
SU at Villanova - Loss, same game as the one at the Dome. 14-9
SU vs. Connecticut - Win, but if UConn turned the corner this could be scary. 15-9
SU at South Florida - Win, however, on the road and after 2 tough games. 16-9
SU vs. Georgetown - Loss, this is going to be a hard one for SU. 16-10
SU at Louisville - Loss, the Cards are getting healthier and SU is getting worse. 16-11
SU at Notre Dame - Loss, but I wouldn’t be surprised if SU won the game. 16-12
SU vs. Pittsburgh - Loss, the Orange will not hold off Pitt. 16-13
SU at Seton Hall - Win, this should be an easy one for SU if at home. 17-13
SU vs. Marquette - Loss, and it might be a give up game if the games go as I see. 17-14

And there you have it. If the outcomes are as I see them, then Syracuse will not be going to the big dance, unless they win the Big East tournament. If they finish 19 and 12 and do ok in the tournament they might just make the NCAA’s. This is how this season is going to unfold when it is all said and done. It is going to be a tough season for the Orange and its fan base, who are not used to this. As I keep saying and repeating, the key to this team is to play as one and not as five individuals wearing the same uniform. If the Orange can do that they might pull out some upsets and maybe arrive at 20 wins before the conference tournament. If not, they might not have a chance of making the NCAA Tournament when selection Sunday arrives.

The keys to this game are going to be the following:

• Ball movement/Assists. Syracuse needs to share the ball on offense, they can’t afford to play one on one ball against `Nova. If they don’t do this they’re going to lose this game in a big way. The tempo of the game is going to be affected by this “key to the game”, whoever is able to control it will win the game, in my opinion.
• No turnovers/holding on to the ball. Just like the motion of the ball, this is going to be very much a key factor for the Orange team. They need to stop throwing away the ball and giving easy points to the opposition. Against a team like the Wildcats, giving up 16 turnovers (as the Orange are doing of late) means digging a hole they might not be able to climb out of.
• Play within yourselves. This team needs to do what they do best and not try to do what they can’t do. If all the members of the Orange understand that they might be able to win this game. If they try to overdo things they will lose this game.

Once again Jonny Flynn might be the man that makes or breaks this game. He’ll be going up against one of the best point guards in the conference when he meets `Nova’s Scottie Reynolds. The better floor general will give a huge boost to his team.

The one thing that SU needs to do today is forget the easy win they just had over Rutgers that, unfortunately, is not Big East basketball. This game against Villanova and the next on the road against Georgetown are the games that teams that don the Syracuse uniform play for in the Big East. This is the stage that high caliber players want to strut their best stuff on. This is why the heads of these colleges made this conference as big and strong as they did in basketball. It’s a nationally televised game, ESPN at noon, it’s a game that means a lot for both teams and it’s a game where the best is going to win.

Villanova can ill afford to lose this game and drop to 2-3 in the Big East. Syracuse losing this game would mean going down for the sixth time this season, something they don’t want to do either. Neither of these teams have been able to win a game on the road while playing their Big East schedule, which is something that favors the Orange today, but the Wildcats are looking to change that. Something is going to have to give today at the Carrier Dome and that will definitely make for a good game if it does.

The oddsmakers have Syracuse as a four point favorite in this game. I tend to disagree with that and see Villanova pulling this one out (barely) with Scottie Reynolds (17.0 pts per game, 4.3 assists per game) leading the way along with Corey Fisher (11.4 pts, 2.9 assists) and Dante Cunningham (10.5 pts and 7.5 boards). However, the one thing I do see, no matter who wins, is a great Big East matchup between two teams who need the win to stay in the upper echilons of the conference records.

Before talking about my keys to the game let me say something about Rutgers, because I don’t want to take away from the win that the Orange had, but I also want to put it into perspective. Rutgers is possibly the worst Big East team since at least Y2K. Besides Chandler, no one else on that team is up to this conference’s level of play. Their coaching staff didn’t seem much better than the talent on the hardwood. To be pretty blunt and bold, this team would end up as another Temple if not for the fact that the Big East needs Rutgers’ football team.

• 2-3 Zone. The team needs to do what it needs to do, but they must have good minutes working on this defense. From this defense they can bring in a lot of good points on the offensive side of the game. The Orange played this defense the whole game and even if it was Rutgers, the team seemed to have played better in it than the last couple of games.
• Play team ball on offense. Enough with the one on one. This is the NCAA and not the AAU. These players need to learn that because individual play will not work in the Big East. Well, the team surely did this, compiling 21 assists in this game (the Orange had 19 in their last two games). If the Orange can do this from now on, Rutgers or not, they could definitely get it done in the Big East.
• Protect the ball. Once again the turnovers are piling up for the SU team and that needs to stop if they want to win the games that they should win. The Orange didn’t do well in this department once again. The team had 17 overall, but more concerning is that Jonny Flynn had 4 of them.

In all, things seem to be looking up but when you scratch the surface a bit there are still a few overall concerns for the Orange, even against a team like Rutgers. The turnovers are one of those things that really stick out at me. However, I’m glad to see that the minutes went down for all the players, with only three players having 30 or more minutes, while 8 players got double digit
minutes. I am also somewhat concerned that while Greene did get 19 points, Onuaku did not reach 10 points against a team as weak as this one. And while we’re on the subject of Greene, I still don’t understand (especially against a team such as Rutgers) why he needs to shoot so many three pointers.

In a game where Syracuse had to take control and win in a strong fashion they did just that. However, the hard part comes now for this team, with Villanova at home and then Georgetown on the road. Winning either of these games might bring the team closer to the NCAA, losing both would put them below .500 in the Big East with the thick of the schedule still to come. Settle in, put on your seat belt and enjoy the ride, this should be a wild one from now until March.