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| This is the hurricane that slammed into the Bahamas last week |
Before leaving for the Bahamas, Syracuse played the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis at the Carrier Dome, and won, improving to 3-0 on the season. Those three wins were examples of how we thought this team would be: decent, winning the winnable games, young, not dominant, and with lots of room for improvement. So knowing that if the team could advance passed Charlotte in the first game at Atlantis, either Texas or UConn would be waiting, probably scared some of us. Playing either of those teams in January or February (or March or April), well, sure. But this young team might not have what it takes to play one of those teams in November. Maybe it was the magic of the islands, the thrill of Thanksgiving, or just the pure talent, but Syracuse made a statement. Several, actually.
Syracuse vs. Charlotte
Basically from the opening tip, Syracuse owned this game. The 49ers certainly weren't favored to win -- they had previously lost to Elon -- and the Orange made sure it showed they were the dominant team. It helps when you shoot as well as Syracuse did (54.29% in the first half) to streak out to a 50-27 halftime lead. Charlotte bounced back in the second half, as Syracuse wasn't able to keep up that production but still never let it get too close. I'd say Michael Gbinije couldn't miss, but he did -- only two shots of his 11 attempts didn't go in, and they were both beyond the arc. Otherwise, he hit six 3's and led all scorers with 26 points. More on him later. Tyler Lydon continued to do his thing, contributing 18 points and being such a presence on the floor. Even Trevor Cooney got 19, despite only hitting three 3's. What's most notable in terms of an improvement from the first three games is that Syracuse found some balance -- 30 points in the paint. Syracuse beat Charlotte 83-70.
Syracuse vs. Connecticut
It's basically constitutional law that anytime Syracuse plays UConn, all anyone can talk about is the six overtime thriller in the 2009 Big East Tournament. And that's fine, because Syracuse won that. We'll always have that. 18-ranked Connecticut so wanted to be the brick wall for Syracuse to run into in this tournament on Paradise Island, but the Orange had some swagger from Wednesday's game. They were looking for a Thanksgiving feast, but it was husky, not turkey, on the menu. This game wasn't a 6OT thriller, but it was a very exciting game featuring several tied scores (including at halftime) and several lead changes. UConn had the advantage early, growing its lead to 10 at 13:39 in the first, but Syracuse fought back for that halftime tie. Syracuse then built a 10-point lead of its own by 7:47 to go in the game. Gbinije and Lydon had great games again, along with Cooney and Malachi Richardson stepping up their offensive production as well. Tyler Roberson was also much improved, with a rebound short of a double double on the day. Great team effort for the win over UConn, 79-76. There was talk after the game about these schools -- once conference rivals -- reaching an agreement to play each other on a regular basis. This game had that feel to it, as many of those conference & BET games did, and I don't think you'll find a fan of either school that wouldn't want there to be at least semi-regular meetings of these teams.
Syracuse vs. Texas A&M
Sure, Syracuse was the underdog against #18 UConn the day before, but that hard-fought victory had no matter to the odds makers in determining Syracuse would again be underdog against #25 Texas A&M in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. My fear entering the game was that the Aggies would be too big or too physical for Syracuse to handle, and/or get hot shooting the 3 as they'd be tempted to against the 2-3 zone. Plus, it was going to be difficult to keep the Syracuse shooters hitting those shots at the same clip they had been in the previous days. But hey, when things are going well, things are going well. And the Syracuse shooting did cool off -- but 44% from three and nearly 80% from the foul line is gonna get you places. This was yet another games where the usuals did well -- and damn, Tyler Lydon continues to play well ahead of his time -- but Roberson's production trailed off a bit. What was great to see, both in this tournament but particularly in this game, was the improvement of Dajuan Coleman. While he struggled at times and was on a short leash, he ended up with decent minutes in this game and made the most of them -- four points, six rebounds, and was just an active presence under the basket. I hope some confidence can carry over for Coleman so he can play more minutes and allow Lydon more time at forward -- think of how many more points he could score! With this 74-67 win over the Aggies, Syracuse is your 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis champions!
What a great tournament for Syracuse! It ended up to be the stepping out party for several players, and for the team as a whole. Finally, some national attention at how good this team is, and how good they could be. That was surely reflected when the national polls were released today (#14 AP, #19 Coaches). But now is no time to rest on your laurels -- Wednesday features a home game against the Wisconsin Badgers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge; Saturday brings the real rivalry renewed when the Orange travels to DC to face Georgetown; and eight days later a trip to MSG to face St. John's. I'll be at all of those games, and of course we'll have coverage here on Orange::44.
PS -- rumor has it if you put your ear up to the seashell on the Battle 4 Atlantis trophy, you can hear chants of "UConn... USuck!"
Labels: Basketball, Battle 4 Atlantis, Championship, Recap, UConn USuck
Baylor - Syracuse Maui Invitational Championship Preview
0 Comments Published on 11.27.2013 by Brian Harrison
Syracuse students agree: A championship is always nice.
Syracuse has made it to the Championship of the Maui Invitational. After a fun game against Cal, which saw Tyler Ennis, Jeremi Grant, and Trevor Cooney score some bursts. Now they take on Baylor, the team ranked #18 in this great nation. While Cal switched between man and zone, really Syracuse wasn't dared to take a lot of three point shots. Rather Cooney would come off a screen and take the shot. He hit 5-8 from behind the arc. I don't know where this Cooney came from, but I want him to stay all season. He's hitting 49% from long range this season. Strangely enough, Baylor is allowing opposing teams to shoot 47.4% from behind the arc in their last three games. If Syracuse has shooting success, and it seems likely, they will cruise to another Maui Championship, and stay undefeated in Hawaii. CJ Fair had a rough game, only going 5-17 against Cal. I'm sure it was partly due to the fact he got 11 stitches the day before. In his FACE. Either way, I see CJ settling down a little bit and making more shots consistently, especially the mid range shot he failed to make a lot last night, but he usually makes 10/10 times. Ennis should continue his winning ways now that he has found some confidence. Grant throwing down some slams would also be good. However, the big men remain a mystery. All that talent and not much to show for it. DeJuan Coleman was clearly overmatched the entire game against Cal. If the guards get in foul trouble, Baylor will have the door open and the offense of Syracuse will be hampered with scorers sitting the bench. If Syracuse manages fouls well, and even gets a small percentage of help from the post in Christmas, Kieta, Coleman, or a combination therein, Syracuse should be in cruise control for the last several minutes of this game. I like Syracuse to leave the champs by 10. This game is available nationally on ESPN/Watch ESPN at 10:00pm. Enjoy it with a cocktail. You don't have work tomorrow. Of if you're a youngin' enjoy your night out with old high school buddies.
Labels: Basketball, Championship, Maui Invitational, Preview, Syracuse Needs to Win to Make Thanksgiving Tolerable
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| Duke is STILL winning faceoffs |
If you kept tabs on Syracuse's run through the NCAA Tournament to Monday's Championship game against Duke, you know that in many ways it was an unlikely run. In fact, coming off last year's 9-8 season and opening round loss to Duke, along with starting this season with an overtime loss to Albany, it's unlikely to even think that the Orange would have earned a #1 seed, let alone advance to the title game. In every tournament game - against Bryant, against Yale, and against Denver - Syracuse dug itself into a hole that required a comeback to achieve victory. You very easily could look at any of those games and said "Syracuse deserves to lose." But the team fought; they persevered; they won. So when the title game looked all too familiar, those who knew the recent history didn't panic. Maybe the team didn't panic either. Maybe they were complacent in the "Don't worry, we've got this" attitude. Whatever it was, it was not enough to secure a victory, as the Duke Blue Devils beat the Syracuse Orange 16-10 to earn the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.
The title game could not have started any better for Syracuse. In a first quarter completely dominated by the Orange, Duke was left surrendering goals to Billy Ward, Kevin Rice, Dylan Donahue, and Luke Cometti. Everything was clicking on offense for the #1 seed, and nothing was going right for the Duke offense. When the Blue Devils weren't committing sloppy turnovers, they were taking shots that Syracuse goalkeeper Dominic Lamolinara was seeking with eagle-eyed vision.
Those four unanswered goals in the first quarter became a 5-0 lead early in the second, as Donahue got back on the board again. 90 seconds later, Duke finally found net, but just over a minute later, Scott Loy scored to again return the Orange lead to five. And then, Duke woke up. The Blue Devils scored the next four goals to close out the half, and enter the locker room down only 6-5.
An early third quarter Duke goal left the game tied at 6, and through the next eight and a half minutes of game play, neither team scored. Donahue scored again, giving the Orange a 7-6 lead at 4:28 in the third. But then Duke never looked back. Four Duke goals closed out the third quarter, and a 10-7 margin was brought to the game's final 15 minutes.
Duke didn't let up as the fourth began. Goals at 13:39, 12:29, and 10:47 gave the Blue Devils a 13-7 lead. JoJo Marasco finally got on the scoreboard with unassisted goals at 8:11 and 7:36 to narrow the gap to 13-9. Duke, however, kept winning faceoffs and hitting dagger shots to keep this game safely out of reach for the Orange.
As you no doubt have read elsewhere, or witnessed by watching the game, it was Duke's dominance at the faceoff X (or dot, or whatever it's being called these days) that was essential to the trophy returning to Durham. Duke faceoff specialist Brendan Fowler not only won 20 of 28 faceoffs on the day (Duke was 21-30 on the day), but he also won the draws when they counted most. Those gaps in the game when Syracuse wasn't scoring? It wasn't because they couldn't get things going on offense. It was because they were on defense. Because Duke won the faceoffs. Syracuse has dealt with some great faceoff specialists this season, notably in the postseason, and still won. Their offensive efficiency was just that good. But it just wasn't to be this Memorial Day.
And so, we look back at what ended up to be a very successful season of lacrosse. For much of the season it was a wide-open field, and heading into Selection Sunday, Syracuse secured some great resume-building wins to earn that #1 seed. And making it to the title game proved that Syracuse was seeded right where it needed to be seeded. And, but for giving up a 5-0 lead and being owned by a faceoff wizard, Syracuse may have won title #12. But we'll never know.
At any rate, congratulations to the entire team and coaching staff for an amazing season. I'm especially happy for this year's seniors, who waited their entire college careers to play in a Final Four - an otherwise guarantee for all classes dating back thirty years. And they got to play in a title game, and almost win it. The underclassmen gained some valuable experience, not only in these tournament games, but in all the one-goal games throughout the season. They'll be well-seasoned vets for next season. Next season. First in the ACC. Yikes! We'll take suggestions on the correct adjective to use when describing the ACC Lacrosse league.
Check back later this week, as I wrap up the 2012-2013 year of Syracuse University Athletics before embarking on our annual summer hiatus.
Labels: Championship, Lacrosse, NCAA Tournament, Recap