Syracuse Season Preview

With some serious shades of 1991, the Richmond Spiders came into the Carrier Dome tonight and took a 7-point lead into halftime.  But led by an 11 point run by a resurgent Eric Devendorf and a dominating second half by sophomore Jonny Flynn, the Cuse held off the Spiders, 76-71, winning fairly easily at the end against a non-conference opponent.  While I'll take the win, I must admit the Orange looked bad for most of the first half and looked outhustled for parts of the second half until Flynn took over -- and Devo made a hugely important three from the corner with about 6 minutes to play.  Richmond was only 16-15 last season and while they played well (and were red-hot from 3 in the first half... where have we seen that before?), this is a game the Cuse should have won, and by a more comfortable margin.  Of course, we've lost in early season games to midpack A-10 schools the last couple of years, helping to keep us out of the NCAA tournament.  So I'll take the win.

And it's sad to say, but at first glance, this team doesn't look much better than our last two teams and is arguably worse.  Flynn and Devo were supported by 17 mostly first half points by Arinze Onuaku, but that was it.  They might as well have played with three guys on the court.  The rest of the team?  Disastrous.  Paul Harris scored 8 points and the rest of his teammates scored 3 points, combined.  Andy Rautins went 0 for 6 in his 2nd game back from knee surgery, Rick Jackson and Kristof Ongenaet were invisible on the court, especially on defense, and freshman Kris Joseph did little with extended 2nd half minutes.  I don't think fellow freshman Mookie Jones got on the court -- he didn't in the 2nd half, when Boeheim buried his bench in a close game and rode Devo and Flynn to victory.  That will not be enough to win in the Big East.  We're 2-0 to start the season, but there is a ton of work to do.

At this point last year, I was pretty ecstatic about Syracuse's future.  We were coming off the greatest snub in the history of organized sports when we were inexplicably left out of the 2007 NCAA tournament and lost a bunch of seniors including star Demetris Nichols, but our incoming class included two budding superstars in Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn, along with fellow freshmen Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine, building around rising sophs Paul Harris and Arinze Onuaku and veteran guards Eric Devendorf and Josh Wright.  We'd lost backup guard Andy Rautins with a summer Team Canada knee injury but no one really thought we'd need him.  The Orange were stacked for a run in 2007-08 with a young, energetic rising team, and then in 2008-09, oh baby, just wait.  Well we're here in 08-09 and... well, I can't say I'm feeling the excitement.  Things didn't exactly turn out as planned.

Devo tore his ACL in December '07, 10 games into the season.  Josh Wright, a senior who lost playing time a year earlier and wasn't starting over Flynn in the preseason, stopped playing for the team and even though we suddenly needed him with the Devo and Rautins injuries, he never came back.  Uh oh.  Scoop Jardine -- 4th option off the bench going into the season -- was suddenly starting.  Then he got hurt.  Uh oh.  For a few games last season, we had 6 total scholarship players and a couple walk-ons got significant minutes.  Not good times.  The team hung together and somehow won 21 games, but missed the NCAA tournament (this time more defensible), and hopes for 08-09 still loomed large with the return of Rautins and Devo.  Sadly, Donte Greene took his game prematurely to the NBA and despite amazing depth in the backcourt, we were hurting in the frontcourt and I haven't seen any signs so far this season (albeit in two short games) that anyone will step up to fill his void.  In addition, Scoop's injury lingered into this year and he'll be redshirted.  This could be a long season.

Flynn at point guard is a superstar in the making.  He might be the best player in a Syracuse uniform since Carmelo, and we've had a few NBA draft picks since my Melo.  He put up 27 points tonight (after missing two garbage time free throws to try to break his all-time high score of 28) and dominated play in the final 12 minutes of the game.  No one on Richmond could stop him.  He was getting fairly generous calls from the refs, but he's so lightning quick, I think that might become common. 

Devo looked completely unaffected less than 12 months after ACL surgery (I sure hope I recover as well) and looks like he's back to the solid strong shooting guard he was while leading the team in scoring before his injury last season.  If Devo lasts the whole year last year, we have to make the tournament.  We'll see if his presence this year can make up for the loss of Donte (and make them even better).

Onuaku was a revelation last year and seems to have spent 98% of the offseason in the weight room.  Seriously, this AO looks like he ate last year's version.  He will be an absolute force in the middle.  He still struggles a bit with his hands and his touch but he's light on his feet in spite of the size and can run the floor.  He's also clearly out of shape early and will have to gain some stamina to be effective.  I suspect he will.

That's a pretty great Big 3, but I'm not sure that's enough to do damage in this year's super-stacked Big East.  Which brings us to the key to the team, now junior Paul Harris.  Harris looked good in Sunday's game against Division II LeMoyne, but he looked horrible tonight.  Shades of freshman Paul, trying too hard and doing more damage than he was worth.  His shot still looks awkward despite reports that it's improved and the Richmond guards tonight were blowing past him left and right on defense.  He'll probably spend the year at the 3 spot, which one would assume would be his most effective position, but he's actually been a 2 or 4 most of his Syracuse career due to personnel needs at the other slots.  He needs to figure it out, soon, now, fast, because if Harris doesn't become a very good player this year, we're not going to make the tournament.  And he's not going to make the NBA.

Onganaet is the de facto fifth starter, which is an issue.  He's a hustler and a seemingly decent defender -- he has size and is scrappy -- but his offensive game is a black hole besides a creative pass here or there.  Admittedly, Boeheim doesn't have many other options at the 4 slot (without playing Harris or Jackson out of position) but less Kristof is probably best for this team.   He was amazing down the stretch last year, coming out of nowhere to play key roles in many late season wins.  And he doesn't seem afraid of anyone (unlike, say, Harris or Devendorf at times), but he's not a highly skilled athlete.  And the Big East is loaded with those.

Andy Rautins has not returned as immediately in stride as Devo, but I'll give him some time.  He actually had a good day Sunday -- playing a ton of minutes -- and a shooting touch can disappear every once in a while.  Game 2 was discouraging, though.  We'll need him to be a great 6th man and great shooter off the bench. 

Sophomore Rick Jackson didn't get too many minutes tonight and didn't do much with them.  Boeheim says he's ready for significant minutes.  I don't really see it.  Playing him and AO at the same time will definitely improve the inside defense.  But it would also clog up the offense.  And Jackson still doesn't look particularly smooth out there.  Time will tell.

Freshman duo Joseph and Jones have had flashes of impressive play in the first two games but have mostly been absent.  Beoheim usually contracts to at most an 8-man rotation by the time Big East play rolls around, so it's likely one of them won't be a factor at all this year, barring injury.  Odds are the taller (but less touted) Joseph will get more opportunities.  He better do more with his minutes than he did tonight.

I was a little discouraged that Syracuse wasn't ranked this preseason and finished only 8th in the preseason Big East coaches' poll.  But after seeing tonight's game, I think they were judged fairly accurately.  That is probably the low point for the team though.  I can't see them finishing outside the top 10 under any circumstances, so 8th is pretty much what we'd get if we play all year like we played tonight.  In other words, there's room for improvement.  Massive, massive room for a whole hell of a lot of improvement.  I sure hope it comes.  But I'll take every win I can get. 

Next game:  Friday vs. Oakland.  Go Cuse!  Beat those Silver & Black fuckers.

(On a side note, would Al Davis finally retire if his team lost to a college team?  Because I really think the Orange could give the Raiders a go.  Not the basketball team.  I mean the 3-win football team that just fired its coach.  They could beat the Raiders at this point, right?  I can't even name the Syracuse QB, but I can guarantee he's a better passer than JaMarcus Russell.  Pathetic.)

Comments

[LegFuJohnson]

I think the Syracuse QB is Donovan McNabb.

[Bill]

He's much better than Ja Marcus.