...you have to count it as a win (props to Steve Mayne on that find).
On with the recap...
MVP: C.J. Fair
C.J. put up a double-double in the opener, finishing as the leading rebounder and scorer (tied with Carter-Williams) for either team. More importantly, he got off to a hot start that got the Orange out to a double-digit lead that they never looked back from.
LVP: Jamall Franklin
Pretty disappointing game for the Mountain West preseason player of the year. Credit the Syracuse defense, because their length clearly is going to bother teams all season long. However, Franklin didn't do himself any favors. He struggled between settling for outside jumpers, as evidenced by his 0-6 effort from the three-point line and 3-12 shooting overall, and forcing the action, with a game-high seven turnovers. He also left a lot of points on the board at the stripe, going only 5 for 12. If Syracuse can force the opposing team's stars into similar performances all season long, Jim Boeheim is going to be one happy camper (if that's possible).
Play of the Game:
Fair may have been the game's MVP, but he was merely a secondary piece in the play of the game. With just under seven minutes left in the first half, Fair found Rakeem Christmas streaking down the court on a fast break and lobbed up an alley-oop. Christmas did the rest, throwing down a thunderous dunk essentially over the top of an Aztec defender. The play, which was cool enough in live action to draw an obnoxiously loud cheer and clap from me, was even cooler in replay. Christmas' momentum took him almost fully horizontal on the finish, with the camera from the trailing side of the play catching the dunk against a background of the brilliant blue sky and some of the buildings on the San Diego shoreline. I would not be the least bit surprised if this dunk made it on a poster before the Orange make in back on the court next Sunday.
(SC)OOPS of the Game:
In one of my preseason preview pieces, I mentioned jokingly that Michael Carter-Williams had spent his freshman year under the tutelage of Professor Jardine, learning about the art of all things alley-oop (good and bad). Turns out it was truer than I had anticipated.
About 3 minutes into the second half, Carter-Williams was leading the break and attempted to throw an alley-oop. His pass, from just inside half-court, bricked squarely off the top of the backboard and bounced all the way back out to the free throw line. Meanwhile, the alley-oop attempt almost led Christmas into a concussion-inducing collision with the backboard, much like any receiver going over the middle for a Ryan Fitzpatrick throw. It was one of the uglier alley-oop attempts I've ever seen, leaving even Scoop in awe of how quickly MCW has mastered his craft. We'll chalk this one up to the wind being at his back and pray that it never happens again.
General Observations:
- I see you Jim Boeheim, rocking the Ray-Bans
- I've already covered this above, but it was a great start to the year for my boy C.J. Fair. He was one of the only people who was able to stave off the conditions to knock down a couple of deep jumpers, but he didn't fall in love with the outside shot either. He was aggressive getting to the basket and smart about when to attack and when to pull back. He played a great game all around. I'm going to claim partial credit for this, as I purchased his jersey before the season began and rocked it proudly at the bar during the game.
- I was also impressed with Triche's aggressiveness. He took the ball to the basket hard a couple of times, and finished well. For a guard, he can really be a surprising menace down low, as it seems like at least once every game he comes up with an unlikely offensive rebound or putback amid a forest of much bigger players.
- I was much less impressed with Carter-Williams's aggressiveness. His shot selection and drives to the hoop bordered on out-of-control for most of the game and careened into reckless territory on more than one occasion. I'm not going to take too much away from one game, especially since it was his first opportunity to run the show and was an unusual set-up, being played outdoors and all. I still believe in his ability to have a huge year, but MCW is going to have to work on his decision-making over the next few games so that he's ready to avoid having another game like this during the Big East portion of the schedule.
- MCW's defense on the other hand was much more impressive. He was a pest up top the whole game, as predicted by Schirmer, and came up with 5 steals and a couple easy baskets because of it. I'm a little concerned that he was almost too aggressive, as he wound up fouling out of the game in garbage time, and easily could have picked up a few other fouls in the first half trying to make a play on passes in transition. We can't afford to have him in foul trouble with our limited guard rotation this season. I feel confident , though, that he'll learn his lessons as the season goes on and harness his defensive prowess to make a few plays a game without risking his time on the court.
- No truth to the rumors that Jim Boeheim is petitioning to have the rest of Syracuse's schedule played outdoors this season. All kidding aside though, this team was built for a game like this. They have multiple guards and forwards who can get to the basket almost at will and the length of the 2-3 zone forced San Diego St to settle for way too many outside jumpers, leading to multiple airballs.
- A rather inauspicious debut for the highly regarded freshman class. 19 combined minutes and no real big plays. I'm not totally surprised. You could tell that all three of them were a little too amped up, and who can blame them with their debuts being in a situation with this much hype and anticipation. It was especially noticeable on defense, where they were all too frequently caught reaching or overplaying on defense and then had to foul to make up for it. It will be interesting to see how much trust they will earn during the non-conference portion of the schedule to convince Jimmy B they are ready when the Big East rolls around. Boeheim has never been shy about shortening his rotation if he has to, with last year being one of the only times I can ever remember him truly keeping his rotation 9-10 deep the entire season.
- It was an especially quiet start for Cooney, getting only 4 minutes, all of which were in the first half. This isn't that surprising though, considering Cooney is mostly just a three-point shooter at this stage and Boeheim clearly forbade his team from attempting three pointers after halftime. I expect that I'll get my chance to cheer multiple Cooney three-point attempts in the game against Wagner on Sunday.
- Impressive start for Keita. He didn't do anything necessarily special, but he provided 23 solid minutes off the bench and 8 rebounds. If he can keep that up, it really bolsters the depth up front for this team and buys us some peace of mind in case Christmas ever gets in foul trouble or Coleman isn't quite ready yet.
Next Game: Home vs. Wagner on Sunday (11/18) @ 1:00 p.m.
Wagner is yet to play a game this season, with their opener being tonight. They return 3 of their top 4 scorers from a team that went 25-6 last season, including a victory at Pittsburgh. So I would expect that Wagner will not be intimidated coming into the Dome, but I still expect a relatively easy victory at the end of the day.
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