Home Stretch

A lot has happened since I was last able to sit down and put together a post.

-  Miami went from unranked to undeafeted in ACC play (including a 27 point romp over Duke.  Sorry couldn't pass up pointing that one out) and receiving 20 votes for 1st place in the AP Poll

-  Oscar Pistorius went from feel-good story of the Summer Olympics to alleged murderer.

-  The #1 team in college basketball lost for a stretch of 5 consecutive weeks.  Casualties included Duke, Louisville, Duke again (seriously you guys, if they give me the chances I have to take the shots) , Michigan, and Indiana.

-  The Pope decided to retire, which happens about as often as the Bills make the playoffs (see: never)

And then there's Syracuse...

The Orange beat #1 Louisville on their own home court.

They went 3-0 against ranked opponents

James Southerland won his appeal hearing, giving the Orange a deep threat back in their rotation that they so desperately needed to open up the driving lanes for MCW, Triche, and Fair.

They saw Jerami Grant valiantly step up in Southerland's absence, given them another option that Boeheim can trust in his limited rotation.

That was the good.

They also lost 3 consecutive road games to unranked teams.  Or in other words, more games than they lost to the Big East the entirety of last season.

Michael Carter-Williams assists per game plummeted in Big East play at a rate that it finally cost him his lead in the nation.

The Orange were held to under 60 points on three separate occasions, which was more times than they had been held below that total the entire rest of the season.

That was the bad.

So here we sit today with a team ranked #8 in the country and tied for first in the Big East, but one that has its flaws as well.  I think this team still has a legitimate chance at a Final Four and National Title, but there is no doubt that they are also vulnerable.  The good thing is, I do know that we'll have a much better idea of where they stand by the end of the regular season three weeks from now.

That is because 4 of the Orange's final 6 games come against Marquette, Louisville, and Georgetown (twice).  I'm guessing the Orange gets tripped up just enough to not win the Big East regular season title, but I won't be shocked if this team steps up and gets the job done.  And I know how they can.

This probably won't come as a huge surprise to anyone who has watched this team this year, but the key is our backcourt.  C.J. Fair is going to do C.J. Fair things.  James Southerland will knock down some outside shots.  And Rakeem Christmas will have a finely groomed beard.

But Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche are the keys to this team, and in two very different ways.  In order for us to survive this tough stretch and wind up winning the Big East title in our swan song, Triche needs to shoot the ball well and Michael Carter-Williams needs to not shoot the ball at all.

That is obviously a slight exaggeration (he can shoot it 2 or 3 times), but check out these stats...

In Big East Conference Wins:

Michael Carter-Williams - 10 shot attempts per game, 6.7 assists per game
Brandon Triche - 48% field goal percentage, 37% 3-point percentage, 2 made 3-pointers per game



In Big East Conference Losses:

Michael Carter-Williams - 14 shot attempts per game, 2.3 assists per game
Brandon Triche - 30% field goal percentage, 15% 3-point percentage, 1 made 3-pointer per game

The numbers are pretty clear.

Michael Carter-Williams is the point guard.  Brandon Triche is the shooting guard.  They need to play that way.

If they do, we will be celebrating leaving the Big East winners come the first week of March.  If they don't, I might be looking for a new tv after throwing my remote through my current one during that last Georgetown game.