- That may have been the best stretch of 4 consecutive wins that Syracuse has ever had in non-conference play. I'm sure that may sound like hyperbole, but think about how often Syracuse (or any major conference team for that matter) even plays 4 teams of that quality in a row in non-conference play, yet alone wins all 4 of them. According to the latest rankings over at kenpom.com, Baylor (#30), Indiana (#34), and Minnesota (#40) are all top 40 teams. California is #61. All 4 of them should at least be in the conversation for an NCAA Tournament berth.
- Speaking of legitimate competion, 2 of Syracuse's next 3 games are against St. John's (#51) and Villanova (#5). Meaning by the time Syracuse heads into ACC play in January, they will have already faced 6 potential tournament teams. I don't know what will happen in those two games coming up, but Syracuse will definitely be favored in both and regardless of the results it will certainly only make them more battle-tested for their first run through the ACC gauntlet.- C.J. Fair. Badass. He recovered from that mauling to win tournament MVP honors, including a 24 point game against Baylor in the tournament final. I don't know if C.J. Fair is going to wind up being a first team All-American or not (like I tried to argue earlier this year), but he has not disappointed so far this season. He's about as automatic as they come for 15+ points a game.
- While we're on the topic of that C.J. Fair dunk, I've got a few more quick observations before moving on.
(1) Allow me to be the 837th person to make this joke, but in all the hoopla about cracking down on bumping cutters and hand-checking dribblers, I must have missed the part of the rule changes were they made punching a shooter legal.
(2) I always assumed "No blood, no foul" meant "Blood, Foul". Apparently not. I guess it is more like, "Blood, Foul? Mehhhhh, how about we just call a timeout and let you go sit on the bench and get that cleaned up".
(3) If there was a team that was going to make our star player bleed his own blood, it's fitting that it would be a team coached by a Pitino. You're on notice Minnesota. We can hate you just as easily as we can hate Louisville and Duke.
(4) C.J. Fair is a really good dunker. Like reallllly good. Seriously, everyone come see how good he looks. Over the last 4 years, he's compiled a highlight reel that I would put up against anyone in the country. He may not be the highest jumper, but he has the "dunk in the opponents face" down to an art. Just ask Otto Porter.
- The most surprising thing from these 4 games? The play of Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis. Check out these stat-stuffing box scores:
Trevor Cooney - Scored in double figures all 4 games. Hit 5 three-pointers in 3 of 4 games. Had 2+ steals in 3 of 4 games.
Tyler Ennis - Also scored in double figures in all 4 games. Averaged 4 steals per game. And the craziest stat of them all? Had an INSANE 8.67 assist/turnover ratio.
Remember when coming into the season all the talk was about how our frontcourt was going to be one of the deepest in the country, but our backcourt was a huge question mark? Not so much it turns out. The concerns were valid in the preseason, but Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis have shut down that talk very quickly. We're not quite to the point of saying "Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche who?", but it's getting close. Regardless of which backcourt you think is better, I don't think anyone can argue that this backcourt is way more fun and less maddening to watch.
- Speaking of Michael Carter-Williams, a quick side note on him before finishing out my thoughts on this year's backcourt. I know a lot of fans wanted to focus on what MCW didn't do (i.e. take care of the ball, make perimeter jump shots) and not what he did do (i.e. fill every category of the stat sheet, play pesky d, help lead a flawed team to the final four). I saw plenty of places where he was getting buried for "not being ready for the NBA" and needing another year of seasoning. Don't hear much of that talk anymore, do you?
MCW Stats: 17.7 points per game, 7.3 assists per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and 3.1 steals per game
That leads all rookies in all four of those categories. That's right. A point guard leads all rookies in rebounds per game. For those of you keeping track at home, it also makes him the heavy favorite to be the Rookie of the Year right now. Plus that NBA contract means he can afford to pay for his Macy's bathrobes now. Good for him.
I'm sure he'll hit a cold-spell at some point this season, but as long as he is knocking down a few threes every couple games it completely changes the dynamics of our team. Defenses will be forced to stretch out to cover him (especially when he is drilling them from as deep as he was against Indiana), which will open more driving lanes for Ennis and more room for Fair and Grant to operate in the mid-range.
- And Tyler Ennis, what can you say about him other than he's as cool a customer as there is. I don't think I've ever seen his expression change. I've seen plenty of senior point guards with less composure than him, and he's only 9 games into his Syracuse career. On the season he has a 4.9 assist / turnover ratio, which is good for 4th in the nation.
(Interesting side note: the top 4 are currently from Notre Dame, Pitt, Villanova, and Syracuse. Cut to Pat Lynch nodding sadly that Villanova is the only team remaining in the Big East out of those 4).
Tyler Ennis may not be getting the love that other freshmen are in the national media (Jabari Parker, Julius Randle, Andrew Wiggins, etc.) because he doesn't project as a top 5 NBA pick and he doesn't put up huge scoring numbers. But given our needs as a team, I wouldn't trade him for any of them and I'd argue he might be the most important freshman in the nation in terms of his team's success.
I have a feeling if he keeps playing like this as Syracuse gets into ACC play and on national tv more consistently, his name will start to get brought up more often in those freshman conversations and less as an after thought.
- Speaking of television... Thanks for nothing ACC. Thanks to Time Warner Sports Network and the magic of DVR's, I don't think I had missed a Syracuse game in probably 4 or 5 years. This year, I've already missed 3. Get it together Time Warner and ACC.
- Just to balance this out a little bit, allow me to say something negative about this year's team. As (positively) surprising as the backcourt has been, the big men have been at least equally disappointing. If you put them together, you get 12 points and 12 rebounds per game. A pretty good center, no doubt. Which makes them each 1/3 of a good center. Not good, no doubt. At this point, I'm pretty sure that Boeheim is solely looking for solid defense from this position and figuring his 4 best scorers will outscore the other team's 5 best scorers. Honestly, I can't blame him.
It looks like Christmas may be one of those players who constantly teases potential, but never capitalizes on it. DaJuan Coleman is looking more and more like an overrated high school prospect who put up big numbers solely by virture of being the largest man on the court in every game he played. And as fun as last year's late season emergence was, it appears we are back to the old Baye Moussa Keita who is merely a body when the other two get in foul trouble or are going through the motions. There's still time left, but I'm not holding my breath for any of these 3 to take a step forward. Maybe Chinoso Obokoh will have a shot at decent minutes next season after all.
- Looks like Tom Crean didn't spend the off-season learning how to coach a zone offense huh? After being embarrassed by his offense's complete ineptitude during the Sweet 16 matchup last season, the Hoosiers looked like they were going to hang tough in the Dome all night. Then all of a sudden, their offense went off the rails and nearly 13 minutes without a field goal later, this one was a laugher. How do we get Tom Crean on the schedule more often?
- I've said it here before, but it bears repeating. We really are in a golden age for Syracuse basketball. With their move up to #2, this marks the 5th straight season that Syracuse has been ranked in the top 5 of the country at some point during the season. The last time that happened was 1986-1990.
- They've twice been ranked #1 in the last 4 seasons. The last time that happened was also during the 1986-1990 stretch.
- In fact, since that 1986-1990 stretch Syracuse has only been ranked in the top 5 at some point during the season twice (1999-2000 and 2004-2005) in 18 seasons.
And it hasn't just been regular season success either. We may not have been able to win a title during this stretch (no thanks to some bad luck - Arinze Onuaku - and dumb decisions - Fab Melo), but check out these NCAA Tournament stats over the last 4 years:
- Syracuse has been a #1 seed (2010, 2012), a #3 seed (2011), and a #4 seed (2013). They are well on their way to (at least) another top 4 seed this season.
- They've made the tournament and won at least one game each season. That may not sound like that impressive of a task for a top college basketball program, but you'd be surprised. Check out the list of teams who can't say the same thing: Duke (lost first round once), Indiana (missed the tournament two times), Kentucky (missed tournament once), Kansas (lost first round once), Michigan St (lost first round once), UNC (missed tournament once), Arizona (missed tournament twice), Louisville (lost first round twice), UCLA (missed two tournaments, lost first round once), Florida (lost first round once), UConn (missed two tournaments, lost first round once), Georgetown (lost first round 3 times), Villanova (missed one tournament, lost first round twice), Wisconsin (lost first round once), Butler (missed one tournament). Pretty much the only teams I found out of the 20 or so that I looked at who could say the same thing are Ohio State and Gonzaga.
- They've advanced to the Sweet 16 (2010), the Elite Eight (2012), and the Final Four (2013).
Enjoy it while it lasts Cuse fans, because their will be a day again in the future when we will have to watch the NCAA Tournament selection show to see if we will be in the field, not where or how high we will be seeded.
In the meantimes, here's to enjoying another season where that is not the case (and hopefully many more to come as Boeheim and Hopkins don't appear to be slowing down at all on the recruiting trail). Cheers.
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