syracuse unc asheville
Syracuse already has the distinction of being the first #2 seed to lose to a #15 seed (helllo Richmond 1991).
Can you imagine having to come up with a way to put up with adding being the first #1 seed to lose to a #16 on top of that?
Either way, Syracuse is now on that list of 1s who almost blew it with Georgetown over Princeton and Oklahoma over East Tennessee State, both in 1989. Purdue over Western Carolina in 1996 - and one that went overtime - Michigan State 75-71 over Murray State in 1990.
*I know I'm just another voice in a really loud chorus here, but, yep, the officiating was just abysmal.
At least the lane violation stuff got cleared up.
"On the lane violation, the (UNC-Asheville) inside player, I think it was No. 4, his foot in the lane before the shooter releases the free throw," Adams said. "That is a correct call. That is a lane violation."
Adams acknowledged a second lane violation on the play, too (involving a Bulldogs player crossing the 3-point line before the shot hit the rim). It doesn't matter, though, because that call was correct."
But about the out of bounds call on Triche? There are two choices on that call.
1. You call a foul as Triche looks like he clearly got bumped on the play.
2. You give the ball to UNC Asheville as the ball clearly tips off Triche's hands.
How in all that is holy do we get a third choice that shouldn't remotely exist?
3. Syracuse ball.
I mean...what????
"I'm not going to alibi for the gentlemen in the game. They work their butts off. When you see this call, it's either a foul or you give it to the other team that didn't knock the ball out of bounds," Adams said.
"He didn't get it right."
Just like they didn't get the call right on the Triche basket right before halftime. Or missing the goaltending call on Rakeem Christmas.
Or the ticky tack fouls that put C.J. Fair on the bench with two fouls before the first T.V. timeout.
And on and on it goes.
Officiating has been terrible and inconsistent, to say the least, all season. That is something that has been well covered in this space.
But to see it at it's absolute worst at the most important time of the year was just disturbing.
“Syracuse is better than Asheville,” UNC Asheville head coach Ed Biedenbach said after the game. “Tonight we were better than Syracuse.”
Did they miss the call on Triche with :38 left?
“I think to answer your question best, that big replay machine up on top, you heard the crowd reaction. … If you can evaluate the crowd, can you get 18,600 answers for that question?”
“We’re not satisfied,” said UNC Asheville guard J.P. Primm. “We came in the game to win. I personally felt like the better team didn’t win tonight. That’s my opinion.”
Ed Corbett, Glenn Tuit, and Eric Curry blew it. Plain and simple.
"Win or go home" and all that.
Didn't Jim Boeheim and his players tell us all after the loss to Cincinnati at the Big East Tournament that all that mattered was this tournament.
Don't you spend all year preparing for this moment to arrive?
Didn't this team have some sort of chip on their shoulder and something to prove after the news of Fab Melo's departure came down on Tuesday and how the doubters saw that as a death blow to Syracuse's Final Four chances?
So, riddle me this.
How could this team look so flat in this game?
It wasn't that Syracuse didn't play well that was puzzling. Bad execution happens.
It was that they didn't play hard enough, especially at times in the first half, that is puzzling. Shouldn't effort be the last thing you worry about in a setting like this?
I think Mike Waters used a good word to describe this team's play in a good part of this game, especially in the first half.
They were listless.
This team's mental toughess and ability to overcome distraction all year has been praised up and down and deservedly so.
But when the opposite happens, and they get a win that most people will credit to bad officiating and factors other than your effort, it has to be pointed out.
*Syracuse was 5-for-23 from three-point range, 1-for-13 in the first half.
Now, that's ugly, but it wasn't so much that they missed 18 three pointers.
More that they took 23.
This was a UNC Asheville team that didn't have a starter over 6'5. Kris Joseph and Dion Waiters should have had a field day with this team driving the lane.
Why was Syracuse jacking up so many three', anyway?
Which leads to the next point...
*How does a team whose very identity rests on a foundation built on the 2-3 zone struggle so much against...the 2-3 zone?
"I think after the last two games, you know, although we have a pretty good zone defense and we play against it every day, we have not been very proficient on offense against the zone defenses, we've seen the last two games, by any stretch of the imagination". Jim Boeheim said after the game.
That is an understatement. They looked lost against it. The ball movement wasn't good, there were too many ill-advised shots, and a general cluelessness on how to handle the zone in this game, again by a team that is supposed to be the experts on it, that was really a head scratcher.
The irony there is Syracuse looked confused, frustrated, and out of sync vs a zone defense. Which is exactly the kind of advantage they like in the tournament.
More and more teams are playing zone against Syracuse. And why not? It seems to work.
*UNC Asheville had nine three-pointers (9-for-23) and almost sprung the upset. Cincinnati beat Syracuse by hitting three's and establishing the pace of the game. See a pattern here?
The adjustment is not being fast enough to get up on shooters, Syracuse has to get back to attack mode on defense and cut back on the open looks for opposing teams.
*Since entering the starting lineup, C.J. Fair's offensive game has gone back to the bench. Fair made one shot in this game (1-for-6). All of those were open attempts. He has missed 2-for-14 overall since becoming a starter. The mid-range jumper, once an absolute staple in his game, has gone AWOL.
OK, well if Fair didn't score, he rebounded, right? Contributed in other ways.
Nope.
The steady C.J. Fair stat line did not come to fruition. Only three rebounds and they all came in the first half as Southerland took away most of his second half minutes. 0 blocks, 0 steals.
James Southerland came to Fair's rescue, but with Fab Melo out, C.J. Fair is a name Syracuse needs to get back on track to battle inside with Kansas State's bruisers to be successful in that game.
And his game is built to challenge a zone when it is on. Fair normally can hit that mid-range jumper in the paint and find the cracks in the zone to get to the basket.
*Kris Joseph's shot has gone missing again. Joseph was 3-for-10 in this game, 0-for-5 from three-point range (again, why is he taking so many three's vs a team like this?).
Why is he taking so many three's overall at this point? He is 4-for-18 from long range in Syracuse's three postseason games so far this year.
Yeah, I get it. Shooters always believe the next one is going in. But he isn't out there just to shoot. He has to utilize the other parts of his game in tournament play.
If the shots are falling, then fine. Ride that wave until it hits the beach. But he wasn't anywhere near "on" "in a zone" or "feelin it" in this game. He has to abandon that jump shot and establish the drive earlier when his shot isn't falling. Does that stem from his struggles on the dribble drive at times?
His shot mechanics haven't looked good the last three games either. It looks "heavy" at times and is barely reaching the rim on several attempts.
I think Joseph needs to reverse course and start driving earlier in the game and mix in the open shots as they come instead of going "bombs away" from long range so much early on and then working inside. Of his five three-point attempts vs UNC Asheville, four came in the first half.
*Scoop and Kris both ended up contributing with big second halfs, but they combined for two points at halftime. They sure are dragging out the drama in Boeheim's assertion that this team will only go as far as they take them.
*I guess it was to be expected after he drained 7-of-10 three's vs Cincinnati in the Big East Tournament, but Dion Waiters probably took too many three-pointers as well (1-for-5).
Asheville cranked up the heat on defense, but Waiters could take those guys on the drive. Surprised he didn't get more aggressive on the inside game.
*Syracuse shot well in general at the free throw line, but seeing the guy regarded as your best free throw shooter, Brandon Triche, go 3-for-6 in an NCAA Tournament game to go with recent struggles at the line is concerning.
*Syracuse did out rebound UNC Asheville, but barely at 33-32. I get there is more to rebounding than size, but it should not have been that close when UNC Asheville's tallest starter is 6'5".
Kansas State was the top rebounding team in the Big 12 this year and can get after it on the boards.
They are the opposite of what UNC-Asheville was in this game and I'm not sure Syracuse is prepared for it.
*The lead changed 12 times and the score was tied six. Against a 16 seed.
No comments:
Post a Comment