Check your pulse. If it isn’t alarmingly high then you must be regaining your regular breathing pattern after the chaotic finishes that have filled the Syracuse basketball season. The Orange are off to their best start in school history, winning the first 25 games of their first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and are currently off to the third best start in ACC history.
Even with the impressive start, the number one ranking in the country, and two players named in the Naismith Midseason Top 30, fans and analysts are skeptical of the chances that the Orange can continue to maintain their perfection. With a few close calls the Orange have narrowly avoided the jaws of defeat, thanks to the clutch performances of both Tyler Ennis and C.J. Fair during the waning moments of games.
Those types of performances have a short shelf life, and it will be the consistencies of the team as a whole that will carry them for the rest of the season. These four key aspects have kept the Orange alive this season and will be important for them to maintain as they walk the tight rope of an undefeated season.
1. Get Cooney Hot/Be Consistent With Grant
Both players have played second fiddle to C.J. Fair for the entirety of the season, but when playing the Robin to Batman you sometimes have to pick up the lead role. Both have done that in key situations this season; Grant scored eight of his 24 points during the OT period against Duke and Cooney had nine 3-pointers and 33 points against Notre Dame.
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l29sufDavh8[/embed]
The two players have completely different roles and positions within the SU offense, which has allowed the flow of the game to dictate which one takes control. When Cooney gets open in transition or on an off-ball screen, his pinpoint accuracy allows for SU to lean heavily on his marksmanship while Grant’s relentless attacks to the basket allow SU to slow down the pace in the half-court offense.
Grant and Cooney both have five games in which they’ve scored less than 10 points. Here is the production of the counterpart when the other fails to crack double digits.
When Grant scores less than 10 points:
Cooney
17.2 PTS/ 43.5 3-PT%/2.4 STLS/4.4 FTA’s
When Cooney scores less than 10 points:
Grant
12.8 PTS/ 51.1FG%/ 9.4 REBS/ 6.8 FTA’s
Those numbers aren't drastically higher than what they’ve averaged on the season, but there is enough improvement across the board and individual game outliers that prove that they typically pick up the play of the other. For example, Cooney’s 3-point barrage against Notre Dame came when Grant struggled from the field, and vice-versa in the game against Wake Forest when Cooney missed all of his 3-point attempts and Grant grabbed seven offensive rebounds.
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0HY30AY4QM[/embed]
2. Get to the foul line
In the Duke game, the stark difference between the two teams was the amount of free throws taken by the Orange. By game’s end SU had taken 32 free throws, which was 15 more than Duke had taken that evening.
The Orange have won close games in a variety of fashions, one of which has been the disparity between them and their opponent in getting to the free throw line. SU attempted 10 more free throw attempts than Miami in both games this year, games that were decided by less than eight points. The same thing happened earlier in the season when St. Francis Brooklyn nearly beat the Orange at home. Both defenses did an excellent job of pressuring the perimeter, forcing SU to take contested shots from the outside.
It’ll be important for them to continue to take it to the basket and draw fouls when they have games where they fail to get hot from deep.
3. Create turnovers/Maintain Efficiency
This season’s Syracuse team, like most others, is built upon the strength of the defense. Turnovers are the key production meter for the top of the zone in any good Jim Boeheim defense, and that is exactly what the Orange has been able to take advantage of this season, ranking 19th in the nation with 8.3 steals per game.
Cooney’s ability to spread the floor in transition gives Ennis the liberty to roam the floor in open space to decide whether he can dish it to the open man or take it to the basket himself. That decision making has been superb all season, which has given the Orange the 28th best assist-to-turnover ratio in the nation.
Taking advantage of the sloppiness of lesser ACC opponents is what has given Syracuse a leg up on the competition. They’ve been plus-four in the turnover battle against four different ACC opponents this season, and will need to continue to do that in order to maintain the 8th best turnover ratio in the nation.
4. Protect the paint
The defense has allowed a paltry 58.2 points per game this season due to the improved play of the big men down low. The consistent defensive presence of Baye Moussa Keita was recently taken away due to a knee sprain, so the dependency on center Rakeem Christmas has gone up substantially. His play has only improved over the past couple of games, staying out of foul trouble and posting a total of 70 minutes over those two games. His footwork around the rim and body positioning has provided the Orange defense with a true defensive presence in the heart of the zone, something that was sorely lacking last season.
The team is ranked 18th in the nation in block percentage and has consistently out-blocked their ACC opponents by 30 this season. The energy and effort of Grant and Fair on the boards alleviates some of the pressure felt by the Christmas and Keita on the defensive end. The absence of Coleman has helped the Orange on this side of the ball, but maintaining that consistency with a thin depth chart will be the toughest test yet.
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8nHYdAuVFQ[/embed]
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