Anthony says No. 3-seed is ticket to New Orleans
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Chew on this juicy nugget over Spring Break:
‘You heard it out of my mouth,’ Carmelo Anthony said. ‘If we get the No. 3 seed, get your Final Four tickets.’
So there you have it: an NCAA Tournament guarantee from a freshman phenom turned prophet. Anthony’s brash statement came while he donned a gray do-rag in the Joyce Center’s bowels Tuesday night after the No. 12 Syracuse men’s basketball team’s 92-88 win over Notre Dame.
Perhaps his do-rag is too tight.
Or perhaps a hint of cockiness adds to the Orangemen’s perfect formula. Syracuse, which starts two freshmen and two sophomores, can’t side-step into March Madness’ whirlpool. The Orangemen must dive headfirst. Or at least drown trying.
Even in preseason, SU mentioned the Final Four, held this year in New Orleans. But now, at 22-4 (12-3 Big East), the Orangemen chatter more often about a trip to the Bayou. They’ve secured a first-round bye for next week’s Big East tournament. If SU wins Sunday against Rutgers, they’ll be the conference tournament’s No. 1 seed.
‘We’re definitely talking about (the Final Four),’ SU forward Hakim Warrick said. ‘Right now, we talk about it all the time. People are saying, ‘We’ve got to go to New Orleans’ or, ‘I’ve never been to New Orleans.’ I know I’ve never been there. We want to go in there and hopefully shock the world.’
Of course they do. Sure, they’re young, but so is No. 3 Florida, which starts two freshmen and one sophomore, and No. 9 Wake Forest, which starts one freshman and three sophomores.
And the Orangemen are rolling, having won six straight games. They’ve come back 11 times this season from second-half deficits. So they’re confident enough to spew a guarantee or two.
Ultimately, if Syracuse keeps playing like it did Tuesday, it has a remote shot at the Final Four. The Orangemen can score — about 80 points per game — but can they match up against teams like Kansas and Texas, which have meaty double-threat players like the Jayhawks’ Nick Collison and the Longhorns’ James Thomas? Doubtful.
To achieve Anthony’s prophecy, the Orangemen need much more than a sound bite — even one that makes TV-types drool.
(BULLET) SU must lock up a No. 3 seed or better.
Anthony’s prerequisite means SU won’t face a No. 1 seed until the Elite Eight. And those TV-types? They project SU as at least a No. 3. But …
‘That’s not even close,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Those are people on television who get paid a lot of money to make up stuff that they have no idea is ever gonna come true. And most of it doesn’t. We don’t concern ourselves with that.’
Though Anthony seems smitten with the seed, Boeheim prefers to focus on games, where, in the Big East tournament and thereafter, the Orangemen must also …
(BULLET) Remain aggressive — cocky, even.
Swagger is what helped the young Orangemen come back to win, 93-84, last Saturday at Georgetown, what lets McNamara launch off-balance 3-pointers without raising his neck hair and what allows SU to handle physical defenses.
Anthony battled the Fighting Irish’s rough defense Tuesday, bumping back forward Dan Miller en route to 21 points. Expect teams next week — especially older squads like Notre Dame and Pittsburgh — to clog the lane, preventing Warrick from swooping for alley-oops.
Even against the Irish’s defense Tuesday, Warrick found his share of slams. After one alley-oop, he puckered his face like he’d swallowed a lemon, shook his head and strutted away from the basket.
Now that’s swagger.
(BULLET) Get offensive production from someone other than Anthony or McNamara.
Some teams survive with two scoring options. Not SU.
In the Orangemen’s four losses, their third-leading scorer tallied 12 points or fewer. In a 68-65 loss at Rutgers on Jan. 29, Warrick and Kueth Duany, two of SU’s top four scorers, had six and three points, respectively.
The Orangemen need their Golden Boy — also their third-leading scorer — to hit big shots in the NCAA Tournament, just like he did in an 82-80 home win over Notre Dame and in last Saturday’s win at Georgetown.
After all, Mr. Au, often the reason Syracuse pulls out close games, glimmers between platinum and mercury on the periodic table of the elements.
(BULLET) Pray they don’t face a dominant big man.
Syracuse has played three games against stellar centers and struggled each time. Georgetown’s Mike Sweetney on Feb. 3 had 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks in an 88-80 SU win, and last Saturday tallied 31 points, 19 rebounds, seven blocks and seven assists. In the Orangemen’s loss at UConn, Huskies center Emeka Okafor garnered 15 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.
Of course, Sweetney and Okafor are two of the nation’s top post players, but, despite Warrick’s increased defensive aggression of late, SU’s big men remain ill-equipped to slow even less powerful centers.
As for Anthony, he’s the wildcard. The brazen forward can shake off slow starts and carry the Orangemen in the final minutes, like he did Tuesday. But he’s trigger-happy, and after he fired an off-balance 3-pointer in the first half Tuesday, Boeheim told him: ‘Find a better shot. You’re a better player than that.’
And he’s brash enough to start eyeing Bourbon Street.
‘I’ve never been there,’ Anthony said with a smirk as he tightened his do-rag, ‘but I’m looking forward to going to New Orleans.’
Darryl Slater is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at dpslater@syr.edu.
