1. Jackson needs to keep up season of dominance

One year ago, after Syracuse’s quarterfinal Big East tournament loss to Georgetown, Jim Boeheim summarized the difference.

‘Well, he’s a key part of our team,’ Boeheim said after that game. ‘I mean, he’s had a great year. And he’s a tremendous player.’

Boeheim, of course, was talking about former SU center Arinze Onuaku. Onuaku was the key missing piece in a game that quickly moved from a Syracuse lead to a disappointing exit in the Orange’s first Big East tournament game. After he went down with an injured quadriceps, it all slipped away from Syracuse.

And in that game, Onuaku’s absence was made all the more noticeable by the play of the big man who took his spot — Rick Jackson.

In 33 minutes, Jackson amplified the Orange’s problems down low. He scored just four points and grabbed four rebounds, all the while picking up four fouls. And he added five turnovers to contribute to SU’s offensive frustration.

‘Post people did not have good games,’ Boeheim said. ‘We had 10 turnovers in the post. We haven’t done that really all year.’

A new year brought a new Jackson. This year, he needs to continue the dominance that symbolizes his season as a whole. Recently, Jackson said he’s more motivated by what happened last season, when he proved — at least for one game — incapable of picking up the slack left by Onuaku’s absence.

This year, Jackson stands as the most dominant big man in the Big East. His own coach, Boeheim, professes that. And the other Big East coaches professed it Sunday when they voted him to the All-Big East second team as the only true big man on any of the first, second or third teams. He was also named the conference’s defensive Player of the Year on Monday.

The Orange’s most likely quarterfinal matchup is St. John’s, which would mark a rematch from the teams’ game on Jan. 12, which SU won 76-59. Jackson was part of a group of SU’s four veterans — along with Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche — who all scored in double figures.

That Jackson is the only big on three All-Big East teams says everything. He provides the Orange something no other team in the conference can keep up with when he’s on.

‘We’re trying to go all the way,’ Jackson said Saturday. ‘Whenever you play, you want to go all the way.’

For that to happen, it starts and ends with Jackson.

— Brett LoGiurato, sports editor, bplogiur@syr.edu

2. SU needs to use ‘home’ of Madison Square Garden to its advantage

 

If there is one combined reason why hopes are high for this Syracuse team heading into the Big East tournament, it is because of these two things. One: The double-bye is SU’s. Two: As always, the tournament will take place in Madison Square Garden.

Both points are obvious. But the dynamics of each aspect of the coming week lie a little deeper for this year’s crop of SU players and their tribulations from the past four months. SU needs to focus on squeezing every last drop out of its comfort with the Garden. And it needs to focus on working and playing smart with this extra day off to heal injuries and prep for not only its first opponent but also a possible semifinal date with Pittsburgh and the championship on Saturday.

And there is reason for SU fans and the team to have confidence in these two areas. With a slew of extra practice sessions the past two weeks, SU romped to the greatest margin of victory in the Big East’s history.

That’s no coincidence. The kinks were ironed out to the point where the Blue Demons were simply forced to give up. The Orange knew and had a counter for every little thing DePaul did. Other Big East teams didn’t fare as well, as DePaul gave Georgetown, Louisville and Villanova fits.

With the double-bye, the extra day to rest up and scour tape of three possible rounds of opponents could prove to be everything. This is a hobbled team, and one less day in a grind could mean the difference between a C.J. Fair with a sore ankle and a healthy C.J. Fair who knows the exact tendencies of, say, St. John’s scorer Dwight Hardy.

And as for basking in the lights of MSG, twice this year everyone from Brandon Triche to Scoop Jardine to Rick Jackson exceeded expectations on the Garden court, only to speak of their ultimate comfort with the venue after the game.

Against Michigan State, SU dominated in the midst of its shaky nonconference play. And SU blitzed a St. John’s team that has since pillaged the Big East’s best at MSG. It was such a perfect situation for SU that Triche referred to MSG as a ‘stage’ on which he and his teammates love to play. SU ran away with a 17-point win against a team in a venue that has become college basketball’s crematory for Top 10 teams (Pittsburgh, Duke, Notre Dame and Connecticut).

The roots of comfort are entrenched in these veteran players. And if the Orange does get by SJU, then the Garden will once again become Carrier Dome South in the subsequent rounds.

It’s a Carrier Dome South where SU has won eight of its past 10 games, which includes a loss last year that may not have slipped away if not for the quadriceps of Arinze Onuaku.

Now it is all about capitalizing on the comfort.

— Tony Olivero, development editor, aolivero@syr.edu

3. Defense that fueled recent winning streak needs to continue

Unprompted by a particular question, Brandon Triche made a point of singling out Syracuse’s defense in what was the biggest difference for the Orange during its recent winning streak.

Following SU’s win over Georgetown on Feb. 26, Triche and a few of his teammates said a collective improvement on the defensive end is what will push the team further in postseason play.

‘Our defense has been getting better and better throughout the season,’ Triche said. ‘We’re still not exactly where we want it to be, but we’re getting there. We’re really seeing the progress.’

Syracuse enters the Big East tournament with the third-best scoring defense in the league, allowing only 62.6 points per game. It also has the best field-goal percentage defense in the Big East at just more than 39.1 percent and is first in blocked shots per game (6.7) and second in steals per game (8.7).

Those numbers are due in large part to that improvement Triche spoke of. The strides were made, and during Syracuse’s current five-game winning streak, the Orange has cranked up the defense.

In four of the five wins, it held its opponents to 65 points or less. Overall, SU limited opponents to just 61.2 points per game on 38 percent shooting. The Orange also forced 8.6 steals and blocked 7.4 shots per game during that span.

In turn, the players haven’t shied away from talking about the defense after nearly every win. Some say the intensity has picked up. Others see their teammates making stops and know they have to do the same to find playing time.

‘Everything we do starts with our defense,’ junior forward Kris Joseph said. ‘We can make runs when we’re communicating and making stops with our defense. That has been the key for us.’

Players see the difference good defense makes and apply maximum effort on that end of the floor. During Saturday’s win over DePaul, senior forward Rick Jackson streaked across the lane and blocked a shot roughly 10 feet away from where he was originally standing. That’s the difference between the Orange’s slump and its current winning streak.

With efforts like Jackson’s, SU enters postseason play as arguably the hottest team in the Big East thanks to its defense. No team in the league enters the tournament on a longer winning streak.

And at the most critical stage of the season — postseason play — it’s imperative Syracuse continues wreaking havoc on its opponents defensively if it wants to make a deep run. As Joseph said, that’s where it all starts.

‘When we play defense like we know we can, we’re a tough team to beat,’ Joseph said after Syracuse defeated Villanova on Feb. 21. ‘We just have to be consistent with it, and we know we’ll be fine.’

— Andrew L. John, Staff Writer, aljohn@syr.edu

 

 

Published on March 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm