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#1 UConn Awaits Orange At Gampel
Four of five and five of seven dropped. Matador defense and injured starters. the 2009 portion of the season hasn’t gone nearly as well for Syracuse as the 2008 portion. Meanwhile, UConn is undefeated this calendar year and looks better and better by the game, with the possible exception of a near-upset at the hands of Michigan over the weekend. They’re also the top-ranked team in the country just two years removed from an NIT appearance. Factor in the Orange’s recent misfortunes away from the Dome and you can see why very few prognosticators are giving the ‘Cuse slim-to-no chance at Gampel Pavilion Wednesday, though stranger things have happened.
Most of us agree that the outlook isn’t promising. Although this Rivalry Week matchup was circled with anticipation on the day of the schedule’s release, that attitude has soured as SU’s defense drops to levels never before seen. So what will it take for the Orange to return home with a win for the first time since the Rutgers game a month ago?
1. Top-notch performances from Paul Harris and Kristof Ongenaet.
Arinze Onuaku’s limited mobility leaves the Orange with two options to accompany Rick Jackson in the battle against Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien:
-A grossly undersized Paul Harris
-The bigger Kristof Ongenaet
This is one of the main reasons why SU isn’t getting the time of day in this matchup (though how awesome would it be to see Harris sky for a dunk over Thabeet?). Not only will Arinze be limited when he’s on the court, but he’s averaged less than 20 minutes over his last three games. Someone has to pick up the slack down low, because Ricky can’t do it by himself yet, and he shouldn’t be expected to. Harris has been AWOL in four of the Orange’s last five games; SU won just one of those battles and it was the one where he showed up. Go figure.
Ongenaet, meanwhile, has been the primary beneficiary of Onuaku’s minutes. If anyone has shown up on defense over the last three games, it’s KOng. He’s averaged nearly 7 rebounds and one block per game, but is still the Oreck vacuum on the other end. His size is desparately needed and he knows it.
2. Eric Devendorf must limit his mistakes
Devo’s turnover totals his last five games have equaled or eclipsed his assist totals. Not good. I’m not worried about him from a scoring standpoint, but holding onto the ball is a bigger question. He’s always had suspect ballhandling skills, but as double-digit dogs, the Orange have no room for error and wasted possessions. The onus is on Devo to keep it together, as much as it is for…
3. Jonny Flynn to not let his self-confidence get the best of him
Flynn has developed the habit of trying to turn games into one-on-one playground matches. It worked in Kansas City where Flynn got into Sherron Collins’ head down the stretch, but it’s backfired more recently. It seems like every time an opposing player hits a big three or drives on Jonny for a layup, he feels compelled to respond by himself right away. All too often, the result is a rushed three-point attempt without his teammates in position to rebound and it’s right back the other way. As with Devendorf, I’m confident that Jonny will get his points, but he needs to look for the best opportunity at all times on offense to avoid empty possessions.
I’m not saying that SU will win if all three of these points come to fruition. The scary part is that UConn is plenty deep and it’s very reasonable to say that they can weather any runs that SU throws at them. The ‘Cuse will likely need a few breaks on top of generally mistake-free basketball to come back from Gampel with a win for the first time since 1999.
