In a break from the ongoing train wreck that is the Minnesota Timberwolves’ state of affais, the latest news around SU basketball is the return of Gerry McNamara to the team, as a graduate assistant coach for next season. I can’t say I’m too surprised; after bouncing around the NBDL and Europe, it became abundantly clear that McNamara’s future in basketball would be in a coaching role.

With McNamara being one of the most beloved figures in Orange basketball history, it seemed like his entrance into the SU coaching pipeline was a matter of when, not if. McNamara joins Boeheim, Bernie Fine, Mike Hopkins and Lazarus Sims as SU alums on the sidelines, which can only help on the recruiting front as the Orange continues its pursuit of guards Brandon Knight and Trevor Cooney.

So what does McNamara bring to the table? Presumably working with the guards, he’ll get to know Brandon Triche and 2010 commit Dion Waiters and help ease them into Boeheim’s system, which he is slightly familiar with, given his career average of 35.5 minutes per game in his four seasons. And if free throw shooting can be taught to Arinze Onuaku, GMac may be the one to crack the code, but it’s probably best not to get our hopes up in that department.

A quick aside – How weird is it, now that GMac is part of the staff, that he and AO were teammates in 2005-06? Or is it just me?

Sticking with the coaching theme, Jim Boeheim will be back with USA Basketball as part of Coach Alphabet’s staff. The squad will look to build on its success in Beijing in the FIBA World Championships next year in Turkey through the 2012 Olympics in London, alongside coaches Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan. Is it too early to dream about Jonny Flynn and Carmelo Anthony teaming up to roll through international competition?

As we start moving towards the end of the preseason reviews, and I better get going because “fall” camp is nearly upon us, our Week 10 foe is a team I know almost as intimately as the Orange.   As a resident of Louisville for a looooong time, I have a small affection for Cardinals.  In this state, UofL has been referenced as the “little brother” to Kentucky, for being the inferior basketball program in state or for not being in a major conference.  Of course the latter changed when the Cards joined the Big East, but the needling continues.

What we know

The Cardinals were initially a savior to the Big East as they joined the conference on what has certainly been the apex of their football prowess.  They immediately became a top team, challenging West Virginia right away, and ultimately winning the BE in 2006.  Now fast forward to 2009, the Cardinals have had their wings clipped.  Coach Steve Kragthorpe has guided the team to an 11-13 record in two years, undoing all the work that John L Smith and Bobby Petrino had invested in building the program.  Coach Kragthorpe is the one coach in the conference that is squarely on the hot seat.  If he doesn’t get to .500 or better this year, he will likely be gone.  Many say this will be a “make or break” season.  Add me to that list.

Last year the Cards went 5-7, and actually they were 5-2 until injuries and stronger competition contributed to losing their last 5 games.   Wins were to Tennessee Tech, Kansas St, Memphis, Middle Tennessee and South Florida.  Losses were to Kentucky (a noogy inducing 27-2 slapdown), UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, Cincy, WV and Rutgers.

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The offseason previews continue here at CuseOrange as we head into the Week 9 Big East matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers.

What we know

The Panthers gave Coach Dave Wannstedt his best season at his alma mater going 9-4 and finishing tied for 2nd in the Big East at 9-4 (5-2).  Best of all for Pitt faithful, was a second consecutive win over West Virginia.  For the record other wins were to Buffalo, Iowa, Syracuse, South Florida, Navy, Notre Dame, Louisville and UConn.

However the losses ruined what was supposed to be a top 25 season.  Especially Week One’s debacle against Bowling Green.   A home loss to Rutgers and at Cincy completed the regular season.  And who can forget the 3-0 snooze fest Sun Bowl loss to Oregon St?

Spring Developments

I think I speak for all Cuse fans in thinking that Pitt has been the one team that we coulda, woulda, shoulda won against in the last couple of seasons during the GRE.   Wanny’s pro style offense played closest to our style defensively.  Wanny has added new OC Frank Cignetti to try and overcome his natural conservative tendancies.   How much the offense gets opened up will rely on a couple of key areas, numero uno being QB Bill Stull.  Somehow Stull ends up atop the depth chart ahead of Pat Bostick and Tito Sunseri.  How long that lasts will determine Pitt’s fate.  Another area of concern is RB now that LeSean McCoy has bolted to the NFL’s Eagles.  True frosh Dion Lewis enrolled early and appears to have the job over Averrin’s brother Kevin Collier and redshirt frosh Chris Burns.

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Well we are on to the final game of Syracuse’s 6 game home stand.  The final opponent is none other than defending Big East champion and Orange Bowl participant Cincinnati Bearcats.  I know, I am just as surprised as you are about saying that.  Let’s take a look at how the got there and where they stand for this season.

What we  know

Well it took the Bearcats 56 years to get a 10 win season, but only one year to repeat it, as Brian Kelly led Cincy to the top of the heap in the Big East with an 11-3 record.  The Bearcats defeated Eastern Kentucky, Miami OH, Akron, Marshall, Rutgers, South Florida, West Virginia, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse and Hawaii.  The only stumbles were to Oklahoma, UConn and Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

As we all know, Cincy clinched their first BE title by helping close out the Orange, bookending the 2008 season with the same 30-10 score that opened our season.  The road to the top was a strange one indeed as Cincy overcame the loss of not one, but two quarterbacks and ended up with 3rd stringer Tony Pike manning the controls.  Well the Bearcats didn’t miss a beat ranking 26th in the nation in passing.  Fortunately the Bearcats also were able to rely on a stingy defense that ranked 19th against the rush and 31st overall.

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I am determined to get through these offseason previews of Cuse opponents for the upcoming season. So let’s move right along and get to our 7th game and that is against the Akron Zips.

What we know

As we all know quite well, the Zips are the team that for all intents and purposes ended the GRE at Syracuse. The 42-28 smackdown, where the defense basically could not stop the draw play, deflated any last GRob apologist. After that game it was clear that it was time to throw the baby out with the bath water. Revisionist history demands one more look at some of the carnage from that day. For starters, how about the 29 first downs, 478 yards of total offense and a 7 minute time of possession advantage garnered by the Zips? Too mind numbing? How about this specific: Faced with a 3rd and 23, Dennis Kennedy rushes through a slew of arm tackles to not only convert the first down but also scamper in for a 35 yard TD and 14-0 lead at that point? Ok enough of that.

On the season last year the Zips finished with a 5-7 record, and that’s right they couldn’t even manage .500 in their own conference! The Zips were plagued by a horrible defense that seemed to match their high powered offense. The offense averaged 30 pts a game, while the defense managed to give up 31.3. The offense averaged 396.7 yards per game while their defense allowed 397.6. Get the point? For the record Zips won against Syracuse, Army, Kent St, Eastern Michigan, and Toledo. Losses were to Wisconsin, Ball St, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Ohio and Temple.

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The offseason reviews march on to the half way point with a look in at Syracuse’s Week 6 opponent – the West Virginia Mountaineers.

What we know

Last season there was some speculation on Bill Stewart’s ability to keep WV’s program momentum moving forward following the defection of Rich Rodriguez to Michigan.  There was an initial adjustment period, but Stewart did not disappoint, leading the Mountaineers to a 9-4 record, a tie for 2nd in the Big East and a bowl victory.

The wins were to Villanova, Marshall, Rutgers, Cuse, Auburn, UConn, Louisville, South Florida and North Carolina in the Meinke Car Care Bowl.  Losses were to East Carolina (briefly igniting Skip Holtz’s name into the Cuse coaching sweepstakes), Colorado, Cincinnati and Backyard Brawl nemesis Pittsburgh.  And to be far, two of these losses (Colorado and Cincinnati) were in overtime.

The Mountaineers return 7 offensive and 7 defensive starters.  However they will need to replace the flagship of the team the last four years in QB Pat White.  White established 25 school, conference and NCAA records, and compiled more than 10,000 total yards.  The Orange did not face White in last season’s 17-6 loss.  The game was a tight one until the Orange failed to capitalize inside the Mountaineer 10 yard line.  Then came this play and it was all over:

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