A Tail Of Two Series
Saturday afternoon, we saw SU execute at their best, but we also saw them execute at their worst. The game plan was to go inside, and that’s just what the Orange did from the opening tip. In the second half, they abandoned the three altogether, taking just two attempts. When past SU teams would’ve blown possessions trying to get the long ball going or resort to dribble-driving through traffic, this year’s team made much smarter decisions and exploited the obvious size advantage down low, particularly in the second half.
Below is a rundown of a few possessions on both sides of the court, beginning with 12:15 left and the Orange leading 52-46. This series is one of the best I’ve seen from the Orange all season, not just because of the decision-making, but also because of the execution.
Marquette: A Jimmy Butler layup attempt is blocked by Joseph, thanks to a no-call by the refs on an obvious goaltend. While it wasn’t legal, the home crowd didn’t care, and they started to heat the Dome up.
Syracuse: On the ensuing possession, Wes Johnson feeds Arinze Onuaku for an easy dunk.
Marquette: Butler, again with the ball, decides it’s a good idea to drive towards AO, who has about 60 pounds and 3 inches on Butler. Not quite sure what he was thinking on that one, but the ball falls easily into AO’s hands.
Syracuse: Marquette falls asleep in transition and Wes Johnson finishes a lob from Kris Joseph.
Marquette: Darius Johnson-Odom settles for a long jumper with 25 seconds left on the shot clock, misses, and Marquette concedes rebounding in favor of trying to get back on defense.
Syracuse: Johnson slips through two defenders and cleans up a Joseph miss for another easy bucket.
Marquette: After a timeout, Butler tries to drive on Rick Jackson and tries a layup at an awkward angle. It clanks off the side of the backboard and it’s an easy rebound for Jackson. Marquette again decides to abandon offensive rebounding.
Syracuse: Andy Rautins, scoreless on the day, makes an excellent pass to Joseph for another easy layup. Just like that, it’s 60-46 ‘Cuse.
It’s hard to complain about an 8-0 run in under 2 minutes. Use the zone to force bad shots, establish position on offense before the defense can get set, exploit the biggest mismatch, and finish. That’s SU basketball in a nutshell, and on Saturday it was just part of a 5-minute span when Marquette failed to make a single shot.
SU built the lead to 17 with 3:40 left, but as we saw last Saturday in Morgantown, the Orange gave the opposition extra chances and let Marquette back into the game. SU got too comfortable, and the Golden Eagles whittled down the lead. With the Orange leading 70-61 and a little over 2 minutes left, the team’s game management went way south:
2:05 – With Wes Johnson imbounding near the Marqutte bench, he makes a bad pass to Rautins, and the ball bounces out. Free possession for Marquette with no time having run off the clock, and Johnson-Odom takes advantage by canning a trey. 70-64 SU.
1:50 – SU does a nice job of breaking the press, but rather than passing to a guard and going to work on the clock, Kris Joseph tries a running layup with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, but misses. Luckily, Scoop Jardine gets the ball and with the lane cleared out, drives and lays it in with 2 seconds left on the shot clock (Joseph’s attempt failed to draw iron). While this trip down the court accomplishes the goal of scoring while taking as much time off the clock as possible, it happens in a less-than-ideal way. 72-64 SU.
1:07 – Just like in West Virginia, Scoop fouls a three-point shooter late in the game. Johnson-Odom makes two of three foul shots and the lead is cut to six. 72-66 SU.
0:52 – On the ensuing possession, SU fails to get the ball past half-court in ten seconds, but fortunately, the refs miss it. Rautins finds Wes Johnson wide open in the paint, but he misses a dunk. Probably another situation where SU should’ve pulled the ball out and worked on the clock, but I can’t blame the decision to go to Wes, since he usually finishes and after all, he was open.
An easy layup attempt is missed by Marquette, and now must send SU to the line. Scoop makes 3 of 4 foul shots, so this time, it wasn’t all bad. Shoddy decision making and dicey execution, yes, but with SU leading 75-66 with 38.8 seconds left, we’re still thinking ‘W.’ The lead is still 9, just as it was with 2 minutes left. It’s still sewn up, right? Well, not quite.
0:14 – Lazar Hayward makes a putback on a trip where Marquette is given four chances to score. 75-68 SU. Scoop misses the front end of a one-and-one, and Maurice Acker cans a three on the other end to make it 75-71 SU with 8 seconds left.
0:08, Johnson imbounds the ball to Rick Jackson, by far the worst foul shooter on the floor for SU at 55%, with Jardine (77.4%, leading the team), Rautins (74.3%) and Joseph (69.4%) also on the court. Why Johnson, who has been terrific from the line in the late going this year, was imbounding the ball in the first place is another head-scratcher, but Jackson makes one of two foul shots, Marquette misses a gimme layup and SU escapes.
Yes, a win is a win, and when the ‘Cuse plays like they did in the last few minutes of the first half and most of the second half, it’s a beautiful thing. At the same time, it’s getting frustrating watching easy wins devolve into nailbiters. This is far from the last close game SU will play this year, and as they play tougher teams and the stakes increase, so will the importance of locking these kinds of games down.
