By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Zack Cimini writes about the Cuse’ and how they will live up to this years expectations.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/921584-boeheim-and-cuse-ready-to-live-up-to-pre-season-ranking

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Zack Cimini breaks down Syracuse’s 19-16 loss to Rutgers.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/874217-mistake-laden-cuse-proves-costly-vs-rutgers

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Is the Syracuse football program taking a turn in the right direction? Zack Cimini breaks down the issues over the last ten years, and points to the future as well.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/873595-syracuse-football-why-does-the-football-program-struggle-regularly

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Off-season training and increased attention to decreasing body fat and a proper diet are all heightened focuses in the off-season in college athletics. One area athletes can not get proper advances on is on the court experience. That can’t be said for a couple of returning Syracuse athletes.

Fab Melo went through about as rough a season as a McDonalds All-American could go through. Yanked and yelled at consistently for poor play, it seemed as if Melo was proving to be a bust. Jim Boeheim continued to start him, but his on the court action would dwindle from the first five minutes to the first dead ball. He was just becoming too much of a liability. Chemistry on the court was not there, and it was as if Syracuse was playing four on five. Melo’s slow rotation in the center of the zone, would cause the guards to drift down. Inevitably a break down in the zone would occur with a few scissor passes, and the Cuse would be down early.

As the team got into a funk, including a four game losing streak, Melo’s play worsened. The team was in the middle of the pack of the Big East with a tough schedule ahead. The season was fading fast, and Boeheim had to limit Melo’s minutes even more. Suddenly though Syracuse clawed it’s way out of tough stretch, and faced Cincinnati and DePaul. Two teams they handled with ease, and got Melo back onto the court. Practicing and learning from the sideline seemed to have finally sunk in. Melo was quicker with his decision making, and nimble on his feet when making moves with the basketball. He finally was playing at game speed. Come Big East tournament time, he ignited the Cuse when the team was stagnant, with two critical back to back plays. Showcasing great footwork for a couple of nifty layups.

He was in the middle of controversy this off-season involving his ex-girlfriend. That seems to be behind him, as he was a part of the Brazilian team this summer. Melo started for Brazil, and was able to put together a couple of impressive games. Scoring in double figures in a couple of contests. Jim Boeheim knows when to strike that extra level in a player, and Melo will be much needed after the departure of Rick Jackson. Getting his stamina up will be key, and also reducing the amount of fouls he gains while on the court.

As much as Melo will be needed for the Cuse to advance deep in the NCAA tournament, the majority of Syracuse’s chances will ride on their point guard play. Cuse fans will remember the ending last year against Marquette. An over and back call that parlayed into a dagger three pointer by Marquette. The blame circled on that over and back call.

Jim Boeheim blamed the truth. Too many turnovers. Scoop Jardine was a hot potato with turnovers all season long. Games he played great, Syracuse stormed over teams. As is key in the zone though, limiting your turnovers gets the zone settled in place defensively. The Cuse held Marquette too poor shooting, but their careless turnovers kept Marquette in the game. The team had eighteen, and Jardine seemed to be in on a good share even though the box score listed only three. One should have counted as a turnover. Right before the half, Syracuse gained control of an offensive rebound, and could have played for the last shot. Instead, Jardine chucked up and hoisted an ill advised three pointer. Not only did he miss, Marquette capitalized with a bucket of their own.

These are mistakes you didn’t expect from Jardine, who is now a fifth year senior. The year prior the team lost a heart breaking game to Butler in the sweet sixteen. Jardine knows how close he has been to getting to the final four, and that he has one last chance. Teaming with Kris Joseph, they’ll be out to get it one last time. Jardine’s trimmed down fifteen pounds and been involved with numerous NBA players basketball camps, including Chris Paul’s.

In the World Basketball tournament, Jardine gained premier experience. He didn’t shoot a lot of shots, but showed a strong ability to knock down the three ball. Something he has improved upon, year after year.

Does Jardine want to be a true leader, is the question? Not one game, but a floor leader for the entire Syracuse season. He has been under the tutelage and played with Wes Johnson, Andy Rautins, Arinze Onuaku, Rick Jackson, Paul Harris, Eric Devendorf, Jonny Flynn, and Donte Greene. They all were a part of his career at some point. All would want to be in Jardine’s shoes, to give it a shot one last time wearing the Orange.

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Nowadays in sports a lot has been toned down by commissioners and college athletics as a whole. Players have to tone back their celebrations, and even most coaches show little during the course of a basketball game. One coach who has stayed to his true self his entire career has been Jim Boeheim. At 66 years old he can still be seen flaring his arms in disbelief, his face making unusual expressions, and running up and down the sideline.

Boeheim has been a staple of Syracuse sports for an incredible amount of time. In fact he has made appearances in the Final Four in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s as a coach. To keep that trend going this years team might have the best opportunity in some years.

One thing about Boeheim when retiring is brought up, is that he hasn’t even thought about it. He loves coaching, and stays actively involved even in the off-season. He has been apart of the coaching staff for the USA team, and coordinates many golf charity events as well in the off-season.

Unlike the past few seasons where Syracuse came into the season with little expectations, this years team comes in as a preseason top five contender. Besides losing big man Rick Jackson, this Syracuse team returns everybody. The vaunted Big East still stands in the way, with teams such as Uconn and Louisville right there in terms of talent to Syracuse.

The Big East is always a tough trek, as Syracuse found out last year. After starting 19-0, the Big East wall caught up to Syracuse, and a four game skid in February. Panic nearly set in after a blowout home loss to Seton Hall. Instead Boeheim regrouped the team and made some smart decisions with the lineup to maximize success.

One of the moves was declining the minutes of freshman Dion Waiters and Fab Melo. The funny thing with both players is that they were keys to the Orange late in the season. Fab Melo was relegated to practically two to three quick first half minutes, and then a sit the rest of the game for much of February. A solid game against Cincinnati and Depaul built confidence in Melo, and then a breakout game in the Big East tournament versus St. Johns. A game that Melo picked up the entire team and made some huge key plays down the stretch.

Dion Waiters on the other hand was given the opportunities but like most freshman wasn’t prepared for a full season under Jim Boeheim. When he began to struggle his game became worse on the court. His defense slid even further behind. Not sliding over to close out and leaving shooters wide open on the arc was part of the reason Syracuse was getting torched vs. Villanova and Seton Hall.

Though the story has never fully been told, there have been reports that Boeheim and Waiters have had their issues. To the point that Waiters was on the brink of exiting Syracuse and transferring. In May though, Waiters announced via twitter that he would be back.

In the teams 2^nd round loss vs. Marquette, Waiters was virtually the only player that could produce offensively for Syracuse. He scored 18 points, and did most of his damage off the dribble. Penetrating through the Marquette defense with ease and making twisting layups. Carrying that game with solid off-season work ethic should give Syracuse some if not the best guard options in America.

Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche both have slimmed down around fifteen pounds each. Jardine a senior and Triche a junior, they’ve both been through and know what it takes to get this team to where it needs to be. Jardine a true play maker that’s only downfall is inopportune turnovers. It really became an issue towards the latter part of the Big East schedule and NCAA tournament. Maybe he was worn down, but getting in better shape should help Jardine sustain a solid season. One area that Cuse fans were happy about was his shot selection. It was much better last year and he showed a dependability to knock down the three ball.

For Brandon Triche, staying consistent for an entire year has been the main issue. He will have games where he is by far the best Syracuse player, and others that he gets lost and only scores a few buckets. Where he excels is on the defensive end. The training of playing the top of the zone from Andy Rautins in 2009 really transferred over to Triche. He closes out well and has a knack for knowing when to trap and play the passing lanes.

Offensively he drew a lot of charges just like Syracuse forward Kris Joseph. In fact charges from the two would result in countless turnovers that produced stretches of poor offensive sequences. Both need to realize to pull up or pass the ball out to the perimeter. The NCAA isn’t going to implement a painted area rule, and Triche and Joseph need to realize that.

Boeheim is never big on playing freshman extended minutes, and this year should be no different. It’ll be interesting to see who wins out the starting power forward role next to center Fab Melo. Syracuse boasts three other big men in DaShonte Riley, Baye Moussa Keita, and freshman Rakeem Christmas.

The inexperience at the big man position could cause Boeheim to shift Kris Joseph to power forward. Running a zone as the Cuse does could allow this. A starting lineup of Triche, Jardine, CJ Fair, Kris Joseph, and Fab Melo would not be shocking. With Fair getting rotated out frequently for the Cuse to either go smaller with Dion Waiters, or bigger with one of the limited experienced big men.

Come March 2011, this should be a team that has a solid hold on a number one or two seed for the NCAA tournament. If their big man can gain each month, than this team is going to be a legitimate national contender.