RTC is at the San Jose pod this evening. We filed this report after Saturday’s Third Round game between #4 Syracuse and #12 California.
Three Key Takeaways:
- Size and Length. In spades. We hear it all the time but when you see it up close and personal, Syracuse’s size and length really stands out in an unbelievable way. There couldn’t be more than a handful of teams around the country who can match it. The problem is that sometimes the Orange play as dumb as they possibly can to give outmatched teams like Cal a chance to come back and even win the game. Between the poor decisions (Michael Carter-Williams is always good for at least two jump-passes with no intended recipient), the missed free throws (an astonishing 15 tonight), and an astonishing ability to turn the ball over in key situations, Syracuse managed to survive regardless (it helped that they played a team with some similar attributes). It’s unlikely that a team with these issues can just will them away at this late point in the season, but wow, if they were able to put everything together, the Orange have #1 seed talent and athleticism.
- Good Syracuse and Bad Syracuse Showed Up Tonight. Jim Boeheim made reference to this in his postgame press conference. He thought, and there’s really no disputing him, that the Orange defense was spectacular. They completely took Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs out of their comfort zones, fully aware in the knowledge that the Golden Bears do not have any other reliable scorers. Richard Solomon had a beastly game (22/14) but they were willing to give that up to shut down the backcourt duo. At the same time, there were way too many unforced turnovers and the Orange left 15 points at the foul line (26-of-41 FTs). Then there was that last two minutes, perhaps most perfectly captured by the length-of-the-court pass to nobody. Suddenly an easy 15-point win got harrowing, as the partisan crowd roared to life. If Syracuse is going to beat a team like Indiana to make a run to the Final Four, they’re going to have to figure out how to play a full 40 minutes with concentration and focus. Otherwise, as we’ve seen several times this season, a game that should be a victory will quickly turn into a loss against another good team.
- Crabbe and Cobbs. The California duo who averaged a combined 33.5 points per game this season had a grand total of six points during the first 38 minutes. They finished with 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting, but much of that had to do with a bizarre final two minutes where Bad Syracuse was doing its best to let Cal back into the game. Put simply, the Bears really had no chance of winning this one without at least one of the two going off, and Boeheim remarked in his postgame comments that their top priority was shutting down Crabbe, in particular. The only shot Crabbe made in the first half was a result of a little-used player Trevor Cooney blowing his assignment; as Boeheim put it, the freshman guard “got to watch Crabbe play from the bench the rest of the game.” Again, the size and length that the Orange could throw at these two really showed in terms of the openings they were (or were not) able to find.
Star of the Game: CJ Fair, Syracuse. Fair set the offensive tone early with six quick points to help Syracuse jump out to an 11-2 lead on his way to a solid 18-point, six-rebound evening of work. Mike Montgomery said that his players were tentative early, and Fair’s inside-out work helped raise the pressure on the Bears playing in front of a partisan crowd.
- “Arkansas is probably the toughest place I’ve taken a team to, and we beat them there this year.” — Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, leaving a nice parting shot for his Big East brethren.
- “It would be pretty selfish of me to talk about my future after we just lost a game.” — California guard Allen Crabbe, addressing a question about his NBA Draft prospects.
Sights & Sounds: Syracuse’s game plan in dealing with the quasi-road game in San Jose against the Bears was to jump on them early to take the crowd out of the game. The HP Pavilion was sold out with mostly Cal fans in attendance, but except for a few spurts near the end of the game, Syracuse did a fantastic job of making the crowd a non-factor. Boeheim said afterward that he was very “proud that we were able to overcome” Cal playing near home, and went into a discussion of just how important “home court” is for teams that are already pretty good. There’s a joke here about playing outside the state of New York, but we’ll leave it at that.
What’s Next? Syracuse travels the 3,000 miles back east to the East Regional in Washington, DC, next weekend, where it will face either Indiana or Temple in the Sweet Sixteen Thursday night. Expect a strong Orange contingent in the Verizon Center for that one.