SU lost to another basically
bad team last night, a loss that will cost them a 1 seed in the NCAAs - not a
huge deal - but may well move them out of the NCAA East regionals - a much
bigger deal - meaning more travel for a tired, undermanned team.
Last night's game followed a
familiar script. C.J. Fair, 40 minutes. Tyler Ennis, 37 minutes. Trevor Cooney,
35 minutes. SU leads the universe in starters' average minutes and it shows.
Equally revealing of SU's
current skid, with Jerami Grant sidelined, SU has opted to play 3 on 5 on
the offensive end of the court. Of SU's 64 FG attempts, 54 came from Fair,
Ennis and Cooney and only 10 of the 25 made were assisted.
Compare that to GT's 18
assists on 25 made FGs and GT's bench dropping in 17 to SU's 3. It's usually
true that the best 'team' wins.
Last, but hardly least, in
three of the four losses, including last night, SU had as many or more FGs and
3Ps as the winner but were beaten at the foul line. In spite of dreadful
shooting, SU had one more FG and one more 3P than GT but were outscored by nine
at the line.
Take heart, Orange fans. SU
will get some much-needed rest before the ACC tournament, aka The Duke - North
Carolina Greensboro (that's just sad) Invitational. Grant should be back giving SU at least one
opportunity to play with the starting lineup that set a school record for
consecutive single season wins - and,
with any luck, the Good-ol’-Boy Greensboro officials will make sure the
invading Yankees will get all the rest they need before the 'Real Tournament'
begins.
Now, if there were only some
way to give Dick Vitale’s constantly flapping yap some rest we could turn the
sound on.
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