The Bench

Last night, in their first real road game of the season, and their first game since rising to the top of the rankings, Cuse beat a decent NC State team decisively. The big difference was the bench, or more accurately, Syracuse’s depth. According to the box score, the bench scored 46 of their 88 points, more than fifty percent of the offensive output. That’s not really true, however, because Christmas is purportedly a starter, but rarely gets more than a few token minutes. I’m assuming the coaches promised him that he could have Jackson’s place in the starting lineup, as a way to recruit him. (He’s another kid from Philly.) But either CJ Fair or Southerland should be starting, so really, the starters contributed more than half the points.

Still, the exact count hardly matters. What matters is that Waiters, Southerland, and Fair, all of whom come off the bench, have been making major contributions all season long. Last night, Waiters led the team with 22 points. Five guys were in double figures, and three of them were not starters. So that means that, when one of the starters is off his game, as Triche was last night, there is someone to pick up the slack, as Dion did. That’s really big this year, because although the team has depth and balance, they don’t really have a go-to guy. Kris Joseph may be the most consistent offensive contributor, but he can’t really create offense on his own. So they need to have a number of potential contributors, increasing the statistical likelihood that someone will be hitting from the outside if all else fails.

Their depth also allows them to outlast other teams. In both halves last night, NC State started hot. They led for more than two-thirds of the first half; but with about eight minutes to go, Cuse went on a monster run (23-0 before it was over), and took a big lead into half-time. Same thing in the second half. NC State was on fire coming out of the half, and erased the Orange lead. But then they tired once again, and Cuse ran away with the last ten minutes of the game.

That’s especially important because defense is the key for this year’s team – and not just at the defensive end. It’s the D that leads to fast break opportunities, and their offense is most effective when they are running. So the strength of this year’s team will be to harass the hell out of everybody in the zone; to chase down rebounds and loose balls; to get in the other guys’ passing lanes; and then to run as soon as they turn the ball over. So everyone needs to be fresh for forty minutes, and that’s the real reason they need the depth, or as ESPN kept talking about, their bench. What they need is a lot of guys with fresh legs, especially when other teams get tired.

I wasn’t happy when they ended up with the number one ranking, but I was pissed off when I read an ESPN column about when they would lose their first game, and a couple guys picked last night. I certainly don’t expect them to go all through the conference without losing, but suggesting they would lose their very first game as number one was way disrespectful. I’m tired of all these ESPN assholes talking shit on the Cuse this year.

The hell with ESPN; and Go Orange.