Back on Track?

For the first time in almost three weeks, the Orange looked like a top ranked team yesterday. Of course, they were playing a young, much smaller St. John’s team, and playing in the Garden, where they always seem to shine, and they had Fab Memo back anchoring the zone, but beyond that, there were a few very encouraging signs.

First of all was the rebounding. Without Melo, the team had been getting pounded on the boards. Cuse outrebounded the Johnnies 42-31, a reversal of the past couple weeks stats. Funny thing was, though, that Melo only grabbed three boards. It was other guys who seemed to be working much harder than they had in recent games. Joseph had six offensive rebounds; the guards collectively grabbed a dozen boards. So it really wasn’t Melo so much as it was a team effort.

Second, the outside shooting touch seemed to return. They hit a third of their three point shots, and although that’s not great, it was better than we saw against Notre Dame or West Virginia, where they shot dismally. But midrange jumpers were falling as well. Fair was hitting that little baseline jumper he has. Guys didn’t seem to be missing lay-ups, as they had in the recent past. The offense was really productive, scoring 95, more than in any other conference game, and breaking the 90 mark for the first time since November. Most of the season they have not needed to score a lot, as their defense has held the opponents in check, and even generated offense, when the zone led to steals. Yesterday, the zone was effective – St. John’s hit almost fifty percent of their threes, yet still managed only 70 points – but there were not a lot of turnovers. The Orange don’t need to score ninety in most games, but they do need to be able to score ninety, as there will be games, especially in the tournament, when the opposition shoots well, or has a big man who can score inside against our centers, and the Cuse will need to put up points.

Third, I really liked what we saw of Michael Carter-Williams. He has not been getting a lot of minutes since the Big East season began. But yesterday, he hit some threes, had some nifty assists, and electrified the crowd with one monster jam. He’s also the tallest guard, and gets up on opponents trying to shoot over the zone. He reminds me in that way of Kueth Duany, who had that long wingspan and made it tough on anyone trying to shoot threes over the zone. I’d like to see coach give him more minutes as the season wears on. Remember, in 2003, our best tournament players were the three freshmen, Melo, G-Mac and Billy Edelin, who led the team in scoring in the first two tournament games, even though he did not start.

Still, St. John’s was not much of a test for the Orange; we’ll know better a week from now, after Cuse plays both Georgetown and UConn. If they look good against those two teams, then maybe the mid-season slump is a thing of the past. Let’s hope so. Go Orange.