Sunday, January 09, 2000
Syracuse ends home stretch
COLLEGE BASKETBALL INSIDER
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jim Boeheim did not plan to keep his Syracuse Orangemen cooped up in the Carrier Dome for the first two months of the season.
They were supposed to visit South Carolina, Louisville and parts unknown. They were supposed to get a feel for playing on the road and for playing games at a neutral site, just like it's done in the NCAA Tournament.
Instead, Syracuse never got on a bus, and the 9-0 record it constructed in non-conference games was viewed as highly suspect.
“I'm sure if we don't play well on the road, it will be because we didn't play any in December,” Boeheim said. “But that's really not true. It's just a matter of whether we play well.”
Syracuse has three games scheduled against teams from major conferences outside the Big East: South Carolina, Louisville and UCLA. The first two of those are road games.
When he was putting together the Orangemen's schedule, Boeheim was disappointed to discover that none of those opponents could arrange a game in December. Instead, Syracuse will play Thursday at South Carolina, Feb.10 at Louisville and Feb.13 against UCLA at the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse at least could have gotten away from home for the NABC Classic, in which it agreed to participate without knowing what the site would be. It turned out the NABC wanted to bring its event to Syracuse, where there was a potential for large crowds.
A solid field put Syracuse up against Princeton and Wisconsin. “But we didn't get any road benefit,” Boeheim said.
Boeheim is nonetheless pleased with the development of the Orangemen, who are 11-0 and 2-0 in the Big East following their first road win Saturday at Miami (Fla.).
Wings Tony Bland, Preston Shumpert and DeShaun Williams are each shooting better than .450. The Orangemen are shooting .374 from 3-point range, after hitting only .311 a year ago.
“That gives us something we didn't have last year,” Boeheim said. “When we lost to Oklahoma State in the tournament, we were 3-of-15 from three. ... We're much better from the perimeter.”
GUARD UP: Although it worked well enough to provide wins over DePaul and Michigan State, the three-big lineup Texas used at the start of the season has been scrapped in favor of a perimeter-based attack.
Power forward Chris Owens now opens the game on the bench, with 6-foot-7 Gabe Muoneke moving over from small forward to take that spot alongside 7-foot center Chris Mihm. Texas plays at Connecticut Monday in an ESPN game.
The change was facilitated by the arrival of 6-1 guard Lawrence Williams, a junior-college transfer who missed a month with a pulled groin muscle. He starts along with Ivan Wagner and William Clay. They averaged 24 points in their first five games together, and Texas' defense improved to the point that four of the five opponents shot under .400 from the field.
“We went to the three-guard look because we only had three post players,” coach Rick Barnes said. “We're deeper this way, and we're able to play a couple different ways.”
BENCHED: Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien made a change to his starting lineup, replacing senior power forward George Reese with freshman Cobe Ocokoljic.
It wasn't meant to be a demotion for Reese but a chemistry change designed to give the Buckeyes a boost off the bench.
It has worked from a production standpoint, although it didn't prevent the Buckeyes from dropping their Big Ten opener at Illinois. Reese has averaged 23 minutes, 15 points and six rebounds as a reserve. OSU plays Minnesota today in Columbus.
“There's a very real concept to having a sixth man,” O'Brien said. “When you can bring a guy in off the bench who has experience, that's really good for us.”
THIN CROP: Going shopping for prime basketball prospects this spring is like arriving a little too late for a department store's big one-day sale: Everything's picked over.
Recruiting analyst Dave Telep of PrepStars.com claims there are few worthwhile unsigned prospects and there have been even fewer late discoveries of the sort that Marcus Haislip turned out to be. Haislip, a 6-10 forward from Lewisburg, Tenn., became a target for Tennessee and Kentucky last spring and is averaging 6.2 points and 2.4 rebounds for the Volunteers.
If there is such a player, it could be Rod Flowers, a 6-7, 220-pound power forward from Huntsville, Ala. He averages 20 points and 12 rebounds for Butler High and has Louisville, NC State, Alabama, Mississippi already recruiting, with the Cincinnati Bearcats about to join the mix.
UC is looking to add one junior-college power forward for next season and also would like to bring in one from high school. Among the other possibilities are 6-6 Andre Sweet of New York's Rice High, where Kenny Satterfield played, 6-9 Darius Rice of Jackson, Miss., and 6-9 Dauoda Cisse of Montgomery, Ala., whose younger brother, Ousmane, is one of the top 10 players in the junior class.
Jamaal Davis, a 6-8 sophomore at Barton County C.C. in Kansas, visited the UC campus over the holiday break and may make a decision soon about his college choice. UC also has been recruiting Reggie Evans of Coffeyville C.C. in Kansas.
AROUND THE NATION: Arizona began the season with a roster deep in talent but since has lost guard Ruben Douglas to transfer, forward Robertas Javtokas to a European pro league and transfer-in-waiting guard Luke Recker, who left for Iowa to be closer to his injured girlfriend. The Wildcats are down to eight functional players. They would have had power forward Eugene Edgerson, a veteran of their national championship team, but he decided to redshirt this season so he can student-teach for a semester. Arizona coaches knew they had a chance to make another title run and had wanted him to play this season.
Sports Stories
Rams awful without Odom
With Bengals, more of the same is not good enough
'Curse of LJ' haunts Bengals special teams
Now or never for Perez?
Concepcion, Parker make ballot
Young eager to play wherever they say
Bearcats lay claim to No. 1
Struggling Johnson gets to watch, learn
Bearcats know No. 1 means nothing until March
No limits how good UC can be
Arizona 68, Stanford 65
