By Ryan Pike<\/p>\n
Managing Editor for Writing and Reporting<\/p>\n
Since the days of Jonny Flynn and the classic \u201cSix in the City\u201d Big East Tournament game, Syracuse University\u2019s Mens Basketball team has been in the spotlight in both the local and national media. Between the 2008-09 season, when Flynn led the \u2018Cuse to the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament, and the 2011-12 season, when first round NBA Draft selection Dion Waiters brought the squad to the Elite Eight, the Orange lost only 25 games while winning 119. The fan expectations that a record like this creates are hard to maintain for a college team. But this year, some Jamesville-DeWitt High School students are losing faith in the Orange based on their struggles this season. Others still maintain their belief that the team can win a second national championship.<\/p>\n
The Orange have already more than doubled their loss total from last year\u2019s season with eight losses. Syracuse\u2019s next game will come in the Big East Tournament against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who have already beat the Orange, 65-55, in February. The BET will likely be followed by a fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament. As the \u2018Cuse squad approaches these tournaments, most would hope the team would be on a roll entering the postseason. However, the team just recently ended a three game losing streak. \u201cThey\u2019re struggling but I think they\u2019ll get it together in time for the tournament,\u201d said junior David Antosh. \u201cThey\u2019ve just hit a bump in the road,\u201d said senior Mike Mulvihill; \u201cThey\u2019re still a good team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Junior Kyle Rumble disagrees and calls the team \u201cmediocre,\u201d while sophomore Ben Vahey has a stronger negative feeling about the squad; \u201cThey suck!\u201d \u201cThey\u2019re playing some tough competition so its tough to get a win,\u201d rationalized junior Jafar Kinsey; \u201cThey\u2019ll be back on top soon.\u201d Junior Rasheed Baker thinks the squad can win it all come tournament time. \u201cIt\u2019s all about wins in the tournament,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Students feel the Orange have struggled at times this season for a multitude of reasons, mostly revolving around specific players. \u201cThey can\u2019t really shoot and their rebounding is terrible,\u201d said senior Brian Roth. Sophomores Alyssa Robens and Jacob Eich both think the team lacks strong leadership. Junior Gus Weinstein feels that sophomore forward Rakeem Christmas hinders the team by attempting to get blocks and alley-oop dunks rather than simply contesting shots and making easy layups. Junior Rob Murphy thinks Christmas and junior center Baye Moussa Keita get in foul trouble too easily since freshman center DaJuan Coleman, a J-DHS alum, tore his meniscus and only briefly returned to action in recent games. Junior Maki Mandelis thinks Coleman should play \u201ca little more\u201d than the 13 minutes per game he averages to take pressure off of Christmas and Keita. Junior Brian Kelner said he finds that SU redshirt freshman Trevor Cooney lacks confidence in his shot and needs to find it in order for the Orange to succeed.<\/p>\n
One player who is always at the center of conversations about the squad is sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams. \u201cHe\u2019s a turnover machine,\u201d said sophomore Evan Dourdas. \u201cHe is the cause for all of the losses. I hate him,\u201d said junior Adam Resitarits. \u201cHis game is really sloppy,\u201d said Eich. However, MC-W has some loyal fans at J-DHS. \u201cEveryone likes to try to blame Michael Carter-Williams, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s his fault,\u201d said Antosh. Freshman Grayson Burns is one student who finds Carter-Williams to be the best player on the team. \u201cHe\u2019s just that good,\u201d Burns explained; \u201cI think he\u2019s the best player in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite all of the issues students have with nearly everyone on this year\u2019s \u2018Cuse squad, one player is named by most at J-DHS as the best on the team- junior forward CJ Fair. \u201cHe\u2019s fundamentally sound. He has good shot selection. He rebounds. He can shoot the three. He\u2019s great,\u201d said Mandelis. Roth finds Fair to be the only consistent player on the team, and junior Brad Carr agrees. \u201cCJ Fair is the only good player on the team,\u201d Carr affirmed; \u201cHe\u2019s just a good, smart basketball player.\u201d \u201cHe glues the team together and gets them through tough situations,\u201d said senior Maddy Devereaux. Fair is known for wearing a headband during games. \u201cThe headband melts my heart,\u201d said junior Julie Benaroch, one of Fair\u2019s biggest fans. \u201cCJ Fair is so hot,\u201d concurred sophomore Maggie French, another big Fair fan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ryan Pike Managing Editor for Writing and Reporting Since the days of Jonny Flynn and the classic \u201cSix in the City\u201d Big East Tournament game, Syracuse University\u2019s Mens Basketball team has been in the spotlight in both the local and national media. Between the 2008-09 season, when Flynn led the \u2018Cuse to the Sweet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdrampage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}