Plenty of articles today, and they all seem to be about the Orange. Even the Pittsburgh papers get into the act. Wondering if Syracuse is on a “title run.” There are a couple articles on Syracuse players. One on Gerry McNamara being healthy and the fact that he takes a lot of 3 point shots. He has to, he has only a .353 average. Of course it could receive a boost if Pitt doesn’t keep him from getting set and comfortable.
The other puff piece is on Hakim Warrick. A bit of playing up the level of highlight reel material. His match-up with Chevy Troutman should be interesting.
“The thing that makes him so tough is his versatility,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said of Warrick, a candidate for the Wooden Award, given to the nation’s best player. “If you put a bigger guy on him, he can pull away from the basket and make a mid-range jump shot. And if you put a smaller guy on him, he’ll take him to the hole.”
Thompson added that playing physical defense against Warrick is not always the answer.
“I don’t know if he can be pushed around … you can’t push what you can’t catch,” Thompson said.
Pitt, no doubt, will attempt to bully Warrick by matching him up with the powerful Chevon Troutman, 6-7, 245. Troutman, who is coming off a 29-point, 12-rebound effort in a comeback win at Connecticut, is considered the toughest low-post defender in the Big East.
“When Chevy guards guys, he makes them work,” junior point guard Carl Krauser said. “He throws them off and frustrates them.”
Warrick fully expects to get banged around by Pitt, but that’s nothing new to him. He’s faced the Panthers five times in his career and averages 13.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. He’s had 20, 16 and 17 points the past three meetings, two of which produced victories.
“(Troutman) is definitely going to use his body against me, so I’ll have to use my skills and quickness to get around that,” Warrick said. “I don’t want to get out there and get into a wrestling match with them. I have to play my game.”
Last year, Pitt got Warrick in early foul trouble but failed to take advantage of it when Boeheim left him in the game. I don’t see Warrick getting in foul trouble again, unless he gets frustrated early.
Up in New York, its noted that a win for Syracuse would move them up to #3 in the polls. Syracuse hasn’t been that high in the rankings since the 1990-91 season. The “Pitt looking for revenge,” theme noted yesterday is also repeated.
As for the game itself, there is this scouting report on Pitt.
“…Their frontcourt’s very good. I think that’s their strength. (Chevon) Troutman and (Chris) Taft are phenomenal inside. I think for Pitt to win, those guys have to have the ball.
“(Carl) Krauser’s a strong, tough New York guard. He’s not going to back down. He knocks down big shots. (Ronald) Ramon gives them an elite shooter. They’ve got weapons. Sometimes they get out of sync, and that’s when they’ll go through dry spells.
“Defensively, they’ve played some zone this year, but they’re pretty much a man-to-man team. They like to get after you. They pick up turnovers. They can control the tempo with their defense. They feed off their defensive pressure, and if they get a couple turnovers, it really gets that crowd involved. You have to protect the ball and take good shots, but they make you work every time.”
For Syracuse, they don’t want to fall far behind like they did against Rutgers. Some of this is just Boeheim’s poor-mouthing, but he also knows his team has managed to pull out some close games in the Big East.
Pittsburgh grabs an average of 14 offensive boards a game. Syracuse gives up an average of 13 offensive rebounds.
“We’ve got to do a better job on the boards,” Boeheim said. “We’re giving up too many second shots lately, and that’s going to catch up to you sooner or later.”
So will free-throw shooting. The Orange has made enough to win 13 straight games, but its 7-for-15 second-half performance against Rutgers nearly cost them the comeback.
And SU can ill afford to give away points in a tight affair with Pittsburgh, or any other Big East game for that matter.
“In our league, we’ve struggled every game, practically,” Boeheim said. “So we know every game is going to be a struggle. “We know we’ve got to raise our level of play.”
The same can be said for Pitt.
A couple basic scouting reports from the papers.
Other items:
The MSNBC College Basketball Editor thinks talk this early about teams like Pitt not making the Tourney is bunk. If you want to worry about seeding, that’s different.
Dante Milligan, the Pitt player who has decided to transfer, has found his spot — UMass. He will be eligible to begin play in the second semester of next season.
