Ah, the season opener up in Syracuse. The game on ESPN, at 7 pm tomorrow and game notes (PDF).
Hyped Freshman Paul Harris is the star power for the Orange, but he has been inconsistent. Having some games where he puts up 20, and others where it is a struggle. Not uncommon for a freshman who is playing a lot of minutes, but not totally what anyone was expecting.
Boeheim said Harris expressed his self-displeasure after putting up 11 points and six rebounds in Syracuse’s 64-61 loss to Oklahoma State at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5.
“Paul said he played terrible in the Garden and he had 11 or 12 points and six or seven rebounds,” Boeheim said. “It’s good to think that way, (but) he’s a freshman (and) people are putting too much on this kid. He’s putting too much on himself. I just told him, ‘You’re a good player if you do the things you can do. You concentrate on your rebounding, your defense, your ball-handling and your passing.’ ”
In Syracuse’s most recent game against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Harris registered his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. After the game, Boeheim said Harris is “doing more than 95 percent of all the freshmen in the country.”
And while his statistics may not approach Carmelo Anthony’s 22.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, Harris’ numbers compare favorably with the country’s top-rated freshmen. Of Scout.com’s top 20 players in the Class of 2006, Harris is the fourth-leading rebounder behind only Texas’ Kevin Durant and Damion James and Ohio State’s Greg Oden.
Harris, who was Scout.com’s 10th-ranked player in the Class of 2006, is 12th among the top 20 recruits in scoring and he’s 10th in minutes played.
Of course Boeheim put those expectations on Harris. All summer and into the fall, when I started reading previews and off-season pieces; if the topic turned to the ‘Cuse, Jim Boeheim was pushing Harris as this tremendous player. Top national college b-ball writers such as Mike DeCourcy, Andy Katz and Seth Davis all mentioned him (and Boeheim’s excitement over him). So Boeheim has to accept some of the blame for the expectations.
That said, Harris is a big talent and is a 6’5″ guard who likes to go inside. His size and speed will likely be a big problem for Pitt guards on defense.
Then there’s the fact that small forward Demetris Nichols has been breaking out this year.
Nichols enters the Big East regular season leading the conference in scoring with 19.8 points a game, a far cry from his 3.9-point scoring average two years ago as a sophomore. He’s shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 48.8 percent from 3-point range (third best in the league).
“It’s just hard work,” he said. “I don’t know what you guys are looking for. I feel like when you work like I work, it’ll pay off. And it’s paying off. My confidence got bigger and got higher, but it all comes with hard work.”
Nichols, who was Syracuse’s leading returning scorer this year, was snubbed by the conference coaches in October. Terrence Roberts made the preseason all-league first team. Devendorf made the honorable mention list.
Nichols was not even in the conversation – a slight he admitted he has used as motivation.
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When he would have a bad game before, it would corrupt the next few games before he could escape the funk. He admitted that was part of his struggle in the latter half of last year’s Big East season.
By the time league opponents saw him the second time around, they knew his tendencies. They would face-guard him and push him around. He couldn’t respond.
Nichols said he’s learned from that and has diversified his offense this year. He has posted up smaller players, which he had not done in years past. And now he’s able to use the dribble to get himself better jump shots.
As noted by John Grupp today, forwards have been having their way with Pitt this year — win or lose. It’s hard not to imagine more of the same.
Nichols is one of the hottest players in the nation, with six consecutive games of at least 20 points. The 6-foot-8, 212-pound senior forward has ridden the hot streak to the top of the Big East scoring, at 19.8 points per game.
“His range is unlimited,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “He takes tough shots, and he makes them. He can shoot over people. He has a great release. … He’s got the ability to score that’s similar to Tucker, but he’s not as inside-oriented as Tucker.”
Nichols is a nightmare match-up. He is big enough to post up a small forward, but also is one of the best 3-point shooters in the Big East (48.8 percent). He has shot 47 free throws this season and missed five. He ranks eighth in the Big East in blocked shots, and scored 31 against Drexel and 28 against Colgate and Baylor during the Orange’s home-heavy nonconference schedule.
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Nichols, who scored a team-high 15 points in Syracuse’s 65-61 victory over Pitt in last year’s Big East championship game, starts at small forward. Drawing the assignment to cover him will be mainly Mike Cook or Sam Young. Levon Kendall and Tyrell Biggs will also get their chance.
“Every guy will probably have an opportunity at some time to be on him,” Dixon said. “It won’t be just one guy guarding him. They all understand that.”
Well, um, aside from that game at MSG last March, Pitt has had a good deal of success against the Orange in recent years — more than at any other time. Pitt has been able to deal with the 2-3 zone better than most. It’s time to see if that has changed.
“This is a different 2-3 zone than we played in our last game,” Dixon said. “They don’t pack it in nearly as much. They are going to be more aggressive out on the perimeter which means you have to try and get the ball more on the inside. You also have to get some offensive rebounds. We still have to knock down 3s, though, because any zone is successful if you don’t make open 3s.”
Pitt is shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range. A big reason the Panthers shoot so well is they rarely take bad shots. But the Panthers must be even more patient against the Orange because they won’t provide as many openings as Florida A&M.
Pitt point guard Levance Fields acknowledged as much yesterday and said that he believes Syracuse’s zone is one of the toughest defenses the Panthers will face.
“Syracuse’s zone will be much more aggressive,” Fields said. “We’ve got to be ready for that. The guards will extend out more and get into the passing lanes so we have to use a lot of ball fakes and penetrate into the zone. There are going to be some open shots and we have to knock them down but they aren’t going to come as easy as they did against Florida A&M.
“[Syracuse] is long and athletic, they jump up and try to block everything so we are definitely going to have to penetrate, look to kick, then knock down the open shots to be successful.”
And get the ball to Aaron Gray against Syracuse. Daryl Watkins may get some blocks, but Pitt has had its best success against the 2-3 zone and ‘Cuse by getting it inside where Syracuse is weak. Terrance Roberts is likely to be back, but his knees are hurting. Watkins has struggled against Gray and his back-up Josh Wright is even worse.
