Tuesday Night Basketball: Syracuse, UNC and the Knicks

With all three of my favorite teams (NBA and college) in action last night, it's time for a triple post.

Syracuse v. Cornell

This game was a mismatch from the start, as evidenced by the 38-17 halftime score. Cornell struggled against Syracuse's zone and could only find open shots beyond the three-point line, where they shot just 7-for-29 on the day.

The Big Red put up a fight in the second half, actually outscoring the Orange 41-40 and cutting the lead to 11 at one point (49-38). But Syracuse was too athletic for the Big Red and followed the lead of their MVP so far this season, senior big man Rick Jackson, who had 17 points and 13 rebounds for his sixth double-double in seven games this season.

Jackson, down 25 pounds from a season ago, looks much quicker and much more explosive and has almost doubled his rebounding average, from 7.0 in 2009-10 to 13.0 this year. With the rest of the team struggling to find consistency in its play, Syracuse's only senior has taken the leadership role in his own hands.

Jim Boeheim still feels him team is overrated, and I agree. The Orange have the potential to be an Elite 8 team this season if they continue to improve as the season wears on but if they don't step up their game when Big East play begins, this team won't be in the top 10 for much longer.

North Carolina v. Illinois

Speaking of overrated, is there a team in the past two years who has been more overseeded to start the year than the Tar Heels? A preseason top-10 team last year, they struggled and missed the NCAA tournament. Starting at #8 in the polls this year, UNC is already out of the top 25 thanks to two early-season losses.

The score of last night's 79-67 loss to #21 Illinois was not indicative of how the game was played. The Illini dominated Roy Williams' young Carolina squad behind 17 points and 8 assists from All-American hopeful Demetri McCamey, one of the NCAA's better point guards. John Henson and Tyler Zeller were the only Tar Heels in double figures, as top recruit Harrison Barnes continued to struggle.

Barnes had just 8 points on 2-for-9 shooting, his third single-digit scoring game in seven games this season. For the year, he's shooting just 33.8 percent from the field and hasn't had a 20-point game yet. Barnes is a scorer who hasn't been able to find his identity (shooter? slasher?) early in his college career and while I don't expect him to struggle all season, it's obvious the Heels aren't a top-25 team even if Barnes was scoring like he could.

After losing Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves from a team that was just 20-17 last season, I don't know how people expected this squad to be one of the ten best in the nation, especially from the get-go. It could be another long season along Tobacco Road and I'm not sure this team is even good enough to make the tournament this season.

Knicks v. Nets

Break up the Knicks! A 10-9 record places them seventh in the East through almost a quarter of a season, behind the five teams everyone expected to contend in the east (Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago) and a surprise Pacers team, who have recent quality wins at the Heat and the Lakers. And considering Cleveland is currently eighth at 7-10, it's not blasphemous to say the Knicks are a playoff contender.

I said the same thing a few weeks ago, right before the Knicks managed to lose six in a row. They've won seven of eight since, losing to the only team they faced who was over .500 (Atlanta) and losing convincingly at home. New York might be a playoff contender, but they are far from a title contender.

Title contenders don't allow 58 first-half points to a 6-12 team. I know the Knicks clamped down defensively in the third quarter, holding New Jersey to just 15 points to take a 15-point lead into the fourth, but I've yet to see the consistency on defense for a full four quarters. I see only flashes of defensive brilliance from this team and that won't be enough to get out of the first round of the playoffs, even in the East.

But it's a definite improvement over last season. Toney Douglas is seeing more time and is probably the Knicks best two-way player, while Ronny Turiaf has been an excellent addition for his defense, rebounding and hustle. I would be remiss to mention rebounding and hustle and leave out rookie Landry Fields, who might be the steal of the draft to this point in the season.

Add in surprising defensive intensity from Amar'e Stoudemire and Wilson Chandler protecting the hoop along with Raymond Felton pressuring the ball up top and this team is actually fun to watch play defense at times. They need to keep the intensity up for a full four quarters every night to legitimately contend though. Unless, of course, they find a way to add Carmelo Anthony. That move is the only one that could make the Knicks a legitimate contender beyond round one.

UConn, UNC could play for a title this season...in the NIT

What a difference a year makes.

Two of last season's Final Four participants, perennial powers Connecticut and North Carolina, are well below .500 in their respective conferences and seem like longshots to make the NCAA tournament. Combined, the Huskies and Tar Heels are 6-14 in conference play.

How can two teams who were so good last season fall so hard this season? The reason is pretty obvious: They lost more talent than they retained.

Connecticut lost the second overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, 7'3'' center Hasheem Thabeet. The Huskies also lost second-round pick A.J. Price as well as Jeff Adrien, one of two Huskies to record 1,600 career points and 1,100 career rebounds. Thabeet, Price and Adrien accounted for over 50 percent of Connecticut's scoring and rebounding last season.

North Carolina lost three first-round players in Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington. They also lost Danny Green, who was taken in the second round. Those four players accounted for 66.2 points per game last season, almost 75 percent of the Tar Heels' offensive output.

What makes this season even more disparaging for fans of both teams is the fact that even making the NIT could be a difficult task. Connecticut is just 4-7 in the Big East, while North Carolina is even worse at 2-7 in the ACC. Both of these teams are still talented, but they are too inexperienced to make a serious splash down the stretch this season.

UConn kept it close with #2 (or #3, I hate the variance in the polls) Syracuse until the end, while #7 Duke needed a late run to pull away from the Heels. In the end, both Syracuse and Duke showed why they are top-10 teams and UConn and UNC aren't. They know how to finish games.

The irony is that Syracuse was not picked to be one of the nation's top teams early in the season after losing their top three scorers, Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris. But unlike Connecticut and North Carolina, the Orange had reserves.

Leading scorer Wesley Johnson and sophomore Scoop Jardine both sat out last season, Johnson due to transfer rules and Jardine due to a medical redshirt. Freshman Brandon Triche has also made a huge impact.

On the other hand, neither Connecticut nor North Carolina has a newcomer averaging more than 6 points per game. Both teams were essentially eliminated from a potential NCAA berth with their losses last night in games they needed to win to show the committee they belonged.

It may not be March Madness, but there's no shame in young teams building experience in the NIT. Now it's just up to these two teams to get there.

Syracuse stays hot, UNC continues to falter

There aren't too many nights during the college basketball season where I get to enjoy my two favorite teams on the court. While I didn't get to watch Syracuse roll Rutgers, I unfortunately caught a glimpse of the North Carolina Tar Heels committing 26 turnovers in their loss to Clemson, tied for the most since Roy Williams became head coach.

These two teams have gone in different directions since the 24th-ranked Orange beat the fourth-ranked Heels in the championship game of the Coaches v. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden. Syracuse has lost just once while the Tar Heels have dropped four games, including three of their four matchups against ranked teams.

While Syracuse is ranked in the top five and is making a strong case for a top seed in the NCAA tournament, North Carolina will be lucky to remain in the top 25, especially if they can't end their three-game losing streak against ranked teams with a win Saturday against #18 Georgia Tech.

An important trend to notice here is depth: Syracuse has it, while UNC doesn't. Seven Syracuse players average over 20 minutes played, while only four Tar Heels hit the 20-minute mark on a nightly basis.

Syracuse also possesses the balance that North Carolina lacks. Scoop Jardine is seventh in scoring for the Orange at 8.6 points per game, just 1.7 points behind second-leading scorer Andy Rautins. The top seven players in Jim Boeheim's rotation could arguably start for 95 percent of teams in the nation.

On the flip side, UNC is proving how difficult it is to replace multiple NBA-caliber players after losing Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington. The Heels have just two reliable scorers in Deon Thompson (15.8 PPG) and Ed Davis (15.5 PPG), who also are the only returning players who averaged more than 15 minutes per game for UNC last season. Maybe that explains their 1-5 record away from Chapel Hill.

The Orange lost Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris from last year's squad, but that pales in comparison to what Carolina lost. Flynn is the only NBA talent out of the three, and Brandon Triche and Jardine have done a great job in his stead. Syracuse's 2-3 zone is as good as always, which makes the Orange a tough out when the calendar turns to March.

UNC may have won it all last season but out of the two teams, it's Syracuse who has the best chance at cutting down the nets in 2010. They are way too talented this year to be satisfied with anything less than an Elite 8 appearance. UNC should be ecstatic if they even make the Sweet 16 in what amounts to a down year by the program's standards. This year, it's all about the 'Cuse!