Syracuse Basketball: Are the Orange Poised for Bourbon Street?

2012 finds the Syracuse Orange waiting in the wings for a Final Four appearance.

Last week, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim notched his 880th and 881st career victories as a college head basketball coach, moving him into third place on the all-time career victory list, behind only Mike K. and Bobby Knight.

But despite a 36-year career win total that should pass 900 this December, five Big East titles, 15 Sweet 16 appearances, three national title game appearances and the 2003 national title itself, Coach Boeheim has suffered from a perception that his teams have too often come up short come tournament time.

Especially with the talent that he's been given over the years.

'Cuse last appeared in the NCAA Tournament as a one seed in 2010, when Arinze Onuaku had to sit out the tournament due to injury.

Last year, they fizzled out early, losing their second game to Marquette.

But this year, the Orange are back. They sit on a 27-1 record and are playing like a true No. 1 seed.

This zone might be Boeheim’s best yet.

It starts not only with the athletic length of his players, but the depth he can throw out on the court.

His starting guards, Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche, are 6’2” and 6’4” respectively.

This is a team that can easily go ten deep on any given night. They are subject to replacement by 6’4” sophomore Dion Waiters and 6’5” freshman point guard phenom Michael Carter-Williams.

The Orange's backcourt is so deep that in preseason, 6’4” freshman sharpshooter Trevor Cooney agreed to redshirt.

And the length and reach just gets scarier up front.

Starting forward senior Chris Joseph stands 6’7”, while freshman Rakeem Christmas measures in at 6’9”.

They bracket Syracuse’s most improved player, 7’ sophomore Fab Melo, who in turn is backed up by 6’10” sophomore Baye Moussa Keita.

Melo leads the Orange in blocks per game, averaging three. He ranks third in the country in block percentage.

The Orange also excel offensively.

They are a solid 0.475 from the field and are averaging 76.9 points per game.

In a buzzer-beater situation, they can be confident putting the ball in the hands of just about anyone.

Of course, there are weaknesses, without a doubt.

Zone teams generally don’t rebound as well on the defensive end as their man-to-man counterparts, and the Orange are no exception.

Boeheim long ago made a calculated risk that that deficiency would be more than offset by the lower shooting percentage of an attacking offense.

But the deficiencies this year in rebounding have at times been scary.

The Orange sometimes seem lost in their half-court offense, and their offensive proficiency drops off markedly if they are not generating the turnovers that allow them to run out in transition.

Still, this team is the best squad 'Cuse has gathered since its National Title in 2003.

Prepare for the Syracuse Orange to storm New Orleans.