Syracuse Orange Basketball: 5 Things Learned in NIT Season Tip-Off Championship

This week just continues to get worse for Syracuse off the court with the recent news that longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine has been fired. 

The Orange have two games this week, one against another former assistant coach, Rob Murphy, known for his great recruiting and rapping. The game will be the first without Fine and, with Murphy being on the opposite bench, expect it to be a somber game all around. 

Syracuse then plays their biggest non-conference game of the season against No. 10 Florida at the Carrier Dome in the inaugural Big East-SEC challenge. 

Their most recent game was a victory over Stanford, presenting Jim Boeheim and the rest of the Syracuse basketball squad with another NIT Season Tip-Off Challenge Championship. While both final games against Virginia Tech and Stanford were closer than expected, the matchup with Stanford was incredibly close. 

With the Orange facing tremendous distractions going into this week, there are still on-court issues to be dealt with as well.

This is going to be a telling week for the Orange as we will all learn the mental strength that the Orange possess. 

Fab Melo Should Be Your New Favorite Player

I am not sure how much longer the Fab Melo hype will continue, but so far, Fab Melo has done everything but save a grandma from a burning building to be loved by the Syracuse fans. 

Melo's impact can be seen in a much-improved stat line, as he racked up 57 minutes, 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks in two games. He was up and down the court and showed just how ready he is to live up to the hype surrounding him as he entered college. 

Fab's monster blocks against Stanford showed what we can expect out of him this year: the hustle, power and drive that was absent last season. If Fab can continue to play at a high level in Big East play—where Big Men typically come out looking like football players—Syracuse is in an excellent position to win the title. 

The 7-Man Rotation Is Set

For all of the talk of the deepest team under Boeheim, it has never been the style of Coach Boeheim to use a rotation of more than seven players. Well, as of now, it looks as if that rotation has been set. 

With Kris Joseph, Fab Melo, Rakeem Christmas, Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine starting, Baye Kieta, Michael Carter-Williams and Dion Waiters seem to round off this rotation. 

While James Southerland did see some action, it was very limited during the NIT tournament and he never seemed to recreate the magic he has had against Manhattan or Albany. Dion Waiters has really matured from last year and looks like a legitimate threat to take time from Scoop. 

Kris Joseph Is the Go-to Man

The worry for this team at Media Day was whether the Orange lacked a true scorer to take over a game or definitively give the ball to in the game's final moments. 

Apparently, Kris Joseph took offense to that. Joseph was named the tournament MVP and finished with 38 points, 19 rebounds and seven steals. If you are just as impressed as I am with Joseph's performance, it gets better. 

The Orange really struggled against both teams (more on this later), and in both games, Joseph was the one player consistently making the baskets needed to win the game. Joseph looks like he is ready to justify his place on the preseason Naismith list, as he is by far "The Man" on this already talented team. 

Syracuse Needed the Wake-Up Call

Syracuse did not play their best basketball in the NIT Tip-Off, but it's good that this happened, as Syracuse needed to be woken up by the better teams. 

First, Virginia Tech is a team that had the distance shooters to force Syracuse to be mobile on the defensive end of the ball and work on hustling in the transition game. Dion Waiters shone through here and helped spark the Orange's motor to capture the win. 

Against Stanford, Syracuse was forced to play a more physical game and face their first test of a team who would deliberately try to penetrate the 2-3 zone. While Syracuse struggled early with Stanford's ability to score high and low, both Kris Joseph and Fab Melo stepped up their games to win the championship.

Both of these games were projected wins, but thankfully, tough-enough opponents forced Syracuse to keep improving and working hard.

With Florida this week and Big East play looming, the Orange cannot think that blowout wins against Manhattan and Albany mean they are the best team in the country. 

Bernie Fine Scandal Will Define Orange Season

So far, Syracuse has done well in handling the Bernie Fine situation on the court. The commemoration of Fine at the Colgate game (leaving his seat empty) showed their support for their coach. 

Now, with all of the recent developments, the Orange have two distinct paths to take: Let this scandal become an off-court distraction that derails national-title hopes or use it as the motivation to work harder than ever.

With Boeheim under fire recently, it would be no surprise if either scenario took place. This is a veteran group of players that have leadership with fifth-year seniors and mature sophomores. More than likely, if there was a team that could handle this kind of scrutiny, it is this team.