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Syracuse Should Fear Indiana St


If you walk up to a Kansas fan and utter the word "Bucknell," you'll get the same response as if you pulled their hair. Such a thing happens when your team is a storied program toting a high seed at the time, in this case a #3 seed, and you lose to a 14th-seeded, mid-major school in Bucknell who had never won a NCAA tournament game in its 110-year history.

This is the great thing about the NCAA tournament. You put the titans of the sport against a team that might end up doing their taxes in a couple years, and sometimes the accountants win. No player on the Indiana State Sycamores would have gotten a look from Jim Boeheim coming out of high school. Nor do they have any realistic chance of playing in the NBA. But Indiana State has the style to beat Syracuse and this is the most intriguing 14 vs. 3 matchup in the NCAA Tournament.

Most of the players who log serious minutes for the Sycamore's shoot over 30% from beyond the three-point line. They also have a deadly sniper in Jordan Printy who shoots 48% from three-point range and has been hot lately including a 5-7 from three performance against Northern Iowa. This Syracuse team's weakness is defending the three. They close out on shooters too late and sometimes appear to lack effort......This team could slice and dice Syracuse's 2-3 zone in a shockingly precise manner after stretching the zone out with that shooting.

Despite having the best big man on the floor for every single game Syracuse has played this year, they often ignore the Big East's defensive player of the year in Rick Jackson for long stretches.

This team is at its best when the offense is run through him. He should be touching the ball on most possessions. What often happens is point guard Scoop Jardine and small forward Kris Joseph will settle for jump shots and tend to dominate the ball. This leads to plenty of empty possessions and long rebound fast break opportunities for opponents.

http://www.examiner.com/sports-in-rochester/syracuse-should-fear-indiana-st