Does that photo paint enough of a picture for you? Syracuse lost to ranked team at the buzzer...AGAIN. It's a damaging loss in the big picture of the NCAA Tournament and the Big East where the Orange fall to 6-5 (16-8 overall) and the middle of the pack.
Get every sweaty piece of information and analysis you need from The Axeman, Orange44 and Cuse Country and be sure to specifically note Cuse Country's Tourna-Meter sponsored by Bubbalicious. The Orange are currently slightly on the wrong side of Bubbleville and the schedule doesn't get much easier.
Hasheem Thabeet dominated the paint with 7 blocks and led an intimidating performance that forced the Orange to chuck up way too many bad shots. Many of the other Orange praised Thabeet for his tough play, but leave it to Rick Jackson to really lay it on thick:
"I mean, he's tall. But he ain't a special player. He's just bigger than everybody basically. I don't know, he ain't nothing special. He's tall, he can block shots, rebound, be a presence in the middle. But that is about it."Nothing sore-losery about that.
On the flip side, Arinze Onuaku was really a non-factor against Thabeet. Was he intimidated? Even his teammates seem to think so...
"We need him, he doesn't understand how much he means to this team, he means a lot. We miss Arinze in the middle, even if he doesn't score. Just getting rebounds, do something, make some game-changing plays - just keep your head up and keep playing. " - Paul Harris
"I was saying a little before, it was like we was scared out there at one point. He (Onuaku) just really seemed intimidated and it changed the whole face of the game. We didn't even look like ourselves out there. We would get the ball inside, and you aren't even looking to score. You never see A.O. do that. You never see him not look to score. But, like I said before, we just have to take a look in the mirror and say "Did you really play your hardest today? Did you really give the effort to go out there and win?" - Jonny Flynn
Thick skin, A.O. I hope you got it. Or get it.
Donte Greene put together another "Clearly I need at least one more year in college" performance with a 2-15 night of shooting. The Niagara Connection led the way again, Jonny Flynn had 20 and Paul Harris had 24. Harris also added 11 points and has seen his season flourish just as we need it to most. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough.
The Orange will try to begin a new win streak at South Florida next Wednesday. They need that one as Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh follow.
(AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli)