Six games. Six measly games. We won six games in a row three times over to start the season and we did it again at the end of the season. How hard can is be to do it one more time?
Scoop Jardine doesn't see the problem.
"Anything can happen at any given time," Jardine said. "It’s the Tournament. It’s the best time of year. We just gotta take it one game at a time. Six games. That’s doable."
"Last year was my first time in the NCAA Tournament. And it was a big experience. Just everything. Anticipation of the games. Watching all the games. Everything’s about college basketball. All the focus is on y’all. And being in Buffalo, we were the focal point up there. Just going through that whole experience, you know what to expect. I can pass that to the young guys on this year’s team."
If the Orange want to maximize their chances to advance, the focus might not be on what SU can do on offense, but, defense. That's what got them off the schnide earlier this year.
It started with defense. In four of the Orange’s six wins to end the regular season and into the conference tournament against St. John’s, Syracuse held the opposition to less than 40 percent field-goal shooting. When Syracuse went through its four-game losing streak, the Orange allowed all four teams to make better than 48 percent of its shots.
"Our coaches believed in us. We believed in ourselves," Waiters said. "We know we can beat anybody and we can lose to anybody. We just have to believe in ourselves and play Syracuse basketball."
For Jimmy B, the veterans will lead the Orange to victory but it's the young players that need to step up.
"We’re going to go as far as our veterans take us. The key is to how much our young guys can help us. For us to win in the tournament the young guys are going to have to help the veterans. I think they’re ready to do that. We’re very confident they can do that.”
Bud, Mike and Donna give their thoughts on the tourney. Of course Bud's sitting in the center.
Meanwhile, check out those Sycamores as they run practice this week.
All-Access with Indiana State from CollegeInsider.com on Vimeo.