During the Feb. 14 showdown at the Carrier Dome, the
Orange led by 10 points with five minutes left in regulation. With love
in the air, they pulled out the red cape and played matador-like
defense as the Hoyas penetrated the lane at will and kissed the sky
with rainbow-swishing three-pointers, eventually evening the score with
five seconds to here-we-go-again. The 31,841 in attendance—the most for
any college basketball team in the country this season—sat in mute
agony as the prospect of being bound-for-NIT-anti-glory rested on this
outcome.
The ball was in the hands of Syracuse’s
stud point guard Jonny Flynn. But with the blink of a dribble, the rock
was out of his grasp—along with control over their immediate and
long-term destiny—as Summers stole the ball, dashed to the other end of
the court, stopped and popped a shot from just inside the three-point
line as time was expiring, and… Clank!
Syracuse’s season was saved. The Orange
took control over the final minute of overtime and beat their archrival
98-94, elevating their record to 19-7 (7-6 in the Big East). They’re
lucky, because a loss would have knocked them out of the Top 25
(they’re currently ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll) and
would have given them on-the-bubble status for March Madness—a bubble
that usually pops against the Orange.
Behind the Orange door: The self-motivators hanging on SU point guard Jonny Flynn’s locker inspired victory against Georgetown, which he discussed after the game.
Loud and proud: It
must have been the “wear orange” promotion or maybe the beer, but
sights at the Carrier Dome included one fan’s Valentine to Georgetown
and
Donte Greene’s towel-inspired celebratory dance (standing at right). MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTOS
“Our defense broke down the last part of
the game,” said head coach Jim Boeheim during his post-game press
conference. “I thought Georgetown made an unbelievable comeback.
They’re 4-8 in {the Big East} and were {ranked} in the top 10 in the
country and it shows what happens in our league. It’s very difficult
night in and night out.”
Boeheim also said, as he has just about
every year since he first started coaching in 1976, that the Orange’s
lackluster free-throw shooting played a factor in determining the
course of the game. It doesn’t help that starting center Arinze Onuaku
is the worst free-throw shooter in the nation, sinking a dismal 33
percent of his attempts (he was 3-7 this game).
Onuaku was rendered ineffective during
the Orange’s four contests prior to Georgetown as a knee injury
noticeably hampered his range of motion. He averaged just under 20
minutes a game during that stint, but logged 40 against Georgetown and
appeared to be operating at full speed. But because he might be one of
the most dominant front-court players in the Big East, aside from
University of Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet, he remains the
enigmatic catch-22 in determining the team’s success, putting his Hall
of Fame and Olympic coach’s true grit to the test.
“These last four games without him,”
continued Boeheim, “we knew we probably had no chance to win and I’m
surprised we beat West Virginia {74-61 on Feb. 4}. But with {Arinze},
we need him in there for defense, but we can’t have him in there at the
end of games because if he gets a rebound he’s fouled right away and we
can’t afford to trade zero for two or three, which was part of the
reason our defense was weakened a bit in the end.”
Onuaku’s free-throw shooting prowess is
akin to not being able to find a prayer in the Bible, but despite his
Stevie Wonder-like aim, his teammates were sure as hell saying “Amen!”
that he seemed back to his old self. “There were a couple times me and
him were fighting for rebounds today,” said Syracuse junior forward
Paul Harris in the locker room after the game. “That’s the Arinze I
know and that’s the Arinze I want to play with, the old Arinze, and he
hasn’t been there the past couple of games. But tonight, he came to
play.”
{mospagebreak}
The Hoya-Orange rivalry is one of the
most storied in all of sports, and tensions have been known to escalate
to physicality over the years, but the only instance of hostility this
game was unbeknownst to one of the combatants. Orange senior forward
Kristof Ongenaet was ejected with 7:54 remaining in the first half for
throwing an elbow at Summers—although he was not whistled for a foul
when the incident occurred and no ruckus ensued. He was tossed after
Georgetown head coach John Thompson III asked the referees to review
the play.
“He said he went for the rebound and
came over him and hit him with his elbow but not in any intentional
manner,” commented Boeheim on the situation. “I thought elbows had to
be intentional to be flagrant, so I’m at a loss on that one.”
Andy Rautins also fouled out of the game
in the second half; the Orange could have used another body, especially
during the battle-fatigued overtime. The extra man they needed, and
should have had available, was sitting in the audience: last year’s
freshman sensation Donte Greene. After the game, Greene improvised a
metaphorical moment by throwing an “Orange” towel over the head of
Flynn.
Last year, Greene threw in the towel on
the Orange and decided to forgo his college eligibility in hopes of
finding greener pastures in the NBA. He had extra time to make the trip
because it was All-Star weekend and also because his current team, the
Sacramento Kings, sent him down to the NBA Developmental League—the
equivalent of AAA Baseball. If he had stuck around Syracuse one more
year, the Orange would easily be favorites for a Final Four run, but it
is what it is. . .
“I know he’d rather be suited up with
us,” Harris said about Greene watching from the stands, “but it’s good
to see guys like that coming back and supporting us.”
—Tom Kahley
