Syracuse broke mold en route to ‘03 title

Friday, March 5, 2004 | 9:50 a.m.

line By Rob Miech LAS VEGAS SUN

NCAA SNAPSHOT

By Rob Miech

The Cavaliers lost 10 of 15 recently, including five in a row, but have stopped the bleeding with three consecutive victories. Two of those were against top-15 members North Carolina and Wake Forest, giving the home crowd reason to cheer.

The Tigers claimed sole possession of the C-USA lead after their demolishing of Texas Christian in their final game at The Pyramid on Wednesday and Cincinnati's loss at DePaul on Thursday. Next season, UM moves into the FedExForum.

Get out the Drano and flush? Jones offered us that pearl Thursday night after a dunk by Cincinnati forward Jason Maxiell. The listen-to-me school of Stuart Scott sensationalisms makes us hit the mute button quicker by the day.

The Scoop -- Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar has his troops playing at a high level, or hasn't anyone else noticed that they've won 11 of their last 12 Pac-10 games? In addition, he scheduled a savvy game at North Carolina State two weeks ago. UDub lost by five, but the RPI boost might be enough to get it into the NCAAs. Sorry about that undefeated season, Cardinal.

Prediction (6-5) -- Washington 70, Stanford 68.

The national-championship formula was shattered by Syracuse a year ago. The previous season, Indiana began to chip away at that mold, then the Orangemen finished the job.

Or, more accurately, Carmelo Anthony engineered that destruction.

For better or for worse, the exodus of young talent to the NBA, if it even makes a pit stop in college, has had a profound impact on the college game in general and, specifically, the NCAA tournament.

Once upon a time -- or, actually, for the majority of a couple of decades or so -- a title team consisted of several common, perhaps eight or nine, qualities.

Among them, it was most helpful to have some senior leadership in the starting five, especially at the point. If not at the driver's wheel, then a couple of upperclassmen in the passenger seats would enhance a capable-but-unproven point man.

Having more than one player who was thought of highly enough to be picked in the NBA draft was another component. Another was stomping on a foe when he was down, commonly termed an assassin's heart.

The Hoosiers tried to alter that picture two years ago, but Maryland confirmed the validity of the former formula by beating Indiana in the finale in Atlanta.

For a stretch of 20 or 25 years, the pattern held. Most of the title teams reflected most of the checklist that turned a contender into a champion.

The 'Cuse and Anthony changed it all last season in New Orleans, and we're announcing that that will be the rule, instead of the exception, for the near future, at least.

Here's a look at what Syracuse did and how the Orange did it. We'll also attempt to predict who best fits the new formula for a memorable next few weeks of hoops.

Teams must take care of business in their own back yard, keeping the faithful happy and brewing a recipe for success that, hopefully, transfers well in enemy confines.

In 2002-03, Syracuse won all 17 of its home games, the first time the program had accomplished that sterling feat in the Carrier Dome.

This reveals a team's extreme distaste for losing, not to mention a keen ability to learn from its mistakes. Syracuse (30-5) did not lose consecutive games during its sensational run to its first championship.

Jim Boeheim had tasted the Final Four flavor before, having lost national final games in 1987 and '96. Knowing the demands and atmosphere on the game's grandest stage cannot be discounted.

We're also envious that Boeheim is a scratch golfer, but that's fodder for another column.

Syracuse's last two defeats last season were to Connecticut, in February in Hartford and in a semifinal game in the Big East tournament. Both losses were stingers, by double digits.

(In addition, the last one showed how insignificant league tournaments, not to mention a nifty winning streak, factor into the modern champion's resume.)

In the NCAAs, the Orangemen and Huskies were on a collision course to meet in one national semifinal. However, Texas belted UConn in a South semifinal, beat Michigan State and then lost to Syracuse, 95-84, in that national semifinal.

(More on Texas later.)

Having a familiar foe derailed early is an X-factor that will be as challenging to predict as when, and where, the next Megabucks winner will be crowned. Still, it's priceless to someone bearing down on a title.

Just as difficult to predict, a national champ often must survive a nail-biter, come thisclose to going home early before making the most of every minute the rest of the way. This is one of the "throwback" rules that must be retained.

UCLA (second-rounder against Mizzou) in '95, Arizona (a three-point win and two overtime victories) in '97 and Kentucky (a two-point one and an OT victory) in '98 are some of the titlists who had their mettles tested in close calls.

As Syracuse did last year in a 79-78 victory against Auburn in an East Region semifinal in which the Orange led by 17 points in the first half.

Players like Anthony seemingly come along rarely. Only two other players, Dave Bing and John Wallace, scored more points in a single season at Syracuse than the 778 that Anthony scored last season.

His average of 22.2 points was a top-20 national figure, and second among freshmen. His 10 boards a game led all first-year players, and he recorded 22 double-doubles as a rookie. He also made his freebies (70 percent), distributed the ball and poached his share of steals.

That's the backbone of a magnificent player, but today's game -- which becomes less about fundamentals and defense by the season -- enables young players to blossom quickly and become stars, and before anyone notices they're gone to the Association.

Anthony entered the NCAAs last spring by belting five opponents for a total of 131 points.

He led his team in scoring in five of its six tournament games, going 28-for-51 from the field, for 73 points, in the last three. In the finale over Kansas, he scored 20 points, grabbed 10 boards and gave out 7 assists.

Nice game, nice tourney and nice one-season career.

Syracuse was a 35-1 shot at most sports books right before last year's tournament. We won't go that low in our quest this year, but we still favor a snake-in-the-grass quality with our selection.

Folks, don't go for the obvious choice(s).

Texas.

The Longhorns boast of a point guard, senior Royal Ivey, who has long been known as a sticky defender. This season, after catalyst T.J. Ford left two years early for the NBA, Ivey has shown he can pass. He has an assists-to-turnovers ratio of 3-1.

Texas, which hit 20 victories for a school-record fifth consecutive season, hasn't slipped without Ford.

Guard Brandon Mouton recently scored 97 points in a four-game stretch. James Thomas, though undersized (6-feet-8) at center and a bit bruised, entered this season with 28 career double-doubles. He has none this season, so he's hungry.

Freshman P.J. Tucker's first double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) of the new year, against Texas Tech last Saturday, was evidence of coach Rick Barnes' deep roster.

UT hasn't lost consecutive games all season, and has been beaten only once, by Oklahoma State, at home in 2004. The Cowboys won in Stillwater, too, on Monday, so that's who Texas needs to avoid come NCAA tourney time.

Barnes also knows the Final Four terrain, having lost to Syracuse in a national semifinal last year.

Oklahoma State, which is 16-0 at home heading into Saturday's game in Stillwater against Texas A&M. Tony Allen and John Lucas form a lethal-shooting guard tandem, and this will be the 22nd NCAA appearance for coach Eddie Sutton (two Final Fours).

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