Orange Squeeze

I hate to say it... but the Orange are in trouble.

Yes, the Orange beat DePaul and got their first Big East Road victory.
Yes, they are also three Onuaku made free throws in OT from being one half game out of first place in the conference.
Yes, they've done all this with seven/eight scholarship players (Which is nothing short of amazing I might add).
And yes, they are missing arguably their two best outside threats to matching knee injuries.

But I dred the Rollercoaster ride might be coming to an end and the free-fall may be starting for the Orange (I'm not negative-nancy, I'm a realist). And here are a few reasons why...

One... Out of the 16 teams in the conference, Syracuse, dispite having played Georgetown on the road, have played against the 16th ranked in conference schedule. That means Syracuse has played the easiest Big East schedule to date, and they've managed a 5-4 record (amazing considering their lack of depth. But think about it, the other than G'town, Syracuse hasn't really played a significant BE team on the road.

Two... with the injuries, departures, and suspensions of virtually all their guards, Paul Harris will be forced to handle the ball more.... and if you watched the DePaul game you know that is absolutely NOT a good thing

Three... I'm scared Donte is gonna stop caring. He's leaving, and I think it's safe to say at this point he knows it and us fans have to come to the realization if the Orange don't start reeling off some W's, Greene is gonna start looking to, excuse the play on words, $Greener$ pastures, if you know what I mean. Although I did see him dive for a loose ball the other night for the first time ever. My point is, Greene has been looking out for his draft status all year, and if he helps the team win once and a while, its an added bonus for him. I'm not tryin to bash the guy, but his lazy effort on defense and the fact that he's 6'11" and averages nowhere near 10 rebounds a game should tell us all something about his hustle, and who's best interest he has in mind first. He's a top 10 draft pick right now, and I don't see him as the kind of guy who wants to stick around and do two more semesters worth of exams and paper writing.

Four... Super Jonny is gonna get tired. The kid plays 40 mins. a night and a whole season of that is gonna wear on him.

Five... Free throws. They win and lose close games... we've been dealing with it for years, and it's not a particular strength of this team.

Six.... @Nova, UConn, G'town, @L'ville, @ND, Pitt, Marquette. Those are seven of 'cuse's last nine games... good bleeping luck getting THREE wins outta those seven. The other two are road games @USF and @Seton Hall... and road wins in conference are hard to come by with seven scholarship players and a lack of experience.

Bottom Line: Don't be surprised if the orange struggle to get 18 wins. I don't wanna look at it that way, but with injuries, stolen food cards, and Paul Harris playing guard... it might be better to face the music now rather than later.