ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – There’s not a saying that offense wins championships, although some have debated whether or not that is the case instead of defense being what does it. Syracuse certainly rode their offense to a title as they won the Legends Classic with an 80-76 win over Georgia Tech in which they had their best offensive outing and overcame a hot start by the Yellow Jackets.
The Orange came into the game shooting just 40.6 percent from the field. Save for shooting just under 49 percent in the season opener against Northern Iowa, they had not shot above 42 percent in all season. And it was the offense that bailed out the defense, as Georgia Tech shot 56 percent in the first half (6-11 from three-point land) but the Orange had a two-point lead at the half. Syracuse knocked on the door all half as the Yellow Jackets led by as many as nine, and they finally broke through right at the end of the half to take the lead on a three-pointer by freshman C.J. Fair.
Georgia Tech would regain the lead in the second half, but they wouldn’t have it for long. Syracuse turned up the defense – and in part, Georgia Tech didn’t take the same quality shots they did in the first half – while the offense kept going as the Orange at one point led by 13.
“We kept playing offense, and then we finally had a great run where we got in the lane, made some plays,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.
In the second half, Syracuse shot over 61 percent from the field. Kris Joseph came alive to score 17 of his 19 after intermission, and at times was the best player on the floor even as Georgia Tech guard Brian Oliver had a career-high 32 points on 12-21 shooting (6-11 on three-pointers). But he was hardly the only hero, as freshmen Dion Waiters and Fair kept the Orange within striking distance in the first half and were among five players who scored in double figures.
“I thought Dion was huge in the first half, and C.J., they were both very solid in the first half,” Boeheim said. “They were getting some experience, and I thought both guys played really well.”
Waiters scored 11 of his 13 in the first half, while Fair had seven of his 10. The MVP was a surprise to some, but Rick Jackson had 10 points and 14 rebounds in the title game for his fifth straight double-double. He quietly led the inside game at both ends.
This Orange team doesn’t have a big scorer, so they need balanced scoring and Boeheim said as much. There are plenty who can do it, as Saturday showed, and Brandon Triche struggled on the day but is capable as well. They got a good outing from Triche and Scoop Jardine in one key area for them, as they had 12 assists with six turnovers. There isn’t a true point guard on the roster, but a few combo guards and they all contributed to this win.
Like the other three teams in the field, Syracuse had not been seriously tested before this weekend. They began with four straight home games, and they won’t play a true road game until the calendar turns to 2011. This weekend was a test for them, and Boeheim had some concerns about this team coming in.
“This was a tremendous tournament for us,” Boeheim said. “Our schedule has been much tougher than we would have wanted it to be or hoped for it to be; maybe we’ve made it that way, I don’t know. We’ve certainly got to play better.”
The offensive struggles have been noted, and defense was winning most of the games early on as opponents were shooting below 35 percent from the field entering Saturday’s game. It led Boeheim to state earlier in the season that his team was overrated, the subject of a question he received in the post-game press conference. He noted that they haven’t played well for five games, but won all five, which is certainly a positive. But that wasn’t all there was to it.
“We were playing poorly; we couldn’t beat teams that aren’t going to win 10 games,” Boeheim said. “If you’re rated in the top 10, that means you’re overrated. It’s not real hard to figure that out.”
As he noted, the Orange played well on Saturday night. Their offense won the game for them, and it may prove to be a turning point since it came against their toughest opponent thus far.
