NCDS: Rob Murphy, Asst. Coach - Syaracuse

Happy belated New Year's! I apologize for the time away but it's been "super busy" to say the least.

I don't think there's any doubt or debate about "the toughest conference" in the country! The Big East conference from top to bottom has been unbelievable and exciting all year long.

We started conference play undefeated this season. Starting 5 & 0 put us in the drivers seat early. We opened up with Providence and learned quickly how much Mashon Brooks had improved as he poured in 28 point for his team. We followed with a win over a very good Notre Dame team follow by two road wins at Seton Hall and St Johns. We capped off the 5 games win streak with a win against Cincinnati at home. In those five wins we didn't always play great but our defense stay consistent!

Traveling to Pittsburgh without Kris Joseph was tough! He suffered a mild concussion in the first half against Cincinnati which gave key reserve James Southerland the opportunity to start for the first time in his career. The Zoo (Pitt Fans) we screaming and yelling from the time we walked out for warm-ups until the game was over. Pitt started the game on 19 to 0 run before we were able to score our first basket with 13 minutes to go in the first half. We followed their run with a 17 to 0 run of our own to get back into the contest. The game was nip & tuck throughout but Pitt made game winning plays in the last 4 minutes to seal the victory. We learned lots about our team from this particular game. We continued to fight all game with chances to win without having Kris. Freshman CJ Fair led us with 16pts and 9
rebounds which was surprising and great!

We got Kris back into the line up the follow game vs Villanova in front of 33,698 but fell short of a victory. We didn't get into sink early and had to fight back throughout the contest. We followed with two more consecutive losses to Seton Hall and Marquette. During the four game losing streak we allowed all four teams to shoot over 43% from three point range. We we're out rebounded by all four opponents and our execution wasn't great on the offensive end of the floor. We can see the glaring mistakes while watching film as a staff and as a team so we continue to teach as the season progress.

Coach Boeheim hasn't loss 5 games in a row during his 35 year coach career at Syracuse. We haven't won at UConn in 12 years. Something had to give February 2nd. Going into knowing our guys were extremely confident gave us a good feeling about the game. Our three main keys vs UConn were to keep Kemba Walker from penetrating our zone. Close out on shooters and not allow open looks. REBOUND the basketball on both ends. We felt if we could accomplish these three goals we'd have a chance to steal the game in the last four minutes. We accumulated 19 offensive rebounds, held Walker to 8 points while making everyone take tough shots throughout the game. Rick Jackson dominated the paint while recording his 15th double-double of the season. Baye Moussa Keita was the un-sung hero. The freshman has 11 rebounds, 6 steals and 2 blocks. Winning at UConn was huge for us. Although we remained confident throughout the four game skid, winning a tough game is always re-assurance that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

We dominated our next game on the road at South Florida. Everyone played well and together. If felt great to get a convincing road victory running away. Anytime you can get a road win in our conference is huge.

Rivalry week brought Georgetown to the Carrier Dome with a six game win streak. Needless to say we fell short of victory. Georgetown did a great job of executing against our zone and making open shots. They had 20 assist which tells me they did a great job of moving and sharing the ball. Rick Jackson got into early foul trouble and overall we didn't execute on the offensive end of the floor..... As we moved forward we have six Big East game remaining. Three home games and three away. We'd like to close strong to finish in the top 4. During the last six games we play West Virginia and DePaul at home. Al three teams are playing extremely hard while trying to accumulate wins. We get the chance to avenge ourselves against two teams that beat us on our home floor in Villanova and Georgetown. We haven't beat Louisville in five years so it's plenty of great basketball and motivation left for us at this time.

We're looking forward to how we finish as we prepare for the Big East and NCAA tourney! We're excited and working hard daily. For more insight visit www.robmurph.com

Talk to you soon.

Go Orange