Cuse'n to the Dance?

The Orange hoops squad escaped with a win at home against St. John's 76-74 thanks in large part to Demetris Nichols' career high 37 points. The scoring output from Nichols was fantastic but the 'Cuse needed each of those 37 points to win amidst some still very glaring problems. As the Orange heads to Tampa to square off against South Florida there are some pressing needs and concerns SU will have to address down the stretch to make/go far into the Big Dance. First and foremost is the guard play - a necessary staple for success in March. Josh Wright is really the Orange's only option at the point - but he is still too careless with the ball and leaves his feet too much with nowhere to go. Shooting guard Eric Devendorf's decision making in the last 5-6 games has been pretty awful as well and seems to get worse by the game. It looks like a little Gerry McNamara syndrome post Hakim Warrick and Carmelo Anthony - trying to do too much. The kid is a scorer but he forces when there's nothing there, and while he came away with 9 assists against St. John's - that was at the expense of 4 turnovers. The shot selection with these two and the team as a whole leaves much to be desired and its translates into transition points for the opponent. Coach Jim Boeheim said after the win against SJU that "We are going to have to play better defense if we are going to finish the season the way we would like to." While the halfcourt defense wasn't great - it was the transition D or lack there of that really caused the problems and let the Johnnies get some open looks and easy baskets and stick around despite Nichols' ridiculous game. And it all goes back to the decision making of Wright and Devendorf. Another example - even in the middle of Nichols' hot streak, Devendorf took a 3 with at least 20 seconds still left on the shot clock not even trying to find Nichols. Furthermore, while Wright is a lock for a few bad turnovers a game - there's no other option. Devendorf isn't a point guard, Paul Harris is the furthest thing from, and when Josh Wright is out for an extended period of time, it impacts the team in a negative way. Terrence Roberts said a few games ago that the Orange has to start playing as a team and not street ball if they want to win. They're still got a ways to go, but with a trap game against USF tonight, the 'Cuse needs to make good decisions and get a little momentum going for its stretch run.