A furiously frustrating season, which included an unlikely run to the Final Four, ended Saturday night for the Syracuse Orange in utter disappointment. A sluggish offensive effort and a few questionable foul calls down the stretch were enough to sink the Orange and thwart a second-half comeback attempt. After the disappointments and under achievements of the last few years, it was refreshing and exciting to watch this team get hot at the right time of year and make a surprising run, but the deeper they got in the tournament, the harder it was to see them fall.
In a way, this team teased us. Even the most optimistic Orange fans were ready to write them off after their pathetic excuse for a rivalry game in the regular season finale against Georgetown. But they piqued our interest with their play in the Big East Tournament and their revenge wins against Pittsburgh and Georgetown, showing signs of life and giving a glimmer of hope that they could avoid an early exit and make an appearance in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five years, which they did.
Once they got to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, they tantalized us with their defense. In wins against Indiana and Marquette, the 2-3 zone was a dominant force like nothing Syracuse fans had ever seen before. The Syracuse defense looked unconquerable and along with the improved play of Michael Carter-Williams, who finally appeared to be fulfilling his promise, the Orange looked unbeatable.
It seemed to have taken a few days for it to sink in that Syracuse was heading back to the Final Four for the first time in a decade. But once it did, there was great optimism that the Orange defense would continue to perform at an elite level and carry the team to two more wins. There was hope that this team could accomplish what the teams that came before them couldn’t, and that in some way winning the national championship so unexpectedly would make up for the unfortunate circumstances that prevented the 2010 and 2012 Orange teams from accomplishing what they were more than capable of doing.
But in the end the 2013 Orange team just set us up for disappointment. What we thought was an impermeable defense had some holes in it during the first half against Michigan, causing Syracuse to trail by 11 at halftime. Meanwhile, the offense sputtered, reverting back to form it had when the team struggled throughout the month of February. Just like the team that finished the regular season was not the team we saw in the Big East Tournament, the team that played in the Final Four was not the same team that reached the Final Four.
Ultimately, this trip to the Final Four will be remembered fondly. It will mask a regular season that was filled with inconsistencies and frustration. But it was those same inconsistencies and those same frustrations that returned during the Final Four, and prevented Syracuse from riding perhaps the best defense it’s ever had to a national championship. The great postseason will help to offset and hide a less than spectacular regular season, but the disappointing and frustrating way the season came to an end in the Final Four will always remind of what a disappointing and frustrating season it was as a whole; a season that has finally come to an end.
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