The best freshman basketball player is nothing if not persistent.
Whether Carmelo Anthony is maneuvering to the basket, collecting rebounds or reaching for that elusive academic test score, the Syracuse forward usually gains favorable position.
Anthony, a 6-foot-8-inch, 220-pound forward from Baltimore, is the main impediment standing between the Texas Longhorns and the national championship game, which will be played Monday night in New Orleans.
Syracuse (28-5) has other good players. Five Orangemen have scored in double figures during the same game eight times this season. Four average more than 11 points a game. But Anthony is phenomenal with his 22 points and nearly 10 rebounds a game.
Anthony operates best inside the three-point line, the closer to the basket the better. But he also has hit 50 three-point shots this season. He hit six of his first nine shots Sunday during a 63-47 victory over Oklahoma, a strong defensive team, in the East Regional final.
His rebounding average is uncommonly high for a small forward, a position at which players tend to work closer to the perimeter than the basket. In Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense, Anthony is stationed along the back line. He also is adept at offensive rebounding, often retrieving his own missed shots.
Anthony nearly didn’t make it to Syracuse. By his count, he took the SAT and ACT college entrance exams five or six times before earning a score on the latter that barely qualified him for eligibility as a freshman under NCAA guidelines.
Had he not qualified, Anthony might have skipped college altogether and submitted his name for the NBA draft, and Syracuse would not have had the surprise success it enjoyed this season. Unranked in the two media and coaches polls, the Orangemen vaulted to national prominence with an eight-player rotation that includes three freshmen and three sophomores, the same lack of experience as the Longhorns’ most recent opponent, Michigan State.
Texas Coach Rick Barnes said today’s young players are able to make a bigger impact than their predecessors were because of the vast experience they gain competing against top competition during summer tournaments.
“Players come in more mature,” Barnes said.
Hakim Warrick, a 6-8 sophomore, averages 15 points, 8.7 rebounds and works the back of the Syracuse zone. Gerry McNamara, a freshman point guard, averages 13 points and nearly five assists. More than half his baskets — 76 — have been three-pointers. He made four of them in the second half of an NCAA tournament second-round victory over Oklahoma State. Another freshman, guard Billy Edelin, provides energy and nine points a game, mostly by driving to the basket. He scored 20 against Oklahoma State.
Jeremy McNeil, a 6-8 junior reserve from San Antonio, averages three blocked shots in 19 minutes a game.
“I’ve got a great supporting cast,” Anthony said. “Everybody has one good player on their team, but we’ve got eight or nine great players.”
Syracuse is slightly below average at shooting three-pointers — 33 percent. The Orangemen are better closer to the basket, except for McNamara.
And then there is the famous zone defense, which has been likened to a spider web or an octopus, all those long arms forcing rushed shots and turnovers by opponents. Oklahoma shot 31 percent and committed 19 turnovers against Syracuse, whose coach, Jim Boeheim, said his team had not played better defense all season.
Anthony produced 20 points and 10 rebounds against Oklahoma, his best NCAA tournament game after three that did not meet his standards. During two games he went an entire half without scoring.
“His year has been unbelievable,” Boeheim said. “His first three games of the tournament he didn’t play as well as he can. (But) he had a very good game against a very good defensive team in Oklahoma. He’s a guy that can get a lot better. To me, he’s just a kid — a baby almost.”
The Orangemen compensate for their youth with talent, athleticism and composure. All three were evident when they came back from a 17-point first-half deficit to beat Oklahoma State by 12.
No wonder Boeheim says he’s “never considered players freshmen or sophomores; they’re players.”
