The Syracuse men’s basketball team gave plenty of reasons for the loss to Pittsburgh last Monday. It was tired after playing five games in 12 days. It was playing on the road. It was playing a Top 10 team.

Guess what? It was wrong on all accounts.

After Sunday’s 68-61 loss to Seton Hall, it’s clearer than ever that six or seven or even 30 days of rest won’t help the Orange. It doesn’t matter who SU faces – this Syracuse team isn’t that good.

We’ve heard comments about the offense from Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim all season, but most merely chalked it up to another sarcastic comment from the Hall of Fame coach. Turns out, Boeheim was dead on.

‘It’s our offense,’ Boeheim said. ‘We made too many turnovers and we missed too many lay-ups. I just told the players we’re not going to win any games if we miss eight lay-ups and we turn it over that many times.’

Any team that can find a way to miss eight lay-ups against the second-best Big East team from New Jersey may want to start scrambling for last-minute Spring Break plans. If Syracuse continues to play like it did against the Pirates, even the NIT would be a present.

Even with the Carrier Dome crowd of 26,737 fully supporting its foundering unit, the Orange found a way to shoot a blank. Actually, 22 blanks. SU attempted its money shot, the 3-pointer, 27 times. It made it five times.

The Orange can’t even turn to Gerry McNamara, who’s been hoisting up heavily defended shots since the rest of his team has failed to support him. McNamara shot 3-12 from 3-point range.

It signals doom for any team that depends on the 3-pointer and then proceeds to shoot just under 19 percent from downtown. The scary part for the Orange faithful is they don’t know just how deep this doom is.

Syracuse is faced with a situation none of its current players have faced – trying to break a four-game losing streak. It hasn’t happened since the 2001-2002 season and it’s only the third time it’s happened with Boeheim at the helm. It’s the kind of skid unthinkable in these parts and a skid that won’t end anytime soon unless the Orange gets its offensive act together.

‘I’ve never been through it,’ McNamara said. ‘I’ve never lost four games straight. I’m in the same situation they’re in.’

Everyone’s heard how great the Big East is this year and how the conference could get eight, nine, 10 NCAA Tournament bids. As much as that seems true, it isn’t the Louisville’s or the Syracuse’s benefiting. The bulked-up Big East instead has shown the nation the Orange’s flaws. SU is assured to drop out of the Top 25 and it’s lucky if it gets a ranking again this season.

‘Every game’s tough, and you have to play well every game,’ Boeheim said. ‘We’ve got to start playing better or we’re going to struggle.’

Until Syracuse finds a way to better compensate for its flaws, the Orange is down and probably will keep getting kicked.

So much for excuses.

Rob Anthes is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at rmanthes@syr.edu.

Published on January 29, 2006 at 12:00 pm