A young fan crying because he doesn't want his favorite player Scoop Jardine to graduate
The young fan encapsulates one half of the Syracuse fan base. The half that loves our scrappy point guard and chants his name (they're not booing they're saying Scoop) after a big play.
But there is another group, that thinks Scoop is poop. And not the good kind. Jardine has become one of the most controversial players in Syracuse history.
I think a lot of the hatred for Scoop arose during a tough stretch last season. After an 18-0 start the team lost 4 in a row. Because Scoop played poorly, particularly at the end of those games, he was accused of point-shaving. The Scoop haters believed this and have hated him ever since.
The more fair-minded among us have noticed that Scoop has been on the only 2 Syracuse teams in the last 30 years to get a 1-seed in the tournament. Sherman Douglas, Pearl Washington and certainly not Gerry McNamara were the never point guards on a top-seeded Syracuse team. Scoop Jardine was, twice.
Jardine makes some bad plays, all college players do. But the fact is, in the past three seasons, he has never an assist-to-turnover ratio below 2. Scoop takes some bad shots, they all do. But this season his FG% is up to 48%, and not coincidentally he is taking 2 fewer 3-point attempts per game.
Jardine is a good not great player. He makes bad passes, he takes bad shots, he shoots poorly from the line (49% this year, down from 83% as a freshman) and he doesn't play aggressive defense.
But he has been a major player, the point guard, on the best three-year stretch in school history. He has helped restore SU to national prominence. And he makes little kids cry.
I like him too.
ReplyDeletePaul how do you see Syracuse matching up against Kentucky and Carolina? Since the preseason I have thought UNC was built to win the tournament, but Kentucky and Syracuse have steadily surpassed them in the polls. I obviously don't want Carolina winning it all, but other than these two other teams I really don't see anyone else taking them out.
This will have to wait until my bracket analysis which I hope to publish Monday morning.
ReplyDeleteBut I will say one thing. I don't want to see Wichita State as the 4 or 5 in our region. If we play them, we will lose.
As always, level headed analysis. His positives probably outweigh negatives, but his 2 big negatives - embarrassing FT % that got worse every year & stupid decisions (shots & passes) - are my pet peeves.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate his contributions, he may have won more games for us than Gmac, and improvements in several areas. But simple things like FTs and stupid decisions just drive me nuts.