Why Shabazz's age matters
The news that Shabazz Muhammad and his family lied about his age makes a big difference with how we view him as an NBA prospect.
| Final - 3.21.2013 | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana Grizzlies | 15 | 19 | 34 |
| Syracuse Orange | 38 | 43 | 81 |
The news that Shabazz Muhammad and his family lied about his age makes a big difference with how we view him as an NBA prospect.
Seth Davis said that if Syracuse beat Montana, he'd wear an orange wig on TV. Syracuse won. So did America.
Michael Carter-Williams may not be able to score the ball at will but didn't need to as Syracuse dominated the Montana Grizzlies while Carter-Williams dropped nine assists.
The Syracuse Orange put on a clinic against the Montana Grizzlies and will advance to face the California Golden Bears.
The Syracuse Orange will open NCAA Tournament play when they take on Montana on Thursday night. The Orange are coming off a 78-61 Big East championship game loss to Louisville.
The Syracuse Orange will play what we all hope is the first of many NCAA Tournament games when they take on the Montana Grizzlies in San Jose, CA around 10:00 p.m. EST tonight. Where will you be watching?
Some think Syracuse will lose in the first round to Montana, while others expect the Orange to go to the Final Four. The wild card is, of course, whether Wednesday's report of an NCAA investigation will distract the team.
I turned to Jonathan Reed of Big Sky Basketball to provide the insight we need to understand Thursday's tourney showdown between the Orange and Grizzlies a little better.
Meet Keron DeShields, Montana Grizzlies' sophomore guard. He's also the cousin of one Donte Greene.
The Orange earn a 4 seed, but a trip to the Final Four won't be easy.
Before you ask me, "What channel is truTV?," read this.
The Syracuse Orange begin their quest to prove everyone wrong and return to the Final Four for the first time in a decade when they take on the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday. Let's get all the particulars out of the way...
| November | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| @ Colorado St. Rams | Friday, November 09 2012 | loss 65 - 72 | coverage |
| Minot State | Wednesday, November 14 2012 | win 82 - 53 | coverage |
| @ Idaho Vandals | Saturday, November 17 2012 | win 66 - 63 | coverage |
| San Diego Toreros | Saturday, November 24 2012 | win 67 - 66 | coverage |
| @ BYU Cougars | Wednesday, November 28 2012 | loss 60 - 85 | coverage |
| @ San Francisco Dons | Friday, November 30 2012 | loss 68 - 78 | coverage |
| December | |||
| Carroll, Mont. | Saturday, December 08 2012 | win 78 - 58 | coverage |
| South Dakota St. Jackrabbits | Saturday, December 15 2012 | loss 67 - 68 | coverage |
| @ Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | Wednesday, December 19 2012 | win 62 - 56 | coverage |
| @ Sacramento St. Hornets | Friday, December 21 2012 | win 61 - 60 | coverage |
| January | |||
| Eastern Washington Eagles | Thursday, January 03 2013 | win 81 - 66 | coverage |
| Portland St. Vikings | Saturday, January 05 2013 | win 62 - 55 | coverage |
| @ North Dakota | Thursday, January 10 2013 | win 77 - 62 | coverage |
| @ Northern Colorado Bears | Saturday, January 12 2013 | win 85 - 77 | coverage |
| Southern Utah Thunderbirds | Thursday, January 17 2013 | win 73 - 67 | coverage |
| Montana St. Bobcats | Saturday, January 19 2013 | win 76 - 71 | coverage |
| Idaho St. Bengals | Thursday, January 24 2013 | win 70 - 51 | coverage |
| Weber St. Wildcats | Saturday, January 26 2013 | win 76 - 74 | coverage |
| @ Portland St. Vikings | Thursday, January 31 2013 | win 81 - 68 | coverage |
| February | |||
| @ Eastern Washington Eagles | Saturday, February 02 2013 | win 65 - 46 | coverage |
| Northern Colorado Bears | Thursday, February 07 2013 | win 73 - 63 | coverage |
| North Dakota | Saturday, February 09 2013 | win 78 - 58 | coverage |
| @ Weber St. Wildcats | Thursday, February 14 2013 | loss 63 - 87 | coverage |
| @ Idaho St. Bengals | Saturday, February 16 2013 | win 61 - 54 | coverage |
| @ Davidson Wildcats | Saturday, February 23 2013 | loss 87 - 93 | coverage |
| March | |||
| @ Montana St. Bobcats | Saturday, March 02 2013 | win 71 - 68 | coverage |
| @ Southern Utah Thunderbirds | Monday, March 04 2013 | win 86 - 74 | coverage |
| Sacramento St. Hornets | Thursday, March 07 2013 | win 63 - 52 | coverage |
| Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | Saturday, March 09 2013 | win 63 - 50 | coverage |
| Northern Colorado Bears | Friday, March 15 2013 | win 70 - 56 | coverage |
| Weber St. Wildcats | Saturday, March 16 2013 | win 67 - 64 | coverage |
| @ Syracuse Orange | Thursday, March 21 2013 | loss 34 - 81 | coverage |
| # | Pos. | DOB | W | H | College | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Cherry | 5 | GUARD | 177 | 6-1 | senior | |
| Spencer Coleman | 24 | FORWARD | 210 | 6-6 | junior | |
| Keron DeShields | 20 | GUARD | 177 | 6-2 | sophomore | |
| Nick Emerson | 15 | FORWARD | 200 | 6-5 | freshman | |
| Jordan Gregory | 10 | GUARD | 183 | 6-2 | sophomore | |
| Kevin Henderson | 2 | FORWARD | 190 | 6-5 | sophomore | |
| Eric Hutchison | 45 | CENTER | 236 | 6-9 | junior | |
| Kareem Jamar | 32 | GUARD,FORWARD | 210 | 6-5 | junior | |
| Andy Martin | 41 | CENTER | 225 | 7-0 | freshman | |
| Mathias Ward | 40 | FORWARD | 236 | 6-7 | senior | |
| Michael Weisner | 33 | FORWARD | 195 | 6-7 | sophomore | |
| Jake Wiley | 12 | FORWARD | 205 | 6-6 | freshman | |
| Morgan Young | 0 | GUARD | 180 | 6-0 | freshman |
| FG | 3PT | FT | Rebounds | Misc | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | M | M | A | Pct | M | A | Pct | M | A | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Ast | TO | Stl | Blk | PF | PPG | |
| Mathias Ward | 24 | 31.5 | 5.4 | 10.5 | 51.0 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 40.0 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 81.7 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.0 | 14.8 |
| Kareem Jamar | 32 | 35.0 | 4.9 | 9.9 | 49.4 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 35.5 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 71.0 | 1.1 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 4.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 14.2 |
| Will Cherry | 22 | 32.9 | 4.0 | 10.0 | 40.3 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 26.2 | 4.3 | 5.6 | 76.4 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 13.3 |
| Jordan Gregory | 30 | 26.9 | 2.4 | 5.3 | 45.6 | 1.4 | 3.3 | 41.8 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 88.1 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 8.2 |
| Spencer Coleman | 32 | 21.4 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 50.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 39.3 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 77.2 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 7.6 |
| Keron DeShields | 31 | 21.4 | 2.1 | 5.7 | 36.9 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 31.3 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 79.4 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 6.6 |
| Michael Weisner | 32 | 20.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 48.8 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 46.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 90.0 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 6.0 |
| Eric Hutchison | 29 | 15.8 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 54.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 48.4 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| Kevin Henderson | 29 | 11.7 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 42.3 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 39.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 55.6 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 |
| Andy Martin | 28 | 8.2 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 47.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 79.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 |
| Jake Wiley | 20 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Morgan Young | 8 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Nick Emerson | 12 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |