PHOENIX – Craig Forth’s season, by most accounts, was a success. At times, the junior center turned from a sporadically serviceable tree to a reliable scoring threat.

But last night, Forth played about as bad as he gets. In the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s 80-71 loss against Alabama in the Sweet 16, Forth shot 1-for-3, scored two points and grabbed four rebounds. The junior center played just seven minutes.

‘That was too much,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘When a 7-foot center ducks under the basket and tries to flip up a shot a 5-foot-11 player would shoot, I don’t think he should play. He wasn’t ready to play tonight. You’ve got to play 7-foot if you’re 7 feet tall.’

Boeheim referred to a play at the start of the second half when Forth drove to the basket and flung the ball wildly out-of-bounds. Forth immediately retreated to the bench, where he received a wicked tongue-lashing from Boeheim and stayed there for the rest of the game.

‘We just didn’t have it tonight,’ Forth said.

Turn, turn, turn

Last night, Syracuse was forced to hand over its national title. One of the biggest reasons? Turnovers.

Syracuse committed 18 turnovers last night, including a team-high seven from Josh Pace, one of SU’s primary ball-handlers.

‘We made some uncharacteristic turnovers that you just can’t make in a game of this magnitude,’ Boeheim said. ‘That made a huge difference tonight.’

After SU tied the game at 55 in the second half, the Orangemen turned the ball over on two straight possessions. Alabama used that to spark a 14-4 run that eventually decided the game.

‘When you turn the ball over like that,’ SU freshman Terrence Roberts said, ‘it’s tough to win.’

Wish you were here

There were plenty of things to think about for SU in Phoenix. But one person that wasn’t there occupied the minds of some players.

While SU prepared to take one more step in defending its national championship, Billy Edelin stayed behind. But the thoughts of his teammates didn’t.

‘Maybe when I’m a leader on the team, I can help some other freshmen out,’ SU freshman Louie McCroskey said. ‘(For me), early in the year that was Billy. He definitely helped me when I wasn’t playing. Billy wasn’t only a teammate, he was a friend. He went through it for a year and a half.’

‘That’s my buddy,’ SU center and Edelin’s roommate Jeremy McNeil said. ‘He’s just got to deal with whatever he’s got to deal with. We all wish we he could be here.’

Phoenix omen

Playing in Phoenix is bringing back some eerily good memories for UConn. In 1999, the last time the Huskies played in at America West Arena, UConn won its first and only national championship after winning the West Regional.

That year, UConn, a No. 1 seed, advanced to a bracket that didn’t include a seed higher than five. Sound familiar? It should – this season, No. 8 Alabama is the highest remaining seed in the desert.

‘I’ve said since a long, long time ago, at the start of the season, I thought we had a chance to make one heck of a long run in this tournament,’ UConn head coach Jim Calhoun said.

Meet the press

For years, Boeheim earned as much a reputation for his sour puss as his basketball mind. Seems he had the media fooled.

‘I really am happy,’ Boeheim said at a press conference Wednesday. ‘I just didn’t want to share that with you people for a long time, and then I decided well, why not? It’s interesting how you can become a better coach when you think I am a happy guy.’

Boeheim said that during his first 10 years at SU, he didn’t concern himself with his perception. But in time, he decided he’d change.

‘I wondered if I was a nice guy, would people write good things about me?’ he said. ‘And they did. I never really disliked (press conferences). I just got in there, gave answers out and got out. Now I try to have fun with it.’

This and that

With 6:32 left in the first half, Roberts left the game with an injured ankle. He later returned and showed no ill effects. … Syracuse moved to 2-1 against Alabama all time. In the last meeting, SU won, 70-66, in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1997. … Several Orangemen, including Pace and McCroskey, decked their feet out with Nike’s latest basketball sneaker, the Hurrache 2K4. … The game marked Alabama’s ninth trip to the Sweet 16. Last night was the first time the Tide advanced to the Elite Eight. … Vanderbilt players wore T-shirts with the phrase ‘V-Unit’ emblazoned across the chest, a nod to rapper 50 Cent’s posse, G-Unit. … America West Arena usually houses the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, but you’d never know it. The NCAA covered the Suns’ mid-court logo with an NCAA logo and placed black curtains over every ad or Suns emblem on the arena faade.

Published on March 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm