There are two main differences between this year’s Syracuse basketball team and any other team in SU history.

After the regular-season finale Saturday, Brandon Triche summed up what makes this team special and did it in order of importance.

‘Our defense is on point,’ he said. ‘That’s all that matters right now. … You’ve got to be able to play defense. And we’ve got guys who can put the ball in the basket. Whether it’s first half or second half, we’re going to get it going. We have five or six guys that can do that.’

There you have it. Defense and depth. Those are the keys that have allowed Syracuse to do things on the court this year that the school has never done before.

It set program records for best start (20-0) and most regular-season wins (30) and didn’t lose in the Carrier Dome for the first time since the 2002-03 national championship season. The individual accolades include three All-Big East selections, the conference’s defensive player of the year in Fab Melo and the league’s best sixth man in Dion Waiters. And Saturday, it tied the Big East record with 17 wins in league play, something only one other team has done in the 33-year history of the conference.

‘I know 17 wins in the Big East is really great,’ senior Scoop Jardine said. ‘It’s really great because going on the road in this conference is not easy. To go on the road and almost win every game and continue to win every game at home, what coach and what team wouldn’t want to be in the position we’re in right now?’

Simply put, the only reason this team won’t go down in history as the best Syracuse team ever is if it falls short of a national title. In that case, the default goes to the 2002-03 squad that owns the program’s only national championship.

But even without a national title, a handful of other teams could lay claim to the title of Syracuse’s best ever. One of the more intriguing groups in the mix is the unit from the 2009-10 season.

That year, it lost to eventual runner-up Butler in the Sweet 16. It’s not a stretch to say SU could have knocked off Kansas State and Michigan State just as the Bulldogs did to reach the championship had Arinze Onuaku not suffered a knee injury in the Big East tournament. And from there, it would have been a one-game playoff with Duke.

Still, this year’s Orange is better thanks to those two areas that separate it from every other Syracuse team in history. And it starts with the defense.

‘Defense wins games for you,’ head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We’re in the top two in the league in almost all defensive categories. … You look at all the categories, we’re right there.’

But the stat most indicative of just how good this team’s 2-3 zone is, is the fact that no Syracuse team in the past 60 years has ever allowed fewer points per game (60.2).

The 1950-51 SU squad held opponents to 59.2 points per game. But that was more than 60 years ago. The mascot was still a Saltine Warrior, and there was no shot clock, no 3-point line and no Boeheim.

The team from 2009-10 was solid defensively. The national championship team was, too. But this year’s team is special.

‘We know we’re able to pressure guys,’ senior Kris Joseph said after SU’s second game of the year. ‘We have the athleticism and length to do it. And we’re going to continue to do it.’

And SU has done it all season.

That dominant defense has been aided by the second aspect that separates this team from the rest. Boeheim has said all year this is probably the deepest team he has had at Syracuse. That depth eliminates the need for a clear-cut star, although the aforementioned individual accolades for this team show that there might be a couple on the team anyway.

In addition, constantly having fresh legs allows the Orange to play with defensive intensity every game.

‘That helps,’ Joseph said. ‘We’re used to going seven, maybe eight guys deep. This year, there’s no denying that we have 10 guys that can really play.’

With that depth, its defense and a 30-1 record, this Syracuse squad already has taken its place in the SU record books. With a national championship, it will go down as the best team in program history.

But even without a title, it should be at the forefront of that conversation for years to come.

Zach Brown is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at zjbrown@syr.edu or on Twitter at @zjbrown13.

Published on March 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm