Syracuse's Carmelo Anthony ponders future

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Everything seems so easy for Carmelo Anthony -- the drives to the basket, the no-look passes, the alley-oop dunks, the fadeaway 3-pointers, the smile.

There is one thing, though, that's troubling him as his freshman year at Syracuse draws to a close. And it won't go away.

"Everybody's asking me what I'm going to do about going to the NBA. It's kind of difficult," said the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward whose 17 double-doubles have the Orangemen soaring and NBA scouts flocking to see him play. "I think about it every day, but I try not to. I haven't made a decision yet. I'm still focused on this season."

It has been a season to remember for Anthony and his young teammates. Syracuse (23-4), which starts two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior, has risen all the way to No. 12 and appears headed for a high seeding in the NCAA tournament, which the Orangemen failed to make last year.

What has made this team special is its refusal to concede. Anthony is averaging 22.4 points per game, second-best among the nation's freshman players, and leads all freshmen with 9.9 rebounds per game despite playing at small forward. Behind him, the Orangemen have rallied from significant second-half deficits to win 11 times.

Even the coach, who's been on the job 27 years, is amazed.

"Eleven games. I've never seen a team, and I doubt there's even been a team, that's been behind as many points as we have in 11 games in the second half and won all 11," said Jim Boeheim, normally very reserved when talking about his team.

Anthony, who grew up in a rough west Baltimore neighborhood he calls "The Pharmacy" because of its rampant drug problems, is the main reason for the Orangemen's surge. His consistency has been remarkable. In his first three games he put up these numbers: 27 points, 11 rebounds against both Memphis and Colgate, and 28 points, 10 rebounds against Valparaiso.

A threat from anywhere on the court, Anthony has led Syracuse in scoring in eight of the last nine games, never falling below 21. He had season highs of 30 points and 15 rebounds in a 93-84 overtime win March 1 at Georgetown with 20 scouts watching.

If he has a weakness, it may be the boredom that surfaces from time to time in games where the points and rebounds come too easily.

"I need a challenge once in a while," said Anthony, who needs just seven points to surpass Lawrence Moten's school freshman scoring record of 583. "Playing against the teams early on in the year, I kind of got spoiled being able to do whatever I wanted to do."

That didn't happen in mid-January against Pittsburgh in Syracuse's third Big East game of the season. The Panthers' veterans held Anthony to 14 points and a season-low three rebounds and easily beat the Orangemen 73-60.

Jaron Brown held Anthony scoreless for long stretches, but he made one mistake -- he said the wrong thing afterward: "We're a physical team, and he wore down quicker than I thought he would."

In the rematch two weeks later, Anthony, clearly stoked by that comment, again scored 14 points and had a game-high 13 rebounds as the Orangemen upset the second-ranked Panthers 67-65 before 30,303 in the Carrier Dome.

In an 82-80 win two weeks ago over then-No. 10 Notre Dame, Anthony scored 10 in a 14-2 run that wiped out a 12-point deficit and brought the Orangemen into a 69-69 tie with 6 1/2 minutes left.

Two games later, his three-point play gave Syracuse its margin of victory in a 76-75 win at Michigan State, only the Spartans' fifth home loss in 80 games.

And despite an off-night Tuesday at Notre Dame -- he shot 9-for-23 -- Anthony scored four of his 21 points in the final two minutes, sealing a 92-88 win with a strong rebound basket in traffic.

"Watching him on tape, I don't think you can appreciate how well he shoots the ball," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said after a 92-65 loss to the Orangemen in December. "Watching him in warmups, I came back said to the guys, 'This guy can shoot.' We knew he could shoot, but you watch how pure his shot looks. You combine a guy that can shoot and also has the strength and ability to get to the basket and get to the foul line, it makes it very difficult to cover him."

Scoring is only part of Anthony's game. His willingness to involve his teammates when he's double- and triple-teamed has shown up nightly in the box score -- Syracuse has four players averaging in double figures.

"He's just a great scorer, and he can play with the team," said guard Gerry McNamara, who has combined with Anthony to become the highest-scoring freshman duo in the country (36 points per game). "That's what impresses me about him. He can play alongside other guys. A lot of guys that are good scorers don't mesh well with other people. What makes Carmelo great is he gets other people the ball, and that makes him that much better."

Anthony's trademark might be the unguardable fallaway jump shot he gently releases from 3-point range. Then again, it just might be the smile that almost always lights up his face.

"He keeps everybody loose," said assistant coach Troy Weaver, who recruited Anthony. "When you see your best player relaxed and not tense and not pressured, it relaxes everybody else. He just brings it down a notch and really helps everybody relax with his smile and personality. It's very unusual.

"He could be a spoiled brat," Weaver said. "But his mom has done a fantastic job of raising him and keeping him humble and making him understand the big picture."