Syracuse Basketball

Vegas Baby Vegas

2005-03-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

I'll be in Las Vegas for the first weekend of the tourney..i'll be back monday for a recap of the first weekend

Tom Brennan Speaks

2005-03-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Just heard Vermont coach Tom Brennan on Mike and the Mad Dog in NEw York. Couple of interesting tidbits

- He can't believ that an RPI of 21 gets you a 13 seed and that Syracuse won 27 games and the Big East Tournament and gets only a 4 seed.

- TJ Sorrentine wont guard Gerry McNamara, David Hehn will. Brennan says Hehn is his best defender. That should mean easy shots for Josh Pace. Pace stands at 6'5" , while Sorrentine is a generous 5'11". Look for Pace to have a big game friday.

- They will try to double team Warrick. Brennan doesnt think Coppenrath can handle Warrick by himself. He doesnt think anyone in the country can handle Warrick one on one.

- Forget about a Vermont home crowd. Vermont was only able to get 550 tickets for the Worcester pod. Syracuse and UConn fans bought all the tickets in hoping their team would be put there. Vermont will have to buy tickets from any BC fans that thought their team would be there. The Worcester pod is sold out.

What's a Catamount?

2005-03-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

Hear that squeaking? It's the Syracuse bandwagon breaking from all of the weight. The latest passenger? Bill Raftery says Syracuse has the "onions" even though they dont play the "manaman" to get out of the Austin Regional.

I've shown you the brackets and I've given you the teams in the Austin Regional, but I haven't broken down Syracuse's first round game against Vermont. So here goes.

Vermont 24-6
America East Champions
The Sports Network breaks down the Catamounts before the season started.

Common Opponents
Syracuse- Beat Albany 72-55, Beat Binghamton 86-56, Beat Siena 78-56
Vermont- Beat Albany (2) 62-45, 71-63, Beat Binghamton (2) 83-53, 71-44, Beat Siena 77-52

Background
Vermont is a school out of the America East Conference. That conference has never sent an at-large team to the tournament. Prior to 2003 they had never been to the NCAA tournament, but have been there every year since. The story on Vermont is that this is Coach Tom Brennan's last year at the school after 19 years at the school. Brennan is a very likable guy evidence by his radio show that he hosts in the state. Yes thats right, Brennan hosts a morning radio show that regularly beats Imus in the Morning and the Howard Stern Show. Brennan has said he will continue doing the show after his retirement from coaching.

The Players
The Catamounts run their offense between the two players who have won the last 4 America East Player of the Year Awards. Taylor Coppenrath (2003-05) and TJ Sorrentine (2002) have the highest scoring average of any duo in the country. Coppenrath (25.7) and Sorrentine (18.4) also have the highest percentage of team points as any duo in the country at 61 percent. By Comparison the SU duo of Warrick and McNamara combine for 49.5 percent of the Orange's points. Sorrentine is the marksman for the team. At 5-11 Sorrentine is a little small but can stroke the 3. He shot 40 percent from 3 this season and made 105 3s. Vermont will go 8 deep on the court. The reason there is so much focus on Coppenrath and Sorrentine is that no one else on the team averages more than 6 points a game. Coppenrath averages 8.9 rebounds a game but he does get some help on the boards from Germain Mopa Njila.

Height
Vermont has decent height. Coppenrath and Martin Klimes, a sophomore forward, are both 6'8". Vermont's other forward spot is occupied by Njila who only stands at 6'4". For one of the few times all year McNamara will have a height advantage on his counterpart, Sorrentine. The other guard spot, though, is played by 6'5" David Hehn. So across the board Vermont could matchup with SU's height.

Style of Play
Thanks to the great Ken Pomeroy here are some pretty good stats on how Vermont likes to play. Vermont games average about 67 possessions for each team per game. They like to slow the pace and let Coppenrath and Sorrentine work in the half court. They'll get that opportunity against the Syracuse zone defense. Vermont is also very good at making their possesions count as they score a point per possesion. So every two possessions the Catamounts make a field goal which is very efficient, but Syracuse is just as efficient with 1.4 points per possession. Vermont will try to slow the game down to allow Coppenrath and Sorrentine to take over in the half court. The other Catamount players will try to just fill their roles as they are not expected to score and contribute a lot. The Catamounts do hit a lot of 3 pointers out side of Sorrentine. they average nearly 9 3 pointers a game and if left open can hit the shot. 4 Vermont players have at least 20 3 pointers this season. Compared to SU who only has one (GMac).

Defense
Vermont will play straight up man to man. The like to take their chances with the matchups they have on the defensive end. The problem in this game will be the footspeed of Coppenrath against the quickness of Warrick and the size of Njila (6'4) against the size of Terrence Roberts (6'8"). I would not be at all surprised to see Vermont try to sprinkle in some zone as the Orange has struggled against the zone at times. The question is whether or not the Catamounts can play it well enough to disrupt the Orange.

Intangibles
Vermont will try as hard as they can to win this game for Brennan. Brennan has been a fixture in Vermont for the last 19 years and they would love to send him out with the school's first ever win in the Tournament. The Catamounts also have 5 seniors so if you think you will rattle them, think again. The core group of guys has played in two NCAA tournament games and played eventual champion UConn in last year's tourney.

Bottom Line
Syracuse is much much more athletic than Vermont. While Coppenrath is a very good post player, he will struggle defensively against quicker opponents. In two of the three games this year where Vermont played athletic teams, they were manhandled on the boards. Kansas out rebounded them 48-36 and UNC ourebounded them 40-31. Wayne Simien had a field day for Kansas with 25 points and 14 rebounds and Nick Fazekas of Nevada went ballistic with 31 points and 14 rebounds. Coppenrath will get his points one way or the other. The key is to shut down the other players. In Vermont's other 3 losses (except Maine, when Coppenrath and Sorrentine didnt play) they only averaged 61 points and the players out side of Sorrentine and Coppenrath only scored 49 points COMBINED in those 3 games. This may be the worst match up for the Catamaounts as their two best players play the same position as SU's two best players and the Orange's supporting cast is much better than the one the Catamounts will trot out there. That being said all you need is two great players to step up and one bounce of the ball and you could be this years "cinderella". I think Syracuse is too hungry and too good to get tripped up by Vermont on Friday.

By the way a Catamount is a short-tailed wildcat with usually tufted ears. Who knew?

All Aboard

2005-03-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

First things First. Syracuse/Vermont will start the night session on Day 2 with a 7:10 tip in Worcester, Mass.

The Syracuse Bandwagon is filling up. Who will be left off? Andy Katz, Jay Bilas and Steve Lavin of ESPN and Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis of CBS all picked Syracuse to go the Final Four minutes after the bracket was announced. Today they have some company. The Newark Star Ledger, Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, Jim O'Connell of the Associated Press ,J.A. Adande of the LA Times, and Dennis Dodd of CBSSportsline all have Syracuse winning the Austin Regional.

Who Do I think will win Austin? Lets break down the Region and give one reason why each team will win the region and one reason they won't.

1. Duke 25-5
ACC Tournament Champions
Best Win - North Carolina
Why they'll win - Because JJ Redick will play out of his mind for 4 games and Sheldon Williams wont get in foul trouble.
Why they won't - No Depth. If Sheldon Williams and Shavlik Randolph both get in foul trouble at the same time, Duke is going home.

2. Kentucky 25-5
SEC Regular Season Champions
Best Win- at Louisville
Why they'll win - Chuck Hayes will be dominant in the region and Patrick Sparks lights it up.
Why they won't - Youth. This is a younger Kentucky team than got bounced last year against UAB. If they going gets tough the Wildcats have no senior leader to look towards.

3. Oklahoma 24-7
Co- Big 12 Regular Season Champions
Best win- Kansas
Why they'll win - Kevin Bookout and Taj Gray domnate the paint. Oklahoma may have the best frontline in the region. they'll have to play like it to advance to St. Louis
Why they wont- Someone zones them. Oklahoma is notorious for not playing well against the zone. I dont think the Oklahaoma guards can shoot them to the Final Four.

4. Syracuse 27-6
Big East Tournament Champions
Best Win - UConn
Why they'll win - The zone defense and Hakim Warrick. Warrick can make the case for best player in the region and the SU zone will give teams fits.
Why They Won't - No one steps up to help Gerry McNamara and Warrick. Those two tried to do it alon last year and it got them bounced by Alabama. They need some help this year.

5. Michigan State 22-6
13-3 in the Big 10
Best Win - Wisconsin
Why They'll Win - They finally put it together. They have a very good big man in Paul Davis and good outside shooter in Chris Hill. They've been inconsistent but could make a run here if everything falls right.
Why they won't - The same reason they will. Inconsistency. You cant have an off night in the Tourney and MSU has had too many this year

6. Utah 25-5
Mountain West Conference Regular Season Champions
Best Win - LSU
Why They'll Win - Andrew Bogut. Bogut is the best big man in the country. The "Awesome Aussie" averages a scary 20 points and 12 rebounds a game for the Utes. He needs to pull a Danny Manning for Utah to win this region
Why they won't - No Help. Bogut can't do everything himself and UTah has struggled down the stretch to find another option. They need Marc Jackson and Bryant Markeson to pick up some slack.

7. Cincinnati 24-7
12-4 in Conference USA
Best Win - Charlotte
Why They'll Win - Bob Huggins figures out how to motivate this team. He has a very talented group of players here, but they need to play cohesively. Huggins teams have fizzled in Tourneys before so he needs to take some respnsibilty.
Why They Wont - Fall in love with the 3. Jason Maxiel is one of the better post players in the country, but the Bearcats tend to forget that. You never know what Cincy team you'll get on what night and thats why they wont be in St.Louis

8. Stanford 18-12
11-7 in PAC-10
Best Win - Washington
Why they'll win - Chris Hernandez. Hernandez needs to be th best point guard in this bracket for Stanford to advance. With no Dan Grunfeld, Hernandez will need to outplay Daniel Ewing and Gerry McNamara to get to a regional final.
Why they won't - No Dan Grunfeld. Grunfeld was their leading scorer before going down with a season ending injury. Stanford doesnt have enough in the middle to get by the big boys without him.

9. Mississippi State 22-10
9-7 in SEC
Best Win - Florida
Why they'll win - Lawrence Roberts and Winsome Frazier play like they can. These two guys have been altrenately hurt through the season and now they need to put it together. MSU is a tough draw if that happens, but they havent done it all season.
Why they wont - No belief. MSU was a preseason top 20 pick and after a few losses dont seem to have any confidence in themselves. No Belief. No NCAA tournament win.

10. Iowa 21-11
7-9 in Big 10
Best Win- Louisville (with Pierre Pierce), Michigan State (without)
Why they'll win - The magic of Steve Alford. No one thinks Alford is a good coach, but he did get Southwest Missouri State to a sweet sixteen as a 12 seed so he has some good creadentials. He's rounding these guys back into shape after losing Pierce.
Why they won't - Talent. Iowa is scrappy, but you need that one player that can take over a game if your team is struggling and the Hawkeyes dont have that right now.

11. UTEP 27-7
WAC tournament Champions
Best Win - Nevada
Why They'll win - They score the basketball. UTEP averages nearly 75 points a game and will run you up and down the court. The Miners will be able to keep up with most teams on the scoreboard.
Why they Won't - They play no defense. UTEP likes to run but they forget that they need to stop the other team. Combine that with a lack of post presence makes this tough for UTEP

12. Old Dominion 28-5
CAA Regular Season and Tournament Champions
Best Win - Kent State
Why They'll Win - Alex Loughton. Australia rules thi bracket as Loughton also comes from donw under. Loughton was the CAA's player of the year and could give teams fits on the inside.
Why they won't - Backcourt. Loughton carries the team at times and he is going to need someone to get him the ball and hit a long range shot. ODU has to get that form their guards.

13. Vermont 24-6
America East Regular Season and Tournament Champions
Best Win - Northeastern (3)
Why the'll win - They may have the third best inside outside combo in this region with Taylor Coppenrath and TJ Sorrentine. Those two are the highest scoring duo this year in all of NCAA basketball. If the Catamounts get hot they could be this years bracket breaker
Why They won't - Not enough athleticism. Vermont is a good basketball team but lack the athletes to compete outside of Sorrentine and Coppenrath. Athletic teams give Vermont toruble and thats all they see in this bracket.

14. Niagara 20-9
MAAC Regular Season and Tournament Champions
Best Win - Rider
Why They'll win - We said UTEP can score the ball well not like Niagara. Niagar is the highest scoring team in this bracket and 4th in the country in Points per game. They will run the ball right down your throat
Why they won't - They dont do anything else well. They turn it over a lot and are putrid on defense.

15. Eastern Kentucky 22-8
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Champions
Best Win - Murray State
Why they'll win - Travis Ford actually suits up for the Colonels. Ford guided Kentucy to the 1993 Final Four and still holds many Kentucky records. E. Kentucky's first round opponent? Kentucky
Why they won't - Everything else.

16. Delware State
MEAC Regular Season and Tournament champions
Best win - Hampton (3)
Why thy'll win - Everyone else forgets the tournament starts this week.
Why they won't - The tournament actually does start this week.

First Impressions

2005-03-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

Here's the bracket The Chicago Winner plays Albuquerque in the final four and Syracuse winner vs Austin..

Chicago Regional
1) Illinois vs 16) FDU
8) Texas vs 9) Nevada
5) Alabama vs 12) Wisconsin-Milwaukee
4) BC vs 13)Penn
6) LSU vs 11) UAB
3) Arizona vs 14)Utah St.
7) Southern Illinois vs 10) St Mary's (CA)
2) Oklahoma State vs 15) Southeast Louisiana

Albuquerque Regional
1) Washington vs 16) Montana
8) Pacific vs 9) Pittsburgh
5) Georgia Tech vs 12) George Washington
4) Louisville vs 13) Louisiana- Lafayette
6) Texas Tech vs 11) UCLA
3) Gonzaga vs 14)Winthrop
7) West Virginia vs 10) Creighton
2) Wake Forest vs 15)Chattanooga

Syracuse Regional
1) North Carolina vs 16) Oakland/ Alabama A&M
8)Minnesota vs 9) Iowa State
5) Villanova vs 12) New Mexico
4) Florida vs 13) Ohio
6) Wisconsin vs 11) Northern Iowa
3) Kansas vs 14) Bucknell
7) Charlotte vs 10) NC State
2) UConn vs 15) Central Florida

Austin Regional
1) Duke ve 16) Delaware St.
8) Stanford vs 9) Mississippi State
5) Michigan State vs 12) Old Dominion
4) Syracuse vs 13) Vermont
6) Utah vs 11) UTEP
3) Oklahoma vs 14) Niagara
7) Cincinnatti vs 10) Iowa
2) Kentucky vs 15) Eastern Kentucky

Also I did the S curve which is what the NCAA committee uses to place the teams (1 vs 64, 2 vs 63,etc). The problemis that the committee moves teams around and is not set to the numbers so this is not the official S curve. For example Georgia Tech may have been slotted as a a 6 seed and 21 on the S curve but may have been switched with Texas Tech because of rematches and conference matchups. We'll never know the official S curve, but here is what it looks like as this bracket played out.

1.Illinois
2.UNC
3.Duke
4.Washington
5.Wake Forest
6.Kentucky
7.UConn
8.Oklahoma St.
9.Arizona
10.Kansas
11.Oklahoma
12.Gonzaga
13.Lousiville
14.Syracuse
15.Florida
16.BC
17.Alabama
18.Nova
19.Michigan State
20.Georgia Tech
21.Texas Tech
22.Utah
23.Wiconsin
24.LSU
25.Southern Illinois
26.Charlotte
27.Cincy
28.West Virginia
29.Pacific
30.Stanford
31.Minnesota
32.Texas
33.Nevada
34.Iowa State
35.Miss. St.
36.Pitt
37.Creighton
38.Iowa
39.NC State
40.St Mary's
41.UAB
42.Northern Iowa
43.UTEP
44.UCLA
45.GW
46.Old Dominion
47.New Mexico
48.UW Milwaukee
49.Penn
50.Ohio
51.Vermont
52.UL Lafayette
53.Winthrop
54.Niagara
55.Bucknell
56.Utah St.
57.SE Louisiana
58.UCF
59.E.Kentucky
60.Chatanooga
61.Montana
62.Delaware St.
63.FDU
64.Oakland
65.Alabama A &M

A couple quick notes on the S curve. (These are just observations that may be true based on a glimpse of the rankings)

Oklahoma State would have been in the UNC bracket but couldnt play Kansas so they get flipped to the Illinois regional with UConn going to Syracuse.

Louisville is the strongest 4 seed which means they could have been flipped from a 3 seed because of matchups. Georgia Tech is the weakest 5 which also means the could have been flipped from a 6 because of matchups.

Its not a big difference between Washington being a one seed or Wake Forest. They both get placed in the same region and I dont think either team would have an advantage with a one seed. You can make the argument that Wake has an easier path as the 2 seed than Washington has as the one seed.

Boston College goes from a possible one seed to the worst 4 seed in the span of 8 games.

Quick Syracuse notes

Already Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg of CBS and Jay Bilas, Steve Lavin, and Andy Katz of ESPN have picked SU for the final four. Interesting.

The Austin Regional has the most coaches with a national championship. 4. Tubby Smith, Jim Boeheim, Coach K, and Tom Izzo.

Deepest Regional
Albuquerque
People keep saying its the Syracuse Regional, but I think its the Albuquerque region. Washington, Wake Forest, Gonzaga, Louisville are the top 4 seeds. Louisville and Wake Forest could have made a case for a one seed. Georgia Tech, last years runner- up looms as the 5 seed. And Pitt is a 9 seed. This is the toughest bracket for whoever wins it. This wont be a cake walk for anyone in that region.

Most Wide Open Region
Austin
This is definitely Austin. You can make a case for any of the seeds between 1 through 6 to win this region. Each team has a flaw that will make people pick against them. I love this region as an SU fan

Biggest Snub
No one
I dont think anyone has a gripe on why they should be in the tournament. Notre Dame should have beat Rutgers. DePaul should have beaten UAB at least once. Buffalo had an 18 point lead on Ohio and blew it. Miami (OH) fizzled down the stretch. No one has any right to complain. They all had numerous chances to get in and none of them did it.

Biggest Seed Gripe
Louisville
The Cardinals won their conference regular season and tourney, lost 4 games and for their troubles got a 4 seed out west. To make it worse they have a potential matchup with Georgia Tech in round 2. Ouch, babe.

Upset specials
Villanova vs New Mexico
Syracuse vs Vermont
Two Big East teams are looking at difficult first round matches. Villanova gets a hot New Mexico team with one of the best player in college basketball in Danny Granger. Syracuse plays Vermont in round 1 in Worcester. If there is a team seeded low in the tourney that will give the SU zone trouble its Vermont. Taylor Coppenrath could give SU fits in the middle of the zone. Combine that with the game being close in proximity to Vermont, it could be a sleeper pick.

Best possible 2nd round matchup
Louisville vs Georgia Tech and Washington vs Pittsburgh.
The Louisville/Tech game may be the best game of the first weekend. Both teams rely heavily on guard play. Larry O'Bannon and Francisco Garciz vs Jarrett Jack, Will Bynum, and BJ Elder. Washington vs Pitt is intriguing. Washington hasnt played a team as physical as Pitt all season. Pitt will try to pound the Huskies into submission and the Huskies will try to up tempo the Panthers. Would be a fantastic clashing of styles

Best possible Sweet Sixteen Matchups
Arizona vs Oklahoma State and Syracuse vs Duke
Can Salim Stoudamire outplay John Lucas? Will Joey Graham handle Channing Frye? What an entertaining game that would be. And once and for all we can settle Gerry McNamara vs JJ Reddick. The SU zone against the Duke sharpshooters.

Best possible Elite 8 matchups
Illinois vs Oklahoma State and UNC vs Kansas
The knock on Illinois is that they are heavy on guard play and not a lot in the middle. Well Ivan McFarlin and Joey Graham will test that theory. And Roy Williams faces the team he left after the 2003 Final Four. Do I need to say more?

Best Possible Final Four
Illinois, Washington, UNC, Duke
All four number one seeds and not because they are the best teams. Duke/UNC would be a great semifinal game just based on the rivalry. Illinois/ Washington would be great because the scoreboard might break with how many points will be scored.

Best possible Championship Game
Illinois vs UNC
Now we can settle who the best team in the country is.

Syracuse Grabs a 4 seed..Again

2005-03-13T16:47:00.000-08:00

Syracuse has been the NCAA tournament 8 times since 1996..Of those 8 times Syracuse has grabbed a 4 or 5 seed 6 times. Today marks the 3rd time since 1996 that they've gotten the 4 seed. The Orange will take on Vermont in round 1 in Worcester, Massachusetts. If form holds in the Tournament, Syracuse would play Michigan State in round 2 and the hated Duke Blue Devils in the sweet sixteen. The good news for Syracuse. They have never lost before the sweet sixteen when seeded as a four or five seed going a stellar 12-0 in those games. In fact Syracuse has only lost two opening round games since the field expanded. Richmond in 1991 and Oklahoma State in 1999. So pretty daunting numbers. In the days to come we'll break down the Austin Bracket and give scouting reports on each of the teams in SU's bracket.

Finally!! Syracuse wins the Big East Tournament

2005-03-12T20:02:00.000-08:00

I remember the game. Well some of it. It was 1992. I was 11. Syracuse couldnt go to the NCAA tournament, but they could ruin the Big East tournament said the announcers. I asked my Dad why. He said Syracuse did some bad things and they were being punished. I didnt care. I didnt like Alonzo Mourning. I thought he was a mean player that showed off too much. I liked this one player. His name was Lawrence Moten. He wasnt the fastest and he didnt jump the highest on his jump shots but he looked smooth. I dont remember the game particulars, but I remember going out into my driveway at half time on a hoop my parents had just put up that January and pretending I was "Poetry in" Moten. In my game Moten hit a game winning 3 pointer over Mourning. I wish I could tell you how the real game ended, but I have no idea. All I know is that Syracuse won and beat Georgetown. On that March day I fell in love with Syracuse basketball and grew to dislike the Hoyas. For the next 5 years I would pretend to to make the game winning shot for SU in the Big East Tournament championship game. And for 5 years thats what it was..pretend. I didnt know 1992 would be the last time I would see a title before tonight, but that makes it all the sweeter.

The Syracuse Orange(men) are the Big East Tournament champions. I've waited 13 years to say that line. They did it tonight to end the frustration. Hakim Warrick played like the Big East player of the Year, Gerry McNamara played like the best guard in the Big East, and Josh Pace played like, well, Josh Pace. Terrence Roberts dominated the glass and Daryl Watkins made his prescence known. A lost soul named Demetris Nichols contributed and Craig Forth played his role. West Virginia played valiantly. They didnt just give it to Syracuse. They played hard. They didnt give in when they were down 18. For that they should be proud, but these last 3 days were about Syracuse. A group of seniors that had only one more thing to accomplish.

Josh Pace, Craig Forth and Hakim Warrick have achieved more than any other Senior Class in SU history. Most wins by a Senior Class, Big East regular season champs, Big East Tournament champs, and of course National Champs. Hakim Warrick becomes the first Syracuse player ever to win Big East Player of the Year and Big East Tournament MVP. I think Hakim is happy he came back.

There's still one more tournament to take care of, but for now we can enjoy this. This time SU can do something it couldnt do in 1992, go to the NCAA Tournament as Big Est Tournament champions. Maybe tomorrow I'll go shoot some hoops in the driveway. I wont have to pretend SU will win the Big East Tournament. Jim Boeheim's boys already took care of that for me.

Country Road, Take Me Home

2005-03-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

FIrst, Stewart Mandel does a story on how much Hakim Warrick means to Syracuse's chances to win the tournament. One point Mandel gets totally wrong is proclaiming SU as the unofficial home team of New York City. First of all I wonder if he's heard a program called St. John's. I'll give him a pass because the Johnnies arent there this year, but here are the distances from each Big East school(except St John's) to New York City.

Seton Hall 14 miles
Rutgers 36 miles
Villanova 94 miles
UConn 141 miles
Providence 179 miles
BC 214 miles
Georgetown 225 miles
Syracuse 247 miles
Pittsburgh 370 miles
West Virginia 378 miles
Notre Dame 701 miles

Mandel has to do a better job than that. Syracuse is 8th closest team to MSG in terms of distance. He has to know that just because Syracuse is in New York State doesnt mean that NYC is around the corner. Thats a popular misconception among so called "experts". Thats like saying Missouri would be the home team when they play Kansas in Kansas City, Missouri. No they wouldnt. Columbia, Mo (the campus of Missouri) is much further than Lawrence, Kansas. He needs to do some homework before publishing something like that.

Now on to the game tonight. Throw the only meeting between WVU and SU out the window. Both teams are using totally different rotations and WVU was struggling coming into the Dome and now they're white hot. Kevin Pittsnogle only played 11 minutes at the Dome and Billy Edelin scored 12 points and had 7 assists that meeting. Both of those players have gone in opposite directions since then. Edelin doesnt even play and Pittsnogle has become WVU's most valuable player. Lets look at some interesting things about West Virginia in this tournament.

Rebounding- WVU was 11th in the Big East in rebounding margin during the season and actually giving up 3.1 more rebounds than they got. Rutgers was the only team worse than them. They destroyed Villanova on the glass in the semis grabbing 30 to Nova's 18. The Orange should have an advantage on them tonight. Pittsnogle will play around the 3 point arc and it will leave D'or Fischer as the only rebounding threat if he's even on the floor. The one thing SU needs to look out for is the "tap back". WVU will tap it out to players and run their offense again. If SU brings the same intensity they did last night they shold dominate tonight.

Scoring and 3 point shooting- WVU is shooting a sizzling 48 prercent (35/74) from behind the Arc in the BET. WVU shot almost 150 more 3s than the next closest team in the BE and its just continued at the Garden. WVU only scored 78 or more points 3 times during the regular year but has done it in all 3 games they've played in the tournament. They are filling it up and SU is going to need to keep them to one shot tonight.

Mike Gansey- I named Gansey my midseason MVP for the Mountaineers (I also called WVU the team most likely to struggle the rest of the year, but thats not important)and he's played like it this tourney. He can slash, he's a good passer and he can finish at the rim. He will be the guy that breaks down the SU zone with his skills. He tends to get lost in games, but theres no need to think that will happen tonight.

What SU needs to do tonight

Make WVU shoot two point shot- If SU can extend the zone to take out the shooters it should be a good night for the Orange. Of course thats easier said than done. Everyone for WVU can shoot the three outside of Fischer. WVU was very reliant on the 3 during the regular season, but has shown they can slash to the basket in this tournament. If SU can force WVU to make two point shots they'll be in good shape.

Force WVU turnovers - West Virginia has the best assist/turnover ratio in the Big East and tend not to turn it over. That stat is a little inflated because of the type of offense West Virginia usually runs and everyone usually touching the ball at least once. If SU can speed up the game a little it will benefit them because West Virginia does not play well in transition.

Avoid the "Tap Back" - This is the West Virginia way of getting rebounds. SU cant be suckered into crashing the boards because guys like Fischer, Gansey and Jon Herber will just tap the ball back to the 3 point line on the offensive glass. When Gerry McNamara and Josh Pace start moving towards the basket on the defense end is the time the "tap back" will get them. SU must be careful not to let WVU get two and three looks at the basket per possession.

Dont get fooled- John Beilein is known for changing defenses. He'll throw out the customary WVU 1-3-1 defense but he might run out a triangle and two or box and one and he'll definetely mix in a 2-3 zone and man defense. Syracuse must realize what defense the Mounytaineers are in because if they dont they'll be turning it over for no reason.

Bottom Line
West Virginia is hot. Very Hot. They know they can win this game tonight. The only two Big East teams to play 4 games in 4 nights got absolutely blasted. Pittsburgh in 2001 lost by 22 and UConn in 2000 lost by 10 in a game that wasnt that close. Both teams got very tired in those games. I'm not sure this will be a factor tonight because in WVU's game against BC only Gansey (37 min) and Herber (32 min) played more than 30 minutes. Last night Gansey (33min), Herber (36min) and J.D. Collins (35 min) played the most minutes and for SU Warrick (33 min), GMac (36 min) and Josh Pace (40 min) played the most for SU. I think its pretty even. We'll see how it shakes out as far as endurance goes. Syracuse needs to start this game like they started the other two games. They need to put some doubt in West Virginia. In SU's two first halves in this tournament they've outcored their opponents 79-41, but WVU is just as good outscoring their 3 opponents 111-77. It should be a good matchup. West Virginia wont be able to run their motion offense against the SU zone so I think Syracuse has a little advantage there. This game is closer than some SU fans think. Syracuse has waited 13 years. Is this the year? Tune in tonight at 8.

Sweet Redemption

2005-03-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

IF I had told you that Syracuse would shoot 35 percent from the field, Gerry McNamara would shoot 4 of 15 from the field (again), and Hakim Warrick would sit for seven minutes in the second half with 4 fouls, you would have said, "How much did SU lose by?" But tonight was about effort and tonight Syracuse got their revenge. After being embarrassed one week ago against UConn, Syracuse came out tonight and outworked, outhustled and outplayed the Huskies and hung on for a 67-63 victory. This was one of the guttiest performances I have seen by an SU team. Until the last two minutes of the game SU was out rebounding the Huskies by 10 rebounds and totally dominating on the offensive glass. There is so much to talk about that I'll break down each half.

1st Half
The Orange came out with an intensity I've never seen in the first 3 minutes. They went after every ball on the glass and on the first two offenive possessions, they corralled 4 offfensive rebounds. At that point right there was a sign that this game was going to be a little different than the one at Gampel. The scoring was slow, but you could see that Gerry McNamara was going to take the ball to the basket and not settle for the 3. GMAc didnt have a great shooting game but he did just enough. There were two turning points in the half. One of the turning points of the half was when Daryl Watkins entered the game. Watkins got after every loose ball on the glass and joined by Terrence Roberts helped SU get two and three looks at the basket every offensive possesion. The second was Hakim Warrick expanding his game. Warrick was being doubled on the block every time he posted up so he took his game to the outside and nailed two huge 3s. But this half was all about the effort on the defensive end by the Orange. They held UConn to 19 first half points and made every Husky shot a difficult one. UConn scored 6 points the last 11 minutes of the half and SU finished the half on a 17-6 run.

2nd Half
After the debacle last week in Gampel, SU was determined not to let that happen. The Orange scored 10 of the first 13 points out of the lockerroom to balloon their lead to 20 and everything was going right for SU. GMac hit a runner and a 3. A Warrick dunk made it a 21 point lead with 11 minutes to go, but then Warrick picked up his 4th foul and went to the bench. This is the point Syracuse tried to milk the clock using almost the whole shot clock on every possession. It was something they had to do. There was no other option. During the seven minutes Warrick was on the bench the Orange scored 4 points all by Roberts. The Huskies cut the lead to 12 but as soon as Warrrick stepped back on the floor he hit a hug turnaround to stem the tide a little to get the lead to 14. The Orange would only make two field goals in the last 9 minutes but it ws enough as UConn just ran out of time. The Huskies made a valiant run but never got the lead to 6 until 2 minutes left and by then it was too late. SU hit their FTs down the stretch to adavance to tomorrow's title game.

End Game notes
-Hakim Warrick's last 5 games- 29 points, 9 rebounds, 53% from the field and 77% from the line..I think he put any debate for Big East Player of the Year to rest.

-The Huskies only made 7 of 18 FTs with the biggest culprit being Charlie Villaneuva who went 2 of 8 from the line

- UConn's 19 points were the least in a half all season for the Huskies

-West Virginia is trying to make history by winning tonight. If they win they'll become the first Big East team to win 4 games in 4 days for the title, but they've already etched their name into Big East lore. West Virginia lost to BC by a total of 30 points in two regular seaon games and lost to Villanova by 30 in one game and avenged all 3 losses. WVU is the only team in Big East history to avenge a 30 point regular season loss. they are also the only 8 seed to ever rech the final of the tournament.

-Daryl Watkins played 31 minutes and grabbed 9 rebounds. His two highest totals since he played 33 minutes against Drexel and grabbed 13 boards on December 18th.

- Syracuse fell two rebounds short of becoming only the 3rd team all season to outrebound the Huskies. The other two? Pittsburgh and St Johns.

7 years in the making

2005-03-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

Imagine if a team that has been one of the faces of its conference has only been to one conference tournament final in the last 12 years. Hasnt won the tournament in 13. Imagine if a team like Duke or North Carolina waited that long to win a conference tournamen. Well that scenario exists.
It exists in Syracuse. Jim Boeheim help start the Big East as a power. He's won a national title, but Jim Calhoun and the Huskies have passed him and the Orange as the superior national power. They've won two national titles. They've been to 7 Big East tournament finals since the last time Syracuse won. They've won 4 titles since the last time SU went to the BE tournament final, a game which UConn won. They've dominated SU in recent years. They are the new face of Big East basketball and theres only one way to stop it.
Tonight's the night at the Garden. Tonight is the night that all of SU's nightmares in recent years at the Garden need to come to an end. It's worked out for the Orange. Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick played their least minutes of the year in last night's trouncing of Rutgers, playing only 32 and 33 minutes respectively. UConn had a hard fought win over Georgetown. SU should be fresher. SU should be hungrier. The SU seniors should want this to cement themselves as not only the only class with a national championship, but as a class that broke the long Big East Tournament drought.
They need to keep the Huskies from playing volleyball with the ball down low. They need GMac to play like he did last night. No more excuses for this bunch. They were picked as the Preseason team to beat and tonight they must play that way. This team has the talent to do it. They have the talent to make this night as memorable as the night Ryan Blackwell hit a buzzer beating jumper to beat St. John's. The Sophomores have played well and they need to keep it up. No hanging heads tonight. Its not every day you get a chance to atone for an embarassing performance. Tonight is that night. Tonight Syracuse University can show that they have something left and that the Big East is rightfully theirs.

Reflections from a huge basketball day

2005-03-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

For the first time I watched every minute of quarterfinal day in the Big East tournament and I'm glad I did.

- Not only are Sean McDonough,Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery great announcers, but they make it seem like you're watching the game with friends.
- The most dominate half of the tournament would have been WVU's first half against BC, but the display SU put on against Rutgers may have been the best half in the Big East by one team this season.
- Boston College is being exposed as a team that can't shoot from the outside and as a bunch of complainers. A lot of people aroud the country took note of Sean Marshall staring down Jon Herber for no reason. BC has gone from a likable underdog team to a team no one will root for.
- BC better hope they're not in the Syracuse Regional. Those fans will be relentlessy rooting against them.
- WVU needs to hit outside shots to win, but if they get hot they can play with anyone in the country. Most impressive win in the conference this year because they played the whole game without Tyrone Sally.
- Someone should tell Pitt that their game started at 2 yesterday. They looked sluggish and uninterested. Whenever Chris Taft has the most intensity on your team, you are in trouble.
- Villanova can spread you out on offense and plays high intensity D. Watch out. They are primed for a deep tourney run. Teams are going to be surprised by how good Randy Foye is.
- If I had one question for one player today it would be this. Why did you not kick the ball out to Jeff Green, Ashanti Cook?
- I give Georgetown credit for coming back, but you saw what is going to kill UConn in the tourney. Marcus Williams tries to do too much down the stretch and it almost came back to bite the Huskies. He needs to realize how to play at the end of games because its not going to get any easier in the Tourney.
- The day couldnt get any better for an SU fan. BC goes down, Pitt goes down and SU comes out and stomps on Rutgers. A perfect capper to a great day at the Mecca.

Diary of an afternoon at the Mecca

2005-03-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

I wont be blogging the night games as I will be enjoying them with friends. SU tips 20 minutes after the UConn game.

Final- Nova 67 Pitt 58 Randy Foye was incredible with 23 points and Allan Ray and Curtis Sumpter were their usual selves. Pitt didnt get enough from Troutman and Krauser's baskets were in garbage time. If there's one thing to take form this game , its Nova's defensive intensity. Thats the key to a deep Nova run in the tourney.

40 sec- Nova 65 Pitt 52 Pitt waits 20 seconds to foul and this one is in the bank for Nova. Pitt will be waiting to see if they could grab a 5 seed in the tourney, while I still believe Nova can get a 2 if they win this tourney.

1:19- Nova 61 Pitt 52- Nova keeps taking the ball to the basket instead of pulling it out and running clock. Graves hits a 3 to get it to 9. Pitt needs to hope Nova misses some FTs, but they're the best FT shooting team in the BE.

2:16- Nova 59 Pitt 49- Pitt gets 6 straight points to cut it to ten. I think its a little too little too late. One constant in these two games this afternoon is that the team that complained the most to the Refs are the ones on the wrong side of the score.

3:17 Nova 59 Pitt 43- Unbelievable sequence for Pitt. Benjamin commits a foul and Krauser proceeds to toss the ball into the rafters in protest. No technical called. After two FTs Pitt comes down and Troutman committs a moving screen. Sumpter comes down and hits another jumper. This one's over.

4:59- Taft gets a technical for touching the ball across the end line. That could be all she wrote for Pitt. Nova up 12 with the ball.

4:59- Nova 54 Pitt 43- Sumpter has taken over scoring 7 straight points at one point and then feeding Fraser inside and he got fouled. Ramon and Troutman are playing with 4 fouls. Pitt needs to make a huge move right now. The Nova defense has totally flustered Pitt and their getting to every loose ball. Im not sure Pitt can stop Nova from scoring to pull this out.7:20 Remaining- Nova 49 Pitt 39- Pitt is making their run right now with two huge 3s from Krauser and Graves, but Sumpter answers with two FTs and a 3 of his own. Everytime Pitt has made a run to get it under single figures Nova has answered. Pitt needs to step it up on the defensive end to pull this out.

11:27- Krauser trying to show off, misses a lay-up. The two most irritated times I’ve heard Bilas all afternoon is after the Krauser play and the Marshall staredown in the BC game. Once Carl Krauser realizes the point is to try to win the game and not show off for his friends and family maybe then people around the country will pay attention to him. Ronald Ramon had two open 3s and missed both. Pitt needs someone to hit an open jumpshot to get them back in it.

12:50 remaining- Nova 42 Pitt 27- Randy Foye has been impressive this afternoon. He can take any Pitt player off the dribble. Pit continues to build a new MSG with all the bricks. Keith Benjamin trying to provide a spark.

15:00 remaining Nova 40 Pitt 23- Nova has blown the lead out to 17. Pitt cant do anything right. The Nova defense has been stellar. Only 23 points for Pitt in 25 minutes.

17:00 remaining Nova 37 Pitt 23- Krauser should put away the X..Its getting annoying and the refs are about to “T” him up. Nova continues to break down Pitt off the dribble and dish for easy shots. Pitt has to pick it up or this will be a blow out

Half Time- Nova 31 Pitt 19- Pitt doesn’t score from the field the last 6 minutes. Nova is getting a huge game from Foye as Sumpter hasn’t been much of a factor. Nova’s Forwards have matched Pitt’s intensity. Pitt needs a big half from Troutman and Krauser to get back in this game. Pitt made more FTs than FGs that half. Mark McCarroll probably wishes he could have this season over again. It’s been a rough one for him. Lets see if Pitt can get some buckets in this half. Nova’s defense has been scrappy.

1:17 remaining Nova 31 Pitt 18- Never mind. Nova gets a drive from Lowry and 3 from Allan Ray and this game goes from a 3 point deficit for Pitt to a 11 point hole. Krauser has to step up here or Pitt’s going to be in a big hole.

2:40 remaing- Nova 26 Pitt 17- Randy Foye ahs shown up- 13 points. Pitt games are the hardest to officiate. You cant call everything and you can let everything go. This game is U-G-L-Y- and Pitt has no alibi. Pitt has to be careful or they’ll be down double digits at half

3:55 remaining- Nova21 Pitt16 - Pitt has missed its last 5 shots. Very very Sloppy game. Bad passes, stupid shots. The officials arent helping the flow calling touchy fouls. Sheridan and Fraser are matching Pitt's frontline. Pitt is hanging in. If Krauser or Troutman gets hot they could catch up and grab a lead and put some pressure on Nova.

6:30 remaining- Nova 19 Pitt 16- Officials calling the game really tight as both teams are in the penalty already. Pitt hanging in without getting anything from Troutman yet. Jay Wright is the best dressed man in the Garden today.

8:00 remaining- Nova 19 Pitt 14- Taft is keeping Pitt in this game. You can see the problems that Nova causes. They can spread you out offensively and on defense they are tenacious. I dont know how many more times I can hear that Zutons song "Cant get this pressure out of my head". We get it. There's pressure.

Pitt/Nova 10:00 remaining- I'm impressed with Nova's defense. Chris Taft has showed up today. Nova is hitting from 3 right now. Nova is matching Pitt's intensity, but Pitt is making a run. Nova 17 Pitt12

End of WVU/BC- WVU 78- BC72.. Well this diary thing doesnt seem to be working. (Thanks Blogger). But WVU held off a furious BC rally to upset the Eagles at the Garden. Im sure its a humbling loss for Dudley and Smith who wanted to prove they arent flukes. Many a tournament bracket will have BC getting bounced in the 1st or second round. I penned my feelings on BC on Yoni Cohen's site. WVU punched their ticket to the dance with a huge win. When BC got the game down to 5, JD Collins and Kevin Pittsnogle stepped up. Good bye BC, you wont be missed.

Half Time- WVU44 BC22 Thats not a misprint. WVU is on fire and BC looks horrible right now. Dudley is on the bench with 3 fouls. Bad move by Skinner leaving him in with 2 fouls. Smith can get whatever he wants in the inside but the BC guards keep turning it over. Tyrone Salley isnt playing for WVU but everyone has stepped up for the Mountaineers and Pittsnogle has been held in check. Frank Young (who) has 13 points (career high) and is making NBA 3's. Lets see if WVU can hold on for a shocking upset. WVU shoots 68 percent from the floor and 8-11 from 3. BC shoots 41 perecent form the floor and Smith is a prefect 4/4 in the 1st half. sidenote- I love the Bilas/ Raftery/ McDonough team announcing the game.

-I know I'm starting late but I'll be updating my blog during the second half of BC/WVU and entire Pitt/ Nova..hope you enjoy

Surprise!! Rutgers still alive

2005-03-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

I apparently have as much an idea how the Big East tourney will turn out as a someone who didn’t watch College Basketball all season. I was surprised how WVU just ran over Providence, stunned that Georgetown couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean from the beach, and not at all shocked at what happened to Notre Dame. Chas breaks down Pitt/Villanova on Pitt Sports Blather in the game of the day. Syracuse gets Rutgers tonight at the Mecca and let’s take a look at how to break it down.

Syracuse vs. Rutgers 9 p.m. (ESPN2)
Anyone that thinks tonight’s game will be a rout didn’t watch last nights game between the Scarlet Knights and Notre Dame. There was no fluky play that Rutgers won on last night. They out hustled, out shot and totally outplayed the Irish. Chris Thomas was bad and Ricky Shields shut down Colin Falls. Losing Chris Quinn hurt the Irish but I’m not sure he would have made a difference last night. There are several things SU needs to do to shut down any hope Rutgers may have.

1.) Keep the 3 point shooting in check- They must close out on Shields, Douby, and Marquis Webb. They can all stroke the 3 and if they get confident it’s going to make it hard on SU and may force Boeheim to come out of the zone. The one positive is that if Rutgers struggles with the 3 they will keep chucking it up anyway and may shoot themselves out of the game.
2.) Don’t get bodied- Rutgers trots out some big boys on the frontline and they will bang Warrick, Roberts and Forth around. SU has to stand tall against them. They bumped Warrick in the game at the RAC and helped hold him in check for a half. The Rutgers big men are slow however and the quickness match up will favor the BE player of the Year.
3.) Take out their Heart- This is the key for the Orange. If they come out and build a ten point lead on the Knights, they will take away some of their will and desire. If RU comes out and keeps it close or is even leading, that’s all they’ll need to take the game away. Conference Tournaments are about belief and desire. SU can’t come out flat because they won’t be coming back form 20 points down tonight.

Hakim gets his Dream

2005-03-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

Hakim Warrick was named Big East player of the year as I broke down last week. Josh Pace took home the Sportsmanship award. Here's how it broke down for the other awards.

Big East Awards

Player of the Year
Hakim Warrick, Syracuse

Coach of the Year
Al Skinner, Boston College

Rookie of the Year
Rudy Gay, Connecticut
Jeff Green, Georgetown

Defensive Player of the Year
Josh Boone, Connecticut

Most Improved Player
Jared Dudley, Boston College
Marcus Williams, Connecticut

Sportsmanship Award
Josh Pace, Syracuse

Craig Forth took home the Scholar-Athlete Award, so all 3 SU seniors tooks home some hardware. This just furthur shows how this is the best Senior Class at SU ever.

Big East Breakdown

2005-03-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Its time to break down the boogie down in the Garden. Chas from the PittSportsBlather has his predictions up on Yoni Cohen's site. Lets see what we’ve have this week.

Wednesday

2 p.m. (ESPN) #8 West Virginia vs #9 Providence
The worst match up that West Virginia could have received in the first round. Even though WVU beat Providence twice they were both by 6 points total. I think Tim Welsh’s squad has more confidence than early in the season and thinks they can do some damage this week. I was very disappointed how WVU came out and played against Seton Hall. If WVU starts like that again it’s going to be a long day. Ryan Gomes and Donnie McGrath have something to prove this week. PC 71 WVU 68

7 p.m. (ESPN) # 7 Georgetown vs #10 Seton Hall
I think this is the rout of the day. Jeff Green, Brandon Bowman, and Roy Hibbert will be way too much for Seton Hall to handle inside. I don’t want to hear about Andre Sweet or John Allen. Those two aren’t big enough to match up with the Georgetown front line. If Ashanti Cook plays decent, this will be a rout. I don’t like the way Justin Cerasoli has played and I think Kelly Whitney takes himself out of the game with fouls. Georgetown gets back on the bubble. G’town 77 SHU 62

9 p.m. (ESPN) #6 Notre Dame vs #11 Rutgers
Notre Dame has to have this game. No excuses. Rutgers’ big men held tough in South Bend last week. Torin Francis better show up. If Quincy Douby and Ricky Shields get hot it could be a barn burner in the Garden. I think Chris Thomas wills Notre Dame to a win in a game that’s too close for comfort. ND 73 RU 67

Thursday
Noon (ESPN2) #1 Boston College vs #9 Providence
I wonder if BC will complain about playing at noon in an empty MSG like they cried about everything else this week. Hey Gene, if it meant so much to you to SHARE the Big East title, why weren’t YOU at Rutgers? Hypocrite. I’ll try to not let my utter disdain for BC cloud my judgment here. Jared Dudley and Craig Smith will cause huge problems for Providence in this game. The Friars need Randall “don’t call me Mr.” Hanke and DeShaun White to play big in this game. If Hanke and White can help offset the BC frontline, Gomes can do his thing, and Donnie McGrath can hit some shots, PC can pull the upset. Unfortunately that’s too much to ask. I hate to do this, but
BC 72 PC 65.

2 p.m. (ESPN2) #4 Villanova vs #5 Pittsburgh
The best game of the day. It’s too bad this game gets buried at 2 in the afternoon on a Thursday. I don’t know why this game isn’t scheduled at 7 because in theory the 4/5 game is the best of the game, but I digress. Villanova creates the biggest match up problems of any team in the Big East. Allan Ray, Mike Nardi, Randy Foye, and Curtis Sumpter can all take their man off the dribble and shoot the three. I see two major problems for Pitt in this game. 1) Which Chris Taft shows up? They need more of the Taft that played against ND and less of the Taft that played the rest of the year. 2) Can Pitt score enough in this game? If Nova gets hot will Pitt be able to match them in that time frame? ‘Nova can light it up and I don’t think Pitt can catch up. I like what Jay Wright has done. ‘Nova 78 Pitt 74

7 p.m. (ESPN2) #2 Connecticut vs # 7 Georgetown
UConn absolutely annihilated Georgetown last week and I don’t see how the Hoyas can stay within shouting distance. I guess the only way would be for Hibbert, Green, and Bowman to keep UConn off the glass and for Bowman to go crazy. Even if they do that I don’t think they can contain Marcus Williams. This looks like the rout of Day 2. UConn 81 Georgetown 67

9 p.m. (ESPN2) # 3 Syracuse vs #6 Notre Dame
Finally the Orange takes the Garden floor. Syracuse waits the longest to make an appearance in the tourney. Just like WVU got the worst break of day one with PC, ND gets a bad draw with SU. I truly believe ND would rather play UConn or BC in this game. Let’s take a look at Chris Thomas’ numbers against SU. 1-7 record, 27% from 3, 27% from the field, 12 points a game. He has the same mental lock that Gerry McNamara has against UConn. Hakim Warrick will eat the ND frontline alive in this game. ND will try to bump and bang Warrick but it won’t be enough. Chris Quinn and Colin Falls will keep it close, but Warrick is the difference. SU 71 ND 64

Friday
An early Christmas gift for ESPN with two huge games on Friday night.

7 p.m. (ESPN) #1 Boston College vs # 4 Villanova
I think Pitt would destroy BC in this game, but they won’t be here so let’s make the case for ‘Nova. The Wildcats will cause the same problems for BC. Too quick on the perimeter. I know BC will play their match up zone, but they tend to leave perimeter guys open in the zone. BC can go stretches without scoring and if that happens in this game they could be down 15 before they know it. I may have my BC hatershades on but I don’t like BC in this tourney. ‘Nova 68 BC 64

9 p.m. (ESPN) #2 Connecticut vs # 3 Syracuse
The third installment of this rivalry which is quickly becoming one-sided. For SU to win this game they need two things to happen. 1) Terrence Roberts and Daryl Watkins have to absolutely stay out of foul trouble. Its bad enough when you’re out talented on the front line, but when two of your guys are in constant foul trouble you have no chance. 2) GMac has to show up. This is getting ridiculous. He has to play with heart and desire. He has to take the game to Marcus Williams. He needs to drive and not settle for jump shots. I think UConn will be sweating this out because Warrick gives them fits, but UConn is too hot. UConn 76 SU 73

Saturday
Championship

9 p.m. (ESPN) #1 Connecticut vs #4 Villanova
This would be the most intriguing match up of the tournament. You have the quickness of Villanova against the muscle of UConn. ‘Nova will spread the court and try to take the Huskies off the dribble. When the ‘Nova guards drive and UConn helps they’ll be able to kick out for open 3’s. UConn will try to pound Nova on the inside. In the end I think Marcus Williams and Denham Brown neutralize the UConn guards better than Jason Fraser and Will Sheridan neutralize the Husky forwards. UConn 79 Nova 73

Syracuse gets two on All Big East squad

2005-03-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

The Orange had two of the six best players in the Big East this year according to the coaches. Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick are All First Team Big East and joined by Ryan Gomes (PC), Jared Dudley (BC), Craig Smith (BC), and Chevon Troutman (Pitt).

My Take
I have to say I am genuinely shocked that McNamara is a first teamer. You can make a case that Carl Krauser and Allan Ray both had better seasons than GMac as guards. Curtis Sumpter also had a better year as a forward. So I am totally stunned that McNamara is a first teamer. Warrick was a unanimous selection which leads me to believe he's going to be named player of the year because no other player was listed on all the coaches ballots. I actually had 10 of the 11 players on the first and second team correct. I had Sumpter on the first team and GMac on the second and I had Chris Thomas on the second team instead of Villaneuva so I feel like I deserve a hearty pat on the back. Now that my ego had been stroked, I think the Coaches did a pretty good job. I was one of those that wasnt sold on Marcus Williams. He is going to be a very good to great player in the Big East, but I didnt feel he was better than Ray, Krauser, and McNamara and neither did the coaches. The individual hardware gets handed out tomorrow night. One category I left out was Defensive player of the year and I'm not sure who would get this but I'm going to throw out Josh Boone as my defensive player of the year.

Syracuse Embarrassed

2005-03-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

Well before I get to what happened in the game , let me just say one thing. For UConn to be complaining about the way the game was officiated is ridiculous. Between Calhoun's technical foul call and the last 7 minutes of the game (when the game wasnt in doubt anymore) the fouls were 20 for SU and 16 for Connecticut. The FTs were 28 for UConn and 14 for Syracuse. They didnt overcome anything by the officials. You can make the claim that the officials helped UConn build their lead. How soon Connecticut forgets what happened in the Dome. They shot 32 FTS that day and SU only shot 14 total. So I dont want to hear it from the Huskies. And I especially dont want to hear anything Ed Nelson says. The only purpose of him in yesterdays game was to bump and bang Warrick. He held, grabbed, scratched Warrick every play. He has little talent and all he does is clutch and grab. He needs to shut up.

Ok now that I have that out of my system, let's get to the game. After a good first half by SU, they laid a huge dinosaur egg in the second half. As soon as they got down by 10 they packed it in. Its as if they said "Well UConn has our number, so lets mail it in. We'll get them next time". It was embarrassing the way they played. Give UConn all the credit for taking SU out of the game and coming out of the locker room fired up. They attacked the boards and Gerry McNamara has some sort of mental block against UConn. You're going to have bad shooting days like yesterday. And yesterday wasnt just bad it was atrocious, but you cant just give up like the Orange did yesterday. It was bad, very bad. I was watching Billy Packer say that the SU players' heads were down and I didnt believe him, but after awhile I realized he was exactly right. Warrick was the only one that wanted the ball at all. It was a humbling and humiliating experience yesterday at Gampel Pavilion. Lets see what the Orange has in store this week in the Big East tourney.

Hakim Speaks, The World listens (at least I listen)

2005-03-04T09:05:00.000-08:00

Warrick Talks about the NBA, winning the title, talking to SU alums and gives a prediction for tomorrow's game..Courtesy of ESPN.com

Hakim Warrick: (11:32 AM ET ) Hello everyone!
College Student (Ball State University): Hey Hakim, your dunks are crazy sick! How do you like your team's chances of getting to St. Louis and cutting down the nets?
Hakim Warrick: (11:33 AM ET ) I really like our chances. We have a good, experienced team and we have so many guys back with so much depth. We can get back there this year.
Angel (Waukegan IL): Hey Hakim what do you think the cuse needs to do in order to beat uconn?
Hakim Warrick: (11:33 AM ET ) We have to rebound better. We have been outrebounded in our losses and we have to limit the other teams second chances. If we keep it close, we have a great shot to beat them.
Spencer (Kansas): What is the most important thing you can pass on to the younger players who will take over next year like Watkins and Roberts? Good Luck in the Final 4!!!!
Hakim Warrick: (11:34 AM ET ) Just to continue to work hard no matter what and play Syracuse basketball. There are going to be ups and downs and people that love you and hate you. But you have to not worry about all the small things.
Ken (NYC): Hakim great article in Maxin this month.....what position do you see yourself in the NBA? PF or SF?
Hakim Warrick: (11:35 AM ET ) I think I could play both. I have the ability to play SF against some teams. I could also play PF. I think it's a good thing I can do both. It will help my future.
Dave (Syracuse Orange(man)): How did it feel winning at Villanova, in your hometown against a team that didn't recruit you.
Hakim Warrick: (11:36 AM ET ) It felt good coming back home to all my family and friends. A lot of them hadn't seen me play in a long time. To go out and have a big game was a great time. It was one of the greatest moments of the season so far.
Chris (Richmond, VA): Do you think that Boeheim will keep Roberts in the starting lineup to help grab some boards? It seems to be working so far...
Hakim Warrick: (11:37 AM ET ) Yeah, right now we will go with the same lineup. He has done a great job for us. He is really attacking the glass. If he can keep doing that, it will benefit us come Tournament time.
Rob (Schererville IN): What type of seed are you guys expecting in the tournament, and what team do you fear the most?
Hakim Warrick: (11:38 AM ET ) Right now we are probably looking at a 4 seed. But there is a lot of basketball to be played. If we can beat UConn and win the conf. tournament we could be higher. We want to go out there and run the table. We don't fear anyone. We match up with anybody and can play with anyone. If we are playing our best like against Villanova, we can compete with anybody.
Colt (Fredonia, Ny): Which was your favorite dunk over your four year career at Syracuse?
Hakim Warrick: (11:39 AM ET ) Final Four against Texas! That was because of the stage it was on and how big the game was. It turned the game around.
Mike (Manhattan): would you support building a statue outside the Dome commemorating your shot block in the '03 championship game?
Hakim Warrick: (11:40 AM ET ) Yeah! I would support that! It was a big play and a lot of people thought it sealed the championship. It's a great honor and something I am proud of. I know it will go down in Syracuse history.
Joey Harris (Herndon, VA): Hakim, how do you feel you have improved your NBA draft status after opting to return for your senior season?
Hakim Warrick: (11:41 AM ET ) Yeah, I think I have improved. I was pretty much a mid to late first rounder and I'm am probably early lottery now. I can keep taking my team far in March and help myself even more.
Sarabeth, Syracuse: You got a girlfriend??
Hakim Warrick: (11:41 AM ET ) Yeah.
bryan (stillwater): what do you think of comparisons between you and kevin garnett?
Hakim Warrick: (11:42 AM ET ) It's a great honor. Anytime you get compared to a great player like that, you have to love it. As a fan, watching him over the last couple years, it's just a great honor. I will keep working hard and hopefully reach his level.
Michael (Syracuse): Do you ever wish that you could be a normal student at times without the popularity and such that go along with being a star athlete?
Hakim Warrick: (11:43 AM ET ) Yeah, sometimes. You have bad days and just want to be left alone and relax and not be noticed. But it's something I have accepted and I'm not ashamed of it. I embrace it. I'm happy the community appreciates me. But yeah, sometimes you want to just be a regular student.
Mark (Syracuse): Who do you think deserves the big east POY..you or Craig Smith?
Hakim Warrick: (11:44 AM ET ) I might be biased but I will say me! I had a really good year and my team is doing good. No disrespect to Craig though, he has had a great year as well. He would probably say the same thing about himself!
Eric (Boston, MA): How would you react if you got drafted by your hometown 76'ers?
Hakim Warrick: (11:45 AM ET ) It would be crazy! All my family and friends would be happy! That would be a crazy, happy time. But I'd also be worried about all those ticket requests!
Paul (Oklahoma): Do you have classes on friday? Are you ditching?
Hakim Warrick: (11:45 AM ET ) Na. I'm done with classes. Right now I just have my internship to finish.
3FF (The College of Wooster): Who wins in a game of H-O-R-S-E between you and Gerry Mac? Hakim Warrick: (11:46 AM ET ) Definately Gerry. He can shoot a couple steps in front of the court line and just make it all the time. He'll probably hit 2 of 10 from full court.
scott (boston, ma): do you ever make fun of Craig Forth since he is 7 foot and can not dunk? Hakim Warrick: (11:47 AM ET ) No! He can dunk! Don't make fun of him! He plays hard and he does all the little things that don't show up on the stat sheet. He CAN dunk.
J (Cuse): Harry's or Lucy's?
Hakim Warrick: (11:47 AM ET ) Harry's!
John, syracuse: Who was your role model growing up?
Hakim Warrick: (11:47 AM ET ) My mom. She has always been there for me. I've always looked up to her. She was always able to handle any problem.
NJ (Chicago): Where's the internship Hakim?
Hakim Warrick: (11:48 AM ET ) Retail management. I'm an associate buyer!
John (LaCrosse WI): Ok Hakim must ask question- Tupac or Jay-Z?
Hakim Warrick: (11:49 AM ET ) That's tough. I'm gonna go with Jay-Z right now. He's my man. I can always put in any CD and listen from start to finish.
Mark (Syracuse): What did you guys do to celebrate Jimmy B's 700th?
Hakim Warrick: (11:49 AM ET ) Everyone went out and got something to eat. Then we hit up Marcy St.!
Nicole (Syracuse): How do you feel about Dukie V constantly pronouncing your last name "WarWick"?
Hakim Warrick: (11:50 AM ET ) I didn't notice. I'm usually playing!
Matt (Long Island): What's something cool about Boeheim that most people don't know?
Hakim Warrick: (11:50 AM ET ) He's just a fiery guy. A lot of people think he is laid back but he's not. He is so into the game and wants that W.
Ryan (Hilton,NY): Do you and Carmelo still keep in touch?
Hakim Warrick: (11:51 AM ET ) Yes. We talked the other day.
mark (syracuse): J-LO or Beyonce?
Hakim Warrick: (11:51 AM ET ) That's another tough one. Beyonce.
Ryan Syracuse: Whats the first thing your going to buy when you get drafted in the nba? Hakim Warrick: (11:52 AM ET ) First thing .. a house for my mom. I want to take care of her for all the things she has done for me.
Brian (Haverhill,MA): Where is the toughest place to play?
Hakim Warrick: (11:52 AM ET ) Rutgers. Compact and small. The fans are right on top of you.
Dan (Chapel Hill): Who were your favorite players growing up?
Hakim Warrick: (11:53 AM ET ) Penny Hardaway.
Matt (RWU): who wins a one on one game, you or ryan gomes?
Hakim Warrick: (11:53 AM ET ) Little biased again .. but I'm going with me!
timmy (boston): Who's the funniest guy on the team?
Hakim Warrick: (11:54 AM ET ) We have a lot of jokers on this team. Probably Terrance Roberts.
JB (So. Arkansas Univ. Muleriders): What's your game high from high school? (pts & rebs) Hakim Warrick: (11:54 AM ET ) 35 pts.. I had 20 rebounds in one game.
Brian (James Madison U): Hakim, How many teams from the Big East do you think make it into the Tourney?
Hakim Warrick: (11:55 AM ET ) I think probably 7 or 8. Depending on these next couple games. We should have 6 at least.
J (Cuse): You speak to Donovan McNabb at all?
Hakim Warrick: (11:56 AM ET ) I had a chance to talk to him at the Final Four. That was the only time I got to meet him. It was just great to see him come back and show support.
joe (NY): if you could play one on one against somebody! anyone is history who would it be? Hakim Warrick: (11:56 AM ET ) Probably Dr. J in his prime! I really wasn't into basketball at an early age but I heard about him all the time.
Ben (Colgate): Were you nervous when Syracuse almost didn't beat the mighty Colgate?
Hakim Warrick: (11:57 AM ET ) I wasn't nervous. I pretty much knew they were going to slow things up. I just went out there and let the game come to me.
OMalley Syracuse: IS BC OVERRATED?
Hakim Warrick: (11:58 AM ET ) Not at all. They are a really good team. No matter what people say, to win all the games they have won, that shows you they are a good team. They play hard every single night.
Chris Miami: Red Sox or Yankees
Hakim Warrick: (11:59 AM ET ) Not a big baseball fan. But I'm going with the Red Sox.
Ken (boston): What's better to do: Block a shot or dunk on someone?
Hakim Warrick: (11:59 AM ET ) Definately dunking on someone. You get a rush I can't explain. And it gets your fans into the game.
Matthew (The District of Columbia): Which one of the UCONN big men will be the most difficult to keep in check tomorrow?
Hakim Warrick: (12:00 PM ET ) Last game Villanueva had a breakout game. We have to keep him in check. He will be the most difficult.
Glaude (Watson Hall (SU)): When did you pick up the headband look?
Hakim Warrick: (12:01 PM ET ) It started in high school. I used to wear it even younger. I wore it in Rec League in Philadelphia!
Varun (Syracuse): Prediction tomorrow?? Pull A Joe Namath!
Hakim Warrick: (12:03 PM ET ) My prediction is that we will leave it all on the floor and play our hardest and come out with a victory! Thanks for the questions! I really appreciate all the support! Take care

Its debate time

2005-03-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

Player of the Year debate

Here's where the argument reigns. Lets take a look at the Stats and its very interesting. I'm taking the top 4 candidates. While Chevon Troutman and Curtis Sumpter deverve some credit, I dont think they have a chance here. The four candidates are Hakim Warrick, Craig Smith, Jared Dudley, and Ryan Gomes. Conference game stats in parentheses

Name Points Rebounds FG% F T % Double Doubles
Warrick 21( 21.9) 8.3 (7.7) 58 (56) 67 (68 ) 12 (5)
Smith 18 (16.6) 8.4 (8.3) 49 (45) 69 (71) 6 (2)
Dudley 16 (17.7) 7.5 (7.8) 48 (47) 75 (77) 7 (4)
Gomes 21.5 (23) 8.3 (7.3) 49 (47) 77 (79) 6 (2)

Bonus Stat for Gomes 3.3 assists
Bonus Stat for Dudley 3.1 assists

So looking at the stats it appears obvious that the two best players in Big East play are Warrick and Gomes. Both increased their overall scoring and Warrick has the most double doubles. Syracuse also played a much tougher in conference schedule than BC. But you have to remember that Smith or Dudley would also have more rebounds if they were alone on the frontline like Warrick and Gomes. So I'll go to the eye test. Smith has been much more dominating to me. He can take over a game and frankly I think he's better than Dudley. Dudley to me is the fourth best player on the list. He doesnt stand out to me. Gomes is the intriguing one because he plays for a bad team yet he still averaged 23 points in Big East play and had more assists than Dudley. So its a 3 man race so lets see what they did against each other.

Gomes against SU- 2 games 17.5 points 5.5 rebounds 3.0 assists
against BC- 2 games 19.5 points 8 rebounds 3.0 assists
Totals- 4 games 18.5 points 7.2 rebounds 3.0 assists
Warrick against BC- 1 game 12 points 4 rebounds
against Providence- 2 games 30.5 points 9 rebounds
Totals- 3 games 24.3 points, 7.1 rebounds
Smith against SU- 1 game 16 points 15 rebounds
against Providence- 2 games 20.5 points 6.5 rebounds
Totals- 3 games 18.3 points, 9.1 rebounds

So lets use that as a measuring stick and see how Warrick dominated Providence in two matchups but was ineffective against BC and Gomes and Smith were solid in all games with Smith having a monster game against SU. So lets use one more stat.

"Best game" in Big East
Smith- its debatable as he's solid in every game, but I'll pick against SU..16 points 15 rebounds in one of the biggest games ever in Chestnut Hill.

Gomes- theres a couple, but his 33 point 14 rebound performance against West Virginia stands out because he went 16-25 from the floor, but his team also lost that game.

Warrick- also a couple ways to go, but I would say his 32 point 14 rebound performance at Villanova is the one. 10-15 from the floor and 12-16 from the line.

So if we take that we have Smith's best game is against SU and Warrick against Villanova. Gomes' best game was against WVU, but they still lost. I feel a Big East player of the Year candidate should be able to pull that game out. They only lost by 2, so a play down the stretch should have been made if he's having a monster game like that. So no offense to Gomes, but because his team doesnt need him, as i believe they would be 3-12 in the conference without him, I would say its between Smith and Warrick. One reason is that teams dont care if Gomes scores because let him get his and they'll win anyway. If Providence was closer to 8-8 than 0-16 I would probably give the award to Gomes, but there's something to be said for playing on good teams.

So now I'm down to Smith and Warrick. Both are very different players. One guy likes space (Warrick) and one likes to bang inside (Smith). Smith has been consistent across the board although he had one horrible game against ND where he only had 9 points. Warrick has had three rough games against UConn, Pitt, and BC, but he did manage to break double figures in each game. Warrick has 3 30 point games in the Big East this year and plays with Gerry McNamara and Smith has none and plays with Jared Dudley. Warrick also has 5 BE player of the week awards. No one else has more than two. He has 12 double doubles and 6 in the Big East and Craig Smith has 6 total. Not only that but he outscores Smith by 5 points a game. Warrick is electrifying and Smith is workmanlike. I would take both on my team, but judging by the way the players are finishing my choice for Big East player of the year is...

Hakim Warrick.

Award Night

2005-03-02T13:23:00.000-08:00

Is Big East award time. With only a few games left lets hand out the Big East hardware.

First Team Big East (regardless of position)
Hakim Warrick, Syracuse
Craig Smith, BC
Jared Dudley, BC
Ryan Gomes, Providence
Chevon Troutman, Pittsburgh
Curtis Sumpter, Nova

note- Yes I know I picked 6 forwards but those were the 6 best players in the Big East this year.

2nd team (regardless of position)
Josh Boone, UConn
Allen Ray, Nova
Gerry McNamara, Syracuse
Carl Krauser, Pitt
Chris Thomas, ND

Honorable mention, Marcus Williams (UConn), Rudy Gay (UConn), Brandon Bowman, (Gtown), Daryl Hill (SJU)

Freshman of the Year
Rudy Gay, UConn
I wanted to give this to Jeff Green of Georgetown, but he's kind of stumbled down the stretch in games that Georgetown has to win. Gay is the all around package. If he stays next year UConn will be a preseason title threat.

6th man of the year
Jermaine Watson, BC
No brainer here. Watson has been the key for BC down the stretch in games. He's not afraid to take a big shot and he shoots 83 percent from the line. He's the one that has made plays for BC in many a tight game.

Most Improved player
Marcus Williams, UConn
He's improved in every statistical category from last year and has gotten even better through out the year. He's getting double amount of minutes from last year and making the most of it with almost 9 assists a game.

Coach of the Year
John Thompson III, Georgetown
The argument for Al Skinner is a compelling one, but he also had the same team he had last year that lost to national runner up GT by one point. Not crazy to expect them to be better than last year. JT3 took a bad Georgetown and put them on the cusp of making the tournament. I still reckon that its harder to be make a bad team good than a good team very good.

Practicing Punditry

2005-02-27T17:17:00.000-08:00

Today's question is How do you maximize your chances at getting into the NCAA tournament as an at-large? Well there's only one way to find out. If you're a fan of a bubble team you've come to the right place. Here's how to give your team the best chance. I also did this to find out how in the world people still had Virginia Tech in the tournament. I may be missing a team here or there or I may have a team in a spot you dont think they should be in, but this is for research purposes more than who gets in per say.

Background
There are 65 spots in the Tournament field. 31 Automatic bids and 34 at-large selections. This year there are 15 definite one bid conferences. These conferences wont get more than one team in the tournament no matter what. They are the Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Horizon, Ivy, MAAC, MCC, MEAC, NEC, OVC, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, and Sun Belt conferences. That leaves 16 automatics available to go with the 34 at-larges. Some conferences could possibly get two teams if their conference leader loses in the tournament, but is strong enough for consideration as an at-large. Those conferences are the Atlantic 10 (George Washington), Big West (Pacific), America East (Vermont), CAA (Old Dominion),and MAC (Miami,OH). Notable omissions are the MVC, WCC, WAC and MWC. The reason is that those conferences will DEFINITELY get two teams in the tournament if their leader loses in the conference tourney and may get two anyway. So if we take those 9 conferences and say their current leader wins the conference tournament, that will leave 7 automatic bids with the 34 at- larges. A point to consider is that this is maximizing the at-large pool. It is very concievable that Gonzaga or Southern Illinois could get knocked off and take away 2 at-large bids. But lets have fun and maximize the pool. So that leaves 7 definite multi bid conferences. They are the ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC, Pac-10, Big Ten, and Conference USA.

What does it all mean?
Well if you're a bubble team and they know who they are; they are rooting for every conference leader from a possible two bid conference. Every bubble team will be pulling for the 5 teams that lead those conferences. So here is who the bubble teams need to win in this order and a reason for each.
1. George Washington (beat Maryland and Michigan State- good resume)
2. Pacific (Nations's second longest winning streak and getting national attention)
3. Vermont (high RPI ranking)
4. Miami, OH (favorable RPI and beat Wichita State)
5. Old Dominion (25 wins,good RPI, but may not have enough qualty wins)
and here's the list of the other teams they will be pulling for out of the other conferences.
ACC- Duke, UNC, Wake Forest
Big East- Syracuse, UConn, BC, Villanova
Big 12- Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas
Big 10- Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State
Conference USA- Cincinatti, Louisville, Charlotte
Pac 10- Arizona, Washington
SEC- Kentucky, Alabama
WAC- Nevada
MWC- Utah
WCC- Gonzaga
MVC- Southern Illinois

So lets say that the winner of all those conference tournaments comes from each respective group. So that leaves us 34 bids to fill. The following is a list of the teams I believe are in, very close to being in, on the bubble, or trying to play onto the bubble. (in no particular order, I promise). After the list we'll break it down further.

Stone Cold Locks (teams that are in even if they lose their remaining games)
1. Duke
2. BC*
3. Syracuse
4. UConn
5. Nova
6. UNC*
7. Wake Forest
8. Arizona*
9. Washington
10. Illinois*
11. Wisconsin
12. Michigan State
13. Kentucky*
14. Alabama
15. Gonzaga*
16. Oklahoma State
17. Kansas*
18. Oklahoma
19. Louisville*
20. Charlotte
21. Cincy
22. Utah*
23. Nevada*

Oh So Close (one or two wins and becomes a lock)
24. Notre Dame
25. Pitt
26. Georgia Tech
27. Maryland
28. Pacific*
29. Depaul
30. Southern Illinois*
31. UCLA
32. LSU
33. George Washington*
34. Mississippi State
35. Florida
36. St. Mary’s
37. Texas Tech
38. Texas
39. Stanford

Bubble bouncing (can make the tourney but cant become a lock)
40. New Mexico
41. Miami
42. Iowa State
43. Georgetown
44. West Virginia
45. Minnesota
46. Northern Iowa
47. Wichita State
48. Miami, OH*
49. Vermont*
50. Old Dominion*

Let me in, please? (needs a win or two to just get on the bubble)
51. Virginia Tech
52. Indiana
53. North Carolina State
54. Texas A&M
55. Memphis
56. Houston
(* depicts conference leader)

Breakdown
Ok so thats leaves 56 teams for 34 spots. Thats a problem. But it doesnt have to be 56 teams. Out of the 23 "locked" teams 10 lead their conference and could get an automatic spot. So lets say those ten teams do win their tournament. So take those 10 teams out plus the other six conference leaders, (ODU, Vermont, GW, Southern Illinois, Miami (OH) and Pacific) and lets say that they also win their conference tournaments. So that leaves 40 teams (56 minus 16)for 34 spots. But its not really 34 spots because I have 13 teams, that don't lead their conference, locked into the Tourney. So now we have 27 teams (40 minus 13) for 21 spots (34 minus 13). This is the reason why so called "bracketologists" have sub par teams in the tournament. Look at the list. The last 6 teams are all teams I say aren't even on the bubble yet. Those are also the only 6 teams I even found worthy of putting there. So that means the 21 teams in front of them that aren't conference leaders all get in!!

Bottom Line
People who call themselves "bracketologists" or whatever they are called fall into this trap. They are saying that every conference leader will win their tournament. We know the liklehood of that happening is not very good. What happens if Gonzaga or Utah lose in their tourney? Or a bottom feeder from a "power" conference wins their tourney? Well then an at-large spot is gone and one more team gets bumped. Dont listen to a "pundit" today, wait to see what they say at the end of conference tournament time. So if you think you're team isnt in the tournament at this point, think again. You're team is probably in right now, it's when the conference tournaments start that your team may be out.

Senior Rule

2005-02-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

A tradition started by Dean Smith was performed again yesterday at the Carrier Dome and what a Senior Day it was. A huge 91-66 romp by SU over Providence yesterday on a day when the Dome bid goodbye to maybe the most accomplished class in SU history. Craig Forth, Josh Pace, and Hakim Warrick took their final bows yesterday and did it in style. Instead of recapping the game I’ll just take a look at these 3 seniors. I was a senior at Syracuse when these players were freshmen.

Josh Pace
First opinion- I remember seeing him on the floor and saying “Why did Boeheim get this kid?” He can’t shoot, He’s not big and He’s not that quick.

Now- My favorite SU player ever. He gives the hope to many kids that you don’t have to have the best jump shot, you don’t have to be the quickest player, and you don’t have to be the tallest player to be successful in college basketball. He has a left handed push shot that will go down in Syracuse lore. He does everything well and plays hard every night. He gets lost in SU’s title run in 2003, but he had a huge second half in the title game and was intrical in the comeback against Oklahoma State.

Craig Forth
First Opinion- I saw Forth start and said “Finally, Syracuse had a player that is big and will score in the paint” He’s going to dominate like Etan Thomas.

Now- It didn’t quite turn out that way. For a player that has been maligned by the fans as much as Forth, he has started every game of his SU career. SU has gone 100-31 in games he starts. One of the unsung heroes of this team the past 4 years. He gets none of the credit and all of the blame. One of the truly unappreciated players in Syracuse history. He never complains when Boeheim takes him out after only playing for a minute. He sets great screens and plays tough. It felt good to see Craig Forth smile after his alley-oop yesterday. He deserved it. Two plays epitomized Forth. After getting thrown to the ground and no foul called Forth sprinted back on defense. He didn’t moan about no foul he just got up and got back in the play. The other one was when SU was up 18, Tukka Kotti had a breakaway lay-up and Forth hustled back and committed a foul. He could have let Kotti go, the two points would have meant nothing, but this kid gave it everything he had for 4 years.

Hakim Warrick
First opinion- I actually said these words “I think this kid has enough talent to become as good as Damone Brown”

Now- I think he was a little bit better than Damone. What can you say? The most electrifying player Syracuse has ever had. Top 5 scorer and Top 5 rebounder in Syracuse history. So instead of just praising Warrick even more, here is a list of my top 5 favorite Warrick dunks.
5. His array of dunks against Villanova this year. Every which way he dunked it and then gave a body builder pose to top it off.
4. The one over Randall Hanke yesterday where he hung on the rim and looked like he was sitting on Hanke’s shoulders. Welcome to the Big East, Hanke
3. His sky walker slam over Chris Quinn at the Dome this season. A steal and the high flying dunk catapulted SU to a comeback win over Notre Dame
2. The dunk from the block over Dennis Lattimore in Notre Dame. Also provided my two favorite quotes of the season. “Bring a Lunch!!” fro Bill Raftery. And “That’s where you are supposed to push him out to!!” From Jay Bilas talking about how coaches teach you to push a post player to the block
1. The dunk over Royal Ivey in the National Semifinal game. Ivey is standing there waiting for a charge and Warrick almost jumps over him. The referees call a ridiculous charge but are so awed by the dunk that they allow the basket.

Pulling the seniors' pants down

2005-02-25T06:42:00.000-08:00

Great Article in the Post Standard about the three seniors playing their last home game at the Dome. Warrick says some funny stuff while Pace and Forth are much more reserved.

Red Storm Quelled
Syracuse jumped out to a big lead, held off a St Johns run and finished the game strong without Gerry McNamara. There were a lot of positives coming out of Wednesday's game.

Positives
The Sophomores played well- For the first time in two yuears the Sophomores as a group played very well. I'll leave McCroskey out of it because he was playng well before the St Johns game, but Roberts, Watkins and the forgotten man, Demetris Nichols all contributed. All of them are still very raw, but there are flashes of why this was a heralded recruiting class. Watkins and Roberts can crash the glass and Nichols is long and if he can find some confidence, has a good outside stroke. If Watkins and Roberts can clamp down defensively and learn to play the zone this team could make a deep run this season in the Tourney.
Josh Wright- Well Boehim dusted off Josh Wright and gave him some Playing time in the first half and then Wright got the bulk of Gmac's minutes in the second half. Wright is very fast and very quick, but he needs to learn how to harness it. On one play he blew by Daryl Hill at half-court and had a layup and missed it. With some more game playing experience he'll slow down at the rim and lay it in. The Big Question is whether Wright will get minutes in the Big East tournament. You have to like how he looked for a guy that hasnt played a meaningful minute in 2 months.
Warrick explodes - You had to see a performance like Warrick's coming. He totally dominated a thin Red Storm front line. Lets see if those performances can carry over to the more physical teams in the tourney.
GMac down, SU blows out- After McNamara went down, SU could have gone in the tank. The break the Orange got was that Wright had gotten some minutes so he was in the flow of the geame already. I loved what I saw from the Orange when McNamara went down. Everyone stepped up. Nichols hit two FTs and a foul line jumpshot. Roberts was more tenacious and Wrigh did a good job bringing the ball up the floor. Very encouraging.

The Negatives
Where for art thou Billy?- The Edelin saga continues. No minutes. This time Boeheim said that Billy hasnt taken care of his personal issues yet. What does that mean? Will we ever find out? Speculation is rampant that Edelin isnt going to counseling sessions. No one knows if thats true of not. We'll see how it plays out, but dont expect Edelin to be a factor the rest of the year.
GMac Down, Please get up- Another reason of why one play can ruin your season. If McNamara or Warrick gets hurt SU has no chance to win. It's so brittle. Ask Cincinnati when Kenyon Martin broke his leg., Its impossible to replace players like that. X-rays were negative on the ankle so GMac is just sore. After the Providence game the Orange has a week off and then could get another 3 days after if they secure a bye in the BE tourney. GMac shold have plenty of time to rest. We know he's gonna need it.
Boeheim unhappy- Boeheim said he doesnt want to play a big lineup with Roberts at the 3 spot and I agree. Roberts is already foul prone enough and if he starts playing a wing spot in the zone he'll foul out even quicker. If Nichols can get back into it he would be prime for the 3 spot because of his shooting ability and length. I wouold like to see Nichols ply more against Providence and their zone to see if he's capable.

Microphone Fiends

2005-02-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

I've seen a lot of College Basketball this year and so I've decided to give out some Announcing awards...

Best play by play man
Ron Franklin
A lot of people dont see Franklin but he is a solid play by play guy. No shtick from Franklin and he calls the game as it is. He lets his analyst (Fran Fraschilla) speak and he also provides strong analysis himself.
Honorable Mention- Dan Schulman, I was going to give this to Schulman until he contacted Len Elmore disease, which is making excuses for a player, by saying Carl Krasuer's mouth was hurting him a week after it happened..I guess they didnt see the SU-Pitt game.

Worst play by play man
Brent Musburger
Its time for Brent to give it up. He barely knows the players names and he has totally lost contact with the college game. His calls are late and he talks more about the coaches than the game going on. Brent wins this in a runaway.

Best Color Analyst
(tie) Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery
The best thing ESPN has done for college basketball is put these two guys together. They are both knowledgeable and very unbiased. Bilas provides the player point of view and Raftery provides the coach angle. It is a joy to listen to these two call a game. Raftery on his own is very good also.

Worst Color Analyst
Rick Majerus
I like Majerus' one liners but he is atrocious. The points he makes take way to long to get out and he ends up describing a play that happened 2 plays ago. Also he sounds muffled. Very Bad. I guess ESPN must have run out of announcers this year.

Best Studio host
Dave Revsine, ESPN
Rece Davis does a great job, but no one knows college sports like Dave Revsine. He is so in tune with the college game that he understands the nuances of the college athlete. He provides very good highlight description and sets up his analysts nicely. The best show for college basketball is the one he hosts with Doug Gottleib and Andy Katz. They get along and Revsine makes sure to punctuate points.

Worst Studio Host
Terry Gannon, ABC
Man he is awful. I never liked Gannon on anything, but he knows nothing about college basketball. I dont even know why he's in there. He doesnt know half the players names and I'm not sure he understands basketball.

Best Studio Analyst
Doug Gottleib
I know, I know. I killed Gottleib earlier in the year for his ridiculous comments on the Big East, but he has grown on me this year. He's not afraid to make the controversial point or take his fellow analysts to task. When Andy Katz said Virginia Tech could be in the tournament after beating Duke, he looked shocked and argued with Katz right there. I like how Gottleib has gotten better during the year. Right now he makes his points and has facts to back them up.

Worst Studio Analyst
Mike Jarvis
This just goes to show me that former players make better analysts than former coaches. Jarvis makes bland arguments and never goes out on a ledge. He's very safe and just usually agrees with the studio host. For example..."Don't you think Syracuse has a chance to win the tournament?" Jarvis- "Of Course..blah blah blah"

Best Unknown Announcer
Jim Spanarkel
Many people outside of the Big East have never heard of Spanarkel but he is a solid analyst. He makes great concise points and backs them up. He understands the way the teams playa and does not go crazy on the hyperbole. He's gotten lost in the shuffle on CBS but hopefully he does some tourney games this year.

Most Disappointing Announcer
Len Elmore
I saw Elmore at the Baltimore ESPN Zone before the season and was going to compliment him on his great work with ESPN, but I'm glad I didnt. Elmore has been very bad this year. He takes one angle on the game and runs with it. In the Va Tech/Duke game he ran with Duke's guards. In the SU/BC game he ran with BC getting jobbed by the officials. In the Pitt/Nova game he made excuses for Carl Krauser, saying his mouth was hurting him a week after he had teeth knocked loose. I thought Elmore was on the way up, but he took a step back this season.

Around the Country

2005-02-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

Selection Sunday is around the ocrner and there is some momentum turning , let's go around the country after a huge basketball week and see whos in, whos out and whos bubble hopping in the major conferences.

ACC
Overview- Duke lose to Virginia Tech and then at one point has a 20 point lead on Wake. North Carolina rolls on and Georgia Tech better not slip up or their out of the tourney.
Big question- Could Virginia Tech score an NCAA tourney bid? I say no chance. They sit at 100 in the RPI and they lost to VMI and St Johns. They may get to 9-7 in conference but that low an RPI should not gain any merit for the Tourney.
Hottest Team- North Carolina
Games of the Week - Duke/Georgia Tech, NC State/ North Carolina, Maryland/UNC
Whos In- North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Maryland
Bubblicious- NC State, Georgia Tech
Final Tally- 5 teams..NC State is out

SEC
Overview- Kentucky got knocked off by South Carolina and then destroys Mississippi State. Winsome Frazier is back for Miss state and now Lawrence Roberts is out. Here comes LSU with big wins over Florida and MSU. Alabama keeps on a Roll Tide.
Big Question- How good is the SEC? I say they're not as people say. Kentucky will be a top seed or a 2 seed and we saw what Alabama did last year in the tourney. LSU is coming around here late in the year and Billy donovan is actually coaching this year at Florida. Possible 3 sweet 16 teams out of that bunch.
Hottest Team- tie-LSU/Alabama
Games of the Week- LSU/Alabama, Alabama/Kentucky
In- 'Bama, Kentucky,
Bubblicious- LSU, Florida, MSU
Final Tally- 4, sorry MSU no Roberts, No NCAA tourney.

Pac 10
Overview- Arizona continues to follow the unbelievable shooting of Salim Stoudamire. Washington gets knocked off by Oregon. UCLA continues alternating wins ald losses, Stanford wins two games without Grunfeld. Arizona state is making a late push.
Big Question- Is Salim Souamire having the best shooting season EVER? Courtesy of Lute Olson who made a huge deal out of this. Stoudamire has been unconcious from 3 point range inlcuding yesterdays 9/13 display. JJ Reddick couldnt even hold Stoudamire's jock this season. Stoudamire needs a couple more huge games to break Steve Kerr's record for 3 point shooting percentage in a season. Here's hoping he does it.
Hottest Team- Arizona
Games of the Week- ASU/Washington, Washington/Arizona
In- Washington, Arizona
Bubblicious- Stanford, UCLA, ASU
Final Tally- I'll say 4 because Stanford's last few games are very winnable and I think either UCLA or ASU sneaks in, right now I'll go with UCLA.

Big Ten
Overview- Illinois notches two more wins. Michigan State quietly is rolling along. The wheels of the Iowa Bandwagon have fallen off. Ho hum Wisconsin is 17-6. Minnesota trying as they might to make the tourney
Big Question- Can Illinois do it? The Illini finish with Northwestern and Purdue at home and at Ohio State. With the Buckeyes on probation, that will be their national title game. I say Illinois gets tripped up in the Big Ten tourney a la St Joes.
Hottest Team- Illinois
Games of the Week- Minnesota/Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan State
In- Michigan State, Wisconsin, Illinois
Bubblicious- Minnesota,Iowa
Final Tally- 3. I dont see Minnesota or Iowa finshing hard enough to make it and some people want to put Indiana on the bubble, please.

Big 12
Overview- Kansas loses twice and socres 61 points in an overtime game at home. Oklahoma State is on a roll. Iowa state is playing their way into the Tourney. Bob Knight finally beats Kansas. Oklahoma gets a miracle against Kansas state and Texas is holding on for dear life to a tourney bid.
Big Question- Is Kansas overrated? I say yes. Ive been saying all year, lets wait for Kansas to play close games against quality teams and then we'll see how they do. I dont think this team is prepared to make a final four run. Oklahoma state, to me, is the best team in that conference.
Hottest Team- OK State
Games of the week- Texas Tech/Texas, Ok State/Kansas
In- Kansas, OKstate, Oklahoma,
Bubblicious- Iowa State, Texas Tech, Texas
Final Tally- 6. I think they are all getting in. TT is almost in anyway, Iowa State picked up a huge road win and I think Texas will win enought down the stretch to make it.

Big East
Overview- Syracuse loses twice. 'Nova beats Pitt. One win Providence takes UConn to double OT. St Johns beats Georgetown. West Virginia destroys Seton Hall. BC keeps with their roll.
Big Question- Will the BE get 7 bids? How about 8?. Some people may think I'm crazy but look out for the Mountaineers. They improve to 16-7 and 6-7 in the conference if both they and Georgetown win out and West Virginia notches a win in the BE tourney how could you deny either one of them. It's a long shot but not impossible. Georgetown better watch out because if they are not careful WVU will take their spot.
Hottest Team- West Virginia
Games of the week- BC/Nova, Pitt/UConn
In- BC, UConn, Pitt, Nova, Syracuse, ND
Bubblicious- Georgetown, WVU
Final Tally- 7. I dont think WVU will have enough to get in at the end, but I think Georgetown gets two wins and gets into the Dance.

SU Slipping away

2005-02-21T08:28:00.000-08:00

Another physical team, Another loss for the Orange. This time it was Boston College smacking the Orange around on the glass. Craig Smith had his way on the boards and no one on the Orange did anything about it. McNamara was totally "gassed" at the end of the game. BC was getting wide open looks on his side of the zone and he had no legs at the end of the game. Pace, Warrick and GMac all played 40 minutes. Boeheim contends this team is built for the NCAA tourney, but I'm not so sure anymore.

My Take
Well there were some interesting things going on in BC on Saturday, here are a few.

Warrick gets no touches in the 2nd half- I was watching the game and waiting for Warrick to touch the ball in the post and he never got it. Between the 15 minute mark and the 2 minute mark, Warrick touched the ball once in the post. That is unacceptable. These guys have to let the offense go through Hakim. If he gets doubled, let him find the open man.

No rebounding- Yet Again , a bigger team exposes SU. There's obviously no way to fix this at this point. It's a huge problem and its not getting better down the stretch. So we'll see if SU can overcome that deficiency to win some ball games.

McNamara's defense- I love Gerry and he is a gutty player but he was killing the team defense on Saturday. I know Boeheim cant afford to take him out, but BC was getting wide open 3 pointers on his side of the floor. It was obvious something had to be done. For the first time in his career McNamara was a liability on the floor late in that game.

Edelin pulls another Houdini- If Edelin is going to start games he better be ready to play out of the gate. He looked horrible to start the game and McCroskey put together another solid outing. All the SU fans that want Edelin out there should realize that when McCroskey plays better he should play, he's earned at least that much.

Back with a vengeance

2005-02-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging, I’ve been fighting this internet connection. The updates will be coming more fast and furious. There are some things in college basketball that irk me, so here’s another list.

My Top Ten Pet Peeves in College Basketball
10. Announcers using the word “great” on every good play. A pass inside is not “great” every time. A drive to the basket and finish is not a “great” drive every time. Mike Patrick is the master of the hyperbole. Please just call the game.
9. Coaches make good analysts. Mike Jarvis and Rick Majerus are good coaches and make good points, but they take way too long to get their point across. This is television, not a clinic. The points have to be quick and concise. Watching the Marquette- Louisville game, Majerus would constantly make good points but they would lead into the next 3 plays and the play by play man would have to cut him off.
8. “Experts” saying it’s bad to storm the court. Have any of these people been a student at one of these schools? A top ten win when your team is unranked deserves a stormin’. A win over a rival you haven’t beaten in 10 years deserves a stormin’. A win against a top 3 team deserves a stormin’, no matter where you’re ranked.
7. The notion that Gerry McNamara is a better player than JJ Reddick. Come on. I love the ‘Cuse but Reddick has developed such a great game off the dribble that he’s surpassed GMac. The one argument for McNamara is that he handles the ball much more than Reddick so he has more responsibility. But Reddick does everything better than McNamara at this point.
6. Coaches calling timeouts with under 15 seconds on the shot clock. Why would you do this? The only reason I can think of is that your team is in disarray offensively, but rarely does a team get a good shot off in this situation. Let the players play it out.
5. One good win gets you “on the bubble". I hate this one. Va. Tech just beat Duke and is now on the bubble? Are you serious? They are 13-10. South Carolina beat Kentucky and now they are on the bubble? Indiana plays a hard schedule, wins a couple Big 10 games and is on the bubble? They are 11-11. Just because you play in a major conference and beat a ranked team doesn’t put you in tournament consideration. How about winning some other games?
4. The conference that gets the most teams to the Sweet 16 is the best conference. This is ridiculous. A lot of what happens in the tournament is determined on Selection Sunday. In a one and done tournament the draw is critical. Last year Pitt had to play Wisconsin in the state of Wisconsin and BC played Georgia Tech. Upsets happen and can open up the bracket. The best conference in America is the one that gets the most bids, period.
3. So called “experts” being shocked when a ranked team loses to an unranked team on the road. This is ridiculous. This is college basketball. I just watched Duke lose at Va. Tech. This is not shocking. College teams always play better at home. And College students are rabid fans and do make a difference. (Quick sidebar- This is not the same Va. Tech team that played in the Big East last year. Seth Greenburg has done a great job.
2. The media is East Coast Biased. Another one I can’t stand. The media is so biased against the West Coast that Ike Diogu of Arizona State is being touted for player of the Year on a team that might not qualify for its conference tournament. It’s so biased that Gonzaga is still in the top 15 even thought they’ve struggled in the WCC. It’s so biased that people think Washington can make the final four. Some bias.
1. All Hail the RPI. The RPI is a joke this year. With the tweaking they’ve done they’ve made mid majors have a shot at at-large bids with no quality wins. I’m all for the mid-majors and this year not only will they crash the party, they’ll be the life of the party, but some of the RPI’s are insane. Southern Illinois is 13? Vermont is 14? Come on. I know that mid majors get squeezed out of high ranked games because of their conference, but they shouldn’t get rewarded for going to North Carolina and losing by 40. So now if these big conference teams invite mid majors to play it’s a lose-lose situation. Not only could they lose the game but the mid-major could hop them in the RPI. By the way Illinois is ranked 5 in the RPI. Don’t get me started on that one.

Pitt and Roll Volume 2

2005-02-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

And Finally Pittsburgh has come back to Syracuse!!..Ok maybe not finally, but the Orange get their chance at redemption tonight on another Big Monday matchup. You may recall the first time these two teams played, Pitt played a zone and forced other players outside of GMac and Warrick to beat them. But they couldnt. We'll see what the Orange has tonight. This is the 5th game of a brutal six game stretch. Right now the Orange is 2-2 during the stretch. The Post Standard says its about revenge. The PPG says Chris Taft is the key. While Chas from the Panthers blog says
he's a little worried.

My Take
We already know what we're going to see from Pitt tonight. They'll start in a man defense and switch to zone. The question is will SU play against the zone like they did against Providence or like they horribly played against it at Pitt. This SU team has steadily gotten better the last two weeks even with the loss to UConn. Pace seems unstoppable at getting in the lane and Warrick is just flat out dominating. For a second time Taft is the key for Pitt. If Taft comes to play he'll make it very difficult on SU in the paint. Will SU's 3 headed center monster be enough to keep Pitt off the glass? Troutman finds a way to get it done in the paint. SU should be hungry to start this game tonight. And here's one prediction for the game. If SU jumps out to a 17 point lead tonight, they wont blow it.

No Mo' Nova

2005-02-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

SU beats Villanova today 90-75 in the most complete game the Orange has played this season. Warrick had 32 points and 12 rebounds, Pace had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and GMac had 18 points 7 assists and 5 rebounds..Forth had 8 points and 10 rebounds. It was an team performance today at the Wachovia Center. Coming Tomorrow are recaps from both sides and a take from yours truly

Big East Buffoonery

2005-02-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

After what happened at the end of the Rutgers-Seton Hall game yesterday, I think now is a good time to look at the officiating of the Big East. I've been following Big East basketball for the better part of 11 years and I have never seen as many bad officiated games as I've seen this year. I've seen bad officiated halves, but never bad officiated games like this. In most instances the officiating plays no outcome, but it does ruin the flow of a game. A reason for the bad calls lately? How about the officials are being overworked and its by their own discretion. Jim Burr works a game one night in syracuse and then works the next night in Ann Arbor. Fatigue has to take a toll sometimes. So here's a recap whats happened in the last week in the BE conference.

Feb 5th Pitt at WVU
Pitt's Carl Krauser drives to the basket in overtime with his team down 2 and gets shoved with two hands and no call is made. WVU comes down makes a 3 and goes on to win 83-78 to complete the comeback.

Feb 5th BC at Seton Hall
BC doubles up Seton Hall on FTs 24-12 and Kelly Whitney of Seton Hall picks up 2 of the quickest fouls I've ever seen. One second it was being called close the next they were letting them play..no consistency

Feb 5th ND at SU
The last game of the day in the BE was the worst. The first half of the game the officials called nothing including one exchange where an official was looking at Boeheim and having a conversation with him while PLAY WAS GOING ON!! Absolsutely ridiculous. The second half was called tight and Mike Brey picks up a horrible technical foul with his team up 2 and under 4 minutes.

Feb 7th Uconn at SU
A very uneven game saw the Huskies shoot 32 FTs while SU shot only 14. Warrick, Pace, and Watkins all finished with 4 fouls and Roberts fouled out. Total fouls Uconn 15 SU 24. Calhoun walks onto the floor during play and gets no technical.

Feb 8th St Johns at Pitt
Straight from the New York Post. "What's gotten into umpire Curtis Shaw? He opened the night by calling a three-second violation on Chevy Troutman. Then he called a palming violation on Pittsburgh's Antonio Graves and one on Lawrence.
He slapped Carl Krauser with a technical foul when The Bronx native protested an offensive foul call by shouting, "Come on!" He ejected a fan that didn't like the technical. Then Shaw stared down Daryll Hill and Phil Missere after they objected to calls". Wow.

Feb 8th SHU at Rutgers
Down one at the end of regulation Rutgers' Juel Wiggan is fouled by SHU's John Allen, or so says Tim Higgins with 6 seconds left and RU down by one..Wiggans makes one and the game goes to overtime. In OT Quincy Douby of RU is fouled by Donald Copeland. The foul, called by Les Jones, is in a word, dubious. Douby makes the second and RU wins. What did Douby say about the call? "If that call was made against me I wouldn't be talking to you because I would be too upset..I was surprised" What did Tim Higgins say about the call? "We dont comment on judgement calls." What did John Allen of SHU say about that response? ""A judgment call? Come on. You protect yourself (by saying) it's a judgment call? Come on. You don't make a judgment call at that stage of the game. You make an obvious call, not a judgment call. Nobody wants to see the game decided on your judgment. We want to see the players decide the game. At the end of the game, nobody cares about the referee's judgment. People pay to see the players play. They don't pay to see the referees make a judgment call. Get out of here with that."

Its time for the Big East to be held responsible. Whether they are going to is another question.

Bandwagon Jumpin'

2005-02-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry about no recap post yesterday..internet service was down. Anyway SU lost to UCONN on Monday night because of two reasons. Charlie Villanueva showed up and Gerry McNamara didnt. SU actually held its own on the boards only getting outrebounded by 6 and even having more offensive rebounds than the Huskies. Down the stretch SU committed two crucial mistakes when trying to get the ball into Warrick in the post. Two bad entry passes by Pace and Edelin helpe UConn stretch the lead and ward off the Orange. GMac was majorly disappointing. He was outplayed by a freshamn in Marcus Williams and couldnt even get good looks at the basket. Villanueva made a few circus shots and the Huskies came out with a win.

Points on the game
Officiating- As I've perused the messageboards I notice some speak about how poor the officiating was in the game. I agree that SU didnt get the majority of the calls when they had the ball, but for the most part out of the Huskies 32 FT's I would say most of them were warranted. Watkins was hacking around the basket, Roberts always leaves his feet so naturally those are going to be called. Should SU have shot more FTs? Probably. But with this team there's no guarantee they'll make them. I agree the officiating was less than stellar, but in no way was it the reason the game was lost.
Top Ten worthiness- I still believe this is a top ten team. Anytime you have 2 finalists for the Wooden award on the same team, you have to be considered a top ten team. For some people to think that this team isnt that good, think again. They have two legitimate 20 point scorers and a 10 point scorer. Anytime you get 50 points from 3 guys you are a worthy team. Is this a top 5 team? Probably not because they're a little small with Pace at the small forward and the outside shooting is poor and thats an understatement. Its only two losses in the last 3 games. Before I declare this team a disaster let me see them trip up a couple more times, but by reading some of the message boards you would have thought this team stinks. Quick trivia- Only 4 teams have been in the top ten in both polls every week this season..Kansas, Wake Forest, Illinois..oh and Syracuse.
Edelin Watch- It continues..I think he played a solid overall game. He did make two bad passes down the stretch, but overall I thought he did a good job handling the ball and distributing. He remains the X factor. If Edelin can somehow regain the form of 2003 , this team will go far. Does he have it in him? Time is running out.

Rant and Rave

2005-02-07T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my thoughts but first SU stays at #8 in the AP poll. ESPN has 3 separate articles on the Orange, Andy Katz has an article on High Flying Hakim and on Billy Edelin. Jay Bilas throws in his two cents on Edelin.

Joe Lunardi puts out his Bracketology and drops SU to a 3 seed

Thoughts while wondering if its ok to like "Cheap Seats"
-I like Stewart Mandel as a FOOTBALL writer, but he needs to give up the basketball thing. How can you say no Big Ten team can make a deep tourney run outside of Illinois and then follow it up with lets leave Wisconin out because they are on top of their game?

-Did Scott McCorkle play the whole game chewing the same piece of gum?

-Want to see a lame crowd? Watch the 1991 SU-UCONN game at the Dome. Exciting game, too bad the crowd sat on their hands for most of it.

-Chris Thomas.. all- time against Syracuse...1-7 record..27 percent from the field..27 percent from 3..12 points a game...ouch. This is a guy Stewart Mandel picked for player of the year.

-Welcome to the Top 25, Pacific. Its been a long time coming.

-Remember when the ACC had 7 teams in the top 25? Good, because now they have three.

-Illinois is undefeated and beat Wake Forest and Gonzaga at home, Cincinnati on a neutral court, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Georgetown on the road. Their RPI? 4. What a joke the RPI is. I cant take it seriously.

-Top 3 overrated teams in the country? Kentucky, Alabama and Michigan State.

-Top 3 underrated teams? Utah, Minnesota, UNC-Charlotte

-I think I would pay to see a 3 point contest between Gerry McNamara, JJ Reddick, Salim Stoudamire, and Brendan Plavich. Those guys can stroke the 3.

- If Hakim Warrick isnt the most electrifying dunker in college basketball then I've never seen a game. Close second- Ismail Muhammad.

- If you've never heard of Andrew Bogut, do yourself a favor and catch one of the Awesome Aussie's games when his Utah Utes play, you'll wonder where this guy came from.

-I like Ike Diogu

-Meaningless Stat of the day. Last year after the Patriots won the Super Bowl.. the day after SU lost to UCONN 84-56. I think it will be a little closer tonight.

Champions Reunited

2005-02-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

The last two National Champions meets at the House that Leo Rautins built tonight. What to expect? Here's my best guess.

Overall Preview
The Huskies have one of the deepest and tallest frontlines in the country. They go 6'10" across the board with Josh Boone, Charlie Villanueva, and Hilton Armstrong off the bench and Rudy Gay at 6'9". Connecticut is the top rebounding team in the Big East by almost 10 rebounds a game and number one in the entire country in rebounding. Syracuse by comparison is tied for 5th in the BE (with that rebounding power St. Johns) and 74th in the country. One of the reasons the Huskies have that many rebounds is that they only shoot 44 percent from the floor, but they will crash the glass. UCONN outrebounds their opponents by 13 rebounds a game. So combine that with Syracuse's struggles on the glass will be an interesting thing to watch. Both Teams are 1-2 in the BE in scoring, but SU scored 60 last game and Connecticut only had 68. So why is UCONN only 6-3 in the BE? Well thats easy. There are 3 reasons. They are dead last in turnover margin in the BE. Actually committing more turnovers than they are forcing. That is going to kill you down the stretch in some games. The second reason in the disappearance of Charlie Villaneuva. This is a guy who thought about going straight into the draft and skip college. He's only averaging 11 points a game and against Villanova and St John's last week he went 2-9 from the field and scored 9 points COMBINED!! Just atrocious. The third reason is the guard play. Rashad Anderson is only shooting 38 percent from the field and 32 from 3. Marcus Williams has struggled at the point. In an era of college basketball where guards are dominating the Husky guards have struggled mightily. Anderson has got it back on track this week as he was named Co-Big East player of the week with GMac. So will the Husky big men offset their guard play at the Dome tonight or will their guard play hurt them again? We'll see tonight in a game SU needs to have before going to 'Nova on Saturday.

You Can't? Uconn comes to the Dome

2005-02-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

First some game previews. The Post Standard, The New London Day, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and the Hartford Courant all have previews for tonight's game.

Later today I'll be back with my preview and some other treats...

Recaps

2005-02-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

First the recaps, The Post Standard talks about the huge crowd and electricity in the Dome. The South Bend Tribune says Notre Dame let one get away.

Yesterday we did the Positives for SU so right now we do the negatives

The Negatives

My Kingdom for a Jumpshot- I usually dont go crazy after one game about not everyone scoring but after two games in a row of no one hitting an open jumper this is becoming a serious problem for this team. McCroskey threw up 2 horrible looking 3 point shots and no one else, outside of GMAC, took a shot outside of 10 feet. Its only going to be a matter of time before teams take away Warrick nd McNamara and make someone else beat them. Get ready for a repeat of the ending stretch last year unless something changes.
Defensive Rebounding- ND picks up 14 offensive rebounds, Pitt had 16 offensive rebounds. I know the zone does not allow for rebounding asignments, but Forth for the second game found himself beat numerous times by quicker players. Francis, Lattimore and Rick Cornnete constantly were beating SU to loose rebounds. Pace needs to be on the floor, so unless the combo oF Roberts, Watkins, and Forth occupy 2 of the 3 spots on the floor, unfortunately the onus falls on Warrick. He does so much for the Orange already, but he may be the only one that can help stop this crashing of the glass by the opposition.
Offensive Execution- It seems as if at time SU forgets what to do on the offensive end of the floor. They become so dependent on GMAC and Warrick that if they dont get the ball to them, they get lost. Warrick needs to touch the ball in the post on every possesion but a lot of the time they dont give it to him.
Billy Edelin- Everyone around the team says he is crucial to the team's success but he is having a rough time on the offensive end. A couple of times he couldnt get the ball to Warrick on the block and he seemed to force the action when he did get the ball. Edelin needs to get back to backing his man down in the lane and making his acrobatic shots. Last night was a perfect night for him to play big and he didnt.
Arguing with the Refs - I will agree the officiating in the game was horrible last night, but leave the arguing to Boeheim. At times the team outide of Pace and Forth seem more worried about the officials than the team their playing. Terrence Roberts especially. The second half was better than the 1st half in terms of officating but it was poor last night. One stretch showed me how bad. Towards the end of the 1st half an offical was more interested in talking to Boeheim on the bench than watching the action on the court. What is he doing? If there was an attempt by SU to make a steal he wouldnt have seen it because he was looking and talking to Boeheim. I would like to see the BE do something about that, but they wont.

Deja Vu thanks to two

2005-02-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

Notre Dame has seen this ending before. Down 11 with 6 minutes left, Syracuse ends the game with a 21-7 run to pull out a 60-57 win over the Irish in front of an NCAA record 33,199 at the Carrier Dome. In their last meeting SU ended the game on a 19-4 run to win at South Bend. This time the run was due to the Orange's two National Player of the Year Candidates, Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick. They combined for 20 of the final 21 points and 42 of the 60 total points. SU scored 20 points in the first half in one of their worst offensive performances in recent history. The second half wasnt much better until the end of the game. The Orange only had 19 points in the second half before going on their run. Adding Pace into the scoring, SU got 52 of 60 points from 3 guys. SU improves to 21-2 and 8-1 in the Big East and Notre Dame falls to 13-6 and 5-4 in the Big East.

My Take
While the game is still fresh lets go over what happened. First of all the first half looked like a team out there that has never played organized offensive basketball. GMac was throwing behind the back passes in traffic, they were giving the ball to Warrick out by the 3 point line, Demetris Nichols couldnt dribble (although this shouldnt shock anyone). It was atrocious. It was so bad that Boeheim at one point was playing a unit of Warrick, GMAC, Edelin, Watkins, and Roberts. Wow. JB was trying anything and it wasnt working. Pace kept them in the game in the 1st half with 8 points. The defense was good except for some open 3s, but every time SU got within 4 or 5, Notre Dame would hit a 3 or hit a couple of baskets. The start of the second half wasnt much better. SU would get within 5, Falls hit a 3. SU would get within 6, Francis hit 2 FTs. SU would get within 4, Chris Quinn would knock down another 3. GMAC picked up his 4th foul, SU was down 11 with 6 minutes left and then Hakim Warrick happened. A dunk, two fts and then another higlight reel dunk, Warrick got so high on that dunk it seemed as if Quinn actually walked under Warrick. All of this happened with SU pressing. So a 6-0 Warrick run, a ho hum big GMAC 3 off an ND turnover and a great defensive job by McCroskey. What is going to get lost in this game is the job McCroskey did in the press and in the man defense. He is relentless. We can sit here and rip McCroskey for his offensive play and he desverves it, but his defense in the press and man defense is exceptional. Mike Brey argued that McCroskey was using his hands too much and promptly got a technical and GMAC tied it at the line. So in 2 and half minutes SU scored 11 straight points to tie. Then it became a FT shooting contest. SU scored their last 12 points at the line with GMAC making 9 of those. And SU survived Terrence Roberts shooting FT's like Shaq.

The Positives
GMAC and Warrick- Again carry the team. I remember seeing this happen last year and now its happening again. They get it done down the stretch. They are the epitome of winners.
FT shooting- Won the game for the Orange tonight. Throwing out Roberts four chucks at the basket at the end of the game SU was 21-26. Now some may say thats a great number, but a closer look. GMAC was 11-11 and Warrick was 6-11, so see the first positive.
Press Defense- The Defensive presure forced ND's experienced guards into mistakes. This is a different SU press than in years past. Warrick is very good on the inbounds pass and McCroskey is brilliamt at hawking the ball.
Never Give Up Attitude- On a day where College coaches around the country wore sneakers to promote the fight against cancer, SU used the late Jim Valvano's attitude to come back. This SU team believes they can win any game, which is great to have, but you cant fall behind good teams and expect to do that all the time.
Mike Brey - Thats right the ND coach is an SU positive. Brey did some curious things in the second half and all of them were in the last 5 minutes. McNamara hits the 3 to cut the lead to 2, the crowd is going bonkers, no timeout for Brey. Immediately after the 3, McCroskey forces the 5 second call and Brey gets a technical. Warrick makes two FTs to tie the game at 52 and SU goes back to zone and Brey waits until 7 seconds on the shot clock to call a timeout. You're never going to get a good shot in 7 seconds against a zone and they didnt, Quinn barely grazed iron. Then this was the worst. GMAC fouls out so he cant shoot FTs, ND down 4 with 5 seconds left, Quinn at the line. Quinn makes the first and Brey tells him to miss the second. Why?. The odds of tapping the ball back out for 3 arent good. I was thinking the whole time this could be bad if Quinn makes both because even if SU makes one ND could tie. Horrible decision. The odds of SU making two FTs with GMAC sitting on the bench are not good. Make the second FT, foul right away and you almost guarantee yourself a shot at tying because most likely the SU players on the floor arent going to make 2. Brey got lucky because Roberts missed both anyway , but its a curious coaching decision which ended his horrid last 5 minutes coaching.

Coming Later..The negatives and boy there are a lot and recaps from both sides..

Midseason Awards

2005-01-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well everyone that covers the Big East gives out midseason conference awards so I'm going to also, but mine will be a little different. First I'll go through each team with some observations and team MVP.

Boston College 7-0, 18-0
Maybe the most surprising start of any team in the country. Not many people should be surprised that BC is good, but surprised they are undefeated. I still believe they are a little bit of a paper tiger, but we wont know that until BE tournament time because of the way the schedule worked out. MVP-Jared Dudley

Syracuse 7-1, 20-2
The favorite to win the Big East is in the position of playing the toughest stretch I can ever remember an SU squad playing. They are small in the frountcourt and this stretch of games will show how good this can can be and truly is. MVP- Hakim Warrick

Pittsburgh 5-2, 15-3
Rough star,t but the Panthers are starting to hit their stride in the Big East. Huge wins over UCONN and SU will help this team. Has a a bruising frontcourt and a very good point guard. Has the combo to maybe jump up and catch BC. We'll see if Pitt has turned the corner or if they will be Jekyl and Hyde this year. MVP- Chevon Troutman

Notre Dame 5-3, 13-5
I dont know what to say about these guys. Very perimeter oriented but need to get some more contrbutions from the big guys. Thomas is too hot and cold to be trusted in a big game. Notre Dame is the prototypical "live by the 3, die by the 3" team. MVP-Colin Falls

Georgetown 5-3, 13-6
The most improved team in the country. No one expected this from Georgetown. They still have a couple years to go to become the powerhouse Georgetown again, but JT3 has them on their way. The youngest team in the BE with only one senior. We'll see if Gtown can sustain this or if the young guys wear down in league play. MVP- Brandon Bowman

Villanova 4-3, 12-4
Here come the Wildacts. This is the team in the second tier that will make a run at the BE title. Frasier is back and Sumpmter has gotten back in rhythm. Allan Ray is a very good shooter. The team no on wants to play. The Kansas game was no fluke. This team can play. MVP-Allan Ray

UCONN 4-3, 12-5
Vying with Providence for most disappointing first half team. The front court disappears from game to game and the backcourt is really hurting the Huskies. Rashad Anderson in particular. Villaneuva has been very disappointing. UCONN's schedule gets no easier down the stretch. This might be the year everyone gets their licks in on UCONN. MVP-Josh Boone

Seton Hall 2-4, 10-7
Opened the BE schedule with ND, UCONN, SU, and Pitt. Murderous start. Was competitive against all except SU and should have beat Pitt and ND. Could make a push in the second half. Need to get better guard play. MVP-Kelly Whitney

West Virginia 2-5, 12-6
Most disappointing team after their start. Started 10-0 with wins against NC state and GW when they were ranked. Fallen flat on their face. So dependent on the 3 that they get no production anywhere else. Lost to Marshall. Not going to get better in the second half.- MVP-Mike Gansey

Rutgers 1-6, 7-10
Was a 20 win team last year and lost their entire frontcourt. Employ a 3 guard lineup but atrocious at rebounding. Should have beat Pitt and Syracuse. Has a great homecourt advantage , but the team has lost all confidence. Still has to play BC twice. MVP- Ricky Shields

St.John's 1-6, 7-10
Give Norm Roberts credit, he has these guys playing hard. Not very talented outide of Daryll Hill but they come to play. Dont expect a lot of wins in the second half, but they'll play hard. MVP-Daryll Hill

Providence 0-7, 9-11
This team started the year by playing Wake tough and beating Michigan and have fallen in the tank since. They expect to lose every night. No one to help Gomes. Maybe the most disappointing team not only in the BE, but the country. MVP- Ryan Gomes

And time for my midseason awards, but I'm not doing the traditional awards because those are boring. Here goes

Most obnoxious player

Carl Krauser, Pitt and Jared Dudley, BC (tie)

I couldnt decide so they both get it. Krauser with his chest thumping after every play and Dudley with his screaming and antics. Cant stand them.

Most overhyped player

Chris Thomas, ND

Close competition between Thomas, Villaneuva and Chris Taft. But the nod goes to Thomas because of people picking him for player of the year. I'm just saying that my player of the year candidate doesnt shoot under 35 percent from the floor for the season and go 1-14 on national TV.

The "Why do they play there?" award

Seton Hall

Close between Seton Hall and St John's, but Seton Hall playing at the Meadowlands is like me running for President, sure my friends and family care, but thats about it. Seton Hall needs to play all their games at Walsh Gym. At least give your home games some atmosphere.

The "There's a two point shot?" award

Gerry McNamara, SU

There are some proficient three point takers in the BE but none hold a candle to GMac. There are 7 players that have 100 3 point attempts in the BE. McNamara has 215!!. The next closest is Rashad Anderson at 123. GMac almost doubles him. Unreal.

The "I'm a star get me out of here!!" award

Ryan Gomes, Providence

Gomes is 3rd in the league in scoring and second in rebounding and his team is 0-7 in the BE. Only so much one player can do.

Best Ending to a game

Georgetown- ND

Nothing better (or worse) than Colin Falls making a 3 for ND and the ND bench holding each other back getting ready for the celebration and seeing a dunk by Roy Hibbert of Gtown with no time left. What heartache..

Worst ending to a game

BC-Providence round 1

Providence led this game 52-44 with 13 minutes left and proceeded to score 8 points the rest of the game. A putrid performance down the stretch.

Team No One Wants to Play

Villanova

With Jason Frasier back, Nova has their inside outside threat going again. Villanova has absolutely destroyed some teams this year, when they get hot they are almost unbeatable. Keep an eye out for 'Nova moving up the Big East standings.

Team Everyone Wants to Play

West Virginia

Could go alot of different ways with this one, but WVU is struggling and they dont look like they're coming out of it anytime soon. Providence still has Gomes, so you have to figure at some point they'll play a good game and Rutgers still has the 3 guards that can score, West Virginia has none of that. It's going to be a long end to the year for the Mountaineers.

SU in the news

2005-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

As we start this monday for only the second time all year we start the week coming off an SU loss here is what the national media and Big East media say about the Orange.

National Media
-SU falls to number 8 in the AP Poll.
-Pat Forde of ESPN.com breaks down the BE in his Forde minutes and ridiculously gives BE player of the year to Jared Dudley..Man I hate him.
-Gregg Doyel mentions Syracuse in his Week in Review.
-SU stays at a 2 seed in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.

Big East Media
-Tom Luicci hands out his Big East midseason hardware.

Since Syracuse is off until Saturday,we'll dissect the Big East at the midpoint and see where SU stands right now..coming tomorrow

The Recaps

2005-01-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here are the Recaps, first from The Post Standard and then from the PPG.

My Take
Well its obvious why SU lost this game. They get outrebounded, in one of the most impressive stats I've seen, 18 offensive rebounds for Pitt and only 16 defensive rebounds for the Orange. Since SU went up 17, Pitt outscored Syracuse 74-47. Thats complete domination. And like I've been saying the past month, the small lineup with Josh Pace in the back of the zone is going to hurt SU and it did last night. Boeheim did try mixing it up with Roberts on the wing, but you can tell Roberts looks completely lost out there. He didnt know whether to challenge shooters or stay home. Not much Roberts fault as he hasnt played there much. Reason number 2 of this loss is not one other player stepped up to alleviate the scoring. Demetris Nichols comes in and hoists three 3 point bricks. Forth looked lost and overmatched. Josh Pace may have played his worst game ever at SU. Edelin had one good drive ,but nothing else. Pitt switched to a zone and took away McNamara and Warrick and not one other person could make a shot. When your two stars score 51 combined, you should be able to win the game. Very dissapointing to see SU totally outmuscled in the second half even without Chris Taft in the game for Pitt. One thing I will say about this team is that GMac never lets them give in. He plays hard until the final buzzer. I said after they lost to Alabama last year ,that I was most proud of that Orange team for the way they fought until the end against Alabama and were pretty much beating teams 2 on 5. That all goes back to McNamara, he might be the guttiest player in college basketball. Well you're going to have nights like last night and we'll see how SU bounces back. They have a week to prepare and get ready for Notre Dame at the Dome. The schedule gets no easier, this stretch will show just how good this team can be.

SU has the Pitts

2005-01-29T18:58:00.000-08:00

Syracuse loses to Pittsburgh tonight at the PETE 76-69 in a game where SU had a 17 point first half lead. The intial reaction is disappointment at the way they played in the second half. McNamara had 26, Warrick had 25, the rest of the team had 18. Boeheim has been saying it all along, SU needs to get contributions from other players. It didnt happen tonight. Coming tomorrow, recaps from both sides and a look at how Pitt slowly took control of this game.

Into the Pitt

2005-01-28T20:19:00.000-08:00

Syracuse (20-1, 7-0) at Pittsburgh tonight at 7 on ESPN and it seems that everyone has an opinion. The Syracuse Post Standard, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Seth Davis of CNNSI , and Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline all have previews.

My Preview
SU comes in as the 4th ranked team in the country and any time a team goes on the road ranked in the top ten, the games become that much harder. The Pitt Crowd will be fired up more than usual. Not only is SU the highest ranked team to come in this year, but the Pitt fans want some revenge for SU ending their home winning streak last year. If the fans have forgotten, don't worry the media won't let them. All week the Panthers have talked about revenge for last year. Chris Taft even mentioned it in ESPN the magazine saying he had "extra hate" for Syracuse for ending the streak. Pitt has won 5 of the last 7 meetings against Syracuse. So all the talking comes to an end tonight.

Pitt Overview
Two things have to worry SU about this game. One is the size SU will face inside with Chevon Troutman and Taft. Troutman showed in the UConn game, he is a premier player in the Big East. Which Chris Taft will show up? The one who looks disinterested at times or the one that can dominate a game? The second thing that has to worry SU is that Pitt had a whole week to prepare for this game. Some may say they'll come out rusty, but I'm of the belief a team comes out more fired up. The first 5 minutes will be key for the Orange to keep up with the Pitt intensity. Carl Krauser and Antonio Graves will be in the back court. Krauser can flat out score the basketball, but he becomes turnover prone when he goes full speed. Graves is a slasher but doesnt score a lot. Look for him to be guarding Gerry McNamara. The Panthers have some size coming off the bench in Levon Kendall, he is Pitt's version of Terrence Roberts. He brings energy and intensity off the bench. Dont forget about Ronald Ramon. The Bronx native brings 3 point shooting off the bench and hit a game winning 3 at Rutgers early in the year. They lost Jaron Brown and Julius Page so their defense has taken a hit and its showed. They looked overconfident against Bucknell and Georgetown, but that wont be the case tonight.

SU Overview
SU has a major advantage in the backcourt in this game. Gerry McNamara, Billy Edelin and Louis McCroskey are better than Krauser, Graves, and Ramon. The focal point of this game is in the paint. Hakim Warrick has shown this season that when players play physical with him in the post he becomes very reliant on the fadeway turnaround jumpshot. Rutgers bodied Warrick a little on Monday and it threw him off in the 1st half. Warrick gets to show how tough he is tonight. Troutman is one of the best post defenders in the Big East and he wont be letting Warrick post him up. That being said Warrick is quicker than anyone Pitt has so thats his advantage. Should be an intriguing matchup. The one SU disadvantage tonight is Taft in the middle. He is big and talented around the basket. The zone will take away his touches down low, but if he is into the game he will crash the offensive glass. The best way to take Taft out of the game? Get a lead early and push the ball up the court. He tends to get lazy on defense. Not saying Craig Forth will take advantage of that but they could get some easy baskets in transition. Last year these two teams played one of the ugliest games I've ever seen 49-46 in OVERTIME! Thats 95 total points. By comparison SU had 86 last monday by themselves. Dont look for a high scoring game this year either. The zone will cause problems for Pitt with Krauser's propensity to try to do too many things and Pitt's inability to score at times.

West Coast love

2005-01-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

First of all I'd like to thank everyone for checking out this blog. I'm in the process of putting up links for everyone that has a website and has checked out my site.

Since there are no major games usually played on Friday, every Friday I'll try to look at an issue around the country.

This week lets look at left coast for some basketball knowledge. "California knows how to party", but can they win come tournament time? The PAC 10 is the conference that gets all the attention as the major West Coast conference and a lot of people think that the PAC 10 is perennially weak. The last couple of years the PAC 10 has struggled in the tournament, but as recent as 2001, 3 PAC 10 teams were in the Elite 8. So just like any conference the PAC 10 goes through cycles, but while the PAC 10 is a major player, the smaller conferences have provided their share of good teams. Last year's cinderella, Nevada, was from the WAC. Cinderella no more, Gonzaga, is from the West Coast Conference. This year's team that can make some noise? Look no further than Pacific. No not the Ocean, the school that beat Providence in the 1st round last year. They played Kansas tough early in the year and bring back two key players in Christian Maraker and Guillaume Yango. Yango can jump out of the gym and Maraker does everything for them. The Tigers have won 11 in a row and are undefeated in the Big West. Come tourney time they could make some noise. But who are the contending teams in the West? Lets take a look.

1.Arizona- Every year the PAC 10 is talked about in the tournament, they talk about two teams, Stanford and Arizona. Since Stanford is struggling, Arizona is the pick. After struggling at the beginning of the season the Wildcats have picked it up, especially Salim Stoudamire. Stoudamire has been the best shooter in the country this season, shooting a mind boggling 56 percent from 3-point range. They are still a young team with only two seniors, but the talent is undeniable. Channing Frye, Hassan Adams and Mustafa Shakur are all good basketball players. The only question is whether they can put together 6 quality games. They go through periods of falling asleep at the wheel. But I've been very impressed with Arizona the last month of the season. Will be picked by a lot of people for the Final Four.

2. Washington - They play basketball at Washington? Yes they do and they play it very well. One of the teams in the country going with a 3 guard attack and they have a very good one with Brandon Roy, Tre Simmons and Nate Robinson. Roy is just getting back to speed after an injury and Robinson is the real deal. Washington can score with anyone in the country, but the main concern for them is that they are small. And I mean small. Nobody on the roster is over 6'9 and come tourney time they are going to face teams that will tower over them. Arizona went inside to beat them and the Huskies become 3 dependent. They shot over 30 threes against Arizona. We know how those teams do in the tournament. Washington has beaten Oklahoma, Alabama and NC State so we know the Huskies are for real. An outside shot at the Final Four.

3. Gonzaga - Last year affirmed Gonzaga will not be waiting for midnight to strike anymore. Gonzaga has one of the most balanced teams in all the country with Ronny Turiaf and JP Batista inside and Adam Morrison and Derek Ravio on the outside. Morrison is drawing comparisons to Larry Bird, but I think we need to slow that down a little bit. Morrison is their do everything guy. He can drive and he can pull up. Gonzaga, in true Zag fashion, have 3 huge wins against Georgia Tech, Washington and Oklahoma State. The rap on Gonzaga is whether they can play enough defense to win games in the tourney. Turiaf goes throught stretches where he looks horrible on the offensive end and in the tournament its hard to overcome a truly bad night by a star player. The Zags have gone through that before with Blake Stepp. The Zags seem to play better when underdogs, but no one's taking them lightly anymore. Sweet 16 bound, maybe Elite 8.

4. Utah - No, Rick Majerus isnt there. No, Keith Van Horn didnt come back. And no laughing please. The Utes are playing some of the nation's best basketball. 2 of their 3 losses are to Washington and Arizona. They've won 12 in a row by an average of 19.7 points. They are running through the Mountain West and the Mountain West would have had a huge upset in last year's tourney with BYU, if Gerry Macnamara hadnt saved SU. The Utes also have the best big man in the country with Andrew Bogut. Who's Andrew Bogut? He only averages 20 points and 12 rebounds including two games where he had at least 24 points and 15 rebounds and shoots at least 65 percent from the floor. Utah could be looking at a 5 or 6 seed in the tourney if not a little higher and if they get that they will be dangerous. Tough out in the second round.

4 teams from the West all with a chance for deep tourney runs, I wouldnt be surprised to see Washington, Arizona, and Gonzaga in the Elite 8. West Coast Basketball- alive and well.

Boeheim on TV

2005-01-27T17:04:00.000-08:00

College Gamenight on ESPN interviewed Jim Boeheim. One of the longer tv interviews I've seen with Boeheim. I decided to transcribe it. KArl Ravech (KR) and former St John's coach Mike Jarvis (MJ)did the interview.

KR- The head coach of the Syracuse Orangemen, Jim Boeheim, joins us. His team has only lost once 20-1. Coach you've been there for what seems like almost forever. You look at this conference, where would it rank relative to years past top to bottom?
JB-Well I think I've been here longer than youve been around, havent I Karl? (Laughs)
KR- Its close.
JB- I think the top teams, we ve got very good teams at the top maybe not as good as some years, but pretty solid. At the bottom and middle of the league is by far the best weve ever been. Anybody.
KR- Rutgers a good example of what you just went through?
JB- Not Just Rutgers, but you look at Providence, a team that was playing well, beat some good teams nonconference, they're struggling and they havent won a game in our league yet. And its crazy. Who thought BC would be where they are, but you probably should of. They lost by one to Georgia Tech last year in the tournament and Georgia Tech, of course, went to the final four and they have all of those guys back plus an outstanding freshman. I dont think you should be that surprised, but our league is as balanced as I've ever seen it.
MJ- As far as this team goes what would you say is probably the one thing or two things that make this team really special?
JB- Its the veteran guys. Hakim Warrick, Gerry MAcnamara, Billy Edelin, Josh Pace all were significant players, starters, on our National Championship team and they got another year under their belt in the Big East. They're the key for us down the stretch. But the key for us to be really good at the end is our younger players have to get better.
KR- Syracuse always been known as a team that runs, Warrick's great on offense, Macnamara, but how about the concept of defense? This team buy that?
JB-We've been very good in our zone. The last two games we've had to play man to man and we played the best man to man we've played in a long time. And i think thats a good thing for the future of this team. Cause you have to mix it up a little bit. Zone is good a lot of the time, but theres some nights you need to play some man. Our centers are key Craig Forth, another veteran guy. You know, If he can keep playing the way he's been playing we've got a chance down the stretch.
KR- Halftime Rutgers, Jimmy. Is there something that you see yourself continually preaching to these guys? And that may have been a unique situation, but is there some sort of recurring theme that you have to seem to emphasize to these guys?
JB- You know, thats our first really bad stretch all year long. We've been either ahead at halftime or right there at halftime of every game. It was our first really bad 6 minutes of basketball. When I got in the lockerroom the players were already yelling at each other. I said thats ok weve done it, lets go correct it. They came out charged up. Really I wish i said something that I could remember, that i could use again. It comes down to the players in that situation. They dug a hole for themselves, they knew they did, they decided to get themselves out of it. And we were very fortunate. Rutgers is a very tough to place to play and particularly for us, we've struggled down there.
MJ- You spoke about the future and obviously they are going to be some huge changes next year. What are your thoughts as a coach about the future, the new Big East and going to 16 teams?
JB- 16 is too many. Theres no question about it. You end up beating yourselves up. We're going to have six teams or seven capable of being in the NCAA tournament this year in our league and we're bringing in 4 teams that are probably going to be in the NCAA tournament. So you're talking 10 or 11 teams in a 16 team league next year that were in the NCAA tournament this year. Something's got to give. You're gonna end up beating each other up. It's going to be a challenge, a challenge for everybody, but that's what it is, we're going to have get ready and see who's going to survive.
KR-You may not remember what you said at the halftime at Rutgers, but what are you going to say The Gameday crew, is coming to Syracuse later. You hear Vitale all the time, "cupcake" easy schedule, syracuse 20-1, hows that exchange go?
JB- Dick's been better now. He kind of got off that. He realized we did play some good games early even though they were in New York state. He reminded me he got an "A" in geography which I definitely do not believe. It couldn't possibly happen Unless he was sitting next to his wife, then its possible.
KR- She could help him
JB- We're going to talk to the Gameday people and we're gonna have a great game, Notre Dame coming in. We'll have fun.
KR-What's this team capable of. You've played 21 games you've won 20 of them you've won a National Title, what is this team really capable of doing?
JB- Any team in the top 20, I believe can go to the final four whether you can win the NC, maybe, maybe. But I think any team in the top 20 or 25 in the country. You have to remember we won it from outside the top 25 at christmas time. Any team this year, the balance in college basketball, you see some great teams out there, but there's really nobody like last year with Connecticut that you're gonna look at and say we cant beat that team. Everyone's beatable, but you're still going to have to play 6 really good basketball games. The team that wins the National Championship will probably be a team that almost gets beat in the second game or third game of the tournament.
KR- We'll keep an eye on that and certainly keep watching you Saturday night against Pitt at 7 on ESPN. Coach, Thank You
JB- Thank You

Obviously a national interview. It shows that Ravech hadnt done much homework on the Orange with his questions. I think Jarvis had the best question about the New Big East. Boeheim obviously disagrees with the additions and from a pure basketball standpoint I agree with Boeheim. Obviously the reason the BE added is because of football..But imagine a schedule that looks like this nex year. UConn, Providence,at Villanova, At Georgetown, Cincinnati, at Depaul, at Marquette, Pitt, Louisville, at Uconn, Georgetown, Notre Dame, at Rutgers, at South Florida, Villanova, at Notre Dame..ouch..imagine getting that schedule..

In the Zone

2005-01-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

The Zone defense. When I grew up playing basketball this is what I would hear from Rec League coaches. "We cant play man, let's just play zone". I remember coaching a youth league team and trying to install a zone defense. Little did I know that kids play a zone about as well as William Hung sings "She Bangs". Everyone tries to break down the SU zone so I'm going to give it my shot. So why does the SU zone work and what are the myths that the SU zone has broken down about the zone?

The Myths
1. The zone is for lazy defenders. This might be the case when you're youth league team stinks and dont want to run, but in the world of college basketball the zone is for the athletic. Im sure before Temple's John Chaney made the zone somewhat repopular (is that a word?) some coaches thought that you could use the zone to give your team a rest, but not today's zone defense. The zone must be active. An inactive zone defense has holes in every area of the floor. Example- Providence played a zone defense against SU this year and SU got every shot they wanted and GMac threw two alley-oops to Forth. It forced Providence to play man.
2. Teams that cant play man to man play zone. This is a popular one. Lots of fans think that because you play zone you just arent good enough to play man. Well if thats the case I'm sure every NBA team would play exclusive man. But the rules have changed to let teams play zone and lots of teams do it. The zone defense at its absolute best can actually be better than a man defense. Example- Texas, which plays exclusive man, played zone against Oklahoma State and beat them because of it.
3. The center is the most pivotal player in the zone. For a long time people thought this was the case and even today I'm sure some people think that this is true. The theory goes a center in the middle will deter shots in the lane and grab rebounds. Unfortunately they are wrong. The most important players in the zone are the two guards. They must cover wing to center of the court and dive down for any entry pass into the middle. If you dont have quick guards, you dont have an effective zone. A center is important, but not as important as the guard play. Example- SU's zone. From 1996 on, the centers are Otis Hill, Etan Thomas, Elvir Ovcina, Craig Forth, Jeremy Mcneil. Hill was undersized and Ovcina and Forth were just smart players that took up space. You could make an argument Mcneil was a premier shot blocker but for every block he got a foul. Thomas is the only one of the group to be a dominant shot blocker and force in the middle. You dont need the big player in the middle to have an effective zone.

Why does SU's zone work?
1. "Being long"- Thats the one word everyone uses to describe SU's zone. The players are "long". What does that mean? It means the players they have can use their armspan to cover more than their height should allow them to. Hakim Warrick is long, Kueth Duany is long, Carmelo Anthony is long. They cover more court with their arms and can trap players in corners and contest jumpshots even if they are a step or two away from the shooter. When it looks like there is an open look in the zone, one step and jump can make that open shot much difficult
2. Discipline- Every player in the SU zone has assigned responsibilties. Once one person decides to do his own thing the whole zone breaks down. Just look at if a player goes for a steal. In the man to man if that happens you just keep switching until the player gets back in the play. In a zone, there is a a huge gap that cant be overcome. The epitome of zone discipline is Craig Forth. He gets hammered by fans sometimes, but you'll never see Forth out of position in the zone pre-shot. When's the last time someone threw an alley-oop on the Orange? Thats because of Forth. He takes away the rim and snuffs out backscreens. The easiest play to get on an undisciplined zone is the alley-oop. Lets not forget the other players. The forwards must challenge shooters on the wings and the guards cant run out as far because if there is an offensive rebound they dont get back in defensive position. SU has unbelievable discipline in the zone.
3. Anticipation- This is the one many people overlook. Not only do the guards have to anticipate, but the forwards do too. Josh Pace and Gerry Macnamara are great anticipators. The know where the ball is going and get there before the pass is completed. The forwards need to see that the ball is being reversed and get ready for the extra pass. Also the forwards and guards must be on the same page to trap in corners and in the wing spot and then the opposite guard and forward must drop. This is all basketball sense and SU has impressive instinct.

How do you beat it?

1.Time-Well there are many schools of thought. But first and foremost you need time to prepare. The Big East Teams have time during the season because they usually have time to prepare. To go into a zone and play it without seeing it all season is very difficult Ask John Lucas. Ask the Kansas guards. It not easy.
2- Big Men- Crash the glass and crash the glass hard. The zone doesnt have specific box out assignments If your guards rebound well they can outnumber the rebounders underneath- Example- Kansas in the 2001 tourney. They totally dominated SU on the glass and won in a rout.
3- All purpose man- If you have a guy that score in the mid range game and pass the ball well you already have the zone halfway beat. If you put that guy at the foul line he can make the 15 ft jump shot, pass it out for an open jumpshot, or force the SU center to step up and dump the pass down low before the forwards collapse. Example- Richard Hamilton used to be proficient at this and breaking down the SU zone from the inside .
4- Shoot, Shoot, and shoot- This seems to be the theory of most teams and mostly it doesnt work. The one way it does work is if you make enough shots to force SU out of the zone. Two teams that were proficient at hitting the 3 and hurting SU was Kentucky in 96 and Alabama last year.

The Syracuse Zone may be the greatest equalizer in college. Teams have never seen it and have trouble against it. Will the zone ever take off across the country? I doubt it. It takes a discipline that many young players dont have and a willingness to put your ego on the shelf. More teams use zone now, but none of them play it like SU.

Fun with Numbers

2005-01-26T06:02:00.000-08:00

Statistics are fun to look at and if you're Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin they help explain everything. So today I decided to look at the top 10 teams in the country and compare their stats at guard. People say guard play is vital to an NCAA tournament run, but how much do teams depend on their guards to create points? How balanced are teams in relation to guards and forwards scoring the basketball? Some teams start 3 guards so I noted those next to the team. The third column is Points created per game. Since an assist is worth 2, you double that column, add it to points per game and divide by games played, its the amount of points directly created by the guards. The last column is the percentage of the team's points directly attributed to guard play. Sorry about the format, I couldnt figure out a way to make a chart come out on this blog.

Guard Play
Team Pts Ast TO PC/G %
Illinois (3) 45 16.4 8 77 95
Washington (3) 46.5 12.6 6.6 71.7 81
Kansas (3) 32.3 10.7 5.5 53.7 75
Duke 38.3 6.6 4.2 51.5 63
Kentucky 29.3 7.6 3.4 44.5 59
Wake 32.5 8.8 5.4 50.1 59
UNC 27.7 9.9 6.0 47.5 52
Ok State 23.8 8.1 2.9 40 51
SU 21.4 6.5 4.2 34.4 45
BC 16.9 6.3 3.6 29.5 39

A few interesting notes
- Both Big East teams are at the bottom as far as percentage and BC is the only top ten team under 45 percent and for that matter they're under 40 percent. Guard play is of course key in the country but it seems like it is less important in the Big East because both teams are undefeated in conference play.
- Duke leads all the two guard offenses in points scored, but is near the bottom in assists. There is so much pressure on JJ Reddick and Daniel Ewing to contribute and score big every night that at some point Duke is going to struggle. To ask those two guys to play like that for 6 games in the tourney is asking a lot especially when they play better guards.
- I know Illinois plays 3 guards but 95 percent of the points they score are attributed to 3 guys. That was the number that jumped out at me. It is an insane amount of points that are directly created by Deron Williams, Luther Head and Dee Brown. That goes to show how much they play and why Illinois is so successful. No one else in the Illini offense is responsible for ball handling duties.
-North Carolina is the highest scoring team at points per game but only rely a little above 50 percent on their starting guards. That means that the guys like Sean Mays and Jawad Williams are scoring without much help from their guards. Just seems to me by a quick glance that UNC is the most balanced offense.
-John Lucas' Ast/TO ratio is off the charts. He gets his guys in good position to score and doesnt turn the ball over. For that matter neither does Daniel Bobik. Just crunching numbers you can see Oklahoma State and UNC relying on their big guys if the perimeter game isnt working.
-Not a lot of people know about Washington, but their 3 guard lineup actually scores more than Illinois. With Brandon Roy back expect their numbers to climb a little bit. They have an explosive offense and apparently there are other people that help Washington. Sometime in the next couple of days we'll look at the State of West Coast Basketball.

What do these numbers mean for SU?
-Not much. I was surprised SU was that close to 50 percent but it goes to show how much more of an all round player Macnamara has become. The second guard for SU is McCroskey and he's not a contributor in the mold of some of these other teams. If I had used Josh Pace's numbers I'm sure the percentage would have been higher. If and when Edelin gets back to his normal self expect to see SU hover around 50 percent.

SU in the news

2005-01-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

Couple of tid bits on SU

-Seth Davis has Gmac and Warrick as 2 of his 3 Big East Conference Players of the Year.
-John Walters has a line about SU in his weekly college column.
-The AP does a story on SU, you can view it here. It was posted on SUfans.com. Thanks guys.

The Recaps

2005-01-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

Two different sides and two very different takes to what this game means and proves to both teams. The Post Standard talks about how the seniors stepped up. The Newark Star Ledger says Rutgers let one slip away.

Seeing how huge the comeback was I'm doing a little something different I'm going to grade out all the performances last night. Not that these grades mean anything but seeing how every one who played a major role in the comeback contributed. Positives and Negatives included

Hakim Warrick- what can you say about SU's national player of the year candidate? Warrick fueled the comeback with his play early in the 2nd half and his long arms in the press. Picked up two really dumb fouls that put him on the bench when SU finally nudged in front. Needs to stop talking to the officials. Grade B

Gerry Macnamara- How do you spell Gmac? C-L-U-T-C-H. This guy has ice in his veins. Hit two huge 3s in the second half, one to put SU up 6. Impressed with his penetration of the Rutgers guards in the 1st half and was good in the man to man defense. Saw a lot from the Scranton wonderkid last night. We knew he had guts, but he showed off that he is much more of a complete basketball player than people give him credit for. He did go the whole game without shooting a free throw which is alarming considering both teams were in the bonus 7 minutes into the 2nd half. Grade A-

Josh Pace- No more words left for this guy. 14 pts, 7 rebs and 7 assists. You know what you're getting every night from Pace. He doesnt do too much and knows his limits. Found Gmac for the 3 to put SU up 6. Couple of huge rebounds when he was left by himself to outrebound two Rutgers players. He does it all and he hit 2 of 3 FTS. Did miss two shots he normally makes but that is definetely nitpicking. Grade A

Billy Edelin- Welcome Back Welcome Back Welcome Back. Two good games in a row for Edelin. 14 points and the confidence we saw from Edelin in 2003 reared its head. Asking for one on one and waving teammates away. Getting clutch put backs and he hit a clutch baseline shot. He did miss a short junmper that would have given SU a 3 point lead, but only mistake of the night. Was vocal in the locker room at half time. Made 7-8 from the line including two clutch ones. Grade A

Craig Forth- Disappointed in Forth last night. He did grab one huge rebound and had a big tip in but overall not much of a factor. Was on the Bench when SU pressed and got back in the game. Not much from Forth. Grade C-

Louie McCroskey- Best game Louie has played for the Orange. Confident with the drive, finished at the basket a couple of times in the 1st half. You can really see how much skill this kid had. Played very well in the pressure defense to start the 2nd half with two steals. Needs to be able to make the outside shot consistently to keep the D honest. Very impressed with Mccroskey. Grade B+

Terrence Roberts- Ok, Im starting become increasingly frustrated with Roberts. He picks up cheap fouls and he constantly is chatty with the officials. He needs to cut it out. Also this comment wont help. He continually gets himself out of position on defense by going for blocks he cant get. He brings the most energy to the floor of any SU player, but he needs to refine his skills. Very raw. Took two bad shots in the second half. He did win the game for the Orange with the tip in, but needs to get a lot better. He has the talent, now he needs to know how to use it. Grade C+

Daryl Watkins- "Mookie" played very well for having a cast on his hand. Missed 3 FT's but you would too if you had a cast on. Was the last line of defense when SU pressed and didnt allow any easy baskets. For What he could do Watkins was good. Grade B

Jim Boeheim- Win 696 wasnt easy but it may be JB's greatest comeback. Didnt say anything to the team at half and it worked. He knows his players. When SU got the lead down to 4 he backed off the press to save their legs. Took Gmac out of the game to give him a break. Great coaching in the 2nd half. Would have liked to see SU get out of the zone earlier in the 1st half, but to be fair when SU did go man in the 1st half RU just went right to the basket and scored anyway. Grade A-

Overall 1st Half grade - D
Overall 2nd Half Grade- A
Overall Grade- B+

BIG RAC COMEBACK!!! SU 86- RU84

2005-01-24T18:21:00.000-08:00

In one of the most memorable comebacks Ive ever witnessed by a Syracuse team, I realized why this team does is ranked in the top 5. They showed guts, courage, determination, and a will to win tonight after being down by 18 at the half. Who fueled the comeback? The entire team. 45 seconds into the 2nd half the lead was down to 11 and 4 minutes in the lead was 4 for RU. It was Warrick early in the 2nd half, GMac in the middle and Pace and Edelin the end. And to top it off it was Terrence Roberts that won the game with a tip in and free throw. This is the proudest Ive ever been of an SU squad. Should they have been down 20 to Rutgers? Of course not. But there was no quit in this group. Everyone contributed even Daryl Watkins with a cast on his hand. SU followed their worst half of the season with their best. Thats the mark of a good team. They could have said "this isnt our night, Rutgers is shooting the lights out,lets get Pitt on Saturday", but they didnt. Hakim Warrick played like a National Player of the Year candidate, Gerry Macnamara played like the clutch shooter he is and Josh Pace played like..well Josh Pace. They did this at a place where they struggled before. And until Saturday at Pitt these guys have every right to be proud of what they did tonight at the RAC.

Coming tomorrow- Recaps from Syracuse and Rutgers and more analysis on a great comebacl by the Orange

Monday Musings

2005-01-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here's what the national media and Big East Media re asying about SU this monday. SU moves up to #4 in the AP poll.

National Media
-Joe Lunardi has SU as a 2 seed in the Chicago region.
-Luke Winn of CNNSI does an interesting article on the trouble private schools may have competing in the future and you can check out his power rankings also.
-Stewart Mandel names SU-Pitt as one of his games of the week.

Big East Media
-Hakim Warrick is namedCo-player of the Big East this week.

Little RAC of horrors

2005-01-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

SU goes to the Swampland tonight to play in their personal arena of horrors..the Louis Brown Athletic Center (also known as the Rutgers Athletic Center AKA RAC). SU has lost 3 of the last 4 played at Rutgers and the one win was by one point. Rutgers may have the best homecourt advantage in the Northeast. From witnessing games there first hand and being on the court the noise just funnels to the court. It is extremely loud and the configuration of the RAC makes it difficult for road teams. The Orange go for their 13th win in a row and 7 consecutive BE victory tonight at 7. The Post Standard previews the game as does the Newark Star Ledger out of New Jersey.

Later today we'll have the polls and go around the country and see what everyone is saying about SU.

Billy's Back

2005-01-23T09:43:00.000-08:00

Billy Edelin had a huge game for SU yesterday. Read the Syracuse angle on the game and then read how West Virginia reacted.

My Take
Another close game for the number 7 team in the land. Dont know if this is starting to be a good thing or a cause for concern. Dont get me wrong I'll take the wins but its the play that matters to me. West Virginia did make quality shots in the second half but SU never put them away to where those shots would have been the difference between cutting the lead from 20 to 10 instead of 12 down to 6. Look at Kansas they played a bunch of close games and then got absolutely blasted at Nova. Kansas looked horrible. Is SU set up for one of those type performances? We'll see in the coming weeks when they go to Pitt,Uconn and BC.

The Positives

- The play of Billy Edelin. He was fantastic in the 1st half. Neither Pace or GMac scored in the 1st half and SU was still up 12 going into the break. Now we have to see how Billy follows this game up. The last time he played well was against ND and then he was nonexistent against PC and Gtown. So we'll see if he can build on it.
-Warrick continues his play as a Player of the year candidate. If you know you're going to get 23 and 10 from Warrick every night the Cuse is in good shape. He hasnt just been good in these games, he's been SU's best player in the last 3 games.
-The Cuse played a lot of man to man in the 1st half and played it very well. Thats going to help the Cuse later in the year in games when they have to abandon the zone. You know there will be one game where the other team shoots SU out of the zone. Now the tem has some confidence that they can play man.
- The Ft's - SU goes 16-18 from the line. So like I said last week either you're a good FT shooting team or your not. SU might be one of those teams that shoots well at home and not on the road. Something to keep an eye on.

The Negatives
-Terrence Roberts is getting more and more frustrating to watch or listen to. He constantly picks up dumb fouls and isnt on the floor when Forth gets in foul trouble because he gets in foul trouble also. Roberts may be the most talented player out of the sophomore group but is very incosistent. When Daryl Watkins comes back (which could be Monday) this will help alleviate some problems, but Roberts needs to be a little better
-The Rebounding is still a little issue. Its nitpicking, but Warrick seems to be the only one grabbing a clutch rebound. The other guys need to step up and help him out.
-The Schedule- look at SU's upcoming schedule. This is where we find out about this team. Pitt twice, Uconn twice, ND, at BC,at Nova. The 5 best teams in the league all in the next 7 after RU on monday. Should be good.

SU Wins!!

2005-01-22T20:29:00.000-08:00

Syracuse beat West Virginia today 72-64 at the Dome where 29,000 plus witnessed, a season campus record. Recaps and Analysis coming tomorrow.

Around the Country

2005-01-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

5 observations on whats going on in different parts of the country.

1.Punching Zags. Gonzaga has beaten Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech on neutral courts (even though the Ok St game was in Oklahoma City) and has lost at Missouri, and tonight at San Francisco. No, Bill Rusell did not play for the Dons tonight. Gonzaga never loses at home, but they have played some tough road games. This leads to the question of whether the Zags are as good as advertised or maybe the West Coast Conference is catching up. It probably a little of both. No doubt Gonzaga has the talent with Turiaf and Batista in the middle and Morrison and Ravio on the outside, but this could be a 3 bid conference out west. StMary's is for real and dont forget Santa Clara beat UNC the first game. That being said Gonzaga has to win these games. They now have two conference losses. They have four in the last 4 years combined. If you can beat Ok St. on what was a home court for the Cowboys then you should beat USF on the road. If the Zags want to be considered true final four contenders they need to show more than what they have shown early in conference play.

2. The top ten this week? #1 Illinois wins in OT against Iowa,#2 Kansas wins by 2 against NEB at home, #3 Wake loses to FSU, #5 OK St. loses to Texas, #7 SU beats Georgetown in OT at home, #8 Kentucky beats Ole Miss by 3 after being down 16, #9 BC beats Nova by one at home. The point? On any given day anyone can lose in conference play in college Basketball. To say that some team is unworthy of their ranking is not knowing the game.

3. Class? I dont need no stinkin' class. Well if you're PJ Tucker of Texas or Sean Banks of Memphis maybe you should have attended at least some classes. Now both players are done for the year because of academic issues and have cost their teams chances at deep tournament runs or maybe even making the tournament. Banks was a terrific freshman last year and Tucker is the glue that helped hold Texas together. And to make matters worse in Tucker's case is that you only need to pass 6 credit hours in the first semester to be eligible for the next semester. Thats two classes. PJ Tucker couldnt pass two classes. As for Sean Banks, he was already thinking about declaring for the NBA draft last year and you could see he was disinterested in school and at some points disinterested in passing the basketball. Its a shame that these players cant see that they are getting a chance at something that many Americans would die for. A free college education.

4. SEC basketball its fannn-umm...ok its horrible. The SEC is looking at getting only 4 teams in the Tournament and thats being generous. The only teams right now that will get in are Kentucky and Alabama. Mississippi State was looking like they might be a shoe in for the tourney, but then they lost a heartbreaker to Alabama by THIRTY-NINE. It wasnt even that close. It is very concievable that the SEC might only get 3 teams. Florida may get in, but they are very bubblicious. I'm saying MSU or UF will get in but dont be shocked if the SEC only sends two teams to the Dance. What an embarrassment that would be for the SEC. They've gotten at least 5 teams in for the last 5 years. Two teams this year? Ouch babe.

5. Coming up soon is BracketBuster Weekend. A concotion made up by ESPN so Mid Majors play each other to get one more good non-conference game on their schedule and an opportunity for a quality win against a team with theoretically the same talent. I have things I would like to see changed. First of all, no offense to the fans of these teams, but I have no interest in Oral Roberts against Witchita St. I don't and unless you are a diehard ,and I mean diehard college hoops fan, most people dont have any interest either. I would much rather watch Oral Roberts have a chance to upset Kansas at home or play Arizona on the road than play another mid-major. I know this wont happen because the major conference schools are afraid to play mid majors on the road and dont want to play mid majors period because it brings down their RPI, but I would hope it would. And one more thing I would want to see is more regionalization of these games. I am intrigued by Vermont, but I dont need to see them play Hawaii. How about Vermont/Niagara or Vermont/George Mason?..that way by tourney time I will be somewhat familiar with the teams from my region that could make some noise. Not to say I dont like the idea but I think it could be tweaked.

Satisfaction? Not Guaranteed

2005-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

And neither is a final four berth. All the "experts" seem to think that two ACC teams will get into the final four along with a combo of OK state,Illinois and Kansas. Those are the majority of picks. Of course some people stick SU in some prognastications or maybe even a sleeper!! like Duke(ugh). There was a great article done by John Feinstein, who authored a book on an entire ACC season entitled A March to Madness.(sidenote-that book is a great read. I dont like the ACC but it gives you in depth on the hated rivalries in the ACC and how intense each game is. It was also written in Dean Smith's last year at Carolina. Its 9 years old now, but i think its definetely worth it). Here's the article about how nothing in the NCAA tournament is guaranteed and this from an ACC guy. So I decided to look at the last 10 years of the NCAA tournament and see how many years a Final Four has featured 4 teams ranked in the top eight going into the tournament. The answer? None. Not one time has a final four featured a combo of just one seeds and 2 seeds. That is remarkable. So all these people that think its going to be only teams ranked in the top 5 in the Final Four are wrong. The numbers dont lie. Expect at least one 3 seed or lower in the Final Four. In 2000 two number EIGHTS were in the Final Four. So if you think the top teams in the country will all be playing for the title in April well just think again and dont be afraid to add in a sleeper. My sleeper pick for the Final Four(team ranked out of the top ten) is Louisville. Just a hunch.

Is the Rivalry back?

2005-01-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Here are two recaps from the SU win last night.One from SU's point of view and one from a Georgetown angle.

As for my analysis of the game here it is. First of all Georgetown is better than anyone in the country thought they would be. They have a couple quick guards and they are big inside with Jeff Green, Brandon Bowman,and Roy Hilbern. Bowman and Green can both shoot from the outside as evidence by Bowman's huge game last night. The encouranging signs from an SU standpoint is that the bottom line is they won the game. When it came down to overtime Warrick and Macnamara took over scoring 9 of the 11 points in overtime. These guys flat out know how to win. Forth played another huge game last night with a double double and Pace was Pace. 18-1, there needs to be no complaning. SU has set themselves up for a huge Big East year by starting 5-0. As for things that need to be changed. Lets leave FT shooting out of it because either you are a good FT shooting team or you're not. There's no switch that gets turned on and the team says "Oh now we can start hitting FTs". The two major issues that have arisen out of the last two games are defensive rebounding late in the game and pressure defenses. PC and GT both crashed the boards late in the game and both got 2, 3 and sometimes 4 chances at a bucket. As an example SU was leading GTown at half rebounding by about 6 and then finished 2 behind the Hoyas at the end of the game. Having Pace on the backline hurts at the end because big frontlines just jump over him. Will Boeheim go big when Daryl Watkins comes back? We'll have to wait and see. The second thing about press defense is hurting the Orange. G Mac had 6 turnovers last night and its because the press d makes him go faster and speeds the game up for him forcing him to make decisions faster. Pace was horrible handling the press against PC. The solution. Billy Edelin. Does Edelin get out of Boeheim's doghouse? Lets hope soon.

Syracuse Wins!!

2005-01-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

SU beat Georgetown tonight 78-73 in overtime at the Dome. Coming tomorrow: Game Recaps from both sides and some analysis from yours truly. Also a look at how nothing in college baskeball is guaranteed. Wake Forest I'm looking in your direction.

John Thompson is Back!!!

2005-01-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

For the first time since 1999 John Thompson will coach Georgetown at the Dome against Syracuse. Ok its John Thompson III or as his friends call him JT3. If thats not the coolest nickname for a coach I dont know what is. "So who's you're coach?" "JT3". Awesome. But I digress. I dont think this John Thompson will officially try to close the Dome tonight like his father did to Manley. Georgetown comes to the Dome tonight and its no where to be found on television outside the syracuse area. The premier rivalry in Big East history not on tv. Could you imagine Duke-UNC not on tv? Georgetown is hot and playing well. For all the pregame notes check out the preview of the game on syracuse.com. If you want a different angle and why G-Town is playing well check this out. (free reg. req).

Monday Musings

2005-01-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

Every Monday Ill try to post what the National Media and Opposing Big East Media is saying about SU. As always I will post the local stories first, but this morning there are no local stories. Also I'll have the rankings as soon as they become available. SU is ranked #7 in both polls that came out today.

National Media
-Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com has SU as a 2 Seed in his weekly Bracketology.
-Andy Katz of ESPN.com has SU as his team of the week in his Weekly Watch.
-Grant Wahl of CNNSI.com has SU as one of his Magic 8 teams that will win the National Championship.

Rival BE Media
-The Washington Post seeds SU as a 2 seed in the Alberquerque Region.(free reg. req.)
-Notes from Providence Journal about SU's 75-71 win over PC.(free reg.req.)

Message Board Frenzy

2005-01-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

I like to check out the message boards about SU basketball at syracuse.com and sufans.com, but sometimes its too unbearable to read the stuff on syracuse.com. Its just a place for rampant rumor sepculation or blatant name calling. Last time I checked Message boards are for opinions and as I was taught in lovely New Jersey Public schools an opinion cant be wrong. Even though this one kid in high school named thought that fact was just popular opinion. For instance the reason we call Syracuse's primary color "orange"is because thats what everyone calls it and everyone called it "green"we would call the color orange "green". Its very confusing and I think I just gave myself a headache,but back to the original point. Sufans.com is very good for intelligent conversation about SU hoops but if you want to just hide behind a screen name and call people names then head over to syracuse.com. Im not saying syracuse.com doesnt have intelligent conversation but its hard to find it through all the drivel.

Welcome

2005-01-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

Well everyone has a blog so here's mine. Its all about Syracuse University Hoops if you couldnt tell. Its been a passion of mine since I was about 12 years old living in New Jersey.My first memory of SU is winning the 1992 Big East tournament but being on probation so they couldnt go to the NCAA tournament. Thats when I fell for SU hoops. Ive watched almost every game thats been on television or seen games in person. I remember Conrad Mcrae's tournanround jumpshot to beat Villanova at the Spectrum. I remember Lawrence Moten's high socks. I remember taping the SU-Kansas Elite 8 game in 1996 and watching it later with no one telling me the outcome and the subsequent dance done by Al McGuire while the entire SU team was singing "When the 'Cuse is in the house Oh My god". And then I attended SU from 1998-2002 and had some of my best memories. Seeing Ryan Blackwell make a shot at the buzzer to beat St Johns at the Garden. Starting 19-0 in 1999-2000 and rushing the court against UConn. But there have been plenty of bad memories. Moten calling a timeout they didnt have against Arkansas. The pathetic NIT game against FSU. Losing to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the BE tournament. Blowing a huge 1st half lead to eventual champion Michigan State. But all of that ended in 2003. Of course the 1st year after I graduate becomes the best year in SU history, but I'll take it anyway. The purpose of this blog will be to update everything being said about Syracuse good and bad. So enjoy because I will.