April is always one of the best months in sports simply for what's going on. Baseball season is beginning, the NBA and NHL playoffs are just getting going, March Madness rolls over into April; for those of you in college towns, spring football holds their first practices and of course the NFL Draft.
With that said, a lot has gone in CuseAdelphia during the month of April. Six CuseAdelphia teams are in action and winning. Now this post comes in May, the day of the 76ers elimination from the playoffs, but the Sixers reached the playoffs for the first time in several years.
The 76ers, the Flyers, and Syracuse Lacrosse are all having tremendous bounce back years after terrible 2007s for those teams.
The 76ers completed only a five game turnaround, but their late season surge through March and April put them in the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The youthful bunch of players created some lasting memories with Andre Iguodala's thunderous slams down the lane and Thaddeus Young's emergence.
The Sixers under new GM Ed Stefanski reached the playoffs looking to pull off an absolute shocker by taking down the two seeded Detroit Pistons. Things looked good early for the 76ers after Game One. A frenetic comeback in the Motor City meant Philly would head into Game Two with a 1-0 lead.
Game Two ugly. Sixers lose badly.
Game Three. Things are much different. Mo Cheeks' crew figures out what they did in the second half of Game One and blow the Pistons out of the gym.
Then things got ugly. Really ugly again. For the next three games it would be terribly ugly.
The Pistons outscored the Sixers by 19 points in the second half of their Game Four win. Game Five was domination all game; Pistons by 17.
Game Six was the worst of all. The 76ers season was officially declared dead at 8:12 PM EST. A 10-0 lead for the Pistons was essentially as close as Philly would get the rest of the game, Pistons win by 23.
Syracuse Lacrosse has also made a very solid turnaround. After a 5-8 season in 2007, the Orange rebounded in 2008 in impressive fashion. SU finished April undefeated, beating their opponents on average 14-6.
The Orange have dominated behind the likes of Tewaaraton Trophy nominees Mike Leveille and Steven Brooks. Leveille has a team leading 61 points while Brooks has anchored the midfield all year. In goal, John Galloway has played increasingly well as the year has gone on.
The 'Cuse capped off the perfect April with an absolute handling of recent pain in the UMASS 16-3. The Orange scored the first nine goals of the game and scored more goals in each quarter than UMASS had the entire game.
Philadelphia's team in orange- the Flyers - also completed the best turnaround in the NHL this year. The Fly Guys were last, dead last in the entire NHL in 2007, but managed to reach the playoffs as the sixth seed in the East.
Being the sixth seed is one of the best seeds you can be in the playoffs. Often the third division winner is always barely worthy of the playoffs, and this year was pretty much no different. The Capitals needed a long winning streak at the end of the year to reach the playoffs, but that streak ended at the hands of the Flyers.
Seven games, several blown leads, one Alexander Ovechkin explosion, and one Daniel Briere goal scoring binge later the Flyers were moving onto the next round.
Now throw in four more games, three of which are Philly wins, lots of angry Canadians, some more blown leads, no Briere scoring binge, but rather one by R.J. Umberger and you get a 3-1 series lead against the Montreal Canadiens.
One CuseAdelphia team already has won a title. The Syracuse women's Lax team took home a Big East Championship in South Bend in dominating fashion. A 22-7 blow out followed by a 12-6 victory over rival Georegtown and the women have an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Basically every scoring record you think of, Tewaaraton trophy nominee Katie Rowan broke it.
Two CuseAdelphia teams used April to get off to extremely solid starts.
The Phillies finished out April 15-13. Now that doesn't seem too impressive, but when you look at their past four Aprils, it's rather impressive. 11-14 in 2007, 10-14 in 2006, 10-14 in 2005, 10-11 in 2004. You get the picture.
The Phillies did it in probably the most improbably way: great pitching from both the starters and bullpen. The entire staff has posted a combined ERA of 3.79, the lowest its been in years.
The relievers have been much better; the Phillies' pen ranks first in the National League in ERA. J.C. Romero, Brad Lidge, Chad Durbin, Rudy Seanez, and Tom Gordon (minus the first week) have been lights out.
Cole Hamels is throwing his name in the hat for Cy Young during the early season with his 2.70 ERA and 36 strike outs in April.
Chase Utley and Pat Burrell have provided MVP moments throughout the entire month as the two are near the top of practically every offensive category. Utley ends the month with a major league leading 11 home runs.
The team that plays across the parking lot, the Philadelphia Soul of the AFL has been blistering hot. Two QB's Tony Graziani and Matt D'Orazio have combined for astronomical numbers in leading the Soul to an undefeated record through April.
Bon Jovi's team finished off the month with a 57-28 romping over the previously undefeated Dallas Desperados. Philly held Dallas scoreless in the first quarter, a monumental task in of itself.
The other football team in Philadelphia just completed the 2008 NFL draft with some disputed success. The Eagles set themselves up for a monster 2009 draft with the acquisition of the Panthers 2009 first round pick. The Iggles also got another second round pick in the same deal when trading away their first round pick to Carolina.
Now the Eagles only got one player that will have an immediate impact this year with DeSean Jackson, but it's still a major accomplishment to get one of the most explosive players in the draft half way through the second round.
The Birds also grabbed DT Trevor Laws who's a workhorse on the defensive line.
The later round picks weren't anything special, but the Eagles overall had a solid draft.
No matter how good all of CuseAdelphia's teams did, there's going to be a few bad notes that cannot go unmentioned.
In the same NFL draft, no members of the Orange heard their names called for the first time since 1975. Taj Smith, Jameel McClain, DoWayne Davis, and several others eventually found a home, but it wasn't for NFL draft level money.
Orange fans also learned they might hear the name of one of the fabulous freshmen from the 2007-2008 seasons. Donte' Greene declared he's making himself eligible for the 2008 NBA draft, but he left some hope for Orange fans when he didn't sign an agent.
Greene's team also found themselves sitting at home from the NCAA Tournament and NIT Tournament finals which both took place in April.
Finally on a sad note, we remember John Marzano who was found dead in South Philly home. The cause of his death hasn't been revealed yet.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
April Month In Review
Friday, April 25, 2008
Sobs: Best Player Quote
Thanks Sean from TNIAAM for handing the SOBs off to me to give out the award for Best Player Quote.
For a player quote to stick out in the minds of bloggers for a whole season, he had to have said something profound and meaningful.
The quote had to be in a critical moment in the season and represented something greater.
There was a general theme among a lot of the Syracuse Bloggers on this one. A few bloggers nominated quotes about Donte' Greene's draft status.
Nick Loucks chose a quote from Donte' after the UMass game,
"I just didn’t want to lose the game. I can’t even remember what was going through my head, really."The Three Idiots on Sports went with Paul Harris after Kyle McAlarney tore SU a new one,
"He had a huge game. His game was so good, it was like we didn't even know the scouting report. He just hit everything.''The runaway winner for this category however, is something Paul Harris said.
Matt Glaude from Hoya Suxa,
"Paul Harris talking about mentally checking out of the Villanova debacle: "Jonny kept telling me, come on when are you going to be ready to play? I don't know. It is what it is." Nice.Brian Harrison from Orange:44,
"I shot a three and coach yelled at me. It kind of threw me off and I didn't play after that." – Paul Harris after the Villanova regular season loss. Oh Paul, you actually admitted to dogging it during a game. While I gave him points for honesty, it was something that would not please any fan of the team. He more than made up for it the rest of the season, but when you are a sophomore you are not supposed to act like that anymore."Josh from Cuse Country,
"I didn't even really try to go get rebounds." Paul had a number of 'brutally honest' postgame quotes this year, I respect him for that.Sean from TNIAAM,
"[Paull Harris's quote is] not a "favorite" per se but it was Paul Harris stripped bare. And from that game on he rebuilt himself, on and off the court."So this year's award for Best Player Quote goes to Paul Harris for admitting he quit after the Villanova game.
Back to Troy Nunes for the Final Award at 7PM.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
SOBs: Most Disappointing Player
A.E.M from The Orange Squeeze doesn't disagree,
"My most disappointing player has to be Josh Wright. Had he stuck it out and finished his education (which is most important) and played he could have been part of the team and probably helped them enough to get to the NCAA's."
"if you add in the rest of his [Josh Wright] career, this could become kind of a Lifetime Achievement in Disappointment award."
"Donte' Greene. I was under the impression that he was going to come in and score a lot down low and be a great rebounder who could shoot the three if he had too. Turns out he was the complete opposite."Nick from Nick's 2 Cents knows where I'm coming from,
"Donte' Greene - Hard to bag on the team's top scorer, but I've seen better shot selection in 6th-grade All-Star games."
"Last year I tagged Paul Harris here, not because I was severely disappointed with him but just because he didn't live up to the hype that proceeded him. Same went for Donte Greene this year. Clearly Mr. Greene thinks he's good enough for the NBA but the jury's still out for most Syracuse fans. Greene has great moments, but he also had some pretty bad ones as well. We'll miss his abilities and potential but we won't miss his shot selection."
Three Idiots on Sports went with Scoop,
"Getting suspended when the team was already short handed, not smart. Hopefully it's a learning a experience."
"After a nice start being added into the lineup when Devendorf went down he was playing very well. Then he laid a goose egg at the Georgetown game in DC. Immediately upon his return to CNY he was suspended for the SUpercard incident."So with all that said....
Former Winners: 2007 Josh Wright.Orange:44 will have Best Video at 4 PM.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The SOBs Are Back!!!!!
No, no, the SOBs aren't something derogatory, but the Syracuse Orange Blogger Awards!!!
This is my first year participating in the awards.
To get a full feel of what the SOBs are check out last year's awards at Troy Nunes.
For the full schedule of when the awards will be handed out check out Troy Nunes again.
I'll be awarding the Most Disappointing Player Award tomorrow at 3 PM.
At 6 PM on Friday I'll present the Favorite Player Quote Award.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Carmelo is Arrested
Carmelo Anthony now has two strikes on his record after being arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence.
'Melo was suspended last year for 15 games after his role in the Madison Square Garden brawl below.
Anthony wasn't driving in a single lane and failed to dim his lights. He was released on bond early Monday morning is scheduled to appear in court May 14th.
It's been a great week for SU basketball...Donte' going pro and now Carmelo being arrested. I'm feeling maybe Josh Wright is going to ask the coaching staff to let him come back as a graduate assistant.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
By No Means is Syracuse's Season Over
I've been checking out a lot of talk on the message boards and discussions taking place in comments on syracuse.com and what is out there is just ridiculous.
Yes, Syracuse doesn't have the greatest resume right now and will need to win some tough, hard games the rest of the year. What the majority of the rest of the world doesn't realize is, it's not how good your resume is, it's how it compared to the other teams out there.
Right now, Syracuse looks pretty darn good against a lot of teams they are competing against for the last five or so at large bids in the tournament.
Last night was a prime example of this.
Duquesne beat Dayton which put both teams at 16-7, however Duquesne is 6-4 in the A-10 and Dayton is 4-6. Both are bubble teams. Now if Duquesne finishes 9-7 in conference which is very likely with their remaining schedule and Dayton can get to 8-8, do you think they would take those teams over a Big East team that's 9-9 (and to get those nine wins they would have beaten some very good teams). The answer is no as long as Syracuse wins a game in the Big East Tournament.
Also Rhode Island lost to Temple last night 92-89. The Rams are now 6-4, for them to make the tournament over Syracuse they would need to finish at least 9-7 which could be difficult with their remaining games in the A-10. Charlotte's bubble also burst last night. They had a chance to beat Xavier last night, but couldn't a close game out. They drop to 5-4 in the A-10 and already have nine losses.
The last two nights really hurt a few SEC schools. Florida, Ole Miss, and Kentucky all took steps back. Florida lost to a terrible LSU team (a comparable loss for Syracuse to South Florida). The Gators are now 19-6, 6-4 in the SEC and have one of the worst out of conference schedules ever.
Kentucky was making a run, starting out 6-2 in the SEC, but suffered their worst loss in decades on the road in Vanderbilt. Had they finished 13-3 or 12-4 in league play would have made them an interesting case for the bubble because of their terrible start, but strong finish. The loss to Vanderbilt really throws that scenario out the window unless they dominate down the stretch.
Mississippi is this year's Clemson. Undefeated out of conference, 3-6 in conference and playing terrible. They are 17-6 in conference and if they don't get back to about 9-7 in conference which will be virtually impossible or go to the conference finals, they aren't getting in.
In the ACC, several more bubble teams are hurting the last two nights. Maryland's impressive run thus far in the conference ended with a pretty convincing loss last night at Duke. They are still 6-4 in conference and 16-9 out of conference, but have a terrible loss to American. NCST missed their chance to pick up a solid road win over BC tonight; this leaves the Wolfpack under .500 in conference including a complete embarrassment against North Carolina.
In the Big 12, Baylor has really started to fall off. After starting conference play 4-0, they've lost four of five including a bad road loss against Oklahoma State. This team has not been the same since winning in quintuple overtime at Texas A&M. What the Bears have going for them is, they have a lot of quality wins. Also in the Big 12, Oklahoma is largely considered in by a lot of "bracketologists," but they are 4-5 in conference and have lost three of their last four.
Davidson is another interesting case. They are rolling through the Southern Conference. Should they lose a game in their conference tournament after finishing their regular season slate in conference undefeated, I don't think they should be in. I commend them for going out and scheduling, UCLA, UNC, Duke, NCST, and Charlotte. People argue they should be awarded for this, and I agree with that to a point. The problem? They didn't win a single one of those games. They also went on the road to an above average MAC team in Western Michigan and lost. The NCAA Tournament at large builds are for the best teams not to win their conference tournament. How can this team be considered one of those teams when they lost every single test they had out of conference? They don't have a single quality win and don't deserve to be in the tournament should they lose their conference tournament.
In the Big East, there's really only two teams legitimately on the bubble, West Virginia and Syracuse. WVU has done enough to get in the tournament. I would be shocked if the Big East doesn't get at least seven bids. Their ability to get an eighth will come down to whether SU can win some big games down the stretch or if Seton Hall could go on an amazing run to get them back into contention.
Finally in the PAC-10, Oregon, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, and USC are all on the bubble. They are all either 6-5, 5-5, or 4-5 in the conference right now. Any team that finishes 10-8 or better in that league is in. Any team that's 9-9 won't be in unless it's Arizona because of their great strength of schedule, any team that's 8-10 isn't getting in. That conference probably gets six teams in, UCLA, Stanford, and Wazzau are almost locks at this point. Out of those five teams above on the bubble, two should get to 10-8, Arizona will probably reach 9-9 because of a tough remaining schedule, but that should get them in as long as they win a game in the PAC-10 tournament.
Update, as I wrote those, South Alabama lost to Middle Tennessee State. Before this game, South Alabama was 20-4 and had just one loss in the Sun Belt Conference. They were another team that was considered a strong bubble team if they won out and then lost their conference tournament. This second loss in the Sun Belt is very damaging to their over profile.
Also, another Atlantic-10 team on the bubble fell tonight in another game comparable to Syracuse-South Florida. Fordham (who Syracuse handled early) beat UMASS in Amherst. This drops UMASS to 15-9. In all likelyhood, UMASS will finished with 11 or 12 losses. I can't see that A-10 team getting in over a 20-13, 21-13, or 22-12 Syracuse team, SU's three most likely records that would keep them in at large contention. UMASS would fall to 4-6 in the conference also. UMASS has a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way and can only afford to lose one more game in conference.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Looks like Nitology Edition II is Coming Syracuse's Way
SU just did not come prepared to play tonight in South Florida. I said they would get off to a slow start, but this was just ridiculous and unacceptable.
Despite the furious comeback late in the game by the Orange, the Bulls win it 89-78. The Orange showed heart late in the game, but the terrible turnovers and overall execution cost Syracuse too much.
Syracuse had all the size in this game, but didn't take advantage of it. Paul Harris should have been all over the Bulls. He tore apart an undersized Villanova lineup, but also played well against a huge lineup against UCONN. He should have been able to completely take over this game, but didn't.
Jim Boeheim is a great coach, a Hall of Fame coach, but USF's coach Stan Heath took him to school today. Boeheim had a week to prepare for this game, but had nothing for South Florida. The Bulls attacked the zone perfectly and then really picked apart the man to man Boeheim went to.
First half free throw shooting also helped bury this team. They shot 6 of 13 from the line in the first half which helped extend the deficit. As the 'Cuse began to fall further behind with the missed free throws and turnovers, the Orange began resorting to bad looks at the basket as soon as they got down court.
When you're down 20 with 14 minutes left, you have a size advantage, and your opponent's big men are in serious foul trouble, take the ball to the hoop every single possession. Just go to the hoop and go up strong. You should score almost half the time plus the fouls you'll pick up. The Orange could have really cut down this lead if they had done that.
Defensively, I'm not too entirely sure what to think. Overall, you have to say it was a poor effort between the constant easy opportunities off the failed press and turnovers. SU also often forced South Florida to take a long time to get off a shot, but many times late in the shot clock the Orange defense just broke down.
The press was absolutely killing Syracuse the entire second half. Yes, they forced some turnvers, but USF got so many easy baskets and drew so many fouls because they broke the press without a problem. Several times, Syracuse doubled once in the half court, but USF got a couple of wide open looks which they drilled.
Kudos to Kentrell Gransberry though. He played tough all game in foul trouble. He completely took over the game in the second half. He got USF off to a solid start with a couple early baskets and then kept South Florida rolling in the second half.
Same to Jesus Verdajo. The guy played the game of his life. For USF to win this game, they needed someone other than Dominique Jones and Kentrell Gransberry to step up, and Verdajo was that guy. When Syracuse was able to shut the two of them down, Verdajo was able to get a very good look.
Thanks Kristof! for showing up to play today. Orange nation appreciates your one rebound, three personal foul performance today during the first 35 minutse of the game. I know he had a couple big players late in the game, but his performance or lack there of during the bulk of this game really helped put SU in a massive hole. When you're playing seven players, you can't have one just absolutely not show up like this.
What this does in terms of Syracuse's NCAA tournament status:
SU didn't have a terrible loss yet this year until tonight. Standing at 16-9 with a 6-6 conference record with a remaining schedule from hell, things don't look good at all. I thought they could get in the tournament with a 9-9 conference record if they were the right nine wins. SU is now setting up to be able to get a "solid" nine wins if they can get there. To get to nine wins they would need to beat Seton Hall on the road and then pull out two games against five of the six best Big East teams. If they can get those two wins plus a win at Seton Hall they will still be alright heading into selection Sunday if they win a game in the Big East Tournament. With all that said, obviously Syracuse needed this win badly and it will hurt them dearly. This was one of those games that in no way was going to help your resume, but only hurt it.
On a side night, awesome crowd again for the Orange. There were several very noticable "Let's Go Orange" chants in the second half.
For Syracuse, they need to just do the old cliche of put it behind them and go after Georgetown. I have a feeling the Georgetown game will either be another butt kicking like tonight or Syracuse will come out and put a hurt on the Hoyas in front of the massive Dome crowd. The crowd for that game should be over 30,000. The best tickets you can buy online through SUAthletics are in section 320 and 336 near the top of those sections. Those are the second longview sections on each end of the court. If you are going to that game and don't have tickets get them ASAP or you will be sitting so far away you might as well just watch the game on the jumbo screens. For those of you going to the game, get there early. It takes awhile to get 30,000+ people onto the campus and into the Dome.
On the bright side, the women's team beat Seton Hall 81-72. More on the game after I write a paper for CFS 362: Youths, Schooling, and the Pop culture (Yes that class actually exists and yes it is a part of the education program at Syracuse).
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Syracuse Bracketology Edition VI
Syracuse is barely hanging on in the Bracket Matrix. Although they are in 28 of the 37 brackets that make up the matrix, the Orange is just the third to last team to get an at large bid. They are beating out other contenders like Oregon, Arizona State, George Mason, and North Carolina State who in my mind are ways behind Syracuse in overall resume.
- NCST stands 36th in the RPI right behind Syracuse. They are 15-8 and 4-5 in the ACC, but have a strength of schedule over 20 spots behind Syracuse. Their best win is home against free falling Miami. They have one very questionable loss at RPI 237 East Carolina.
- George Mason is 17-7 and 9-4 in the CAA. They are 59th in RPI which is a good 15 spots too low to get a bid this year. They have three solid wins, home against Dayton who's also free falling, Kansas State, and CAA conference leader VCU. They also have several questionable losses worse than NCST's. They lost at HOME to East Carolina and on the road to RPI 288 Georgia State. Any team that loses to a team 275 or worse in the RPI and is on the bubble should be passed up every single time.
- Arizona State is 72nd in the RPI, 15-7 and 5-5 in the PAC-10. They have four quality wins, two over Arizona, one at California, and against Xavier. They have two terrible losses to a bad team in Illinois and to Washington, a team Syracuse beat. ASU was also beat handily by Nebraska, Washington State, USC and UCLA blew ASU out.
- Oregon is RPI number 47, 14-9, and 5-6 in the conference. The Ducks have solid wins over Arizona, Cal, Stanford, and K-State, but lost on the road to St. Mary's, Oakland, Nebraska, and got the living daylights blown out of them at Stanford.
Syracuse has shown an ability to win on the road recently, something most of the bubbles teams above and below them have not. This suggest Syracuse should be able to win at least two of their four remaining road games (Notre Dame, Louisville, South Florida, and Seton Hall). Since the Orange have Georgetown, Pitt, and Marquette at home, they should be able to win one if not two of those games.
- The Hoops Report puts Syracuse in as an 11 seed facing off with Washington State in the first round. That would be a tough game to win since WSU is a real tough it out, grind it out kind of team, something Syracuse might have problems with because of their depth problems. The second round opponent in would likely be Michigan State. MSU is a team I personally would like to play because when Drew Neitzel struggles, the rest of the team tends to not show up. Case and point tonight. Purdue has kept Neitzel out of the game and MSU has put up 52 points heading into the final minute.
- Bracketology3 has Syracuse in as a part of their last four in along with St. Joe's, Oklahoma (another under .500 in conference), and Arizona State.
- Bracketology 101 has Syracuse in their last four out and writes this about Syracuse:
Syracuse failed in its attempt to pick up a big win against UConn this week. They have another shot at one this weekend with Georgetown coming in. After that their remaining schedule is brutal (@Louisville, @ND, Pitt, @Seton Hall, Marquette) so we don't like their chances getting to at least 10-8 in conference play, which is what it is going to take to get an at-large out of the Big East.
- Breaking Down the Bracket gets featured for the old school logo of Syracuse they have in must see TV. They write about the Orange's upcoming game against Georgetown:
While I have Syracuse in the tourney (barely) this would be a huge opportunity to solidfy a postseason berth with a win against a Georgetown squad that is just getting by in recent wins.
Overall, as long Syracuse finishes 9-9 in the Big East, with a top 40 RPI, win one game in the Big East tournament, and don't get blown out in any other their remaining games, they should get in. The other teams they are competing with for the last few at large spots are almost all under .500 in their conference with just as tough remaining schedules as Syracuse.
South Florida Preview
The last time Syracuse and South Florida met, they played a very up tempo game. Syracuse was able to turn many transition opportunities into easy scores. They recorded a 114.6 offensive rating, their third best performance in Big East play. South Florida had one of their best games in the Big East offensively also against a Syracuse team that was just beginning to come into their own defensively. The 99 rating South Florida put up was their fourth best output in conference play.
South Florida plays slower than average at a pace off 66 possessions a game which is around what Syracuse has been playing at in Big East play. The Bulls don't excel at any one part of the game, and overall they generally bad at almost every aspect of the game. South Florida doesn't rebound very well, especially defensively. On the offensive glass they will get their fair share of boards thanks to center Kentrell Gransberry.
Gransberry leads a very undersized lineup. KG is just 6'9'' and is typically undersized against most Big East centers, but he is still in the top five in the league in rebounding. Of the six players that receive the most playing time for coach Stan Heath, only two of them are taller than 6'4''. If Syracuse sticks with their big lineup of Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Kristof!, Donte' Greene, and Arinze Onuaku, four players from Syracuse will be taller than the Bulls' third tallest player.
Syracuse needs to rebound out of the zone well. If they can do this and hit the offensive boards hard, they should really be able to control the game. Syracuse is 18th in the county in offensive rebounding, while South Florida is 200th in defensive rebounding. The Orange will limit South Florida possessions while gaining more looks at the basket for themselves.
South Florida's size is also evident in blocks. They have one out of every eight two-point shots blocked, an extremely high rate. Syracuse is very solid at blocking shots, so seven or more blocks is definitely possible in this game for the Orange. Blocks lead to extra transition opportunities which means easier points for the Orange. We saw this against UCONN, the many Hasheem Thabeet blocks led to numerous easy baskets for the Huskies. SU hasn't been able to get out into transition as much lately, minus the Villanova game which is one of various reasons why the Orange have struggled to put up points recently.
South Florida features several young guards. Dominique Jones is one of the best freshman guards in the country you've never heard of. If he was on a better team in the Big East, he would be getting serious contention for Big East Rookie of the Year. Sophomore Chris Howard has also been solid for the Bulls in the back court. South Florida's guards are definitely the strength of this team.
South Florida will chuck up a lot of threes with little success. They shoot about 16 a game and hit just 5.5. Not a single USF Bull shoots better than 40% from three as they have seven players who shoot between 30 and 40%. Six of those players will take at least one three-pointer a game.
USF has a solid assist to turnover ratio, partly due to their strong guard play. They average 15 assists to 13.5 turnovers which is a very low amount for a team that's won only one Big East game.
Overall, the Orange should be able to take this game. South Florida hasn't had a pulse in Big East play as they've lost ten in a row since winning their opening at home against Rutgers. USF will probably play them tough for awhile, but probably fade down the stretch as they did last year in the Sun Dome.
CuseAdelphia prediction: Syracuse 78, South Florida 66.
Feel free to post your predictions.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Jib-Jab Video of the Game
The Sports Hump discovered something great at Jib-Jab with his video that can be seen here. After every Syracuse basketball game I'm going to post a video in my recap from Jib-Jab. The player riding the chair towards the end of the game gets my player of the game.
So for my Villanova Jib-Jab video, I present to you Kristof! as my player of the game for getting in the action on the offensive side of the ball, hitting a three pointer, and being a beast on the defensive end.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Syracuse Bracketology Edition V
No Nitology in this title because Syracuse is moving on up in the Bracket Matrix. The Orange have now snuck into 17 of 31 brackets in the Matrix and in 12 of the last 15 updated. The 'Cuse would be a 10 seed in the tournament.
My favorite, and most wonderful bracket *note the sarcasm* is once again Basketball Predictions. He's got Syracuse in as a nine, but has some dandies in this bracket. Remember, he projects where teams are going to finish the season, not if it ended today, and UCONN apparently will finish the year as a three seed. He also has Louisville all the way down as an 11 seed.
Beating the Experts is apparently a blog written by a West Genesee High School student in Syracuse. He has Syracuse in as an eight seed if the season ended today, but had this to say about the Orange last week:
Syracuse is a true 12 seed, but could only be inserted as a 11 seed (8 Big East teams). They got the nod over a falling Villanova squad, even though Villanova holds the head-to-head matchup. Villanova is slumping at the moment and have a tough schedule ahead (including a huge "bubble" game Saturday vs. Syracuse). Syracuse is one of the last teams in even though there rotation has now shrunk to 6 players! Freshman guard Scoop Jardine has been suspended indefinitely by the University, which means Syracuse is now absent another player. It should be interesting to see if the Orange can stay afloat over the next couple weeks.
Crashing the Dance updates daily because it uses a formula to determine a team's seed. Syracuse is the ninth seed and would have a rematch with Clemson in the first round.
RPI Forecast also uses a complex formula to determine who's in and who's out. Syracuse is in as an 11 seed. Check out the detailed forecasts for where this team should finish. RPI Forecast projects a 20-11 record for the Orange before the Big East Tournament.
Other notes about the current bracket matrix: Villanova is one of the last four out, but that's only because they appear in a lot of brackets that haven't been updated at some point this weekend. 'Nova is only in two of the last 16 brackets updated.
Seton Hall is also one of the last four teams in. They only appear in 11 brackets overall and appear in five of the last 12 updated.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
CuseAdelphia Road Trip
CSTV interview my traveling companion, Gumby. I'm in the hunting gear, he's next to me. If the video doesn't work, you can watch it here.
I went to the Villanova game and just got back to the 'Cuse about an hour ago and as you know from A.J.'s post below, Syracuse played a great game to win this one 87-73.
I don't think the score really does justice for this game. Villanova was absolutely terrible after the first eight minutes or so. They came out and hit 10 of their first 11 shots and then after that went 16-47. Syracuse didn't show up on defense for those first eight minutes. The team made some quick adjustments and from there on out, 'Nova didn't look or play like a Big East team.
'Nova is vastly undersized which is 100% their biggest problem. Paul Harris is a solid player, but there is no reason he should be scoring 28 points. He had a field day against a front court that was only a little bigger than my high school front court.
Jay Wright needs to recruit big men because if he can't get the guards that have the talent of a Allen Ray, Randy Foye, and Mike Nardi, they won't win more than about seven or eight games in the Big East.
Syracuse dominated this game on the boards and down low all game. I am loving this front line of Kristof! Arinze Onuaku, and Donte' Greene. The 2-3 zone is best when you have long arms and solid rebounders.
Kristof! is that glue guy that puts everything together and showed that today. The Badass Belgian Waffle Baller put up 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block, and three steals.
The defense in this game for Syracuse was absolutely phenomenal after the first eight minutes. I understand you need to play a full forty minutes of defense, but the effort this team gave after being down 24-13 with 11:11 to play is what defines teams. This team has shown they will not give up, they will not back down. People called them a bunch of "AAU" ballers earlier this year, but you don't hear that anymore. This team plays like a team on both offense and defense.
The Orange also stayed out of foul trouble for the most part. A.O. picked up his fourth foul with a lot of time left in the game, but Rick Jackson proved to be a solid replacement. At that point, it didn't matter who was playing center for the Orange as long as he was big. As said above, the Wildcats just didn't have the size to match the 'Cuse.
Scottie Reynolds is a joke on defense. People criticize Donte' Greene for being out of position and getting silly fouls, which I admit he does, but was better today, but man was Scottie Reynolds bad today. Reynolds picked up several just terrible fouls because he got out of position. It resulted in Reynolds spending extensive minutes on the bench when his team was struggling. Jonny Flynn took him to school with crossovers and just breaking the one man pressure in the back.
Villanova's press was extremely uneffective which is why they stopped pressing after about three minutes. They got one turnover on I think the first possession, but after that Syracuse got a several easy layups because of the size of Donte' Greene in the middle of the court.
A few bad things I saw with this game. First, the referees didn't let the boys play once again. 51 fouls is way too many. Villanova had 32 fouls and nine players with at least three fouls. I thought the game was called a little uneven, but Villanova was definitely more physical with hand checks and pushes and paid for it. But then maybe it was a payback for the first meeting between these two teams this year when it seemed all the calls were going against the Orange.
Syracuse needs to stop turning the ball over. 18 turnovers is about three too many for my liking in a game played at such a fast pace.
Lastly its time for me to go on a rant. It's time to call out Villanova basketball fans. I have never seen a fan base so out of a game than I saw tonight. It seemed like Villanova fans didn't care and didn't want to be at that game. The fans got on their feet two, maybe three times all game. The student section was quiet. 'Nova Nation couldn't have had less energy. They jumped up and down crazily during....the dance cam during ever break. They had more energy by far during the breaks than the game.
The arena itself was empty. The attendance apparently was 19,866, which is a sellout, but that's how many tickets were sold. If I had to take a guess there was maybe 13,000 people there. Maybe 13,000. There were almost complete rows of empty seats in the bottom deck. The student section was about two-thirds full. If it wasn't for the fact the upperdeck was probably half Syracuse half Villanova, the attendance would have been about 10,000.
Someone commented on LetsGoNova the other day complaining about teams bring caravans of fans into their stadiums and show their fans up. That was 100% the case today. Villanova was showed up by Syracuse fans. The Orange faithful came in droves and came to the Wachovia Center and made it the LoudHouse.
At the end of the game, there was maybe 4,000 people left and the majority were wearing Orange. The ESPN recap even mentions the Orange faithful:
The Wildcats also lost their second game in two Saturdays at the Wachovia Center, their off-campus where they were nearly invincible the last three years. This time, they were left to watch about 2,000 Orange fans wave, taunt and cheer in the waning moments.
As a CuseADELPHIA blog, with a the Adelphia standing for Philadelphia for anyone who hasn't realized that, I know Philadelphia fans are better than what they showed today. I know they are rowdy and love to make noise, so why doesn't that show in Villanova games?
Also, the Villanova student section flipped off my section of Syracuse fans near the end of the game. I mean like almost the entire student section turned around and gave us the bird. From what I've been told that was accidentally picked up on the ESPN broadcast. I'll have to watch that to see if ESPN picked up on it, or if someone could leave a message to confirm whether or not ESPN showed it.
One last note on Villanova basketball. Villanova is a basketball school. They are not a Division I-A football school which means the main sport at 'Nova is basketball. To see how far 'Nova has fallen in a few years is amazing. There's discussion now this team might not make the Big East tournament if teams like DePaul and Cincinnati don't drop off and play terrible like they were expected to.
Overall, Syracuse played a great game, Villanova did not. The Orange showed heart and determination, Villanova did not. The Cuse's fans showed up and cheered, Villanova's did not.
Cuse Returns the Favor
Last season the Orange beat the Wildcats in the Carrier Dome and lost on the road at the Wachovia Center. This year, it was the mirror image. After suffering an 81-71 defeat at the hands of the Cats on January 19, SU took today’s game 87-73. And what a game it was!
Your typical Big East lead-changing game. I stopped watching the game to get takeout in the dining hall and SU was down eleven. When I came back to my room, the Cuse lead by six. In the second half, Nova cut it to one and then the Orange went on an 8-0 run. The game was somewhat close until Boeheim's boys took complete control near the end.
This game was crucial for the Orange. Already on the outside in terms of getting an NCAA bid, SU needs every conference win it can get. Even though Nova has struggled recently, the Cats are still a good team. And this win was a big one. Especially in the freakishly close Big East, where a team can be in third place one day and eighth the next. Syracuse improves to 6-4 in conference, while Nova falls to 3-6.
Scottie Reynolds, who poured in 25 points for Nova last time the teams met, was held scoreless in the first half.
Scoop Jardine returned to the lineup for the Orange after serving an "indefinite" suspension that turned out to last just two games. Sometimes when a player breaks the rules and is punished indefinitely, he comes back fairly quickly due to his team's serious lack of depth. Case in point. Scoop and teammate Rick Jackson played their first game in Orange in their hometown of Philadelphia, just 2 miles down the road from Neumann-Goretti High School.
Paul Harris, who admitted to not giving much effort in the January 19 loss to Nova, took over this afternoon. Kristof was a presence. Onuaku was a force. Donte' and Jonny owned. If Syracuse is going to contest with teams in the Big East, the team needs this much balance every game.
Mini Box Score:
- Paul Harris scored a career high 28 points on 9-12 shooting. He went 12-16 from the charity stripe.
- Jonny Flynn: 24 points
(the original boxscore said 30 and 22 for Harris and Flynn; thanks to "anonymous" for noting the changes.)
- Donte' Greene: 17 points
- Kristof Ongenaet: 12 points (including a 3!)
- The Orange shot nearly 63% from the field.
Since these two teams played in Syracuse, the Orange has won three in a row and Nova’s dropped four. For the Wildcats, it's the longest streak since losing five straight in 03-04.
FUN FACTS:
When the NBA three is painted on the floor, players like Donte' Greene start to think that they have something to prove. They start firing from way far out.
Something that’s really been bothering me lately is the announcers’ pronunciations of names. It’s part of their job to know how to say a last name. There are plenty of sources to ask. Ongenaet is one name that has found its way into the mishaps book.
Is there a reason why the Nova head coach Jay Wright was in a team jumpsuit on the sideline instead of a suit?
The announcers LOVE to talk about the Ongenaet’s $550 taxi ride from NYC to Syracuse when they flew in from Belgium to see their son play. It’s a tidbit that seems to find its way into every Cuse broadcast.
Home Court Disadvantage: The Wildcats have dropped two straight at the Wachovia Center, which is to Nova what Madison Square Garden is to the Orange-- a second home.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Syracuse travels to Villanova Saturday
Syracuse heads to Villanova Saturday to play the Wildcats in the Wachovia Center at noon. The Orange need this win for their NCAA tournament resume. The 'Cuse doesn't have a solid Big East win on their resume yet. Wins over DePaul and Providence carry some weight, but Syracuse needs to have two or three better wins than those and at least 10 wins in the conference including the Big East Tournament to have a legitimate shot to make the NCAA tournament.
With all that said, Syracuse will probably play just six players tomorrow against Villanova, a team that has lost three games in a row against doormat Rutgers, also injury-riddled Pitt, and at home against Notre Dame. The 'Cuse will try to make it three wins in a row and send Villanova to a fourth straight loss.
For everyone out there that got to watch the DePaul game on Time Warner, did anyone else pick up on the Oppenheimer funds commercial during the first commercial of a commercial break in the first half. The very first line of the commercial was something like "You can't win with just six guys on a team," and it showed six hockey players on a rink. Was Time Warner sending Syracuse a message? I just find it a really odd coincidence that this commercial which I don't think I've seen in a long while all of a sudden appears in a Syracuse game where they essentially have six players. Kudos to Time Warner if someone down there did this on purpose for having a sense of humor.
Again I digress, back to the Villanova. I think this game comes down to fouls. If this game is called tight, Syracuse loses. They don't have the depth to compete with Villanova if both teams rack up fouls. Syracuse will begin to play soft if they get into foul trouble. That will allow Villanova to score at will like they did in the second half of their first match up. Also, Syracuse needs to get Villanova’s bigs in foul trouble. They don’t have the depth or size to compete with Syracuse’s big guys if ‘Nova gets into foul trouble.
The ‘Cuse went down low to Arinze Onuaku against DePaul constantly and it resulted in lots of easy baskets. Villanova isn’t as strong in the front court as DePaul, so the Orange should look to do this again. They should also try to get Donte’ Greene looks down around the basket and get him some easy baskets early. If they can get him going, that will probably help him get into the groove and warmed up to hit the long shots he loves to take.
CuseAdelphia prediction: Syracuse 74, Villanova 69. The outcome of this game could very easily be decided in the first 10 minutes. If Syracuse can avoid those cheap, early fouls, the Orange will win this game. If with 10 minutes left in the game two players have four fouls and several others three fouls like in the first match up, ‘Nova will take over and win this one.
Syracuse Bracketology Edition IV
Syracuse is back in the field in the Bracket Matrix. They've moved back into the field as an 11 seed after winning two straight games against Providence and DePaul. Syracuse now appears in 14 of the 29 brackets produced by websites across the internet. S.U. is in 14 of the last 22 brackets updated, but none of the seven brackets that haven't been updated before Monday.
Syracuse is the eighth and final team from the Big East in the tournament according to the Bracket Matrix. Villanova and Seton Hall are on the outside looking in as two of the last four teams out. They are in 11 and 8 brackets respectively. Providence also appears in five brackets and the 11th team out of the bracket.
Shelby's Wild Ass Guesses puts Syracuse in as a nine seed, the best seed Syracuse has received in any bracket. They would play Dayton in the first round and have a match up with Kansas in the second.
Crashing the Dance uses a formula to assign teams points. Teams are then seeded according to points. Syracuse receives the last 10 seed as the 40th best team.
March Madness '08, the Syracuse bracket blog, has Syracuse in as an 11 seed. They've somehow fallen in the bracket despite winning two straight games. He also has 11 Big East teams in the tournament. I would have to severely disagree with almost his entire bracket. Pretty much every Big East team is over seeded. He has Marquette in as a three and Pitt in as a four.
The Bracket Project which runs the Bracket Matrix has Syracuse in as an 11 seed. They would play Mississippi State in the first round, a scary match up because MSU's size. The winner would play most likely Washington State in the second round, a Georgetown type team.
Basketball Predictions says Syracuse just missed the cut, but also had this to say about Syracuse after beating Providence and DePaul:
Key wins for Syracuse and UConn here. UConn is really on a tear here, and has pushed both the RPI and the Sagarin numbers inside the Top 20. Barring a huge collapse down the stretch, they'll be in the Tournament. Syracuse is not such a big slam dunk. The RPI is 36th and the Sagarin is 47th - both numbers which are right in the fat part of the bubble. The Orangemen have no bad losses, but have also struggled to get a signature win. If they make the Tournament, they will be one of those "look at the full resume" teams. They did a great job taking care of business this week, with two key wins to drive their Big East record to 5-4. They need to be a minimum of 10-8 in the Big East to get an at-large bid, and that is certainly very possible. If they continue to take care of business, and even steal an upset or two, they will get into the Tourney.
I think Syracuse should be in the tournament as a 10 or 11 seed at this point. They have an above .500 conference record and strong non-conference schedule. They have several solid wins and no terrible losses because of what Cincinnati has done in the Big East.
They would go in as the seventh or eighth team from the Big East and since at least eight teams from the Big East should get in, they would be in right now.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Guest Preview: Villanova Wildcats Take Two
We asked Villanova by the Numbers for a look at the Wildcats before their second game against Syracuse this year.
Here's what Villanova by the Numbers had to say:
Meet the Wildcats:
Coach Wright has been tinkering with the starting lineup for over a month now. Of the five Wildcats who started the season opener (Scottie Reynolds, Reggie Redding, Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham and Casiem Drummond), only three (Reynolds, Redding and Cunningham) started in Villanova's last outing (a road loss at Pitt) Wednesday evening. Like Syracuse, the Villanova squad has had it's share of injuries and turnover. Among the starters Casiem Drummond has been sidelined since late December with a stress fracture in his foot and tests are being performed to determine if the source of Shane Clark's persistent fatigue is physical. Andrew Ott, a 6-10 redshirt freshman frontcourt player announced his departure from the team last Saturday. He enrolled at Penn State on Wednesday. Who will start on Saturday is, then, the source of some speculation.
The Backcourt:
Villanova has three talented guards in Scottie Reynolds (sophomore), Corey Fisher (freshman) and Malcolm Grant (freshman). Expect to see two of those three on the court throughout the game, whether they start or not, Having two point guards on the floor simultaneously, has given the Wildcats multiple options on offense.
Scottie Reynolds will start. Scottie, a sophomore, has started all 19 of Villanova's games this season and is averaging 34.3 minutes per game, so expect to see a lot of him. During the out of conference portion of the season Scottie averaged 16.9 points and 4.4 assists. In Big East play Scottie's scoring has risen to 18.5 points per game while his assists have dropped to 3.3, suggesting he is taking more of an off guard role lately. Scottie is capable of great scoring efforts like his 32 point outburst (11-22, 5-11 3 pointers) against Cincinnati. He can also be ice cold, as he was in Villanova's first game with Pittsburgh (4 points on 1-6 shooting). The 'Cats will need 17 or more points from Reynolds if they are going to win.
As for the other backcourt position, Coach Wright will most likely choose one or two from Corey Fisher, Malcolm Grant and Reggie Redding.
Corey Fisher, a starter in the last two games, will, despite a disappointing outing against Pittsburgh (4 points on 2-10 shooting), may well start against Syracuse too. Fisher, a true freshman who was named New Jersey HS Player of the Year at St. Patrick's his senior season, has struggled to develop consistency this year. He has had great shooting and scoring nights, like the Wildcat's Big East road opener against DePaul (23 points on 8-15 shooting), and nights lide Wednesday against Pitt. Corey's assist-to-turnover ratio in Big East play is 0.95:1, more evidence that he is struggling in conference play.
Reggie Redding is a 6-5 sophomore off guard who worked his way into the rotation late his freshman year and subsequently started the first fourteen games before going to the bench. He returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday (in place of ailing Shane Clark?) and will most likely start against the Orange. Redding's main contributions are solid defense with an occasional well-timed crucial play.
The Frontcourt:
Dante Cunningham is a junior who has been a constant fixture in Villanova's starting lineup over the past three seasons. For the past two seasons Dante and (now graduated) Will Sheridan covered the #4/#5 spots in tandem, with Dante playing the #4 on defense and the #5 on offense. With Cas Drummond on the court Dante will play the #4, but with Drummond's injury last month, Cunningham has returned to a "rotating" role, depending on who the staff plays beside him. Cunningham's role in the offense has increased this season, though he had more success when Drummond played the #5 and drew a good deal of defensive attention. Cunninham has averaged 8.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in Big East play to date.
Antonio Pena is a redshirt freshman (6-8, 235lbs) who has started the last five games beside Cunningham. Pena and Cunningham now continue the #4-#5 tandem as did Sheridan and Cunningham for the past two seasons. Pena averages 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds in Big East play.
The Bench:
For the backcourt, expect to see Malcolm Grant at some point in the game. Malcolm has averaged 14.4 minutes per game in Big East play, but his run has ranged from 27 minutes in Villanova's first game with Pittsburgh (22 points) down to 8 minutes in two separate games (versus Cincinnati -- 0 points scored -- and the second Pittsburgh game in which he scored 3 points). Dwayne Anderson has seen his playing time nearly double in Big East play. If the trend holds, he will see about 16 minutes of playing time. Corey Stokes, the second MDAA on Villanova's roster, has seen about 16 minutes of play in the Big East and contributed 3.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in Big East play. Casiem Drummond saw 7 minutes againt Pittsburgh on Wednesday and will no doubt, depending on his progress, see some time against Syracuse as well. Shane Clark is due for some (medical) diagnostic testing this week and may or may not be available for Saturday's game. At the top of his game Shane is very effective as the third or fourth scoring option and is a strong offensive rebounder (ranked #357 in D1 by Ken Pomeroy).
What Villanova Does Best:
Offense flows from defense according to Villanova's staff. Villanova is good at forcing turnovers. When the Wildcats are playing "their game" those turnovers will translate into points. The Wildcats are agressive at both ends of the floor. If they are living at the free throw line the opponent is losing players. Villanova runs a variation of the 4 out 1 in motion offense in the half court. They look for opportunities for their guards, either Reynolds or Fisher, to get into the lane. Something good offensively most often happens then...either the guard will shoot (or draw contact), dish down low to Cunningham (or lately Pena), positioned along the baseline, or kick it out to someone on the wing for a possible 3 point shot. Villanova may be one of the quicker teams in the conference, but they do not play a fast paced game. Comeback wins were a common phenomena earlier in the season.
How to Beat Villanova:
Get up early, as Villanova tends to "start slowly" on defense. The recent spate of half-time deficits are most often the product of blown assignments on switches and playing too passively while on defense. When the 'Cats are down, the freshmen guards tend to push too hard to try and make up the scoring deficit. If Villanova presses or traps, break it quickly (usually with passes to bigs positioned in the middle of the court) and take it to the basket when you are over the half-court line. Scoring off of broken presses neutralizes one of Villanova's most effective defensive weapons
(the turnover). If you are operating your offense from half court sets, run screens and picks, as Villanova has struggled all year with switches coming off of screens. Run them enough and you should get a favorable matchup (usually a guard on one of your bigs) which maximizes your chances to score. If you have a stable of outside shooters, run plays to isolate your guard who should then hit the lane. Another defender will move over to help on the penetration, leaving his own man free on the outside to take a pass and shoot. Villanova is currently ranked #319 (out of 341) in 3 point defense.
Get Dante Cunningham into foul trouble early. The rest of the frontcourt are freshmen and not especially agressive when Cunningham is not there to set the tone.Check back with Villanova by the Numbers tomorrow for our preview of Syracuse.