Connecticut – Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR The Streak Is Broken
0 Comments Published on 2.20.2007 by Brian Harrison
Now that's how you put it in someone's eye. It is completely true. Matt Glaude showed up to the Carrier Dome for a basketball game and they actually won. Unbelievable right? I myself was in the very last row against the wall in Section 305 enjoying the fun of the Carrier Dome.
Editor’s Note: Bringing a flask to the Dome can be a great idea. Mixing the contents of said flask with a Dr. Pepper is an even better idea.
The UConn Huskies and the Syracuse Orange both shot 32.3% (21-65) from the floor, but the real difference was in the game was hitting shots during key moments and hitting free throws. As always, however, I’ll break down the bad to the good.
After exploding in the last few games Darryl Watkins became a no show on offense only putting in 4 points in 36 minutes. This is a surprise considering he has been hot lately. More on Mookie in a bit.
Josh Wright once again became the ATM turning the ball over three times, to of them at critical, possibly momentum shifting moments. The X Factor in any good basketball team is quality play from the point guard position and right now we just do not have it. His play time was limited to just 10 minutes. Josh Wright is no game changer. This might be a problem the rest of the season and next.
Our Assist-to-Turnover ratio is still bad. We only had 10 assists and 13 turnovers. This ratio continues to plague the team wasting valuable opportunities. The most troubling part is at this juncture, the home stretch of a season, we haven’t seemed to improve on this point through the year. A disturbing trend.
On the plus side, as Dick Vitale (pure concentrated evil) would say, “Oh Mr. Nichols…he’s a PTPer.” He contributed 20 points in 36 minutes, most of which came on long two point field goals that just looked spectacular. I have said it before, having a guy that can shoot a quality mid-range jump shot is highly underrated. He looked great and converted free throws, as well as making two very big shots late in the game. It was a pleasure to watch.
Editor’s Note: Bringing a flask to the Dome can be a great idea. Mixing the contents of said flask with a Dr. Pepper is an even better idea.
The UConn Huskies and the Syracuse Orange both shot 32.3% (21-65) from the floor, but the real difference was in the game was hitting shots during key moments and hitting free throws. As always, however, I’ll break down the bad to the good.
After exploding in the last few games Darryl Watkins became a no show on offense only putting in 4 points in 36 minutes. This is a surprise considering he has been hot lately. More on Mookie in a bit.
Josh Wright once again became the ATM turning the ball over three times, to of them at critical, possibly momentum shifting moments. The X Factor in any good basketball team is quality play from the point guard position and right now we just do not have it. His play time was limited to just 10 minutes. Josh Wright is no game changer. This might be a problem the rest of the season and next.
Our Assist-to-Turnover ratio is still bad. We only had 10 assists and 13 turnovers. This ratio continues to plague the team wasting valuable opportunities. The most troubling part is at this juncture, the home stretch of a season, we haven’t seemed to improve on this point through the year. A disturbing trend.
On the plus side, as Dick Vitale (pure concentrated evil) would say, “Oh Mr. Nichols…he’s a PTPer.” He contributed 20 points in 36 minutes, most of which came on long two point field goals that just looked spectacular. I have said it before, having a guy that can shoot a quality mid-range jump shot is highly underrated. He looked great and converted free throws, as well as making two very big shots late in the game. It was a pleasure to watch.
Watkins may not have contributed on offense, but he sure did he job on defense pulling down 13 defensive rebounds. He also got two offensive rebounds as well. A great day of cleaning the glass for Watkins considering that UConn destroyed us in rebounding the first meeting in Storrs.
A.J. Price was a non-factor. I like when people that break the law end up sucking. Just a personal preference.
We made 83.9% of our free throws during the game. Compared to only 50% from UConn that is a stellar day, and what I propose was the difference in the game. Yes we out rebounded UConn, and yes we had less turnovers, but when you shoot the same from the floor free throws will be the difference late in the game. Hasheem Thabeet missed two free throws late in the game that could have possibly changed the outcome. In a game that was littered with fouls the free throw became as important as ever. Clearly it was the difference between glory and embarrassment.
The referees were not so good in this game. Our old friend Tim Higgins decided to make the first half The Tim Higgins Show calling fouls that clearly should not have been called. Much like the game in Storrs I think the referees got together and decided to call a very tight game, as evident by the total of 48 fouls called. As my good friend Jayme would say, can’t we just let the kids play?
All in all, a great day at the Dome. I was happy to be there, I sat with some good people, saw an entertaining game, and saw a nice win. This game is relatively meaningless in regards to our tournament hopes as UConn is not that great, but it does help our win total, avenge a loss at Storrs, and chalks up another win for Jim Boeheim and a loss for Jim Calhoun. When that is the final outcome things can’t all be bad, right?
Side Note: I also caught the Hobart/Syracuse Lacrosse game in the Dome on Sunday. Excellent time. I’m sure Glaude will recap that for you, but I’ll have a couple Lacrosse articles coming out soon. I also apologies for the Postgame Reactions hiatus I took. Work was ruling my life. I’ll be a little more on top of things in this critical part of the season. Boom goes the Dynamite.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, UConn
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