St. John's - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR ONUAKU SMASH!
1 Comments Published on 1.03.2008 by Brian Harrison
I get so excited when we have a center than can score points.Welcome to the Big East. In case you have not stopped by in a while, last night’s game against St. John’s was a good refresher. This is simply because last night’s game would have made Mike Vick smile, as it was a dog fight (ooo, too soon?). This was basically two teams smacking each other until time expired. However, we saw some inspired performances from Syracuse as the Orange gain their first win in the conference.
First, we start with the big man down low. Arinze Onuaku had a career day, and no better time than the start of the Big East. He went 11 for 15 earning 23 points. He also gained 13 rebounds. I guess I should call him out more often (I’ll fill you in on this later if you are unfamiliar with what I am referencing). The man was a force in the paint and he is really bringing up the field goal percentage on the team. While he was lazy on defense at times, he more than made up for it with his impressive attacks on the basket. Even Jim Boeheim agrees that they have not had a big man this good since Otis Hill. You had to love Hopkins getting fired up on the sideline about the big man as well.
Donte Greene also had an excellent day from the floor. He hit four of eight three point shots, went eight of 15 total, and earned 22 points. Although he was in foul trouble the majority of the second half, no doubt when he was on the floor he had the ability to take over a game and made the defense change its game plan. Plus he does some pretty awesome things. See my video below.
Jonny Flynn also had a great night. He earned 14 points, and also contributed seven assists, as well as making seven of ten free throws. Those seven assists also were dazzling.
Now it is time to get to the nitty gritty. Paul Harris, after looking great in the last contest, was very lackluster. He only earned three out of eight field goal attempts and only got eight points. He did manage seven assists however, and some of them were also dazzling. Therefore, even if he manages to be underachieving at offense, he still manages to contribute while on the floor.
Turnovers were not a massive issue, as for the second game in a row the team only managed ten. However, some of them came at really bad times, and three or four of them were really bad. Paul Harris was the biggest offender with six. It is imperative to limit these turnovers in Big East games.
What is more imperative, however, is to shoot better than 55% from the charity stripe. The team missed 14 points worth of free throws. This would have easily put this game out of reach by the Under Four time out in the second half had the shots been made. Jim Boeheim made it a point to state in his press conference that free throws needed to improve. I guarantee that Jim Calhoun will just go and hack at our guys that cannot make free throws consistently and make Syracuse earn it from the line. We could possibly not, and lose to an inferior Big East opponent.
Also, if you watched the game, the thought that the defense was uninspired and lazy may have crossed your mind. I found the team, especially in the second half, not hustling back on defense, being lazy in the zone assignments, and leaving people wide open from beyond the arc. I hope, to this point, the team was reprimanded by Boeheim and the staff. This team cannot afford to have lazy and poor efforts on the defensive end. Especially since this team is not known for its brick wall defense.
All in all, a nice game to start the Big East slate. We will take on a surprising South Florida team this Saturday at noon at home. This team upset Rutgers by a decent margin so it will be interesting to see how the team gets ready for them. In reference to the Onuaku comment earlier, my latest discussion with Sean over at Nunes/Magician is up. In one of my answers I called Onuaku the LVP so far… but not really. If you read what I wrote you would understand. Also be sure to check out the comment section on the article. The main point is now added to the side of my site in the “This About Sums It Up” section. Then Sean and some other quality Syracuse bloggers came to my defense. It helps when people actually read what you write before they start calling you an idiot. Enjoy the latest Orange::44 Is An Absolute Magician at Nunes/Magician, and Sean will be back over at my site with another episode of Nunes::44. Until Saturday, stay cool, and shovel off that driveway to practice your own free throw shot.
First, we start with the big man down low. Arinze Onuaku had a career day, and no better time than the start of the Big East. He went 11 for 15 earning 23 points. He also gained 13 rebounds. I guess I should call him out more often (I’ll fill you in on this later if you are unfamiliar with what I am referencing). The man was a force in the paint and he is really bringing up the field goal percentage on the team. While he was lazy on defense at times, he more than made up for it with his impressive attacks on the basket. Even Jim Boeheim agrees that they have not had a big man this good since Otis Hill. You had to love Hopkins getting fired up on the sideline about the big man as well.
Donte Greene also had an excellent day from the floor. He hit four of eight three point shots, went eight of 15 total, and earned 22 points. Although he was in foul trouble the majority of the second half, no doubt when he was on the floor he had the ability to take over a game and made the defense change its game plan. Plus he does some pretty awesome things. See my video below.
Jonny Flynn also had a great night. He earned 14 points, and also contributed seven assists, as well as making seven of ten free throws. Those seven assists also were dazzling.
Now it is time to get to the nitty gritty. Paul Harris, after looking great in the last contest, was very lackluster. He only earned three out of eight field goal attempts and only got eight points. He did manage seven assists however, and some of them were also dazzling. Therefore, even if he manages to be underachieving at offense, he still manages to contribute while on the floor.
Turnovers were not a massive issue, as for the second game in a row the team only managed ten. However, some of them came at really bad times, and three or four of them were really bad. Paul Harris was the biggest offender with six. It is imperative to limit these turnovers in Big East games.
What is more imperative, however, is to shoot better than 55% from the charity stripe. The team missed 14 points worth of free throws. This would have easily put this game out of reach by the Under Four time out in the second half had the shots been made. Jim Boeheim made it a point to state in his press conference that free throws needed to improve. I guarantee that Jim Calhoun will just go and hack at our guys that cannot make free throws consistently and make Syracuse earn it from the line. We could possibly not, and lose to an inferior Big East opponent.
Also, if you watched the game, the thought that the defense was uninspired and lazy may have crossed your mind. I found the team, especially in the second half, not hustling back on defense, being lazy in the zone assignments, and leaving people wide open from beyond the arc. I hope, to this point, the team was reprimanded by Boeheim and the staff. This team cannot afford to have lazy and poor efforts on the defensive end. Especially since this team is not known for its brick wall defense.
All in all, a nice game to start the Big East slate. We will take on a surprising South Florida team this Saturday at noon at home. This team upset Rutgers by a decent margin so it will be interesting to see how the team gets ready for them. In reference to the Onuaku comment earlier, my latest discussion with Sean over at Nunes/Magician is up. In one of my answers I called Onuaku the LVP so far… but not really. If you read what I wrote you would understand. Also be sure to check out the comment section on the article. The main point is now added to the side of my site in the “This About Sums It Up” section. Then Sean and some other quality Syracuse bloggers came to my defense. It helps when people actually read what you write before they start calling you an idiot. Enjoy the latest Orange::44 Is An Absolute Magician at Nunes/Magician, and Sean will be back over at my site with another episode of Nunes::44. Until Saturday, stay cool, and shovel off that driveway to practice your own free throw shot.
Labels: Basketball, Big East
Steady hand on the video, very impressive, nice work.