 |
| Well, it's been a pleasure, CJ |
As I write this, it's about 15 hours after the Syracuse game ended last night. And I figured if I didn't write this now, I probably never would. It hurts to think about it. As fans, we invest in something -- in a belief, in a desire, in pride. So when that investment fails, we take it personally. We are at a loss. But, we're just fans. It's the players -- the ones we invested in -- that really feel the pain. They lived it. But with time and with perspective, we can all look back on this season, and be thankful for our investment. And the players can look back and be pretty damn proud of what they did this season, even if it all ended so badly. But that'll take some time. For now, Syracuse's 55-53 loss to Dayton is what permeates our thoughts.
- CJ Fair finished his brilliant college career with a double double -- 14 points and ten rebounds. He was just 4-14 from the field, not quite finding that patented CJ Fair jumper we've grown to love.
- Tyler Ennis was the leading scorer on the Orange at 19 points from 7-21 shooting. We'll remember Tyler's inspired play down the stretch that almost gave Syracuse the win here, but the ball couldn't drop in as the buzzer sounded. Tyler characteristically played all 40 minutes, but uncharacteristically had a couple turnovers, one of which was costly at the end.
- CJ, Tyler, and Jerami Grant were the only ones to make it to the free throw line.
- Jerami was basically nonexistent in this game. Four points, six rebounds, and a foul out.
- To round out his own college career, Baye Moussa Keita's only registerable statistic is three minutes played.
- Instead, Michael Gbinije got most of the minutes off the bench -- 22 -- and had a solid eight point effort on 4-5 shooting. We've seen some great things out of Silent G this season, and for Syracuse to be good next season, he'll have to be good.
- Syracuse was 0-10 from three for the game. No made threes. First time Syracuse has done that since 1995 (or at least I think that's the stat I heard on SportsCenter)
- Dayton played a decent game, shooting 41.3% for the game, and 43.8% from three. The Flyers got ten points off turnovers, eleven second-chance points, and had a more productive bench.
- Shooting woes plagued the Orange, as they have for two months now -- a putrid 38.9%. Really, that's all the recapping I need to do there. Bad shooting.
And so, a season that started with four exhibition games in August has come to an end. Syracuse finishes with a final record of 28-6. We say goodbye to CJ Fair, Baye Moussa Keita, and maybe Jerami Grant & Tyler Ennis, too. We'll always remember the 25-0 start, the buzzer beater win at Pitt, the record crowd against Duke to see one of the best games ever in the Dome, Boeheim losing it in Durham, and our first season in the ACC. Mourn the loss now, but remember how good we had it this season. I'm still pretty happy with my investment.
Labels: Basketball, Disappointment, NCAA Tournament, Upset Special
0 Responses to “Dayton - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Done”
Post a Comment