Another trip to Durham. The last one ended so well. Legendary I would say. CJ Fair was called for an offensive foul (STILL NO), Jim Boeheim reacted accordingly, and was thrown out for the first time in his career. This was after the legendary OT game in the Dome earlier. This year, Syracuse played hard and had a halftime lead, but Duke ended up winning in the Dome by eight only a couple weeks ago. The prime matchup in the game is the Centers again. Rakeem Christmas versus Jahlil Okafor. Okafor earned 23 in the first match and Christmas only had 11. The big players in the game for Syracuse were Gbinije and Roberson of all people. I'm sure Duke will do the same strategy and double and triple Christmas. Gbinije should have another good outing. Cooney had a quiet 11 in the first game and I think Syracuse will have another game about the same. It will be close, especially at the half, but unless Duke slumps and Syracuse keeps scoring, it will end up about the same. Duke over the Orange by 9. Beat the spread! John is actually in Cameron for this affair so look for special updates from him tonight. As for me, I'm off the grid for this one and will be catching up on DVR later. Enjoy. Another upset would be fantastic. Especially for John's sake.

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Duke, Preview, We Hate Duke

• BJ Johnson led all scorers with 19 points on 7-13, 2-6 shooting. He was also 3-3 from the free throw line. Easily his best game of the season and he single-handedly outscored the one player from ND that scored off the bench 19-16.
• Trevor Cooney didn't have the best night, going 5-11, 1-6, but the shots he hit down the stretch were astounding and clutch and kept Syracuse in the game and allowed them to win it. He finished with 11 points.
• Rakeem Christmas didn't have the best game, but he did have a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
• Michael Gbinije also didn't have the best game, but he did add 12 points, five rebounds, and six steals.
• Ron Patterson earned six points, but had some really dumb plays. Pretty typical Patterson outing.
• Mike Brey just has no idea how to beat a 2-3 Zone other than shoot over it. And normally ND is great at that, leading the ACC. but they were 3-22 (13.6%) which I have to imagine was a season low.
• The 5th foul on Christmas was ridiculous. Enough said.

Syracuse earned their 2nd Top 25 win of the year, and beat a top ten team on the road. Pretty good. Syracuse has also beaten Notre Dame six out of the last seven times. Syracuse now has to play Duke in Durham. No tomorrow so Syracuse should keep putting up a good fight. The first game was actually pretty entertaining. But as for this game, beating Notre Dame is always fun, but to beat them as a Top Ten at home, now that's magic.

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Notre Lame

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Preview

• Rakeem Christmas got back to his scoring ways, with Pittsburgh unable to contain him even with double teams. He was 8-14 shooting and 4-8 from the line. He finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks. He also didn't have a foul in the first half.
• Michael Gbiinje had a pretty good game, earning 12 points on 3-8 shooting, but he was 6-8 from the line. He also had seven rebounds and six assists.
• Syracuse's bench actually outscored Pitt's. Johnson and Patterson combined for 20 points. Pitt's bench only had 19. That's something.
• Trevor Cooney's back maybe was hurting, but despite being a good defender he was a zero on offense in this game, which was probably the difference in who won and lost. He was 0-5, 0-4 on shooting.
• Syracus was able to limit Sheldon Jeter to only six points. He torched SU in the Pete in the earlier game.
• The probably with Pittsburgh is they can box out more, but despite one play where Syracuse had six missed shots and six offensive rebounds, Syracuse actually outrebounded Pitt 35 to 22. However, Syracuse was unable to convert that to more points for them and less for Pittsburgh.
• We all saw there was questionable officiating down the stretch of this game. Starting with an illegal screen called on Christmas about 35 feet from the basket. Both teams made about 30 screens in the game and about the same way, but they weren't determined to be illegal by Referee Tim Nestor. Roger Ayers, who is usually a pretty good official, and who Syracuse had seen four other times this year (tied for most with 5), missed about five extra steps for Pittsburgh late in the game, and maybe a foot on the line. Missing travels that blatant is inexcusable for a Division 1, major conference official.

Syracuse now plays on, trying to take on Notre Dame in South Bend. That will go smashing I'm sure. Either way, it will be fun to see Christmas try and spoil a seed for the Irish.

Labels: ACC, Basketball

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Preview

One of many for Rak

A lot of the talk among Orange fans since the self-imposed postseason ban was announced has centered around the need for Syracuse to pick up a marquee win -- a win over a ranked opponent. Obviously, a win last Saturday with Duke visiting the Dome would have undoubtedly fit the bill. Unfortunately, as we all know, that effort fell short. So, the next opportunity was Wednesday night, with Rick Pitino's 10th-ranked Louisville Cardinals coming to town. While the Cards held a halftime lead, the Syracuse defense clamped down in the second half, and Rakeem Christmas simply took over, and led Syracuse to a 69-59 victory.

• The aforementioned Rakeem Christmas not only led his team to the marquee win it was looking for, but had probably the marquee game of his career. The way he just dominated in the second half, after having been used and abused by several big men down low over the last several games, was simply stunning. And he has the stat line to back it up: 9-10 from the floor and 11-13 from the foul line for 29 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.
• Michael Gbinije had another great game we've come to expect from him at this point: 5-10 (including 3-6 from three) for 18 points, which also includes an impressive 5-6 from the foul line. That improvement alone is worth a gold star. Running a large portion of the game from the point, Gbinije also dished out six assists.
• While Tyler Roberson had another solid game with thirteen points, Trevor Cooney, well, didn't. Boeheim called it possibly his worst shooting performance since he's been here, mainly because most of the shots he missed were wide open. Cooney was 1-10 from the field -- one made three, one missed runner, and eight missed threes. So, not good.
• How many points from the bench? Why, none, of course. Ron Patterson wasted 12 minutes on the floor. His defense sucks, he can't hit a shot, and he can't penetrate. He's just not ready for big time action.
• Boeheim credits the stronger defensive effort in the second half, but you can't argue with the better offense as well: 39.29% in the first half, to 57.89% in the second. On the other hand, Louisville was 53.85% in the first, and 32.14% in the second. So, a little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.
• For as dominating Wayne Blackshear has been for Louisville for so long, here's the game he had against Syracuse: 0 points, 0 rebounds, two turnovers, and a five-foul disqualification in 19 minutes. Thanks for coming.

Labels: Basketball, Recap

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Louisville Sucks, Preview

• Michael Gbinije continues to be a a hero when Rakeem Christmas is being doubled almost every possession. He had 27 points on 10-14, 5-8 shooting. He also had six rebounds and four assists.
• Tyler Roberson also had a solid day. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
• Rakeem Christmas had an alright day, earning 11 points six rebounds, five assists, and five blocks.
• Both Kaleb Joseph and Trevor Cooney had alright days. Cooney had 11 points and Joseph had four, on a combined 6-21, 3-13 day. That did not help.
• Zero bench points. Moving on.
• Syracuse actually shot the ball well overall (43.3%), but Duke was better, and they crushed the free throws 19-22 versus 6-13. Syracuse was also outrebounded 42-32.

It was a good effort, but not nearly enough. But I loved they fought and I love they had a halftime lead. Can't ask for too much more in a loss against #4.

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Duke, We Hate Duke

The 2015 version of Syracuse Lacrosse looks pretty good

In an effort to, I guess, be considered something more than a Spring Sport, the 2015 lacrosse season actually began on February 7. For Syracuse, that was a 4pm game in the Carrier Dome against Siena. More on that in a minute. Let's first look at some changes to the game itself, and to the 2015 Orange.

Two big rule changes are very obvious to anyone watching a college lacrosse game this season. First is the face-off. In addition to a prohibition against using one's body to initiate contact with the opponent's stick, the face-off specialists will be required to immediately flip the ball up if possession is obtained with the back of the stick. This, of course, will require the player to create space between himself and his opponent in order to execute that move. It also emphasizes the utility of the wing players coming in to assist the face-off players. The other big rule change isn't exactly a change, but it's an improvement in the stall/shot clock rule. Beginning this season with Division I schools having the capabilities (and required beginning next year) a visible 30-second shot clock must be displayed on each end of the field. Instead of the officials utilizing an on-field 20-second system and a hand count for the final ten seconds, players and fans alike will be able to see the shot clock on the field. This was an easy fix for places such as the Carrier Dome, where the shot clocks already are placed for football. You can read about these rule changes here.

Face-offs were a big achilles heel for Syracuse last year. I think the Orange may have found the answer for this year: Ben Williams, transferring in from Holy Cross, won 17-20 draws against Siena, and then 9-22 against Cornell. That slip in productivity is a little concerning, and while nobody figured him to have two dominant games in a row, it was a respectable effort that obviously didn't have bad consequences for the Orange. The other big issue for Syracuse last season was the goalie situation. Bobby Wardwell and Dominic Lamolinara split time, and Coach John Desko seemed undecided on the issue for much of the season. This year, with Lamo graduated, Wardwell is the clear goalie. Having played nearly 37 minutes in a Siena game that was never close, Bobby played all but about three minutes against Cornell. He shined in that Cornell game, with ten saves while only allowing six goals. His numbers weren't quite as good against Siena, but Siena only took 23 shots the entire game.

A little bit more about that Siena game. As I mentioned before, Ben Williams was phenomenal on the face-offs. He also chipped in a goal himself and scooped up eleven ground balls. He's basically my new favorite player. Also scoring goals for the Orange were Kevin Rice (2), Nicky Galasso (3), Hakeem Lecky (1), Dylan Donahue (4), Randy Staats (1), Henry Schoonmaker (1), Tim Barber (1), Derek DeJoe (1), Ryan Simmons (2), Nick Weston (1), JT Forkin (2), and Joe Gillis (1). That's 13 players scoring 21 goals. Giddyup! Syracuse beats Siena 21-7.

You knew the February 15 game against Cornell wouldn't be a blowout like against Siena, as the Big Red always plays the Orange hard. Maybe it was the cold weather outside (barely reaching zero?), the 8-day layoff for Syracuse, or the season opener for Cornell, but neither team was in the mood for much scoring early in this one. At the end of the first quarter, Syracuse led 1-0. They picked it up in the second, scoring five goals and then six in the third. Cornell tried clawing back, but Syracuse was nearly always able to answer (usually quickly). In fact, Cornell only once had back-to-back goals -- 14:00 in the third on a man-up, and then at 13:41 from the ensuing face-off. Syracuse was just the better team out there, winning 14-6.

We're only two games in, but this has the makings of a great Syracuse lacrosse team. They're well experienced, have great chemistry, and get a lot of people involved in the scoring. The hopeful fixes at the face-off and goalie positions should shore up the issues that made the team vulnerable last year. The schedule makers also smiled upon the Orange, giving them eight home games. The ingredients are there; let's see what they make out of it.

Labels: Lacrosse

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Duke, Preview, We Hate Duke

• Michael Gbinije had a great night shooting 8-11, 2-3 for 21 points. He was also 3-4 on free throws and pulled down seven rebounds, had four assists and four steals. He also had a huge slam and was clearly the best player in the game.
• Kaleb Joseph had his best game of the season offensively, earning 14 points on 7-7 field goals. He also had four assists and one steal. He also had two excellent, big time dunks.
• Rakeem Christmas was doubled almost every time he touched the ball. He still managed seven points, ten rebounds, and three blocks.
• BJ Johnson, where have you been? Although he did take a crazy 12 three point attempts, four did go down. He finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and two blocks. Shooters gonna shoot.
• Syracuse finished with a 49.1% on field goals and 39.1% (9-23) on 3s. They were also 9-11 on free throws.
• BC only attempted a shocking 18 3s and made six. Not enough to come close to winning this game. 

Syracuse had a few questionable incidents of three point defense, but other than that, this was a pretty good offensive effort from Syracuse. Not only was Syracuse scoring, and they were making threes, but they did all this when Rakeem Christmas only had seven points in the game. Syracuse faces the big test of fortitude on Saturday, but this was a nice effort on the road. You have to like the way this team is playing.

Labels: ACC, Basketball, BC Sucks

Labels: ACC, Basketball, BC Sucks, Preview

Dude doesn't like the Pitt blackout

Consider this the first game in the SIPB Era (Self-Imposed Posteason Ban Era). The popular question was "how would the players respond to having nothing to play for?" But that's not true; they have pride, they have the ability to shake up conference standings/tiebreakers; and of course Rakeem Christmas has draft stock to play for. So for Syracuse on Saturday, the job was still to fight hard and play for a win. For much of the game, they did. But ultimately it was not enough, as the Panthers beat the Orange 83-77.

• Leading the way for Syracuse offensively was Rakeem Christmas and Michael Gbinije at 23 points each. Rak was 9-13 from the floor, while Mike was 9-14 (including 3-6 from three).
• Along with those 23 points, Christmas also pulled down 12 rebounds, good for another double-double on the season. The Orange is squeezing every bit of production out of his time on the floor, and in this one it was all 40. A couple quick fouls against Rak in the second half brought him to four, and led to him being less aggressive on defense for the remainder of the game. That, in large part, allowed Pittsburgh to come back, gain the lead, and keep it.
• Trevor Cooney was the only other double digit scorer for Syracuse, with 12, while having an off night shooting -- 3-12 and 1-7 from three. He was a perfect 5-5 from the line, though, so that's something. He also dished out more assists (five) than the team's point guard (zero).
• In some ways, this was a tale of two halves: Syracuse shot well in the first half (56.67% to 38.71%) while Pittsburgh had the advantage in the second half (58.62% to 40.91%).
• Last week's Virginia Tech comeback aside, we're seeing a trend develop on this Syracuse team: between the high minutes played due to the short bench, and players getting in foul trouble, the Orange just aren't the same team down the stretch in games. Less intensity, less aggressiveness. I'm not saying the players are dogging it out there, and I'm not saying the team is losing because of it, but it's a factor that's effecting this team. There's no easy fix to it at this point; they'll have to do the best they can. Or, build insurmountable leads earlier in the game.

Labels: Basketball, Recap

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Pittsburgh, Preview

• Michael Gbinije tied for the lead points with 18 for Syracuse. Trevor Cooney also had 18. But Gbinije had 6 points in the final 37 seconds to give Syracuse the win. Gbinije was 5-9 from the floor, 2-5 from behind the arc, and 6-10 from the free throw line. He also had seven assists and four steals.
• Cooney got his 18 on 7-18 shooting, 2-12 from behind the arc. But he hit the 2nd three when it mattered. 
• Rakeem Christmas finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. He also had five blocks, four steals, and was 5-10 from the free throw line. A solid day, and a day where he didn't have to play hero, though he did contribute mightily to the comeback effort.
• Speaking of comeback, with 5:35 remaining, Syracuse was losing 63-50. Syracuse than caused eight turnovers, while only allowing seven VTech points. SU finished the game on a 22-7 run, winning by two. One of the best comebacks you'll ever see, especially with a team this void of subs and scoring options.
• SU's bench got ourscored 46-10. Syracuse doesn't really have a bench. Who cares?
• Syracuse shot just slightly better than VTech in the game, 42.6% to 42.2%. From behind the arc however, Syracuse only shot 19% (4-21), while VTech was 50% (9-18). That shooting from behind the arc kept VTech in the game in the first half, and gave them a big lead in the 2nd half. VTech was 6-6 with 3s to start the 2nd half.
• Syracuse again struggled at the free throw line, despite Gbinije making the two when he absolutely needed to. And of course, the critical basket for the win.

Syracuse has no hope of making the NCAA Tournament now with the self-imposed postseason ban. John covered that here. But kids still want to win games. And seeing the team fight that hard to beat lowly VTech was good to see. I expect the same amount of effort to continue. This was a good win for fans and the team. And a great comeback for the ages.

Labels: ACC, Basketball

Places Syracuse won't be. See also: Greensboro, NC.

Today was an unusually busy afternoon for me. I didn't have time in between cases to check out twitter's typical drivel. I stayed at the office later than usual, returning phone calls, writing emails, consulting with coworkers. So when I finally made it home around 6:25pm and put on the local news, they were just starting the sports segment. "Syracuse men's basketball has self-imposed a postseason ban, amid the ongoing NCAA investigation into the school's self-reported infractions," reported the sports director. I'm not even sure what my initial reaction was -- other than "Why didn't I already know this? I don't actually get my news from... the news."

A quick perusal of twitter got me up to speed pretty quickly. Then I noticed emails in my gmail inbox from Dr. Daryl Gross and Chancellor Kent Syverud. What struck me more than what those emails said, was what those emails didn't say.

The NCAA has a confidentiality clause (come on, a gag order) regarding what institutions under investigation can say about the investigation. The NCAA would argue it's to "protect the integrity of the investigation." Common sense would say it's so that the NCAA can control the message, the public perception, about its own policies and procedures.

From a competition standpoint, collegiate athletics needs a governing body; one to monitor uniformity of the rules for each sport, determine eligibility, administer tournaments, and award championships. And in today's media-heavy society, that governing body needs to market its products, ensure distribution of its profits, etc. So, don't take this article as anti-NCAA, because I believe it has a purpose and needs to exist to continue to make college sports that thing we all love. But the NCAA, as it currently exists, falls well short of my expectations of an effective governing body for collegiate athletics.

The issues, to me, are its investigatory and punishment functions. Being a public defender, I have a pretty intimate familiarity of investigatory and punishment functions of, you know, reality. Of things that really matter: people's lives. With the NCAA, we're talking about sports at the end of the day, not how long a convict spends in prison or how a victim will be compensated. But college sports effects a lot of people: the student-athletes, the coaching staffs, the athletic departments, the facilities staffs, the local economies of the schools' cities, Nike, Under Armour, etc. College sports is some people's realities. And for that reason, the investigation and infliction of punishments within the framework of college sports must have integrity, must have due process, must have fairness.

Not constitutional protections. Not statutory protections. These aren't penal law crimes we're talking about.

We're talking about infractions of rules, policies, and standards of the governing body of collegiate athletics.

I think we're basically at the point right now where the Penn State case has run its course. I won't recount all of that history here; you know it all, and if not, you're currently on the internet and can access it with a quick Google query. But what did the NCAA do to Penn State in light of the Jerry Sandusky tragedy?

When all was said and done, Penn State lost out on a bowl game and scholarships. They're now back in full standing -- full scholarships, full postseason eligibility, restoration of vacated wins. Why? Because the NCAA acted recklessly in determining the school's responsibility in the infractions, imposing its punishments, and Penn State sued the NCAA. And because the NCAA knows it messed up, they had to settle the case. What a precedent!

I'm not saying Penn State didn't deserve punishment, and I'm not saying the settlement is fair or unfair. It all is what it is.

What I'm saying is that the structure of the NCAA allows for circuses like that to happen. Where is the structure and transparency of NCAA investigations? What are the acceptable forms of punishment once an infraction has been proven?

More and more, the NCAA seems like a "make it up as we go along" type of organization. Roger Goodell and the NFL are receiving similar criticism for its unequal treatment of domestic violence and substance abuse violations.

I'm used to things like statutes of limitation, being advised of the specific charges against you, a speedy and public trial, and a clear set of possible sentences based upon the proven crimes. These are basic tenets of the criminal justice system. Why can't the NCAA have a similar system?

Take the case of Syracuse. What we know, for sure, are two things: Syracuse self-reported possible violations of NCAA rules as early as 2007, and Syracuse self-imposed punishment today through this postseason ban. Obviously, schools need to report potential or perceived violations -- and I don't equate this to criminals knocking on the door of the local precinct to turn themselves in and confess to their sins. This is sports. But once that infraction is reported -- by the school itself or through the NCAA initiating something -- the process needs structure and transparency.

The Syracuse investigation dates back to 2007. It has expanded in scope: backwards to the early 2000s in the football and basketball teams, and forward to the Fab Melo & James Southerland issues of 2012. All the while, what has the NCAA been doing? We thought things came to a head when hearings were held in Chicago in October 2014, where coaches, administrators, and other relevant witnesses appeared before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. But we were given no indication of when the NCAA would issue its rulings -- on whether alleged infractions were substantiated and what, if any, punishments the school would received.

And now, with no answers more than three months later, Syracuse University decides to take matters into its own hands.

Now do I believe that's actually the case? No. I think it's the school's response to a threat from the NCAA that without a self-imposed punishment, the NCAA's hand would come down in ways the school would not want to consider. Longer postseason bans? Substantial scholarship losses? Significant reduction of practice time? Vacation of program wins? Including the 2003 National Championship? We've all heard various rumors, and who knows what the NCAA may have threatened. But I can't imagine the school imposes a postseason ban without any direction from the NCAA that such an action would be in the school's interests.

Though I also don't think Syracuse was a longshot (or even out of the discussion) at making the NCAA Tournament -- IT'S FEBRUARY 4, PEOPLE! -- deciding to exclude itself from postseason play this season was a good move for the school. Even with the Penn State settlement as precedent, an NCAA-imposed postseason ban for this season -- or even longer -- would still take time to be settled or adjudicated in court. So by Syracuse taking this action now, in hopes of avoiding worse penalties when the NCAA finally decides to make public its decision, it allows for the possibility of more clarity on how the school moves on from these infractions.

A school -- which, let's remember, is a MEMBER INSTITUTION OF THE NCAA -- should not be left in the dark for nine years. It should not be subject to an investigation which continues to expand in scope without resolution of the initial allegations. It should not be held mute to discuss the process. It should not be denied the opportunity to defend itself to the public -- and to the students, parents, and fans who support the institution. Due process and constitutional protections exist in the criminal justice system because our founding fathers had an inherent distrust in the tyrannical government it separated from -- and the transparency and public nature of the criminal justice system was an attempt to create public confidence in the system that governs the people.

Because when you're playing by the book, when you're ensuring fairness, why would you keep that secret?

Labels: NCAA, Orange44 Lawdogs

Labels: ACC, Basketball, Preview