This is the hurricane that slammed into the Bahamas last week

Before leaving for the Bahamas, Syracuse played the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis at the Carrier Dome, and won, improving to 3-0 on the season. Those three wins were examples of how we thought this team would be: decent, winning the winnable games, young, not dominant, and with lots of room for improvement. So knowing that if the team could advance passed Charlotte in the first game at Atlantis, either Texas or UConn would be waiting, probably scared some of us. Playing either of those teams in January or February (or March or April), well, sure. But this young team might not have what it takes to play one of those teams in November. Maybe it was the magic of the islands, the thrill of Thanksgiving, or just the pure talent, but Syracuse made a statement. Several, actually.

Syracuse vs. Charlotte
Basically from the opening tip, Syracuse owned this game. The 49ers certainly weren't favored to win -- they had previously lost to Elon -- and the Orange made sure it showed they were the dominant team. It helps when you shoot as well as Syracuse did (54.29% in the first half) to streak out to a 50-27 halftime lead. Charlotte bounced back in the second half, as Syracuse wasn't able to keep up that production but still never let it get too close. I'd say Michael Gbinije couldn't miss, but he did -- only two shots of his 11 attempts didn't go in, and they were both beyond the arc. Otherwise, he hit six 3's and led all scorers with 26 points. More on him later. Tyler Lydon continued to do his thing, contributing 18 points and being such a presence on the floor. Even Trevor Cooney got 19, despite only hitting three 3's. What's most notable in terms of an improvement from the first three games is that Syracuse found some balance -- 30 points in the paint. Syracuse beat Charlotte 83-70.

Syracuse vs. Connecticut
It's basically constitutional law that anytime Syracuse plays UConn, all anyone can talk about is the six overtime thriller in the 2009 Big East Tournament. And that's fine, because Syracuse won that. We'll always have that. 18-ranked Connecticut so wanted to be the brick wall for Syracuse to run into in this tournament on Paradise Island, but the Orange had some swagger from Wednesday's game. They were looking for a Thanksgiving feast, but it was husky, not turkey, on the menu. This game wasn't a 6OT thriller, but it was a very exciting game featuring several tied scores (including at halftime) and several lead changes. UConn had the advantage early, growing its lead to 10 at 13:39 in the first, but Syracuse fought back for that halftime tie. Syracuse then built a 10-point lead of its own by 7:47 to go in the game. Gbinije and Lydon had great games again, along with Cooney and Malachi Richardson stepping up their offensive production as well. Tyler Roberson was also much improved, with a rebound short of a double double on the day. Great team effort for the win over UConn, 79-76. There was talk after the game about these schools -- once conference rivals -- reaching an agreement to play each other on a regular basis. This game had that feel to it, as many of those conference & BET games did, and I don't think you'll find a fan of either school that wouldn't want there to be at least semi-regular meetings of these teams.

Syracuse vs. Texas A&M
Sure, Syracuse was the underdog against #18 UConn the day before, but that hard-fought victory had no matter to the odds makers in determining Syracuse would again be underdog against #25 Texas A&M in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship. My fear entering the game was that the Aggies would be too big or too physical for Syracuse to handle, and/or get hot shooting the 3 as they'd be tempted to against the 2-3 zone. Plus, it was going to be difficult to keep the Syracuse shooters hitting those shots at the same clip they had been in the previous days. But hey, when things are going well, things are going well. And the Syracuse shooting did cool off -- but 44% from three and nearly 80% from the foul line is gonna get you places. This was yet another games where the usuals did well -- and damn, Tyler Lydon continues to play well ahead of his time -- but Roberson's production trailed off a bit. What was great to see, both in this tournament but particularly in this game, was the improvement of Dajuan Coleman. While he struggled at times and was on a short leash, he ended up with decent minutes in this game and made the most of them -- four points, six rebounds, and was just an active presence under the basket. I hope some confidence can carry over for Coleman so he can play more minutes and allow Lydon more time at forward -- think of how many more points he could score! With this 74-67 win over the Aggies, Syracuse is your 2015 Battle 4 Atlantis champions!

What a great tournament for Syracuse! It ended up to be the stepping out party for several players, and for the team as a whole. Finally, some national attention at how good this team is, and how good they could be. That was surely reflected when the national polls were released today (#14 AP, #19 Coaches). But now is no time to rest on your laurels -- Wednesday features a home game against the Wisconsin Badgers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge; Saturday brings the real rivalry renewed when the Orange travels to DC to face Georgetown; and eight days later a trip to MSG to face St. John's. I'll be at all of those games, and of course we'll have coverage here on Orange::44.

PS -- rumor has it if you put your ear up to the seashell on the Battle 4 Atlantis trophy, you can hear chants of "UConn... USuck!"

Labels: Basketball, Battle 4 Atlantis, Championship, Recap, UConn USuck

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Labels: Basketball, Battle 4 Atlantis, Preview

Labels: Basketball, Battle 4 Atlantis, Farewell Big East Basketball, Preview, Syracuse Needs to Win to Make Thanksgiving Tolerable, UConn, UConn USuck

Labels: Basketball, Battle 4 Atlantis, Preview, Syracuse Needs to Win to Make Thanksgiving Tolerable

Was Silent G the only one on the court?

The good thing about early season tournaments is that you won't have to win the opening games to advance. Nevertheless, it's good that Syracuse did on Saturday night in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis against Elon. Except, this game didn't have the excitement of being at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. I've been there. The place is amazing. Go sometime if you have a chance. Anyway, Saturday night's game came on the heels of an awful Syracuse football loss where it seemed like the players had given up and Coach Shafer had as well, so I think we all wanted to retreat into the (relative) consistency of Orange Basketball. And it was as consistent as it's been this season: scary at times, lots of threes, but in the end a Syracuse victory, 66-55.

• If we're lucky, we saw the emergence of Tyler Roberson: Offensive Juggernaut. If we're not, we only saw him score 20 points on 9-15 shooting, and pull down 16 rebounds (seven offensive) for a double double. As you would suspect, none of his points came beyond the arc (he didn't even attempt a 3) so his ability to get inside to score, or his short/mid jumpers, is an important part of Syracuse gaining balance.
• Michael Gbinije had a good night with 16 points, including 3-3 from 3, and a perfect 5-5 from the line.
• Malachi Richardson managed a 13 point effort despite being 1-7 from the floor. He made up for it by going 10-12 on free throws.
• Trevor Cooney had another ho hum game.
• The center position remains a work in progress. Starter Dajuan Coleman played only 10 minutes and was a perfect 1-1 from the floor. In his absence, freshman Tyler Lydon played 35 minutes. If you've been reading my recaps, you know I've been talking Lydon up in the previous two games, and he again didn't disappoint against Elon. While he can shoot and he can penetrate, it's not the offense where he'll shine -- it's the defense. He's active, he seems to know how the zone works, and that's just monumental for a freshman. The drawback is his size; listed at 6'8", 210 lbs., Tyler won't be intimidating any ACC drivers. For now, though, the Elons of the world are good practice for Tyler.
• If Syracuse could get a sizeable lead for long enough in a game, it would be nice to get Coleman more minutes. He's in better shape, he's older & more mature, and he's in theory smarter about the game, so in theory he just needs to shake off the rust. And it's hard to do that on the bench. I think down at Paradise Island he'll have to play more, just due to the fact of playing The UConns or Michigans of the world.
• Back to this game, Syracuse shot a meh 39.2% from the field, but a respectable 40.0% from three, and a rather amazing 80% from the charity stripe. They also had 15 turnovers which turned into 15 Elon points.

Labels: Basketball, Battle 4 Atlantis, Recap

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"When I shoot game-tying threes, it feels like the hoop is THIS BIG!"

These two upstate schools first played each other in 1923 and are separated by just a three-hour drive. But in spite of that, they're really only "rivals" because Jim Boeheim said so. From 1977 to 1987, Syracuse and St. Bonaventure played annually, sometimes more than once. They've just played occasionally since then, with the most recent tilt in 2009. Syracuse owned a 23-3 head to head record going into Tuesday's game, and the Bonnies had never won in the Carrier Dome. So, sham rivalry. BUT, this is a game that needs to be back on the schedule every year. More on that later. Bonas jumped out to a quick start, led 35-29 at the half, and carried a lead until a Tyler Lydon 3-pointer tied the game at 54 with 9:03 to go. From there, Syracuse took over and won 79-66.

• The leader of the SU offense once again was Michael Gbinije, with 23 points on 8-14 from the floor, 3-7 from three, and 4-6 from the line. Mike also had six assists and four steals for a really solid game.
• Also in double digits were Trevor Cooney (18, 4-12, 2-8, 3-11), Malachi Richardson (15, 5-11, 2-7, 3-5) and Tyler Lydon (13, 3-5, 2-2, 5-5).
• Lydon was nothing but consistent in this one with a very productive 31 minutes. He may be a freshman, but he ain't playing like one through two official games.
• Bonas really hit the boards, with 43 rebounds -- and 24 off the offensive glass. That translated to 29 second chance points.
• The Bonnies got good production from their players, particularly Jaylen Adams with 16 points and Dion Wright with 13. As a team, Bonaventure 36.4% from the floor, to 46.2% for Syracuse. I'd put the Bonas percentage lower on account of all the missed shots but offensive rebounds & put-backs they had. There were a few possessions with 3 or 4 offensive rebounds. Keeping the ball away from Syracuse was a good strategy for a long time.

Labels: Basketball, Recap, Rivalries

Labels: Basketball, Preview

Syracuse shooting the three: get used to it

Friday night was the season opener for the 2015-2016 Syracuse Men's Basketball Team. This year's campaign began against Lehigh in the Carrier Dome, and seemed to be a continuation of what we had seen in the two exhibitions leading up to the real deal: Syracuse will shoot more threes than you think they should. We'll get to that in a minute. The first half of this game was dominated by Syracuse, who shot decent enough on the offensive end of the court, but really played active, shut it down defense at the other end. In the second half, the defense let up a bit, and the offense sputtered at times, but the Syracuse lead never shrunk to fewer than six. At the final horn, Syracuse emerged victorious 57-47.

• Senior leader Michael Gbinije lived up to his role and led the team in scoring with 16 points on 5-13 shooting, 2-9 from three, and 4-5 from the line. He also ran the point for much of the game. I'd have to check to see if he shot better when he moved to forward for parts of the game, but ball movement and shooting looks were good while he ran the offense.
• Call it hard word, call it playing with a chip on his shoulder, call it whatever you want, but Kaleb Joseph played 14 minutes and did some good things with it. Eight points on 2 of 3 shooting (all from three), a perfect 2-2 from the line, and an assist and a steal. The lineup with Kaleb running the point is quite small, so you won't see it often, but if he can keep up quality play like that, you'll appreciate the minutes he does end up getting.
• In his college debut, Malachi Richardson played well: 14 points on 5-12 from the floor including 4-9 from three, He pulled down six rebounds and came up with three steals, but turned the ball over five times. His game's far from perfect, but he's got raw talent and you have to be excited about where he could take this team.
• One of the biggest questions I had going into this season is how this team would adjust -- particularly offensively -- without Rakeem Christmas? And would DaJuan Coleman help fill that void? The answers seem to be by shooting threes and not really, respectively. Syracuse had virtually no inside game to speak of. Ten points in the paint. Shooters were getting open and taking good shots -- and making 32.4% of them from beyond the arc. That's good enough against Lehigh, evidently, but it won't be good enough against a better defense or a better offense. The Orange will have to establish an inside game so that there are other scoring options, particularly if the shooters are having a bad night; plus, the existence of an inside threat helps open up the shooters. I tweeted it during the game and I feel this will be the thing to really look at: offensive balance is key.
• Back to Coleman... he only played 13 minutes due to foul trouble and overall ineffectiveness. I imagine he's still kicking off quite a bit of rust, so he's getting the benefit of the doubt for the next several weeks. But certainly come conference time, he needs to be back. In the meantime, Chino Obokoh and Tyler Lydon will get a lot of time at the center of the zone. Friday night, Tyler showed us why he might be one of the more underrated freshman on this team, if not the conference or country. The kid can play! Though his offense wasn't anything fancy, he played really active on defense, with a couple of blocks, three steals, eight rebounds (eleven total), and a presence on the floor you won't see a stat line for. He's gonna become a lot of fans' favorite player as his career at Syracuse continues.
• Lehigh shot nine percent in the first half. A better second half brought the total game shooting up to 28.8%. 

Labels: Basketball, Recap

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Gonna be tough to wash off this stench. YOU'RE SWIMMING IN YOUR OWN FILTH!

Labels: Crying Child, Football

Labels: ACC, Football, Preview

Labels: ACC, Football