Tonight, #11-seed Syracuse will play against #2-seed Duke in the Sweet Sixteen (Midwest Regional) of the NCAA Tournament. This regional is Omaha, Nebraska. Truth be told, I've never been to Omaha. But, last summer, I was in Nebraska.
My brother-in-law scored a teaching job back in his hometown in Florida, so he and my sister had to move from Oregon to Florida. He made the trip in July so he could get ready for school, while my sister stayed back in Oregon to maximize her job time there (and also wait for when I had time in my schedule to fly out there and help her move). I was lucky enough to be in Oregon near the solar eclipse's maximum totality landfall and the next day we began our trip to Florida. We mapped out some approximate landmarks to make it to each day, so we could make the trip in a respectable amount of time, but also see some of the sites along the way. When I initially mapped out Eugene, Oregon to Sebring, Florida, I noticed that after Lincoln, Nebraska, the route took us around Ohama toward Iowa/Missouri. And in the process, that route took us by a small town in Nebraska named Syracuse.
So it was fate. The most reasonable route took us by Syracuse, Nebraska. And so, I insisted to my sister that we stop in Syracuse. And I insisted that we wear our orange Syracuse shirts. I had previously bought her a Real Girls Wear Orange shirt for an earlier trip to the Carrier Dome, while I have, well, an entire wardrobe of Syracuse gear. So after a fun stop-off in Lincoln overnight (and a fun minor league baseball game), we embarked toward Syracuse on Friday, August 18. It was a cloudy, dreary day, so I immediately seemed at home.
As we drove off the Syracuse exit from Route 2, I immediately began searching for good photo spots. There was a rock memorial with the engraving Syracuse 1875 -- which I recognized to be five years after our beloved University was founded.
From there, we proceeded to drive into "downtown" Syracuse. It was quaint, with very little happening at 10:00am on a Friday morning. But the banners on the streetposts downtown told us that they cared about their city, they were proud, and they were welcoming. I appreciated that.
I was in search of a postcard -- something along the lines of "Greetings from Syracuse, Nebraska!" But, alas, none could be found. We visited a diner, a coffee shop, a hardware shop, and even city hall. No Syracuse postcards. However, our stop by city hall did yield some results.
The city clerk was extremely impressed to see a couple people walk in wearing orange Syracuse shirts, and after hearing our story, graciously gave me a few sheets of stationary on Syracuse city letterhead. I think Syracuse Orange success in Omaha this weekend will warrant me writing city hall back on their own letterhead. They'll probably addend my letter to the city charter or something!
After a quick trip to the post office for a picture and to mail out a postcard -- just to try to get a Syracuse Nebraska post-stamp to Syracuse New York (which didn't work, they don't post-stamp there), we continued on our way out of town.
A gas station right off the highway has a big nutcracker on its grounds. Maybe there's a deeper meaning there.
Also on our travels in Syracuse, my sister's odometer hit 44,044 miles. You literally can't make this shit up.
So, while Syracuse, Nebraska is about an hour away from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha where the NCAA Regionals will be played, let's be honest: Syracuse home game.
Labels: NCAA Tournament, Road Trip, Syracuse Basketball
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| Maybe the best part of this picture is Donna & Mike's faces |
It started March 12, 2009. It ended March 13, 2009. It spawned Marathon Men t-shirts, a website, and brought the rivalry of Syracuse and Connecticut to a new level. The 2009 Big East Tournament quarterfinal between Syracuse and UConn was a six overtime epic battle that will forever be etched into the memories of all who experienced it: whether in person, on TV, or on twitter.
March 2009 was around the time twitter was taking off. I finally bowed to the pressure on March 11, 2009, of course not knowing that my decision to register @jbren would so greatly enhance my 6OT experience. My first tweet was so i just joined twitter. i wonder if i'll actually use this thing. I can't remember how many people I started following, or who, or even who was following me. But I had my twitter all ready to use the next night.
March 12, a coworker was turning 50, so we went out that night for drinks. I was in Simon's in Horseheads, where there are no TVs. Luckily, the 7pm game ran late, so the SU-UConn game wouldn't start till approx 9:45pm. I ducked out of the celebration to head across the street to Hanover's Grille -- I knew they had TVs. I got a prime seat at the bar, ordered a drink, and got through the first half. UConn had a 37-34 lead at the half, and I decided I wanted to watch the rest of the game back at my apartment, so I left. In retrospect, great call.
Once home, I poured myself a drink. I'm sure it was either Jameson or Vanilla Vodka. For whatever reason, I didn't tweet at all during regulation. I think I was still trying to get the hang of it. I didn't have an app for my phone (a Blackberry Storm at the time) so I was literally using the mobile twitter website. The score was tied with mere seconds left in regulation, and Syracuse was to inbound the ball.
holy shit eric
That was my first tweet of the game. We all thought he had hit a three at the buzzer. He jumped on the media table and punched his chest as if to say he was king of the world. And then, that amazing midcourt floor camera from ESPN had caught the shot -- with the basket and clock -- from the perfect angle to show that the ball was still sitting on Eric's fingertips when time reached 0.0. So onto overtime we go.
this is what BET is all about!
I must've tweeted that at the end of the first overtime. I had gotten at least one more drink in since the first. I was thoroughly enjoying the game at this point.
do i have enough alcohol for this?
A tweet probably around the end of the second overtime. Things were happening fast and furious, and I was worried that I'd run dry before the game ended.
great guts shown if that means anything
That may have been a comment I picked up on from Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, or Bill Raftery. Or it may have been some nonsense gibberish fueled by booze. Or maybe both.
this may be the best game ive ever seen
Easy to say this around the end of three overtimes. Plus some booze. You can tell I didn't much appreciate punctuation at that point.
5 overtimes? i want money or something
Well, the good news is this tweet actually mentions an event, so I can place this at the end of four OTs. If my memory serves me correctly, I think I had made a bet with myself that this game would go five overtimes. I won that bet, but I don't know if I ever paid myself.
6 is my lucky number. don't even know what to say at this point.
Obviously at this point, the game was tied at the end of five overtimes, and so onto the sixth we go. It is true that six is and always has been my lucky number, so I guess I felt pretty good about Syracuse's chances at this point.
And that would actually be my final tweet of the game, and of the night. By the time Syracuse had outlasted Connecticut 127-117, I think I was so exhausted that I didn't want to deal with that weird "SurePress" touchscreen on my Storm. I do remember at some point during one of the overtime periods, I decided to stand up. Right there. In my apartment living room. By myself. I think it was early -- may have even been at the end of regulation when Eric almost got that shot off in time.
Going to bed after that game was interesting. On the one hand, it's late, and I had been drinking, so you'd think falling asleep would be easy. But on the other hand, that was like 3+ hours of adrenaline pumping through my veins. Suffice to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.
But I still had to get up and go to work in the morning. Luckily when I had found out Syracuse would have the late Thursday game, I had blocked off my Friday morning as "KEEP OPEN FOR DESK TIME," because I didn't already have any court appearances scheduled. And it's a good thing I didn't have anything going on that morning. I was worthless. I was tired, and quite frankly, I was still shaking from the night before -- the adrenaline I think was still pumping through me.
Syracuse won the next night in the semifinals. A found a few tweets from that one:
anyone else having a hard time getting excited over this game?
OT? we've played this game before.
shut up jay bilas
But at any rate, 6OT is something I'll never forget. It was one of those experiences that, as a Syracuse fan, you remember exactly where you were and how things went down. You can close your eyes and immediately bring yourself back. You can maybe even smell the same smells. As we are now about to watch our beloved team embark on a new conference tournament, the ACC Tournament, we can only hope that someday that will provide us with another great memory.
Labels: 6 OTs, ACC Tournament, Big East, Big East Tournament, Syracuse Basketball, UConn USuck
SDSU - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR On a M-Fing Boat!
0 Comments Published on 11.15.2012 by John Brennan
Picturesque, fun, something you try once right? YOLO?
After a two-day delay in getting this game in due to bad weather conditions -- IN SAN DIEGO! -- Syracuse played a true Veterans Day game on the USS Midway against San Diego State University on Sunday. It was fun, it was gimmicky, it was windy, it was chilly, and it was a win for Syracuse. Almost from start to finish, the Orange held the lead, and quickly adjusted to the elements. The Aztecs failed to adjust, shot horribly, and lost. The final score from literally on the San Diego Bay was 62-49.
- This game for Syracuse was all about CJ Fair. CJ was 7-15 shooting (17 points total), including the only 3-pointer hit by Syracuse, and also grabbed 10 rebounds.
- I think it's Fair to say (no pun intended, at least initially) that CJ Fair is the leader of this team. Maybe not so much a vocal leader, but more so a steady, lead-by-example type of guy.
- Also with 17 points was Michael Carter-Williams, so was also quite steady on the court. He was also 7-15 from the floor, and grabbed 4 rebounds. Also of note for MCW was the 5 steals he had.
- Speaking of the steals, Syracuse had 12 total, which is a good indication of how active their defense was. Playing the Jim Boeheim patented 2-3 zone, SDSU fell into the normal made against the zone: shoot the ball, lots of 3s. But what might work in a gym doesn't quite work on the deck of an aircraft carrier in windy weather. Despite facing the wind early and seeing its effect on 3-point shots, the Aztecs failed to adjust the game plan and kept chucking up the ball. Oh well, their loss.
- Brandon Triche had 15 points on 6-11 shooting, but unfortunately turned over the ball five times -- not a stat you'd like to see from your senior point guard. It's early (you know, game 1) but Brandon needs to improve on this for Syracuse to be successful, especially against tougher opponents.
- Not to say SDSU wasn't a tough opponent. Ranked #20 in the country coming into this game, I think the elements just got the best of them. This probably would have been a much closer game inside, but, I guess we'll never know.
- As previously mentioned, the Aztecs' offense was quite anemic, scoring a Big 10-esque 49 points. Their leading scorer -- and the only one in double digits -- was Jamaal Franklin, who scored 11 points on an abysmal 3-12 shooting. And so it goes for SDSU, who as a team was 17-63 from the floor (27%).
- Syracuse won the rebounding battle 45-44.
- SDSU was 1-18 from the 3, or, for those of you who prefer percentages, 5.6%. Ouch. Congratulations to James Rahon.
- Both teams wore specially-designed camouflage jerseys. Syracuse's was a version of the road orange jerseys. In the biggest upset of the day, I was actually not upset with how they looked.
For a game that almost didn't happen -- twice -- they decided to really milk this for all they could. The game lasted almost two and a half hours. The broadcast crew of Dick Enberg, Steve Kerr, and Erin Andrews did a good job, and though many people complained about not being able to find the game, I was able to watch on MSG+ and the picture was good. On the ship, there was the technical difficulties of the game clock not working properly (what was displayed was unofficial and would freeze then jump ahead), and the shot clock above one of the baskets was inoperable.
So while we might not want to do it again, it was fun to watch. After all, it was a Syracuse basketball win! Plus, it was a great ending to a great weekend for Syracuse Athletics. If they can all be like that, well then, we'd be spoiled! After the long trip back to the east coast, Syracuse prepares to take on Wagner in the Carrier Dome this Sunday at 1pm in the regular season home opener. I'll be there, and of course keep it right here at Orange::44 for continuing basketball coverage, and football coverage as we move toward hopeful bowl eligibility.
Labels: Midway, Syracuse Basketball
Been a while since we had to #lawdog anything
At long last, the criminal investigation into sex abuse allegations against former Syracuse Associate Head Coach Bernie Fine is over.
United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, the lead Federal prosecutor for the Northern District of New York, announced today that his office has concluded its investigation into Fine, and will not be pursuing charges at the Federal level or referring the matter to the State courts due to insufficient evidence. The official Department of Justice press release can be found here, and I highly suggest you read it.
The announcement comes as no surprise to anyone who has paid attention to the ongoing Fine saga, except that an announcement was made at all. We all knew that the allegations of abuse concerning Bobby Davis and Mike Lang were beyond the statute of limitations, both for a state prosecution or a federal prosecution. The only allegations not already time-barred concerned Zach Tomaselli who, as we all know, was a troubled young man whose allegations contradicted themselves, had recanted then unrecanted (canted?), and now himself sits in a Maine prison for three years and three months convicted of a sex offense. So, you know, he was never going to come off as a credible source of evidence.
For the feds to pursue a case concerning Tomaselli, they would have had to find some independent evidence which corroborated his story. Not only that, but the evidence they found (if any) would have to leave them reasonably sure that pursuing a criminal prosecution would result in a conviction. Today's press release simply states that, although 130 witnesses were interviewed, over 100,000 pages of material reviewed, and evidence was seized from Fine's home, there was insufficient evidence to pursue a criminal prosecution to conviction.
The press release also notes that the end of the investigation and the decision to decline to prosecute does not amount to a finding one way or the other. As Hartunian correctly notes, these types of allegations describe "conduct typically committed in private with individuals who are reluctant to come forward." As a defense attorney, I can state that often in sex cases, the only evidence is the word of the alleged victim; unless there is physical evidence which can be recovered immediately after the alleged crime, the alleged victim's statement constitutes the evidence. Therefore, the credibility of that alleged victim is paramount in the investigation: whether to file charges, seek a Grand Jury indictment, and bring it to a jury trial.
So it's no surprise that with an incredible alleged victim in Zach Tomaselli, the US Attorney declined prosecution.
As has been the theme with all things Bernie Fine, we will never know the truth. Can we be reasonably sure that nothing ever happened between Fine and Tomaselli? Sure. I think the evidence showing nothing happened outweighs evidence showing something happened. Reasonable people can differ in their opinions on whether Fine ever abused Davis and/or Lang.
This all does call into question the wisdom of ESPN and Mark Schwarz in going forward with the original story, and more importantly, getting Zach Tomaselli involved. I won't rehash everything I've written on that in the past, but no doubt this will all play into Laurie Fine's defamation suit against ESPN, and could serve as a basis for Bernie filing his own suit.
Of course, if I'm Bernie, I think I stay out of the limelight. Nothing short of Tomaselli, Davis, and Lang coming forward to say it was all made up and nothing ever happened will restore his reputation. No amount of monetary damages will make him whole, even if he's actually innocent.
Any more legal questions on this topic? Post below in the comments and I'll see what I can do.
Labels: Bernie Fine, Orange44 Lawdogs, Syracuse Basketball
Is this post about basketball or crime?
My original intent of this post was to provide a recap of last Friday's "Orange Madness" event in the Carrier Dome and get us all pumped up about the upcoming Syracuse Men's and Women's basketball seasons. And I can still do some of that. But, as we all know by now, Orange Madness ended up being about fights & a stabbing much more so than about basketball.
First, let me mention the event itself. It began with the Voice of the Orange, Matt Park, introducing his sidekicks Scoop Jardine and Jasmine Jordan. The audio for this evtire event was awful - I could barely hear anything from my seat, it seemed like they were only using speakers set up on the floor instead of the huge Carrier Dome speakers hanging from the roof. Oh well, maybe they can fix that problem for next year. Anyway, then the women's team players and coaches were introduced, alternatingly emerging from one of two makeshift tunnels built on each side of the movable bleacher sections. After the introductions, the ladies warmed up and played an 8-minute scrimmage. Then, the part that everyone was there for: Wale performed. I'm not a fan of rap music, so I think it sucked.
Then the men's team players and coaches were introduced, in the same fashion that the ladies had been, with one huge exception: Head Coach Jim Boeheim was escorted in through the Dome's main tunnel on a military vehicle, wearing his Team USA warmups and (what must be a fake or commemorative) gold medal. Boeheim addressed the crowd, and then Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney read about a 10-minute proclamation declaring it Jim Boeheim Day. With the hoopla then dying down, the players took to the floor to begin the warmup and scrimmage A minute or two into the first 8-minute period, nearly everyone in the Dome directed their attention to a fight that had broken out in section 103. Normally, this would be the student section, but Sitrus and the students were moved to behind the opposite basket for this event. Dome security personnel and Syracuse Police responded quickly, and the fight stopped. Good, now we could pay attention to the scrimmage again.
After the first 8-minute period, there wasn't much of anything going on. The 2nd 8-minutes went by, and then it was time for the dunk contest. We discovered that last year's winner James Southerland would indeed compete to defend his title, despite earlier indications that he'd be sitting this one out. He ended up winning, basically by default, because the other contestants -- if they could actually dunk -- weren't impressive. Even one of the women's team players attempted (and failed) to dunk. But it was fun watching her try.
And then Matt Park came out, thanked us for coming, and wished us a good night.
I was a bit confused by the lack of a 3-point shooting contest, but I didn't think too much of it. We filed out of the Dome, and as we were walking in the area between the Law School and the Heroy geology building, a Department of Public Safety car basically comes flying through the Q1 parking lot and down towards the Dome, trying to get people to move out of the way. I really gave no thought to what it was going to respond to.
Turns out, of course, that Orange Madness had been cut (sorry) a half-hour short due to several fights and, ultimately, a stabbing in the concourse. I had no idea, and didn't even see anything on twitter about it until after I had left Faegan's after having a beer. We later learned that the stabbing victim was 25 years old, and not an SU student. Though he was uncooperative with the police investigation, we were told that the stabber was also not affiliated with SU, nor were any of the other people involved in the fights.
Eventually, two statements from the university were issued, one from the Carrier Dome & DPS, the other from Nancy Cantor & Darryl Gross. Both statements were carefully worded to not blame this on anything specific, but it was clear what they were getting to: "these were black people who were there because it was a free event, but don't worry, because they can never afford to come to other Carrier Dome events."
Obviously they didn't say it that way, because that's not very politically correct. True. But, it's probably true. There's been an increase of non-SU affiliated violence from the city spilling up onto the Hill. Acropolis Pizza on Marshall Street has become a hot spot, and the police want the owner to close.
So what's the University's response to prevent this from happening at the Dome again? They'll be reviewing the ticketing & seating procedures for the Orange Madness event, including the musical entertainment portion of it. Or, "tickets won't be widely available for free so that poor black people can't afford them, and we won't be having hip hop artists perform that will attract black people."
That's a very short sighted and discriminatory response. Outside of the blatant racism, it doesn't solve the problem. The problem is the crime, not who's committing it. When I was an SU student (now over 6 years ago), I thought that the gang problem in the city was getting worse. Turns out my feeling was right. It's getting worse in the city, and when you now see it increasingly spill onto the Hill, you know it's bad.
So why not help fix the gang problem? Having a folk singer perform and charging $5 for the tickets are probably going to keep the gangs away from the Dome. But they'll be somewhere else that night. They don't need to be within the confines of the Carrier Dome to commit crimes. Yeah, I don't know what the fix is for the gangs; increase police patrols & prosecutions, emphasize education, assist with skills building and job searching, community programs and services. Or something else. Who knows? But the ease of getting into the Carrier Dome and who the musical performer is will not stop this gang problem. It just further distances the University from the city's problems.
If Nancy Cantor wants to solidify her legacy in Syracuse before she leaves, helping to solve this problem head on will certainly be what does it for her.
Labels: Breaking The Law, Midnight Madness, Orange Madness, Syracuse Basketball
When Do We Close the Book on the 2011-12 Basketball Season?
0 Comments Published on 4.24.2012 by John Brennan
As I sit here composing this story on April 24, it has been exactly a month since the SU Men's Basketball season ended with a 77-70 loss to Ohio State in the Elite Eight. Brian did his usual postgame recap after that game. And we've sort of moved on to lacrosse (to the extent a Syracuse fan can care about this season...). But we've done no end-of-the-season recap. Nothing that looks back and says "This is what the season was, now let's move on to the next thing." It hasn't been apathy. Not being too busy to do it. And surely not that we didn't want to talk about it. I think because, in many ways, it's because it still doesn't feel like the season is over.
Yes, the playing of the games is done. Not just for Syracuse, but for all teams. Kentucky is your National Champion, and will return to the court next season a completely different team. Teams are busy figuring out next year's rosters: seniors graduating, underclassmen leaving for the NBA, transfers, and recruits coming in. This is the talk of college basketball right now.
But I'm not ready to close the book on the 2011-2012 basketball season. No, not for Syracuse, anyway. Because this season - one that began with an exciting Midnight Madness back in the Carrier Dome on a Friday night in October - was unlike any other Orange fans have ever seen. On the court, and off. And until both of those things have met their conclusions, this season carries on.
This season saw many great accomplishments for the basketball team: a school-best 20-0 start; undefeated at home; Big East Regular Season Champions; #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament; Elite Eight appearance; the emergence of Dion Waiters and Fab Melo as college basketball superstars; and I could go on. As a fan, what you saw on the court was almost always a pleasurable and exciting experience. These guys could play, and at times, it seemed as though they were unstoppable.
And yet, it was all against the backdrop of horrible allegations that we still don't fully comprehend. After three games -- and not even one week into the regular season -- news broke that Bobby Davis and his step-brother Mike Lang were accusing longtime assistant coach Bernie Fine of past sexual abuse. From that pivotal point forward, this season -- and every part of it -- was seen in the context of these allegations. It went from "How will the team react to these allegations?" to "How will the team react to Bernie Fine being fired?" to "How is the team able to continue performing at such a high level despite these allegations?" Through it all, the players were able not only to "talk the talk" ("When we put on the uniform and step out onto the court, it's all about basketball"), but also to "walk the walk" (it really was just all about basketball when the jersey was on and the ball was tipped). The players were unfazed.
Jim Boeheim, though, different story. He was different. He had to be different. He's the face of this program - has been for 36 seasons now. He's also the spokesman of the team, one who speaks his mind more bluntly than your old school grandfather who cares nothing about political correctness. But it's that bluntness, that candor, that has ultimately has served as the basis for keeping this season alive in my mind.
We all know the story by now: when the allegations against Bernie Fine broke, Jim Boeheim made statements in the media to the effect that Davis & Lang were liars who were in it for the money. And while the attention eventually diverted away from Bernie Fine himself, mostly due to statute of limitations issues -- and, to his credit, his virtual disappearance from the face of the earth -- this entire story has turned into a focus on what Jim Boeheim said.
A defamation lawsuit filing and too many Gloria Allred press conferences later, the drama drags on. Brian and I have offered our legal insight to the defamation case -- both on this site and on twitter -- and we both think it's heading to a dismissal. A defense motion to dismiss is scheduled to be heard this coming Friday in Onondaga Supreme Court, so maybe that will get us closer to being able to close the book on this season.
Outside of the lawsuit, we were also dealing with the constant train-wreck that was known as Zach Tomaselli. Without getting into the very discussion-worthy story behind how Tomaselli even became a part of this drama, we know that the direction of the story -- and people's views of it -- were shaped by Tomaselli's involvement. At the end of the day, he was a character who did nothing but muddy the waters. His grasp of the ideas of truth and veracity are fumble-worthy. As if almost feeling the tempo of the country and knowing when he wasn't being talked about quite as often, he would inject himself back into the story -- with another allegation, or a change in his story, or a new accusation, or a recanting of his allegations, or a recanting of his recantation, or a recantation of the recanting of his recantation oh and now I've gone cross-eyed. This all, of course, leading up to his being imprisoned last week to serve a 3+ year sentence on sexual abuse charges for which he pleaded guilty.
This season had no chance of ending unless and until Zach Tomaselli was silenced. Quite frankly, knowing how obviously troubled he was, I didn't think he would make it to report for his imprisonment. But evidently he did, and now he won't have access to twitter, to telephones, or to anything else where he can interject himself into the Bernie Fine story at his every whim. Then again, I'll be the first to put money on Mark Schwarz being granted the first on-camera prison interview.
And so, we wait. We wait for the last few pages of the 2011-2012 Syracuse Basketball season to be written. The typical fan will get a sense of closure, once the lawsuit is concluded and a sufficient time has passed without hearing from Tomaselli. But we'll never know the whole story. Bernie Fine won't be writing the epilogue. He doesn't need to. We just need a basketball season where we're just talking about basketball.
Labels: Bernie Fine, Defamation Lawsuit, Jim Boeheim, Orange44 Lawdogs, Syracuse Basketball
UConn - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Season Sweep
0 Comments Published on 2.26.2012 by John Brennan
The seniors get a win at Gampel
Leading up to Saturday night's game, there was a lot of hype that Syracuse had never won at Gampel Pavilion. Granted, the sample set was only four games, but winless is winless. Or, rather, was winless. Syracuse played one of its bast halves of basketball in the first -- complete with scoring, rebounding, defense, creating turnovers -- and carrying a 43-29 lead into halftime. And then, the second half. The Huskies clawed their way back into the game, eventually tying it 63-63 with 4:18 left to play. Syracuse wouldn't let UConn grab the lead. A rebound put-back by Fab Melo with 31 seconds to go put the Orange ahead 71-69, and the Syracuse defense shut it down on the other end to preserve the victory. Put it in the books, 71-69!
- Kris Joseph had a great game offensively (despite being hurt) and was the team's leading scorer with 21 points on 8-15 shooting, including 3-7 from three. He was actually shooting with some confidence, which is nice to see in any game, let alone the hostile environment of Gampel.
- Scoop also played very well. While he wasn't outstanding from a scoring standpoint (seven points on 3-10 shooting, 0-3 from three), his presence was definitely felt (and necessary) out there on the floor. Scoop had five rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Those are solid numbers that compliment an offense working very efficiently, as Syracuse was especially in the first half.
- Scoop was a disappointing 1-2 from the line, though the team was 10-14 in the game.
- The effort of Fab Melo in this game cannot be understated. 11 points, nine rebounds (five offensive), and three blocks. All this while only fouling three times. Granted, there were times (especially in the second half) when Fab fell asleep on defense and gave up position at the back of the zone but, as the final score indicates, it didn't matter in the end.
- Prior to the game, head coach Jim Boeheim noted that he expected to get his bench some more playing time in this game, particularly James Southerland and Michael Carter-Williams. He followed through on that expectation. Southy logged 15 minutes, with seven points and a big block. Carter Williams played seven minutes, hit a three, and dished a couple of assists.
- CJ Fair, Mr. Consistency, scored six points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had three blocks -- the most important of which prevented UConn from taking a potential game-tying buzzer shot. I think his mere presence on the court makes this team better.
- Rakeem Christmas started. Played four minutes. Had a couple rebounds.
- UConn put together a pretty good team effort, something that could make them potentially dangerous here in the crucial final week of the regular season, and into conference and NCAA tournament time. Saturday night, they had four players in double-digit scoring. Jeremy Lamb put up 19 points, Andre Drummond 17, Ryan Boatright 14, and Roscoe Smith 11.
- UConn's savior from the Villanova game, Shabazz Napier, didn't start but came off the bench and got starter's minutes with 32. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get starter's stats: no points, seven assists, one rebound, three turnovers. So, that was good for Syracuse.
- Syracuse outshot UConn 43.8% to 40.3%, though those numbers looked much better at halftime (51.4% to 36.7%).
- Syracuse outrebounded UConn 41-37.
- Though UConn had one more offensive rebound than Syracuse, the Orange had more second-chance points, 16-14.
- Jim Burr was on the floor, a night after officiating the game in Morgantown between West Virginia and Marquette. He was his usual self, but can't say he actually played a role in the outcome of the game, one way or the other. So that was a welcomed change.
- With this win, Jim Boeheim earned his 400th Big East win.
- Coming into the game, Syracuse knew it had clinched a share of the Big East regular season title and, with the tie breaker, a guaranteed #1 seed in the Big East Tournament. With the win, Syracuse wins the Big East regular season outright. T-shirts are out already, of course.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball, UConn USuck
Lots of people like basketball
The basketball gods have this thing they call "Rivalry Week." This required Syracuse to play three games in six days: two of them against top-20 teams, two of them against arguably the most hated teams from a Syracuse fan's perspective, and one of them on the road. Just how Syracuse would get through this stretch would help dictate the rest of the season.
After last Wednesday's overtime win over Georgetown, the Orange had until Saturday to regroup and prepare for UConn. This isn't your father's UConn, however. It's not even last year's UConn. A shell of its former self, this UConn is finding out what it's like to suck. Like, for reals. They can't win games, they don't have their head coach, and they're just coming off the sobering news that even if they figure out how to win games next season, it will be an exercise in futility as they have a 1-year NCAA post-season ban. And so, with that serving as the backdrop of Saturday's game in the Carrier Dome, UConn had its work cut out in order to win. That's exactly what it didn't do. Though there were a few points in the game, even in the second half, where it got close, Syracuse used a couple of patented runs to pull away and earn the victory, 85-67.
- Scoop Jardine had what head coach Jim Boeheim referred to as his best game of the season. In 30 minutes, Scoop scored 21 points on 8-9 shooting, including 4-4 from three. He also dished out six rebounds. It was nice to see Scoop step up and have one of those big games you know he can have and you know he wants to have. He can say all he wants that he just wants to be a team player and help the team win, but you know he wants to score a crap ton of points, too. If anything, let's hope this helps the Scoop Psyche.
- Syracuse had three other players in double-digit scoring: Dion Waiters (18), Kris Joseph (15), and CJ Fair (14).
- Fair's 14 points came alongside 12 rebounds for a solid double-double. I mean, yeah, he had a team-high 38 minutes played, but when you're playing that well, you get rewarded with minutes.
- Syracuse had a starter join Club Trillion: in two minutes, Rakeem Christmas recorded no statistics. Other Club Trillion members in this game included Michael Carter-Williams (also two minutes), and Nick Resavy (less than a minute).
- That's right: walk-ons saw (junk) time in a Big East game against the Connecticut UConn Huskies.
- Though he lit up Syracuse for 18 points, Jeremy Lamb couldn't do it all for UConn. The UConn offensive effort was largely neutralized due to Alex Oriaki who, in limited 14 minutes, scored only two points. And Andre Drummond hurt his ankle which, I'm told, was kind of a big deal.
- Syracuse shot 59.3% to UConn's 44.2%, which was nice, but the big number was Syracuse from three, winning that battle 62.5% to 42.1%.
- George Blaney trolled the sidelines for UConn, again subbing in for Jim Calhoun who didn't make the trip due to his ongoing back pain. Though we love to hate UConn and love to hate Calhoun, these games are always better when we can beat him. But if he never gets to coach again, the state of Connecticut can start saving some dimes again.
- The crowd of 33.430 in the Carrier Dome was the largest of the season, both at Syracuse and nationally. As expected.
- Tim Higgins in the Carrier Dome was the largest of the season, both at Syracuse and nationally. As expected.
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So then, with little time to take in the win over UConn, the Orange had to shift its focus to a Louisville team that nobody on the roster had ever beaten. For Syracuse's final appearance on Big Monday in the 2011-2012 season, they entered the KFC Yum! Center eager for a win, eager to exorcise demons, eager to put Rick Pitino back in his place. Scoop would be entering the game with some swagger, and he and Kris would want that elusive win over the Cardinals. This was a frustrating game to watch, both from the level of basketball played by both teams, and the utter incompetence of the officiating crew. If the Big East pays these refs by the whistle, let's just say the drinks are on Jim Burr tonight. Literally and figuratively. Despite it all, Syracuse escapes with the one-point win, 52-51, and heads back to Syracuse to hit some classes for the week.
- CJ Fair, who's nothing but consistent, was the leading scorer for the Orange. His 13 points on 5-12 shooting often times kept the Orange in the game. Louisville often times came out in the zone, and CJ Fair seems to be the only player for Syracuse who can position himself inside the zone to have a chance to score. Everyone else just tries to create ball screens outside the arc.
- Scoop Jardine had a Scoop being Scoop game. Zero points on 0-8 shooting. Maybe it's the law of averages. Maybe it's a psychological thing. But the momentum Scoop should have had coming out of that UConn game TWO DAYS AGO just didn't exist.
- Fab Melo had a pretty decent game, with eleven points and six rebounds, and also drew a charge or two. He showed some great hustle out there, and his defense at the back of the zone got better after he remembered the game plan of not having to come forward to cover a crappy shooter.
- Speaking of the Syracuse defense, they played well tonight. In fact, Louisville did not score a field goal for over ten minutes -- virtually to the end of the first half. Though that may be more of an indictment of the Louisville offense, some credit is certainly due to the Syracuse defense.
- Syracuse shot an abysmal 1-15 from beyond the arc (6.7%). That one three-pointer was, and I'm sure you've already seen, Syracuse's only offense from outside the paint. That's an amazing stat, when you consider how difficult it seemed Syracuse was having getting the ball inside the Louisville zone.
- To a large extent, though, credit that inside scoring to the 16 offensive rebounds Syracuse was able to pull down. While that's the same number as Louisville had, it seemed Syracuse was able to do more with it.
- In a game where the overall shooting percentages were virtually identical (Syracuse 34.4%, LVille 34.7%), rebounding essentially the same (39-37 LVille), two stats that probably made the difference in the one-point margin of victory for Syracuse were steals and free throws. Syracuse had 12 steals. Louisville went 12-21 from the line. It's hard to win games -- especially close games -- with numbers like those.
- Syracuse played much of the second half without Kris Joseph, who sat the bench with four fouls.
- At one point in the second half, official Jim Burr called a foul under the basket. Then, in all his wisdom, he wasn't sure who he called the foul on. Add your own commentary to that. I, for one, am impressed that he didn't then just get so frustrated that he just walked off the court. So, you know, silver lining for him.
- Louisville attempted a white-out for this sold out game, and coach Rick Pitino got into it too. White suit. Colonel Sanders, Don Johnson, John Travolta, Mark Twain, and now Rick Pitino. Thanks for those graphics, ESPN. And the wonderful Photoshop.
- Syracuse, after that three-games-in-six-days juggernaut, now gets some time off before traveling to Rutgers for a matchup at the RAC on Sunday.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
West Virginia - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Poor Huggy Bear
0 Comments Published on 1.31.2012 by John Brennan
At this point, it is what it is
As if Syracuse fans needed more reason to think the national media wasn't giving the Orange its proper due, we find ourselves in an officiating controversy with the game on the line. I'll get into that more in a bit, but suffice to say last Saturday's game against West Virginia ended up being a lot closer than it should have been. In a hard-fought battle before a season-high 28,740 fans in the Carrier Dome, the Orange outlasted the Mountaineers 63-61.
- CJ Fair earned another start in place of currently-ineligible Fab Melo. This marked the third game Melo hasn't played, but the first at home. Melo was with the team and on the bench, but in what is colloquially known as "street clothes."
- Player of the game awards probably go to Brandon Triche: 7-12 shooting for 18 points, two assists, and two steals in 24 minutes of action. He was the most consistent player for the Orange up and down the court, and hit shots when it counted. Of note, he was also 2-4 from three and 2-2 from the line.
- Though he didn't have a consistently good game, and at this point seems to be wasting everyone's time in shooting from three, Kris Joseph proves to be the go-to guy yet again. Clutch down the stretch, Kris finished with 13 points (including 5-5 from the line), hit the boards hard with seven, and also added three assists, two blocks, and two steals.
- Jim Boeheim was riding Kris real hard from the start of this game. Several times, Boeheim could be seen questioning Kris as "What are you doing?" or "What are you thinking?" It's clear coach is holding Kris to a high standard, and wants the very best from his senior leader.
- Also in the Boeheim doghouse was Rakeem Christmas. Rak was pulled early on in favor of Baye Keita, but as Keita got in foul trouble, Rak saw more minutes until finally fouling out. His one rebound, one block, and one steal effort in 14 minutes on the floor was anything but good. You want to know why we miss Fab Melo? That's why we miss Fab Melo.
- For his part, Keita did what he had to do. He's not gonna wow you with his play, and he won't light up the box score, but he did what he had to do. In 25 minutes: four points, five rebounds, and "three" blocks.
- With time running down in regulation and Syracuse up by two, West Virginia attempted a three-point shot. The shot fell short, was rebounded under the basket by Deniz Kilicli, who kissed the ball off the backboard before it was blocked by Keita. The ball went out of bounds, possession remaining with West Virginia with six seconds remaining. A desperation three with time expiring fell short, and Syracuse hung on for the victory.
- Keita's block was, of course, a goaltend. Had the officials called it correctly, West Virginia would have been credited with a 2-point basket, the game tied at 63, and Syracuse possession with eight seconds to go. Syracuse could have scored in that eight seconds to win the game, or the game could have gone to overtime. Instead, the officials missed the call, the Mountaineers retained possession with six seconds, and failed to score. That's it and that's all.
- Syracuse was once again killed on the boards, 40-21. Those numbers get better if Fab's on the floor, but not significantly. This is a team issue that needs to improve if Syracuse is to go deep into the Big East tournament or the NCAA tournament.
- Syracuse was 4-20 from three for the game, or 20%. Many of the misses came on wide open looks. There's the school of thought that says if you get the wide open look you take the shot. There's the other school of thought that if you can't hit the broad side of a barn you shouldn't take the shot. Each school has its wisdom, but my biggest gripe here is that these wide open misses are resulting in empty possessions. I'll take two any day and every day, over zero.
With the win over the Mountaineers, Syracuse improved to 22-1 on the season, 9-1 in the Big East; West Virginia fell to 15-7 on the season, 5-4 in the Big East. The current Fab Melo absence is coming at probably the most opportune time of the season: while ND/Cincy was Saturday/Monday, WVU followed on Saturday, and Syracuse doesn't play again until this coming Saturday at St. John's. If it is indeed an academic issue, that's a lot of time to clear up the issue without missing too many games. So we all hope things are clear for this Saturday. Syracuse loves to play in the Garden, and Syracuse fans love to be there and make it a home atmosphere. Brian and I will be joining the legions of other Orange fans at MSG on Saturday, so keep it here and on twitter for coverage of that game.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
Cincinnati - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Nice to Win Again
0 Comments Published on 1.23.2012 by John Brennan
Scoop will hit shots when he needs to
Anytime you lose a game, the next game becomes very important. A win gets you back in the right direction, but another loss sends you further down the wrong path. After Syracuse won its first 18 games last year, it lost to Pitt and then lost its next three games. We were all screaming that the sky was falling. Syracuse did eventually fall out of that rut last year, but it took its toll on the team. So this is why tonight's game against Cincinnati was so important. And it would have been easy to lose it: the Orange had just lost at Notre Dame; the middle of the zone was still reeling from losing Fab Melo; Cincy was playing well and hosting a whiteout in its first Big Monday. In a hard-fought battle, Syracuse beat Cincinnati 60-53.
- Kris Joseph was your leading scorer for Syracuse (a go-to guy?) with 17 points on 8-11 shooting. Interestingly, though, Kris shot 0-3 from three, which means that he hit all shots within the arc (including some nice dunks).
- Other double-digit scorers were Scoop Jardine with 13, and Brandon Triche with 11.
- Scoop started real slow, but poured it on when it mattered, late in the game when Syracuse was really pulling away. Scoop was 2-4 from three.
- In his second start, CJ Fair put in another solid effort with six points and six rebounds (four offensive).
- Sliding Rakeem Christmas over to cover Fab's spot resulted in nine rebounds from Rak, three blocks, and a solid player in the middle. I think he's done a lot of growing up over the past few days, and he's gained a pretty good understanding of this 2-3 zone.
- While Rak was active in the zone, he "held" Yancy Gates to 16 points. I say that because I really think Gates would have scored a lot more if the middle of the zone were exploitable like it was Saturday against Notre Dame.
- Cashmere Wright was the leading scorer for the Bearcats with 17, mostly aided from going 5-8 from three. Cincy started hot, especially from three, which gave us all that "Oh crap here we go again" feeling. Good thing that didn't last.
- Comparatively, Syracuse outshot Cincy 46.4% to 34.4%. Cincy held a slight edge from three, 32% to 25%. Syracuse edged by on the rebound battle 36-35.
Just as I said it's important to win after a loss, I'll be a bit obvious and say it's important to win after a win. That's the task this Saturday, as Syracuse hosts West Virginia in the Dome. Between now and then, Syracuse will be working on continuing to move on without Fab Melo (assuming that's the situation). Fab Melo will be working on whatever it is he needs to work on so that playing without him is not the situation. And we'll be working on bringing you all the latest in Syracuse sports. Maybe even figuring out why Dion Waiters was such a non-factor tonight.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
It would be the tale of two games for Dion
Syracuse has now played two games as the #1 team in the country. It's just become so commonplace around here that we at Orange::44 almost decided to just not talk about the games. You know, because it's awesome to be #1 and you're expected to win and so what's the sense of talking about it?
I'm kidding, obviously. Let's get to the recaps.
December 17 at North Carolina State
This game got extra hype for a few reasons. First, it was the first game for Syracuse as the #1 team in the country. Second, it was Syracuse's "first true road game." You put those two together and you have a recipe for disaster, at least based on recently-crowned #1s losing in their next road game. I don't know how much farther you (or ESPN) would want to take the useless-stat/tenuous-connection train there, but I'm disembarking right now. And with that said, Syracuse cruised to an 88-72 victory.
- Early action saw NCState pull off to a slight lead. Then, with 8:16 left in the first half and the Wolfpack ahead 29-23, Syracuse woke up. The Orange rattled off 23 unanswered points over the next 6:49 before NCState scored again.
- It was an awesome stretch, which saw the likes of James Southerland and Dion Waiters really step up and carry the team.
- Syracuse then started the second half extremely flat, even allowing the Wolfpack to come back and tie the game. Luckily, a run around the 8-minute mark put Syracuse ahead for good.
- Syracuse shot 57% from the floor, including 44% from three. NCState was 58%, including 50% from three.
- The leading scorer for Syracuse was Waiters with 22 points. He also had three assists, a steal, and a block.
- Dion and Kris Joseph played a team-high 32 minutes, and Kris was right behind Dion with 21 points. Still though, this was Dion's game.
- But how nice is it for Joseph to have a quiet game and score 21 points?
- Syracuse was out-rebounded 26-24, but it was clearly the turnover ratio that allowed Syracuse to go on those runs and build leads; Syracuse forced 18 turnovers while only coughing up the ball eight times
- Lots of Orange down in Raleigh, and they let themselves be heard. If you were there, kudos to you!
December 20 vs. Bucknell
I'll be honest: nothing about this game, before it happened, excited me. Other than it being an opportunity to see the #1 team in action in person (and since I had season tickets), I really didn't want to go to the game. I just did because, well, that's what I do. And the other "17,000" who also attended the game, I think, had the same mindset as I did. They were just there. That "enthusiasm" carried over to the players, who were just there too. But they won, 80-61, because, well, that's what they do.
- Maybe it's because we're used to seeing Dion dominate games, so we get disappointed when he doesn't. He didn't in this game: just four points and two rebounds in ten minutes on the floor.
- One pleasant surprise was Rakeem Christmas. 'Tis the season, I guess, because he scored the first seven points for Syracuse. On the night, Christmas scored ten points, had five rebounds, and two blocks in 14 minutes.
- Up until now, Christmas had been the token starter, who got the hook early and whose minutes never amounted to much. Was he becoming last year's Fab Melo? Would it make sense to continue letting him start, even if he'd soon be pulled? Would the confidence gained by staying in the starting lineup all season translate into the progress we saw from Melo from last year to now?
- The other starters who stepped up were Kris Joseph, with the team high 17 points, and Scoop Jardine, adding 14. Solid effort from both of them.
- CJ Fair and Michael Carter-Williams were clutch off the bench, especially do-it-all MCW. Their development in these non-conference games is vital to solidifying the strength and depth of the bench, which will make this team so deadly in Big East games, and provide a huge advantage come NCAA Tourney time.
- Not much else to mention about this game. It was kind of boring. A win is a win.
And so, one more game remains before the Christmas (here, I mean the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, not our starting freshman), as the Tulane Green Wave visits the Dome on Thursday night. That game will wrap up a stretch of three games where Syracuse plays a team whose nickname doesn't end in S (Wolfpack and Bison). Earlier this season, Syracuse played the Stanford Cardinal and the Marshall Thundering Herd. In Big East play, we'll of course see the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the St. John's Red Storm. By season's end (pending postseason opponents), Syracuse sees seven teams lacking that S on the end of its name. Useless stat, but interesting nonetheless.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
Colgate - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Just Another Game?
0 Comments Published on 11.20.2011 by John Brennan
Syracuse beating Colgate was a big deal?
Just another game? That's what this needed to be, and that's what it was once the ball was tipped shortly after 4pm yesterday. Syracuse went on to dominate the Raiders, who fell to the Orange for the 45th straight time, with a score of 92-47. It was a game that saw some solid bench play from Syracuse, the assistant coaching skills of Gerry McNamara, and not a lot of Kris Joseph.
- The leading scorer for the Orange was Dion Waiters off the bench, who contributed 16 points in 26 minutes. Those 26 minutes were also a team-high for the game.
- Speaking of "off the bench," the entire active roster made it into this game. Collectively, the bench scored 60 points.
- That's right, the Syracuse bench outscored the Colgate TEAM 60-47.
- In addition to Waiters, the other huge contributor off the bench was James Southerland. Not only did he contribute the following line (14 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks, all in 21 minutes), but he spearheaded one of the most exciting sequences I've ever seen in Syracuse basketball. More on that in the next bullet.
- The Syracuse defense employed the pressure for much of the game, trying to stay active, catch Colgate off guard, and create turnovers into fastbreak points. At no time was this more evident than just under the 9-minute mark in the first half. Southerland stole the ball and hit a jump shot. On the inbound attempt, CJ Fair stole the ball under the basket and tossed it in for the score. After a timeout by Colgate to regroup, another attempt to inbound under the basket was thwarted by James Southerland, who hit a 3-point jumper. After another inbound, Brandon Triche stole the ball, got it to Southerland, who made a lay-up. Then a foul on Scoop Jardine at the inbound led to another inbound attempt, which was stolen by Southerland who dunked it in. Colgate then called ANOTHER timeout to regroup. The next possession led to a Rakeem Christmas steal, and though he missed the layup, Fair came in for the offensive board and put in, for which he was fouled. By then we hit the under-8 media timeout. But wow. This description doesn't even do it justice. Go back and watch it yourself!
- In all, 13 Orangemen scored points. That's impressive, no matter who you're playing.
- The starters' time on the court was limited, with Christmas getting the most at 20 minutes. All starters returned to the floor to start the second half, except Kris Joseph, who we later learned was resting his knee after experiencing some soreness and stiffness. After the game, coach Jim Boeheim insisted Joseph could have played, but felt it was better to get him some rest so he'd be ready for the games Wednesday and Friday at Madison Square Garden.
- Fair started the 2nd in place of Joseph. CJ had a nice game, with 13 points in 18 minutes, also adding 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. His game on both ends of the floor has been very consistent. He's a go-to player who doesn't create a lot of hype or attention, which I think makes him especially dangerous. It's great to have a player like that on the team.
- Michael Carter-Williams is also getting some huge playing time in these early contests, playing for 22 minutes in this one. While his stat sheet isn't impressive (3 points, 5 assists), he is active on the floor and is really good at making the opposition know he's out there. I worry sometimes that he plays a little too aggressive, and he can sometimes create some stupid fouls. However, these are, as they say, freshman mistakes. He'll learn, and be all the better for it.
- Scoop Jardine had a very un-Scoop-like game. In 16 minutes of action, he scored 11 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, had a steal and an assist, and -- this is the weird part -- had zero turnovers. Zero! Who knew that zero could be the hero?
- Colgate was simply outmatched on every aspect of this game. While their leading scorer Pat Moore had 19 points, it obviously didn't much matter. That's all the Colgate analysis you're getting from me.
- As we move in to seeing some tougher competition in New York City this week, we should continue to see what permutation of players Boeheim decides to use. Yes, the bench goes deep, and with it, the talent, but Boeheim won't be parading out the likes of Mookie Jones on a regular basis once the cupcakes are out of the way. Waiters, Keita, and Fair are the ones you'd anticipate getting most of the minutes off the bench, but with the way Southerland has been playing in these early games, how can you justify not playing him? We could very easily see a 9- or 10-man rotation deep into the season. And the best thing about it is, God forbid if a starter gets hurt, there's someone just as good on the bench who can step in and play like a starter.
- I, for one, am grateful that we have that to rely on.
So now, we turn our attention to Wednesday, and a matchup at MSG against the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Hokies. I insist that we all use the full name. Using the full name will divert attention away from having to address the big elephant (empty chair) in the room. So, please indulge us.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
Syracuse students agree... Colgate's in for a drubbing.
Though we're still in college football season, the game of focus on this November Saturday in the Carrier Dome is not football, but basketball. The gridiron guys are on a bye week while the #5 basketball team takes to the floor against the Colgate (Red) Raiders at 4pm. Syracuse looks to improve upon its 3-0 start heading into the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-off tournament at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday against former Big East and future ACC opponent Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, Colgate seeks some direction, as is always the case for a school in the Patriot League this early in the season. Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim will continue to go deep into his bench, playing various permutations from his 10 players. The usual starting five, led by forward Kris Joseph (16.7 ppg), will be out there looking for the fast start that sometimes plagues a team like this (as it did in the last game against Albany). Dion Waiters and CJ Fair will provide the sparks off the bench, so look for their good game play to continue. Over on Colgate, their leading scorer is senior guard Mike Venezia at 14 ppg; down low, junior center John Brandenburg will be a force to reckon with as he pulls down 8.5 rebounds per game. Syracuse will need to box out and try to make him as much of a no-factor as possible. In a series dating back to 1902, the Orange holds a 118-45 record over the Raiders, including winners of the last 45 meetings. Colgate hasn't beaten Syracuse since 1962. That's before man set foot on the moon; before personal computers and smartphones; and before Boeheim became head coach. Colgate should have plenty of trouble with the #5 team in the country; look for an easy Syracuse win by 29 points.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
CSULA - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Nothing Happened
0 Comments Published on 11.01.2011 by John Brennan
For some reason, 8,668 people showed up to the Carrier Dome tonight. Not sure why, as there was no official game or anything. Hmm I wonder what all the fuss was about. Anyway, I took a quick survey of the "Who's Who" in the Dome, and here's what I came up with:- Jim Burr, famous for drinking and leaving before the end of games. He fit right in with the Carrier Dome crowd.
- Andy Rautins & Eric Devendorf. One's locked out of the NBA while the other's locked out of his baby mama's house.
- Gerry McNamara III. He's just a baby, and we're not gonna boo a baby. We're better than that.
- Stephen Thompson, who holds the all-time record for games played for Syracuse with 144. We understand he now coaches a group of misfits from California who he takes on red-eye cross-country flights.
- Mike Veley, who's famous for annoying "catch-phrases" and a wandering eye.
- Otto the Orange, who you may recognize in a soon-to-be-outdated Big East Conference commercial shopping at SU-branded Tops.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball
I won't apologize for the "lazy blogger" headline, because it gives me the opportunity to make you click here and take a listen. Or, for a good laugh, open this video in a new window/tab and have it play while you read this article. Go ahead, I'll wait. OK. Good? Let's get into this.Former Syracuse turnover-machine and scholarship placeholder Josh Wright was arrested in Utica and charged with patronizing a prostitute third degree, and loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. If convicted, the patronizing charge carries a maximum of a year in jail or three years probation. The arrest was the result of an undercover sting (sounds like how someone might contract herpes) conducted by the Utica Police Special Operations Unit June 14-15. Evidently the girl dressed up as a sexy cop for Halloween was actually a cop. Josh should probably have checked a calendar.
In typical Orange::44 Lawdog fashion, here's the basics of these charges. Falling under section 230.04 of the Penal Law, "A person is guilty of patronizing a prostitute in the third degree when he or she patronizes a prostitute." I learned in elementary school not to define a word by using the word, but evidently our esteemed State Legislature hadn't learned that. At any rate, I don't think I need to spell it out for you. It's a Class A Misdemeanor, which makes it a crime and carries the aforementioned jail/probation as possible sentences. The loitering charge is merely a violation, under section 240.37 of the Penal Law, when the person "remains or wanders about in a public place and repeatedly beckons to, or repeatedly stops, or repeatedly attempts to stop, or repeatedly attempts to engage passers-by in conversation, or repeatedly stops or attempts to stop motor vehicles, or repeatedly interferes with the free passage of other persons, for the purpose of prostitution, or of patronizing a prostitute." You get the idea. Max sentence is 15 days in jail and/or a $250 fine.
I don't think we much cared for Josh Wright's time at Syracuse (save a few games) and were almost relieved when he transferred his senior year. He's had his run-ins with the law, and this is just another in the series. Maybe we'll do a follow-up story here, maybe we won't. Josh Wright doesn't run this blog. But we're not surprised to see that he's still running the mean streets of Utica, NY and finding trouble. Just seems about right. Wright?
Really, the biggest thing to me that seems troubling is that Utica has a prostitution problem. I guess it makes sense, but I never really thought about it. The thought didn't cross my mind when my sister told me a few weeks ago that she'll be attending Utica College for grad school this fall. I told her she needs to get a job working at the FX Matt Brewery -- and I'll intensify those calls now that I don't want her falling into the dark underbelly of an otherwise beautiful ci----- sorry, I couldn't even type that with a straight face! Utica downright is what it is. But yeah, prostitution rings, kinda scary. Way to go, Josh.
There are a few other loose ends that need to be tied up on this blog while we're in the summer sports lull. Check back to Orange::44 in the coming days for some new material.
Labels: Breaking The Law, Josh Wright, Syracuse Basketball
The Syracuse Post-Standard is reporting that Fab Melo appeared in Syracuse City Court today to be arraigned on a charge of 4th Degree Criminal Mischief. He was released after appearing in court, having an order of protection issued against him in favor of the complaining witness, and his case was adjourned to Domestic Violence Court.CNYCentral reports it was an incident involving his unidentified girlfriend and damage to her car. 9WSYR reports it was an SU student, and the damage occurred when Melo reached into her car, grabbed her windshield wiper handle, and broke it.
I'm on my lunch break so this will be real quick. In short, 4th degree Criminal Mischief is the damaging of another's property without permission to do so. If such damage was done intentionally, there need not be a value of damage to sustain the charge; if it was recklessly caused, then the amount of damage must exceed $250. In either scenario, the maximum penalty is up to a year in jail, 3 years probation, and a fine up to $1000. I'm unsure at this point which subdivision Melo is being charged under, and I would assume the facts would bear that out. I'm leaning towards the intentional damage, since they are treating this as a domestic violence case.
DV Courts in New York have been springing up more rapidly the past few years, as a strong push state-wide has been made to hold abusers to account. Unlike other problem-solving courts in the state (Drug Court, for example), DV Court is not a rehabilitative court; it is an accountability court. One might even say the deck is stacked against the defendants in DV court. Cases are screened by a clerk, and if a case meets the eligibility standard, it is automatically transferred to DV court. The same rules of evidence and procedure apply, but I have found that penalties tend to be a bit harsher, and the DA claims to not have as much bargaining power as in a regular case.
Certainly if this is a girlfriend, and if she is an SU student, this situation will be quite complicated for Melo. He'll have to deal with the criminal side of things as well as the SU Judicial Board. With the order of protection in place, he is to have no contact with the complaining witness, or else he can face immediate arrest and prosecution for Criminal Contempt.
Without too much speculating here, this very well could have been an argument in the girlfriend's car that resulted in the wiper handle breaking accidentally. Not sure what the value is. I guess I'll have to wait until more details come out. At any rate, I will reserve my usual prediction of the ultimate disposition until I hear more. The case being in DV court makes it harder for me to speculate, especially if Syracuse's DV court runs the same as Elmira's.
The one good sign thus far is that Melo appeared in Court with Bernie Fine. So at this point, he seems to have support of his coaches, at least to some extent.
Stay tuned here and to twitter for updates on this case as they become available, as well as our Orange::44 law-dog analysis.
Labels: Breaking The Law, Orange44 Lawdogs, Syracuse Basketball
DePaul - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Despicable Demons
0 Comments Published on 3.06.2011 by John Brennan
The Carrier Dome will miss you, Ricky!
To close out the regular season at home against DePaul certainly won't bring memories of hard-fought, down-to-the-wire tournament-implicating games of the past. But it's certainly a good sigh of relief to have that waiting for you. It's like running through an obstacle course and then, having to run to the finish line, someone instead picks you up and carries you there faster than you could run. A good opportunity to add one more W to your record. A great opportunity to try out some new plays, or a different lineup, or even the walk-ons. This game had it all. Coming off a week's rest, the Syracuse Orange destroyed the DePaul Blue Demons 107-59 on Saturday in the Carrier Dome.
- Senior night at the Dome, and Rick Jackson was honored in a pre-game ceremony. It's been a pleasure to see Ricky grow into the powerhouse he now is, because boy he was real green when he first got to campus!
- You wouldn't know it from the score, but Syracuse was losing at one point. DePaul grabbed the first basket and led 2-0. To say that Syracuse didn't look back from there would be a massive understatement.
- A very even contribution from the entire team in this one. Except for the walk-ons at the end, every Syracuse player scored. But none had more than 14 points.
- That 14 points was courtesy of the Man of the Night, Rick Jackson. In his game-high 27 minutes, he was 7-10 from the floor, pulled down seven rebounds, and blocked four shots. Just imagine how padded his stats would have been if he had played 10 more minutes!
- There was another 14-point contributer, and this guy also had eight assists in 19 minutes of play. It was just Scoop Being Scoop. This is his new name.
- Rounding out the starters, Kris Joseph had 11 points with four rebounds and five assists, Brandon Triche had nine points, and Baye Keita chipped in four points, seven rebounds, and three blocks.
- The bench saw some heavy action in this one. In 21 minutes, Dion Waiters scored 12 points, two rebounds, three assists, and two steals. CJ Fair played 16 minutes and scored 11, had two blocks, and had one of the sickest slam dunks I've seen in a while at the Dome -- even making the SportsCenter Top 10. Mookie Jones scored nine points in 12 minutes. James Southerland racked up seven points in 14 minutes. But the best surprise off the bench had to be Fab Melo. In 16 minutes on the floor, he scored a career-high 10 points, grabbed six rebounds, and blocked a couple shots.
- I said half a dozen times during the game "Somebody learned how to play basketball!" Yeah, I get it. Melo was playing against DePaul. He's not playing like that against Pittsburgh. But still, it was great to have him get some meaningful minutes, to score some points, to rebound the ball, to play defense. He needs the confidence and, quite frankly, I think the team is going to need him in some capacity in the post-season. He's not gonna be your go-to guy off the bench, but you need to be able to go to him. If that makes any sense.
- On the Blue Demons side of things, starting forward Tony Freeland lit us up for 25 points. Take him away, and Syracuse wins 107-34. So, Tony, thanks for "keeping your team in the game."
- DePaul also got 16 points from Moses Morgan off the bench. But that was pretty much the extent of the offense from DePaul. Just those two guys.
- Statistically for the teams: Syracuse shot 71.4% for the game against DePaul's 39.1%. The Orange was also 77.8% from three (7-9) and was 10-11 from the line for 90.9%. You might not ever see stats that good on a Syracuse team. Savor them.
- Syracuse won the rebounding battle 37-18. But one of the biggest stats is blocks: Syracuse blocked 12 shots, to DePaul's 0. That's solid defense. It's also size: Syracuse was big, DePaul was not so much.
- I've read that the 48-point margin of victory was the biggest in Big East history. Ever. So, put that in the record books.
- So, to DePaul's credit, when we eventually kick them out of the conference, there will be some record of them actually having existed in the conference at one time.
- I was really pulling for Ricky to be the one to score Syracuse's 100th point, but it didn't work out.
- When Jim Boeheim finally took Ricky out of the game for good, he had one hell of a standing ovation from the remnants of the 28,038 left in the Carrier Dome. As he hugged all his coaches and teammates, gameplay continued, but we were all just standing and clapping for him. It was great to be part of it, and kudos to the crowd for mostly sticking around for it. However, I did notice quite a few people leave at halftime.
- Syracuse scored its 75th point with 13:44 left to go in the game, which has got to be the earliest Taco Time I can remember.
- Interesting who that 75th point came from: Fab Melo. More interesting is how it got in the hoop. No, it wasn't a slam dunk. It wasn't a lay-up either. It wasn't even a foul shot. Fabricio Melo hit a mid-range jumper. I shit you not.
- Dating back to the February 14 game in the Dome against West Virginia, I have had wine at each of the home games, including this one. Syracuse has won them all. Just sayin'.
- Syracuse closes out the regular season with an overall record of 25-6, 12-6 in the Big East, and by virtue of this victory against DePaul, a four-seed in the Big East Tournament.
- At the beginning of the season, I picked Syracuse to be a top-4 Big East team, and this record seems to be in line with what my expectations were. I didn't think that the team would have gone through what they did to get it, but it's what happens at the end that matters.
Check back to Orange::44 all week as we get back into the swing of things with lacrosse, we preview the upcoming Big East Tournament, break down the games, and look ahead to Selection Sunday. We're officially less than a week away! If you're not excited, you might want to up your dosage of Prozac.
Labels: Big East, Syracuse Basketball
Villanova - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Always Sunny Reruns on Comedy Central
0 Comments Published on 2.21.2011 by John Brennan
Even prone on the floor, he looks better with the head band
On a Big Monday game, Syracuse went out and did what we all wanted them to do. They beat Villanova on their home court, 69-64. They improved to 23-6 (10-6 Big East) with only two games left. They guaranteed at least a split of the two remaining tough road games. Most importantly, though, they did whatever they needed to do to win this game.
- First, let me apologize for the factual errors in my preview. When the schedule was first released in October, this game was listed to be played at the Pavilion on the Villanova campus outside of downtown Philadelphia. Evidently it was either subsequently changed, or SU Athletics got it wrong (take your pick) but this game was indeed played at the Wells Fargo Center in the Sports Complex in downtown Philly. Either way, I neglected to do a more recent fact-check and just assumed this was an on-campus affair. Either way, Villanova lost, so I'm not too choked up about it.
- This win places Syracuse in the 10-win category in Big East play, which is huge (ghosts from a few years ago aside).
- There were many huge differences between this game and the game played in the Dome between these two schools last month. The biggest and most important was that Syracuse never found itself in a deep hole in this game, save for the six-point deficit to start the game.
- Beyond that, Villanova shot one of its worst games ever. I'll break that down in a second, but let me repeat that: Villanova shot one of its worst games ever.
- Leading the Orangemen in scoring was... Philadelphia native... Scoop Jardine. 20 points.
- Now that you've both taken the requisite drinks and picked your jaw up off the floor, here's the context: Scoop was 7-11 shooting, including 2-3 from three, with six assists and four rebounds in 29 minutes. Oh. He also turned the ball over five times.
- The rest of the starters: Rick Jackson (8-9 for 18 points), Brandon Triche (4-14 for 11 points), Kris Joseph (2-7 for 7 points), and Baye Keita (1-1 for 2 points).
- Off the bench, CJ Fair once again stole the minutes with 30, this time however only chipping in four points on 2-6 shooting. CJ tweaked his ankle in the first half and, after retreating to the locker room, quickly made his way back into the game and obviously contributed significant minutes. He moved a bit gingerly upon his return, and that ankle will no doubt bother him in the days to come, but Syracuse doesn't play again until Saturday at Georgetown, and then after that the following Saturday at home against DePaul to close out the regular season. That should give him enough rest to deal with the ankle. That said, it's going to bother him the rest of the season.
- The star/surprise off the bench was Dion Waiters. Dion got some nice playing time (18 minutes) in front of the home crowd. It helped that Scoop got in foul trouble and Triche wasn't shooting well. Still, it was nice to see Dion log some quality minutes and make the most of it. He scored seven points on 2-6 shooting, including 1-3 from three and 2-3 from the line, and picked up four rebounds.
- Syracuse picked up nine steals and eight blocks in this game. The defense was active all game.
- To show how active the defense was, Villanova decided to not shoot lights out. Instead, they put in a meager 32.3% effort, including 19.2% from three. They were something like 1-18 from the field to open the game. I guess this proves that shooting lights out with a hand in your face is good for one game and one game only; otherwise, that's good defense and it'll kill you.
- After sitting out the last three games with turf toe (someone tell him he was balling on the wrong surface?) Corey Stokes returned, logged 36 minutes, and scored a team-high 24 points. The only other Wildcat in double-digit scoring was Isaiah Armwood with 12.
- Jay Wright went with a small lineup for most of the game (either beckoning back to days of yore, or trying to match-up with the Syracuse look) but it didn't quite work out for him.
- After a lane violation was called on Brandon Triche late in the first half, another one was called on Baye Keita, who immediately placed the ball down on the floor and walked away. This somehow got him a technical foul. So, too, would have been swearing at the officials in either English or Senegalese (French). Yet, restraint got the same result. So, lesson learned: Vas te faire encule, les fonctionnaires!
- Syracuse shot 47.3% from the field, and 13-17 from the foul line to continue a recent good trend in both areas.
- Am I concerned about Brandon Triche's poor shooting as of late? Yes. He was forcing some shots early in this one, but settled down as the game went on. He wasn't taking horrible shots (i.e. Scoop) but he was just off. That's okay when you're playing a team as cold as Nova was in this one, but you're not always going to be so lucky. Hopefully Triche either recognizes when he's cold and doesn't shoot, or only shoots cold when the opposition is as well. Otherwise, his empty possessions are going to cost Syracuse down the stretch.
- The three teams Syracuse plays twice in the regular season are Seton Hall, Villanova, and Georgetown. Syracuse has played Hall & Nova twice, with the road teams winning all affairs. Syracuse has played Georgetown once, with the Hoyas stealing one in the Dome. Syracuse visits DC this Saturday. You do the math.
- Brian is away from the home office this week, so you're stuck with me. I hope to get a lacrosse recap in before my trip to DC on Friday. If not, don't worry too much; lacrosse seems to run itself around these parts, so you don't need me to tell you what's up.
Labels: Syracuse Basketball, Villanofun