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="HahnSolo":gc1j4vog]With two straight NIT appearances under their belt, maybe they can make it all the way to the Garden and the NIT final four this year.[/quote:gc1j4vog]
Where they might well meet snubbed 80's movies.
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Methead
Oct 22 2008 07:08 AM
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[url=http://blog.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2008/10/syracuse_gets_commitment_from_1.html:270giusq]Another day, another recruit.[/url:270giusq]
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Centerfield
Nov 16 2008 07:44 PM
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SU opens with an ass-kicking of LeMoyne. Yes LeMoyne. Apparently Henninger High School had a scheduling conflict or something.
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Edgy DC
Nov 16 2008 09:11 PM
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You think that's low? The Jaspers opened with 56-32 victory over New Jersey Institute of Technology. In doing so they tied a record, handing NJIT their 34th consecutive loss, tying Sacramento State (Dec. 22, 1997 – Jan. 27, 1999) for the NCAA Division I record.
Yay!
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Centerfield
Nov 17 2008 12:58 PM
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At least they're Division I.
Syracuse continues its killer schedule by taking on the Richmond Spiders. What a joke. No way Richmond has any chance against a power-house program like Syracuse right? I wonder if they've ever won a tournament game in their history...
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soupcan
Nov 17 2008 01:08 PM
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Not funny CF.
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Methead
Nov 17 2008 03:15 PM
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Boeheim gets singled out every year for his early-season schedule, but this year, SU plays Florida and probably Kansas before December even starts.
I am beyond excited for this season.
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Edgy DC
Nov 17 2008 08:15 PM
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This thread is missing the comma of direct address and therefore misleading.
Every time it comes up, I think, "What's he bitching about now?
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Centerfield
Nov 17 2008 09:04 PM
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I wrestled with that. The problem is that the comma, though correct, breaks up the flow of the exclamation.
Jonny Flynn, Bitches!!!! doesn't work. You don't pause when you proclaim the greatness of Flynn. It robs the exclamation of all of its power.
Jonny Flynn!!!! Bitches!!!! is better. But again, you have continuity problems.
Jonny FLYNN Bitches!!!! is probably the way I should have gone. But it just looks odd.
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Methead
Nov 18 2008 02:11 PM
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GAH!
I didn't think tonight's game would be televised so I didn't set the DVR.
Might have to sit in a bar and watch it. Oh well.
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soupcan
Nov 18 2008 02:31 PM
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6:00 ESPN.
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Methead
Nov 18 2008 02:37 PM
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I can probably get home in time to catch most of the 2nd half. Hopefully the power will go out at the Dome and delay the start by an hour.
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Methead
Nov 19 2008 08:00 AM
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Caught the last 10 minutes or so.
I can't believe Flynn is only a sophomore. Onuaku is HUGE. Very nice to have Devendorf and Rautins back.
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Farmer Ted
Nov 19 2008 08:41 AM
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Isn't it still football season in Syracuse????
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Methead
Nov 19 2008 08:56 AM
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If what they're doing is called "football", then yes. I hesitate to call it that myself.
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Centerfield
Nov 19 2008 09:16 AM
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Nice win. The A10 is much stronger these days, so this will help that tournament resume.
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soupcan
Nov 19 2008 09:17 AM
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="Farmer Ted":4m909etg]Isn't it still football season in Syracuse????[/quote:4m909etg]
In Syracuse football season ends when basketball season begins.
Devendorf was lights-out last night. I will say that if he didn't play for a team I rooted for, I'd hate the bastard.
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Fman99
Nov 19 2008 09:39 AM
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I didn't realize they had a game until after it was over. I'd have watched otherwise.
Encouraging signs in the 2nd half there. Flynn and Devo are gonna light up some scoreboards this year and they have some bangers up front as well.
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Centerfield
Nov 24 2008 08:06 AM
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The first real test for the Orange comes against Florida tonight.
In other news, the football team upsets Notre Dame. There were all sorts of stories Saturday about how this is the first time in school history that Notre Dame has lost to a school that sucks that bad.
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Methead
Nov 24 2008 08:54 AM
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Once again, forgot to set the DVR. Fortunately, the game starts at 7:30, I should be able to get home in time for that.
I taped the football game, and didn't get a chance to watch it until late that night. Awesome game. I had ZERO faith that they'd pull out a win after falling behind by 13 in the 4th quarter, but the defense hung in there, and they had just enough time to get it done.
I've been wondering why Hogue and Carter haven't been carrying the ball more... but that Bailey kid looks pretty good too.
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Methead
Nov 25 2008 07:12 AM
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="Centerfield":1w076uq6]The first real test for the Orange comes against Florida tonight.
[/quote:1w076uq6]
Last night qualifies as a big win.
Kansas tonight at 10:00. I know Kansas and Florida are sort of shells of their former selves at the moment, but it would still be an achievement to beat them both.
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soupcan
Nov 25 2008 07:18 AM
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="Methead":mrjnnvnm]Last night qualifies as a big win.[/quote:mrjnnvnm]
Agreed.
="Methead":mrjnnvnm]Kansas tonight at 10:00. I know Kansas and Florida are sort of shells of their former selves at the moment, but it would still be an achievement to beat them both. [/quote:mrjnnvnm]
That may be so but they are both ranked. Beating ranked teams in non-conference games is what will get this team into the tournament.
Not winning those non-conference games is what killed them last year.
Was not happy with the missed free throws towards the end of the game last night. Jonny Flynn Bitches and Devendorf finally hitting theirs put that game away.
Devendorf's tattoos have got to rank up there with the ugliest I've ever seen.
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Centerfield
Nov 25 2008 09:43 AM
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I think Florida might be a bit overrated. They had no inside presence at all and their defense had huge holes. Syracuse looked like the better team all night...and if they had hit their free throws, it wouldn't even have been close.
The backcourt looks great. I think Onuaku, Joseph and Rick Jackson will improve as the year goes on. My only worry is that the free throw shooting will catch up to them this year and keep them from being a great team.
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Methead
Nov 25 2008 10:39 AM
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="Centerfield":ytjxd9pi]My only worry is that the free throw shooting will catch up to them this year and keep them from being a great team.[/quote:ytjxd9pi]
Yeah. He did it last night a little, but maybe Boeheim should be taking Onuaku out of the ends of games more often. Of course, I'm not sure who would be in there instead.
Rick Jackson reminds me of Jeremy McNeil... looks like a late bloomer. On the other hand, this Joseph kid looks good.
Can't wait for the game tonight... Kansas is a young team just like Florida. I don't know if they'll be trying to sprint up and down the court like last year, but that doesn't worry me too much with this SU squad.
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Edgy DC
Nov 25 2008 11:02 AM
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Syracuse hasn't hit their free throws as long as I can remember. Boheim puts together squads of long-legged guys who out-athlete you slapping away balls and getting second and third shots. Precision shooting isn't typically a strength.
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soupcan
Nov 25 2008 12:06 PM
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="Edgy DC":5rxshhpl]Syracuse hasn't hit their free throws as long as I can remember.[/quote:5rxshhpl]
You and me both.
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Centerfield
Nov 25 2008 01:59 PM
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The cool part about tonight's game is that they will play all sorts of highlights from 2003's National Championship game.
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Methead
Nov 25 2008 11:04 PM
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WHOA.
What a game, what a win for the Orange.
After that 1st half in which they did nothing right, and that 13-point deficit in the 2nd... unbelievable.
Flynn is the new McNamara.
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soupcan
Nov 26 2008 07:06 AM
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And Onuaku is a beast!
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Methead
Nov 26 2008 09:26 AM
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="soupcan":hxm32p4z]And Onuaku is a beast![/quote:hxm32p4z]
He was 3/3 from the line too.
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Centerfield
Nov 26 2008 11:36 AM
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I love that they won this game because Jonny Flynn hit that big game-tying three that Michael Lee was trying to hit when Hakim Warrick came flying in. Amazing. I think I actually yelled the title of this thread when it went down.
I thought Florida looked overrated. On the other hand, I thought Kansas looked underrated. They look like a very good team from top to bottom. They play great defense too.
Back to back wins away from home against ranked opponents. Awesome.
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Methead
Dec 01 2008 12:04 PM
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Ranked #20 in the coaches poll that was released today.
Colgate visits the Dome tonight.
edit: all the way to #16 in the AP poll.
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Centerfield
Dec 10 2008 07:13 PM
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Bad news tonight. Devendorf suspended for the rest of the year for violating student policy. He has been found guilty of punching a female student in the face.
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soupcan
Dec 10 2008 07:20 PM
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See, I knew he was a douchebag!
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Fman99
Dec 10 2008 08:49 PM
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Wow, what a dope.
According to ESPN he is going to appeal and will be able to play during the appeals process (15-20 days). So he'll be gone just when the conference schedule kicks in.
THAT'S SOME DUMB SHIT RIGHT THERE.
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soupcan
Dec 11 2008 08:53 AM
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After reading the reports of the Devendorf incident - something doesn't smell right.
Anyway - this is an interesting opinion on a potential football coach
[url=http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/jets/2008/12/former-jets-coach-tries-to-soa.html:pfk7acd4]The Jets Stream - NY Daily News[/url:pfk7acd4]
Nebraska was #1 at the time and I was at that game.
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soupcan
Dec 12 2008 07:04 AM
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Looks like he's the guy...
| ]Thursday, December 11, 2008
New Orleans offensive coordinator to return to Syracuse
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ESPN.com news services
New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Doug Marrone has accepted the head coaching position at Syracuse and will be on campus for a news conference Friday, multiple sources told ESPN.com. Marrone interviewed with Syracuse athletic director Daryl Gross two weeks ago for the job that came open when Greg Robinson was fired.
Marrone has deep ties to Syracuse. He was a three-year letterman in the 1980s and returned to finish his degree in 1991.
Marrone joined the Saints when coach Sean Payton took over in 2006. In that season, New Orleans' offense was ranked No. 1 in the league for the first time in franchise history. This season, the New Orleans passing game has ranked near the top of the NFL.
Marrone, who played briefly in the NFL, was an assistant for the New York Jets from 2002 through 2005. He was an assistant at several college programs, including Georgia and Georgia Tech, before that. |
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Elster88
Dec 15 2008 08:37 PM
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Oh my. 3/4 court shot in a tie game beats the buzzer and Cleveland State beats Syracuse.
Let's-Go Huss-kies!!! (clap, clap, clapclapclap) Let's-Go Huss-kies!!!
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soupcan
Dec 16 2008 08:10 AM
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UConn. Blech.
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soupcan
Dec 30 2008 01:30 PM
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Jonny Flynn's 11th ranked Bitches open up their Big East conference schedule tonight against Seton Hall at the Dome. To the best of my knowledge, Devendorf will be eligible to play.
7:00 tonight on SNY.
Could I possibly let myself imgaine that this game might be broadcast in HD?
On a related note - the Yukon Huskies last night sucked an egg on their homecourt against the Rock Walls from Georgetown.
This Big East conference schedule is gonna be a beast this year for everybody.
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Centerfield
Dec 30 2008 07:32 PM
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They trounce Seton Hall. Forgot to set the damn DVR.
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soupcan
Dec 30 2008 08:21 PM
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They dismantled them. Rained threes upon the Hall like a biblical plague.
Seton Hall played just fine - good D, good ball movement, rebounding - but they had no answer for Rautins and Devo just absolutely killing them with treys.
Up I think 17 in the first half, biggest lead of the game was 32 and the final was 100-74.
When I was a student and the hoops team was threatening the century mark we'd all start chanting "Fries! Fries! Fries!" because either the local Mickey D's or BK would give out free french fries if the team scored at least 100 points if you presented a ticket stub from the game.
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Centerfield
Dec 31 2008 09:11 AM
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Growing up, it seemed to me that:
1. Syracuse always played Seton Hall around Christmas.
2. They always killed them.
3. The Post Standard would run a predictable headline about "Decking the Hall".
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Methead
Dec 31 2008 10:57 AM
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="Centerfield":ubuladf1]They trounce Seton Hall. Forgot to set the damn DVR.[/quote:ubuladf1]
I didn't even realize it was on TV. Was it on SNY or something?
I'm so glad Rautins has found his stroke. The team is shooting something like 44% from behind the arc over the last 5 games.
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soupcan
Dec 31 2008 11:07 AM
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It was on SNY but not in HD.
After the game they said that over his last 2 games Rautins has 55 points and is something like 16 for 26 from the three point line.
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Fman99
Jan 01 2009 06:21 AM
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We watched it downstate at my parents' house. They were clicking, in the first half no less. Good stuff.
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Fman99
Jan 01 2009 07:14 PM
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Got me tix for SU v. Louisville, Sunday January 25th, with a buddy. We're in the nosebleeds but at least they are on the side of the dome where the court is.
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soupcan
Jan 02 2009 08:00 AM
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Tonight at 8:30 against USF.
ESPN HD!
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soupcan
Jan 02 2009 09:30 PM
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Yet again - not HD.
However, the Bitches outlast the Bulls and SU is now 14-1, 2-0.
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Fman99
Jan 03 2009 02:07 PM
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| ="soupcan"]
Yet again - not HD.
However, the Bitches outlast the Bulls and SU is now 14-1, 2-0. |
Totally missed it. I need to print their sked and put it on the fridge, or something.
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Methead
Jan 07 2009 05:04 AM
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Depaul at Syracuse, 7 pm tonight on SNY.
Set those DVR's, people.
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Fman99
Jan 07 2009 09:52 AM
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="Methead":23bg6n0v]Depaul at Syracuse, 7 pm tonight on SNY.
Set those DVR's, people.[/quote:23bg6n0v]
Schedule is now up on the fridge, thanks.
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soupcan
Jan 07 2009 10:01 AM
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That's Depaul at 9th ranked Syracuse if you don't mind.
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Centerfield
Jan 07 2009 11:08 AM
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Crap. Now you tell me.
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Fman99
Jan 07 2009 07:28 PM
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Another convincing win against the conference dregs.
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soupcan
Jan 07 2009 08:29 PM
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Inside-outside.
They've got legitimate threats everywhere.
I'm starting to let myself believe that this team might actually be pretty good and do some damage.
Curious to see how they'll fare against Pitt, Yukon and Georgetown.
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Elster88
Jan 07 2009 09:47 PM
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Boston College wins in North Carolina and then loses to Harvard. That was Harvard's first win against a top 25 team...ever.
Is this the SYU thread or can we talk all NCAA baskets?
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soupcan
Jan 08 2009 06:36 AM
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="Elster88":38qe3eey]...can we talk all NCAA baskets?[/quote:38qe3eey]
Absolutely! Rockin' Doc usually gives us the Duke what-for in here.
I always consider this thread the college hoops thread with a Syracuse bent.
I saw that Harvard beat BC. Amaze-zazing!
I hate BC.
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Methead
Jan 08 2009 08:53 AM
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="soupcan":188gr88i]
They've got legitimate threats everywhere.
[/quote:188gr88i]
Including Onuaku going coast to coast.
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Rockin' Doc
Jan 08 2009 11:11 AM
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="soupcan":2d24qejd]="Elster88":2d24qejd]...can we talk all NCAA baskets?[/quote:2d24qejd]
Absolutely! Rockin' Doc usually gives us the Duke what-for in here.
I always consider this thread the college hoops thread with a Syracuse bent.
I saw that Harvard beat BC. Amaze-zazing!
I hate BC.[/quote:2d24qejd]
I'm actually rather fond of BC right now. Carolina's loss to WVU in the Meineke Bowl and Bc's surprising defeat of the Heels in Chapel Hill has done a great deal to quiet the smack talking UNC fans. I particularly like that BC was then kind enough to then get smacked down by Harvard their next game.
I still believe that UNC is the best team in the country, but they're not invincible, as many (at least in this area) espoused. I know a few Carolina fans were talking about winning the NCAA tournament with a perfect record.
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Centerfield
Jan 08 2009 01:55 PM
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Harvard starts 4 white guys and an asian guy. That it in itself should be news.
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Methead
Jan 09 2009 08:22 AM
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Tomorrow night - SU at Freakin' Rutgers - on SNY at 7:30.
After that I'm pretty sure the schedule gets a lot tougher. The good news is, it looks like every game is televised from here on out.
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Nymr83
Jan 09 2009 08:30 AM
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="Centerfield":2j41uvi2]Harvard starts 4 white guys and an asian guy. That it in itself should be news.[/quote:2j41uvi2]
does harvard flat out recruit for sports and not care about academics like many schools or will they only take sudent athletes who they feel can handle harvard academically?
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soupcan
Jan 09 2009 09:13 AM
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| ="Nymr83"]
does harvard flat out recruit for sports and not care about academics like many schools or will they only take sudent athletes who they feel can handle harvard academically? |
Check it..
[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/sports/ncaabasketball/02harvard.html?_r=1&oref=slogin]Link[/url]
]
March 2, 2008
In a New Era at Harvard, New Questions of Standards
By PETE THAMEL
BOSTON — Harvard has never won an Ivy League title in men’s basketball and has not reached the N.C.A.A. tournament since 1946. This season, the team won only 8 of its first 28 games. Like all the universities in the Ivy League, Harvard does not award athletic scholarships.
Yet the group of six recruits expected to join the team next season is rated among the nation’s 25 best. This is partly because Harvard Coach Tommy Amaker, who starred at Duke and coached in the Big East and Big Ten conferences, has set his sights on top-flight recruits. It is also because Harvard is willing to consider players with a lower academic standing than previous staff members said they were allowed to. Harvard has also adopted aggressive recruiting tactics that skirt or, in some cases, may even violate National Collegiate Athletic Association rules.
Tommy Amaker hasn’t won many
games, but he reeled in a strong re-
cruiting class.
Harvard’s efforts in basketball underscore the increasingly important role that success in high-profile sports plays at even the most elite universities. In the race to become competitive in basketball, Harvard’s new approach could tarnish the university’s sterling reputation.
Two athletes who said they had received letters from Harvard’s admissions office saying they would most likely be accepted have described tactics that may violate N.C.A.A. rules, including visits from a man who worked out with them shortly before he was hired by Harvard to be an assistant coach.
An N.C.A.A. spokesman, Erik Christianson, said the organization’s rules state, “Should a coach recruit on behalf of a school but not be employed there, he or she is then considered a booster and that recruiting activity is not allowed.”
In another case, Amaker approached the parents of an athlete in a grocery store and urged that their son visit Harvard, even though N.C.A.A. rules limit contact with potential players to happenstance at certain times of the year. That athlete ended up not considering Harvard.
The first-year Harvard coach Tommy Amaker with the assistant Kenny Blakeney. There are questions about the manner in which
Blakeney recruited Keith Wright, a 6-foot-7 forward at Norfolk Collegiate in Virginia.
Yale Coach James Jones said he had seen an academic change at Harvard. “It’s eye-opening because there seems to have been a drastic shift in restrictions and regulations with the Harvard admissions office,” he said.
“We don’t know how all this is going to come out, but we could not get involved with many of the kids that they are bringing in.”
Harvard’s athletic director, Bob Scalise, acknowledged that Amaker’s staff had recruited some players with lower academic profiles than the previous staff had, but he stressed that no athletes had yet been admitted.
“It’s also a willingness to basically say, ‘O.K., maybe we need to accept a few more kids and maybe we need to go after a few more kids in the initial years when Tommy is trying to change the culture of the program,’ ” Scalise said last week. “It’s a willingness to say that we really do want to compete for the Ivy championship.”
To be sure, programs at larger universities would be delighted to have players with the academic standing of Amaker’s new recruits. Scalise said that other Ivy League programs also considered Harvard’s recruits.
Harvard, he said, has chosen to remake its basketball program into a perennial contender for the Ivy title and the automatic berth in the N.C.A.A. tournament that goes with it.
Scalise said he was made aware of “three or four” complaints of recruiting incidents from rivals and sat down with Amaker last November for “a teaching moment.” He said he told Amaker that he and his staff needed to act in ways “beyond reproach.”
But Scalise said he was not aware until told by The New York Times that Amaker’s top assistant, Kenny Blakeney, had traveled a long distance to play pickup basketball with a recruit during periods when the N.C.A.A. does not allow contact with prospective players. Blakeney said he had not been officially hired by Harvard when he visited that recruit and another prospective player.
Even if Harvard did not break any N.C.A.A. rules, many in the coaching community said Amaker’s staff had behaved unethically.
On Friday, Alan J. Stone, a spokesman for the university, said: “We can say that any statement about someone being admitted to Harvard who is not qualified would be absolutely inaccurate, as is any suggestion that our standards have been lowered for basketball. Harvard’s admission criteria are — and remain — very high. They have not changed at all.”
To understand Harvard’s apparent change in philosophy, it is necessary to appreciate the complicated tap dance of Ivy League recruiting. Nearly every prospective Ivy player must meet a minimum on the Academic Index, a measuring tool that uses grade-point average, class rank and standardized test scores.
For example, a student with a 3.1 grade-point average and just over 1,560 out of a possible 2,400 on the SAT would register roughly a 171 on the Academic Index, the minimum score allowed by the Ivy League for athletes.
Two former Harvard assistant coaches, Bill Holden and Lamar Reddicks, said they adhered to even tougher standards under Coach Frank Sullivan. Last season’s team, they said, had an average of 206, the highest in the league by a significant margin. Sullivan, who in his 16 seasons won and lost more games than any other Harvard basketball coach, was fired after the season. Amaker did not rehire Holden and Reddicks.
Holden and Reddicks said that Harvard’s team index had to be 202. They said that essentially meant they could not recruit a player whose index was lower than 195, and they characterized Harvard’s standards as tougher than those of other Ivy programs.
Scalise said he expected Harvard to still have the highest index average among the Ivy members. It is not certain that all six of Amaker’s recruits will land on campus, and other recruits with better credentials could raise the index average.
A Sign of Change
The 6-foot-10 center Frank Ben-Eze from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va., embodies the change in Harvard’s basketball recruiting. He orally committed to Harvard over traditional powers like Marquette, West Virginia, Virginia and Penn. Although he and the rest of the recruited athletes have yet to be admitted to Harvard, Ben-Eze is considered Amaker’s biggest coup, one Amaker proudly mentions to other potential players.
Ben-Eze, a native of Nigeria, has yet to receive what is called a likely letter from the admissions office, a written assurance that a player will be accepted, because he has not attained the 171 index minimum.
Like all of Harvard’s applicants, none of Amaker’s recruits have been admitted yet.
But Max Kenyi, a 6-3 shooting guard from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., and Keith Wright, a 6-7 forward at Norfolk Collegiate in Virginia, said that they had each received a likely letter. They were well below index levels that the previous staff members said they had adhered to.
“There are guys that we couldn’t touch that other schools in our league could recruit,” said Reddicks, who is now an assistant at Boston University. “It makes a huge difference.”
Scalise said the comments of Reddicks and Holden reflected the bitterness of not having their contracts renewed. He added that the previous coaching staff could not lure such a talented class because it did not have the connections, charisma and work ethic of Amaker and his assistants.
“Sounds like there’s a lot of jealousy and also sounds like people are trying to protect the status quo for their programs,” Scalise said.
Sullivan, who signed a confidentiality agreement when he was fired by Harvard, declined to comment.
Emphasis on Recruiting
Amaker, 42, was fired by Michigan last spring after failing to produce a single N.C.A.A. tournament appearance in his six seasons there. But in his previous job, as coach at Seton Hall, he and his staff had great success in recruiting. Amaker beat out other well-established coaches for the Harvard job.
Among them were Pete Gillen, a former coach at Xavier, Providence and Virginia, and Mike Jarvis, whose St. John’s program ended up on N.C.A.A. probation after he was fired. Harvard also interviewed Mike Gillian, coach at Longwood University in Virginia, and John O’Connor, an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, in person.
Those four coaches said in telephone interviews that they had been assured they would not be at a disadvantage among their Ivy League peers in recruiting.
“The bottom line was that they wanted to win,” O’Connor said of Harvard. “They also thought in that room that times had changed and the big boys had come back to the pack. Now was the time to make the move.”
The recruiting analyst Dave Telep of Scout.com called Amaker’s potential class the best in Harvard history and, perhaps, in Ivy League history.
Kenyi is a solid midmajor player who picked Harvard over other Ivy League members as well as Holy Cross, Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason.
Wright received interest from Illinois, Davidson and other Ivy League members before committing to Harvard.
Wright said that Blakeney had visited him when in-person contact between coaches and recruits was not allowed. Kenyi said Blakeney, a former Duke player, played basketball with him “a couple of times” at his high school last June or July, which is against N.C.A.A. contact rules. Harvard announced Blakeney’s hiring on July 2, 2007.
Kenyi said that at first he did not realize who Blakeney was. But the man soon turned into his lead Harvard recruiter.
Two weeks ago, Blakeney said his trips to Gonzaga were to visit the basketball coach, Steve Turner, whom he has known for 20 years, and to stay in shape by playing.
The visits made an impression on Kenyi.
“He was someone I could relate to,” Kenyi said, “someone I could talk to about anything.”
Meanwhile, coaches from other teams recruiting Wright and Kenyi were allowed to call only once a month.
“He actually got to play with us, because he wasn’t actually on Harvard’s staff,” Wright said, adding that Blakeney had gone to Norfolk for one of his summer basketball team’s practices. “He didn’t sign anything yet, so he got to play with us, and we talked and exchanged numbers.”
The practice of recruiting in person before being officially hired is becoming more prevalent among the more high-profile basketball programs. “Assuming the coach knows exactly what he’s doing, it’s unethical,” said Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Blakeney denied he was recruiting Kenyi and Wright then. “I was unemployed,” he said, repeating: “I was unemployed. I don’t know if it’s a gray area or anything like that. I hadn’t signed a contract. I didn’t have any type of agreement with anybody. How could I recruit them to Harvard if I’m not employed?”
Craig Robinson, the coach at Brown, said “wow” when told of Blakeney’s pickup games with high school athletes.
He laughed before saying, “I would say that would give them an advantage.”
Robinson added that it was understandable if Blakeney happened to run across a player in his native Washington but that traveling to Norfolk, about 190 miles away, was a different story.
“If he travels across a state line to play with a kid he’s going to be recruiting, that smacks a little bit of breaking the rules,” Robinson said.
He added: “It would not be the way that we would conduct business. In the long run, that hurts you. There’s nothing wrong with pushing the envelope, but if your attempt is to get around the rules, there’s an issue.”
Amaker, who declined to respond to specific questions in person, released a statement Friday through a university spokesman.
“Harvard adheres to austere standards in every area of the university and I am honored to labor within that framework,” the statement said. “Individuals with knowledge of our staff understand the high principles under which we operate. We work within the spirit of Harvard and the Ivy League.”
Another issue arose with the recruiting of Zack Rosen, a 6-1 point guard bound for Penn and sought by universities like Rutgers and Virginia Tech. Amaker saw Rosen’s father, Les, in a grocery store in Trenton during the Eastern Invitational tournament last summer. At the time, coaches were restricted only to watching recruits and saying hello to them or their parents if they bumped into each other.
Les Rosen remembered Amaker saying, “We really have to get Zack up to Harvard.”
Les Rosen said he thought to himself: Who goes to ShopRite in the middle of a basketball tournament?
“It was suspicious,” he said, “but as much as it seemed obvious, he wouldn’t be found guilty in court.”
Harvard looked into the Rosen situation and determined that no violations occurred.
Scalise said he and his athletic staff would look into Blakeney’s actions during the recruiting of Kenyi and Wright.
“Now that I’m aware of it, we’ll talk and try and find out what went on,” he said. “I would like our programs to be totally above the board.”
Adam Himmelsbach contributed reporting from Norfolk, Va., and Washington. |
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Centerfield
Jan 09 2009 10:40 AM
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Donte Green sent to the D-League.
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Methead
Jan 09 2009 02:44 PM
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Didn't see that one coming.
SC = 12000
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Centerfield
Jan 11 2009 07:53 PM
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Syracuse rallies in the second half to pull away from Freakin' Rutgers. In the telecast, they showed highlights of the game that promped the original thread.
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Methead
Jan 11 2009 09:35 PM
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You know, I'm hesitant to even bring this up, but that 2003 team was a 2nd-half team too.
Just saying.
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Fman99
Jan 12 2009 06:30 AM
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They are damn fun to watch, I will say that. I was watching NFL playoffs when I remembered the game was on but I did get to see the 2nd half at least of the Rutgers game.
Now the real test starts. This five game stretch will show everyone something methinks.
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Centerfield
Jan 12 2009 08:03 AM
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I like the offense that this team can generate. But they don't play the zone as well as the 2003 team, they turn the ball over and are horrendous at the line. Of course, GMac could never make anyone his bitch like the way Jonny Flynn did to Mike Rosario.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YmgIPGy0zOE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YmgIPGy0zOE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
The next ten game stretch will probably be the toughest in SU history. 9 of the next 10 against ranked opponents, 4 of the 9 in the top ten, including #1 Pittsburgh. Would you sign up for 5-5 right now? I'd take 6-4 in a heartbeat.
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themetfairy
Jan 12 2009 08:13 AM
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Congrats to Syracuse. I didn't get to watch the game, but am sure that it was a good one.
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soupcan
Jan 12 2009 08:19 AM
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="Centerfield":2w9ngrfz]Would you sign up for 5-5 right now? I'd take 6-4 in a heartbeat.[/quote:2w9ngrfz]
I'll take 5-5 and be very happy with it.
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soupcan
Jan 12 2009 08:47 AM
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="Centerfield":2p8pbgpg]
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YmgIPGy0zOE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YmgIPGy0zOE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/quote:2p8pbgpg]
It is a close call but looking at the replay - this is a block if anything. The defender stops moving his feet just as Flynn hits him. No charge. Of course to the naked eye I can see why the Rutgers coach is a bit pissed off.
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soupcan
Jan 12 2009 08:48 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 12 2009 11:02 AM
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Double post
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Methead
Jan 12 2009 10:57 AM
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At this point, they could go .500 the rest of the season and end up 23-8. Hopefully they can be better than that.
Seems like the league is going to beat up on each other all year... it will be interesting to see if any team separates themselves from the pack.
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Methead
Jan 13 2009 08:12 PM
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I'm sure no one will forget the SU / Georgetown game tomorrow (7:30, ESPN2 HD).
But on ESPN Classic, there's an Orangemen / Hoyas matchup from Jan 28, 1985 showing at 6:00.
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Fman99
Jan 14 2009 07:27 AM
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Big game tonight. Should be fun to watch.
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Fman99
Jan 15 2009 07:19 AM
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Well that sucked.
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soupcan
Jan 15 2009 07:48 AM
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Yeah.
G'Town did to 'Cuse what 'Cuse did to Seton Hall.
Unconscious from downtown. SU had fine looks but it seemed like nothing was falling. Rautins going down early was tough too.
I HATE that Syracuse is never good from the line.
Road loss against a good team, we'll get 'em back at the Dome.
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Fman99
Jan 17 2009 02:30 PM
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Much better. A good game and a nice rebound after getting knocked around on the road.
It'll be interesting to see if they fare better in Pittsburgh on Monday, or if we see another road loss/home win combo.
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Methead
Jan 17 2009 02:39 PM
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Even though Harangody finished with a double-double, I thought they played him very well defensively. Rick Jackson is by far the most improved player on the team.
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Centerfield
Jan 17 2009 08:07 PM
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Missed the whole game. Forgot to set the DVR. I saw the highlights on ESPN. Games like that make me wish I still lived up there.
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Fman99
Jan 17 2009 08:25 PM
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="Centerfield":lgw1d3ts]Missed the whole game. Forgot to set the DVR. I saw the highlights on ESPN. Games like that make me wish I still lived up there.[/quote:lgw1d3ts]
I tried to get tickets last week for today's game but the only seats were in the upper deck and way off to the side. I've sat up there before and it's just damn far from the court.
But I'm looking forward to going to the Louisville game next weekend. They are a fun team to watch.
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Rockin' Doc
Jan 17 2009 10:21 PM
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I spent a lazy day avoiding the cold by watching college hoops. A balanced attack led to a nice win for the Syracuse Orange in the Dome. Jackson, Harris, and Onuaku were simply too much for Harangody to overcome.
The Duke Blue Devils extended their home winning streak against nonconference opponents to 68 games with their win over the Georgetown Hoyas. Greg Monroe and DeJaun Summers were very good, but Duke relied on a balanced attack to overcome the Hoyas dynamic duo.
Wake Forest travelled to Clemson and prevailed in a battle of unbeatens. The Deamon Deacons releid on a solid front line and the superlative play of guard Jeff Teague to hand Clemson their first loss of the season. The Louisville' Cardinal's win over the visiting #1 Pitt Panthers leaves Wake Forest as the lone undefeated team in Division I.
The Tar Heels of UNC easily defeated the Miami Hurricanes in Chapel Hill. Boston College and Wake Forest may have erased the Tar Heel's air of invincibility, but I still believe that UNC is the best team in the land, as much as it pains me to say so.
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Methead
Jan 19 2009 10:02 AM
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All hands on deck tonight.
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Fman99
Jan 19 2009 10:16 AM
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I'm ready.
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Methead
Jan 20 2009 08:17 AM
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Oh well, they tried.
I wasn't real confident in their chances to go into Pitt and play well, but for a while there I thought they might be able to escape with a win.
We may have discussed this before, but I don't think I can tell what's a foul and what isn't anymore. Especially watching Big East basketball... and even more so watching Pitt.
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Centerfield
Jan 20 2009 08:21 AM
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Pitt was going to be hungry after that loss on Saturday.
It's ok. Losing to the #4 team on the road is not bad.
At what point do you make Arinze shoot free throws underhand?
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Fman99
Jan 25 2009 01:46 PM
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Bleh. Was at the game today and SU didn't have it. Watching Flynn continue to attempt bad layups gets tired to watch the 9th time it doesn't work.
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soupcan
Jan 25 2009 05:31 PM
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I don't know - I think Devendorf just hasn't been the same player this year. Doesn't seem as sure of himself.
Seemed like they also got killed on the boards today.
Any word on Rautins?
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Fman99
Jan 25 2009 06:37 PM
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="soupcan":dbam7m41]I don't know - I think Devendorf just hasn't been the same player this year. Doesn't seem as sure of himself.
Seemed like they also got killed on the boards today.
Any word on Rautins?[/quote:dbam7m41]
Devo was the only player who showed up today.
ESPN sez Rautins twisted his ankle. That's what it looked like from the nosebleeds also. He should be good-to-go for the next game and maybe give us more than 3 points.
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batmagadanleadoff
Jan 26 2009 01:14 PM
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So who has Syracuse beaten this year, so far? Kansas - a perennial powerhouse that's in transition and is ranked 35th in both the coaches' poll and the NCAA RPI; and Notre Dame -- ranked #22 and dropping. According to NCAA RPI, ND is the 73d ranked team in the nation.
They've lost to every Big East elite team they've played, while winning against the deep bottom of the Big East barrel. If this pattern continues, it'll be interesting to see how they fare against the middle of the conference. If they don't win more than half against the middle, SU might find themselves on the bubble once again, sweating out selection day.
The Paul Harris era is underwhelming.
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Methead
Jan 26 2009 03:24 PM
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="batmagadanleadoff":1qa0id2y]So who has Syracuse beaten this year, so far?[/quote:1qa0id2y]
Preaching to the choir, man. A lot of those wins early in the year (Florida, Kansas, Memphis) got them a lot of attention, but those teams aren't turning out to be that great.
The Georgetown loss was understandable at the time, but now the Hoyas are losing to EVERYONE.
I dunno, I get the feeling that they'll start clicking (much like Louisville recently has) and get a few big wins.
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soupcan
Jan 26 2009 03:25 PM
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="Fman99":1uvstntl]Devo was the only player who showed up today.[/quote:1uvstntl]
Yes - he had a good game but several times he hesitated beforec taking what looked to me like a good outside shot, he's turning the ball over and travelling.
I used to have a lot more confidence in him when he had the ball.
="batmagadanleadoff":1uvstntl]So who has Syracuse beaten this year, so far? Kansas - a perennial powerhouse that's in transition and is ranked 35th in both the coaches' poll and the NCAA RPI; and Notre Dame -- ranked #22 and dropping. According to NCAA RPI, ND is the 73d ranked team in the nation.
They've lost to every Big East elite team they've played, while winning against the deep bottom of the Big East barrel. If this pattern continues, it'll be interesting to see how they fare against the middle of the conference. If they don't win more than half against the middle, SU might find themselves on the bubble once again, sweating out selection day.[/quote:1uvstntl]
They also beat a ranked Florida team. They've lost to G'Town on the road and Pitt on the road. Tough games. Its early still but I think they'll get their share of quality wins. Yukon at Yukon is gonna be a tough one.
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batmagadanleadoff
Jan 26 2009 03:31 PM
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="Methead":nw6fo1a3]="batmagadanleadoff":nw6fo1a3]So who has Syracuse beaten this year, so far?[/quote:nw6fo1a3]
Preaching to the choir, man. A lot of those wins early in the year (Florida, Kansas, Memphis) got them a lot of attention, but those teams aren't turning out to be that great.[/quote:nw6fo1a3]
Actually, I forgot about Memphis when I posted. Memphis might be their best win so far, especially as far as the selection committee is concerned.
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Methead
Jan 27 2009 08:00 AM
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In other news, it looks like congratulations are in order for Mr. Donte Greene.
[url:3l6y2gu1]http://blog.syracuse.com/orange-segment/2009/01/dontes_a_dad.html[/url:3l6y2gu1]
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Fman99
Jan 28 2009 10:43 AM
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Rautins not expected to play tonight at Providence, Onuaku and Devo both [url=http://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1233137810124530.xml&coll=1:1ebyaynl]banged up also.[/url:1ebyaynl]
I am anxious.
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Methead
Jan 28 2009 12:28 PM
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Argggh.
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Centerfield
Jan 28 2009 02:40 PM
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We'll win anyway.
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Rockin' Doc
Jan 28 2009 07:49 PM
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Damn!!!
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soupcan
Jan 28 2009 08:48 PM
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Double damn!
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Methead
Jan 28 2009 10:19 PM
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| ="Methead":3dka89v3]Argggh.[/quote:3dka89v3]
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Fman99
Jan 29 2009 06:26 AM
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Suckage.
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Centerfield
Jan 29 2009 07:34 AM
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="Centerfield":23b3bvuh]We'll win anyway.[/quote:23b3bvuh]
Or not.
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Rockin' Doc
Feb 04 2009 09:30 PM
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Ouch! The Devils get their collective asses soundly kicked by Clemson. The Tigers dominated Duke in virtually every phase of the game from start to finish.
Apparently this was not a good night to be on the road in the ACC as Wake Forset gets soundly whipped by the Hurricanes in Miami.
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Fman99
Feb 05 2009 06:19 AM
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Nice to see SU finally show up and play some basketball, get off the shnide. I've been waiting for Paul Harris to show up like he did.
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Centerfield
Feb 05 2009 09:34 AM
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Nice win for them last night. Flipped over to SNY afterwards and saw the '88 team play Pitt. They ended up losing, but it was great to see Douglas, Seikaly, Thompson, Coleman again. And Earl Duncan! I completely forgot he existed.
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soupcan
Feb 07 2009 07:07 AM
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Jonny Flynn's Bitches take on Villanova today at noon on ESPN.
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soupcan
Feb 07 2009 12:21 PM
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Yech.
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Fman99
Feb 07 2009 12:22 PM
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I took a nap instead. Looks like that was the right call.
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Methead
Feb 07 2009 08:17 PM
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UConn is gonna manhandle these chumps.
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Rockin' Doc
Feb 07 2009 08:30 PM
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UConn is going to manhandle a lot of teams before this season is over.
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Methead
Feb 08 2009 07:30 AM
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Heh. True enough.
I was thinking more along the lines of "If Providence and Villanova can score 100 against these guys..."
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Elster88
Feb 10 2009 09:15 PM
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Enjoy the game tomorrow.
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Fman99
Feb 11 2009 06:40 AM
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="Methead":z1kkpecw]Heh. True enough.
I was thinking more along the lines of "If Providence and Villanova can score 100 against these guys..."[/quote:z1kkpecw]
I said the same thing to Mrs. Fman last night.
Puke on UConn!
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MFS62
Feb 11 2009 08:12 AM
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="Fman99":2ict1op0]="Methead":2ict1op0]Heh. True enough.
I was thinking more along the lines of "If Providence and Villanova can score 100 against these guys..."[/quote:2ict1op0]
I said the same thing to Mrs. Fman last night.
Puke on UConn![/quote:2ict1op0]
I don't think UCONN will run up 100 against them. They've been playing low scoring games this year.
Later
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Elster88
Feb 11 2009 06:54 PM
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Fman99
Feb 11 2009 07:58 PM
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Ugh, we suck.
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soupcan
Feb 11 2009 08:37 PM
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| ="Elster88"] |
Eat me.
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Elster88
Feb 17 2009 05:07 PM
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="soupcan"]| ="Elster88"] |
Eat me. |
I love chicken noodle and french onion.
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Elster88
Feb 17 2009 05:08 PM
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Fuck
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Elster88
Feb 17 2009 05:12 PM
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Michigan St - Purdue on ESPN. Vitale's so hoarse he can barely speak.
It's great!
It's not as great as if he had taken the night off though. I assume most announcers who can't talk would take the night off, unless the announcer has a huge ego and his station is run by idiots.
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batmagadanleadoff
Feb 22 2009 09:37 AM
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[url=http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/syracuse_university_fan_neil_g_3.html]Syracuse University fan Neil Gold takes Orangemania to a new level[/url]
It's one thing to show your love of Syracuse University athletics by buying season tickets, wearing orange sweaters or naming your pets after the team.
And then there's the Neil Gold standard of Orangemania. He does all that plus one thing more: The owner of the Gold's horseradish empire has built a 4,200-square-foot house in Manlius that is part SU shrine and part post-game crash pad.
Gold hasn't missed more than one home or road game since 1996, but even the players he's gotten to know so well during that time may not know this: He's not a Central New Yorker.
He doesn't live here. He didn't grow up here. His family isn't from here and his business isn't rooted here. His only hook to Syracuse is that he graduated from the university in 1970.
"A lot of people think I live in Syracuse because it's so weird that I don't live in Syracuse," he said.
Gold runs Gold Pure Food Products, a Long Island condiments company started by his grandfather in 1932. He lives in Long Island and flies back and forth to Syracuse to make it to the games. He has spent hundreds of nights sleeping at the Sheraton Hotel on the SU campus.
Thirteen years of hotel crashing eventually got old, he said. And so, he built a home on Hartsfield Place in Manlius last summer and incorporated his love of SU sports into the architectural plans. Eventually, he said, he and his wife, Helene, will retire in the home.
"You should see the faces I get when I tell people I'm going to retire and move to Syracuse," he said. "People look at me like I'm absolutely nuts."
Gold is the first to admit that, when it comes to SU sports, he is absolutely nuts.
The entire lower level of the house -- including the bathroom -- is dedicated to SU
basketball. There are built-in display cases to house memorabilia and blue carpeting to appropriately contrast the orange furniture throughout the floor.
The collection of SU basketball memorabilia he's amassed would impress even coach Jim Boeheim:
The SU athletic department gave Gold an authentic NCAA National Championship ring after the 2003 championship game. Next to the ring, in the glass-encased built-in display shelf, is the game ball from the championship game. It's signed by every member of the team.
Carmelo Anthony gave Gold one of his game jerseys and autographed it. Hakim Warrick signed a poster-size photo of his famous championship-winning block against Kansas' Michael Lee. Gerry McNamara signed an "Overrated?" T-shirt, mocking a 2006 poll of Big East assistant coaches naming him the league's most overrated player.
Gold savedticket stubs, flight boarding passes and Post-Standard articles from the 2003 Final Four games. There are autographed Sports Illustrated magazines, T-shirts and hats all over the walls. Behind the bar, Gold displays one bottle of Stoli orange vodka and one Stoli blueberry
vodka.
There's an SU popcorn machine, a hand-painted SU chair and a blown-up photo of Gold sreaming during a game. The photo originally ran in the university's 2007-08 yearbook. Even the bathroom has an SU basketball theme with a basketball court bathmat, orange and blue towels and a basketball light fixture.
But the pride of the room sits in a frame on the wall next to a display case. It's a letter from Boeheim, dated April 23, 2007, thanking Gold for being one of the most loyal SU fans. Over the years, Boeheim writes, he and Gold have developed a mutual understanding.
"I don't give you tips on how to make your mustard, horseradish and relish," Boeheim writes. "You don't give me tips on when to play zone or switch to a man-to-man."
Gold said he and his wife plan to show the shrine to the Boeheims once the season ends. While basketball season is ongoing, however, neither the Boeheims nor the Golds have time for socializing. Both families are too busy planning their lives around the basketball schedule.
The Golds have become such fixtures on the basketball scene that they travel to the away games with the team on the chartered flights. At home games, they show up at the Dome two hours early to chat with the coaches, ushers, players and sportscasters. Neil Gold jokes that his work making horseradish gets in the way of his full-time job as an SU fan.
Normally a soft-spoken guy, he becomes a different man during games. His wife makes sure she always brings two bottles of water with her because her husband thrashes around so much he becomes dehydrated. The team physician, Dr. Irving Raphael, often jokes that he keeps an extra defibrillator handy just for Gold.
Over the years, Helene Gold said, Central New York has become the only place where she truly feels like she is part of a community.
She's become close friends with members of the athletic department, Jewish community and Hartsfield Place neighborhood. She's pressuring her husband to retire early, she said, so that they can begin the rest of their lives as full-time Upstaters.
"It's different here. People are nice here," she said. "I've met people I absolutely love. When we're not here, we're sad."
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Methead
Feb 23 2009 07:49 AM
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That's great stuff.
Horseradish, I mean.
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MFS62
Feb 23 2009 08:35 AM
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="Methead":2w2oi0eq]That's great stuff.
Horseradish, I mean.[/quote:2w2oi0eq]
I agree. But this means I'm going to have to look for another brand to buy.
Later
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soupcan
Mar 09 2009 12:10 PM
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My picks...
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Centerfield
Mar 10 2009 12:17 PM
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For the longest time, the Big East Tournament would remind me of Ron Rowan's dagger from the baseline.
Now I think of Gerry McNamara and the weekend he turned the entire Big East into his little bitches.
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soupcan
Mar 10 2009 12:28 PM
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I always think of this guy...
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Methead
Mar 10 2009 12:42 PM
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Depaul just took out Cincinnati to end their 18-game losing streak.
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soupcan
Mar 10 2009 12:45 PM
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Awesome.
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Methead
Mar 10 2009 03:01 PM
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="soupcan":22ab0m2c]Awesome.[/quote:22ab0m2c]
Also, Georgetown is out courtesy of St. John's.
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Elster88
Mar 11 2009 04:41 PM
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Is Syracuse going to win tonight?
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soupcan
Mar 12 2009 07:18 AM
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Was I watching a different game...?
]
THAT'S HALL, FOLKS!
By BRIAN LEWIS
March 12, 2009 --
First, the Hall lost its poise, then it lost the game.
Syracuse didn't test Seton Hall's shooting or their rebounding or even their defense in last night's second-round Big East game. No, the trash-talking, opponent-goading Orange did what they do best: they tested the Pirates' poise.
What started as center Arinze Onuaku instigating John Garcia into a double-technical foul ended with Onuaku sparking a game-changing run. Syracuse blew open an 89-74 rout, and the sixth-seeded Orange breezed into tonight's 9:00 quarterfinal against Connecticut.
Onuaku broke a 44-all tie with his basket, then he broke the Hall with his gamesmanship that sparked a 20-3 run.
After his layup, he capped Garcia, roared at him, bumped him with his shoulder and clapped so close to his face he nearly hit his nose. But when Garcia shoved his hands away, the refs teed up both players.
The indignant Pirates (17-15) retaliated on the other end when Brandon Walters flagrantly fouled Kristof Ongenaet. Syracuse's Eric Devendorf - always up for an on-court tiff - went right at Eugene Harvey and started jawing, both players having to be separated. From there, the Orange (24-8) simply seized control.
"[The technicals] just got us going a little bit. In a game like this the game was tight, emotions got a little stirred-up," said Onuaku, who had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocks. "We're an emotional team. We strive off of emotion.
"When guys are making shots, people are jumping, everybody's clapping, getting in each other's faces. That's what type of team we are. We're an emotional team, a live-for-the-moment type team. When something like that happens, we got stirred-up, and we got going."
A little? First came a left-corner Devendorf 3-pointer followed by another Onuaku block. An Andy Rautins steal led to an Ongenaet fast-break basket. When it was over, after back-to-back 3-pointers by Rautins and Devendorf, the lead was 64-47. The clock read 11:20 left, but the game was over.
"It shouldn't have happened. I should've been smarter and I take full responsibility," said Garcia, who had 12 points and seven boards but went to the bench with his fourth foul after the technical.
Syracuse won its fifth straight with a blistering transition game. Point guard Jonny Flynn had 19 points and 11 of their 30 assists, a team total that tied a Big East tourney mark.
brian.lewis@nypost.com |
It was definitely a physical game but from where I was sitting it was Seton Hall that was the instigator in both instances. Garcia got in Onuaku's face and started jawing at him before Onuaku did anything. His clapping in Garcia's face was a reaction to what Garcia did. Onuaku never touched Garcia and then Garcia pushed Onuaku's hands away. And what does that mean - Onuaku 'capped' him'?
I'm the first to admit that Devendorf is a class A douchebag but again, what I saw was him jawing with Harvey after the Ongenat foul and then Harvey put hands on Devendorf. Devendorf never touched Harvey. Why no mention of that?
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Centerfield
Mar 12 2009 09:03 AM
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I didn't see the second half, but Onuaku seems like a level-headed guy. I can't see him going after someone unless instigated.
Agreed on Devendorf. I hope they win tonight.
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 09:03 AM
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Crazy game. The fast break was out of hand.
Let's hope they can run and shoot just as well tonight.
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Nymr83
Mar 12 2009 09:49 PM
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NO GOOD, go home Cuse fans!!
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 10:03 PM
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="Nymr83":26ionszr]NO GOOD, go home Cuse fans!![/quote:26ionszr]
Does not compute.
Hell of a game, no matter how it ends up. 2nd OT starting now.
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Nymr83
Mar 12 2009 10:08 PM
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i figured OT would definitely go against them after that. oh well. still great game
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 10:17 PM
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Headed to a 3rd OT now.
I really need sleep but I can't leave.
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Rockin' Doc
Mar 12 2009 10:21 PM
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Great game. A classic for the ages. 3:10 to go in the third OT and Uconn is up 91-87.
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 10:35 PM
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OOOOOHHHHHHHHH
4th overtime coming up!
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Nymr83
Mar 12 2009 10:38 PM
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this is what i get for deciding the tickets were too expensive and staying home.
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 10:50 PM
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That was about 4 golden opportunities right there at the end of the 4th OT...
5th OT on the way...
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Nymr83
Mar 12 2009 11:04 PM
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We're going to OT #6.
7 overtimes is the record between Cincinatti and Bradley in 1981.
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 11:06 PM
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I can't take this... on to a 6th overtime.
I might go make some coffee.
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Methead
Mar 12 2009 11:24 PM
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Awesome game.
I almost wish Cuse didn't have to play tomorrow.
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Rockin' Doc
Mar 13 2009 04:14 AM
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An epic battle and a great win for Syracuse. I unfortunately, fell asleep during a commercial break in the middle of the 5th overtime period.
It's a shame that Syracuse has to turn around a play today after such a late finish last night.
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soupcan
Mar 13 2009 07:06 AM
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Ama-za-zing!
Watched the whole thing, then watched the highlights on Sportscenter right after.
As much as I would love to gloat about beating UConn, that was just a war of attrition. I think Jay Bilas said that there was no winner just a survivor.
That being said, I love when SU beats UConn.
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Methead
Mar 13 2009 07:11 AM
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And SU actually made free throws last night. Something like 80% for the game.
Once Thabeet was out of there, it was shockingly easy to get to the rim. Too bad Harris couldn't do anything once he got there.
For all the worrying about Thabeet though, they should have paid more attention to that Robinson guy... he was unreal.
I hope WVU doesn't run circles around them tonight.
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Frayed Knot
Mar 13 2009 07:11 AM
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Connecticut deserved to lose just based on those uniforms alone.
First off that block printing ugly. But even more than that, you can't be using ESPN-ish nicknames like 'UConn' on official uniforms. Now I realize that's a common form of shorthand address and that it's ESPN's money (at least the part that isn't Nike's) that feeds all the under the table payments and buys all the whores for the road and the coach's vacation homes, but it still looks juvenile in a intramural dorm-team kind of way.
But I guess it's a trend that will continue and we can look forward to a whole sets of unis with the likes of: 'Cuse', 'Nova', 'BoSox', 'K-State', 'Chi-Town', etc., stitched across the front.
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soupcan
Mar 13 2009 07:22 AM
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="Methead":32k6j6hr]And SU actually made free throws last night. Something like 80% for the game. [/quote:32k6j6hr]
Right - free-throws! Whoda thunk SU would win this one the stripe?
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Edgy DC
Mar 13 2009 07:34 AM
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="Frayed Knot":1pwn68pz]Connecticut deserved to lose just based on those uniforms alone.
First off that block printing ugly. But even more than that, you can't be using ESPN-ish nicknames like 'UConn' on official uniforms. Now I realize that's a common form of shorthand address and that it's ESPN's money (at least the part that isn't Nike's) that feeds all the under the table payments and buys all the whores for the road and the coach's vacation homes, but it still looks juvenile in a intramural dorm-team kind of way.
But I guess it's a trend that will continue and we can look forward to a whole sets of unis with the likes of: 'Cuse', 'Nova', 'BoSox', 'K-State', 'Chi-Town', etc., stitched across the front.[/quote:1pwn68pz]
Whoah.
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Methead
Mar 13 2009 07:34 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 13 2009 07:38 AM
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| ="Frayed Knot"]
...we can look forward to a whole sets of unis with the likes of: 'Cuse', 'Nova', 'BoSox', 'K-State', 'Chi-Town', etc., stitched across the front. |
We're already through the looking glass. SU had uniforms that said "ORANGE" on the front... in fact they still might.
Nike are the ones responsible for a lot of the uniforms being designed these days.
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Edgy DC
Mar 13 2009 07:37 AM
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Maybe, sometimes, folks just like shorthand.
<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2411/2309047190_d71c5c3d56_o.jpg" width="550">
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seawolf17
Mar 13 2009 07:45 AM
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I woke up to feed BabyGirl at 12:45 last night, and found all sorts of Facebook updates from all of my Syracuse fan friends on my phone... so BabyGirl and I turned on the TV in the middle of the fourth OT and watched the end of the game.
I have no love for Syracuse, and even less love for Connecticut, but I enjoyed the end of that game and wished I'd caught more of it. Even the recap on Sportscenter was thrilling.
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soupcan
Mar 13 2009 07:50 AM
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I hate the Syracuse suits but what can you do?
At least they are orange and not black (just a matter of time I'm sure).
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soupcan
Mar 13 2009 08:01 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 13 2009 08:13 AM
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Rockin' Doc
Mar 13 2009 08:04 AM
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I do see where MFS62 is coming from regarding UConn (or UMass) on uniforms. It is a little like the Mets wearing NYC on their away jerseys. Just doesn't seem proper.
Having Orange across the chest of Syracuse uniforms (at least at home) doesn't seem to be the same thing to me. They are the Syracuse Orange, so I think the name Orange on home jerseys is the same as having Mets on home jerseys. I do hope that Syracuse doesn't fall prey to the black uniforms.
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Edgy DC
Mar 13 2009 08:07 AM
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="soupcan":sc31fo9f]I hate the Syracuse suits but what can you do?
At least they are orange and not black (just a matter of time I'm sure).[/quote:sc31fo9f]
Write a pointed cranky-old-man letter and say your donations will be withheld until you see the changes you crave.
="Rockin' Doc":sc31fo9f]I do see where MFS62 is coming from regarding UConn (or UMass) on uniforms. It is a little like the Mets wearing NYC on their away jerseys. Just doesn't seem proper.[/quote:sc31fo9f]
Psst, Frayed Knot.
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Frayed Knot
Mar 13 2009 08:10 AM
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| ]We're already through the looking glass. SU had uniforms that said "ORANGE" on the front... in fact they still might. |
At least 'Orange' is a form of their actual nickname and a helluva lot better than if they had an ESP-abominatio-N like 'Cuse' on them.
The one shown there is still ugly - but that's a separate issue.
| ]Nike are the ones responsible for a lot of the uniforms being designed these days. |
Of course they are.
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Rockin' Doc
Mar 13 2009 08:14 AM
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="Edgy DC":g8t05er7]="Rockin' Doc":g8t05er7]I do see where MFS62 is coming from regarding UConn (or UMass) on uniforms. It is a little like the Mets wearing NYC on their away jerseys. Just doesn't seem proper.[/quote:g8t05er7]
Psst, Frayed Knot.[/quote:g8t05er7]
Sorry. Too many Seavers running around here these days. I can't keep all of us straight sometimes.
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soupcan
Mar 13 2009 08:19 AM
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="Frayed Knot":1zv55j9k]At least 'Orange' is a form of their actual nickname and a helluva lot better than if they had an ESP-abominatio-N like 'Cuse' on them.[/quote:1zv55j9k]
I think they have worn a uniform that said 'CUSE at some point in the recent past. Can't find any pictures, but I'm pretty sure they did.
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Methead
Mar 13 2009 08:32 AM
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="soupcan":1maqublt]
I think they have worn a uniform that said 'CUSE at some point in the recent past. Can't find any pictures, but I'm pretty sure they did.[/quote:1maqublt]
It's funny, I was thinking the same thing.
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soupcan
Mar 13 2009 08:37 AM
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Yukon coach, Jim Calhoun:
"So our Big East season is over. Quite frankly, I can’t wait to get the hell out of it right now. I would like to be here tomorrow, but very simply not playing the same teams and playing a little different style. We all know each other. Jimmy [Boeheim] and I say the same things. If I win, next week is more important. He said tonight: ‘Don’t worry about it. Next week is more important.’ Neither one of us means it but we say it.”
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Centerfield
Mar 13 2009 11:38 AM
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I'm sleepy. What a freakin' game. I don't even know where to start. The free throws were amazing. It's like they were trying to make up for the last thirty years in one night. The missed layups must have shaved at least three years off my life. I think Paul Harris alone had 72 missed layups in the overtimes.
I love how the Garden was booming with "Let's go Orange" as they were running down the time in OT6.
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Centerfield
Mar 13 2009 11:40 AM
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="seawolf17":1yszq532]I woke up to feed BabyGirl at 12:45 last night[/quote:1yszq532]
This is actually getting kind of creepy. My girl got up around the same time and I missed the last two minutes or so of one of the overtimes. Syracuse was losing when I left, came back to find the score tied.
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Methead
Mar 13 2009 02:05 PM
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Yeah, I kept expecting my little guy to wake up during the game, but he was nice enough to wait until 1:30... just as my head was hitting the pillow.
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 13 2009 04:41 PM
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="Frayed Knot":2hejm42x]
At least 'Orange' is a form of their actual nickname and a helluva lot better than if they had an ESP-abominatio-N like 'Cuse' on them.
The one shown there is still ugly - but that's a separate issue..[/quote:2hejm42x]
"Orange" is their nickname. The University did away with "Orangemen" and "Orangewomen" after the 2003-04 school year.
I don't recall the basketball team ever wearing 'Cuse uniforms, but I can't say for sure, although I'd like to.
Some game, last night, eh?
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themetfairy
Mar 14 2009 05:48 AM
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[url=http://lisa-olson.fanhouse.com/2009/03/14/orange-ironmen-somehow-press-on/:21kslyfy]Lisa Olson on Syracuse[/url:21kslyfy].
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themetfairy
Mar 14 2009 05:49 AM
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Sorry - double post.
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soupcan
Mar 14 2009 10:54 AM
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soupcan
Mar 14 2009 03:06 PM
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If Syracuse wins tonight, it will be their 6th Big East Tournament title. Only Georgetown would have more (7), and the Orange would be tied for second with Connecticut who have 6. Syracuse has played in the most Big East Tournament title games - 13, and they are 5-8. Georgetown has 12 appearances, Connecticut 9.
Syracuse is the only school that has has won titles in all three decades of the conference's existence. (1981,1988, 1992, 2005, 2006). They are also one of only three teams to have back-to-back titles (Georgetown - '84-'85, UConn - '98-'99)
Unfortunately, I have zero confidence that 'Cuse will win tonight. I'll root like hell for them, but I just don't see it. They've played the equivalent of 4 games in 3 days and are going to play one of the top 4 teams in the country. A team led by an excellent college coach whose team specializes in wearing down the opponent physically by running and pressing. They also hit 3's as well as any Pitino coached team.
Who can tell me who has the fourth most Big East Conference Tournament titles?
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Edgy DC
Mar 14 2009 05:33 PM
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I'll go with Seton Hall University, Monte.
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soupcan
Mar 14 2009 06:26 PM
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Oh, sorry. Should've taken door number 2.
Seton Hall has 2 championships but is tied for fifth place with 2 other schools in that department. The school I'm looking for is alone in fourth place.
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Methead
Mar 14 2009 06:31 PM
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A lot of things have to right for SU tonight... but I guess there's always the chance a lot of things could go wrong for Louisville.
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Fman99
Mar 14 2009 09:13 PM
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Ah well. They had a good run this week, good primer for the Big Dance.
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Methead
Mar 14 2009 09:34 PM
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Eh, what are ya gonna do. Louisville is a hell of a team.
This might have moved SU up a seed or two in the eyes of the good old selection committee, I hope.
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Frayed Knot
Mar 15 2009 06:21 AM
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| ]Who can tell me who has the fourth most Big East Conference Tournament titles? |
Providence?
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Rockin' Doc
Mar 15 2009 06:39 AM
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Soupcan - "Who can tell me who has the fourth most Big East Conference Tournament titles?"
I'm going with St. John's for 4th most Big East titles. They had some very good teams under Lou Carnasecca during the 1980's.
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soupcan
Mar 15 2009 01:59 PM
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St. John's it is.
They have 3 ('83, '86 and 2000).
Providence has 1, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh and Boston College each have 2.
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MFS62
Mar 16 2009 06:57 AM
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="Rockin' Doc":2ir6mw0i]Soupcan - "Who can tell me who has the fourth most Big East Conference Tournament titles?"
I'm going with St. John's for 4th most Big East titles. They had some very good teams under Lou Carnasecca during the 1980's.[/quote:2ir6mw0i]
And, IIRC, I don't think they ever made it to the Final Four (and maybe not the Final Eight) under him. Is that true?
Later
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soupcan
Mar 16 2009 07:15 AM
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Not true.
Carnesecca coached St. John's from 1965-70, 1973-92.
NCAA Final Four - 1985 (Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Memphis State)
NCAA Final Eight - 1979, 1985, 1991.
NCAA Sweet Sixteen - 1967, 1969, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1991.
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MFS62
Mar 16 2009 08:22 AM
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Not bad.
Thanks.
Later
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Nymr83
Mar 16 2009 08:44 AM
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| ]NCAA Final Four - 1985 (Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Memphis State)
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The Big East tourny part2. I expect the same this year.
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 16 2009 09:20 AM
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In this issue:
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Centerfield
Mar 16 2009 02:46 PM
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A #3 seed for 'Cuse. A little generous, but I'll take it. This is one of those rare years, where I feel like they can beat anyone on a given night.
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Centerfield
Mar 23 2009 07:37 AM
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Sweet 16 for the first time in 5 years. Good job by the Orange this weekend. I never got the feeling that either game was ever in doubt.
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soupcan
Mar 23 2009 08:15 AM
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Haven't been able to watch either 'Cuse game in the tourney so far. Looking forward to watching Friday night. Oklahoma's going to be tough but hey, in '03 Syracuse ran roughshod over the Big 12 on their way to the title. Texas, OSU, Oklahoma and Kansas all were victims. Oklahoma was a #1 seed that year and Syracuse was a #3.
I'm surprised at how many people have them going deep into the tourney this year (Francesa has them in the Final Four).
I did see the post-game press conference yesterday and was surprised at something Boeheim said - I guess Onuaku got hurt at some point in the season at the beginning of their 10 game stretch against the elite teams when they went something like 3-7. He said that it probably didn't matter as the teams they were playing were so tough that they might have gone 3-7 regardless.
Now, though, Arinze is at or very close to 100% and he said that is a big reason why the team has been playing so well.
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Fman99
Mar 23 2009 08:36 AM
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="soupcan":5k7mj3uw]Haven't been able to watch either 'Cuse game in the tourney so far. Looking forward to watching Friday night. Oklahoma's going to be tough but hey, in '03 Syracuse ran roughshod over the Big 12 on their way to the title. Texas, OSU, Oklahoma and Kansas all were victims. Oklahoma was a #1 seed that year and Syracuse was a #3.
I'm surprised at how many people have them going deep into the tourney this year (Francesa has them in the Final Four).
I did see the post-game press conference yesterday and was surprised at something Boeheim said - I guess Onuaku got hurt at some point in the season at the beginning of their 10 game stretch against the elite teams when they went something like 3-7. He said that it probably didn't matter as the teams they were playing were so tough that they might have gone 3-7 regardless.
Now, though, Arinze is at or very close to 100% and he said that is a big reason why the team has been playing so well.[/quote:5k7mj3uw]
I've missed them both also -- working Friday, and at my kid's birthday party yesterday.
The level of focus has been far higher since the Big East tourney started. For much of that 3-7 stretch they looked lackadasical at best on defense, and rebounding. That mixed with hot/cold stretches of shooting and tough opponents makes for a mediocre run.
But they are playing more crisp, attacking the ball, not leaving some clown open for 3's all game, and hitting their own shots. A recipe for success.
They seem pretty evenly matched with the Sooners, should be a good game.
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Centerfield
Mar 23 2009 09:29 AM
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Times like this I wish I were still living upstate (or in Central New York, as we call it there). It's fun when the snow is melting, and Syracuse is in the tournament, and everyone has this "We're in this together, I hope they don't fuck it up" look that they exchange with each other.
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soupcan
Mar 23 2009 09:38 AM
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Well I can't say that I ever wish I was back living in Syracuse (no offense Fman - enjoy that one day of summer you get in August...), but I can relate to the feeling you describe.
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Fman99
Mar 23 2009 09:39 AM
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="Centerfield":2xnetvsx]Times like this I wish I were still living upstate (or in Central New York, as we call it there). It's fun when the snow is melting, and Syracuse is in the tournament, and everyone has this "We're in this together, I hope they don't fuck it up" look that they exchange with each other.[/quote:2xnetvsx]
What's funnier to me is how many SU fans there are on this board, and how few Mets fans I meet up here in Central New York.
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Methead
Mar 23 2009 10:52 AM
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They're definitely playing well with the exception of that pitiful 2nd half on Friday... hopefully they can keep it going into next week.
I haven't seen much of Oklahoma, but hopefully they can contain Blake Griffin. It won't be easy.
I don't wish I was in Syracuse either, but CF is right about the feeling in the air this time of year. I remember working in a grocery store my junior year in high school, a bunch of us (and the boss) crowded around a radio in the back, as Billy Owens sank two free throws to dodge a bullet against Virginia. My buddy was so excited, he did a backflip.
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Centerfield
Mar 24 2009 10:32 AM
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Good news even on this off-day. Jonny Flynn tells the Post-Standard that he will be returning for his junior year, meaning next year they will return everyone except Ongenaut.
You'd have to think they're pre-season top 10.
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/vi ... p?t=530600
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Fman99
Mar 24 2009 10:33 AM
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="Centerfield":1egqbmb4]Good news even on this off-day. Jonny Flynn tells the Post-Standard that he will be returning for his junior year, meaning next year they will return everyone except Ongenaut.
You'd have to think they're pre-season top 10.
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/vi ... p?t=530600[/quote:1egqbmb4]
He said the same thing to local TV reporters after the Arizona St. game. It's encouraging.
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Methead
Mar 24 2009 12:35 PM
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Plus Scoop Jardine and Mookie Jones coming back from injuries, and Wesley Johnson will be eligible after sitting out a year after transferring.
Brandon Triche will also be there as well as some 6'11" kid who de-committed from Georgetown to play for SU.
Should be a deep team next season.
Is it time for the Oklahoma game yet?
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soupcan
Mar 24 2009 12:50 PM
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="Methead":3a8kt5vt]...as well as some 6'11" kid who de-committed from Georgetown to play for SU.[/quote:3a8kt5vt]
Ooh, that sounds juicy, got any details...?
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Methead
Mar 24 2009 02:06 PM
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Well, I don't know about details, but here are some links.
[url:2ehcpbbh]http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=3045712[/url:2ehcpbbh]
[url:2ehcpbbh]http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=54691[/url:2ehcpbbh]
[url:2ehcpbbh]http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?page=onthetrail&recruitId=44019[/url:2ehcpbbh]
edit - also this: [url:2ehcpbbh]http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/21/riley-retracts-commitment-from-georgetown/[/url:2ehcpbbh]
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soupcan
Mar 24 2009 02:30 PM
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Gracias.
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 24 2009 04:31 PM
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="Methead":gz0glgl4]Plus Scoop Jardine and Mookie Jones coming back from injuries, and Wesley Johnson will be eligible after sitting out a year after transferring.
Brandon Triche will also be there as well as some 6'11" kid who de-committed from Georgetown to play for SU.
Should be a deep team next season.
Is it time for the Oklahoma game yet?[/quote:gz0glgl4]
I think that James Southerland (Cardozo H.S., Notre Dame Prep) also joins the squad in 2009-10.
SU has exceeded next years's scholarship limit by one, with Riley's decision to attend. So someone is leaving. I thought that Flynn would surely be the likeliest to leave, up until today's announcement that he's staying for his Junior year.
So if not Flynn, then who? Is Devendorf good enough for the NBA? Would Devendorf give up his last year of eligibility to play pro ball in Europe? Someone else?
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Fman99
Mar 25 2009 08:56 AM
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Hey Elster, your program is a [url=http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9377826/Report:-UConn-violated-rules-while-recruiting-Miles:5fcb3d7i]cheaters' paradise.[/url:5fcb3d7i]
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Methead
Mar 25 2009 09:53 AM
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="batmagadanleadoff":xmjj7393]
I think that James Southerland (Cardozo H.S., Notre Dame Prep) also joins the squad in 2009-10.
SU has exceeded next years's scholarship limit by one, with Riley's decision to attend. So someone is leaving. I thought that Flynn would surely be the likeliest to leave, up until today's announcement that he's staying for his Junior year.
So if not Flynn, then who? Is Devendorf good enough for the NBA? Would Devendorf give up his last year of eligibility to play pro ball in Europe? Someone else?[/quote:xmjj7393]
I forgot about Southerland... was he planning to go to prep school, or is he already there?
They awarded a scholarship to (former walk-on) Jake Presutti last year. I don't know if he's still on scholarship this year but I assume so. He's in his final year of eligibility, so that may be where the "extra" one is going to come from.
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 25 2009 10:08 AM
Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 25 2009 10:13 AM
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="Methead":1jom6mj3]="batmagadanleadoff":1jom6mj3]
I think that James Southerland (Cardozo H.S., Notre Dame Prep) also joins the squad in 2009-10.
SU has exceeded next years's scholarship limit by one, with Riley's decision to attend. So someone is leaving. I thought that Flynn would surely be the likeliest to leave, up until today's announcement that he's staying for his Junior year.
So if not Flynn, then who? Is Devendorf good enough for the NBA? Would Devendorf give up his last year of eligibility to play pro ball in Europe? Someone else?[/quote:1jom6mj3]
I forgot about Southerland... was he planning to go to prep school, or is he already there?
They awarded a scholarship to (former walk-on) Jake Presutti last year. I don't know if he's still on scholarship this year but I assume so. He's in his final year of eligibility, so that may be where the "extra" one is going to come from.[/quote:1jom6mj3]
I'm pretty sure that Presutti is not on scholarship. Southerland enrolled at Notre Dame Prep for this academic year. Someone's gotta go. If not Devendorf, maybe some under the radar athlete who's not satisfied with his SU B-ball experience.
Paul Harris was once a highly sought after HS senior believed by some, to be talented enough to skip college and go straight to the NBA. I don't see Harris as being NBA ready today, three years later and deep into his Junior season.
Devendorf's got a kid.
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soupcan
Mar 25 2009 10:12 AM
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="batmagadanleadoff":15js3pqx]Devendorf's got a kid.[/quote:15js3pqx]
Didn't know that - can't say I'm surprised..
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 25 2009 10:18 AM
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[url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/03/22/devendorf.syracuse/?eref=sircrc]They probably think I'm an a-hole[/url]
MIAMI -- Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf is pretty sure he knows how you feel about him.
"They probably think I'm an a-hole," the senior from Bay City, Mich., said Sunday. "I know they do. I know everybody thinks I'm an a-hole."
Fresh off scoring a game-high 21 points -- including a pair of critical three-pointers -- to help the Orange into the Sweet 16 with a 78-67 win against Arizona State, Devendorf smiled and laughed easily. In conversation, he doesn't come off as the thug he's painted to be.
Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn considers Devendorf something else. The Orange's MVP. "Without Eric on this team, we wouldn't have made the NCAA tournament," Flynn said. "We probably wouldn't have made the NIT without him on this team."
Some of the hatred for Devendorf stems from his style. He's a heavily inked firebrand who runs his mouth and exposes every raw emotion on the court. Most of the more recent hatred stems from the incident that nearly ended Devendorf's college career. On Halloween night, Devendorf was accused of striking Syracuse student Kimberly Smith in the jaw during argument that ensued after someone in a group of people -- of which Devendorf was a member -- kicked Smith's car. Devendorf admitted to pushing Smith away from him, but he has denied hitting her.
A five-member student judicial board found Devendorf responsible for violating three codes of conduct, but not for causing any physical harm. But because Devendorf was on probation for a prior incident, the board recommended he be suspended for the remainder of the academic year. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim allowed Devendorf to play during his appeal, throwing more fuel on the fire. On Dec. 19, the University Appeals Board amended the penalty. Devendorf would have to perform 40 hours of community service and apply for reinstatement to the university for the spring semester. In total, the suspension cost him games against Memphis and Coppin State.
Without Devendorf, the Orange won at Memphis on Dec. 20. On Christmas Day, Devendorf completed part of his community service by washing dishes at a Syracuse homeless shelter.
While the Appeals Board deliberated, Devendorf wondered if he'd ever play for Syracuse again. "It definitely felt like it was over," Devendorf said Sunday. "It was a moment where I had a lot of time to think to myself. I had to correct a lot of things in my life. I've definitely learned from that."
Devendorf said he must be careful who he associates with, and he said he must make smarter decisions. He wants to set a better example, he said, for his nine-month-old daughter, Madelyn, who "just started walking a little bit."
The player who replaced Devendorf in the lineup during the suspension was junior Andy Rautins. Both guards would prove crucial Sunday. After Syracuse controlled for the first 25 minutes, the Sun Devils began chipping away at the Orange's lead. When a Ty Abbot three-pointer cut Syracuse's edge to four with 6:35 remaining, the Orange knew they needed a shot. The first came from Rautins, who made a three-pointer 18 seconds later. Devendorf followed with a pair of threes, and suddenly Syracuse led by 11 again. "They knocked down big shots," Boeheim said. "That was the difference."
The road doesn't get any easier for the Orange. They face second-seeded Oklahoma on Friday in a South Region semifinal. If they win, it's probably onto top-seeded North Carolina. The added exposure probably means more venom aimed at Devendorf, who laughed Sunday when someone mentioned a recent Google search of his name. "Probably a lot of 'I hate Eric Devendorf,' right?" he asked. Devendorf said he doesn't take it personally.
"The world is messed up as it is already," he said. "They want to hate somebody that plays basketball? There's a lot of other problems going on in the world. But at the end of the day, man, that doesn't matter to me. I've got a lot of other things on my mind besides that."
Like making it home for the Final Four. Devendorf grew up about an hour from Detroit. During the offseason, he lives with his former AAU coach only about 15 minutes from Ford Field. And if the Orange can run next week's gauntlet and make it to the Motor City, the most hated man in college basketball might feel a little love.
"I don't even know what type of feeling that would be. I've just got to go there and make it happen," Devendorf said. "Especially back home -- in front of the home crowd. That would be amazing. I don't even know how to explain it. Hopefully I'll tell you April 6."
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Methead
Mar 25 2009 10:28 AM
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="batmagadanleadoff":hto1j00o]Someone's gotta go. If not Devendorf, maybe some under the radar athlete who's not satisfied with his SU B-ball experience.
[/quote:hto1j00o]
Sean Williams to the principal's office.
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soupcan
Mar 25 2009 10:50 AM
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 .
One of 6 regional covers of this week's issue.
The other covers feature Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo, Pitt's Levance Fields, UNC's Ty Lawson, Michigan State's Kalin Lucas and Blake Griffin of Oklahoma.
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Methead
Mar 26 2009 01:25 PM
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[url=http://www.syracuse.com/today/index.ssf/2009/03/jamesvilledewitts_triche_named.html:3fythjme]Brandon Triche news[/url:3fythjme]
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Mar 26 2009 01:45 PM
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| ="batmagadanleadoff"]
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Someone punch this douchebag's daughter in the face and see if they can get off saying they only pushed her.
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Edgy DC
Mar 26 2009 01:53 PM
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I suspect one of those tatts has to be a Yankee logo.
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metirish
Mar 26 2009 02:05 PM
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| ]
Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn considers Devendorf something else. The Orange's MVP. "Without Eric on this team, we wouldn't have made the NCAA tournament," Flynn said. "We probably wouldn't have made the NIT without him on this team."
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In other words Flynn could care less if Devendorf is a bollox as long as he's a good bollox and helps them win all is OK.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Mar 26 2009 02:13 PM
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Coach doesn't seem give a shit either.
What is up with you Syracuse douchebags? You got this guy, and that guy who hates covering baseball for the Washington Post to answer for.
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soupcan
Mar 26 2009 02:16 PM
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| ="Edgy DC"]I suspect one of those tatts has to be a Yankee logo. |
I've been looking but haven't seen a Yankee tatt yet. Ugly basketball/crucifix thing on his pasty white (I should talk) arm and I think his daughter's name runs across the nape of his neck.
[url=http://www.tosports.ca/?p=3974]Defending Devendorf[/url]
| ]Then there’s the off the court incident. Devendorf did get into altercation with a woman. But the story got way out of hand. Even the women’s lawyer later said that the police got the story wrong and that Devendorf never hit the woman.Yet everyone calls him a “women beater.” Georgetown’s student section even went as far as singing “Hey Devo, won’t you hit my girl” instead of “Hey baby, won’t you be my girl.” |
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Fman99
Mar 26 2009 08:46 PM
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="John Cougar Lunchbucket":3noe1wti]Coach doesn't seem give a shit either.
What is up with you Syracuse douchebags? You got this guy, and that guy who hates covering baseball for the Washington Post to answer for.[/quote:3noe1wti]
OK. I'll field this one.
Firstly, SU has a nationally renowned communications department that has turned out dozens of news, and sports, journalists and TV personalities. Brokaw, Costas, Tirico, SNY's own Adam Schein, among others. Mathematically, some of them are just going to be dicks and/or Yankee fans. Not much you can do about that.
As for Devo, he is a hothead and he rubs pretty much everyone the wrong way. Even some of the local yokels up here. But he's on our team and he's clutch and therefore I root for him. I'm pretty sure everyone back in the 1980s thought Lenny Dykstra was a prick too, aside from Mets fans. Same thing with Bobby V in the 1990s.
If he wants to hit big 3's and win games I could care less what he does to the scorekeepers' table.
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John Cougar Lunchbucket
Mar 26 2009 09:31 PM
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Dykstra never socked a chick in the jaw. I mean, at least he didn't get caught doing it.
I'll give my Dad crap about this too, he's a Syracuse grad.
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Edgy DC
Mar 26 2009 10:08 PM
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="Fman99":3lwuwb70]If he wants to hit big 3's and win games I could care less what he does to the scorekeepers' table.[/quote:3lwuwb70]
SO WRONG!
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Rockin' Doc
Mar 27 2009 05:17 AM
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Well, Duke got their butts kicked last night by Villanova. This was a Duke team that could be very good or horrendously bad. Last night they took bad play to new hieights (depths).
The funny thing was at halftime, I was very disappointed in the teams play, but I still felt quite good about the game. Duke had played poorly in the opening half and I felt they were fortunate to only be down by three. I expected them to come play far better and start hitting their shots in the second half, but it never happened. Instead things only got worse. Credit Villanova for playing tenacious, switching man-to-man defense that disrupted Duke's offensive sets and I think ultimately frustrated them in the second half. Villanova was quite simply the better team last night.
So now I hope Villanova can beat Pitt once again. Best of luck to Syracuse tonight.
I feel sanity returning as my March Madness fades, but I think I'm getting spring fever. So, how 'bout those Mets.
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soupcan
Mar 27 2009 07:35 AM
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Villanova is a lot better than people give them credit for this year. They made a good Duke team look very bad.
I have them in my final four and would not be surprised to see them go all the way.
I like that Singler kid on Duke. He's a playa.
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soupcan
Mar 27 2009 07:43 AM
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Devendorf's getting quite a bit of press this week.
]
March 27, 2009
Eric Devendorf and Josh Heytvelt Flourish After Receiving Second Chances
By JOHN BRANCH
 
Syracuse’s Eric Devendorf was accused of striking a female. Josh Heytvelt was found with hallucinogenic mushrooms.
MEMPHIS — When the call comes, informing a college basketball coach that a player has run afoul of the law, there is little time to decide how to act.
Coaches and other college officials do the instant math of an imperfect formula that includes the facts of the case, the institution’s reputation, the player’s future and the team’s best interest.
“It’s always going to be viewed by one side as the wrong decision and by the other side as the right decision,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said last week. “And the people in the middle are always going to be up in the air. But that’s the way it is with any decision you make.”
Syracuse and Gonzaga, part of the South Regional here, reached the Round of 16 in part because of how they shepherded key players in trouble. Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf and the Gonzaga big man Josh Heytvelt carry more than the hopes of their teams and fans. They carry a tinge of regret and a debt of gratitude to their coaches.
On Friday, third-seeded Syracuse plays second-seeded Oklahoma, followed by fourth-seeded Gonzaga against top-seeded North Carolina.
Last fall, Devendorf was accused of striking a female student in the face. Boeheim let him play, then publicly suggested that the accusation was overblown and argued for leniency.
Several teammates testified as witnesses to support Devendorf. On appeal, an initial ruling by the university’s judicial review board — suspension for the rest of the school year — was reduced to 80 hours of community service. Devendorf missed two games during the school break. He became the team’s second-leading scorer and top irritant to opposing fans.
“Just knowing that Coach Boeheim and my teammates were behind me, that meant a whole lot,” Devendorf said Thursday.
When the 6-foot-11 Heytvelt was caught with a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms in 2007, Coach Mark Few was furious and teammates felt betrayed. Heytvelt was quickly suspended indefinitely. He missed the final nine games of the season, including the N.C.A.A. tournament.
He was ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and was not reinstated to the team until the following October, when his coach and teammates felt he had finally earned back their trust. He was Gonzaga’s top scorer and rebounder this season.
“I was just happy to get the second chance to be able to prove to the guys that nothing was going to happen from it, and I wasn’t going to mess up again,” Heytvelt said.
The cases and the evidence against Devendorf and Heytvelt were quite different, and so was the way that they were handled by their coaches. That both Devendorf and Heytvelt led their teams here may say as much about the coaches as it does the players.
The altercation involving Devendorf occurred in the early morning hours after Halloween night. The female student said that people surrounded her car and started kicking it. An argument with Devendorf ensued, and he was accused of striking her with the heel off his hand.
Devendorf continued to practice and played in the team’s early games. In December, the judicial board, citing a violation of Devendorf’s probation from an altercation with a different student last spring, recommended that Devendorf be suspended for the second semester.
Boeheim told The Syracuse Post-Standard that the punishment was too stiff and that the facts were unclear. He highlighted discrepancies between the accounts of the student and the players who testified on Devendorf’s behalf.
Devendorf played through an appeal. In December, just before the holiday break, an appeals board reduced his penalty to 80 hours of community service. He could play once he finished 40 of them, which he did by serving meals at a shelter in Syracuse. (Devendorf said on Thursday that he had completed the other 40 hours, too, and a couple of mandatory days at a workshop. “I think it was an anger-management workshop or something like that,” he said.)
In a statement released by the university after the appeal decision, Boeheim said, “Eric clearly made a mistake and should be punished.”
He has said little about it since.
“I’m not really going to talk specifically about Eric, but when I decide a kid should have a chance to play, I do it based on all the facts in the case,” Boeheim said the day before his team played its first game of the tournament. “It has absolutely nothing to do with whether this player is going to help us win or not. It’s strictly a matter of what’s the right thing to do.”
For Few, there was little doubt about suspending Heytvelt in February 2007. “It was a no-brainer,” Few said on Thursday.
Heytvelt was averaging 15.5 points and 7.7 rebounds and had outplayed North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough earlier in the season — a matchup, now between seniors, that is a prominent story line for Friday’s game. Within days, Gonzaga’s 50-game home-court winning streak ended. Gonzaga lost in the first round of the N.C.A.A. tournament.
Heytvelt was allowed to stay at Gonzaga and performed extra hours of community service, more than 300 total, for the Ronald McDonald House, a food bank and other charities. In October, Few said he could return.
“Once I felt that they had fully accepted him back and he had shown remorse and done so much in the community and academically — I mean, it turned out to be a great decision,” Few said, noting that Heytvelt had graduated and is working toward a master’s degree. “It’s one of the neatest things I’ve seen evolve, probably the whole time I’ve been coaching.”
With victories on Friday, Devendorf and Heytvelt would meet on Sunday, in a sort of redemption championship, for a berth in the Final Four.
Of all the coaching decisions Boeheim and Few have made to get their teams this far, the most important might have been the ones that followed an unexpected phone call, far from the court. |
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metirish
Mar 27 2009 07:51 AM
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Devendorf looks like a total prick with that pose....
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 27 2009 09:12 AM
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="soupcan":zgy13q6k]Villanova is a lot better than people give them credit for this year. They made a good Duke team look very bad.
I have them in my final four and would not be surprised to see them go all the way.
I like that Singler kid on Duke. He's a playa.[/quote:zgy13q6k]
I saw a lot of Big East basketball this year, and it was while watching a Villanova game that I realized first hand for myself just how strong the top half of the conference is this season. As the season progressed, Villanova settled into a ranking range where it was never considered, or ranked higher than the 5th or 6th best team in the conference. (Nova finished 4th in the Big East standings; Marquette faded after losing a key player to injuries) But Villanova - this supposedly 5th or 6th best team in conference- is one of the nation's best teams, capable of beating anybody on any given day. I wasn't surprised when they beat Duke last night, and in fact, was expecting 'Nova to win.
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 27 2009 01:34 PM
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| ="soupcan"]Devendorf's getting quite a bit of press this week. |
Might as well pile on. From USA Today:
[url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2009-03-25-syracuse-devendorf_N.htm]Devendorf thrives for Syracuse despite label as 'most-hated' player[/url]
| ]By Jeff DiVeronica, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Even before the question is asked, Eric Devendorf begins to smile as if he knows it's coming.
Just like how he knows when to spot up in the corner and be ready to let fly with a three-pointer because a pass from Jonny Flynn is headed his way.
The question is about the blog that last week named him the most hated player in the NCAA Tournament.
MOST-HATED OF ALL TIME? Which players brought you to a boil?
"Somebody in the media told me, man" the Syracuse University shooting guard says. "It's a pretty big accomplishment."
The smile grows wider.
Why wouldn't it?
That's what Devendorf does. He thrives on one-upping you.
Then Devendorf trots back onto the basketball court at Manley Field House, where the third-seeded Orange is about to start practice for Friday's NCAA South Regional semifinal showdown in Memphis, against No. 2 Oklahoma.
He and the rest of the Orange will need to be at their best to top the Sooners and national Player-of-the-Year front-runner, Blake Griffin.
Anyone, even Devendorf's numerous detractors, would have to admit the junior has been near the top of his game in SU's six postseason contests. They've included the usual dose of Devendorf trash talk, a mixture of sneering at opponents, glaring at fans and posing after drilling clutch three-pointers.
He's averaging a team-high 19.2 points and making 47% of his three-point shots (21-for-45), and that includes a 10-point, 1-for-5 clunker in SU's first-round romp over Stephen F. Austin. Take away his six turnovers in that 59-44 win, and he's only given the ball away eight times in five games after averaging three per game in the regular season.
"He's made a lot of big shots and I think it gets the rest of the team fired up," SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins says. "Eric's enthusiasm on the court — that's the term I'm going to use — that's what makes him happy. That's what makes him make great shot after great shot, that swagger."
To teammates and many SU fans, Devendorf is galvanizing.
"I really feed off stuff like that," Flynn says of his backcourt mate's woofing at foes and opposing fans.
To many others, he is annoying, a cocky player who pounds his chest too often.
Devendorf has been called a punk, or worse, on sports-talk radio, blogs and Internet message boards. Critics harp on his 'tude and his tattoos. They usually attack his antics, not his game.
If any of it bothers Devendorf, he should change his major from communication/rhetorical studies to acting because he seems unfazed. Or maybe he's just used to it.
"I've been playing like this ever since I was little," says the 21-year-old, who grew up in Bay City, Mich., and went to Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, a basketball-star-making, prep-school factory, before coming to SU.
"Obviously, everybody is going to have an opinion — whatever that is — but I'm just going to continue to play my game.
"If I think about that, it'd be a distraction to what I'm trying to do out there. I really don't worry about that too much at all. There's always going to be people like that everywhere I go, even if I didn't play basketball."
But he does.
For Syracuse.
So that's why his Halloween night altercation with a female student last year became a hot topic around the college basketball world.
Devendorf was accused of hitting the woman in the jaw with an open hand. Her lawyer later said Devendorf did not strike her, and his client's version of the events was misinterpreted by police in their report. Devendorf has said he acted in self-defense and that the female was the aggressor after she got out of her car.
Devendorf, who already was on school probation for harming another student last spring, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard, was suspended in December by SU's judicial review board, which recommended he sit out the rest of the school year.
Feeling the punishment didn't fit a circumstance with plenty of unknowns, Boeheim went to bat for Devendorf, who appealed the board's decision while sitting out SU wins at then-No. 23 Memphis, 72-65, and the Orange's non-conference season finale, an 82-71 win over Coppin State.
A different panel board lessened the penalty. Devendorf could apply for reinstatement only after completing 40 hours of community service.
During his banishment from the team over Christmas, Devendorf stayed in Syracuse, spending the holidays away from his family for the first time. On Christmas Day, as part of his community service, he served dinner at a rescue mission in Syracuse.
During that time he thought a lot about what it would be like to have SU basketball taken away from him, for good.
What did he learn?
"To surround myself with the right people and make better decisions, obviously," says Devendorf, who missed all but 10 games last year, his junior season, after tearing a knee ligament.
"It was a lot of decisions I made, you know, making my life better, as a person on and off the court."
That includes being a good father. His daughter, Madelyn, was born last June 20. Devendorf has her name and birth date tattooed across the back of his neck.
"It puts a lot of things in perspective knowing that you have someone looking up to you," he says. "I go home and play with my daughter and she takes all the bad out of the day. It really helps me out as a person and growing as a man."
Someday Madelyn will hear about her father, the basketball player.
"Off the court, he's a great kid, a funny kid," teammate Andy Rautins says. "Everybody enjoys being around him. But he's a fiery kid on the court and I think that stems from where he came from."
In 2006, one of Devendorf's close friends back home was shot and, as a result, paralyzed.
"People don't know me as a person," he says.
His teammates and coaches do, and they've got his back.
"We support him no matter what, even though his antics may be untimely, at points," Rautins says. "That's just 'E' being 'E.'."
"I thought Gerry McNamara said it great in (a recent story). Eric's one of the greatest teammates," Hopkins says. "A lot of people take it the wrong way, but he's the most unselfish teammate. He's just really misunderstood."
Not that Devendorf cares what anyone thinks.
"People are always going to have their opinion about me, whether it's good or bad," he says. "I can't really help that."
|
______________________________________
Plenty of players that fans love to hate
http://blogs.usatoday.com/bracketracket ... titialskip
| ]Sometimes, being good on the basketball court comes with a price.
For Syracuse junior guard Eric Devendorf, it's being named the most hated player in the NCAA tournament by the sports blog The Big Lead.
So how does Devendorf feel about that? "It's a pretty big accomplishment," he told the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle.
"I really don't worry about that too much at all. There's always going to be people like that everywhere I go, even if I didn't play basketball."
Joining Devendorf on the list are North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Duke's Greg Paulus and Jon Scheyer and Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet.
Agree or disagree, the list certainly got us thinking: Who is the most-hated men's basketball player of all time?
Some names on the list we put together:
- Christian Laettner, Duke: He made the game-winning shot vs. Kentucky in the East Regional final in 1992. But ask Kentucky fans if he should have even been in the game.
- The Fab Five, Michigan: In the Wolverines' run to the 1992 and 1993 title games, the long shorts and cocky demeanor of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson were a break from the norm.
- Mark Madsen, Stanford: Four years seemed like 10 when it came to the Cardinal big man.
- J.J. Redick, Duke: The sharp-shooter wreaked havoc on the Atlantic Coast Conference for four seasons.
- Joakim Noah, Florida: The former Gator's unique, vocal approach was too much for foes in the Southeastern Conference and beyond.
- Adam Morrison, Gonzaga: His mustache was constant fodder for opposing fans, as were the tears that flowed before the final buzzer in his last game as a Bulldog.
And there is plenty of others out there. Be sure to let us know which player or players you had a hard time rooting for in the comments section below. |
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Fman99
Mar 27 2009 08:06 PM
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Ah well, they had a nice run. Syracuse should be a preseason top 10, only one senior who played any real minutes this year (Ongenaet).
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metirish
Mar 27 2009 08:08 PM
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I got in touch with a long lost first cousin recently through FB , turns out he lives in Syracuse...not shitting you but today he sent me two orange Syracuse marathon men tee-shirts...it commemorates the overtime game..........yeah I'll wear that.....
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batmagadanleadoff
Mar 27 2009 08:15 PM
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SNY just showed some of the SU-Oklahoma post-game conference. According to both Jonny Flynn and coach Boeheim, Flynn still hasn't decided whether he's staying or going, contrary to that article from a few days ago posted on this thread.
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MFS62
Mar 27 2009 08:25 PM
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="soupcan":ytpqoagf]I'm liking the thread title for this season.[/quote:ytpqoagf]
They got bitch-slapped tonight.
Later
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soupcan
Mar 27 2009 08:55 PM
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Good season.
They had open looks all night, the shots just did not fall while everything Oklahoma put in the air seemed to magically find the bottom of the net.
There's always next year.
Let's Go Mets!
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Methead
Mar 27 2009 09:24 PM
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="metirish":1e3dadd9]I got in touch with a long lost first cousin recently through FB , turns out he lives in Syracuse...not shitting you but today he sent me two orange Syracuse marathon men tee-shirts...it commemorates the overtime game..........yeah I'll wear that.....[/quote:1e3dadd9]
Well if you don't want 'em, let me know.
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Methead
Mar 27 2009 09:29 PM
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="soupcan":1gv7u2io]Good season.
They had open looks all night, the shots just did not fall while everything Oklahoma put in the air seemed to magically find the bottom of the net.
There's always next year.
Let's Go Mets![/quote:1gv7u2io]
Yep.
They did a great job of making it respectable at the end, but I can't help but wonder how different it might have been if a few of those open shots in the first half had gone in. Not to mention 2 or 3 of Devendorf's fast break layups.
Ah well. Fun season anyway, they held their own in a brutal league and peaked toward the end. I hope Flynn stays (and I bet he will) but if he goes, what can you do.
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Nymr83
Mar 28 2009 01:53 AM
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fuck. i was 4/4 last night and 3/4 tonight. syracuse was my only elite 8 team to not make it that far
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Methead
Mar 28 2009 05:58 AM
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="Nymr83":1679z82d]fuck. i was 4/4 last night and 3/4 tonight.[/quote:1679z82d]
Nice. I took a beating the last two nights, 2/4 each night.
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batmagadanleadoff
Apr 01 2009 03:49 PM
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| ]Boeheim recommends Flynn test draft waters
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | Print Entry
Syracuse sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn wants to return to the Orange next season, according to coach Jim Boeheim.
But that doesn't mean Flynn shouldn't at least see where he stands in the NBA draft.
Boeheim said late Tuesday night that he is going to recommend Flynn put his name in the draft by the April 30 deadline, go through a few workouts and get a true read on his status.
"He'd have to be top-10," Boeheim said. "He came in and wants to stay, and I do think he'll come back unless he's fairly high."
Boeheim said Flynn's heart isn't in going to the NBA and the discussion is ongoing. But Boeheim doesn't want to dismiss Flynn's potential if he can land in the top 10. He also said Flynn could be a preseason first-team All-American and player of the year candidate if he returns. That does weigh on Flynn.
Flynn also wants to play with the returning Orange team as well as the newcomers. Boeheim said Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson is a "great player and he could be first-team all-league. He's really good, really explosive."
Boeheim also is high on shooting guard Brandon Triche out of Dewitt, N.Y.
There is a chance juniors Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf might not return to the team for their senior seasons, according to a source close to the situation. Even if that happens, Boeheim is confident that with Flynn (assuming he returns), Andy Rautins, Johnson, Triche and Arinze Onuaku, the Orange could have a shot at the national title. |
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/ind ... =katz_andy
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Rockin' Doc
Apr 01 2009 05:36 PM
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<i>"There is a chance juniors Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf might not return to the team for their senior seasons, according to a source close to the situation."</i>
Where do Harris and Devendorf expect to be going. They're both pretty good players, but they certainly aren't lottery pick worthy. I wouldn't expect a likely spot on a NBA D-League roster to be much of a draw for collegians.
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Centerfield
Apr 02 2009 08:53 AM
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This whole thing is weird to me. Why did Syracuse over-commit the number of scholarships unless they knew someone was leaving?
Where would Devendorf and Harris be going?
Why is Boeheim recommending Flynn test the waters if he wants to come back to school?
Very weird.
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Edgy DC
Apr 02 2009 08:59 AM
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Guesses:
He promised somebody else Flynn's job during recruitment.
He knows Flynn has a skeleton in his closet that will disgrace the program.
The longer Flynn stays, the more likely it is that the press will find out about the secret payments.
Flynn is dating Jim's daughter Elizabeth.
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batmagadanleadoff
Apr 02 2009 09:29 AM
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="Centerfield":2p35107i]This whole thing is weird to me. Why did Syracuse over-commit the number of scholarships unless they knew someone was leaving? [/quote:2p35107i]
Because they know someone is leaving.
="Centerfield":2p35107i]Where would Devendorf and Harris be going?[/quote:2p35107i]
Europe? The rain in Spain is less than the rain in Syracuse.
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batmagadanleadoff
Apr 09 2009 04:31 PM
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Jonny Flynn Hitches!!!
SU players to enter 2009 NBA draft
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Three Syracuse University basketball players plan to enter their names into the 2009 NBA draft. Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris will be among the many NBA hopefuls, as well as sophomore Jonny Flynn.
Players can submit their names and practice with teams, but as long as they do not retain an agent, they can opt out of the draft up to a certain point and return to college play the following season.
This season, Devendorf advanced to 14th on Syracuse's all-time scoring list, averaging 15.7 points a game, while Harris put up an average of 12 points.
All three players helped Syracuse to a 28 and 10 record and a trip to the Sweet 16.
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Methead
Apr 10 2009 08:53 AM
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I can see why these guys would want to go and work out for teams, and get feedback from scouts regarding their abilities.
Harris and Devendorf both have kids to worry about... so I suppose playing in Europe would more than provide for them. Beyond that, who knows?
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Centerfield
Apr 10 2009 09:20 AM
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Obviously I hope Flynn comes back, as I think he will be the key to Syracuse's success next season. Losing Devendorf would hurt too, but I'd feel ok with Rautins/Triche. I couldn't care less if Paul Harris came back. They say Wes Johnson is going to start over him anyway.
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Centerfield
May 26 2009 08:51 AM
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Half the basketball team may have left for the NBA, but the lacrosse team still rocks. National Champions again.
In other news, Jason Hart sighting at the end of the Nuggets-Lakers game.
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soupcan
May 26 2009 11:36 AM
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The final minutes of the lacrosse game yesterday was crazy.
'Cuse down 9-6 with 3 minutes left, they get two quick goals to close to 9-8. With 10 seconds left they steal the ball and after what can only be described as impossible passes (backwards-no-look-over-the-shoulder-opposition-deflected) they tie the game with 4 seconds left.
About a minute or so into the sudden-death OT, they get the game-winner. That was the only time they led the entire game.
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Methead
Jun 17 2009 10:17 AM
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Turns out Sean Williams is leaving the basketball team after all... transferring to Cal State Fullerton. That should free up that extra scholarship.
Johnny Flynn is raising his stock considerably in workouts, and now is looking like he could be a top 10 pick in the draft.
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Vic Sage
Jun 17 2009 10:26 AM
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i don't know college ball at all, but if he's a past-first PG with decent range, who plays aggressive D, then i hope the Knicks take him at #8.
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Methead
Jun 18 2009 09:40 AM
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I think he's pretty good at distributing the ball, but he can score too. He's got good range, and he's a tough kid. He did work out for the Knicks, but he's also been working out for teams who pick before they do.
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