sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to the Chinese New Year! (Year of the Monkey)
Chinese New Year is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is also known as theSpring Festival, the literal translation of the modern Chinese name. Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month. The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February.[2] In 2016, the first day of Chinese New Year falls on Monday, February 8th.[3]
SU News
For Syracuse, It All Starts and Ends with a Pair of 5th Year Guards (DO; Dougherty)
Save for those few fleeting minutes every game, Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney are always there.
Individually they’re good, even very good. But together they’re great. Game-changing. So in tune with what each other, and Syracuse is doing that they’ve begun to transcend how much two players can mean to one basketball team.
There are a lot of ways to try and explain Syracuse’s (16-8, 6-5 Atlantic Coast) 6-1 record since starting 0-4 in conference play. Some are, in no particular order, Jim Boeheim’s return from suspension, the much-improved play of the 2-3 zone, the meteoric maturation of Malachi Richardson and the Orange striking an effective balance in an offense that was once ineffectively one-dimensional.
But aside from the Boeheim renaissance, all of the perceived strengths fueling SU’s current run are rooted in Gbinije and Cooney’s collective play. Their athleticism, understanding and ability to assess all angles of the zone are the backbone of Syracuse’s defense. The attention they draw from opposing defenses has given Richardson the space to grow and thrive at the same time. The offense runs through their hands on every possession and is only as balanced and successful as they are.
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SU Basketball Roundtable: SU Matchup with Florida State, SU Defense and the UL Postseason Ban (DO; Staff)
Syracuse (16-8, 6-5 Atlantic Coast) is in the middle of a nine-day stretch without a game. The Orange returns to action against Florida State (16-7, 6-5) on Thursday at home. In the meantime, beat writers Sam Blum, Jesse Dougherty and Matt Schneidman discuss three questions surrounding SU.
1. Does Syracuse need to beat Florida State for this four-game home stretch to be considered a success?
Sam Blum: Absolutely. If you asked me when it started, I would have said 3-1 would be good enough. But now that the heavy lifting — three games in five days — is over with, beating Florida State at home is a must. The Orange needs to beat every beatable team it can, especially ones that sit squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble with SU. The Orange is also trying to avoid playing on the first day of the ACC tournament, and the Seminoles are tied with Syracuse in the conference standings. There’s a lot on the line on Thursday night, and a feel-good 4-0 home stretch is tops among all of it.
Jesse Dougherty: No, Syracuse won three ACC games in five days and I think that makes this a successful home stand regardless of what happens against the Seminoles on Thursday. With that said, that is a game the Orange should win and it would be disappointing if it doesn’t. FSU has a talented backcourt and is big inside, but SU has proven itself a much more consistent team on both ends and can’t afford another home loss to an unranked ACC team.
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Wolf Pack (Not Keuka) Hoops Recruiting Update (backingthepack.com; Lower)
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4-star post player Taurean Thompson, whom many consider to be a Syracuse lean, is supposed to take an unofficial visit to Georgetown today. Just looking at the schools in which Thompson is showing the most interest, you might conclude that he intends to stay in the northeast. Teams like Providence and Seton Hall have been mentioned for Thompson to go along with Syracuse and now Georgetown. State will need to find a way to secure one of Thompson’s remaining official visits.
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6-10 Jr C Justyn Hamilton Receiving Interest From Syracuse (charlotteobserver.com; Wertz)
Last fall, an assistant coach from East Carolina sat in the Independence High basketball office, chatting with 6-foot-10 center Justyn Hamilton. He told the 16-year-old junior he felt sorry for Patriots boys’ coach Preston Davis.
“He’s like, ‘Coach Davis is not going to reap the benefits of you reaching your full potential,’ ” Davis recalled Friday night after an 86-59 win against Myers Park. “I think he feels, like most college coaches do, that Justyn’s best days are going to be down the road.”
Hamilton, a slender 185 pounds, is ranked No. 14 in the N.C. class of 2017 by the Phenom Hoop Report, which tracks recruits statewide. He has scholarship offers from College of Charleston, East Tennessee State, High Point, North Florida, UNC Greensboro and Virginia Commonwealth. He’s received interest from East Carolina, Georgia, Syracuse, Temple and Virginia.
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Chris McCullough Likely to Make NBA Debut Monday (cbssports.com; Staff)
Chris McCullough (knee) is still expected to make his NBA debut Monday against the Nuggets, Nets Daily reports.
McCullough is a year removed from the torn right ACL he suffered during his freshman season at Syracuse, but with the Nets listing the rookie as active in the past two games, it looks like he's nearly ready to go. Because of the long layoff due to the injury, McCullough will likely be eased back into the fold slowly, but if he thrives even in minimal court time, there should be an opportunity for him to occupy a prominent bench role, as the Nets are short on appealing forward options on their second unit.
Rutgers Basketball Fan Lament (onthebanks.com; White)
Dear Pat Hobbs,
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I know, that seems unbelievable to the current student. But I've written about this all before. The point stands, even when Rutgers was bad under Fred Hill, the games were fun (EDIT: I admit I have a rosier complexion on Hill than I probably should. I remember the SHU nonsense, the Villanova/Pitt back to back and as I said in the comments I supported him way longer than I should have. I was naive.) There was some buzz. There was talent. There were afternoons like Valentine's Day in 2010, where Mike Rosario and crew knocked off Georgetown (them again) by 3 points.
But the past three years, something has happened. The games aren't fun anymore.
The RAC is a morgue. In the past three years, Rutgers has lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Peter's, William and Mary, St. Francis, and Monmouth. They have lost 26 straight Big Ten games. I mean, the Illinois game was wild, but in the end they still lost.
The statistics are just plain ridiculous.
In the past three years, Rutgers has lost by 20 or more points 19 times. In 88 games, Rutgers has lost 19 times. That's 22%. That means that 1 in every 5 times I turn on the game or show up at the RAC, Rutgers could be blown out of the water. For comparison, in the Mike Rice era, the team lost by 20 or more 5 times. In the Fred Hill era, the team lost by 20 twenty times, but that was over 4 full seasons.
I've watched the team lose by 61 points, 34 points, and 50 points. They haven't beaten your former employer since the Mike Rice era.
This season, currently, the team is ranked 283 in KenPom. That is the worst major conference team in the nation by 25 spots. Watching yesterday's game told me enough is enough.
Other
Blizzard of 1966, Love and Syracuse Basketball (fltimes.com; Porter)
As Bill and Linda Lindner celebrated their golden wedding anniversary recently, they couldn’t help but notice that this year’s mild winter was degrees away from their nuptials 50 years ago.
The town of Manchester couple — who were high school sweethearts in Clifton Springs — tied the knot on Jan. 29, 1966, at St. Felix Catholic Church. A wedding picture after the ceremony shows a happy couple flanked by snowbanks, but nothing out of the ordinary for a winter day in Upstate New York. In fact, Bill recalls it as “a beautiful snowy day.”
But 24 hours later the Lindners awoke to a knock on their Syracuse motel door, peeled open their curtains and could not see the nearby Thruway. The Blizzard of ’66 had arrived.
“They [the motel owners] said you’re going to have to leave or you’ll be here for a few days,” Bill Lindner recalled.
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When it came time to celebrate their golden anniversary, the Lindners once again headed to Syracuse — spending several nights at the Sheraton and taking in two Syracuse basketball games. The former season ticketholders enjoyed watching their favorite team beat Notre Dame and Georgia Tech and visiting Destiny mall.
They also enjoyed an overnight in Skaneateles before returning home, nary a snowflake in sight.
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