sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Frankenstein Friday!
Frankenstein Friday celebrates he birth of Frankenstein and its creator. Frankenstein is one of the best known horror characters, dating back to the 1800's. We can't imagine the Halloween season without the presence of Frankenstein, lurking somewhere in the darkness.
Frankenstein was born in 1818 when Mary Wollenstonecraft Shelley, at the age of 21, wrote the story "Frankenstein".
Frankenstein's Mother: Mary Wollenstone Shelley
Frankenstein's Father: Boris Karloff
To celebrate this day, we suggest you read the novel, or see a Frankenstein movie.
SU News
Final Four encore? Syracuse ready to turn more heads (usatoday.com; DiVeronica)
Mix in a freshman class ranked among the country’s best and 7-2 sophomore center Paschal Chukwu, who sat out last season after transferring from Providence, and you see why even usually woe-is-me Boeheim, 71, has been chipper, saying this could be one of Syracuse’s deepest and best teams in years.
This from a man whose teams reached the national semifinals in 2012 and last season.
“We’re at least a top-15 team,” says Boeheim, who begins his 41st season Nov. 11 against Colgate University. “We were underrated a little bit because people put so much stock into losing Malachi and our two senior guards. All three were scorers and a big part of the team, and we weren’t great last year, either. I thought a ranking around 25th (this year) was accurate.”
Taurean Thompson, a 6-10, 225-pound forward, and Matthew Moyer, a 6-8, 220-pounder, round out a freshman class that gives Boeheim more depth than he has had in a decade. A wealth of talent also should mean Boeheim can throw different looks at opponents. He can go with a smaller, athletic lineup loaded with shooters or with a tall front line featuring Lydon, shot-blocking Chukwu and Roberson (8.8 ppg, team-high 8.5 rpg), who was a rebounding machine in the NCAA tournament. That would leave White in the backcourt and Howard at the point and at the top of the 2-3 zone; it would be the biggest lineup in program history. At 6-5, Howard would be the shortest Syracuse player on the court.
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Who will play the most minutes at center for Syracuse men's basketball? (DO; Schneidman)
Editor’s note: With Syracuse’s first exhibition coming up on Nov. 1, this is the first installment of a five-part series analyzing the most interesting questions surrounding the Orange entering the season.
Syracuse needed Tyler Lydon to shoulder the brunt of the minutes at center last year with Dajuan Coleman shaking off the rust from a near two-year absence and Providence transfer Paschal Chukwu observing from the sideline during his redshirt year.
Lydon’s performance did more than suffice, but now SU head coach Jim Boeheim has more options at the 5, which should be bolstered by the improvements he raved about at media day on Friday.
Coleman, in his final year with the Orange, comes off a year in which he started all 37 games and played 17.5 minutes per contest. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds and shot 54.8 percent from the field. The redshirt senior will likely start over Chukwu — he was among the four Boeheim named when asked about Lydon’s support group this year — but expect Chukwu, a redshirt sophomore, to see significant minutes as well.
“I think Dajuan’s improved,” Boeheim said. “I think last year, he hadn’t played in two years. It’s tough. I think he’s shooting a little better, I think he’s finishing a little better.”
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Hoops Recruiting: When’s it OK to Panic? | Otto's Grove (.com; Kelly)
Hey there, champ. Look, I know you’re upset. A little worried and frustrated that Syracuse hasn’t landed a commitment for the 2017 basketball recruiting cycle yet. You’ve seen a couple key targets pick other schools, like Brandon Randolph, who we all thought the Orange had a great shot at landing. But listen up, kiddo. It’s okay. It’s not time to panic just yet.
Would it be a little more ideal for Syracuse to have a player or two already committed, considering how many spots there’ll be to fill heading into next season? Sure. I get why that scares you, considering there’s a very realistic chance that the only players returning next year could be Frank Howard, Matt Moyer, Taurean Thompson, and Paschal Chukwu.
The unknown is scary, and right now the future of Syracuse basketball is largely unknown. Now, maybe the Orange will get lucky, and Tyus Battle will decide to stick around for his season season in Central New York. At the moment, I’m putting that at no better than 50/50 odds but… well, even 50/50 can be considered glass half full, right?
Even so, let’s say Battle returns for his sophomore year. That alleviates some of the pressure on the staff in trying to find wing depth, but it still leaves six roster spots left to fill. And right now, we don’t know who will be filling them. And that’s why you’re so nervous.
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Jim Boeheim should’t play a minute of man-to-man defense (TNIAAM; Szuba)
The 2-3 zone is to Syracuse as water is to life. Life is dependent upon water and Syracuse is dependent on zone. There’s no denying this — any argument otherwise is futile and illogical. Syracuse and zone have become synonymous. So much so that even the thought of the Orange playing man-to-man defense seems ludicrous.
Jim Boeheim has become so allergic to playing man-to-man that Team USA sprinkles in the esteemed zone every now and then. The closest Syracuse has come to playing man in the last six seasons is when Bill Raftery has been on call and recites, “Syracuse goes 2-3 zone with MANTOMAN principles.”
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, see below.
You get the idea. Syracuse hasn’t played a lick of man defense since it lost to Le Moyne in 2009. In fact, the only man-to-man Syracuse has played is a mere manifestation of the defense — the full court press.
Nevertheless, as we head into the 2016-2017 season, Jim Boeheim has hinted at the idea of playing man-to-man, per Donna Ditota.
Is this some kind of sick joke? What’s next, UConn joining a power 5 conference? Georgetown not sucking?
“If we think it will help us, we will use it,” Said Boeheim referencing man-to-man. “We’ve got 10 guys. We only had six or seven guys (in the past). Depth. We’ve got more physical, defensive-type players. And we have a 7-foot-2 shot blocker.”
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Syracuse Basketball: Can the Orange return to the Final Four? (bustingbrackets.com; Carcieri)
What three burning questions does Syracuse basketball need to answer to finish in the top-four of the ACC standings?
Despite finishing 10th in the ACC standings and only .500 in conference play, the Syracuse Orangeunexpectedly reached the Final Four. In fact, there were some projections that had the Orange missing the field of 68 entirely and earning a berth in the NIT.
Instead, Malachi Richardson got scorching hot, Michael Gbinije was terrific, Trevor Cooney shot the lights out and Tyler Roberson ate up the glass. Boeheim’s team rolled by Dayton, crushed upset minded Middle State Tennessee, squeaked past Gonzaga and stormed back in the second half to beat Virginia in the Elite Eight.
The Orange lost in the Final Four to North Carolina, but it was a remarkable run for a team that lost to the worst team in the Big East, St. John’s, at Madison Square Garden months earlier.
Boeheim and company lost Richardson, Gbinije and Cooney, however, the 2016-17 roster looks like a more complete team on paper. The Orange have more depth, more size and more shooting, and should be awfully tough to crack defensively.
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