sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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The original Pooh animals can be seen in New York Public Library
Welcome to National Winnie the Pooh Day!
AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, was born on January 18, 1882, which is why today’s date is celebrated as National Winnie the Pooh Day
1. The hyphens in the original name were dropped when Disney bought the rights to the characters.
2. The origins of the name go back to a bear bought by a Canadian soldier in the First World War named Winnie after his hometown Winnipeg.
3. The soldier left Winnie with London Zoo where it was seen by Milne’s son Christopher Robin.
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Top 10 facts about Winnie the Pooh
SU News
Late-night workouts fuel Tyus Battle as he settles in at Syracuse (DO; Schneidman)
While most Syracuse players are asleep in the team hotel before a road game, Tyus Battle finds the building’s workout facility. He’s often by himself, opting for solidarity into the early morning on game day. Lifting weights is Battle’s preferred alternative to sleep, something he admittedly doesn’t do much of.
“I gotta keep myself active a little bit so I always like to workout pretty late. I like to stay up pretty late,” Battle said. “The guys are usually sleeping or something, doing whatever they’re doing. I usually just like to go by myself just to clear my mind.”
After Syracuse’s first game away from the Carrier Dome, a loss to South Carolina on Nov. 26 in which Battle played only 13 minutes and recorded his only scoreless game of the season, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said the freshman seemed lost on the Barclays Center court. Since then, Battle has remained consistent for the Orange at shooting guard.
He’s raised his scoring average to 9.9 from 5.8 points per game since the loss to the Gamecocks, aided by performances of 13 or more in the last four games and a career-high 21 against Boston College on Saturday. And despite Syracuse’s (11-8, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) 85-68 loss to North Carolina on Monday, Battle continues to show why he’s one of SU’s most reliable options night in and night out.
“He’s got a huge upside with what he can do,” Boeheim said, “but he’s been very steady, very solid.”
Even if Battle’s late-night workouts don’t have a clear-cut correlation with steady on-court performance, they help him negate any distractions, which hindered him earlier in the season. A minor left foot injury didn’t force him to miss any games, but he sat out practice for a whole week and has since confessed that being nicked up derailed his ability to showcase his full arsenal. It restricted his desire to make sharp cuts to the rim, something he’s showcased of late, most recently at North Carolina.
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Tyus Battle reuses an old skill to spark recent success (DO; Schwedelson)
Twice within a one-minute span on Monday night, Tyus Battle flashed the offensive weapon that’s new to this season but old to him.
First, he curled around a ball screen on the left wing, dribbled to the middle and unfurled a 2-foot floater as he reached the interior of North Carolina’s defense.
Two possessions later, Battle ran down the right alley with two defenders in his way. He ripped the ball right to left to avoid the first defender, brought it back as the second defender whiffed and then laid in a righty layup. Syracuse narrowed UNC’s lead to three points, the closest it would be the rest of the game.
“I think (driving to the basket) can be really good for me,” Battle said. “I’ve been knocking down 3s so guys are going to have to start closing out and that just makes drives easier for me. I think I just have to be aggressive.”
The two-play sequence symbolized Battle’s offensive progression this season, playing the lead role in the Orange’s best sequence against its best opponent. After beginning the season hot from behind the arc, Battle has expanded his game to attack more off the dribble. It’s something he thrived at in high school and is starting to succeed at in his freshman season with Syracuse (11-8, 3-3 Atlantic Coast). The 6-foot-6 guard has evolved this season from X-factor off the bench to key offensive contributor and is amid his best stretch of the year having scored 13 or more points in each of the past four games.
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Graduating senior reflects on four-year management position, Syracuse men’s basketball team (DO; Greenwald)
Some might say that it can be challenging to work your way into the center of a sports team like the Syracuse men’s basketball team after graduating from a small suburban high school. But through a love of the sport and some personal connections, Jeff Maizes, a senior sport management major, landed a spot as one of four student managers.
“It’s everything no one else wants to do, and everything you wouldn’t expect,” Maizes said.
Maizes arrives at every practice an hour early and often stays late after the players leave. He attends every game in the Carrier Dome and travels around the country with the team.
During his freshman year, Maizes reached out to a resident of his hometown who put him in touch with the team’s graduate assistant at the time. He was then interviewed to be a student manager for the team and has held that role ever since.
Maizes describes his work as “a lot of small stuff you wouldn’t think about.” Some of his roles include keeping the stat book for away games, making sure all the players have their jerseys and shoes on the road, wiping up sweat or practicing shooting with the team. Though these tasks may seem mundane, they are essential to the entire production running smoothly.
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Syracuse in the NBA: Mid-season Check-in (TNIAAM; Cassillo)
The NBA has reached the mid-season mark, which seemed like a good time to check in on all of the former Syracuse Orange players currently in the league. When we last took at look at all the SU basketball pros, many were doing pretty well, even if shuttling in between the D-League and NBA.
So how about now? Here’s a quick assessment of every former Syracuse player in the NBA (in some capacity) for 2016-17, with notes on outlook for the rest of the year, too.
(listed alphabetically)
Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks
Melo’s started 41 of 42 games for the Knicks this year, sitting out one due to suspension. He’s averaging 22.2 points per game, which is respectable, but this year’s play has definitely declined a little vs. the rest of his career numbers. Rebounds and field goal percentage are down, while defensive lapses have increased. Still, he’s one of New York’s two most important players. Trade talks are starting to bubble up. We’ll see if they materialize into anything.
Michael Carter-Williams, Chicago Bulls
MCW’s been hampered by injuries this year, but has been effective in the 15 games he’s played in thus far. Starting the last nine for the Bulls, he’s largely been putting up at least 10 points per night (high of 15 vs. Oklahoma City). Still, his overall numbers are down quite a bit from his previous averages. If he stays on this pace, it’ll be his first season as a pro under 10 points per game.
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Lydon remains 1st-round pick in latest draft projections (TNIAAM; Sigel)
Syracuse Orange sophomore forward Tyler Lydon gained national exposure with an eye-opening freshman season that helped SU reach its sixth Final Four in program history.
With his early season success last year — 18 points vs. Charlotte, 16 points vs. UConn and 13 points vs. Texas A&M — Lydon jumped up further on 2017 draft boards.
Now despite his early season struggles, DraftExpress still has Lydon going 20th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft. The rankings were updated on Monday morning. While that means they also failed to include yesterday evening’s 26-point outburst, it’s unlikely that one game would sway things much. Still, it’s reassuring for scouts that he can have such a quality scoring game against a quality opponent like UNC.
In the first mock draft that included Lydon (April 20), he was projected to go 18th overall. He then bumped up one spot to 17th in the next mock draft (October 4), but dropped to 20th on January 5 and remains there now.
He’s ranked as the 23rd-best prospect in the country, according to DraftExpress.
On Monday, Lydon showed his potential — yet again. He scored 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor against No. 9 North Carolina. Unfortunately for Syracuse, it wasn’t enough.
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Other
Buffalo Zoo's ocelot kitten is the cutest zoo baby you've never seen (PS; AP)
The Buffalo Zoo has announced the birth of an ocelot kitten.
Zoo officials say the ocelot population is doing well in South America, but that there may be fewer than 100 living in the United States because of hunting and habitat loss. The golden-haired cats are found in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The Buffalo Zoo's male ocelot was born in November, but the birth was announced on Tuesday, along with a list of possible names.
The zoo is asking the public to vote to name the kitten either Javiar, Nico, Pablo or Tacito and will announce the winning name Sunday.
The zoo participates in the Ocelot Species Survival Plan through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which helps promote the species survival through planned breeding.
