sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!
Bubble Wrap is a generic trademark—a name that has become synonymous with similar products—for a transparent plastic material with air-filled bubbles used for packing fragile products when they are delivered or transported. Bubble Wrap is also often popped for entertainment and stress relieving purposes. Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day was started by "Spirit 95," a radio station in Bloomington, Indiana. The day was first held in 2001.
In 1957, Engineers Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding worked in a garage to create a three dimensional plastic wallpaper, by sealing two shower curtains together. They were not successful in selling their wallpaper, so they began marketing it as greenhouse insulation. In 1960 they started the Sealed Air Corporation. The following year they realized their product could be used as a cushioning and packaging material. It was originally used to package IBM 1401 computers for shipment. Now it is used for food packaging more than for anything else. Bubbles are generally different sizes, usually 1/4 inch in diameter to 1 inch in diameter. Bubble Wrap is often made from polyethylene film.
SU News
Gutierrez: Tyus Battle keeps refining his game, but his progression can’t end soon (DO; Gutierrez)
All his life, the coaches, parents and teammates who’d recognized Tyus Battle’s talents also recognized how he could do more. They implored him to go get the ball, attack the basket and not shy away from taking consecutive shots. “Take control!” his father, Gary, often yelled at AAU games. “That’s you!” he said as Battle drilled a basket at Duke two weeks ago.
On any given night, Battle can drop 25 or 30 points. He’s developed his left hand, improved his shot, relied on his step back jumper in big moments, dropped devastating floaters in the paint and learned how to play point guard. At this point of his career, his only glaring weakness is his shooting. For Syracuse, he’s been the most important and versatile player over the past two seasons.
Still, he needs to be more aggressive.
Battle’s aggression is linked to Syracuse’s success against stronger conference teams. SU’s 78-56 loss Saturday night at No. 10 Virginia Tech — with only three Battle field goals — represented the latest sample of that trend. Battle, with a team-high 17.4 points per game, can’t shy away from being at top form. It’s integral if Syracuse (14-6, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) wants to go from good to great, from proverbial bubble team to NCAA Tournament lock.
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Syracuse May Be 5-2 in ACC Play, But the Road Ahead is Daunting – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Aki)
Syracuse raced out to a 5-1 start to ACC play. All previous shortcomings seemed forgiven, especially with a colossal Duke upset as a part of the fold. But the weekend’s embarrassment against No. 10 Virginia Tech represents a shift in the schedule for the remainder of league play.
Don’t get me wrong, winning five of your first seven games in conference is no small feat. Especially in the ACC. It was especially imperative for an Orange team that racked up an uncharacteristic four non-conference losses. However, four of those five wins came against four of the five worst teams in the conference standings. The schedule gets much tougher for the Orange in multiple ways down the road.
For starters, the majority of Syracuse’s remaining schedule is on the road. If you include the Virginia Tech loss, seven of the Orange’s final 12 games are away from the Dome. SU currently sits in the middle of a stretch of three straight road games in eight days. That can certainly wear down a team that just got shot out of the gym on Saturday.
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Syracuse basketball needs to use Marek Dolezaj better - The Juice Online (the juice; Irvine)
Syracuse has a Marek Dolezaj problem. He’s the team’s best passer and most efficient player. But coach Jim Boeheim has not found a way to utilize him on offense.
It was expected that Dolezaj’s minutes would fall with the addition of Elijah Hughes (they have). But even while on he’s on the floor the team has not figured out how to involve the 6-10 Slovakian.
Dolezaj’s usage percentage, which indicates involvement of a player while on the court, is 10 percent. By comparison, Tyus Battle’s is 23 percent and Buddy Boeheim’s is 22 percent.
Dolezaj’s field goal attempts per 40 minutes are down from 5.7 a year ago to 4.6. He takes just 8 percent of the Orange’s shots while on the floor.
If you only follow the box scores, you might think, “So what? The kid only averages 3.5 points per game. What is he going to do if Boeheim gets him more involved?”
But just like his slight, 180-pound frame belies his toughness and hustle on the court, Dolezaj’s box score numbers conceal his true value.
This season, Dolezaj’s true shooting percentage, which accounts for free throws and 3-point shots, is 66 percent. That’s the same as Paschal Chukwu, who literally only shoots dunks and layups.
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Syracuse Basketball: SU’s rebounding struggles are unacceptable (itlh.com; Adler)
The Syracuse basketball squad got thoroughly outplayed in almost every statistical category, with the result a 22-point drubbing by Virginia Tech.
Prior to SU’s encounter at No. 10 Virginia Tech on Saturday night, I wrote that the ‘Cuse had to remain laser-focused in its 2-3 zone and keep the Hokies’ 3-point specialists at bay.
That unfortunately didn’t happen, and Syracuse ultimately got smoked. This 78-56 setback for the Orange (14-6, 5-2) isn’t the end of the world. Sure, it snapped a three-game winning streak for SU, and it also represented the team’s inaugural true road defeat of the 2018-19 campaign.
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Scans show slippage in UK basketball crowds. Why are fans staying home? (courier-journal.com; Sullivan)
Big Blue Nation has a secession problem. Some of its most devoted citizens have bailed — at least physically — on Kentucky basketball.
Attendance is down, so much so that a renovation that will reduce Rupp Arena’s capacity by 3,000 seats moves forward without protest.
No-shows are on the rise, so much so that more than 28 percent of the tickets distributed this season have not registered on arena scans.
Pricing, parking, scheduling, seating, supply, demand, the economic theory of marginal utility, one-and-done culture and television technology were all mentioned by Kentucky fans among contributing causes for the erosion of a fan base that has ranked first or second in college basketball attendance every season since Rupp Arena opened in 1976.
Additionally, UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart cites the Wildcats’ back-loaded schedule, inclement weather for several games, and the inconveniences caused by Rupp construction as having an adverse impact on Kentucky’s crowds.
These factors have combined for a near-perfect storm, one whose toll has been telling. Two seasons since Kentucky’s announced home attendance averaged 23,461, John Calipari’s Wildcats were averaging just 20,708 prior to Saturday’s sellout against Kansas, a decline of nearly 12 percent over a two-year span.
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Next Up For Duke Basketball: Notre Dame (DBR; King)
One of the hallmarks of Mike Brey’s system at Notre Dame is that, in the age of one-and-done, the Irish get players and mature them for 3-4 years. As a result, the Irish have a built-in advantage with experienced players who know exactly what they’e doing.
Not so much this year: Brey has six upperclassmen and his best returnee, senior Rex Pflueger, is out for the season.
In Notre Dame’s rotation, sans Pflueger, we see minutes going to TJ Gibbs, a 6-3 junior, Prentiss Hubb, a 6-3 freshman, John Mooney, a 6-10 junior, DJ Harvey, a 6-6 sophomore coming off of a serious knee injury, Dane Goodwin, a 6-6 freshman, Nate Laszewski, a 6-10 freshman, Juwan Durham, a 6-11 junior transfer from UConn, and Robby Carmody, a 6-4 freshman.
That’s six unproven players, to a greater or lesser extent, in a system built on seniority.
Gibb is solid and Mooney is emerging as an All-ACC level player, but even Harvey, who was also recruited by Duke and who is talented, is behind due to his injury. He is averaging double figures though and pulling about 24.2 mpg. He should continue to improve.
Durham left UConn when it was a sinking ship (Danny Hurley is quickly righting that ship) and he wasn’t a significant factor even on a bad team. To his credit, he is much more successful at Notre Dame than he was at UConn and is in fact leading the ACC in blocked shots.
Unfortunately for Notre Dame, he’s recovering from an ankle injury and doubtful for Monday, which makes things that much more dicey for Brey.
Once you get past those guys it’s Hubb, Goodwin, Laszewski and Carmody.
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ACC Roundup - A Thrilling Saturday (DBR; King)
We thought it would be a fairly boring day of ACC basketball but NC State and Boston College saw to it that it was not.
Clemson’s Marcquise Reed missed four foul shots in the final :13 seconds and then had to watch as CJ Brice brought the ball up court and and passed off to Braxton Beverly who hit a very deep three with time running out - his only one of the game - to put State over the top, 69-67.
It must have devastated Reed, who ran across the lane and dove on the floor and covered his face.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for Clemson in general. The Tigers, who were so magnificent last spring, are now just 11-8 and 1-5 in ACC play.
Boston College nearly matched them: Ky Bowman hit a similarly deep shot against Wake Forest but with two defenders hanging all over him. Braxton was deep but relatively open although David Skara challenged the shot.
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Other
Louisville basketball: Cards put together another perfect week in the ACC (bigredlouie.com; Thomas)
Louisville basketball had two more ACC matchups this week, one against #21 ranked NC State and the other a revenge game against the Cards only ACC defeat, Pittsburgh.
When the #21 ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack rolled into town on Thursday night, it was the first time Louisville basketball had been ranked and were playing a ranked team at home in a little over two and a half years. The Cards were coming off three straight double digit wins but were in a for a dog fight with the Wolf Pack.
The difference maker in this one was the amazing fan support in the KFC Yum! Center and our favorite student section, the Ville’ns. The arena was rocking all night long and the team made a point to make sure they noticed via interviews and social media posts.
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ACC Selection Sunday Outlook: bubble watching has begun (tomahawk.com; Minnick)
Late January typically means two things: arctic blasts of cold air surging into the lower 48 and NCAA Tournament implications heating up in basketball games around the country. This year is no exception and with that I bring you the first installment of the ACC Selection Sunday Outlook. Like last season, I’ll be breaking down which teams have locked up bids, which teams have work to do, and which teams are only playing for pride. Updates will come every 7-10 days at first and then gaining in frequency as we get closer to March 17.
***Author’s note: Starting this year the NCAA has “eliminated” the RPI and is now using an efficiency based rating system referred to as NET. Much has been written about the NET’s faults, most notably that it uses raw efficiency instead of adjusting for the relative strength of the opponent. Nonetheless, it’s still an improvement from the RPI and will be the primary tool used by the NCAA selection committee, and it’s the only metric that will be used to determine the win quadrants for each team.
While NET is the primary tool, additional data points will be listed on the team sheets presented to selection committee members during their deliberations. This includes, but is not limited to, KenPom rankings and a team’s SOS as determined by the old school RPI (now you see why I put eliminated in quotation marks...). Accordingly, in parentheses next to each team I have included their current NET rank, KenPom rank, and SOS rank, in that order. Also, within each tier teams are listed in descending order of their latest NET rank.
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(cusenationpodcast.com,libsyn.com; podcast; Cuse Militia)
What's up Cuse Nation? Well...Va Tech gets the best of The Orange in Blacksburg 78-56. You'll hear from us. We'll hear from you in the fan feedback top 10! We look ahead to the 2nd third of ACC play and also let you know what to expect as Syracuse heads north to face Boston College January 30th @ 8pm!
Other
Snow plowing, the Mayor’s Ball and more stories from this weekend (DO; Miraglia & Rubio-Licht)
Here are some local news stories — from the city of Syracuse’s new snow plowing contract to the investigation of a local homicide — that you may have missed from the past week.
Candlelight vigil held for Syracuse University student killed in crash
Hundreds of SU students stood on and around the steps of Hendricks Chapel on Friday night to remember SU senior Brianna Herrera, who died in a bus crash Thursday night.
Herrera, a member of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority, was travelling to visit family in the New York city area when the Prevost bus she was riding on crashed in northern New Jersey. The Panhellenic Council cancelled recruitment Friday so sororities on campus could honor Herrera.
Hendricks Chapel Dean Brian Konkol spoke at the vigil. He said the SU community can celebrate Herrera’s life “by living into the fullness” of their own.
Sigma Delta Tau President Erica Sosman, and Herrera’s roommate, Madison Albert, also spoke.
Common Council approves snow plowing contract
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