sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to International Left-Handers Day!
International Left-Handers Day celebrates the uniqueness of being left-handed and raises awareness about the inconveniences that those who are left-handed deal with, in a world where ninety percent of people are right-handed. Many tools and objects are designed for right-handed people, and hundreds of millions of left-handers must adapt. Not only are the disadvantages that left-handers face highlighted on the day, but any advantages that they have are also celebrated.
Of the ten percent of people who are left-handed, more are men than women. Many recent presidents have also been left-handed, including Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. Those who are left-handed haven't always risen to such heights of power. Throughout history, left-handed people were considered inferior and were often associated with witchcraft. In Christianity, left is associated with evil, and at the last Judgement, those who are sent to the left are damned. Even a left-handed compliment has a negative connotation, as it is an unflattering compliment.
SU News
Which SU player would have had the biggest impact if he didn't turn pro? (PS; $; Waters)
I get a lot of What if questions here at Mike’s Mailbox.
I generally don’t like hypothetical questions, but I received one this week that really intrigued me. Maybe it’s because it took the oft-debated subject of whether a player made a mistake or not when he left school early to enter the NBA draft and turned it around.
It leads off this week’s Mailbox and it’s followed by questions about Buddy Boeheim, fans in attendance for games this winter and a really hot topic: barbeque sauce.
Q: With the obvious exception of Carmelo Anthony, who gave up three years of eligibility, which Syracuse player do you think would have helped the Orange the most by staying and using all of his eligibility?
Bill N.
Mike: The list of Syracuse’s early departures for the NBA would include Pearl Washington, Billy Owens, Dion Waiters and many more players over the years.
There’s no doubt that Syracuse would have been a national title contender for as long as Carmelo Anthony had stayed in school.
Owens averaged 23.3 points and 11.6 rebounds as a junior. Can you imagine him as a senior on the 1992 team, which included veterans Dave Johnson and Adrian Autry and added freshman Lawrence Moten?
Waiters left SU after his sophomore year. I think he might have actually started a game if he had returned for his junior year.
But in terms of having the most impact by staying, I would have to go with Wes Johnson or Tyler Ennis.
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Report: Archie Miller looking at his former assistant coach Allen Griffin as replacement for Flint (dailyhoosier.com; Schumann)
Just a day after the news broke that former IU assistant coach Bruiser Flint was leaving the program, a name has surfaced as a possible replacement.
Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters is reporting via sources that IU head coach Archie Miller is courting Syracuse assistant Allen Griffin to join the staff in Bloomington.
Griffin played at Syracuse under Jim Boeheim from 1997 to 2001, and he joined the Orange coaching staff in 2017.
A native of New York, Griffin works primarily with the centers at Syracuse. He is also in recruiting and opponent scouting for the Orange.
Griffin spent six years as an assistant coach on Miller’s staff at Dayton. The Flyers were 139-63 during Griffin’s tenure. Dayton made one NIT appearance and four straight NCAA Tournament visits in the six seasons.
When they parted ways in 2017, Griffin spoke fondly of Miller and saw a good fit at IU.
“(Indiana is) a place where you can compete for national championships,” Griffin told The Dayton Daily News, “and they want you to compete for national championships. If you know Archie, you know he wants to compete for national championships, so this was a perfect fit for him and his family. I think he’s going to knock it out of the park.”
As a guard at Syracuse, Griffin played on four teams that earned NCAA Tournament invitations at Syracuse. The Orange were 98-36 (.731) during that span.
Originally from Brooklyn, Griffin has also coached at St. Francis, Hofstra and Providence during his career. His east coast roots and coaching background would seem to make him a natural replacement for Flint, who focused on recruiting that part of the country.
Indiana is looking for an assistant coach after Flint took an opening at Kentucky.
A Syracuse basketball bubble? Why it just might work… (itlh; Mlodzinski)
The Athletic released an idea of how a bubble of different pods may work to safely have college basketball. Here’s what it means for Syracuse basketball.
COVID has forced leagues everywhere to re-think and re-shape the 2020 season. College basketball may have it the toughest, as 350-plus teams share the Division One membership. But as the Athletic gives their take on a pod-bubble hybrid, it certainly draws intrigue. And for Syracuse basketball, it involves an old-rival.
For short background information, the Athletic staff hypothetically created a whole bunch of ‘pods’ – bubbles based on geographic location and not conference membership – in order to safely place teams with like teams. They tried to create some type of balance, although of course, Power-6 teams are sure to have an advantage.
Syracuse was placed in the Albany region (the site joked at forcing Jim Boeheim to leave the Dome for once). The Orange were paired with old Big East rival St. John’s as the marquee teams, with Albany, Central Connecticut, Marist, UMass Lowell, Sacred Heart, Siena, and Yale as the mid-major teams.
At first glance, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of, “Undefeated here we come!” But it’s actually more balanced than you think.
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SU commit Benny Williams transferred to IMG Academy due to coronavirus concerns (PS; $; Waters)
Syracuse basketball recruit Benny Williams will spend his senior year of high school at IMG Academy due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic’s potential impact on the 2020-21 season, according to his father.
Williams, who is among the Top 50 players in the 2021 class, was entering his senior year at St. Andrew’s Prep School in Potomac, Md.
However, St. Andrew’s officials have already instituted a hybrid; in-person and on-line, classroom model for the upcoming year and the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference, which consists of private schools in the Washington D.C. area, has announced that it will move and shorten the basketball season to a six-week window, beginning in January.
“The impact of the coronavirus was pretty much the major factor,‘' Williams’ father, Ben, said Wednesday morning. “They had pushed back the season until January. We had concerns about the lack of access to resources and facilities if they ended up closing schools to students.‘'
Williams committed to Syracuse in early June. He is currently ranked No. 39 in the ’21 class by 247Sports.com.
Ben Williams said the family discussed the decision to transfer to IMG with St. Andrew’s coach Kevin Jones as well as the Syracuse coaching staff.
“We talked to (Kevin Jones),‘' Williams said. “He was involved in the whole process from start to finish. He knew we had talked to IMG. We visited IMG. We came back and discussed it with him.‘'
IMG Academy, which is located in Bradenton, Fla., offers a controlled environment. The academy currently hosting the WNBA.
“They will do a bubble type thing at IMG,’' Williams said. “They’ve had these things in place with the WNBA. They have a medical facility on campus.‘'
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SU Top 100: #19 Gerry McNamara – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Shults)
As we begin the top 20 of our SU Top 100 list, we are brought to another essential member of the 2003 NCAA Championship team. Just like #37 on our list, Gerry McNamara was an essential member of Jim Boeheim’s sole championship squad.
After unexpectedly becoming a starter as a freshmen in 2003, McNamara averaged over 13 points and four assists. Against Kansas in the Championship game, it was the young McNamara leading the way for the Orange in the first half with six three pointers, tying in NCAA record in the Championship game.
In his sophomore season, McNamara became a star for the Orange as he was named to the Big East third team. McNamara’s scoring jumped to over 17 points per game, and he shot the highest percentage from three in his career – almost 39 percent. With Carmelo Anthony off to the NBA, McNamara stepped into the role of a primary scorer.
As an upperclassmen, McNamara began to solidify his legacy at Syracuse. As a junior and senior McNamara was named to the All-Big East First Team. As a junior he averaged nearly 16 points and five assists.
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