Orangeyes Daily Articles for Monday for Basketball

[sutomcat]

Welcome to National Pumpkin Day!

National Pumpkin Day celebrates pumpkins, a cultivar of the squash plant that is native to North America. Its name is derived from the Greek word "pepon", which means large melon. Pumpkins have long since been associated with the harvest season, and both Halloween and Thanksgiving. During Halloween many people pick or buy pumpkins—most often the Connecticut Field pumpkin—and carve them into jack-o'-lanterns. Vegetables such as turnips have long been carved in Ireland and Britain, and the practice of carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns stemmed from the story of Stingy Jack. Pumpkins were one of the squashes long eaten by Native Americans, which they introduced to Europeans shortly after the settlers arrived in the Americas. In fact, pumpkin pie was served at one of the Pilgrim's first Thanksgivings in the early 1620's, and is now a staple of Thanksgiving meals. A smaller strain of the Connecticut Field pumpkin, the Small Sugar pumpkin, is often used for pumpkin pie, but most Americans buy pie filling or puree in cans instead of getting it from fresh pumpkins. Although most Americans only use fresh pumpkins for carving, there has been a growing interest in pumpkin flavored foods in recent years, which can be attributed to Starbucks' introduction of pumpkin spice latte in 2003.

SU News

Syracuse Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Orange (bustingbrackets.com; Helwig)

Didn't even mention Edwards...sigh

Although expected to only stay afloat as a middle-tier ACC team, Syracuse basketball awaits its chance to reclaim its notoriety during the 2020-21 season.

After concluding a streaky season last year which ultimately left the team with a mediocre 18-14 record, the Orange once more failed put forth a product apparent to its incredibly successful past. Even though our favorite spring tradition never came into fruition last March, most still expected Syracuse Basketball to go unmentioned on Selection Sunday, rather than trying on its dancing shoes.

Making losses occur at heartbreaking levels fashionable once more, one or two shots dictated several Syracuse losses to opposing ACC teams last year. Separating what almost became a ten-game winning streak, the Orange dropped back to back incredibly close games to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech, losing to the Fighting Irish by a point and the Hokies by four.

Adding further salt to the wound, Orange’s future losses to contending teams such as Clemson, NC State, Florida State all came by a combined nine points. Needless to say, the ball certainly failed to bounce Syracuse’s way when it mattered most during the 2019-20 season.
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Syracuse Basketball: Hey Andy Katz, Buddy Boeheim is a West contender (itlh; Adler)

Andy Katz didn’t include Syracuse basketball junior Buddy Boeheim among his top-20 candidates to capture the Jerry West Award in the 2020-21 campaign.

Syracuse basketball shooting guard Buddy Boeheim put forth a strong sophomore stanza, and I’m confident that he’s going to shine even more as a junior in the 2020-21 term.

Still, college basketball insider Andy Katz has published his top-20 candidates to win the Jerry West Award in the upcoming season as the country’s best shooting guard, and Boeheim didn’t make the cut.

Sorry, Andy, but Boeheim is among the 20 most-outstanding shooting guards within the sport. Katz also recently omitted Orange sophomore Joe Girard III when he listed his top-15 candidates to claim the Bob Cousy Award in 2020-21 as the premier point guard across the nation.

Reverting back to Boeheim, in 2019-20, when the ‘Cuse recorded an 18-14 mark, he averaged 15.3 points per contest, good for a top-12 finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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NCAA Basketball: All conferences should adopt ACC’s “dress code” (bustingbrackets.com; Dillon)

For the upcoming NCAA Basketball season, ACC coaches will be dressing down. Is this change here to stay?

ACC basketball coaches have voted on a landmark decision for the 2020-21 NCAA Basketball season. They will wear polos instead of suits during games. This follows the NBA’s lead, after a successful postseason in the Orlando bubble, and all NCAA conferences should adopt this dress code.

This shift to casual falls in line with a broader societal trend. Now that many of us with office jobs are working remotely, we have all but eliminated the need to dress up. The only visual interactions we share involve seeing each other’s faces on a 13-inch computer monitor.

Think about what’s behind the scenes of your Zoom meetings – on the other side of that monitor. You’ve rolled out of bed 10 minutes before a work call. Your boss may or may not have showered this week. Your financial adviser is wearing a jacket and tie with Reebok shorts.
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NCAA Basketball: Preseason top-25 power rankings for 2020-21 season (bustingbrackets.com; Freeman)

Honorable mentions

30. Michigan Wolverines

Losing one of the top passers in college basketball in Zavier Simpson is tough but the Wolverines hope Columbia grad transfer Mike Smith and Eli Brooks can provide good production at the point. Top-30 big man freshman Hunter Dickinson will have plenty of minutes inside, while wing/forwards Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner are set to be the lead scorers for the team.

29. Florida Gators

The high-profile offseason departure of point guard Andrew Nembhard to Gonzaga hurts, but the Gators are high on Cleveland State transfer Tyree Appleby, along with former five-star recruit Tre Mann having a big sophomore year. Scottie Lewis is pegged to be a breakout star in the SEC, while Keyontae Johnson will have to make up for Kerry Blackshear’s production after graduating.

28. Memphis Tigers

AAC Player of the Year Precious Achiuwa is in the 2020 NBA Draft but the Tigers were able to land transfers Landers Nolley and Deandre Williams, although Williams has yet to receive a waiver. Add five-star center Moussa Cisse and bring back double-digit scorers Lester Quinones and DJ Jeffries, you have a roster filled with talent and potential. Yet still, there does seem to be questions as to how all the pieces fit together.

27. Louisville Cardinals

Losing Jordan Nwora early to the NBA Draft was expected but star JUCO guard Jay Scrubb opting to go pro instead of joining the program wasn’t. The good news for the Cardinals is that they were able to land grad transfers Carlik Jones and Charles Minlend. If former five-star wing Samuel Williamson can have a breakout season, look for Louisville to spend a good portion of this season in the top-25.

26. Texas Longhorns

In what could be a make-or-break season for the head coach, Shaka Smart was able to bring in five-star freshman forward Greg Brown. The rest of the roster comes back, including guards Andrew Jones and Matt Coleman. This veteran team has been improving its offense but still is a below-average shooting squad. That has to be fixed if Texas wants to be a clear-cut top-25 team.
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Other

Lights on the Lake returning with some changes due to coronavirus (PS; $; Herbert)

A Central New York holiday tradition is returning for its 31st season, but with some changes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s Lights on the Lake will run from Nov. 16 to Jan. 10, nightly from 5-10 p.m., at Onondaga Lake Park in Liverpool. The annual drive-thru show features two miles of Christmas lights on display, including a larger-than life Land of Oz, a twinkling fantasy forest, colorful section arches, memorable animated scenes and a fairy tale magic grand finale.

As always, people are encouraged to listen to Christmas music from Lights on the Lake radio sponsor Sunny 102.

But new for 2020 is admission will be online sales only: All vehicle passes must be purchased in advance at lightsonthelake.com to limit Covid-19 risks. Tickets are limited and sold by the date, which is reserved when purchasing online tickets. No tickets will be sold at the gate this year.
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[Ozone!]