sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Today is a day to celebrate all that is great about former Post-Standard sports columnist Bud Poliquin.
Ways to participate:
Play golf with a persimmon head driver
Go to the opera (but wear a baseball hat)
Randomly blurt out a Poliquin favorite word or phrase
Suggestions: Whiz bang, mix in a salad, burg, huzzah, ink stained wretch, (feel free to add more Poliquin words and phrases as you see fit);
Bud's Thank-You Column
Poliquin thank-you column: 2nd career option worked out pretty well
If no one would pay me to play ball, perhaps somebody would pay me to write about those who did.
SU News
Syracuse basketball at Boston College: What to know (PS; $, Waters)
Syracuse puts its longest winning streak of the season on the line when it faces Boston College at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Tuesday night.
The Orange has won its past three games, improving its regular-season record to 12-11. Syracuse has evened its ACC record at 6-6.
In its recent wins over Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Louisville, Syracuse has averaged 91.6 points.
Boston College (9-12 overall, 4-7 ACC) comes into Tuesday’s game having lost three of its last four games. In contrast to Syracuse’s high-powered offense, Boston College has scored more than 80 points just once all season.
The Syracuse-Boston College game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. on the ACC Network.
Here are five key things to know about the matchup:
Orange on a roll
Syracuse has been on a hot streak. In its three most recent wins over Wake Forest, N.C. State and Louisville, the Orange has been shooting the lights out.
In those three games, Syracuse has made 57% of its field goal attempts, going 100-for-175 from the floor. The Orange has been even hotter from 3-point range, making an average of 11 3-pointers per game and shooting at a 54% clip from outside the arc.
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Beat writers agree that SU will defeat Boston College to earn 4th straight win (DO; Staff)
After clinching its first three-game winning streak of the season on Saturday, Syracuse looks to extend its late-season push for a postseason bid when it travels to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, and faces Boston College Tuesday night. The Orange cruised past Louisville 92-69 and a balanced offense, with all five starters pouring in double-digit point totals, was paced by Buddy Boeheim and Jesse Edwards with 19 each.
The Eagles haven’t won consecutive games since early December, and most recently, they lost to Virginia by 12 points on Feb. 1. Six of BC’s 12 losses have been by double-digit margins, and it sits in 12th place in the Atlantic Coast Conference — ahead of only Georgia Tech, Pitt and NC State. Makai Ashton-Langford averages 12.7 points per game to lead the Eagles in scoring.
Here’s what The Daily Orange’s beat writers think will happen when SU plays its first of back-to-back road games.
Andrew Crane (15-8)
Shipping up, and back, a win streak
Syracuse 84, Boston College 71
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Opponent Preview: What to know about Boston College (DO; Shetty)
After a comprehensive 92-69 victory over Louisville, Syracuse accomplished something it hasn’t been able to do all season: win three games in a row.
Now, Syracuse heads to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to try and win its fourth in a row, something the Orange have not done since the 2019-20 season. Syracuse has averaged 91.7 points per game during this win streak as the offense appears to be firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, Boston College has struggled to piece together wins in Atlantic Coast Conference play, having just lost to Virginia.
Here’s what you need to know about Boston College (9-12, 4-7 Atlantic Coast) as Syracuse (12-11, 6-6 ACC) looks to win four straight:
All-time series
Syracuse leads 53-26.Last time they played
Syracuse and Boston College last met almost exactly a year ago in the Carrier Dome on Feb. 13, 2021. Powered by all five starters scoring in double figures, the Orange inched past BC 75-67. Joe Girard III was SU’s top scorer that night, recording 16 points — all in the first half.…
Jesse Edwards' pick-and-roll play powers Syracuse's recent offensive surge (DO; Crane)
The first screen Jesse Edwards set on a Louisville defender, intended to free Buddy Boeheim for a transition 3 less than a minute into the second half, didn’t work, so he flipped around and tried again. This time, he faced Dre Davis. And when Davis’ 6-foot-6 frame started to brush against Edwards’ chest, he slipped left and rolled toward the basket.
It was a similar type of pick-and-roll action to what Orange had used earlier in their 92-69 win over Louisville on Saturday and throughout the entire season. Defenses, playing Buddy tighter than normal, needed to be maneuvered away from SU’s shooters to free up open space, but in recent games — including this sequence with Edwards — a different threat, one that started as a secondary option but has quickly emerged as a primary one, has surfaced.
As soon as he slid behind Davis and reached the paint, Edwards thrust his right arm into the air, collected the pass from Buddy and rose for a two-handed dunk that pushed the Orange’s lead to 47-26. Edwards finished with 19 points for the second consecutive game and said postgame that Syracuse (12-11, 6-6 ACC) has worked on the pick-and-roll sets in practice, while he individually has focused on rolling faster, because it’s difficult to defend when the shooters he’s setting screens for have converted at a clip above 50% over the three-game winning streak.
Here’s why surging Syracuse basketball offense can crush Boston College (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse basketball, these days, is playing about as well as could be expected in the 2021-22 campaign.
The Orange (12-11, 6-6) is back above the .500 mark after destroying Louisville on the Hill this past Saturday afternoon. The ‘Cuse, a team that has captured three Atlantic Coast Conference clashes in a row, is performing at an exceptionally high level on offense, doing what it needs to get done on defense, and more than holding its own on the glass.
All in all, the Orange at present looks like a squad that could continue to pile up successes as the 2021-22 regular term begins to wind down over the next month or so.
I’m not in any way saying that Syracuse basketball is realistically going to enter the conversation for a Big Dance berth this spring, but if the ‘Cuse keeps on playing well and winning games, stranger things could happen.
Syracuse basketball, up next, is on the road for two ACC encounters.
Although the Orange is just 2-5 in true road contests so far in 2021-22, the ‘Cuse has a pair of ACC meetings over the next week that I believe are winnable affairs for Syracuse basketball.First up, the Orange will travel to Boston College (9-12, 4-7) on Tuesday, Feb. 8, for an 8 pm tip-off from the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Then, this Saturday, Feb. 12, at 6 pm, Syracuse basketball will make a trip to Blacksburg, Va., for an ACC showdown with Virginia Tech.
The Eagles, at the time of this writing, were rated No. 148 overall via KenPom. That sub-par ranking includes No. 168 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 154 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
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Can Syracuse swipe former Pitt commit Judah Mintz? - ACCSports.com (accsports.com; Geisinger)
Judah Mintz, one of the most explosive scoring guards in the 2022 recruiting class, has an official visit set for Syracuse. The 4-star combo guard will visit Syracuse during the final weekend of February. This will overlap with when Duke’s in town to play the Orange.
Mintz, who initially committed to play for Jeff Capel and Pittsburgh, is considering two other ACC programs, along with Syracuse. NC State and Wake Forest are also in the mix. The 6-foot-3, 165-pound guard will visit NC State in two weeks, too.
Last June, Mintz picked Pittsburgh; at the time, he was a mostly unheralded recruit. However, Mintz erupted during the July evaluation period. As his stock rose, Pitt’s 2021-22 season got off to a bumpy start.
In fact, Mintz de-committed from Pitt the day after a season-opening loss to The Citadel. It’s been a tough go of things for Capel; the loss of Mintz is a serious blow for his long-term prospects with the program.
Mintz plays his prep ball for Oak Hill Academy.
As Kevin Keatts continues to take on water at NC State, the addition of Mintz to his 2022 class would mean a lot, potentially. The Wolfpack currently have two 3-star signees for 2022: Shawn Phillips and in-state point guard LJ Thomas.
For Steve Forbes and Wake Forest, though, Mintz signifies an opportunity. With the success of transfers Alondes Williams and Jake LaRavia, Forbes has quickly turned things around in Winston-Salem. However, the next step would be for Forbes to land another notable prep commitment.
Freshman point guard Carter Whitt, now in his second season with the program, was a big addition to the program. Whitt reclassified and entered Wake Forest with the 2020 class. Forbes microwaved success this season, but for things to keep moving forward, he’ll need more impact transfers and wins along the recruiting trail.
There’s a very good chance Williams could dart for the NBA Draft — with his stock soaring. LaRavia could follow suit, too, although he’s not the same caliber of draft prospect.
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ACC Basketball: Ranking the top 10 impact transfers of 2021-22 season (bustingbrackets.com; Watson)
The NCAA’s new one-time transfer rule has opened up a new era of college basketball. Almost every team in the country now has multiple transfers on their roster, aided by the almost free-agent-like approach facilitated by the transfer portal.
There were 36 players who transferred into ACC Basketball this season. According to Verbal Commits, 1,464 Division I players found new collegiate homes via the transfer portal in the 2021 cycle. When divided evenly among the 358 DI teams, that works out to just over four per team. At that rate, there should, in theory, be 60 transfers in the ACC this season, making the actual number of 36 seem relatively low compared to other leagues across the country.
In this new era of college basketball, a coaching staff’s ability to effectively recruit more than just high schoolers is necessary. A coach’s ability to recognize talent from other teams and successfully recruit and implement them into a new system can be challenging, but the potential rewards are immense.
Wake Forest is one of the most notable transfer portal success stories of the season. Steve Forbes has seemingly turned around an entire program over the course of one summer with the addition of five impactful transfers, two of whom are featured in this piece.
With that in mind, here are the ACC’s top 10 transfers of the 2021-22 season (so far).
10. Armaan Franklin – Virginia
Franklin is the second-leading scorer on a Virginia team that has rallied to a 9-5 record in ACC play after Tuesday’s road win over No. 7 Duke. The Indiana transfer is averaging 12.3 points on the season, a slight increase from his numbers at IU in 2020-21.Although he’s shooting just 41.7% from the field, his ability to create offense as a wing is something that UVA has desperately needed this season.
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Other
Syracuse’s rental desert gives evicted, homeless families little hope: ‘Good luck finding an apartment’ (PS; $; Eisenstadt)
Kathleen Rose and her two teens have lived in the same Clay townhouse for five years. Last week, she was packing it all up.
Her kids have thrived in the school district, their home is safe and quiet. But the move is not Rose’s choice; her family is being evicted.
They are among the first wave of families court-ordered to leave following the end of the state’s eviction moratorium. And they are being thrown into a remarkably unstable housing market. Supply is tight, rents are at record highs and landlords are skittish.
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