sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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SU News
Ostracized Otto?
The Final Indignity: Otto Shunned From ACC Mascot Game (espn.com; AP)
Syracuse's self-imposed postseason ban apparently even extended to Otto the Orange.
The Atlantic Coast Conference held its annual mascot basketball game at halftime of the North Carolina-Louisville quarterfinal Thursday. Fourteen of the ACC's 15 mascots played -- from Mr. Wuf of NC State to Rameses of North Carolina to Sebastian the Ibis of Miami.
But no Otto.
Still, there are a few reminders of the Orange this week at the Greensboro Coliseum. They said back in February that they'd keep themselves out of this postseason in response to a lengthy NCAA investigation. The probe found the program committed academic violations, ignored drug test procedures and accepted payment for volunteer work at a YMCA.
At the conference tournament, a Syracuse banner still hangs next to banners for each school.
And the Orange's block-S logo appears on the tournament's official souvenir T-shirts, along with the insignias of all the other schools. The tournament is not selling Syracuse-specific tournament T-shirts, as they are for the other 14 schools participating.
...
Where's Otto? (PS; Stevens)
The Lep Could Have At Least Worn an Armband...
It's a tradition like many others, but it's still something that reliably occurs during every ACC tournament. It would be the mascot game, which is one way to get every school represented in a span of a few minutes.
Take note:
There's somebody, er, something missing from this photo. OK, there's a few furry things missing, since it only covered one bench. But only one mascot didn't make the trip to Greensboro.
Unsurprisingly, that was the one representing the team that also didn't take its place at the ACC tournament: Otto the Orange.
ACC Basketball
Life in ACC difficult for Aspiring Basketball Programs (dailypress.com; Teel)
Virginia on Sunday will receive its thirdNCAA basketball tournament bid in the last four years, and with only one scholarship senior and many reinforcements en route, Tony Bennett appears poised to establish his program as a March staple.
Buzz Williams, on the job a year at Virginia Tech, coached Marquetteto five consecutive NCAA appearances from 2009-13, a streak that included the Golden Eagles reaching the Sweet 16 twice and Elite Eight once.
But what Williams accomplished at Marquette, and aspires to at Virginia Tech, and what Bennett may well attain at U.Va., is harder than defending Jahlil Okafor in the low post — especially in the ACC.
Just view the landscape here at the league's 62nd annual basketball jamboree and clambake.
Wake Forest lost in Tuesday's opening round to Virginia Tech and is a shell of the program that reached 12 NCAA tournaments in 15 years under Dave Odom and his successor, the late Skip Prosser. This will be the Deacons' fifth consecutive year with no postseason, though first-year coach Danny Manning, who inherited a tire fire from Jeff Bzdelik, shows promise.
...
Even Marshall Plumlee Scored
Duke Destroys NC State 77-53 (dukebasketballreport.com; King)
Duke completely destroyed NC State in the ACC Tournament, winning 77-53, and it wasn't nearly that close. It was a performance that left us reaching for anything comparable in the past. Villanova '78? St. John's in 1992? Michigan '92? In the fall, not the title game, after Michigan woofed about how Duke "stole" their title.
It was a stunning performance over a team which some people have pegged as a potential dark horse or Cinderella in March and it serves notice: whatever else happens in Greensboro, this team has another gear and it's one most teams can't come close to.
Where to even start?
Duke threw a few wrinkles at State, including a three-quarter trap which slowed down Cat Barber considerably and a K version of a matchup zone.
Trevor Lacey made clear just how confusing it was:
"They just made sure me and Cat didn’t beat them. At one point it looked like a 1-3-1, and then a 2-3, and then it was – I don’t know. Man to man? I don’t know."
And that was after the game.
...
Ostracized Otto?
The Final Indignity: Otto Shunned From ACC Mascot Game (espn.com; AP)
Syracuse's self-imposed postseason ban apparently even extended to Otto the Orange.
The Atlantic Coast Conference held its annual mascot basketball game at halftime of the North Carolina-Louisville quarterfinal Thursday. Fourteen of the ACC's 15 mascots played -- from Mr. Wuf of NC State to Rameses of North Carolina to Sebastian the Ibis of Miami.
But no Otto.
Still, there are a few reminders of the Orange this week at the Greensboro Coliseum. They said back in February that they'd keep themselves out of this postseason in response to a lengthy NCAA investigation. The probe found the program committed academic violations, ignored drug test procedures and accepted payment for volunteer work at a YMCA.
At the conference tournament, a Syracuse banner still hangs next to banners for each school.
And the Orange's block-S logo appears on the tournament's official souvenir T-shirts, along with the insignias of all the other schools. The tournament is not selling Syracuse-specific tournament T-shirts, as they are for the other 14 schools participating.
...
Where's Otto? (PS; Stevens)
The Lep Could Have At Least Worn an Armband...
It's a tradition like many others, but it's still something that reliably occurs during every ACC tournament. It would be the mascot game, which is one way to get every school represented in a span of a few minutes.
Take note:
There's somebody, er, something missing from this photo. OK, there's a few furry things missing, since it only covered one bench. But only one mascot didn't make the trip to Greensboro.
Unsurprisingly, that was the one representing the team that also didn't take its place at the ACC tournament: Otto the Orange.
ACC Basketball
Life in ACC difficult for Aspiring Basketball Programs (dailypress.com; Teel)
Virginia on Sunday will receive its thirdNCAA basketball tournament bid in the last four years, and with only one scholarship senior and many reinforcements en route, Tony Bennett appears poised to establish his program as a March staple.
Buzz Williams, on the job a year at Virginia Tech, coached Marquetteto five consecutive NCAA appearances from 2009-13, a streak that included the Golden Eagles reaching the Sweet 16 twice and Elite Eight once.
But what Williams accomplished at Marquette, and aspires to at Virginia Tech, and what Bennett may well attain at U.Va., is harder than defending Jahlil Okafor in the low post — especially in the ACC.
Just view the landscape here at the league's 62nd annual basketball jamboree and clambake.
Wake Forest lost in Tuesday's opening round to Virginia Tech and is a shell of the program that reached 12 NCAA tournaments in 15 years under Dave Odom and his successor, the late Skip Prosser. This will be the Deacons' fifth consecutive year with no postseason, though first-year coach Danny Manning, who inherited a tire fire from Jeff Bzdelik, shows promise.
...
Even Marshall Plumlee Scored
Duke Destroys NC State 77-53 (dukebasketballreport.com; King)
Duke completely destroyed NC State in the ACC Tournament, winning 77-53, and it wasn't nearly that close. It was a performance that left us reaching for anything comparable in the past. Villanova '78? St. John's in 1992? Michigan '92? In the fall, not the title game, after Michigan woofed about how Duke "stole" their title.
It was a stunning performance over a team which some people have pegged as a potential dark horse or Cinderella in March and it serves notice: whatever else happens in Greensboro, this team has another gear and it's one most teams can't come close to.
Where to even start?
Duke threw a few wrinkles at State, including a three-quarter trap which slowed down Cat Barber considerably and a K version of a matchup zone.
Trevor Lacey made clear just how confusing it was:
"They just made sure me and Cat didn’t beat them. At one point it looked like a 1-3-1, and then a 2-3, and then it was – I don’t know. Man to man? I don’t know."
And that was after the game.
...
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