sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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SU News
NBA: Updates on Cauley-Stein and Rakeem Christmas (basketballinsiders.com; Brigham)
...
Another big man who made significant waves at the NBA Combine was former Syracuse star Rakeem Christmas. With so many of the draft’s best players opting out of the five-on-five portion of the combine (or even the entire event), there really was only opportunity for potential second-rounders to make up big ground in the eyes of scouts, and Christmas did more for himself than arguably anybody else at the event.
Coming out of Syracuse, Christmas has taken his knocks for having played so much zone defense in college, but he believes his value as a pro goes way beyond whatever defensive schemes he may be most familiar with.
“I learned a lot there, how to be a captain,” Christmas said. “I had a lot of great leaders – Kris Joseph, Dion Waiters, C.J. Fair – and I learned a lot being around them. I’m going to model myself off them, and it started working for me this year.”
Plenty of postseason experience helped him a lot, too.
“I went to the tournament three times, and I’ve been to the Final Four,” he said. “Not a lot of people have done that, so I told [my teammates] to just keep their heads up. Play our hearts out, and that’s what we did.”
He knew it would be his last tournament, so he took the opportunity to make the most of it.
“Me and Coach [Jim] Boeheim talked about it,” Christmas said. “He told me to go out there and play my heart out, that it was going to be my last tournament and to go out there and play. So that’s what I did.”
Now, he’s trying to sneak into the bottom half of the first round, which isn’t something many people saw coming before the combine.
When asked to rattle off his strengths, he listed several that are exactly the kinds of things teams hope for in a second round pick: “Being assertive, strong, going out there being physical, playing defense, getting rebounds.”
He says he models himself after Taj Gibson, and if he has that kind of success as a pro he’ll be lucky. One can only assume he’s made the “Christmas is coming early to your team” joke about a million times during the interview process, but this kid is no joke. He proved that more than anybody at this year’s combine.
Wesley Johnson is Playing His Way Out of the NBA (silverscreenandroll.com; TheGreatMambino)
Wesley Johnson looks like he should be one of the best basketball players in the NBA. With a mammoth wingspan and still-freakish athleticism, the swingman simply looks like he was put on this Earth for one reason: to play basketball, and to do it very, very well. Two seasons into his Los Angeles Lakers career, it's evident that if you judged this book by its cover, you'd expect Henry David Thoreau, only to find that the text was by E.L James.
Wesley Johnson is not the star some -- but by no means all -- thought he would be. He has not utilized his physical gifts to their effective peaks, nor has his athleticism taken him places his basketball intellect could not. There's no need to look into the numbers--no one, not even Wes himself, would describe him as a star-caliber player. This statement has long since been a surprise to no one.
However, an effective role player? That was the hope that most Lakers fans had when Johnson signed up with the team two summers ago for the veteran's minimum. With his length, strength and speed, many felt that given the opportunity, Wes could morph into a defensive stopper, finisher on the break and spot-up shooter. The minutes would be there and on a squad with almost no expectations, the pressure was minimal. Was Corey Brewer too lofty of a career goal?
...
SU Lacrosse Loss to Johns Hopkins Completes Most Painful Run by SU's 'Big Three' Sports in 8 Years (PS; Axe)
Let's start on a positive note.
The Syracuse University women's lacrosse team advanced to the Final Four this past weekend with a 10-7 win over Loyola.
"This one has probably been the toughest of all," Syracuse coach Gary Gait said.
"It was a long year, a lot of close games, but you grind it out, get through the year, and this team has stepped up and come together when we needed them," Gait said on Saturday afternoon after his team clinched a fourth straight trip to the Final Four.
No. 1 Maryland, the team that has eliminated Syracuse's national title hopes the last two seasons (once in the title game, another in the Final Four) await Gait's team on Friday.
Godspeed to Gait, Tewaaraton finalist Kayla Treanor and the Orange as they look to slay the Maryland dragon and bring a title back to Syracuse.
No offense to Gait's team as they chase a title, but if we are talking about the three sports at Syracuse that inspire the most in ticket sales, television dollars, "first-time, long-time" callers to talk-radio and anonymous internet experts, Syracuse's 16-15 loss to Johns Hopkins on Sunday night put a cap on one of the most dreadful runs in recent memory for the "big three" at Syracuse University.
Add that painful loss to Syracuse's arch-rival and the screeching halt to a promising 2015 season that comes with it to the pile of a 3-9 season by the football team and an 18-13 run by the men's basketball team that resulted in a self-inflicted postseason ban and the cloud of an NCAA Investigation darkening the doorstep.
How long has it been since a run that bad by the "big three."
Eight years to be exact.
Other
Three Charged After Hit-And-Run Crash That Seriously Injures Cyclist in Clay (PS; O'Toole)
A Van Buren woman was using her cell phone while driving Saturday morning when she veered onto the shoulder of Route 57 in Clay and struck a bicyclist, Onondaga County sheriff's spokesman Jon Seeber said.
Rachel Brown, 37, of 1404 Connors Road, was driving her 2003 Ford Focus north on Oswego Road, also known as Route 57 in Clay, early Saturday when she drove off the east shoulder and struck 18-year-old Anthony Burkard, of Liverpool, Seeber said.
Brown's 31-year-old sister, Michelle Brown and her boyfriend Benjamin Trumble-Durant, 34, were close by, Seeber said. Michelle Brown picked up her sister and drove away; Trumble-Durant then drove away in Rachel Brown's car and hid it behind the Carnegie on 57 restaurant, Seeber said.
Emergency crews found Burkard on the side of Route 57, between Old Cove and Long Branch roads, about 12:35 a.m. Saturday; a damaged bicycle was nearby. Police believe Burkard was riding the bicycle south on the east shoulder of the road when he was hit.
Burkard was seriously injured and taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. He was in critical condition Sunday night, a nursing supervisor said.
...
NBA: Updates on Cauley-Stein and Rakeem Christmas (basketballinsiders.com; Brigham)
...
Another big man who made significant waves at the NBA Combine was former Syracuse star Rakeem Christmas. With so many of the draft’s best players opting out of the five-on-five portion of the combine (or even the entire event), there really was only opportunity for potential second-rounders to make up big ground in the eyes of scouts, and Christmas did more for himself than arguably anybody else at the event.
Coming out of Syracuse, Christmas has taken his knocks for having played so much zone defense in college, but he believes his value as a pro goes way beyond whatever defensive schemes he may be most familiar with.
“I learned a lot there, how to be a captain,” Christmas said. “I had a lot of great leaders – Kris Joseph, Dion Waiters, C.J. Fair – and I learned a lot being around them. I’m going to model myself off them, and it started working for me this year.”
Plenty of postseason experience helped him a lot, too.
“I went to the tournament three times, and I’ve been to the Final Four,” he said. “Not a lot of people have done that, so I told [my teammates] to just keep their heads up. Play our hearts out, and that’s what we did.”
He knew it would be his last tournament, so he took the opportunity to make the most of it.
“Me and Coach [Jim] Boeheim talked about it,” Christmas said. “He told me to go out there and play my heart out, that it was going to be my last tournament and to go out there and play. So that’s what I did.”
Now, he’s trying to sneak into the bottom half of the first round, which isn’t something many people saw coming before the combine.
When asked to rattle off his strengths, he listed several that are exactly the kinds of things teams hope for in a second round pick: “Being assertive, strong, going out there being physical, playing defense, getting rebounds.”
He says he models himself after Taj Gibson, and if he has that kind of success as a pro he’ll be lucky. One can only assume he’s made the “Christmas is coming early to your team” joke about a million times during the interview process, but this kid is no joke. He proved that more than anybody at this year’s combine.
Wesley Johnson is Playing His Way Out of the NBA (silverscreenandroll.com; TheGreatMambino)
Wesley Johnson looks like he should be one of the best basketball players in the NBA. With a mammoth wingspan and still-freakish athleticism, the swingman simply looks like he was put on this Earth for one reason: to play basketball, and to do it very, very well. Two seasons into his Los Angeles Lakers career, it's evident that if you judged this book by its cover, you'd expect Henry David Thoreau, only to find that the text was by E.L James.
Wesley Johnson is not the star some -- but by no means all -- thought he would be. He has not utilized his physical gifts to their effective peaks, nor has his athleticism taken him places his basketball intellect could not. There's no need to look into the numbers--no one, not even Wes himself, would describe him as a star-caliber player. This statement has long since been a surprise to no one.
However, an effective role player? That was the hope that most Lakers fans had when Johnson signed up with the team two summers ago for the veteran's minimum. With his length, strength and speed, many felt that given the opportunity, Wes could morph into a defensive stopper, finisher on the break and spot-up shooter. The minutes would be there and on a squad with almost no expectations, the pressure was minimal. Was Corey Brewer too lofty of a career goal?
...
SU Lacrosse Loss to Johns Hopkins Completes Most Painful Run by SU's 'Big Three' Sports in 8 Years (PS; Axe)
Let's start on a positive note.
The Syracuse University women's lacrosse team advanced to the Final Four this past weekend with a 10-7 win over Loyola.
"This one has probably been the toughest of all," Syracuse coach Gary Gait said.
"It was a long year, a lot of close games, but you grind it out, get through the year, and this team has stepped up and come together when we needed them," Gait said on Saturday afternoon after his team clinched a fourth straight trip to the Final Four.
No. 1 Maryland, the team that has eliminated Syracuse's national title hopes the last two seasons (once in the title game, another in the Final Four) await Gait's team on Friday.
Godspeed to Gait, Tewaaraton finalist Kayla Treanor and the Orange as they look to slay the Maryland dragon and bring a title back to Syracuse.
No offense to Gait's team as they chase a title, but if we are talking about the three sports at Syracuse that inspire the most in ticket sales, television dollars, "first-time, long-time" callers to talk-radio and anonymous internet experts, Syracuse's 16-15 loss to Johns Hopkins on Sunday night put a cap on one of the most dreadful runs in recent memory for the "big three" at Syracuse University.
Add that painful loss to Syracuse's arch-rival and the screeching halt to a promising 2015 season that comes with it to the pile of a 3-9 season by the football team and an 18-13 run by the men's basketball team that resulted in a self-inflicted postseason ban and the cloud of an NCAA Investigation darkening the doorstep.
How long has it been since a run that bad by the "big three."
Eight years to be exact.
Other
Three Charged After Hit-And-Run Crash That Seriously Injures Cyclist in Clay (PS; O'Toole)
A Van Buren woman was using her cell phone while driving Saturday morning when she veered onto the shoulder of Route 57 in Clay and struck a bicyclist, Onondaga County sheriff's spokesman Jon Seeber said.
Rachel Brown, 37, of 1404 Connors Road, was driving her 2003 Ford Focus north on Oswego Road, also known as Route 57 in Clay, early Saturday when she drove off the east shoulder and struck 18-year-old Anthony Burkard, of Liverpool, Seeber said.
Brown's 31-year-old sister, Michelle Brown and her boyfriend Benjamin Trumble-Durant, 34, were close by, Seeber said. Michelle Brown picked up her sister and drove away; Trumble-Durant then drove away in Rachel Brown's car and hid it behind the Carnegie on 57 restaurant, Seeber said.
Emergency crews found Burkard on the side of Route 57, between Old Cove and Long Branch roads, about 12:35 a.m. Saturday; a damaged bicycle was nearby. Police believe Burkard was riding the bicycle south on the east shoulder of the road when he was hit.
Burkard was seriously injured and taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse. He was in critical condition Sunday night, a nursing supervisor said.
...
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