My Take

[sutomcat]

Nice turnout of Syracuse fans. UConn had a much better turnout than for their games on Tuesday or Wednesday. All the neutrals also cheered for the Huskies. Everyone loves the underdog.

Got to MSG really early. They have a fine organist thst did a nice job keeping me entertained while I waited for the game to start. Had time to watch around the upper concourse today. The opened up the aisle and have a number of extra wide areas to eat and talk in. Much lighter and airy than better. For the first time, you can actually walk all the way around MSG from the msin aisle upstairs, which is also a great improvement. Lastly, they have expanded the variety of food available in a major way. Several options for pizza. A number of sandwich options. The usual nachos, dogs and that NYC fave, the knish. Kind of knasty, if you ask me. Shrimp lobster rolls, sushi, premium burgers, chicken in a bunch of different ways, etc. There are some full bars here as well.

The shrimp lobster roll set a new record for expense for stadium food. 19.95.

Regarding the game, Christmas didn't start. Looks like he has been converted to a 5 for now. Good move that paid immediate dividends. With CJ sick, KJ hurt and RC at center, JS had to come up big. It had to be really gratifying to do this in his hometown.

UConn played man or pressed all game. I think the reason JB didn't play Scoop much was because. UConn wasn't covering him. Hard to run a half court offense effectively when it is 5 guys guarding 4.

Thought one of the keys to the game was the abilty of SU to get UConn in foul trouble. When AO went to the bench, it was a big blow for them. Thought Boatwright and Napier showed tired legs late in the game. Really hurt them. But in the final analysis, SU is a stronger, tougher and fundamentally better team than UConn is. Props to the Huskies for another grest effort and best wishes to them in the Big Dance..

 

[PeteCalvin]

Great recap, as usual Tomcat. It was great seeing CTO, Tomcat and Ragman. As we were chatting it up at halftime, Paul Harris stopped by our little group. I spoke to him for a moment about what he's doing now. Going back to the Phillipines to play ball. Seemed very upbeat about things. He was very gracious. Rags and I wished him well, and he went on his way. He looked far more svelte than his last season in Orange. Perhaps all that Asian cuisine is agreeing with him.

This was my first time in the Garden for a BET, and first since the upgrades. I wish I had found the really good food before I settled on the dogs. All I had to do was go down one level. Oh well. At least the dogs were better than the ones I choked down at the RAC. Still way overpriced.

Stuck around for the GTown Cincy game, and boy was it a good one. The reason GTown lost is pretty simple: NO TUBAS. I am shocked that Tomcat missed that one. They were the only band there without a tuba.

Speaking of bands, on our way back to the car we found Otto, the cheerleaders, and the SSS camped out on the sidewalk outside the lobby of the hotel. We were walking along and heard the SU fight song and wondered what the heck was going on. It seems Otto wanted to dance in the street. I took a nice video of the scene, which was pretty damn cool.

The weather was phenomenal. 70 degrees and sunny, which made walking around the city just awesome for this time of year.

Now let's go out and get these two trophies. LGO!!!!

 

[cto]

Great seeing tomcat, ragman and pete calvin. Agree about Paul Harris. If those guys had not pointed him out to me... when he was about five feet away...I would not have recognized him. Much thinner and totally different hair. He seemed seemed happy and relaxed.

Awesome turnout by former SU players. You name them, they were there. Went to a party after the game where they were showing pieces of the new Orange Glory dvd. Watched it in a group that included Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens. One of the segments they showed was the 1990 GT game at the Dome (the one that featured John Thompson's ejection). It also featured numerous plays by Derrick and Billy. The two of them had not seen the dvd before. It was kind of surreal watching it with them..... as they gave their own commentaries on it ... and ragged each other.

If the excerpts are reflective of the entire dvd, it seems to be a great production that any Orange fan would enjoy. The segments we saw were very well done.

Since you all saw the game, there is nothing much I can add about it. Onto tomorrow (I guess it is already today) and Cincy.

By the way, I don't knowwhat color the Cincy socks appeared to be on TV, but they really were flourescant orange. They were some Cincy administrators sitting behind us, so I asked them about their "orange" socks. They said their entire uniforms (including the socks) were a special promotion by Adidas just for the BET. One of the guys promised to send me a pair of the socks. I hope he remembers.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Nice recap everybody. Yeah, Louisville was also wearing special Adidas unis. McDonough said they were called "infrared" or something like that. Not good.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Nice recap everybody. Yeah, Louisville was also wearing special Adidas unis. McDonough said they were called "infrared" or something like that. Not good.

Good. I thought it was my TV color.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Did you see the Baylor ones? Take the Michigan yellow highlighters and increase the intensity to 11. You are half way there.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Paul Harris stopped by our little group. I spoke to him for a moment about what he's doing now. Going back to the Phillipines to play ball. Seemed very upbeat about things. He was very gracious. Rags and I wished him well, and he went on his way. He looked far more svelte than his last season in Orange. Perhaps all that Asian cuisine is agreeing with him.

Was Paul Harris wearing a white sweater (cardigan maybe?) and came down right behind the SU bench at halftime?

 

[PeteCalvin]

Paul Harris stopped by our little group. I spoke to him for a moment about what he's doing now. Going back to the Phillipines to play ball. Seemed very upbeat about things. He was very gracious. Rags and I wished him well, and he went on his way. He looked far more svelte than his last season in Orange. Perhaps all that Asian cuisine is agreeing with him.

Was Paul Harris wearing a white sweater (cardigan maybe?) and came down right behind the SU bench at halftime?

Yes. That was him.

 

[All4SU]

Did you see the Baylor ones? Take the Michigan yellow highlighters and increase the intensity to 11. You are half way there.

They reminded me of tennis balls...

 

[SBU72]

Great seeing tomcat, ragman and pete calvin. Agree about Paul Harris. If those guys had not pointed him out to me... when he was about five feet away...I would not have recognized him. Much thinner and totally different hair. He seemed seemed happy and relaxed.

Awesome turnout by former SU players. You name them, they were there. Went to a party after the game where they were showing pieces of the new Orange Glory dvd. Watched it in a group that included Derrick Coleman and Billy Owens. One of the segments they showed was the 1990 GT game at the Dome (the one that featured John Thompson's ejection). It also featured numerous plays by Derrick and Billy. The two of them had not seen the dvd before. It was kind of surreal watching it with them..... as they gave their own commentaries on it ... and ragged each other.

If the excerpts are reflective of the entire dvd, it seems to be a great production that any Orange fan would enjoy. The segments we saw were very well done.

Since you all saw the game, there is nothing much I can add about it. Onto tomorrow (I guess it is already today) and Cincy.

By the way, I don't knowwhat color the Cincy socks appeared to be on TV, but they really were flourescant orange. They were some Cincy administrators sitting behind us, so I asked them about their "orange" socks. They said their entire uniforms (including the socks) were a special promotion by Adidas just for the BET. One of the guys promised to send me a pair of the socks. I hope he remembers.

Can you tell me who the lady was that JB shook hands with after the game. She sat right behind the bench near the scorers table. You see JB accknowledge the crowd with a wave all the time or shake a hand as he is leaving, but I can't ever remember seeing him actual reach towards the crowd.

 

[SmilinBob]

Good. I thought it was my TV color.

We couldn't tell what color they were, I thought I was watching the wizard of oz and a horse of a different color...they were red and not pink or orange, right?

 

[AZOrange]

We couldn't tell what color they were, I thought I was watching the wizard of oz and a horse of a different color...they were red and not pink or orange, right?

i changed my tv color...damn

 

[BlackSquirrels]

Can you tell me who the lady was that JB shook hands with after the game. She sat right behind the bench near the scorers table. You see JB accknowledge the crowd with a wave all the time or shake a hand as he is leaving, but I can't ever remember seeing him actual reach towards the crowd.

I think you're describing the scene when Boeheim shook hands with Nancy Cantor after the game.

 

[tbonezone]

i was a little stunned when i checked the box score and saw UCONN credited with only 7 blocks. i would have guessed about a dozen. (fwiw our opponents avg. is 2.8 per)

 

[jvbj01]

Great take as usual. I hope the best for Paul Harris. He was one of my favorite players at Syracuse. A lot on this board slam him and slam him often. I remember when he was a Senior in High School, Cuse won the BET. He was there and ran on the floor to celebrate with the team after the final game.
There were high hopes at that point. When he left after his Junior year, I was disappointed. I was hoping he could put together a fine Senior season.

 

[SoBeCuse]

We couldn't tell what color they were, I thought I was watching the wizard of oz and a horse of a different color...they were red and not pink or orange, right?

They were called "infrared" McDonough said. They looked reddish-pink to me. :crazy:

 

[tbonezone]

in the spring J.CREW catalog that particular sweater shade is called monkeydick and yes is still available in all sizes.

 

[dollarbill44]

I wish I had run into all of you since I was attending the game alone this year. Of course, there is nothing like college sports tournaments in that you can go alone and find people to talk to all game long anyway. I was also texting my SU friends who couldn't make it. It also helps when there are 10k SU fans in the arena - at least it seemed like that many. It will be interesting to see what happens with the crowds after we leave the Big East. The ACC can talk all they want about the rich history of their tournament and what-not, but the BET is the best year in and year out. I will definitely miss this.

On to the game - the atmosphere was phenomenal and it really built up over the final 10 minutes of the game when SU started to make it's comeback. With each minute, the crowd intensity grew. When JS hit his big 3 the place went nuts. From that point on, every play had nearly everyone in the crowd reacting with emotion. It seemed like KJ missed 8 FTs in the final 2:00 and the final :30 seemed to take forever! Great game for SU!

I still can't believe I scored a 300 level ticket on StubHub for $5 over face value last Friday.

 

[RoysRunts]

Any Derek Brower Siteings?

 

[GoSU96]

TWO

 

[sutomcat]

Any Derek Brower Siteings?

DB was there. He was wearing shades on his head and looked good.

 

[SWC75]

Thought one of the keys to the game was the abilty of SU to get UConn in foul trouble. When AO went to the bench, it was a big blow for them.

When you lose AO in the BET, you are done.

 

[Madbiker]

I was at the game yesterday. Great atmosphere, the place was rocking. Wish I could have met some of the regular posters I feel like I know from the board, would have liked that. The Cincy unis were cool. Everyone in my section was talking about them...in a good way.

 

[cto]

Any Derek Brower Siteings?

Derek Bower was at same party I mentioned above He looked great. Andre Hawkins, on other hand, must weight 400 lbs. He makes DC look small.

 

[moqui]

Paul Harris stopped by our little group. I spoke to him for a moment about what he's doing now. Going back to the Phillipines to play ball.

terrific news. Paul was made for the Filipino game.

Great take as usual. I hope the best for Paul Harris. He was one of my favorite players at Syracuse. A lot on this board slam him and slam him often. I remember when he was a Senior in High School, Cuse won the BET. He was there and ran on the floor to celebrate with the team after the final game.
There were high hopes at that point. When he left after his Junior year, I was disappointed. I was hoping he could put together a fine Senior season.

He was a bit of a diva, but he was also hurt by the mix of talent on the team. He could have been all conference if he could have played guard, but we were deep at the 2 and thin at the three, so that is where he played. Even there, he was a terrific natural rebounder. It's hard to rebound consistently out of the zone, but Paul was a master at it.