My Take

[sutomcat]

In the course of human events, surprising things occasionally happen.

Tristan gets unbanned.
Igor says something nice about JB.
Someone says something unpleasant about cto.

Then there were the results of the Eastern Regional at the Verizon Center this weekend.

Much credit to JB for fixing the woes that led to the poor play at the end of the regular season. I think the biggest thing he changed was to get MCW to attack the paint again but instead of attacking down the side of the foul lane, where he would get a tough bank shot or a tougher side jumper on the run, MCW started attacking the rim instead, where he is far more effective scoring points and drawing fouls. I think he has better angles to pass to the low post coming from the middle of the lane as well.

Add in more set plays to free JS for open jumpers from the high post, more plays featuring BT's ability to attack the rim in half court settings and an emerging ability from BMK to finish plays down low (scoring or at least drawing a foul and making FTs) and the offense became servicable again.

The zone was made uber aggressive taking away 3 point shots, with BMK free to roaming wherever needed (high post, low post, even deep on the wings on quick rotations).

And suddenly SU was again a top 5 level team.

Was surprised MU decided to play man. The zone was really successful against SU the first game, though with JS out, it is a lot easier to zone SU than when he is playing. But MU is another undersized team that likes toplay 3 guards and lacks a real power forward. They don't have the size to match up in man with Syracuse, so even though they gave their usual high energy effort, and were overall quite successful stopping the SU offense, it was not enough to offset the carnage that SU unleached on the MU offense. Other than a short period when Gardner did damage and some fine work by MU AA candidate Blue, MU was impotent.

The crowd was overwhelming pro Syracuse. Kind of quiet for an SU crowd. I think people was too nervous to really let themselves go. The reaction of the SU fans seemed like a mix of delight, shock and bewilderment. It was quite odd.

Haven't read the board, but I can't understate how well MCW played, how much he controlled things on offense and often on defense, and he much better he was than anyone else on the court in this regional. He was tremendous...he really was.

Random thoughts:

Sean McDonough is a great SU fan. From him blowing kissed to cto at the BET to showing up in DC to watch the games on his own dime, to his regular attendance to emcee at the Basketball Ball, he is a great alum and friend to the program.

JB's first girlfriend, let's call her Madame X, was in DC enjoying the games. She has great reverence for the Boeheim family, who took her in as a teenager when her parents were not up to the task of raising her.

It is possible to get from Gaithersburg, a suburb of DC that I stayed in, to the city limits of Syracuse, 360 miles, in 5 hours and 2 minutes. If I didn't get breakfast at a drivethrough McDonald's somewhere south of Harrisburg, I could have broken 5 hours.

There are a lot of burgs between Wilkes-Barre and DC. I saw signs for at least 10.

The Maryland fans I talked to on my visit were unanimous. They do not like the move to the B1G and are disgusted with the impact money has had on college athletics.

Not a big fan of bars but Clydes is a really nice one. Friendly and attentive staff. Good food. They do a great job handling overflowing hordes of SU fans. And they serve a quality ginger ale too.

 

[jekelish]

Good stuff as always. And also, add another to the list of "famous/influential people CTO knows quite well" list. Of course, probably should have guessed that one.

With BMK, the thing I'm most impressed with lately is how ferociously he's been rebounding.

 

[capeorange]

Thanks for the post, go Orange!

 

[tbonezone]

just pure speculation on my part and kinda sorry that it came down to this but i kinda think that triche being injured past couple games has somewhat triggered MCW into "takeover mode". different player.

 

[rrlbees]

just pure speculation on my part and kinda sorry that it came down to this but i kinda think that triche being injured past couple games has somewhat triggered MCW into "takeover mode". different player.

I think it is the opposite. Triche has handled the ball a lot more than he had been. He was a wing looking for jumpers. Now MCW has less pressure plus he gets to move without the ball more and when he gets it back, there isn't always a man in his face 20ft from the basket. While Triche has obviously been aching the past couple games, his handling of the ball has increased.

Sent using my Commodore 64

 

[baggerbob]

Triche has been much more focused, maybe because of the injury, and has played under control. If rest helps this week he might have one of his great games this weekend, would be nice if our 2 seniors each had great final 4 games.

 

[SBU72]

Good stuff as always. And also, add another to the list of "famous/influential people CTO knows quite well" list. Of course, probably should have guessed that one.

With BMK, the thing I'm most impressed with lately is how ferociously he's been rebounding.

Funny that with all the famous b-ball players from the other schools in the Elite Eight that SU was the only one that I saw had such a huge contingent at the game. TV made it a point to show the row of ex-players several times. Fantastisic for the school.

 

[CusefanATL]

The crowd was overwhelming pro Syracuse. Kind of quiet for an SU crowd. I think people was too nervous to really let themselves go. The reaction of the SU fans seemed like a mix of delight, shock and bewilderment. It was quite odd.

You are exactly right.

Until Southerland hit the unbelievable 3. That's when the place went wild.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

JB's first girlfriend, let's call her Madame X, was in DC enjoying the games. She has great reverence for the Boeheim family, who took her in as a teenager when her parents were not up to the task of raising her.

Uh... what?

 

[stuckinbig11]

Uh... what?

I wondered about that statement also. Tom?

 

[ClamOtto]

You are exactly right.

Until Southerland hit the unbelievable 3. That's when the place went wild.

I was there and actually thought the place was loud most of the game. The Marquette contingent was probably louder on a "per fan" basis, but I thought we did a good job with Let's Go Orange chants all game long. The first 6 minutes of the second half I think everyone was getting nervous, not knowing whether to stand or sit and forgetting to cheer. But the moment near the end (maybe around 1:30 left?) when everyone knew it was done and completely let loose was absolutely priceless.