sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 25,191
- Like
- 108,544
Small crowd. The 21K number provided was about right. They were quiet most of the game but were a factor in the last five or 10 minutes.
The national anthem was sung by a girl from Baldwinsville. She had a lovely voice and did a great job. Someone continues to do a great job finding talent to sing this song.
As mentioned earlier, the Sour Sitrus Society's role was taken by alumni from the band who assembled specifically for this game. They sounded very good, were quite impressive, even if their hairlines and waistlines were a little different than last remembered. I really hope SU does this again in the future. There is no substitute for a good pep band at a college basketball game.
As for the game, I was genuinely impressed with the athletic ability of Miami. They had a number of tall, athletic, and agile kids who seemed to be fine defenders. They also had a few kids who could hit shots from the outside. And their coach did a great job milking the clock and forcing SU to work hard on defense every possession.
Miami sat in their matchup zone, and dared SU to beat them from the outside. Cooney got a lot of good looks, but today was not his day; he struggled to find the hoop all game long.
The Hurricanes left all the SU players open from the perimeter except Cooney and Fair. This clogged the lane and made it very hard for Syracuse to get quality shots inside. Good strategy by the Canes coaching staff, who did a heckuva job against the Syracuse offense.
I thought the biggest play the game was the rebound and put back by Christmas around the five-minute mark. Ennis had a couple of big baskets, Grant hit a huge jumper from the FT line and Christmas had another big shot with a hook in the lane late. Another very encouraging game for Rakim, who appears to finally be emerging as a reliable player.
Mentioned this but the pregame post, but want to reiterate it. When the cheerleaders did the running of the flags at the four minute mile today, one of the female cheerleaders carried the E flag, ran all the way around the court and back onto the basketball court. She did a great job, never let the flag drop low, and should be very proud of her strength and training.
The national anthem was sung by a girl from Baldwinsville. She had a lovely voice and did a great job. Someone continues to do a great job finding talent to sing this song.
As mentioned earlier, the Sour Sitrus Society's role was taken by alumni from the band who assembled specifically for this game. They sounded very good, were quite impressive, even if their hairlines and waistlines were a little different than last remembered. I really hope SU does this again in the future. There is no substitute for a good pep band at a college basketball game.
As for the game, I was genuinely impressed with the athletic ability of Miami. They had a number of tall, athletic, and agile kids who seemed to be fine defenders. They also had a few kids who could hit shots from the outside. And their coach did a great job milking the clock and forcing SU to work hard on defense every possession.
Miami sat in their matchup zone, and dared SU to beat them from the outside. Cooney got a lot of good looks, but today was not his day; he struggled to find the hoop all game long.
The Hurricanes left all the SU players open from the perimeter except Cooney and Fair. This clogged the lane and made it very hard for Syracuse to get quality shots inside. Good strategy by the Canes coaching staff, who did a heckuva job against the Syracuse offense.
I thought the biggest play the game was the rebound and put back by Christmas around the five-minute mark. Ennis had a couple of big baskets, Grant hit a huge jumper from the FT line and Christmas had another big shot with a hook in the lane late. Another very encouraging game for Rakim, who appears to finally be emerging as a reliable player.
Mentioned this but the pregame post, but want to reiterate it. When the cheerleaders did the running of the flags at the four minute mile today, one of the female cheerleaders carried the E flag, ran all the way around the court and back onto the basketball court. She did a great job, never let the flag drop low, and should be very proud of her strength and training.