One of the most underrated Syracuse games of all time right here

[20plus]

 

[Bayside44]

Don’t remind me... had a 102 fever and couldn’t go!

 

[Cuse1055]

Yep! I was there and actually ran into Pearl on the street after the game. My brother and I went to the Ohio State game the previous year in Boston so it was a nice reversal with us winning a year later. The 2003 Elite 8 game against Oklahoma in Albany was still my favorite though in that “sea of orange”. Wish I could’ve been at the Elite 8 games against UNC, Kansas and Virginia in 87, 96 and 2016 respectively.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Peak zone.

 

[SUalldway]

That was a great starting 5 - CJ Fair was so much fun to watch him glide as he scored vs. bigger opponents!

 

[Cusefan0307]

My last full year of my twenties and the last team my mother was able to watch the entire season before she passed the next November. Today also was the first time I’ve seen this game complete sober as I watched doing cardio.

Couple of observations:

The game was really never in doubt. MCW and Triche didn’t put up great stat lines, but they controlled the entire game by avoiding turnovers and playing elite defense. Clearly our best defensive guard duo ever.

When Triche came out of the game he never sat on the bench. He asked out with about 4 min to go in the first half just before CJ almost decapitated Junior Cadougan and you could see him talking to Brad Pike. In light of his interview this week with Devendorf one can only assume he tweaked his back. I will admit I was a huge defender of his when he was here, but if he was as hurt as he was and not practicing from January on then the criticism he took on this board when we struggled was completely undeserved. He could have mailed it in and not played at all if he was really injured, but he did not and he gutted it out. You could tell his back affected the lift on his jumper and was probably the reason he couldn’t make anything down the stretch that season. He had been playing like a BEPOY candidate before the injury. If he doesn’t get injured that team probably finishes with 2-3 more wins and is a 1 or 2 seed. He got a raw deal from a lot of fans.

Cooney didn’t play much, but the defense didn’t suffer when he came in the first half.

Jerami Grant was the 8th man and he ended up being the best player out of all those guys.

Christmas was just scratching the surface and played tentative when he had the ball on offense. He was just in for defense and rebounding. Same role Keita had.

JB only played 6 guys in the second half. Christmas/Keita and the four other starters.

In typical Syracuse fashion we took our foot off the gas at the end of the first half, but Southerland gave us momentum with a big 3 just before the half ended.

At one point the camera pans to Mark Emmett in a box with the president telling him little does Jim Boeheim know that he’s going to have the same number of wins 6 years later.

The SU alumni including Pearl are shown a ton. DC and Leo are seen having a conversation in the second half. That must be Chaz next to Billy?

Jimmy Boeheim quickly put an orange shirt on after the camera panned to him wearing an ugly green sweater.

JB calm At the half with Rachel Nichols and knew we had the game in the bag.

Conversely Buzz knew he was screwed.

I remember being concerned we would lose before the game as they beat us in the tournament 2 years prior and earlier that season in Milwaukee. Familiarity with the zone is what you didn’t want to see in the NCAA Tournament.

We won by 16, but it really was more than that as we missed a ton of free throws. After that game I thought we would win the title. The Michigan game was disappointing because I really thought we had a shot.

 

[dasher]

Don’t remind me... had a 102 fever and couldn’t go!

Wimp

 

[samspann1]

KYTE-uh.

Why didn't Buzz start Gardner and Wilson? Dude should have stayed at Marquette.

 

[samspann1]

My last full year of my twenties and the last team my mother was able to watch the entire season before she passed the next November. Today also was the first time I’ve seen this game complete sober as I watched doing cardio.

Couple of observations:

The game was really never in doubt. MCW and Triche didn’t put up great stat lines, but they controlled the entire game by avoiding turnovers and playing elite defense. Clearly our best defensive guard duo ever.

When Triche came out of the game he never sat on the bench. He asked out with about 4 min to go in the first half just before CJ almost decapitated Junior Cadougan and you could see him talking to Brad Pike. In light of his interview this week with Devendorf one can only assume he tweaked his back. I will admit I was a huge defender of his when he was here, but if he was as hurt as he was and not practicing from January on then the criticism he took on this board when we struggled was completely undeserved. He could have mailed it in and not played at all if he was really injured, but he did not and he gutted it out. You could tell his back affected the lift on his jumper and was probably the reason he couldn’t make anything down the stretch that season. He had been playing like a BEPOY candidate before the injury. If he doesn’t get injured that team probably finishes with 2-3 more wins and is a 1 or 2 seed. He got a raw deal from a lot of fans.

Cooney didn’t play much, but the defense didn’t suffer when he came in the first half.

Jerami Grant was the 8th man and he ended up being the best player out of all those guys.

Christmas was just scratching the surface and played tentative when he had the ball on offense. He was just in for defense and rebounding. Same role Keita had.

JBonly played 6 guys in the second half. Christmas/Keita and the four other starters.

In typical Syracuse fashion we took our foot off the gas at the end of the first half, but Southerland gave us momentum with a big 3 just before the half ended.

At one point the camera pans to Mark Emmett in a box with the president telling him little does Jim Boeheim know that he’s going to have the same number of wins 6 years later.

The SU alumni including Pearl are shown a ton. DC and Leo are seen having a conversation in the second half. That must be Chaz next to Billy?

Jimmy Boeheim quickly put an orange shirt on after the camera panned to him wearing an ugly green sweater.

JB calm At the half with Rachel Nichols and knew we had the game in the bag.

Conversely Buzz knew he was screwed.

I remember being concerned we would lose before the game as they beat us in the tournament 2 years prior and earlier that season in Milwaukee. Familiarity with the zone is what you didn’t want to see in the NCAA Tournament.

We won by 16, but it really was more than that as we missed a ton of free throws. After that game I thought we would win the title. The Michigan game was disappointing because I really thought we had a shot.

2012-13 was actually Fair's best year, from a shooting standpoint. He shot much worse the following season, from the field and from the line.

 

[Cusefan0307]

2012-13 was actually Fair's best year, from a shooting standpoint. He shot much worse the following season, from the field and from the line.

I was talking about Triche, not CJ.

 

[samspann1]

I was talking about Triche, not CJ.

My bad. Misread it.

Still don't know what happened to Fair's stroke in his senior season. Struggled big time from 3 pt land that season.

 

[longtimefan]

My last full year of my twenties and the last team my mother was able to watch the entire season before she passed the next November. Today also was the first time I’ve seen this game complete sober as I watched doing cardio.

Couple of observations:

The game was really never in doubt. MCW and Triche didn’t put up great stat lines, but they controlled the entire game by avoiding turnovers and playing elite defense. Clearly our best defensive guard duo ever.

When Triche came out of the game he never sat on the bench. He asked out with about 4 min to go in the first half just before CJ almost decapitated Junior Cadougan and you could see him talking to Brad Pike. In light of his interview this week with Devendorf one can only assume he tweaked his back. I will admit I was a huge defender of his when he was here, but if he was as hurt as he was and not practicing from January on then the criticism he took on this board when we struggled was completely undeserved. He could have mailed it in and not played at all if he was really injured, but he did not and he gutted it out. You could tell his back affected the lift on his jumper and was probably the reason he couldn’t make anything down the stretch that season. He had been playing like a BEPOY candidate before the injury. If he doesn’t get injured that team probably finishes with 2-3 more wins and is a 1 or 2 seed. He got a raw deal from a lot of fans.

Cooney didn’t play much, but the defense didn’t suffer when he came in the first half.

Jerami Grant was the 8th man and he ended up being the best player out of all those guys.

Christmas was just scratching the surface and played tentative when he had the ball on offense. He was just in for defense and rebounding. Same role Keita had.

JB only played 6 guys in the second half. Christmas/Keita and the four other starters.

In typical Syracuse fashion we took our foot off the gas at the end of the first half, but Southerland gave us momentum with a big 3 just before the half ended.

At one point the camera pans to Mark Emmett in a box with the president telling him little does Jim Boeheim know that he’s going to have the same number of wins 6 years later.

The SU alumni including Pearl are shown a ton. DC and Leo are seen having a conversation in the second half. That must be Chaz next to Billy?

Jimmy Boeheim quickly put an orange shirt on after the camera panned to him wearing an ugly green sweater.

JB calm At the half with Rachel Nichols and knew we had the game in the bag.

Conversely Buzz knew he was screwed.

I remember being concerned we would lose before the game as they beat us in the tournament 2 years prior and earlier that season in Milwaukee. Familiarity with the zone is what you didn’t want to see in the NCAA Tournament.

We won by 16, but it really was more than that as we missed a ton of free throws. After that game I thought we would win the title. The Michigan game was disappointing because I really thought we had a shot.

Remember, Triche holds the record for most career wins by an Orange(man). Obviously, lots of other talent on the court with him for those 4 seasons; but he was an integral part of some of the best Syracuse teams ever. If not for the Onuaku injury and some horrendous officiating, those teams could have been a threat to win the whole thing 3 out of his 4 seasons.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Remember, Triche holds the record for most career wins by an Orange(man). Obviously, lots of other talent on the court with him for those 4 seasons; but he was an integral part of some of the best Syracuse teams ever. If not for the Onuaku injury and some horrendous officiating, those teams could have been a threat to win the whole thing 3 out of his 4 seasons.

Totally. He was great. I was watching the guards in the zone specifically and he basically was playing man whenever the guy near him had the ball. Marquette couldn’t get any penetration whatsoever.

 

[Cuse1055]

Remember, Triche holds the record for most career wins by an Orange(man). Obviously, lots of other talent on the court with him for those 4 seasons; but he was an integral part of some of the best Syracuse teams ever. If not for the Onuaku injury and some horrendous officiating, those teams could have been a threat to win the whole thing 3 out of his 4 seasons.

Yep, snake bitten between AO and Fab and then the horrible call vs Michigan. Even that 2011 team could have made a major run had it not been for the over and back call against Marquette, especially considering how bad the final 4 was that year and who ended up winning it (which I will not name).

 

[cto]

Riding Amtrak back to NYC the day after the game .. was one of the strangest mornings of my life.

My seat was directly across the aisle from Father Scott Pilarz, president of Maquette, the school we had beaten the previous night.

For a while, we discussed the game. Then his traveling companions (relatives who lived in NYC area) decided it was time for an Easter worship service. So we celebrated one on the train.

We became pals, and he gave me his business card and encouraged me to call him any time SU was playing Marquette.

A few months later, he left the presidency of Marquette because of multiple issues of sexual assault on the campus (involving students, not him).

 

[Sherman20]

I have been trying to find this game online for years. Thanks for sharing.