San Diego St / CBS 9:40 PM

[HoustonCuse]

The key is not to take dumb shots, Griff makes his first he takes 10 bad ones after. Not worth the risk. This team is really good when they play smart, unfortunately it’s not too often with the lineup of doom.

If Griffin does one more of those patented run towards half court with the ball, then take a leaping 180 spin 3 pointer, he needs to be banished to the phantom dimension like those bad guys from Superman II.

 

[SWC75]

Looking at the bracket, we will obviously be an underdog to anyone we play as we are an 11 seed. But looking at a line-up of San Diego State, West Virginia and Houston to get to the Elite 8, I don't see a 'windshield' there. Illinois in a regional final would be a windshield. But getting there would make this a memorable season. And Virginia seemed like a windshield in 2016, as did North Carolina in '75, Kansas in '96 and Indiana in '13.

 

[two3zone]

If Griffin does one more of those patented run towards half court with the ball, then take a leaping 180 spin 3 pointer, he needs to be banished to the phantom dimension like those bad guys from Superman II.

I'm not against this, I'd probably pay a ticket to see this.

 

[Cusesky8214]

I dont want to put this out there in case I'm way off...but my gut feeling is JG3 has a big tournament. There i said it...its happening! Seriously though, I feel like he's going to hit some big time shots.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Since they're a west coast team they should put our game later in the day imo

We want it early to mess with them

 

[two3zone]

Greetings from San Diego. My dad is a Syracuse alum from many years ago, so I have always pulled for the orange, but not this time. Here is a little info on the Aztecs. Most of those on the east coast hardly ever see our games as we usually play late. We like to play tenacious D, mostly man to man. We are 10 deep. We are a pretty experienced team.

Starting 5
Matt Mitchell- A poor man's Charles Barkley. Conference player of the year. Can play inside or out and can hit the 3. Heart of a champion. Just a beast.
Jordan Shakel- Shooter! Lights out from 3, top 5 3 point % in the country
Terrell Gomez- another top 3 point shooter. Quick and elusive. Only 5'8, but lightning quick
Trey Pulliam- Glue guy. Calming force as the PG
Nathan Mensah- Missed half of last year due to pulmonary embolism. Completely handled Luka Garza last year. Rim protector.

Subs
Adam Seiko lockdown D and can hit the 3
Lamont Butler- Only Frosh to get playing time. Makes some great plays as well as some bonehead plays.
Keshod Johnson- think Labrador puppy growing into body. A freak athlete who gets some thunderous dunks and great blocks, Still learning. will be a beast next year.
Aguek Arop- Has had limited minutes due to vertigo issues. We call him the Swiss Army knife as he can play D and score. Will be dangerous if he can get over the vertigo
Josh Tomaic- Grad transfer from Maryland. Back up for Mensah. Has been solid.

Looking forward to the game. Go Aztecs!!

I'll bet you $1,000,000 that Seiko has his career high against us.

 

[Orangezoo]

Looking at the bracket, we will obviously be an underdog to anyone we play as we are a 10 seed, (three of whom won opening round games last year: usually 2 do). But looking at a line-up of San Diego State, West Virginia and Houston to get to the Elite 8, i don't see a 'windshield' there. Illinois in a regional final would be a windshield. But getting there would make this a memorable season. And Virginia seemed like a windshield in 2016, as did North Carolina in '75 and Kansas in '96.

And if we make it to that windshield we will leave a nice orange stain.

 

[GooseMutt]

I’m just so friggn happy right now! On a high and can not wait!

 

[Orangezoo]

So Charles Barkley, 2 elite 3pt shooters, a great glue guy, and a guy that dominated Garza?!

got it lol

Damn Wyoming(3 pts), UNLV(9pts) and Nevada (7 pts) must be a lot better than I thought.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[sutomcat]

San Diego State plays 9 guys more than 10 minutes a game.

They have 4 seniors who start. This is a veteran team. Three starters average more than 35% from the 3 point circle. Mitchell looks well suited to carve up the zone from the high post.

They have 2 6’9 230 pound guys who play center. Both are really foul prone. We need to attack them and get them in trouble with fouls early.

This is not going to be an easy win.

This team is really experienced and should know what they are doing. That said, they have never seen the Syracuse zone, and it will be a tough thing for them to deal with. Assuming we play it as actively as we have in recent games.

 

[Sherman20]

I worry about the matchup too. I wonder if the play-in 6 seeds like BYU or USC would have been better. USC plays zone so they’re familiar with what we do. But the matchup might have been better. We gotta raise our game like we did the last few weeks of the season.

 

[Sherman20]

5’8 and 6’3 are their starters... then 6’6 and 6’6 at the 3 and 4

I like that. If Kadary can get healthy, he and Buddy could be a matchup problem for their little guys.

 

[Madbiker]

Bilas and Seth Greenberg both picked Cuse over San Diego State. Should we be worried?

 

[Sherman20]

San Diego State plays 9 guys more than 10 minutes a game.

They have 4 seniors who start. This is a veteran team. Three starters average more than 35% from the 3 point circle. Mitchell looks well suited to carve up the zone from the high post.

They have 2 6’9 230 pound guys who play center. Both are really foul prone. We need to attack them and get them in trouble with fouls early.

This is not going to be an easy win.

This team is really experienced and should know what they are doing. That said, they have never seen the Syracuse zone, and it will be a tough thing for them to deal with. Assuming we play it as actively as we have in recent games.

Bilas likes our chances

Jay said SDSU isn’t that great of a shooting team. But JB said they’re a good shooting team and so did Matt Guttieriez. Sounds like the truth might be somewhere in the middle?

 

[two3zone]

I didnt say I want him to play more...I'm on record pretty much ALL year about wanting Kadary to have the keys. Im just saying that I have a feeling we see tourney Joe. Kids fired up for this. If he ends up suckin then ill feel stupidddd lol

I get what you're saying, I'm just saying I'm not sure he has the opportunity to make big shots, unless of course they're early in the game.

Then again, I really don't have a clue, the way the rotations are this year I've given up trying to predict what's going to happen, when I saw JBA in the game I had to look twice and started to giggle while answering texts from my buddy asking who he was, followed up a message from my ex wife asking the same thing all while Jesse played decently a couple of games before.

I'm just glad we're in and I can watch at least one more game.

 

[Cusesky8214]

JB: “I was born in the tournament, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man and by then it was nothing to me but blinding.”

 

[two3zone]

Jay said SDSU isn’t that great of a shooting team. But JB said they’re a good shooting team and so did Matt Guttieriez. Sounds like the truth might be somewhere in the middle?

Another posted posted dismal 3 point shooting numbers from their conference tournament. I'm willing to bet Jay watched more games of theirs than Matt and JB combined.

 

[ORRange]

We are playing a team that won both the league and tourney.
They are ranked 19th.
They are a 6 seed
They are 23-4.

We know all about us. Bubble team 11 seed blah blah.
How come they are only favored by a basket?
I love this game.

 

[oTTo113445]

If we play some D, we go as far as griffin being the 4th option and/or our unseen big brings us.

 

[DCUNITED13]

Line moved from +2.5 to +3. Just bet SU on the Money Line.

 

[two3zone]

We are playing a team that won both the league and tourney.
They are ranked 19th.
They are a 6 seed
They are 23-4.

We know all about us. Bubble team 11 seed blah blah.
How come they are only favored by a basket?
I love this game.

If they were making the spread a month and a half ago we're probably 7-8 point dogs.

 

[Orangezoo]

Greetings from San Diego. My dad is a Syracuse alum from many years ago, so I have always pulled for the orange, but not this time. Here is a little info on the Aztecs. Most of those on the east coast hardly ever see our games as we usually play late. We like to play tenacious D, mostly man to man. We are 10 deep. We are a pretty experienced team.

Starting 5
Matt Mitchell- A poor man's Charles Barkley. Conference player of the year. Can play inside or out and can hit the 3. Heart of a champion. Just a beast.
Jordan Shakel- Shooter! Lights out from 3, top 5 3 point % in the country
Terrell Gomez- another top 3 point shooter. Quick and elusive. Only 5'8, but lightning quick
Trey Pulliam- Glue guy. Calming force as the PG
Nathan Mensah- Missed half of last year due to pulmonary embolism. Completely handled Luka Garza last year. Rim protector.

Subs
Adam Seiko lockdown D and can hit the 3
Lamont Butler- Only Frosh to get playing time. Makes some great plays as well as some bonehead plays.
Keshod Johnson- think Labrador puppy growing into body. A freak athlete who gets some thunderous dunks and great blocks, Still learning. will be a beast next year.
Aguek Arop- Has had limited minutes due to vertigo issues. We call him the Swiss Army knife as he can play D and score. Will be dangerous if he can get over the vertigo
Josh Tomaic- Grad transfer from Maryland. Back up for Mensah. Has been solid.

Looking forward to the game. Go Aztecs!!

Good stuff.

Love the added hyperbole...

Coming at you from SU is a zone playing better than it has all year and unlike any zone you have played all year.

We start a thin Center who is one of the best passing big men in the country. He can handle it and brings the ball up. He will take on your big man one on one off the bounce. Think younger thinner pau gasol.

At pf we have a Bulldog in QG. He is great on the boards and finishes with contact. Can shoot the 3 think of a Paul Millsap.

At SF is Griffin who can get red hot or disappear. When he is off he is replaced by Braswell who is really long, elite defender and can hit the 3 at 6-9.

At SG is Buddy Boeheim who is on a tear scoring at all levels. Elite shooter who is very crafty using a high release. Playing the best he has since coming here.

At PG we have Joe Girard. Scrappy guard who was an elite scorer in HS. He can shoot it when he is on.

At Backup PG is our X factor and the guy you should worry about the most next to Buddy, Paul and Pau. Kadary Richmond is 6-5 and an elite defender at the top of the zone. Most teams struggle to adjust to how long he is and he gets a lot of deflections and steals. He is a true PG at 6-5 with a great handle who can take his man into the lane and setup teammates. Not a shooter but can knock down midrange. Good rebounder. Most unique player you will see all year.

Off the bench as well is 6-11 Jesse Edwards with a 7-5 wingspan. He has come on of late and is a huge obstacle inside. Slowed down the best frontcourt in the country in UNC when he came in.

Looking forward to an NBA caliber matchup . Good luck to y'all as well!!

 

[two3zone]

Line moved from +2.5 to +3. Just bet SU on the Money Line.

It's going to probably get to 5 by game time.

 

[Orangezoo]

Another posted posted dismal 3 point shooting numbers from their conference tournament. I'm willing to bet Jay watched more games of theirs than Matt and JB combined.

Yes it was me. They are shooting 32 pct from 3 in their last 6 which is against better competition and then in tourney mode. They had some pct boosters against weaker comp kind of like us vs BC.