SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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- No, tonight was not the night. And we are 21-0, the best start and the longest winning streak in school history. This team somehow has to get up for the Notre Dame game on Monday. There are upcoming visits to Pittsburgh, Duke and Virginia. 31-0 is still unlikely. But it’s still possible.
- That was what basketball was like in the good old days. The place was packed, (and then some) and raucous. The fans didn’t just cheer when something good happened. They kept it up for the entire game and over time. The student section was well-behaved, (that’s a change), but consistently in the game. Back in the 80’s, every game was like that.
- And the game was a blast from the past as well. No slow-down. Except toward the end, no rough stuff. Defense was about covering people, moving your feet and hands and staying between them and the basket, playing the passing lanes and blocking shots, not pushing, shoving, grabbing or wrestling with people. Players made move. They made passes. They made shots. And when they missed them the hustled after the loose balls. They played basketball.
- And what basketball. These teams were Siamese twins for 45 minutes. No separation. We had the biggest elad at 66-59 and that disappeared in nanoseconds. The five greatest games, (from SU’s perspective: thus no losses), of all the a years I’ve rooted for this teams have been the 1981 Big East Final, (Leo Rautins beats Villanova in triple overtime), the 1989 Georgetown win at the Dome, (bye, bye, John Thompson), the national championship game vs. Kansas, the 6OT game and this one. And the quality of play by both teams throughout the contest was the greatest of any of those games, (the stakes were actually the least). It was Your Show of Shows.
- Heroes Galore! I came into this season feeling that our strength would be our forwards. I thought CJ Fair and Jerami Grant might be the best pair of forwards in the country. And SU’s best teams have had a great pair for forwards: Addison and Alexis, Coleman and Owens, Wallace and Burgan, Anthony and Warrick, Jackson and Johnson. But this year, they have both been mildly disappointing. It seemed the backcourt was the real strength of the team. In this game, both Fair and grant were All-Americans and CJ looked the conference player of the year he was projected to be in the pre-season. CJ carried us through much of the first half and scored a career high 28 points on 12 for 20 shooting. Significantly there only 2 three point attempts and just one turnover. He got the ball where he needed to get it and took it to the whole. Grant had a career game, (so far) with 24 points, 12 rebounds and an astonishing 10 for 10 from the free throw line, (he came in shooting .655).
- In the early going, Tyler Ennis was all we had going. He scored 6 of our first 10 points. He didn’t score again until there was 1:08 left in the game, (he had 9 assists getting the ball to the forwards), but had 6 more in that last 1:08 and overtime. John Mackey used to tell everyone, “I’m there for you”. So is Tyler Ennis.
- Rakeem Christmas had 7 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks, including the big one at the end, which matt Park said was the best since “The Block”. (Do I have to explain what “The Block” was?) Baye Keita added 2 points and 6 rebounds in only 11 minutes. So we got 7-18-6 from our centers.
- Trevor Cooney unfortunately missed a lay-up near the end of regular we really could have used. But he scored 14 points and handled the downcourt pressure from the Dukies so Tyler Ennis could concentrate on setting up the offense in the frontcourt. It was not a small thing. And only 2 of his 8 shots came from the arc. He- and we- are better when he remembers what an all-round guard he is. He’s much more than just a three point specialist.
- We gave up 15 three pointers and still won.
- Duke had dominated Pittsburgh on the boards who dominated us. But we out-rebounded them 38-33.
- I feared foul trouble against Duke. But it was we who got them in trouble and it was big factor in the game.
- As I am typing this, Cal is beating Arizona. That may not last but, really, who cares?
21-0, (8-0), with 10+ to go
Let’s Go Orange!
- That was what basketball was like in the good old days. The place was packed, (and then some) and raucous. The fans didn’t just cheer when something good happened. They kept it up for the entire game and over time. The student section was well-behaved, (that’s a change), but consistently in the game. Back in the 80’s, every game was like that.
- And the game was a blast from the past as well. No slow-down. Except toward the end, no rough stuff. Defense was about covering people, moving your feet and hands and staying between them and the basket, playing the passing lanes and blocking shots, not pushing, shoving, grabbing or wrestling with people. Players made move. They made passes. They made shots. And when they missed them the hustled after the loose balls. They played basketball.
- And what basketball. These teams were Siamese twins for 45 minutes. No separation. We had the biggest elad at 66-59 and that disappeared in nanoseconds. The five greatest games, (from SU’s perspective: thus no losses), of all the a years I’ve rooted for this teams have been the 1981 Big East Final, (Leo Rautins beats Villanova in triple overtime), the 1989 Georgetown win at the Dome, (bye, bye, John Thompson), the national championship game vs. Kansas, the 6OT game and this one. And the quality of play by both teams throughout the contest was the greatest of any of those games, (the stakes were actually the least). It was Your Show of Shows.
- Heroes Galore! I came into this season feeling that our strength would be our forwards. I thought CJ Fair and Jerami Grant might be the best pair of forwards in the country. And SU’s best teams have had a great pair for forwards: Addison and Alexis, Coleman and Owens, Wallace and Burgan, Anthony and Warrick, Jackson and Johnson. But this year, they have both been mildly disappointing. It seemed the backcourt was the real strength of the team. In this game, both Fair and grant were All-Americans and CJ looked the conference player of the year he was projected to be in the pre-season. CJ carried us through much of the first half and scored a career high 28 points on 12 for 20 shooting. Significantly there only 2 three point attempts and just one turnover. He got the ball where he needed to get it and took it to the whole. Grant had a career game, (so far) with 24 points, 12 rebounds and an astonishing 10 for 10 from the free throw line, (he came in shooting .655).
- In the early going, Tyler Ennis was all we had going. He scored 6 of our first 10 points. He didn’t score again until there was 1:08 left in the game, (he had 9 assists getting the ball to the forwards), but had 6 more in that last 1:08 and overtime. John Mackey used to tell everyone, “I’m there for you”. So is Tyler Ennis.
- Rakeem Christmas had 7 points, 10 rebounds and 6 blocks, including the big one at the end, which matt Park said was the best since “The Block”. (Do I have to explain what “The Block” was?) Baye Keita added 2 points and 6 rebounds in only 11 minutes. So we got 7-18-6 from our centers.
- Trevor Cooney unfortunately missed a lay-up near the end of regular we really could have used. But he scored 14 points and handled the downcourt pressure from the Dukies so Tyler Ennis could concentrate on setting up the offense in the frontcourt. It was not a small thing. And only 2 of his 8 shots came from the arc. He- and we- are better when he remembers what an all-round guard he is. He’s much more than just a three point specialist.
- We gave up 15 three pointers and still won.
- Duke had dominated Pittsburgh on the boards who dominated us. But we out-rebounded them 38-33.
- I feared foul trouble against Duke. But it was we who got them in trouble and it was big factor in the game.
- As I am typing this, Cal is beating Arizona. That may not last but, really, who cares?
21-0, (8-0), with 10+ to go
Let’s Go Orange!
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