General20
Basketball Maven
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In the 37 years I have been alive I've seen four Syracuse basketball teams go to final fours. In a five hour stretch this afternoon I saw two Syracuse teams go to the final four. Its been one HELL of a day.
Everybody saw the stat, Virginia was 68-0 under Bennett with a 10 point lead at the half . . . until tonight. But when you break it down farther Syracuse's comeback becomes even more impressive. They weren't just down 10, they were down 16. It didn't take 20 minutes to come back, it took four (FOUR!). After being down 16 with about 9 minutes left to the team that never blows leads, Syracuse was the team running down the shot clock late in the game.
Remember Lydon's turn around against MTSU? I was so impressed that he had such a terrible first half and then come back and had a great second half. Well that's nothing compared to what Richardson did tonight. Richardson was awful against Gonzaga, and even worse in the first half of this game. There was a point in the first half where he air balled the only open shot he got (he rushed it because he had been hounded all night) and I thought Virginia's D was just too much for him. Nope. He pretty much single handedly beat 1 seed Virginia in five minutes of the best basketball I have ever seen. And it was obvious the ball was going to go through him so Virginia was ready for him. Most of his points came against the ACC defensive player of the year. We can learn two things from this.
#1) Richardson is a god damn winner. As is Lydon. I'm not sure how long those kids will choose to play college basketball, but they could probably win multiple titles if they wanted to.
#2) There is no way in hell that Brodgon is the best defensive player in the ACC. I said it at the time, Gbinije got robbed. The key to Virginia's D is not Brodgon's individual brilliance, but their ability to guard the rim. They are maybe the best I have ever seen at guarding the rim without a traditional dominant shot blocker. Everybody gets up there and blocks shots for them. This allows all their wings and guards to pressure ball handlers relentlessly without having to worry about getting beat off the dribble. Brodgon is good, but he got taken to the woodshed by a freshman, even though he had a lot of help.
Can someone tell me when, exactly, Tyler Lydon became Patrick Ewing reincarnated? In this last three games he's had 6 blocks, 6 blocks, and 5 blocks. Are you kidding me? I'm not going to take the time to look it up but that might be even better than what Ewing did.
Syracuse had 7 blocks against Virgina and 11 steals. Cooney had 4 steals and Gbinije had 2. Its nice to have senior guards! I thought Cooney played great all game. He is now the only SU player to play in 2 final fours. He contributed a little last time, but he is a major factor this time around. That's going to be his legacy.
Roberson played great again, even though he "only" got 8 rebounds. There are two reasons his rebound totals were a little low (for him).
#1) A few soft fouls kept him on the bench.
#2) Coleman insured that, for once, Roberson didn't have to grab all the boards. He had 7 rebounds in 14 minutes and played well.
Gonzaga was a huge step up in competition from MTSU and Dayton. Virginia was a step up in competition from Gonzaga. Make no mistake, UNC is going to be a HUGE step up in competition from from Virginia. I don't care what the seeds are, there is a greater jump in quality from Virginia to UNC than there was from Gonzaga to Virginia. Plus UNC is going to have a week to prepare for us.
Still, at this point, I'm done betting against this team.
Everybody saw the stat, Virginia was 68-0 under Bennett with a 10 point lead at the half . . . until tonight. But when you break it down farther Syracuse's comeback becomes even more impressive. They weren't just down 10, they were down 16. It didn't take 20 minutes to come back, it took four (FOUR!). After being down 16 with about 9 minutes left to the team that never blows leads, Syracuse was the team running down the shot clock late in the game.
Remember Lydon's turn around against MTSU? I was so impressed that he had such a terrible first half and then come back and had a great second half. Well that's nothing compared to what Richardson did tonight. Richardson was awful against Gonzaga, and even worse in the first half of this game. There was a point in the first half where he air balled the only open shot he got (he rushed it because he had been hounded all night) and I thought Virginia's D was just too much for him. Nope. He pretty much single handedly beat 1 seed Virginia in five minutes of the best basketball I have ever seen. And it was obvious the ball was going to go through him so Virginia was ready for him. Most of his points came against the ACC defensive player of the year. We can learn two things from this.
#1) Richardson is a god damn winner. As is Lydon. I'm not sure how long those kids will choose to play college basketball, but they could probably win multiple titles if they wanted to.
#2) There is no way in hell that Brodgon is the best defensive player in the ACC. I said it at the time, Gbinije got robbed. The key to Virginia's D is not Brodgon's individual brilliance, but their ability to guard the rim. They are maybe the best I have ever seen at guarding the rim without a traditional dominant shot blocker. Everybody gets up there and blocks shots for them. This allows all their wings and guards to pressure ball handlers relentlessly without having to worry about getting beat off the dribble. Brodgon is good, but he got taken to the woodshed by a freshman, even though he had a lot of help.
Can someone tell me when, exactly, Tyler Lydon became Patrick Ewing reincarnated? In this last three games he's had 6 blocks, 6 blocks, and 5 blocks. Are you kidding me? I'm not going to take the time to look it up but that might be even better than what Ewing did.
Syracuse had 7 blocks against Virgina and 11 steals. Cooney had 4 steals and Gbinije had 2. Its nice to have senior guards! I thought Cooney played great all game. He is now the only SU player to play in 2 final fours. He contributed a little last time, but he is a major factor this time around. That's going to be his legacy.
Roberson played great again, even though he "only" got 8 rebounds. There are two reasons his rebound totals were a little low (for him).
#1) A few soft fouls kept him on the bench.
#2) Coleman insured that, for once, Roberson didn't have to grab all the boards. He had 7 rebounds in 14 minutes and played well.
Gonzaga was a huge step up in competition from MTSU and Dayton. Virginia was a step up in competition from Gonzaga. Make no mistake, UNC is going to be a HUGE step up in competition from from Virginia. I don't care what the seeds are, there is a greater jump in quality from Virginia to UNC than there was from Gonzaga to Virginia. Plus UNC is going to have a week to prepare for us.
Still, at this point, I'm done betting against this team.
