Your Wednesday night ESPN2 crew: Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla***

[Frozen]

.

 

[armory]

Ugh. Fran the infamous cuse hater.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

Bob Wischusen was my basketball coach in 8th grade! He comes across as a mild mannered choir boy on broadcasts now. He was a maniac on the sidelines back in the day.

 

[pearl31]

he generally knows his stuff, but I really can't stand Fran F.

 

[GoSU96]

.

It's better than Burke or Simpkins

 

[pearl31]

or Dykes

 

[HoustonCuse]

Whats wrong with Fran? He always struck me as having a ton of respect for the Cuse program and JB. Like others have said, it beats the heck out of what we have been getting. Simpkins and Co. are one step above boom goes the dynamite.

 

[Cuse4]

Whats wrong with Fran? He always struck me as having a ton of respect for the Cuse program and JB. Like others have said, it beats the heck out of what we have been getting. Simpkins and Co. are one step above boom goes the dynamite.

I like Fran, but I'm with armory, Fran is definitely not a cuse fan... he'll be flat out rooting for nova... you'll hear him scream and get into it when they score... maybe jealous of JB over the years... however, most games he does he finds a team to root for, but with cuse, it's never us... We've lost a decent share of our games that Fran does... I'd def rather have someone like Simpkins, who maybe isn't the best analyst, but has no bias... If you haven't noticed Fran before, you will tomorrow if it's a close game

 

[pearl31]

Fran, despite his knowledge of and love for the game, strikes me as a jaded ex-coach who is convinced he should be a current coach.

 

[bballbeadle]

What I remember is his piece prior to the 03 championship game where he gave us no chance - NONE - of winning that game. I believe his final declarative words were "Rock chalk, Jay Hawk." I kept the clipping. Alas, I don't know where it is.

 

[Moontan]

What I remember is his piece prior to the 03 championship game where he gave us no chance - NONE - of winning that game. I believe his final declarative words were "Rock chalk, Jay Hawk." I kept the clipping. Alas, I don't know where it is.

Are you sure?


In this piece of ESPN expert picks, he is the only one to pick Syracuse. Here is what he said:

Syracuse over Kansas: If Syracuse can control Collison inside and take away some of Kansas's explosive transition game, it will be Carmelo Anthony's opportunity to give Jim Boehiem his first championship. Anthony will provide match-up difficulties both inside and out for the Jayhawks. Gerry McNamara will have the ball in his hands late in the game because he is a great foul shooter and Hakim Warrick will chip in and have a great game around the basket.

 

[bballbeadle]

Aha! You are correct, sir! It was not Fran and thankfully he will never sue me for slander. I found the article and it was by Gene Wojciechowski. Title: "Too good to deny KU's great title chances." And "Rock chalk, Jayhawk" were NOT his last words. Isn't memory wonderful?

Here is what he wrote at the very end: " Kansas will win Monday because it doesn't care who is on the other side of the bracket. Burnt orange - Syracuse orange, doesn't matter. The Jayhawks survived the brutal West Regional, beating Duke and Arizona, among others, to reach New Orleans. They turned Marquette into a Sigma Chi intramural team. Syracuse just happens to be next.

Earlier in the week Marquette assistant coach Jeff Strohm, who knows his stuff as well as anyone, said Syracuse is the most talented team here. That might be true, but Kansas has the Final Four's best sixth man.

Fate."

 

[bpo57]

Bob Wischusen was my basketball coach in 8th grade! He comes across as a mild mannered choir boy on broadcasts now. He was a maniac on the sidelines back in the day.

Mild mannered? Ever him do a Jets game on radio? Sounds like he is losing his mind.

 

[Marsh01]

Aha! You are correct, sir! It was not Fran and thankfully he will never sue me for slander. I found the article and it was by Gene Wojciechowski. Title: "Too good to deny KU's great title chances." And "Rock chalk, Jayhawk" were NOT his last words. Isn't memory wonderful?

Here is what he wrote at the very end: " Kansas will win Monday because it doesn't care who is on the other side of the bracket. Burnt orange - Syracuse orange, doesn't matter. The Jayhawks survived the brutal West Regional, beating Duke and Arizona, among others, to reach New Orleans. They turned Marquette into a Sigma Chi intramural team. Syracuse just happens to be next.

Earlier in the week Marquette assistant coach Jeff Strohm, who knows his stuff as well as anyone, said Syracuse is the most talented team here. That might be true, but Kansas has the Final Four's best sixth man.

Fate."

Here was his article the next day:

Tuesday, April 8, 2003
Updated: April 10, 4:33 PM ET
Boeheim's time is now ... Williams' will come
By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN The Magazine

NEW ORLEANS -- The Road Ends Here. That's what the huge, rain-battered sign on the side of the Superdome read. And after 27 long seasons of driving through the backroads of NCAA Tournament brackets, of enduring the not-so-whispered criticism that he simply couldn't win the Big One at the Big Dance, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim finally parked himself next to a national championship trophy.
All it took was 879 games, three visits to the Final Four and a victory so sweet against Kansas that it should come with a warning label for high sugar content. But if Boeheim minded the wait, he didn't show it. He wore a white national championship T-shirt, but also the weary look of someone worn down by 40 minutes of flashbacks and KU comebacks. So spent was Boeheim that his wife forced him to stay on the court and watch the "One Shining Moment" video segment on the stadium big screen.

Jim Boeheim's 27-year title wait is finally over ...

"I was tired," Boeheim said. "I was ready to go after we won the game."
Boeheim nearly won this thing in 1987, but Keith Smart ended all that with a game-winning baseline jumper that guaranteed him free meals and drinks in the state of Indiana for decades to come. It happened in this same concrete eyesore and afterward, then-Hoosiers coach Bob Knight told Boeheim, "You'll be back."
He was, first in 1996 and then again this season, with a team so young that it gets carded going into arenas. But one of his freshmen starters is Carmelo Anthony, who left the Superdome floor with a nylon net around his neck and the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player award.
"Probably the most talented player in the nation," said Kansas all-America Nick Collison, who chooses his words and compliments carefully.
Anthony followed his 33-point night against Texas in the semis with a 20-point, 10-rebound evening against the Jayhawks. Keith Langford, perhaps KU's best defender -- but four inches shorter than Anthony -- eventually fouled out trying to check the 6-foot-8 freshman.
Anthony likely played his final game at Syracuse. He'll make someone a lovely NBA lottery pick. Fellow freshman starter Gerry McNamara will be back, though he shot like a pro against Kansas. McNamara, who was playing for the Pennsylvania state high school championship a year ago, hit six of 10 3-pointers, all in the first half. It didn't matter if Kirk Hinrich and the entire KU pep band were on him, McNamara was unstoppable.
Josh Pace came off the bench and added eight points and eight rebounds ... Kueth Duany, the only senior starter on the team, hit two key 3-pointers ... Kansas missed 12 of 30 free throws and four of 20 from the arc. There are 100 reasons -- some tiny, some the size of Anthony's Nikes -- why Boeheim got a postgame smooch from wife Juli and countless hugs from his players. But maybe it was as simple as this: it was his time.
"I guess he has a supposed monkey on his back," said Duany. "I guess you can take that off now."
Boeheim has his elusive national championship, but there was no gloating, no lectures to his critics. That's not his style. He was a walk-on at Syracuse who half-lucked into a scholarship because someone got kicked off the team. His post-playing career included a 5-year stop as SU's volunteer assistant golf coach. He became the Orangemen's hoops coach, he said, "by default." So when he gives one of his signature shrugs when asked about winning the Final Four, he means it.
"I don't feel any smarter ... yet," he said. "Maybe tomorrow.
"Am I happy that I won? Yeah, I'm happy, sure. I mean, I'm not stupid."

... while Roy Williams' quest may continue on Tobacco Road.

Either is Kansas coach Roy Williams, whose team still had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, despite the Jayhawks' yips at the foul line and their Greenland-cold shooting from the 3-point line. Williams coached the pinstripes off his pricey suit Monday evening. He found holes in Boeheim's vaunted 2-3 zone (points in the paint: KU 54, SU 32), but there wasn't much he could do about the Jayhawks' missed free throws and perimeter problems.
Once again Williams leaves a March/April Madness with no NCAA hardware. He is the tournament's winningest active coach, but he's 0-for-Final Fours. Two title games, two losses.
Moments after Hinrich's desperation 3 at the buzzer missed everything, Williams made a beeline for Boeheim. The two men aren't close friends, but they share a mutual respect and a mutual appreciation of exactly how hard it is to win it all.
So they met near midcourt. Superdome workers brushed past carrying parts of a stage. Syracuse players rushed toward an open cardboard box and began modeling championship hats and shirts. But Boeheim and Williams stayed put, longer than most coaches do after a game like this.
"I told him, and I meant it -- as much as anything I've ever meant in my life -- that I was really happy for him," Williams said. "I hurt. I hurt for my team, but I was really happy for him."
And Boeheim, remembering what Knight had told him in New Orleans 16 years ago, tried to ease the hurt.
"I told Roy that I firmly believe he will win a national championship, without any doubt," Boeheim said. "There is no doubt in my mind that he will win a national championship. He's got a lot of coaching left in him."
But where? Will Williams crank the ignition on the Dadgummitmobile and steer it toward Tobacco Road and his beloved North Carolina? The chatter among gossipy coaches here is that Williams is indeed going back to Mayberry. Done deal, that's the word.
But until Williams is the one who says that word, anything is possible. Three years ago he was faced with the same decision and chose to stay. Williams didn't exactly hang the peach basket at KU, but he's put in 15 extraordinary seasons there.
Afterward, someone asked Williams about the North Carolina job one too many times.
"I could give a s--- about North Carolina," said Williams, who rarely drops any four-letter bombs.
Williams was a team picture of class after the handshake with Boeheim. He sought out every Syracuse player and coach he could find and congratulated them. Then he returned to the Kansas locker room and shed a few well-earned tears. He wiped away a few more when Collison (19 points, 21 rebounds) offered a testimonial for the ages.
"I wouldn't give a million dollars to be on Syracuse right now," Collison said. "They have a ring, but my experience here has been unbelievable. You're playing for the best man in college basketball. Regardless of whether we lost. I swear we could have made the NIT and I still would have felt the same way."
Boeheim at last gets his victory parade. Williams gets another offseason of what-ifs. The road to these Final Fours is fickle that way.
Gene Wojciechowski is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine

 

[orangecuse]

I like Fran, but I'm with armory, Fran is definitely not a cuse fan... he'll be flat out rooting for nova... you'll hear him scream and get into it when they score... maybe jealous of JB over the years... however, most games he does he finds a team to root for, but with cuse, it's never us... We've lost a decent share of our games that Fran does... I'd def rather have someone like Simpkins, who maybe isn't the best analyst, but has no bias... If you haven't noticed Fran before, you will tomorrow if it's a close game

Well then, for that reason alone, I hope it's not a close game.

 

[RoysRunts]

Anybody have a Picture/ Video of His Dance after Ryan Blackwell hit the Game winner over the Johnnies, Better Dance than Elaine Benis.

 

[dollarbill44]

I don't find Fran to be an SU hater at all. I've heard him speak very well of SU and JB several times in the past couple of years. But, I will never forget his complaining after SU beat SJU in the BET with him running around the court making the traveling sign, trying to desperately to find a ref to complain to.

 

[Orange87]

Fran, despite his knowledge of and love for the game, strikes me as a jaded ex-coach who is convinced he should be a current coach.

Say what you will about Fraschilla, you can trace St. John's downfall from a consistent tournament team to a less-than-medicore squad directly from his firing.

Guy was a good coach at Manhattan and then at SJU.

 

[pearl31]

did Jarvis come after Fran?

 

[Orange87]

Yup.

 

[bballbeadle]

Hmmm, his "day after" article was not bad. I would have preferred groveling and mea culpas, but he was professional and wrote a good piece. I still kinda hate him, though. But it's a virtuous hate.