Running Diary: SU Basketball
Well, all my moaning finally paid off. Liz decided to get the North American Sports Network for her TV package just in time for me to watch the Syracuse-Louisville basketball game. It's 8:30 on a Sunday, and I'm awake waiting for the game to start. Alas, the Penguins-Stars hockey game has to finish first, and they just went into overtime. I hope they don't cut the front end off the basketball game, which is being tape-delayed anyway.
8:40 - Shootout in the hockey game. I'm mildly curious to see Sidney Crosby's opportunity.
8:43 - Crosby just got stoned by Pierre Turgeon. Bingo was his Lame-O. Penguins eventually win anyway.
8:46 - Boeheim's 1000th game. He's the 22nd coach to reach that mark, but only the 7th to do it all with one team.
8:47 - Calling the game for ESPN is Dave Pasch and Len Elmore. Pasch is notable for being an SU grad and a member of the same fraternity I was in just around the time it got kicked off campus in the early nineties.
18:00 - Switching to game time now. It just makes more sense. SU jumps out to a 6-0 lead. We look bigger and more athletic than Louisville. That's usually true for us. We just can't put it together.
14:33 - Pasch just reported that Elmore's favorite X-Games athlete is Shaun White.
12:17 - Syracuse is controlling the game nicely with a 13-8 lead. But you get the feeling neither team has hit its stride yet. The Orange just picked up their 6th team foul. Mildly worrying.
9:15 - Louisville just took the lead after back to back threes from a Cornell transfer. Whaaa? Cornell's never beaten the Orange, so they're sending their best players to teams that have a chance, apparently.
8:25 - Paul Harris just pulled down two monster rebounds in the row, but Watkins blows a close one on the other end. You know what they say, "live by Roberts-Watkins, die by Roberts-Watkins."
5:41 - Paul Harris picks up his third foul. We won't see him for a while. We won't miss him on offense.
3:45 - Pasch notes that the game is higher scoring than anticipated, as a Louisville bucket is followed by a Roberts slam to make the game 32-28 Syracuse.
3:19 - Gotta love the 15 seconds of commercials on NASN's tape-delayed games. A quick promo for an encore presentation of the Fiesta bowl (might watch that) and we're back to the action.
3:00 - Louisville staying in the game with their 3-point shooting. 34-31 SU. If the game was in the dome, I'd be smelling tacos.
1:20 - It's 38-33, but it could be 48-33 if the Orange made all their lay-ups (most of which could have been dunks).
:56 - I missed the commentary and only saw a picture of a Cardinal with some stats next to him, a heading that said "missing Cardinal," and a caption under the picture that said "Caracter." Did ESPN mis-spell "character" or does Louisville have a guy named "Character" who is suspended? Either way, that's hilarious.
HALF - 42-38 Syracuse. I've never been less impressed by a 40+ first half effort. OK, OK...I'll admit it. I went to suathletics.com because I wanted to find a cool old picture of Boeheim I had seen before and I accidentally saw that SU had lost. But still, the defense is not there, and as well as the offense is executing, Roberts-Watkins aren't dominating as much as they should be.
Happier news...if the season ended today, UConn wouldn't make the Big East tournament. I really hope they don't, and that UConn goes on to have the type of down season Boeheim never has. I also hope that Jim Calhoun is coaching a game and a stolen laptop falls out of his suit jacket, and Calhoun looks around sheepishly before sprinting off the court, never to be seen again.
Texas A&M is ranked 6th in the nation. I feel like their success makes the Syracuse upset-defeat in the NCAAs a little less of an upset. The Aggies were underrated last year, clearly.
20:00 - Here we go. I know we lose. But I hope our scoring remains strong, and I'd like to see our defense tighten a little.
18:30 - It's good to see Rautins make a 3 every game, just to keep alive the hope that he can somewhere down the road provide one of those "token white shooter gets hot and leads team to important victory" games. 47-43 Syracuse.
16:31 - Haven't really seen a lot of Nichols tonight. That's probably a good thing, since it means the Orange are finding their points from a lot of different guys. The only problem is Nichols' scoring has dipped in Big East play to 16 per game. But that's not a huge problem yet. As long as his confidence remains strong, he'll be fine in March.
14:49 - The Final Four is in Atlanta this year. And I have one month off from school at that time. Chris? You in for our usual "If Syracuse makes the Final Four, we're going" pact?
ESPN rolls a quick 2003 National Championship highlight reel, freezing on Hak's block as Pasch reads, "...Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara, and Hakim Warrick's block..." The longevity of the Hak Block is finally giving that play the historical importance it deserves. And how great does that roster look, in retrospect? Melo is turning into an all-time great, as expected. Hak was briefly the leading scorer for the Grizzlies this year. Gerry is one of the greatest college players of all time. Everyone who watched college basketball that year loved Josh Pace. And Billy Edelin is...um...geheyeheyeheyehey! (grabbing collar)
13:11 - 61-49 Orange. Crap, this is going to be a painful loss. On the other end, Louisville ends a 4 minute FG drought to cut it to 10.
12:16 - The one redeeming factor about the underachieving Roberts-Watkins duo over the past four years is that you can't really fault their attitudes. Roberts hustles like a maniac, and his biggest improvement has been harnessing his boundless energy. Watkins' face suggests apathy, but his head is in the game. He's improved a lot, just not into the star that his body suggested he might become.
On a related note, I think I can imagine both of these guys squeezing on to an NBA roster somewhere down the road, even if they aren't drafted. And one or both could even have a productive pro career. I can't shake their potential.
10:08 - In golf, I'm excited to see Andrew Buckle tied for the lead at the Buick Invitational. He was one of my cheap buys in the 2007 golf pool. I'll do a post on that one of these days.
9:40 - As the lead grows, the impending collapse heightens the dread. 65-51 Syracuse. Maybe I mis-read suathletics.com.
9:02 - Fourth personal foul on Watkins reminds me that Paul Harris has been absent for the last 16 minutes. My prediction that we wouldn't see him for a while has proven to be a brilliant one. I am the lord of college basketball knowledge. Bow down before my wisdom.
8:04 - I just realized that I now have a go-to channel in this barren wasteland of entertainment. Thanks Liz!!
7:42 - Paul Harris back on the court. Good time to see him with the lead at 11 and the clock under eight. This is where the Orange should hold off one final run from the Cardinals.
6:47 - Harris gives up a rebound off a fast break that leads to a quick put-back by a player right in front of him. In his defense, he had two different players to box out. 66-59 Orange. Here it comes.
6:01 - Harris makes a strong rebound after a couple Louisville but falls out of bounds. Elmore notes that the breaks are going Louisville's way right now. 66-61 Orange, and the crowd is in it.
5:45 - Devendorf throws away an inbounds play. Syracuse has 14 points in the second half. Normally the Orange is a second half team. Strange game. 0 FG in the last four minutes plus.
4:37 - Three from Smith makes it 66-64.
4:17 - Roberts hits two free throws. He seems to make more free throws late in the game.
4:00 - Louisville hits a jumper then Devendorf throws it away. His concentration is maddening. He's a year and a half into his career. You can't blame inexperience anymore. He's got a ton of energy. Sometimes it gives him an edge. Sometimes it kills him.
3:44 - With the lead down to one Wright comes out to run the point.
2:55 - Great pass from Devendorf finds Watkins on the baseline, who gets body slammed. Mookie hits 1 of 2 to make it 69-67.
2:30 - Louisville takes the lead off an offensive rebound and a three. SU misses on the other end. That could be it right there.
1:45 - I think it is. Cardinals put in another three from straight on. This is what happens when you stop making baskets. 20-3 run by Louisville, and none of those 3 were FGs. It's like Syracuse used up all their baskets in that crazy first half.
1:11 - Nichols misses a three that he has to make. Good look from straight on. He has to make those at this point in the game.
:51 - Wright almost gets a turnover. Ball didn't bounce Syracuse's way down the stretch.
:25 - Denny Crum is in the building! It looks like he's standing in the concourse, ready to beat the traffic home.
:15 - Devo misses a wide open three from the corner. I can't believe Syracuse isn't going to get to Taco Time, even though they're not playing in the dome anyway, and I'm not even on a continent that has Taco Bell.
:06 - Devendorf finally makes a bucket to end about a ten minute field goal drought. Unbelievable.
ESPN shows a Big East graphic. SU will drop to 4-3 in the Big East. The Notre Dame game coming up is going to be important. Can't lose three straight. Luckily SU owns Notre Dame.
FINAL - 76-71. Ugh. Have to make baskets. I'm actually glad I saw the result going in, because watching that loss without knowing it was coming would have ruined my day.
8:40 - Shootout in the hockey game. I'm mildly curious to see Sidney Crosby's opportunity.
8:43 - Crosby just got stoned by Pierre Turgeon. Bingo was his Lame-O. Penguins eventually win anyway.
8:46 - Boeheim's 1000th game. He's the 22nd coach to reach that mark, but only the 7th to do it all with one team.
8:47 - Calling the game for ESPN is Dave Pasch and Len Elmore. Pasch is notable for being an SU grad and a member of the same fraternity I was in just around the time it got kicked off campus in the early nineties.
18:00 - Switching to game time now. It just makes more sense. SU jumps out to a 6-0 lead. We look bigger and more athletic than Louisville. That's usually true for us. We just can't put it together.
14:33 - Pasch just reported that Elmore's favorite X-Games athlete is Shaun White.
12:17 - Syracuse is controlling the game nicely with a 13-8 lead. But you get the feeling neither team has hit its stride yet. The Orange just picked up their 6th team foul. Mildly worrying.
9:15 - Louisville just took the lead after back to back threes from a Cornell transfer. Whaaa? Cornell's never beaten the Orange, so they're sending their best players to teams that have a chance, apparently.
8:25 - Paul Harris just pulled down two monster rebounds in the row, but Watkins blows a close one on the other end. You know what they say, "live by Roberts-Watkins, die by Roberts-Watkins."
5:41 - Paul Harris picks up his third foul. We won't see him for a while. We won't miss him on offense.
3:45 - Pasch notes that the game is higher scoring than anticipated, as a Louisville bucket is followed by a Roberts slam to make the game 32-28 Syracuse.
3:19 - Gotta love the 15 seconds of commercials on NASN's tape-delayed games. A quick promo for an encore presentation of the Fiesta bowl (might watch that) and we're back to the action.
3:00 - Louisville staying in the game with their 3-point shooting. 34-31 SU. If the game was in the dome, I'd be smelling tacos.
1:20 - It's 38-33, but it could be 48-33 if the Orange made all their lay-ups (most of which could have been dunks).
:56 - I missed the commentary and only saw a picture of a Cardinal with some stats next to him, a heading that said "missing Cardinal," and a caption under the picture that said "Caracter." Did ESPN mis-spell "character" or does Louisville have a guy named "Character" who is suspended? Either way, that's hilarious.
HALF - 42-38 Syracuse. I've never been less impressed by a 40+ first half effort. OK, OK...I'll admit it. I went to suathletics.com because I wanted to find a cool old picture of Boeheim I had seen before and I accidentally saw that SU had lost. But still, the defense is not there, and as well as the offense is executing, Roberts-Watkins aren't dominating as much as they should be.
Happier news...if the season ended today, UConn wouldn't make the Big East tournament. I really hope they don't, and that UConn goes on to have the type of down season Boeheim never has. I also hope that Jim Calhoun is coaching a game and a stolen laptop falls out of his suit jacket, and Calhoun looks around sheepishly before sprinting off the court, never to be seen again.
Texas A&M is ranked 6th in the nation. I feel like their success makes the Syracuse upset-defeat in the NCAAs a little less of an upset. The Aggies were underrated last year, clearly.
20:00 - Here we go. I know we lose. But I hope our scoring remains strong, and I'd like to see our defense tighten a little.
18:30 - It's good to see Rautins make a 3 every game, just to keep alive the hope that he can somewhere down the road provide one of those "token white shooter gets hot and leads team to important victory" games. 47-43 Syracuse.
16:31 - Haven't really seen a lot of Nichols tonight. That's probably a good thing, since it means the Orange are finding their points from a lot of different guys. The only problem is Nichols' scoring has dipped in Big East play to 16 per game. But that's not a huge problem yet. As long as his confidence remains strong, he'll be fine in March.
14:49 - The Final Four is in Atlanta this year. And I have one month off from school at that time. Chris? You in for our usual "If Syracuse makes the Final Four, we're going" pact?
ESPN rolls a quick 2003 National Championship highlight reel, freezing on Hak's block as Pasch reads, "...Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara, and Hakim Warrick's block..." The longevity of the Hak Block is finally giving that play the historical importance it deserves. And how great does that roster look, in retrospect? Melo is turning into an all-time great, as expected. Hak was briefly the leading scorer for the Grizzlies this year. Gerry is one of the greatest college players of all time. Everyone who watched college basketball that year loved Josh Pace. And Billy Edelin is...um...geheyeheyeheyehey! (grabbing collar)
13:11 - 61-49 Orange. Crap, this is going to be a painful loss. On the other end, Louisville ends a 4 minute FG drought to cut it to 10.
12:16 - The one redeeming factor about the underachieving Roberts-Watkins duo over the past four years is that you can't really fault their attitudes. Roberts hustles like a maniac, and his biggest improvement has been harnessing his boundless energy. Watkins' face suggests apathy, but his head is in the game. He's improved a lot, just not into the star that his body suggested he might become.
On a related note, I think I can imagine both of these guys squeezing on to an NBA roster somewhere down the road, even if they aren't drafted. And one or both could even have a productive pro career. I can't shake their potential.
10:08 - In golf, I'm excited to see Andrew Buckle tied for the lead at the Buick Invitational. He was one of my cheap buys in the 2007 golf pool. I'll do a post on that one of these days.
9:40 - As the lead grows, the impending collapse heightens the dread. 65-51 Syracuse. Maybe I mis-read suathletics.com.
9:02 - Fourth personal foul on Watkins reminds me that Paul Harris has been absent for the last 16 minutes. My prediction that we wouldn't see him for a while has proven to be a brilliant one. I am the lord of college basketball knowledge. Bow down before my wisdom.
8:04 - I just realized that I now have a go-to channel in this barren wasteland of entertainment. Thanks Liz!!
7:42 - Paul Harris back on the court. Good time to see him with the lead at 11 and the clock under eight. This is where the Orange should hold off one final run from the Cardinals.
6:47 - Harris gives up a rebound off a fast break that leads to a quick put-back by a player right in front of him. In his defense, he had two different players to box out. 66-59 Orange. Here it comes.
6:01 - Harris makes a strong rebound after a couple Louisville but falls out of bounds. Elmore notes that the breaks are going Louisville's way right now. 66-61 Orange, and the crowd is in it.
5:45 - Devendorf throws away an inbounds play. Syracuse has 14 points in the second half. Normally the Orange is a second half team. Strange game. 0 FG in the last four minutes plus.
4:37 - Three from Smith makes it 66-64.
4:17 - Roberts hits two free throws. He seems to make more free throws late in the game.
4:00 - Louisville hits a jumper then Devendorf throws it away. His concentration is maddening. He's a year and a half into his career. You can't blame inexperience anymore. He's got a ton of energy. Sometimes it gives him an edge. Sometimes it kills him.
3:44 - With the lead down to one Wright comes out to run the point.
2:55 - Great pass from Devendorf finds Watkins on the baseline, who gets body slammed. Mookie hits 1 of 2 to make it 69-67.
2:30 - Louisville takes the lead off an offensive rebound and a three. SU misses on the other end. That could be it right there.
1:45 - I think it is. Cardinals put in another three from straight on. This is what happens when you stop making baskets. 20-3 run by Louisville, and none of those 3 were FGs. It's like Syracuse used up all their baskets in that crazy first half.
1:11 - Nichols misses a three that he has to make. Good look from straight on. He has to make those at this point in the game.
:51 - Wright almost gets a turnover. Ball didn't bounce Syracuse's way down the stretch.
:25 - Denny Crum is in the building! It looks like he's standing in the concourse, ready to beat the traffic home.
:15 - Devo misses a wide open three from the corner. I can't believe Syracuse isn't going to get to Taco Time, even though they're not playing in the dome anyway, and I'm not even on a continent that has Taco Bell.
:06 - Devendorf finally makes a bucket to end about a ten minute field goal drought. Unbelievable.
ESPN shows a Big East graphic. SU will drop to 4-3 in the Big East. The Notre Dame game coming up is going to be important. Can't lose three straight. Luckily SU owns Notre Dame.
FINAL - 76-71. Ugh. Have to make baskets. I'm actually glad I saw the result going in, because watching that loss without knowing it was coming would have ruined my day.
posted by Prof. A at 3:38 AM
2 Comments:
MIA: Caracter.
I don't think I can pledge to make the Final Four if Syracuse does. Maybe. In theory, I'm not supposed to get any vacation until September, and I'm already intending to skip some work for your wedding. ...so...hmm. Go Orange.
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