The Dunk or How Kristof Ongenaet Strengthened the Walls of the Syracuse Bubble
Wow. The town is buzzing. You should have heard the jubilant callers on the post-game radio show. Let's pick the bracket today! Syracuse is in!
Ok, ok... so there is a still a week to go before selection Sunday. The Orange have a lot to gain and a lot to lose in the Big East tournament. The first game is huge. At this moment it appears to be a winnable match-up with either Cincinnati or Villanova.
But today's win did a ton for our resume. Though the box score might not show it, just about everyone leaving the dome felt that Kristof Ongenaet deserved the game ball. He was all over the court on defense, tipping passes, kicking balls (illegal, but sometimes worth breaking up the play), rebounding, and outleting to fast breaks. Plus, he had three dunks in the game, one of which was the most exciting one I've seen in person since Hakim Warrick, the tallest person ever alive, was running on Jim Boeheim court.
At the 16:49 mark, Ongenaet stole the ball and darted down the court. A crossover dribble left the last defender behind him. He sliced diagonally away then drove towards the basket. Up he rose, and in that moment the half-dozen or so missed dunks that Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris have contributed this season raced through the minds of every single fan in the dome. And then... KAAAAABLAAAAMMMMOOOOOO!!!!! Two handed jam! I jumped up with the rest of the crowd as Ongenaet crashed to the floor. "...AND ONE! ...AND ONE! ...AND ONE!" I shouted that about 10 times before I spotted the referee indicating the foul.
If you've ever been to the dome, you know how rare it is that the crowd really starts to thunder. The place is so large that it's impossible for the student section to get the entire crowd going. Also, Syracuse fans can be pretty cynical and thus quick to let their enthusiasm fade. It takes an exceptional run or play on the court to get the crowd rocking. Then when 20 to 30 thousand fans are going crazy, I can't imagine that there is anything like it in college basketball. I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of basketball-specific sites that are actually louder, but no where else does the home team feel the massive number of fans supporting them.
So Ongenaet stuffs the ball, crashes to the floor, gets the foul, and the crowd goes nuts. Of course, Marquette calls timeout. The other four Syracuse players sprint over to Ongenaet and help him up, then gather around him pounding him on his chest, pounding him on the back, screaming in his face and figuring out other ways to jolt up their collective testosterone. Eventually, they realized Ongenaet was actually banged up on the play, and they let him stumble over to the bench.
Even after the timeout ended, we were all still on our feet for the free throw, which Ongenaet made. After that it was pretty much all Orange. Go look at the game flow chart on ESPN. Marquette was never in the game after the 16:49 mark. Hopefully, that chart will flow all the way into Madison Square Garden.
* * *
A few other positives at the end of the regular season...
BONUS: MID-MAJOR TEAMS TO ROOT FOR IN THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS SO THEY DON'T TAKE UP AN AT-LARGE BID THAT MIGHT GO TO SU (Source: Joe Lunardi's Bracketology)
Ok, ok... so there is a still a week to go before selection Sunday. The Orange have a lot to gain and a lot to lose in the Big East tournament. The first game is huge. At this moment it appears to be a winnable match-up with either Cincinnati or Villanova.
But today's win did a ton for our resume. Though the box score might not show it, just about everyone leaving the dome felt that Kristof Ongenaet deserved the game ball. He was all over the court on defense, tipping passes, kicking balls (illegal, but sometimes worth breaking up the play), rebounding, and outleting to fast breaks. Plus, he had three dunks in the game, one of which was the most exciting one I've seen in person since Hakim Warrick, the tallest person ever alive, was running on Jim Boeheim court.
At the 16:49 mark, Ongenaet stole the ball and darted down the court. A crossover dribble left the last defender behind him. He sliced diagonally away then drove towards the basket. Up he rose, and in that moment the half-dozen or so missed dunks that Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris have contributed this season raced through the minds of every single fan in the dome. And then... KAAAAABLAAAAMMMMOOOOOO!!!!! Two handed jam! I jumped up with the rest of the crowd as Ongenaet crashed to the floor. "...AND ONE! ...AND ONE! ...AND ONE!" I shouted that about 10 times before I spotted the referee indicating the foul.
If you've ever been to the dome, you know how rare it is that the crowd really starts to thunder. The place is so large that it's impossible for the student section to get the entire crowd going. Also, Syracuse fans can be pretty cynical and thus quick to let their enthusiasm fade. It takes an exceptional run or play on the court to get the crowd rocking. Then when 20 to 30 thousand fans are going crazy, I can't imagine that there is anything like it in college basketball. I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of basketball-specific sites that are actually louder, but no where else does the home team feel the massive number of fans supporting them.
So Ongenaet stuffs the ball, crashes to the floor, gets the foul, and the crowd goes nuts. Of course, Marquette calls timeout. The other four Syracuse players sprint over to Ongenaet and help him up, then gather around him pounding him on his chest, pounding him on the back, screaming in his face and figuring out other ways to jolt up their collective testosterone. Eventually, they realized Ongenaet was actually banged up on the play, and they let him stumble over to the bench.
Even after the timeout ended, we were all still on our feet for the free throw, which Ongenaet made. After that it was pretty much all Orange. Go look at the game flow chart on ESPN. Marquette was never in the game after the 16:49 mark. Hopefully, that chart will flow all the way into Madison Square Garden.
* * *
A few other positives at the end of the regular season...
- Donte Greene was fantastic today, and showed signs that his basketball IQ is improving. He got most of his points by dominating in the paint, adding a just the right amount of NBA-style mid-range jumpers.
- The Syracuse perimeter clamped down nicely on guard, Dominic James. Not having seen them play much this year, it seems to me that Marquette runs their offense through James. His ineffectiveness was probably the reason why Marquette couldn't make a run all game.
- Even if they don't make the tournament, and even though they've had some rough patches, this team has been a lot of fun to pull for. First of all, they're the second highest scoring team in the Big East. But even better, they like playing basketball, and they genuinely like each other. A team with bad chemistry would have fallen apart long ago, after the injuries. But these guys have fought hard all season, even in those few games that got away from them in the second half. Some of the sights you probably didn't see on television include... Donte Greene jumping out of his seat, waving his towel, and urging on the crowd while sitting on the bench with four fouls... Eric Devendorf's antsy-ness on the sidelines; at every timeout he would jump up and move around the huddle talking to anyone who would listen - the boys in uniform, Andy Rautins, the assistant coaches, the referees (you can see the hilarious shirt he wore today and his reaction to the Ongenaet dunk in the ESPN highlight)... Paul Harris and the rest of the Orange desperately trying to get senior walk-on (and a former classmate of mine at FM!) Ryan Cahak shots in the final minute of his last game at Syracuse... Greene grabbing the microphone at the end of the game and saying, "We're going to be playing a lot more games this year, and I'm going to see all you guys right here next season too!!!" (That didn't really happen, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it had.)
- Similarly, I think it is great that a Belgium JuCo transfer can fit right in with a bunch of young black kids. Late in the second half Ongenaet got fouled hard after grabbing a rebound, and his teammates almost started a fight as they came to his defense. Again, great chemistry! And they're all coming back next year!
- Final note: the chance Donte Greene jumps to the NBA is down to 5%. I firmly believe his own claim that he is coming back for one more season. Then he'll be a lottery pick in 2009.
BONUS: MID-MAJOR TEAMS TO ROOT FOR IN THEIR CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS SO THEY DON'T TAKE UP AN AT-LARGE BID THAT MIGHT GO TO SU (Source: Joe Lunardi's Bracketology)
- Davidson - SoCon (Also, root for them on behalf of Davs, Brendan, The Natural Disaster, Anders, Galdo, Martin, Hydro, New Patches, and all of the other Nuts and friends of the Sports Sauna. If SU plays Davidson in the tournament, I'm driving down to NYC to watch it with Nat.)
- Kent State - MAC
- Butler - Horizon
- South Alabama - Sun Belt
- VCU - CAA
- Drake and/or Illinois St - MVC
- Gonzaga and/or St. Mary's - WCC
Labels: NCAA basketball, ncaa tournament, Syracuse Orange basketball
posted by Prof. A at 7:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home