The Pauls and the 6OT Game

Commemorating one of the all-time classics...in audio!

Scenes from the University: 2 hours to tip

58 degrees. Sunny.

If you own a Marathon Men T-shirt, you wore it today. Second option is anything orange. Everyone is talking, thinking about the game. Everyone is optimistic. We think we're going to win. (We don't expect to win. I won't go that far. We just think we'll win.)

At a lecture from a visiting professor who happened to graduate from Georgetown: he's introduced by Professor Sharp, a 43-year vet at SU, who mocks him for Georgetown's poor season. Later, Professor Ketcham (Class of '66) starts a conversation about the game.

How did we get here? We've come full circle from our last trip to Memphis, when we won convincingly without Devo. With Ricky taking The Waffle's spot in the starting lineup. We didn't know then if Devo would be back, but we did know we'd be OK.

Set out runnin but I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight.

Alpha Chi Rho is blasting their music for all to enjoy. Beer pong on the porch. Some kind of hoop game being played in the yard. Barbecue ready to light. Girls in orange shirts showing up for a few drinks before the game.

Blake Griffin. Everyone in Syracuse is afraid of him. "That guy...that big guy on Oklahoma," Casual Fan asks me, "he's pretty good, right?"

He's freakin' great. 30ppg, 14rbg. Four 20-rebound games this year. Yikes!

But... I'll take Jonny and Devo over Willie Warren and Austin Johnson. I'll take our role players over theirs. Can A-O and Ricky play as well defensively as they did against Harangody earlier this year? Griffin is much better than Harangody.

More pre-game parties off Euclid. People spilling out of a house onto a porch, enjoying the weather. Girls in orange T-shirts smoking and drinking before tip-off. Three guys barbecuing in their driveway. More girls in orange on a roof. Still time to enjoy the weather before the game starts. Two parallel beer pong tables outside a house with more music playing.

You may be right, I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light, don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know, but you may be right

"Syracuse by 12," predicts the UNC fan from Chicago who goes to Newhouse and does the sports report on the local afternoon sports talk radio show. "And I'm cheering for SU on Sunday, by the way."

"I think we'll win, but more like 5 or 6 margin of victory," says the Axeman.

Prediction: CBS shows the graphic, "Syracuse won the 2003 championship as a 3-seed."

Yes, but this isn't 2003. This year is top heavy, that year was wide open. This team doesn't have a Carmelo Anthony, or a Hak Warrick, or even a Gerry McNamara.

Imagined graphic: "In 2003, Syracuse was named the Big 12 champs despite not being a member of the Big 12."

In 2003, we knew Syracuse could win it all if it played well. In 2009 we thought Syracuse could make a run if they stayed hot. There's a difference.

But...

Even the girls in their brand new Marathon Men T-shirts know, if Syracuse stays hot, they win this game.

Two links

Interesting article in NYTimes about UConn's foul advantage. Since Syracuse also has a nice foul discrepancy, I'll avoid making the point that UConn, particularly Thabeet, plays dirty.

On the ride home, Doug "I hate SU" Gottlieb noted on the radio that Eric Devendorf was called the most hated player in the tournament. I didn't catch the website, but it might be this one.

I (heart) Brackets

It's looking like a curious opening round experience for me, alas. I think I'll be watching the Thursday and Friday afternoon games - including the Orange - in my office online. Then I'll be working at the bookstore Thursday and Friday night. Thursday night I'll get home at 10:30 and do the whole TiVo thing from CBS's coverage, which worked great last year. Friday night is a different story. The Twilight DVD is released at midnight so I won't get home until 1:30am. Luckily, Saturday and Sunday are free, if you don't count the 10 page paper I have to write on canals, steamboats, and railroads in the early 19th century.

Oh, and I'm sure you're waiting for more on the UConn game. In honor of the resonance that incredible night continues to have, I'm doing something very special. I don't know when it will be ready. Maybe I'll do it after Syracuse is eliminated as a way to buoy everyone's spirits. Stay tuned...

Anyway, I should be reading about the Erie Canal right now, so to cheat a little with my post, here are some emails I traded yesterday with several of my wisest SU buddies...

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From: Moore
Subject: Thoughts?

You know what.

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From: Me

Even Boeheim admitted on The Herd today he thought we were getting a "4". Crazy.

I made it to the Seton Hall and West Virginia game, but came up a half a block short of being in the building for the UConn game. Still...2nd best SU game I've ever watched. People in Syracuse are still going nuts. The local radio guy railed against conference tournaments a week ago, started his show today by admitting he was wrong. "If Boeheim and the players can care so much about the tournament, then I think I have to accept that."

As for the fatigue factor, I'm glad we're playing on Friday. I think the confidence and momentum we built between the Marquette win and the tournament run equal out the fatigue factor. I think we're healthier than we were in the middle of the Gauntlet. I think we lost to Texas A&M in 06 because Gerry was injured. I think we lost to Vermont in 05 because Coppenrath, Sorrentine, and that other guy had the games of their lives. And, OK, we were a little bit tired. Stephen F. Austin, congrats, but you are no 05 Vermont. I am not afraid of Temple, but I'm a little afraid of James Harden, Herb Sendek, and Arizona St.

I've felt all season that SU was a sweet 16 team at best, if the bracket worked out. I never thought we'd get a 3-seed, and I only hoped that we would come alive like we did the last week. Elite 8 is possible now, especially if OK's recent slide carries into the tournament. UNC comes out of our region.

Jonny goes pro.

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From: Chris

Did you all see the AP story that called the Six Overtime Game one of the sport's best games ever?

From graf three:
"The headlines on Selection Sunday belonged to the Big East, the league that gave us Patrick Ewing and John Thompson, one of the game's biggest upsets (Villanova over Georgetown in 1985) and one of its greatest games (Syracuse over UConn in six overtimes just last week)."

Wow.

My roommate, who roots for the UW, is pissed about 'Cuse's three seed. He's so angry he's convinced himself ASU will beat us in the tourney, and would beat us anywhere, anytime. Haha.

I think we'll be OK. All this Elite Eight talk freaks me out a little bit, but I'll be picking 'Cuse to win the national championship. I always do. I always, always lose my brackets.


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From: Me
To: Chris

I've got the 6-OT replay on my TiVo. I'm going to burn it to a DVD then when I come visit Seattle we're going to have an evening where we watch the 6-OT game then the "Finally Orange" DVD back to back.


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From: The Legendary J.G.

I wasn't going to respond to Moore's plea for entertainment to get him through the lull which is law... But Arras's comments inspired me to respond.

Syracuse always plays well in early season tournaments and the BET. They tend to be lazy and let teams hang around in the dance including 03 when they spotted OKie State a 20 pt lead! I think they will push through SFA with relative ease, although their big man Kingsley (sp?) is going to have a career day... Mark it down... Something like 20 pts 14 boards. I agree that Harden from ASU, is going to be a huge thorn in our side in game 2. He has the potential to really hurt us, as Devo, and Jonny, will pretty much let him spot up and light us up from the outside...

While I am incredibly excited that we played so well in the BET, I agree it probably ushered Jonny right into the draft. What's unfortunate is that from everything I have read, next years team with Wes Johnson, that versatile 4 we don't have this year would be dynamite with Jonny running the point. Not only is the BE a very winnable conference next year, I think the NC would be a realistic expectation. That in addition to the fact that I heard Devo had worn out his welcome, and won't be returning really upsets me. He has played unbelievably well late in the season, as is probably the best pure scorer we have had since Melo. I know we still have a tournament to play this season, but talent wise, there probably would never have been a SU squad like the one we would have next year, with everyone back. Scoop at the point just doesn't scare anyone, and we all know how much a great pg makes everything easier. Jonny would be one of the biggest superstars in the game, and all that publicity is fun to be around. Brandon Triche could have learned for a year before taking over...

I say sweet 16, with Oklahoma being a little bit too much... I would love to see us play North Carolina! Jonny vs. Lawson would be huge!

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From: Moore


Good work, boys.

I think foul trouble will be our ultimate downfall, perhaps earlier than people are expecting right now.

I got to see a lot of the second half against UConn, and then OTs 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. They debated on PTI on Friday whether or not that was the greatest game in college basketball history. The consensus was that it probably wasn't, but that it was on the short list. I have to agree with that. Great game, but the stakes just weren't high enough. And I thought that once it got to the OTs, it was a fairly sloppy game. And I got to the point also, in the 6th OT, when three guys from each team had fouled out and we were playing with walkons that a win or a loss in a situation like that means nothing.

The extent of this team's run will be correlative with Andy Rautins's performance. For me, he's the X factor.


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From: The Legendary J.G.


My brother has anointed Rautins, a wannabe " Euro-Trash douchebag!" The uni-brow, the hair, the earring.... Just terrible. You're right though, when he's on, we are tough to beat!


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From: Chris

My pet theory: Rautins is more effective as a starter than as a sixth man.

I crunched some stats mid-year this year and the trend stretched back to the 2007/2008 season. Somebody should update his starts/bench splits, and e-mail them to Jimmy. Jackson is great. I might be his biggest fan. But Rautins needs his love, and there's no way we should bench Devo.

Against Kingsley? OK, probably smart leading with Jackson. Against ASU? Maybe not so much.

Go team


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From: Chaves

Isn’t Lawson semi injured, and not close to being on top of his game? I mean, FSU??? And OU is a one man team, plus we own the big 12. I think if a few cards fall, the final 4 isnt an insane thought. All big east final 4? Isnt it anyone’s title at that point? Pitt was exposed against WVU, and we know we can beat Uconn, if they can take down Louisville. And we can obviously play with L for at least ½ a game, plus we were dead tired. Lets dream big here guys.

My sidenote would be that if EDev played for any other team in CBB, I would hate him more than anyone in sports. At least until TO rips Buffalo as a dump of a town and quits on us after week 9 when we are 2-7.

P.S. Alabama St. over Morehead St. I'm going with the popular pick and against Vegas (who had Morehead St by 3.5 today).

SU over UConn, 6 OTs

I'd probably do myself a favor not to post right now but...

Wow. An amazing game. One of the greatest I've ever seen. Go Orange.

Predaction: Seton Hall and UConn

Michael Jordon once called Madison Square Garden "The Mecca of basketball." Valid.

Even from the upper deck, the Garden is special. The seats slope down sharp enough so you don't feel like you're miles away, but gradual enough so it doesn't feel like you're looking down a cliff. And the noise! Tonight, probably because Syracuse was the best team playing in the late games, West Virginia fans and the bedraggled Notre Dame fans joined the Seton Hall fans and almost matched the Syracuse fans in numbers. So whenever either team grabbed the momentum, it was loud.

The Dome never sounds like that. To be sure, the sound of 30,000 all cheering for Syracuse is unique. But it's a different kind of loud. You can sense the multitude in the Dome, whereas in the Garden (and, in my experience, other basketball-specific arenas) it's just a cacophony.

Plus the fans in the Garden are different from the fans in the Dome. Syracuse fans sit down and watch intently until the team yanks the crowd into action. Rarely do 20 to 30,000 central New Yorkers rouse themselves to rouse the team (although when it happens, it's chillingly sweet). The Garden fans are a mix of die-hard travelers (yours truly) and New Yorkers: loud, obnoxious, prepared to make noise no matter what.

Maybe it was that evenly balanced crowd that caused the ruckus in the second half tonight. Either way, it hardly mattered. Syracuse is red hot right now. And other than Jeremy "The Gazelle" Hazell (TALENTED!!!), Seton Hall had nothing against the Orange zone. Like the Rutgers and Cincinnati games, I found myself analyzing Syracuse's opponent on offense, chuckling at their ineptitude.

First they try the ol' "pass it around the perimeter and hope a passing lane eventually materializes." After that, they concentrate on getting the ball to the free throw line. Wise, but the guy who catches it needs to either take the shot (if he's talented enough to make that shot) or immediately move the ball again. Otherwise, the zone collapses on them. The ball is stripped or thrown away. Later in the game, the better ball-handlers try to dribble through the zone, maybe using some screens. Mistake! Our interior is too smart for that. The dribbler has no shot, no passing lane, and now there is no one in the backcourt to stop the 3-on-1 the other way!

Of course, these are weak teams. UConn is a different story. Calhoun usually gets the Huskies dialed into an excellent attack of the zone, unless they're distracted because the laptops they've stolen are approaching the deadline for bids on ebay. Still, the way Syracuse is playing on defense, Orange fans should feel confident against lower-ranked teams in the NCAA tournament.

Oh, and the offense is clicking too.

Tomorrow night I'm going to see "You're Welcome America" with my friend Paul. Then we'll meet back up with Big B at a midtown watering hole for the UConn clash. This time, look for the Garden crowd to be tilted more decisively SU's way, with the early crowd favoring the now-underdog Orange against UConn. The Huskies are probably the one team the average Big East fan hates more than Syracuse. Of course, there will be plenty of UConn fans in attendence as well, so on the court it probably won't sound any different. Just a bit more intense.

The game itself? Remember: Syracuse played a great first half at UConn earlier this year, before coming apart in the second. This game will stay close all the way. So far, Syracuse has been unable to get over the top against these top tier teams. I see more of the same, in the end.

Prediction:
UConn 73 - 70 Syracuse

Syracuse Recruiting

The Orange snagged some height this week for next year's recruiting class. DaShonte Riley is now the highest rated member of the incoming class. Riley told the Post-Standard's Mike Waters he likes to play defense and has some work to do with his offensive game.

Riley is a timely addition. Next year Onuaku will be a senior, and Rick Jackson will be a junior. Sean Williams also has only two years left, if he sticks around. (He looks happy on the bench with his teammates. We'll see if he and Boeheim think he's developing his skills enough to be a factor.) So Riley has a year to learn (redshirt freshman perhaps?) then he'll be Ricky's backup as a sophomore.

Speaking of next year's class, I finally caught a little bit of Brandon Triche in his playoff game for Jamesville-Dewitt against Oneida. He's big, solid, and athletic. ESPN lists him as a SG, but I think he can run the point a bit. Oneida was terrible so Triche didn't have much competition when I saw him, but he looked very raw to me. Don't expect him to come in a be a significant factor next year. Scoop is in no danger of slipping in the rotation.

Really, the biggest "newcomer" is going to be a healthy Kris Joseph. He's great in the zone, so Boeheim will give him the playing time. KJ is going to average double-digits next year. Write it down.

Rutgers-Syracuse Running Diary

According to "Bill Simmons' Rules of Life," whenever your college's basketball team has a player nicknamed the Waffle who is playing his final home game against the second worst team in the conference, you have to go home and re-watch the game expediently using TiVo in order to keep a running diary. I have to agree with Bill Simmons there.

1st half, 18:46 - DeVo hits a 3 to open up the Syracuse scoring. Thank goodness! If he doesn't, we would have been standing and clapping for 9 minutes of game time! DeVo would miss his next 7 threes, en route to a rare bad game for him.

16:15 Rutgers hits it third straight 3. I feel like if they miss two of those, the whole ballgame is different. They start pressing on offense, instead of the Orange, and things go Syracuse's way much quicker.

15:32 Kristof "The Waffle" Ongenaet enters the game to a rousing applause. The student section busted out several signs and Belgium flags in his honor. His parents were in attendence, all the way from Belgium. Good times.

15:15 A-O bounces the ball of his knee for the first of about 50 times in the game.

9:50 Harris gets a hard time from the ESPNU announcers for merely finger rolling a fast break bucket. Um...hold that thought, guys.

8:16 Rutgers ends a long drought of their own with an obvious 2 that the rotting carcas of the referee formely named Jim Burr thinks might have been a 3. The only think worse than Burr's officiating was Fred Hill's coaching. He apparently went to the Bob Huggins school of attacking the zone by passing around the perimeter for 20 seconds. This is why I was never worried about a defeat. Rutgers is very bad. I can't stress that enough.

2:40 Harris tosses the ball to himself and dunks it. I mean...just go look at the highlight. Unreal. Watch it again, and watch Flynn LOVING it. (By the way, that bucket made it 20-19 Rutgers. Neither team scores from this point until halftime. Hideous basketball.)

2nd half, 19:19 - A-O's first bucket gives SU its first lead since the opening minutes, which they won't relinquish for the rest of the game. Onuaku ended up having a great 2nd half. Good sign that his knee is better.

18:50 Flynn to Harris OFF THE $)@$!! GLASS. Niagara Falls HS 4ever!

17:40 A-O makes a free throw! And...its waved off for a lane violation. D'oh!

16:17 Harris buries a 15-footer. I actually like him taking those mid-range shots as much as anyone on Syracuse.

13:36 Flynn hits the three...and celebrates! Like a slave that's made it to the north! (Note: that's an SNL reference. I'm not racist. Thank you for your time.)

13:14 They just showed a list of "close call" loses for Rutgers this year. None of the games were closer than 5 points.

6:33 An UNBELIEVABLE alley-oop pass from Rautins to Harris, who launches his head band into the crowd. (That play is in this highlight.) Is it possible for a guy to make "The Leap" in a single half of basketball against an awful team? Nobody has missed more dunks than this guy in recent Orange memory, yet he's looking like he's playing 4-on-4 in Archbold gymnasium.

5:10 Meanwhile, The Waffle puts in his 10th point. He will NOT be overshadowed! We love The Waffle!

5:00 Waffle takes a seat to a nice ovation. Well done, Ongenaet. 5-6 FGs for 10pts, 7 boards, couple steals.

2:07 Senior walk-on Justin Thomas hits his first bucket of the season. By this point, the student section is beside itself with glee. (Is it possible for a couple thousand people to be beside themselves? There's room in the dome for that...)

1:49 Harris fakes a behind the back to the other senior walk-on, Jake Presutti, who is wide open for 3, and lays it in himself. Boeheim pulls him immediately. Unbelievable game...but Harris gets crazier on the bench...

A few minutes after he's pulled, Harris takes his sneakers off and throws them into the crowd. Flynn, Onuaku, and Devendorf follow suit as the game winds down. I immediately regretted not sitting closer for a chance to catch Flynn's sneaker in his last game in the dome. (Actually, the ESPNU commentators reported that Flynn would likely go if he knew he was going to be a lottery pick. Meanwhile, no one in Syracuse is even willing to consider the idea of him leaving. I'd say its 50/50, though not because he should go. He should not. Frankly, he has been inconsistent as a point guard throughout the Big East schedule, and it feels like his stock has dropped over the last month and a half.)

1:25 Sophomore scholarship big man Sean Williams gets a block. Good point in the Post-Standard the other day, noting that Williams would have red-shirted last year if not for the injury debacle. What a nightmare last season was. And yet, certain parties still blame Boeheim...

:30 After about 45 seconds of sloppiness played out at mid-court, the loose ball bounces to Presutti on the foul line-extended. He retreats to the 3-point line and banks it in! Meanwhile, sneakers are flying into the crowd... We're just going berserk. Just a fabulously entertaining second half, more than enough to erase the ugliness of the first. Good luck in the post-season guys!

A Sense of Things

Remember my NCAA mid-season predictions?

How I said Kansas was heating up in time for conference play?

How I was high on Marquette this season?

How I said Michigan St. would win the Big 10 easily?

How I picked Georgetown to be the most disappointing team in the Big East?

Remember? I hope so, because I'm not the kind of guy who likes to blow his own horn.

I'll admit, as my American history class this semester has learned, I don't have a head for numbers. I can't remember the date of the Battle of Little Bighorn, or name anyone else on Oklahoma besides Blake Griffin. But I do have a good sense of things. A good feel for how events are going to play out. With the Bracket Beyond the Bracket beginning this week (great phrase ESPN came up with last year to describe conference tourneys), with the Big East tourney awaiting me for my trip to NYC next week, and with the NCAA tournament a mere two days and two weeks away, here's how I sense things going in March...

Unlike recent years, there are only a few teams that can win the championship. They are, in no particular order: UNC, UConn, Pitt, Oklahoma and...yeah, that's it. Well, I'll rephrase that. I'll say its a 90% chance that one of those 4 wins, and a 10% chance for the field.

To a large extent, my perception of this entire season has been shaped by watching Syracuse this year. SU is not a great basketball team. They are, at best, a Sweet 16 team. They couldn't pull out a single win against a top tier Big East opponent. And yet, they beat Florida and Kansas (both of whom beat Washington in the same non-conference tourney) and Memphis at Memphis. Keep that in mind.

Do not believe in Memphis this year. Just...just don't. They went undefeated in conference partly because Calipari got a lot out of a little talent, but mostly because Conference USA is terrible. Memphis will be a weak 2-seed.

Duke lacks a Boozer-Brand-Laettner inside presence to compensate for when their shooters go cold. They won't make the Final Four.

Louisville, Michigan State, Kansas, UCLA...decent teams with great coaches. Any of them could make a run deep, if the bracket falls their way. They all just lack the stud to carry them to a championship.

Remember: the ACC and the Big East are fantastic this year. Every other major conference is crap. Purdue sucks, which is good enough for 2nd in the Big 10. The third (Illinois) and fourth (Penn St) place teams played a 38-33 game a couple weeks ago. 38-33. 38 points WON THE GAME.

Oklahoma is good only because Blake Griffin is the second best player in the NCAAs this year. Other than that, the Big 12 is mediocre. I watched Texas at home beat Oklahoma with Griffin out, and they STILL could have lost.

The Pac-10? Please. Washington was a joke against Kansas and Florida. UCLA (see above) lacks the horses for another run.

The SEC is worse than all of them. Hideous basketball.

And yet...the mid-majors are in a bit of a down year too. At least, that's what the numbers indicate. It seems to me that when so many major conferences lack definitive top tier teams, it erases a gap that mid-majors usually slide into to grab at-large bids. That's a problem with the selection process that I don't have a solution to. Just know that this year, of all years, mid-majors should be getting more bids, but they're going to get less.

So...watch out for a few more deep runs in the tourney by the mid-majors that do get in. I can't stress enough how weak this field is this year. Look for multiple mid-majors in the Elite Eight.

My pick for the championship...Pittsburgh. If this was 2003, Pitt would be ranked about 12 going into the tournament. They probably would have a couple more losses. DeJuan Blair would be a little bit further under the radar. Pitt would be a popular Final Four darkhorse candidate as a 3-seed. And Pittsburgh fans would be thinking...if we get hot, we can win this thing!

Well, it's 2009. Pittsburgh is going to have a 1-seed and a wide-open path to the Final Four. DeJuan Blair is the best player in college basketball. In a few weeks, he'll go Carmelo Anthony on everybody.