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
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
Labels: Syracuse Orange basketball
posted by Prof. A at 11:23 PM
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