Notent Notables: Marquette and Georgetown

I hit the Marquette game with a bunch of college buddies and Syracuse fans. Here's some of the nuggets we touched on that were still on my mind today after Syracuse added an impressive win over Georgetown to its resume.

• Sports Sauna veteran Chris remarked before the Marquette game began that SU picks up its dribble too often, leading to easy traps. After he said that, we were noticing it the entire game. The Orange are going to have trouble in the post-season against pressuring teams unless they fix that habit.

• Mikey, Dr. Paul, and I had a long conversation comparing Wes Johnson to Carmelo Anthony. Doc thinks Wes might be better. I (as regular readers know) have been driving the "Wes Johnson Reality-Check" Bandwagon for several weeks. Ultimately, Mikey settled the debate with one word: transcendent. 'Melo was a transcendent college player. Other than the UNC second half, Wes hasn't been transcendent. Yet. I will amend my thoughts about Wes's NBA potential, though. I still don't think he'll be an All-Star, but I do think he's a winner. He'll stuff the box score at the next level with whatever minutes he is given.

• Similarly, Dr. Paul (who is head over heels for this team) thinks Rautins, with his shooting and passing, could play in the NBA. I think he's too slow (Andy, not the Doc). Thus: dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings is riding on whether Rautins plays a minute in the NBA. And you're all invited!!!
  

• My buddy Chaves is famous for his feelings about Syracuse being exactly proportional to the score. So if 18-1 Syracuse is losing by 7, "We suck." But when Syracuse went up by double-digits, he was making Final Four plans with us. Of course, the "proportion" rule changed at the end of the game for Chaves. The line for the game was 8.5. As the flow chart at the end of the game reveals, certain SU bettors were on quite a roller coaster ride in the final minute that eventually led to weeping and gnashing of teeth.

• Chaves and Chris took me to task for not rooting for UConn in their upset win over Texas. Their take: it's good for the Big East to win non-conference games, no matter who is doing the winning. What is good for the Big East is good for SU recruiting in the short and long run. My take: it's F'ing UConn! I would be delighted if UConn became the DePaul of the conference - a national laughing-stock. Do I like to brag about the Big East having X number of ranked teams and Y number of teams make the tournament? Sure. But I think rooting for other conference teams because it will help Syracuse either immediately or in the long term is overrated. Que sera, sera. What West Virginia, Georgetown, and North Carolina do for the rest of the season is their business. As for UConn, I hope Jim Calhoun gets healthy, comes back to coach, and never wins another game.

• Last year my brother introduced me to a game you can play while watching a baseball game called, "Yard Card." You get one Yard Card per game. You play it before any pitch. If the batter hits a home run, you don't have to take out your wallet to pay for food or drink the rest of the night. We came up with a variation for basketball called "Alley-Oop Card." You have to play it before the ball crosses half court. If the team scores on an Alley-Oop dunk, you don't take out your wallet for the rest of the night. It's not as good as the Yard Card, but it led to some excitement. Try it... you'll like it! (Variation at home: you don't have to leave the couch for the rest of the night. The loser(s) become your butlers.)
  

• Coolest part of tonight's game against Georgetown. The crowd hung around to celebrate even after SU put the game away. The student section was amazing, according to both Boeheim and Wes. I freakin' love being in Syracuse when the basketball team is good. Now the students are back, and the city is buzzing.

• Next Up: @DePaul (W), Providence (W), @Cincinnati (L), and then UConn brings it's high tempo style into the dome on February 10. How many points will they combine for in that game: 160? 170? 180? 200? It's going to be a shootout and, for once in this rivalry, that will play into SU's hands. I can't wait.