"This is it. Don't get scared now!" - Big East Preview
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope you all watched A Christmas Story at least once this season. In our house, it's a Christmas Eve tradition.
The title quote of this post is from another family-favorite Christmas movie: Home Alone. Unlike timeless classics like A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone hasn't had the same cultural resonance. But personally, it's a favorite and another yearly must-view. No matter how old I get, there is so much to appreciate. From the slapstick humor to the quotability to the unparalleled performances of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.
(Seriously, for a very cheesy kid flick, they were on their games. Pesci was just scary enough to frighten child-viewers, but not so scary he'd give nightmares. Stern was perfectly cast, and played his Kramer-before-Seinfeld-exploded character off of Pesci's sinister performance. Plus, Daniel Stern is one of the most underrated actors of the last century. See: Rookie of the Year.)
When it came out in 1990 it was an overnight sensation, launching the film careers of most of the Caulkin family. (Kieran even had a small role as Fuller, Kevin McCallister's pepsi-guzzling, bed-wetting cousin.) Did director Chris Columbus and writer John Hughes really think Home Alone would be one of their best selling films of all-time? Look at these ridiculous numbers:
* * *
Hours before Syracuse opens it's Big East slate against Providence, that's exactly how I feel about this Orange team. There is a very good chance it is one of the top 10 or 15 teams in the country. It might be worse. It might even be much worse. And, after the opening weekend (non-conference schedule), I'm starting to believe there is a chance it could be the best. These last four opponents were pretty weak, of course. But Syracuse finally started to put up more points. They did it with outstanding transition offense. With the athletes on the court and the turnover-forcing defense, SU's transition scoring will be the difference this season.
In honor of my second favorite Christmas movie, here are SU's Big East opponents broken down by the Home Alone quotation that best corresponds. My predicted result is also noted.
[By the way, I can pretty much quote this whole movie as it's playing, but it's a little tricky noting the discrepancies between the final result and the screenplay I found online. I've actually caught a couple changes, but I'm sorry if I misquote any of these scenes. Apologies especially to the performers, who may or may not be reading this.]
Dec 28 Providence (W)
Harry - "I think we're getting scared by a kindergartener!"
You don't have to wait until 2011. Tonight's home game against 11-2 Providence will reveal a lot about whether the Orange are for real. If they are, this should be a blowout. If it's close, it will be time to revise expectations.
Jan 1 Notre Dame (W)
Check-out Woman - "Are you here all by yourself?"
Kevin - "Ma'am, I'm 8-years-old. You think I would be here...alone? I don't think so!"
The Irish have put up some impressive stats so far this year. Nationally, they're 16th in points-per-game, 8th in rebounding, and 9th in assists. But they think they're going to come into the dome in between home games against the Hoyas and the Huskies and beat the Orange? I don't think so!
Jan 8 @Seton Hall (W), Jan 12 @St. John's (W)
Marv - "He's a kid. Kid's are stupid."
Harry and Marv's biggest mistake? Bad game management! After their initial failure at the kitchen door, they split up, each fending for himself in Kevin's house of horrors. Once they reunite, they fail to work together as a team, blindly stumbling into more and more traps. Luckily, Boeheim is much smarter. Why do you think SU is always strong in the 2nd half? He'll make mincemeat of these early road games.
Jan 15 Cincinnati (W)
Kevin - "You guys give up yet? Or are you thirsty for more?"
Cincy gets crushed in the dome just before the Big East schedule starts to really kick in.
Jan 17 @Pitt (L)
Buzz - "Kevin! What did you do to my room?"
Kevin waltzed into Buzz's room thinking he could take anything he wanted. Alas, Buzz's cry at the end of the film suggests Kevin is going to receive a beating for his impudence. This could very well be a battle between undefeated teams. Alas, Pittsburgh has always been a tough place for the Orange to play.
Jan 22 Villanova (W), February 9 Georgetown (L)
Kevin - "This is my house. I have to defend it."
Other than Seton Hall, these are the two teams Syracuse plays a home-and-home with this season. It's so important to hold serve in these games, but easier said then done.
Jan 25 Seton Hall (W), Feb 19 Rutgers (W), Mar 5 DePaul (W)
Feb 12 @Louisville (L)
Mrs. McCallister - "KEVIN!!"
They turned off the coffee. They locked the doors. They set the timers on the lights... But the McCallisters forgot their youngest son. I hope the Orange don't forget how Louisville manhandled them in two meetings last season, but I'm afraid they will.
Jan 29 @Marquette (L)
Harry - "What happened to the kid?"
Marv - "Maybe he committed suicide."
Watch out! It's a trap! Marquette's only losses so far have come against Duke (lost by 5), Gonzaga (3), and Wisconsin (5). They'll have played five ranked Big East teams by the time they face Syracuse, and may be desperate for a key win. Meanwhile, Syracuse could be caught looking ahead to the UConn game. BOOM! Paint can to the head.
Feb 2 @UConn (W)
Buzz - "You ever heard of the South Bend Shovel Slayer?"
The Old Man looked pretty scary, but we found out he was just a lonely old guy with a heart of gold. UConn's 15-point defeat against Pittsburgh last night might suggest the Huskies aren't as tough as their early success implied.
Feb 5 @USF (W)
Kevin - [sadly] "I made my family disappear."
[Thinks back to family saying bad things about him]
Megan - "Kevin, you're completely helpless!"
Buzz - "Kevin, I'm going to feed you to my tarantula."
Jeff - "Kevin, you are such a disease!"
Mom - "There are 15 people in this house and you're the only one who has to make trouble."
Uncle Frank - "Look what you did, you little jerk!"
Kevin - [gleefully] "I made my family disappear!"
I love Uncle Frank's over-the-top reaction to the mess in the kitchen. Classic John Hughes! Actually, Home Alone is the ultimate Hughes family. After dominating the 1980s with films about teenagers figuring out their own problems amidst ineffective or absent parents, Hughes puts an even younger child in a totally parent-less situation against two violent criminals!
SU makes USF disappear, by the way.
Feb 14 West Virginia (W)
Linnie McCallister - "Kevin, you're what the French call 'les incompentents.'"
Will this be the year that Coach Bobbie Huggins remembers that Syracuse plays a 2-3 zone and game plans accordingly? He doesn't have Da'Sean Butler around anymore to cover up his ineptitude.
Feb 21 @Villanova (L), Feb 26 @Georgetown (L)
Marv - "What are we gonna do to him, Harry?"
Harry - "We'll do exactly what he did to us: we're gonna burn his head with a blowtorch!"
Marv - "And smash his face with an iron!"
Harry - "How about we slap him in the face with a paint can?"
Marv - "Or shove a nail through his foot!"
Harry - "First thing I'm gonna do is to bite off every one of these little fingers, one at a time..."
The scariest part of the season gets the scariest part of the movie. I mean, Harry literally has Kevin's finger in his mouth when the Old Man bashes him from behind! If Kevin doesn't reach out to his neighbor earlier in the film, this movie could have taken a VERY dark turn! Not that it isn't a dark film; I'm probably not the first person to point out the disturbing similarities between Kevin McCallister and the psychopath from Saw.
These games could be two crucial late season resume-builders for a 1-seed bid. Can we win two straight road games against potentially top ten teams? Can we win one? The one thing we have going for us is experience. Speaking of which, it just goes to show you how college basketball has changed in the last 20 years that despite losing three starters in two consecutive seasons, Syracuse is considered "experienced" in both of them.
Final record: 12-6 in conference, 25-6 overall
The title quote of this post is from another family-favorite Christmas movie: Home Alone. Unlike timeless classics like A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone hasn't had the same cultural resonance. But personally, it's a favorite and another yearly must-view. No matter how old I get, there is so much to appreciate. From the slapstick humor to the quotability to the unparalleled performances of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.
(Seriously, for a very cheesy kid flick, they were on their games. Pesci was just scary enough to frighten child-viewers, but not so scary he'd give nightmares. Stern was perfectly cast, and played his Kramer-before-Seinfeld-exploded character off of Pesci's sinister performance. Plus, Daniel Stern is one of the most underrated actors of the last century. See: Rookie of the Year.)
When it came out in 1990 it was an overnight sensation, launching the film careers of most of the Caulkin family. (Kieran even had a small role as Fuller, Kevin McCallister's pepsi-guzzling, bed-wetting cousin.) Did director Chris Columbus and writer John Hughes really think Home Alone would be one of their best selling films of all-time? Look at these ridiculous numbers:
- $285 million box office (domestic + foreign)
- The #1 film of 1990.
- The 37th best-grossing film of all-time (adjusted for inflation).
- The 14th best PG film of all-time.
- 12 consecutive weekends at #1 is fourth most all-time, behind Titanic, Beverly Hills Cop, and Tootsie.
* * *
Hours before Syracuse opens it's Big East slate against Providence, that's exactly how I feel about this Orange team. There is a very good chance it is one of the top 10 or 15 teams in the country. It might be worse. It might even be much worse. And, after the opening weekend (non-conference schedule), I'm starting to believe there is a chance it could be the best. These last four opponents were pretty weak, of course. But Syracuse finally started to put up more points. They did it with outstanding transition offense. With the athletes on the court and the turnover-forcing defense, SU's transition scoring will be the difference this season.
In honor of my second favorite Christmas movie, here are SU's Big East opponents broken down by the Home Alone quotation that best corresponds. My predicted result is also noted.
[By the way, I can pretty much quote this whole movie as it's playing, but it's a little tricky noting the discrepancies between the final result and the screenplay I found online. I've actually caught a couple changes, but I'm sorry if I misquote any of these scenes. Apologies especially to the performers, who may or may not be reading this.]
Dec 28 Providence (W)
Harry - "I think we're getting scared by a kindergartener!"
You don't have to wait until 2011. Tonight's home game against 11-2 Providence will reveal a lot about whether the Orange are for real. If they are, this should be a blowout. If it's close, it will be time to revise expectations.
Jan 1 Notre Dame (W)
Check-out Woman - "Are you here all by yourself?"
Kevin - "Ma'am, I'm 8-years-old. You think I would be here...alone? I don't think so!"
The Irish have put up some impressive stats so far this year. Nationally, they're 16th in points-per-game, 8th in rebounding, and 9th in assists. But they think they're going to come into the dome in between home games against the Hoyas and the Huskies and beat the Orange? I don't think so!
Jan 8 @Seton Hall (W), Jan 12 @St. John's (W)
Marv - "He's a kid. Kid's are stupid."
Harry and Marv's biggest mistake? Bad game management! After their initial failure at the kitchen door, they split up, each fending for himself in Kevin's house of horrors. Once they reunite, they fail to work together as a team, blindly stumbling into more and more traps. Luckily, Boeheim is much smarter. Why do you think SU is always strong in the 2nd half? He'll make mincemeat of these early road games.
Jan 15 Cincinnati (W)
Kevin - "You guys give up yet? Or are you thirsty for more?"
Cincy gets crushed in the dome just before the Big East schedule starts to really kick in.
Jan 17 @Pitt (L)
Buzz - "Kevin! What did you do to my room?"
Kevin waltzed into Buzz's room thinking he could take anything he wanted. Alas, Buzz's cry at the end of the film suggests Kevin is going to receive a beating for his impudence. This could very well be a battle between undefeated teams. Alas, Pittsburgh has always been a tough place for the Orange to play.
Jan 22 Villanova (W), February 9 Georgetown (L)
Kevin - "This is my house. I have to defend it."
Other than Seton Hall, these are the two teams Syracuse plays a home-and-home with this season. It's so important to hold serve in these games, but easier said then done.
Jan 25 Seton Hall (W), Feb 19 Rutgers (W), Mar 5 DePaul (W)
Johnny - "Hey, I tell you what I'm going to do, snakes. I'm gonna give you to the count of ten to git your ugly no good yellow keister off my property before I pump your guts full of lead."Syracuse is going to massacre these guys in the dome. Rutgers is actually 9-2 right now, but unless they get really hot from outside they won't be able to score against the Orange. They're very small and will have trouble rebounding or getting much offense in the paint.
Snakes - "All right, Johnny. I'm sorry. I'm going."
Johnny - "One ... two ... ten!"
[Guns down Snakes]
Johnny - "Keep the change ya filthy animal!"
Feb 12 @Louisville (L)
Mrs. McCallister - "KEVIN!!"
They turned off the coffee. They locked the doors. They set the timers on the lights... But the McCallisters forgot their youngest son. I hope the Orange don't forget how Louisville manhandled them in two meetings last season, but I'm afraid they will.
Jan 29 @Marquette (L)
Harry - "What happened to the kid?"
Marv - "Maybe he committed suicide."
Watch out! It's a trap! Marquette's only losses so far have come against Duke (lost by 5), Gonzaga (3), and Wisconsin (5). They'll have played five ranked Big East teams by the time they face Syracuse, and may be desperate for a key win. Meanwhile, Syracuse could be caught looking ahead to the UConn game. BOOM! Paint can to the head.
Feb 2 @UConn (W)
Buzz - "You ever heard of the South Bend Shovel Slayer?"
The Old Man looked pretty scary, but we found out he was just a lonely old guy with a heart of gold. UConn's 15-point defeat against Pittsburgh last night might suggest the Huskies aren't as tough as their early success implied.
Feb 5 @USF (W)
Kevin - [sadly] "I made my family disappear."
[Thinks back to family saying bad things about him]
Megan - "Kevin, you're completely helpless!"
Buzz - "Kevin, I'm going to feed you to my tarantula."
Jeff - "Kevin, you are such a disease!"
Mom - "There are 15 people in this house and you're the only one who has to make trouble."
Uncle Frank - "Look what you did, you little jerk!"
Kevin - [gleefully] "I made my family disappear!"
I love Uncle Frank's over-the-top reaction to the mess in the kitchen. Classic John Hughes! Actually, Home Alone is the ultimate Hughes family. After dominating the 1980s with films about teenagers figuring out their own problems amidst ineffective or absent parents, Hughes puts an even younger child in a totally parent-less situation against two violent criminals!
SU makes USF disappear, by the way.
Feb 14 West Virginia (W)
Linnie McCallister - "Kevin, you're what the French call 'les incompentents.'"
Will this be the year that Coach Bobbie Huggins remembers that Syracuse plays a 2-3 zone and game plans accordingly? He doesn't have Da'Sean Butler around anymore to cover up his ineptitude.
Feb 21 @Villanova (L), Feb 26 @Georgetown (L)
Marv - "What are we gonna do to him, Harry?"
Harry - "We'll do exactly what he did to us: we're gonna burn his head with a blowtorch!"
Marv - "And smash his face with an iron!"
Harry - "How about we slap him in the face with a paint can?"
Marv - "Or shove a nail through his foot!"
Harry - "First thing I'm gonna do is to bite off every one of these little fingers, one at a time..."
The scariest part of the season gets the scariest part of the movie. I mean, Harry literally has Kevin's finger in his mouth when the Old Man bashes him from behind! If Kevin doesn't reach out to his neighbor earlier in the film, this movie could have taken a VERY dark turn! Not that it isn't a dark film; I'm probably not the first person to point out the disturbing similarities between Kevin McCallister and the psychopath from Saw.
These games could be two crucial late season resume-builders for a 1-seed bid. Can we win two straight road games against potentially top ten teams? Can we win one? The one thing we have going for us is experience. Speaking of which, it just goes to show you how college basketball has changed in the last 20 years that despite losing three starters in two consecutive seasons, Syracuse is considered "experienced" in both of them.
Final record: 12-6 in conference, 25-6 overall
Labels: 2010 Big East season preview, Big East basketball, Syracuse Orange basketball
posted by Prof. A at 6:04 PM
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