Four Shovels of Dirt
Last thoughts on the 2010-11 SU season...
1. Rick Jackson will never play another game in an SU uniform.
I had been meaning to write a "Don't to Appreciate Rick Jackson Before He's Gone" blog, but I never got around to it. (Actually, I would have gotten to that this week. Ugh.) I'll just have to salute him here.
Ricky might not have been the most talented Power Forward/Center to play for Syracuse, but he will go down among the best. First and foremost, the Conference Defender of the Year was a fitting honor to go out with.
Rebounding... His 360 rebounds this year was the 9th best all time. 930 career rebounds puts him in 8th, behind Roosevelt Bouie and ahead of Billy Owens. His 22 boards against Detroit this year tied for the 6th best rebounding game ever for an Orange.
Scoring...1245 career points ties him for 35th all-time with the great George Hicker (65-68). Fittingly, that's just behind Paul Harris and just ahead of Arinze Onuaku. If we narrow that list down to a vaguely defined "Post Player" he's pushing the top 10.
Blocks...86 blocks this season was good enough for 10th best all-time. 259 for his career put him at 7th. 6th place? Jeremy McNeil! (I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years.)
Will he play in the NBA? At 6-9 he's a bit small for his skill set, but I think he can overcome that and find a role on a deep bench somewhere. His best NBA skill might actually be his rebounding. In any event, I will remember him fondly as a guy who surprised us with flashes as a Freshman and slowly improved over 4-years, culminating in a deeply satisfying (at least, individually) senior season.
2. It's a gray week in Syracuse.
The city gets such a buzz when the Orange advance to the 2nd weekend of the NCAAs, but it gets so down after the Orange crash out. Missing out on that week of buzz is the worst part of this loss, especially with the forecast predicting one last bite from winter. (Sigh...)
3. The Marquette game just... slipped away.
I've heard a million explanations already for why SU lost, all with a bit of merit. Triche's offense might have helped down the stretch when SU went cold. And everyone who said they would rather have played Xavier than Marquette was proven correct.
To my mind, it was a fantastic game (Gus Johnson was brilliant!). Marquette wasn't going to go away. Ultimately, Jae Crowder and DJO made two massive shots, while SU missed one big shot (Waiters in the corner) and made a couple late (and brutally typical) mistakes. That was the difference.
4. Coughlin's quote from Cocktail rings especially true in March.
"Everything ends badly. Otherwise it wouldn't end."
1. Rick Jackson will never play another game in an SU uniform.
I had been meaning to write a "Don't to Appreciate Rick Jackson Before He's Gone" blog, but I never got around to it. (Actually, I would have gotten to that this week. Ugh.) I'll just have to salute him here.
Ricky might not have been the most talented Power Forward/Center to play for Syracuse, but he will go down among the best. First and foremost, the Conference Defender of the Year was a fitting honor to go out with.
Rebounding... His 360 rebounds this year was the 9th best all time. 930 career rebounds puts him in 8th, behind Roosevelt Bouie and ahead of Billy Owens. His 22 boards against Detroit this year tied for the 6th best rebounding game ever for an Orange.
Scoring...1245 career points ties him for 35th all-time with the great George Hicker (65-68). Fittingly, that's just behind Paul Harris and just ahead of Arinze Onuaku. If we narrow that list down to a vaguely defined "Post Player" he's pushing the top 10.
Blocks...86 blocks this season was good enough for 10th best all-time. 259 for his career put him at 7th. 6th place? Jeremy McNeil! (I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years.)
Will he play in the NBA? At 6-9 he's a bit small for his skill set, but I think he can overcome that and find a role on a deep bench somewhere. His best NBA skill might actually be his rebounding. In any event, I will remember him fondly as a guy who surprised us with flashes as a Freshman and slowly improved over 4-years, culminating in a deeply satisfying (at least, individually) senior season.
2. It's a gray week in Syracuse.
The city gets such a buzz when the Orange advance to the 2nd weekend of the NCAAs, but it gets so down after the Orange crash out. Missing out on that week of buzz is the worst part of this loss, especially with the forecast predicting one last bite from winter. (Sigh...)
3. The Marquette game just... slipped away.
I've heard a million explanations already for why SU lost, all with a bit of merit. Triche's offense might have helped down the stretch when SU went cold. And everyone who said they would rather have played Xavier than Marquette was proven correct.
To my mind, it was a fantastic game (Gus Johnson was brilliant!). Marquette wasn't going to go away. Ultimately, Jae Crowder and DJO made two massive shots, while SU missed one big shot (Waiters in the corner) and made a couple late (and brutally typical) mistakes. That was the difference.
4. Coughlin's quote from Cocktail rings especially true in March.
"Everything ends badly. Otherwise it wouldn't end."
Labels: Marquette Golden Eagles, Rick Jackson, Syracuse Orange basketball
posted by Prof. A at 2:31 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home