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SU vs. Richmond: REVENGE!!!! (again)
It doesn’t get much better than this – two unranked, undefeated teams butting heads 17 years after the 15-seed Spiders upset the 2-seed Orangemen in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament.
Ok, so maybe I’m stretching things, considering that SU has topped Richmond twice in convincing fashion since that debacle and this season is only one game old. I’ll also concede that I lack a little perspective since, as young lad, I was probably more concerned with finding my Ninja Turtle action figures than fathoming how Curtis Blair and Co. were able to tear up the zone in College Park (don’t worry, Raphael and Michelangelo were under the couch). Still, I have a good feeling that there are some SU fans who still don’t have closure. For all I know, even assistant coach Mike Hopkins, who played in that game, isn’t over it yet. You’ve gotta figure that if there’s one person on the SU bench who doesn’t want to lose to Richmond Tuesday night, it’s Hop.
The Spiders of the Atlantic-10 handily topped the D-3 Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets last Saturday (and you thought putting a D-2 team like LeMoyne on the slate was suspect scheduling). The Spiders relied on a collective effort of three-point shooting, with six different players sinking treys, and stifling D that forced a 33.3% shooting night from the Yellow Jackets.
The Orange played very well against LeMoyne, but at times lost interest, perhaps in part to playing a weak opponent without challenging big guys. That won’t be an excuse against the Spiders, as they played five guys who are 6’8″ or taller in their season opener. Richmond’s key contributors, much like Syracuse’s, are mostly sophomores and juniors. Redshirt freshman/Australian Josh Duinker had 13 points, 9 rebounds and a block in 21 minutes of action, despite not starting. The Spiders will be without Dan Geriot, their leading scorer of the last two seasons, as he tore an ACL before the season started (sound familiar?). The key guards for Richmond are junior Kevin Anderson and sophomore David Gonzalvez.
The A-10 isn’t to be taken lightly, as they sent three teams to last year’s NCAA tournament, and one of those teams, Xavier, made it to the Elite Eight. I’d keep an eye on the Orange’s post attack; if it isn’t effective in the early going, the ‘Cuse may have to switch to a faster, guard-heavy attack with more long range shooting, a move to which Andy Rautins and others will happily oblige. I’m also curious to see if Kris Joseph continues to get a long look from Jim Boeheim. In Joseph, I saw on Sunday night a young guy, but with a lot of poise and a more methodical court sense than what we’re used to seeing from an SU player.
There were a lot of impressions of sluggishness to take from the LeMoyne game, which is hard to imagine since the game was so one-sided. When games effectively end in the first ten minutes, however, some take their focus off the score and zoom in on the minutiae of each posession, not that that’s a bad thing – observant fans should be able to do both. ‘Cuse Nation appears to be divided in terms of the reasons behind the more lackadaisical stretches. One camp thinks they were due to a lack of motivation after building such a huge lead, the other a lack of cohesiveness, focus and direction. Call me a fence-sitter, but I personally don’t think these two camps are mutually exclusive, and it was likely some combination of both. Tuesday’s matchup should be more helpful in shedding some light on what drives the Orange.
