The Bearcats are fighting for their NCAA tournament lives; SU needs to win two of its last three to clinch a first-round bye at the Big East Tournament. It’s no secret who needs a win more on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t an important game for SU, which hasn’t won consecutive games in nearly two months.

Last season, Deonta Vaughn lit the ‘Cuse up for 29 points in a 74-66 win, and he’ll be Cincinnati’s top scoring threat again. The Bearcats don’t have a lot of other dependable scoring options, so even if Flynn can’t contain him, the Orange should be ok. With that in mind, I think it’s fair to say that SU would stand to gain plenty by turning this game into a track meet. Cincinnati is one of the lower-scoring teams in the conference, the Orange is well-rested having not played since Tuesday, and concerns of tired legs for a Sunday-Tuesday turnaround would be limited by looking at the calendar and seeing a home game against Rutgers on the horizon. Such a strategy doesn’t work against teams like Providence and Villanova who have shooters who can stay with the Orange, but I can’t say the same thing about the Bearcats. Read the rest of this entry »

The Orange got just what they needed Tuesday night and then some with a major blowout of the Red Storm at Madison Square Garden. This game certainly won’t quiet the critics for a number of reasons – the Johnnies are still a non-factor in the Big East, MSG was largely pro-’Cuse, SU did what they were supposed to and Cincinnati is still right behind the Orange in the race for that last bye in the conference tournament. Still, that doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t be pleased. Even the walk-ons got in the act, and two of them outscored The Big Waffle. Harumph!

The offense was terrific all around with a scorching 65% shooting effort compared to a lousy 40% night by the home team with St. John’s hopeful Lance Stephenson in attendance. Andy Rautins and Paul Harris had modest scoring lines, but found other ways to contribute; Harris led the team in rebounds while Rautins did a very nice job of distributing the ball. In the second half, the game wasn’t even in arm’s reach, unless of course you’re referring to Sean Williams’ arms.

Jonny Flynn had a sparkling performance, and perhaps nobody enjoyed it more than Flynn himself. Time after time, Flynn embarrassed Quincy Roberts, whether it was with a quick stop move, a fadeaway, or crossover. He dazzled the crowd by pulling out every move in the book and the advantage was flat-out silly. He couldn’t be stopped, even after the whistle, as he harmlessly lobbed a shot behind him that went off the backboard and through the net with a couple minutes remaining in the first half. In the post, Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku had a plethora of wide-open shots close to the hoop and connected on them to combine for 29 points.

On defense, the Red Storm were given a ton of open looks. Good thing they couldn’t make any of them. Granted, SU did a fine job when it noticed a few opportunities to trap a player against the sidelines, but generally, the ‘Cuse was perfectly alright sitting in the zone and letting St. John’s clank open shot after open shot. I suppose when you go through a seven-minute scoreless stretch as St. John’s did at the end of the first half and beginning of the second, and when you lead by no fewer than 19 in the second half as the Orange did, lockdown defense is lower on the priority list than, say, having Sean Williams feed Kris Joseph for a dunk or getting Jake Presutti a picture-perfect three point attempt in garbage time.

Finally, big ups are in order for Jim Boeheim, who passed Dean Smith for most 20-win seasons by a D-I coach. Congrats to the mainstay. Next up for the ‘Cuse is another Sunday afternoon in the Dome against Cincy, with the aforementioned eight seed on the line.

After another tough loss to a team in the top half of the Big East, Syracuse heads to the Big Apple Tuesday night to take on St. John’s. SU enters the stretch run with a trio of very winnable matchups against St. John’s, Cincy and Rutgers before a road challenge at Marquette caps the regular season. With the Bearcats nipping at the Orange’s heels, it’s important that SU creates some distance so it can hold on to a first round bye in the conference tourney.

‘Cuse has lost to the Red Storm just twice this decade and the Johnnies don’t seem to pose a threat this time around either. Norm Roberts’ squad is devoid of offensive production, having cracked 70 points in just one of its last five games. Read the rest of this entry »

While the ‘Cuse rests for Sunday’s game against Villanova, we thought this was as good a time as any to discuss what we feel are the ten biggest hot-button issues facing this team. While LVO and I could go on ad nauseum on these topics and others, well, these ones appear less likely to put people to sleep.

10. Post-Gauntlet Reflections

Knowing what we know now, a stretch against a brutal set of opponents in Georgetown, Notre Dame, Pitt and Louisville doesn’t look as bad now as it did in mid-January. While Pitt and Louisville are still in the thick of things at the top of the conference, the Irish and Hoyas have fallen hard on their faces since they played the Orange. Georgetown is hanging in the NCAA tournament discussions by a thread, thanks largely to holding the nation’s toughest schedule, but Notre Dame is comatose even after dominating Louisville. As frustrating as it is that SU lost five of six, it could’ve been worse and such a stretch is the very reason why those victories against Memphis, Kansas and Florida are important to have in the back pocket.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Orange beat Georgetown 98-94 Saturday afternoon in a battle between two teams on different levels of desperation. Georgetown needed a win to stay relevant in the tournament conversations and SU needed a win to stop its most recent slide.  

The Orange was up 66-50 with eight minutes left before the Hoyas mounted a comeback, reducing the lead to eight points with less than two, and later tying it on a Chris Wright 3-pointer in front of 31,000 strong. SU gathered its composure and put Georgetown away in overtime, giving the Hoyas their fifth consecutive loss at the dome while the students stayed off the court.

Shortly after Kristof Ongenaet was ejected for elbowing DaJuan Summers in the head, Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf came alive, cranking up the volume on the offense. The backcourt tandem combined for 41 points in the second half and overtime after totaling just seven in the first frame. Flynn also finished with a career high of 13 assists. He channeled his confidence in a way that we haven’t seen for awhile and played about a foot and a half taller than he was on his drives, and skied for a big rebound late in the extra period. The point guard also threaded the needle beautifully all afternoon, and except for his last-second bounce pass attempt, made excellent decisions all over the floor. Read the rest of this entry »

If you told me that SU would keep UConn under 65 points at Gampel after the atrocious defense it’s played over the last couple of eeks, my reply would very well be “what in the name of Devin Brennan-McBride is wrong with you?” You can also color me surprised that the Orange didn’t crack 50. Although the margin of victory was on par with what many expected, the final score itself wasn’t. Read the rest of this entry »

Marrone gets settled in

The Zero Hand has decided to break its winter slumber and touch base on all things Cuse Football.  In typical ZHK fashion, I have eschewed actual personal thought and decided to throw out some updates on where things stand and question my partner in crime Reyes39 to get his take on football program.

As we all know, the upcoming schedule is not complete.  Donnie Webb reported that Maine could be that elusive 12th opponent.  Maine!?  Yes Maine.   And they may have to come in midseason to boot.   Brian Bennett reports just how hard Big East teams have in finding opponents.  Long story short is that we still don’t have a schedule and may not see one until late February or even March.  Yikes!

Once we have a schedule in place I will make my annual foray into breaking down the matchups and see what we may expect from the schedule and how many times we can hope Marrone to ring the register in that all important win column.  As it stands now, we will be moonlighting as a part time member of the Big 10 with 3 games.  It is a start that will surely shed light on how much work was done and how much work will still need to be done.

Read the rest of this entry »

Four of five and five of seven dropped. Matador defense and injured starters. the 2009 portion of the season hasn’t gone nearly as well for Syracuse as the 2008 portion. Meanwhile, UConn is undefeated this calendar year and looks better and better by the game, with the possible exception of a near-upset at the hands of Michigan over the weekend. They’re also the top-ranked team in the country just two years removed from an NIT appearance. Factor in the Orange’s recent misfortunes away from the Dome and you can see why very few prognosticators are giving the ‘Cuse slim-to-no chance at Gampel Pavilion Wednesday, though stranger things have happened. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite a late second-half comeback, the Orange put West Virginia away at the Dome. The victory was keyed by a big 24-11 run in the second half, though couple other very important things ignited the Orange, in no particular order:

1. Kristof played undoubtedly his best game of the season.

With AO still hurting, Boeheim wasn’t going to dictate a game plan where Kris Joseph gets a lot of time just because WVU is undersized. I’m normally one of KO’s harshest critics, but I have to give credit where credit is due. The image of Ongenaet most fans have in their head does not involve him blocking threes, but sure enough, he got out on the perimeter, blocking a long ball in addition to a swat on a Da’Sean Butler layup. Read the rest of this entry »

So here we are, halfway through the Big East slate and SU is sliding and spraining its way to the middle of the pack in the conference. The latest episode of As The Orange Turns has featured two injuries, an assurance that one of those injuries would be a non-issue going into Wednesday night’s nationally televised game and then something of a renegging on that reassurance, as Pete Moore, the team’s media liason, was quoted as saying that Arinze Onuaku will be a gametime decision once again. The Orange also pulled off the notable feat of scoring 94 points against a decent team on the road, with just six players scoring. Read the rest of this entry »