Cincinnati Preview
Sunday afternoon will see the Orange take its undefeated road record to the test at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, home of Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson, the hyped freshman phenom. Wait, turns out the season has started and Lance actually isn’t doing so hot. We’re in February now and Stephenson has yet to string together four straight double-figure scoring games, leaving a lot of slack for Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates to pick up. Of course, it takes awhile to develop chemistry anytime you trot out 11 different players to start games as Mick Cronin has done.
As I write this, Cincinnati managed just 27 first half points on the road against Notre Dame, which isn’t exactly the defensive crown jewel of the Big East. In addition, a November win against Vanderbilt in Hawaii is the only notch on their belt (they also beat UConn, but that was at home, where Cincy was favored). They say any team can pull off a surprising win in the Big East, and I can agree to an extent, but it’s just unrealistic for Sunday to be that day for the Bearcats.
The Orange’s defense has been inconsistently consistent – they allowed 65 points to South Florida and Rutgers, then 71 to West Virginia, Notre Dame and Marquette, 56 points to Georgetown and 57 to DePaul before Providence put up 68 at the Dome. In all, it’s been over a month since the Orange gave up more than 71 points. It’s hard not to be pleased with that.
Unlike the Providence game on Tuesday, SU’s gameplan should have a greater balance of the inside and outside attack, as the Bearcats’ front line is more physical than the vastly overmatched Friars lineup. For the outside game, Andy Rautins is mired in one of his patented mini-slumps, having averaged only around 7 points per game over his last four, thanks largely to a 6-26 drought from three while playing all but a few minutes of each game. He’s kept active on defense, so he hasn’t been that inefficient, but any time is a good time for the long range shots to start hitting again.
Based on what Jim Boeheim had to say in his weekly radio program, Wes Johnson is still very sore from the tumble he took against Providence. For a team facing the Orange, that’s about as big a break as you’re going to get against a squad with such well-balanced scoring. It wouldn’t be the worst idea for Boeheim to rest Johnson to the tune of 20-25 minutes of playing time as opposed to his usual 35, because it’s more likely than not that his teammates will make up the difference in points. Then again, I’m the cautious type and whenever I’m concerned about a player or an opponent, I’m proven dead wrong, so expect Wes to go off for 25 and 15, all the while acting like nothing ever happened Tuesday.
Use the game to sample your Super Bowl concoctions because I can’t picture any butterflies in my stomach for this one.
