This is a photo of a sign blog contributor Josh made before a game against Georgetown in Washington. It became something of a running joke in our crew: Wherever we were, that was Cuse Country. When it came time to name this little project of ours, it seemed a natural fit. Holy crap, the Internet is Cuse Country!
Now, the time has come to move to nicer real estate. And with football season looming like an orange cloud of noxious gas, we’re moving to a new address that doesn’t have “hoops” in the URL.
So come visit us at CuseCountry.com. Same great stuff, new great home.
If you haven’t won an Otto yet this year, your window of opportunity is closing fast. They’re flying off the shelves faster than the West Virgina NIT Championship T-Shirt. And now I have the honor of presenting the award for the ‘Best Syracuse-Related Online Video’.
In a season that featured both amazing performances and general ridiculousness, it was fitting that the two nominees for best video represented these two aspects of the Orange and their fans.
Harris drives from beyond the NBA arc to slam it home (with Will Sheridan narrowly avoiding the Royal Ivey treatment). I’m just waiting for next year when ‘Best Paul Harris Dunk’ is an SOBA category of its own. Beyond the fact that it was a great dunk, the video serves as a reminder that at least once in the 06-07 season did we have the ball with less than 20 seconds left and not turn it over to our opponent. I will now conveniently forget that we ended up losing this game to the Wildcats.
While Harris’ amazing performance was enough to get him nominated for this Otto, general ridiculousness won out in the end. The Otto for Best Syracuse-Related Online Video goes to:
The day before Black Sunday, I flew down to Tampa to spend some time with papa Syracusan during my week off. I realized there was an ill wind in the air when I got off the plane and saw a giant digital events billboard in Tampa airport exclaiming Welcome ACC Tournament 2007! (It also read Welcome Scientologists, Ron’s Birthday 2007! But that’s another story). Unbeknownst to me, I had dropped right into the midst of ACC mania, despite traveling to a city where no ACC team resides. How exactly Tampa turned into enemy territory I do not know; the only DI team in the area is the Big East’s USF. It’s typical ACC arrogance I suppose, to hold their tournament in our zone of influence.
The ACC’s posters and paraphernalia were all over town, and coverage in the local newspapers and TV was heavy, but I was able to drown it all out lying in the sun on the beach. What I wasn’t able to drown out was a growing sense of unease about the approaching NCAA draw. I haven’t chimed in about last weekend’s debacle yet, though I’ve enjoyed everyone else’s tortured rantings, both on this forum and on other blog sites. Everyone has made a lot of good points, and it’s almost served to convince me that we were in fact robbed. Almost.
1. Two-man offense: Nichols and Devendorf combined for 37 points against Connecticut. No other Syracuse player scored in double figures.
Advantage: Syracuse. I would never have guessed we’d lose a game that saw Paul Harris scored 24 points and pulled down 15 boards in 22 minutes. Apparently TBGIMBR felt the same way.
2. Rebounding battle: Darryl Watkins, Terrence Roberts, and frosh Paul Harris each average about 7 boards a game. Harangody and Kurz must establish an inside presence and provide the Irish with some second chances.
Advantage: Syracuse. Watkins, Roberts and Harris outrebounded the entire Notre Dame team. All eight of ‘em.
3. Keep Andy Rautins down: The sophomore scored in double figures for each of Syracuse’s five straight wins down the stretch. He had five double figure games the rest of the entire season.
Advantage: Notre Dame. Rautins scored 3 on 1-of-6 shooting. Kind of crazy that he was on the court 28 minutes and only managed half a dozen shots.
4. What you must do, do quickly: ND’s problem on the road is getting down early. In the previous matchup, the Irish scored 62 first half points. That’s not all needed tomorrow, but Colin Falls and Russell Carter should be able to make some early baskets and get the offense flowing in the opening minutes.
Advantage: Syracuse. As you can see here, we dominated for stretches during the first half. After allowing about 100 points in the first half in the their first matchup against ND, the Orange locked down the little green buggers for 32 points before halftime. Unfortunately, they scored 57 in the second half.
Alas, if you allow your opponent to hit 40 percent of the 30-plus threes he attempts, most of the other keys to the game are gonna go out the window. Ditto if you don’t execute from the line.
The information that I am about to provide is based solely on this poster’s humble opinion and has not been paid for in any way by the businesses promoted herewith.
If you happen to be a New York City resident or are just in town for the BE tournament, I highly recommend a post-game stop at Steve & Barry’s at the Manhattan Mall. The store is just a block away from Madison Square Garden on 33rd Street. Based on Daz’s advice, Tom and I went there after yesterday’s game fired up to get some new SU gear after the big win (and to see if we could scope any ‘System of Dress‘ apparel). The new unis were not on display, but a visit to Steve & Barry’s will not disappoint. They have a ton of SU gear at amazing prices. I picked up a bright orange ‘Syracuse’ t-shirt for only $7.98 and was eyeing a medium-weight jacket that would have gone for $60 plus at Manny’s for only $14.98. The visit was worth it just to hear a store manager bark to her underlining ‘I want these Syracuse end caps looking perfect for tomorrow. Do you hear me, perfect!!” Both Steve and Barry apparently know which team’s fans are going to show up at the Garden this week.
While we had the fortune of snagging some reasonably priced tickets for yesterday’s U-Conn win on craigslist, we were shut out of today’s Notre Dame matchup. If you are in the New York City area and are having a similar problem, might I suggest a visit to Town Tavern in Greenwich Village? Owned by a couple of Syracuse grads, this is the official bar of the SU alumni association in NYC. The tablecloths are all orange and blue and make sure to ask for the special Syracuse menu where you can find delicacies such as the ‘Carrier Dome Platter’ or the ‘Basket of 4 Mini Otto Burgers’. The only complaint that I have is naming the chicken salad after Gerry McNamara. If there’s one thing that G-Mac ain’t, it’s a chicken.
Heading home on the subway after witnessing this afternoon’s rollicking first round Big East Tournament win against UConn, as the excitement and satisfaction of legitimately being on the inside of the big dance bubble settled to contentment, I was left with a completely unexpected feeling: pity.
Unlike Mrs. Tom, I’m not the kind of person who usually feels sorry for sports losers – in fact, my enjoyment of victories is usually magnified when it comes at the disappointment of bitter rivals. And until now I wouldn’t have thought that I had even a thread of heartstring to spare for the woes of the UConn basketball team. But there it was: a fly in my bowl of satisfaction.
This victory was like seeing the popular jerk from high school mopping out the bathrooms at Taco Bell 10 years later. Even though I spent many nights wishing for them to suffer fates worse than death, I didn’t think it would come to this. I mean jeez, I didn’t mean I wanted them to be passed over for the NIT.
B-Ballin’ to the Euro-beat. That’s what it looked like out there: like Berlin hoops aficionados circa 1984 (had they existed). But not in a bad way. The new “System of Dress” looked smooth, and even a bit cutting edge, which I’m sure is what Nike was going for. For the moment, I give them a tentative thumbs up. Devo actually looked bigger in the skin tight jerseys–which thankfully weren’t quite as skin tight as advertised–and Homebrew Drew didn’t look nearly as scrawny as I feared. It shows off how jacked these guys really are; even if some of them look less impressive in relation to one another, each of them sure as shit is in better shape than the average person.
I didn’t like the lack of orange. I also don’t buy the argument that “defenders won’t be able to grab your jersey anymore.” As far as I’m concerned, that means we’re losing out on the chance to draw 1-2 extra cheap fouls per game. The image of a pulled-taut jersey in an opponent’s hand is sure to draw a whistle.
On the other hand, we looked quick – like it was a downhill ski meet out there. And there’s a potential future benefit if recruits watching on TV get the impression that SU is a cutting edge place to play ball. It’s good to maintain an interest in your image, especially if you can come out on the right side of the ever-unpredictable hipness judgement. People like Pearl, DC, and Carmelo have kept SU’s rep on the street afloat with their overwhelming cred, but it couldn’t hurt to look young and on top of the trends as well.
Like I said, a tentative thumbs up. I invite the rest of the Cuse Country staff and our readers to chime in with a thumbs up/thumbs down in the comment box, if you’re interested.
*********
Apparently there was some sort of basketball game as well, which we won, which is nice. Honestly, I can’t believe we’ve beaten UConn in the Tourney 3 years in a row now. If we keep this up, I may have to lose my defensiveness about how Syracuse is always the 2nd team everyone associates with the Big East. Beast of the East indeed.
Oh yeah, and Devil Gottlieb just picked Syracuse to beat Notre Dame tomorrow.
This is a public service announcement from the Bureau of Prevention. All the people who were saying “I still don’t think Syracuse is going to make the tournament” a few hours ago please Shut the F Up. Thank you. Stand clear of the closing doors.
Had anyone else almost forgetten what it’s like to get a big win? And beating Georgetown tonight was huge. Why? Because, for the first time in months, we have breathing room. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to beat Villanova next week to secure a spot in the Big Dance. In fact, Joe Lunardi at ESPN gave us a 12-seed just on the strength of winning the Providence game on Saturday.
But let’s not look too far into the future. We still have to get through the Big East Tournament. After tonight’s games, the top of the BE standings looks like this:
SU has lost to every team ahead of it in the standings (except Georgetown, duh). So while it’s technically possible for us to finish in a three-way tie for third place if we beat Villanova, Louisville loses to Seton Hall and Notre Dame beats Rutgers, we’d still miss out on a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
The other side of that equation, however, is that we’ve beaten Marquette, so even if we lose to ‘Nova, we’ll still hold the tie-break over the Golden Eagles for the 5th seed. That’ll get us another rematch with St. John’s.
The X factor here is West Virginia. The Mountaineers, ranked seventh in the conference, stand at 8-6. If they can find a way to upset Pitt on the road then take care of business at home against Cincy to close the season, they could tie us — IF we lose to Villanova.
If anyone knows what happens to BE Tournament seeding if we’re locked up with WVU when all is said and done, please feel free to explain in the comments.
Well said by the Hartford Courant: “[Jerome] Dyson had 20 in the second half Wednesday against Seton Hall, 18 in the first half against Syracuse and the Huskies found a horse to ride. Then they fell off.” Jeff DiVeronica at the Rochester Democart and Chronicle credits the switch from the zone to man-to-man defense.
UConn blogger Ian Bethune is mad the Huskies couldn’t execute from the line. Isn’t it great to hear someone else complain about this? (SU took care of business at the charity stripe, hitting 26 of 31, by the way. Woot!)
