This is the end (for now)

Yes, blog buddies, the blog is going to go on hiatus for a little while.  I know, I know, you are all upset and ready to riot, but I urge you to keep your emotions in check.  We will be back before you know it.  With the school year coming to end, and the college hoops season long over, there isn't much else to right about at the moment.  Plus, I have to concentrate on finals and trying to graduate eventually and not finding a job in this awesomely awful job market.  If I come up with some interesting things to say, I will put them here.  Otherwise, enjoy the summer, good luck on finals, and I will get with you all in the fall.

Looking Ahead

Now that the college hoops season is over, it is time to start looking ahead to what is in store for Syracuse next year.  Rick Jackson will probably be the only major contributor to leave since he is a senior, so the team should have their core group intact for a run next year.  Kris Joseph is in line to become the next senior leader on the team, with Scoop and Brandon Triche also needing to play bigger roles.  With a year of high-level competition under his belt, Fab Melo now knows what is expected of him if he wants to see the floor more, and hopefully he will show up in shape and ready to work next season.  The player I am going to be keeping my eyes on is C.J. Fair.  That dude went hard every minute he was on the floor and is a scrapper who is freaky athletic for his size and crashes the boards with reckless abandon.  I am sure coach Boeheim was impressed with his play and will increase his minutes.  The team has an exciting freshman class coming in, with the highly touted and number 1 rated center Rakeem Christmas headlining the class.  Christmas is a talented shot-blocker who, along with Melo, should be able to cause problems at the rim for just about any team.  I would say things are looking up for the team, and with the NFL lockout already in full swing and an NBA lockout looming, all eyes might be on the campus hardwood come next season.

An Abysmal Finish

Wow, what an end to the college basketball season.  That title game was atrocious wasn't it?  I guess congratulations to UConn for beating a team in Butler that didn't even shoot 20% for the game.  That is supposed to be our national champion?  They barely got to 50 points and they are supposed to be considered the best team this year.  What a farce.  Both women's teams in the title game the next night scored over 70 points.  This is the nature of college basketball now.  It is just a diluted product with all of the one-and-done players heading for the NBA.  It isn't any team or coach's fault, there aren't many great players around the country since they all leave so early.  It doesn't make me like the sport any less, I just accept that be basketball isn't going to be as good.  It is still way more exciting than the pro game though because they players are all playing for pride instead of paychecks.  Don't get me wrong, I still will root my ass off for Syracuse, but if I want to see great basketball, I will tune into the NBA, where the playoffs will be starting in about a week.

stupid youtube

ok, apparently Youtube embed codes don't work on blogger, so here's the link to that video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtW8DjYNi0

And then there were four

The Final Four is set.  We have Connecticut, Kentucky, Butler, and perhaps the biggest surprise of all, Virginia Commonwealth.  Butler is making its second straight Final Four appearance, and Virginia Commonwealth made it after many said they didn't deserve an invite to the dance at all.  They took that "nobody believed in us" mentality and rode it all the way to Houston.  As much as I hate to say it, I think UConn will be cutting down the nets this year.  They are on an incredible run and haven't lost a game since the beginning of the Big East Tournament, which was nine games ago.  Kemba Walker is playing out of his mind right now and can get his shot any time he wants.  In college basketball, one dominant guard can take you a long way and that's what UConn has in Walker.  They also have coach Jim Calhoun who has two National Titles under his belt.  I certainly won't be rooting for them to win, I just think they have the best chance to do so out of the four that are left.  I don't really have much else at the moment since I'm still looking for a direction to take this.  To keep your interest, here is a video of why trampolines and basketball just don't mix.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RqtW8DjYNi0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 

All Danced Out

Yes, unfortunately the Syracuse season ended far earlier than I would have liked.  I thought the team was just hitting its stride and starting to play really well.  The young guys were also starting to contribute more and were no longer playing like freshman.  Alas, only one team can win it all, and like 67 other teams we will have to say "maybe next year."  But the thing is, now I need an idea for a direction for this blog until that time comes. I was thinking about doing just basketball in general, but I want something a little more exciting.  Any ideas in the comments would be greatly appreciated.  In the meantime, here is a sweet video of Blake Griffin's latest dunkface.  And it shouldn't have been a charge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvyelLWnDMo

Going Dancin'

Tournament time is upon us.  To me, it is the unofficial start to spring which comes with nice weather, melting snow, and girls wearing more revealing clothes.  It also means Syracuse is making the push to a national title, and they are off to a good start after handling Larry Bird's alma mater, the Sycamores of Indiana State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  They call it the second round now because of the expanded field, but I say nuts to that, it is still the first round and the first four games were useless play-in games.  Anyway, I kind of knew Syracuse wouldn't have much trouble when Indiana State started four guards against all the trees the 3rd-seeded Orange rolls out.  Rick Jackson continued to show that he got snubbed from the All-Big East time by pouring in 23 points.  They couldn't handle him in the paint.  Scoop hit a few 3's in big spots when we needed a bucket, but Brandon Triche kind of no-showed for this game and only played 28 minutes.  The biggest surprise was the play of C.J. Fair off the bench.  This guy is fast becoming one of my favorite players on the team because he plays bigger than he is and crashes the boards to grab every rebound he can.  Next up is a Big East battle against 11th-seeded Marquette who upset the 6 seed Xavier in the second (first!) round.  Marquette won the regular season matchup but in the Tournament everything changes.  Coach Boeheim has been around the block a few times and I'm confident he will have his guys ready to play.

Tourney Time

Greetings, readers.  Sorry about the late post, It's been a busy week and I straight up forgot.  The Big East Tournament is upon us, and after the blowout win against DePaul, Syracuse earned the 4 seed and two byes so they don't have to play until tomorrow.  I have less to say about that, and more about how Rick Jackson got no love from whoever votes on awards for the Big East.  Jackson earned defensive player of the year, but was snubbed from the All-Big East first team and the conversation for player of the year.  Not to sound like a homer, but that is a farce.  The All-Big East first team is comprised of 5 guards: Ben Hansbrough of Notre Dame, Kemba Walker from Connecticut, Austin Freeman from Georgetown, Ashton Gibbs from Pittsburgh, Marshon Brooks from Providence and Dwight Hardy from St. John's.  Incidentally enough, those are the top six scorers in the conference as well.  The All-Big East team isn't supposed to be just the highest scorers, it should be an actual TEAM that selects the best player at each position, kind of like an all-star team that doesn't really play any games.  You can't tell me there was a power forward that played better than Ricky.  The guy was the only senior on the team and played his ass off every game.  He averaged 35 minutes a game out of a possible 40 and had 17 double-doubles on the season.  17! He also AVERAGED a double-double for the whole season, averaging 13 points and almost 11 rebounds a game, along with 2.5 blocks.  You can't tell me he didn't deserve a first-team nod.  It shouldn't be all about scoring.  Jackson meant more to his team that almost all of those other players, save for maybe Kemba Walker at UConn and Hansbrough at Notre Dame.  Syracuse wouldn't have been half as good without him as he was the only serviceable inside presence they had since Fab Melo and Baye Keita are both freshman.  I think it was the most egregious of snubs and the guy should be recognized for how much he accomplished and how far he came in his four years at Syracuse.

Georgetown and stuff

Just a quick look at the Georgetown game as I'm sure you are all getting tired of this game coverage.  Another big win on the road moving the 'Cuse up the Big East rankings and on the way to getting two byes in the Big East Tournament.  Scoop Jardine must secretly read this awesome blog because he has played much better since I called him out.  He poured in 17 big points to go along with seven assists and hit some big shots down the stretch to keep the lead.  Go Scoop.  We have on game left this Saturday at home against Big East bottom feeder DePaul.  Hopefully the team won't be looking ahead to the Big East Tourney and will make this an easy win.  There is something else I wanted to talk about in this post though.  I consider myself a pretty big fan of the team.  Perhaps not as much as these guys, but hey, not everyone can be.  However, I have noticed that I have this strange superstition that I don't like to wear Syracuse gear the day before or the day of games.  I know that kind of goes against all sports fan logic, but I feel like every time I wear a 'Cuse shirt on the day of a game, the team loses.  Don't get me wrong, if I had a Rony Seikaly jersey, and possibly even the short shorts, I would rock them without conviction.  Speaking of which, have you seen Seikaly's ex-wife?  Damn.  By the way, this  is Rony Seikaly.  He must have done something right, but apparently not right enough since she ended up with half of his money.  But anyway, my point is I feel like I'm weird because I don't wear the gear until after the team wins.  Is that frontruning?  I still support the team in losses, I just try not to jinx games by repping the 'Cuse before or during games.  I don't know, maybe I'm just weird.

Big road win

Before we get to the current Syracuse team, news just broke on ESPN that former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony has been traded to the Knicks.  It is about time.  I really didn't want to see him get traded to the Nets.  Anyways, the 'Cuse grinded out an overtime win against Rutgers as Rick Jackson poured in 18 points, 12 rebounds, and seven blocks, and also made the free throw to send the game to overtime.  It was a good win in what some would consider a trap game with the team traveling to Villanova for a Big Monday matchup against the Wildcats.  Scoop Jardine must have taken my last post to heart as he scored 20 big points in the game.  He did have five turnovers though due to some sloppy ball handling.  He needs to work on that if the team is going to make a deep run in the Big East Tournament and NCAA Tournament.  The team has two regular season games left before the Big East Tournament: Saturday on the road at Georgetown and then the following Saturday at home against DePaul.  Let's talk more about the Carmelo trade though.  As you may remember, Carmelo was on the 2003 National Title team at Syracuse where Hakim Warrick made one of the best plays I have seen to seal the win.  I am excited about Carmelo's trade to the Knicks though.  It gives them a solid foundation with him and Amar'e Stoudemire, but the Knicks had to trade a lot of people to get 'Melo.  But it is probably worth it when you get a guy that can do this.  Although I don't think it makes them a title contender this year, it has Knicks fans excited for the future.  That's about all I have for now, but I will leave you with another sports-related video that always makes me chuckle.  Enjoy.

Put in Triche!

I never like to call out players on teams I like,  but sometimes it needs to be done.  I think Scoop Jardine needs to not have the ball in his hands so much and play a smaller role in running the offense.  Don't get me wrong, Scoop is a great player and I'm glad he is on the team, but he has had several disappointing performances in some key games this year, and after Brandon Triche led the way with 20 points in last night's game, something needs to be said.  Scoop is an effective player on the fast break, but in the half court he doesn't make as many good decisions and looks for his own shot too much when he should be looking to get the rest of the team involved.  If you look at the stats you can see that Scoop averages pretty much 3 turnovers a game compared to only about 2 for Triche.  Triche has better shooting percentages, scores almost as many points and yet sees less minutes than Scoop, especially in the second half.  Triche is also an exceptional athlete, can create his own shot off the dribble and get to the rim, and do things like this.  Did I mention he is a guard?  I have seen multiple times where he gets to the rim and tries to put someone on a poster.  The kid goes hard.  I am not saying to completely take Scoop out of the offense.  I am just saying more players, like Triche and Dion Waiters who I think is a future star, need to get more involved.

Back to Blogging

Sorry for the lack of posts.  I have been pretty busy lately and am still getting used to balancing my time between school and working two jobs.  But anyway, let me start by fixing an error in my last post.  The Connecticut game was played in Hartford, not in Storrs.  Let's get to some games though.  We got a good win against Connecticut (I believe I had that) and then a blowout against South Florida.  We then had two losses to Georgetown and Louisville.  Georgetown is a good team that is well coached, so I suppose I can get over that, but the Louisville game should have been a win.  I was working for that game so I didn't get to see it.  But since all of that is old news, I don't want to spend too much time on it.
    Last night the 'Cuse got a good home win against West Virginia in a nationally televised game on ESPN.  Again, I was working so I didn't see the game.  Thank you Valentine's Day, it is no fun working at one of the only restaurants in town on days like that.  I do know that the team was led by Brandon Triche and his 20 points (more on him in the next post).  Hopefully this win will get the team back on track with tough road games coming up against Villanova and Georgetown.

Let's Stop the Skid

I know I am starting this blog in the middle of the season, but this is when I was moved to start blogging.  I have resisted temptation for a while, but I can't anymore.  Besides, the internet needs another person giving their opinion on something they (probably) know less about than they think. 

I guess I should start with a little about me, your tour guide through this jungle that is my thoughts. My name is Justin Neuman and I am a senior at Oswego State University and I am working on my journalism degree.  I grew up in the suburbs of Syracuse, and, naturally, have been a Syracuse fan for as long as I can remember.  I try to watch every game, but with work and school and stuff I can't see them all.  I'm sure you'll get to know me more through my writing, so I won't waste time giving a full biography here.

As you probably know if you are reading this blog, Syracuse is currently on a four game losing streak and face Connecticut in Storrs on Wednesday.  Syracuse needs this game badly if they want to stay out of the conversation of tournament bubble teams.  Even though they started out 18-0, they don't really have a signature win on their resume, unless you count Michigan State, who has been sliding all season and now has eight losses and is 5-4 in a fairly weak Big Ten.  Either way, the 'Cuse still needs this one against one of their biggest rivals.  I personally feel Connecticut is overrated.  Yes, they have Kemba Walker who is a great scorer, but outside of him their next leading scorer only posts about 11 a game.  I'm sure Coach Boeheim will make sure his squad knows where Walker is at all times.  The 2-3 zone needs some shoring up in the middle and needs to hope, as always, that the other team's shooters don't light it up from the outside.  Connecticut is fairly weak on the front line so hopefully Rick Jackson and Baye Keita will control the paint and Syracuse can get a much-needed win in the Big East.