January 17, 2006
UConn wins again...
My ears are ringing, my head is threatening to break into a full-fledged poundfest, and the Cuse just lost for the 6th time in 8 tries to a UConn team (and coach) that just seem to have their number. You would figure that such things would cause me to be a little down or upset about the events that took place this evening. Strangely enough, I'm feeling pretty good.
The Dome was wild tonight. Absolutely in.sane. The students are back, and they filled their entire end of Jim Boeheim Court. The crowd numbered around 26,000 but down on the floor it sounded like there could have been 50k instead. Connecticut brings out the best in Cuse fans, even if they continue to trounce our team with regularity and force winning streaks to a screeching halt. It was obvious from tipoff that Syracuse wasn't going to be able to play with UConn on the interior, and after a 12-0 run to start the game and a 19-0 onslaught just few minutes later, many fans across the country would have sat down and waited to sneak out at the intermission.
Not us, though - we like taking our abuse!
The Orange were able to provide a bit of excitement in the contest eventually, even if it came in the final 4 minutes and the opposing coach had already headed for the lockerroom (the AP reported Calhoun was feeling "lightheaded" and "dehydrated" so he left the game to recuperate with his team up 15 points). Syracuse had been knocked around quite a bit throughout the first 30 minutes of this game, but somehow managed to bring the scoring difference back to respectability with a series of late three-pointers and inexplicable poor decision making by UConn players as they repeatedly fouled Eric Devendorf while he brought the ball up the floor with under 2 minutes to play (this gave the Orange 5 extra points, as he only missed one of the six freebies he was given at that stage). Those of us who remained that long were able to stand up throughout the final five minutes of game time, appreciating the effort put forth by a Syracuse team that really didn't have any remaining chance to win the ballgame. At least it made the rest of the contest bearable - our squad still had some fight in them, even if everyone knew what the final outcome would be.
It didn't help Syracuse to come out after the tip looking like they had never played ball before. They were dominated on both ends of the floor during the opening five minutes, quickly falling behind 17-5. UConn's trio of towers had the lane sealed from the start, blocking 11 shots in the first half alone (they had 16 on the game). The Huskies made a statement early that they weren't going to give up any easy baskets, and it looked like the Orange were taking notice - the Syracuse offense stalled out on several occasions because of poor decision making and bad shot selection. The Cuse were rattled by the visiting defense, and it took far too long for them to recover.
Nichols seemed to be the player most affected by the Husky block party, as he passed up several perimeter jumpshots during the first half after being rejected too frequently for his liking. The starting small forward had his shot blocked 3 times in the opening 20 minutes and it made him visibly hesitant to shoot, as he caught the ball several times in spots he usually just shoots from, only to flinch when 6'9" Rudy Gay (3 blocks) moved to defend him. Such possessions never ended well and it was clear that the UConn strategy to shut him down had worked, at least until Gay got into foul trouble with 12 minutes to play and was benched. Once the 6'6" Denham Brown was guarding Demetrius, he suddenly had no problem spotting up and draining everything he took. Nichols put 25 on the board in the second half, mostly because he managed to find his rhythm with Brown assigned to him. Unfortunately by that point it was too little, too late.
Darryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts gave us a treat by combining for one of the most improbable 2-man stat lines you may ever see from teammates who both stand over 6'9": 3 pts, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers, and 10 fouls. Yes, UConn held Gerry to an ugly 31% shooting and only 4 assists, but the disappointment of the night comes from the Syracuse frontcourt. Roberts and Watkins played 21 and 17 minutes respectively, only to get seriously outplayed all night long under the hoop. It was exactly what most of us expected, but we also knew that the big men had to at least be somewhat productive in order for SU to have a fighting chance. The team did manage to outrebound the Huskies - mostly because McCroskey hustled his way to 14 boards (nine on offense!) - but the defense failed to force enough UConn misses, especially in the paint. Connecticut shot a very easy 53% from the field while holding Syracuse to just 32%. That's the worst shooting performance by the Orange since last year's 70-88 loss to UConn in Storrs, when they hit for 31%.
McCroskey played his best game of the season tonight, if only because he was the one Syracuse player on the floor willing to go toe-to-toe with the UConn behemoths guarding the lane. Granted, he got shut down more than he succeeded but he gave it his best effort when the opportunity was there. Lou proved himself to be completely fearless during one breakaway slam that brought the raucous crowd to its feet, throwing down a huge running dunk right on top of 6'11" Hilton Armstrong, then letting him know about it afterwards. If you haven't caught this play of the night on any highlights, I've got it saved - you can swing by my place to watch if you like.
I'm usually not a huge Louie fan (he's almost always out of control while handling the ball, he's too eager to shoot) but SU really needed someone on the court who could throw his body around and make some plays. Nobody else on the team seemed to have the moxy necessary to go up against Boone and Armstrong with determination, and it showed in their repeated hesitation before shooting. McNamara had his moments when he took a chance inside (he probably got fouled more than it was called) and Devendorf regained his rim-attacking style towards the end of the second half, but the team as a whole was unable to make plays in the paint. McCroskey was the one who stepped up to the hoop tonight, and was the only reason the Orange managed to win a single line of the stat sheet.
Overall, I'd say the Orange got whipped by a bigger, faster, better team tonight. We all saw this coming, though, and I don't think it turned out as bad as it could have been. 88-80 looks like a respectable loss in the stat book, and it shouldn't hurt Syracuse too much come tournament time with Connecticut figuring to beat a lot of other ranked teams on their way to a #1 seed. The victory for me tonight comes in the form of a great Carrier Dome crowd that really got into a fun game and let a national audience know how loud we can be. Unfortunately, now we have to sit at home, powerless, wondering if our Orange will be able to come home from Pittsburgh and Villanova with their conference winning record intact.
The Dome was wild tonight. Absolutely in.sane. The students are back, and they filled their entire end of Jim Boeheim Court. The crowd numbered around 26,000 but down on the floor it sounded like there could have been 50k instead. Connecticut brings out the best in Cuse fans, even if they continue to trounce our team with regularity and force winning streaks to a screeching halt. It was obvious from tipoff that Syracuse wasn't going to be able to play with UConn on the interior, and after a 12-0 run to start the game and a 19-0 onslaught just few minutes later, many fans across the country would have sat down and waited to sneak out at the intermission.
Not us, though - we like taking our abuse!
The Orange were able to provide a bit of excitement in the contest eventually, even if it came in the final 4 minutes and the opposing coach had already headed for the lockerroom (the AP reported Calhoun was feeling "lightheaded" and "dehydrated" so he left the game to recuperate with his team up 15 points). Syracuse had been knocked around quite a bit throughout the first 30 minutes of this game, but somehow managed to bring the scoring difference back to respectability with a series of late three-pointers and inexplicable poor decision making by UConn players as they repeatedly fouled Eric Devendorf while he brought the ball up the floor with under 2 minutes to play (this gave the Orange 5 extra points, as he only missed one of the six freebies he was given at that stage). Those of us who remained that long were able to stand up throughout the final five minutes of game time, appreciating the effort put forth by a Syracuse team that really didn't have any remaining chance to win the ballgame. At least it made the rest of the contest bearable - our squad still had some fight in them, even if everyone knew what the final outcome would be.
It didn't help Syracuse to come out after the tip looking like they had never played ball before. They were dominated on both ends of the floor during the opening five minutes, quickly falling behind 17-5. UConn's trio of towers had the lane sealed from the start, blocking 11 shots in the first half alone (they had 16 on the game). The Huskies made a statement early that they weren't going to give up any easy baskets, and it looked like the Orange were taking notice - the Syracuse offense stalled out on several occasions because of poor decision making and bad shot selection. The Cuse were rattled by the visiting defense, and it took far too long for them to recover.
Nichols seemed to be the player most affected by the Husky block party, as he passed up several perimeter jumpshots during the first half after being rejected too frequently for his liking. The starting small forward had his shot blocked 3 times in the opening 20 minutes and it made him visibly hesitant to shoot, as he caught the ball several times in spots he usually just shoots from, only to flinch when 6'9" Rudy Gay (3 blocks) moved to defend him. Such possessions never ended well and it was clear that the UConn strategy to shut him down had worked, at least until Gay got into foul trouble with 12 minutes to play and was benched. Once the 6'6" Denham Brown was guarding Demetrius, he suddenly had no problem spotting up and draining everything he took. Nichols put 25 on the board in the second half, mostly because he managed to find his rhythm with Brown assigned to him. Unfortunately by that point it was too little, too late.
Darryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts gave us a treat by combining for one of the most improbable 2-man stat lines you may ever see from teammates who both stand over 6'9": 3 pts, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers, and 10 fouls. Yes, UConn held Gerry to an ugly 31% shooting and only 4 assists, but the disappointment of the night comes from the Syracuse frontcourt. Roberts and Watkins played 21 and 17 minutes respectively, only to get seriously outplayed all night long under the hoop. It was exactly what most of us expected, but we also knew that the big men had to at least be somewhat productive in order for SU to have a fighting chance. The team did manage to outrebound the Huskies - mostly because McCroskey hustled his way to 14 boards (nine on offense!) - but the defense failed to force enough UConn misses, especially in the paint. Connecticut shot a very easy 53% from the field while holding Syracuse to just 32%. That's the worst shooting performance by the Orange since last year's 70-88 loss to UConn in Storrs, when they hit for 31%.
McCroskey played his best game of the season tonight, if only because he was the one Syracuse player on the floor willing to go toe-to-toe with the UConn behemoths guarding the lane. Granted, he got shut down more than he succeeded but he gave it his best effort when the opportunity was there. Lou proved himself to be completely fearless during one breakaway slam that brought the raucous crowd to its feet, throwing down a huge running dunk right on top of 6'11" Hilton Armstrong, then letting him know about it afterwards. If you haven't caught this play of the night on any highlights, I've got it saved - you can swing by my place to watch if you like.
I'm usually not a huge Louie fan (he's almost always out of control while handling the ball, he's too eager to shoot) but SU really needed someone on the court who could throw his body around and make some plays. Nobody else on the team seemed to have the moxy necessary to go up against Boone and Armstrong with determination, and it showed in their repeated hesitation before shooting. McNamara had his moments when he took a chance inside (he probably got fouled more than it was called) and Devendorf regained his rim-attacking style towards the end of the second half, but the team as a whole was unable to make plays in the paint. McCroskey was the one who stepped up to the hoop tonight, and was the only reason the Orange managed to win a single line of the stat sheet.
Overall, I'd say the Orange got whipped by a bigger, faster, better team tonight. We all saw this coming, though, and I don't think it turned out as bad as it could have been. 88-80 looks like a respectable loss in the stat book, and it shouldn't hurt Syracuse too much come tournament time with Connecticut figuring to beat a lot of other ranked teams on their way to a #1 seed. The victory for me tonight comes in the form of a great Carrier Dome crowd that really got into a fun game and let a national audience know how loud we can be. Unfortunately, now we have to sit at home, powerless, wondering if our Orange will be able to come home from Pittsburgh and Villanova with their conference winning record intact.
