Paul Harris needs some protection

If one player is victimized by refs for being physically imnposing, it has to be Paul. He might need to play some Nintendo DS to improve his basketball IQ, but Paul doesn't get any breaks from the refs. Last year it was the out-of-the-blue technical fouls that were commonplace, but he hasn't been called for one yet. But officials still treat him differently. Two instances in today's 'Cuse victory over the Washington Huskies made me know this is some truth:
1.) Watching Quincy Pondexter proceed to push Paul Harris out of bounds to get a defensive rebound. Not box out, literally turn and push.
2.) A phantom offensive foul call where Harris jump-stopped into a banked jumper and a flop by Justin Dentmon were enough to warrant the call.
So Tim Higgins, Ted Valentine, and whoever else officiates in the Big East, give Paul a chance. He isn't the Juggernaut running through walls and sending people hundreds of feet when he runs into them because mutants don't exist. He just happens to be a little stronger than the guys he's going up against, but he isn't going to kill anyone.

Great News for Penn Basketball

As UPenn moves eastward, Penn Basketball, already oh-so fan friendly, adds the element that could make the Palestra turn into one of the best venues ever (and maybe even add some decibels at Penn football games): tailgating
(http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/10/19/News/Looking.Ahead.An.Overview.Of.The.Upcoming.University.Expansion-3044163.shtml). The proposed Franklin Field Pavilion and Palestra Green would give fans a place to gather for barbecues and booze before watching their beloved Quakers go out of character to fight an opponent. It's an essential element of schools like Maryland and Texas, so why not give us a chance to not have a chance to walk it off on our way to the game? The crowds will be rowdier, and it will definitely make the atmosphere much more intimidating for visitors. So kudos to you, Penn architect David Hollenberg, for making this possible.


(Sorry about the links, I'm writing this on my Mac and for some reason I'm not allowed to blog nice like I do on a PC. What a bitch.)

Syracuse Survives, and So Do the Bones in my Hand

Well, after falling into a 10-0 hole, Jonny Flynn completed my redemption from my promise to punch a hole into a wall with a 3 with 5.3 seconds left to give 'Cuse a 72-69 double-you. Flynn was not rattled when he had the chance to win on a very deep 3, and I have never been more excited about a team because of that. Flynn was able to forget about his 0-5 night from the field (he still had some great assists, including one behind some dude's back to Donte).
That St. Joe's team was poised for an upset (funny note: I watched the game with a St. Joe's fan and a UConn fan, which was one Georgetown fan away from the triumvirate that makes Syracuse basketball get pissed off (if they were playing UConn, a UConn fan would replace the St. Joe's fan)), and Pat Calathes had a great game going for 22 and 8. However, Ahmad Nivins was somehow completely baffled by the collapsing double team that came his way whenever he got the ball in the post, causing him to have more turnovers (4) than points (3).
And when Jimmy B called Paul Harris a son of a bitch as he went to shake Phil Martelli's hand, he had reason to ignore his 18 points and 14 rebounds. Harris basically ruined the beginning of the game with two terrible travels, one as he caught a pass at the 3-point line and got into the triple threat, and the other as he went to elevate. And then to end the game, he basically let Calathes catch that ball for the possible tying basket. Harris has looked pretty careless this year, and if SU wants to move up the polls, he needs to get his game under control and cut down turnovers and bad shots.
Otherwise, Donte looked pretty good, and Arinze was a monster everywhere but three very important places: the free-throw line, defensive rebounding, and shot blocking. Mookie is playing for the Kings right now because he could be active in one of those categories every night, but I'm not sure Arinze can do much with the shot-blocking, so he needs to get defensive rebounds, especially in the zone. Also, there was next to no bench production tonight, which needs to start existing if this team wants to win in the Big East. Ongenaet, Jackson, and Jardine need to start contributing against Ohio State next Wednesday, and they will have time to get ready for that when Fordham comes to the Dome on Friday.
And, kudos to Jonny Flynn for the new title holder of "best sentence uttered in a post-game interview as he said to Syracuse's Gene Waldron, "I kept turning the corner off screens and finding my...niggas."

As Sunday comes so does the Buzzer Dubs Weekly College Basketball Report Card Summary of News, including the Dubs Top 25.

Jewish Jordan Spreads his False Righteousness

On Saturday morning I attended Orthodox services at Penn Hillel to celebrate my brother's aufruf (pronounced "oof-roof") the day before his wedding, and a former media darling happened to be in attendance by the name of Tamir Goodman. You may remember him as the Orthodox Jew who could light it up, averaging 35 points a game as a junior at Talmudical Academy in Baltimore. Gary Williams offered him a scholarship as he continued to tear up Jewish and non-Jewish competition alike. He had to give back the scholarship because Williams could not make accommodations for Goodman to not play on Saturdays, which lead to a spot on the Towson Tigers, a low-major program. After a year of what some considered completely missing expectations, Tamir claimed he jumped at the contract offer he received from Maccabi Tel-Aviv, fulfilling his dream to play in Israel. However, the conditions that the team had taken in Goodman were hurting the team as Goodman played terribly. Coach Mike Hunt was a little ridiculous in throwing a chair at Goodman, but he had his reasons. If Goodman had played as well as he did in high school, I think Hunt would have kept up the agreement, or just let them schedule games he couldn't play in on Saturday. And I almost neglected to mention that Goodman's time in Israel had been even more underwhelming, as he found no playing time, even when he was playing for second division teams over there. I don't want to sound like an anti-Semite, especially because I am Jewish, but Tamir just was never that good. But now some professional team has signed him in the US (he wouldn't disclose it, but it is definitely not an NBA team, and he told me it isn't an ABA team, which are known for promotions like naming a team the Atlanta Krunk), and the team has agreed to not play games Friday night or Saturday. Hopefully he can redeem himself, give us Jews some street cred, and not get a chair thrown at him.