Jan 18, 2011

A Reaction, Albeit Belated, to the First Syracuse Loss of the Year

First off, any team with Rapelisberger in attendance and Dick Vitale gently massaging its balls on the mic is the equivalent of the O'Doyles in Billy Madison. And we all know what their hubris did to them:

That's right, they end up driving over the remains of Chris Farley's lunch and taking a ridiculous u-turn that sends them over a cliff. Pitt is good, and Pitt is in the driver's seat, but they beat a team without its best player who has said he was concussed while Syracuse says nothing officially.
Rick got roughed up a bit with more focus on him, and the other bigs need to get their heads in the game. James Southerland cannot take significant minutes and only grab one rebound. And Scoop needs to start taking care of the ball just a little bit more. A 4-13 shooting night plus 0-2 from the charity stripe is not good. He did improve his assist-turnover ratio to 4-2 after going 13-12 in the previous 2 games, but all of those dumb shots are the equivalent of a turnover.
CJ Fair and Dion Waiters were great for the audience they played in front of. CJ had his best game, albeit not the best shooting performance from the line. But he consistently went for the tin despite Pitt's intimidation down low. Waiters handled with confidence against tough Pitt guards. But for all his playing time, it made Triche disappear for a long stretch. If Triche isn't getting in the rotation, he loses some of the swag he needs to have games like he did against Cincinnati, St. John's, and Seton Hall.
And you know what? Better to lose in the middle of January than in March. This team can learn a lot, and Kris will definitely help solidify this group when he comes back.

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