Wake Up with a 'Cuse Win

The Garden was popping last night, and it wasn't for St. John's despite the fact that their campus is about 12 miles away compared to Syracuse being 193 (source: Google Maps, and I'm not checking MapQuest.). Syracuse got off to a slow start on offense, putting in only 2 points in the first 6 1/2 minutes. This is not behavior coming of a national title contender, but boy did they reverse course, going 0n a 10-0 run to end the first half to take 35-24 lead into the locker room. The zone employed by the Red Storm was effective in keeping the ball away from Rick in the first half, but it also freed up the guards and wings, who combined to shoot 9-20 from 3. Everytime St. John's thought that they had that opposite side cutter, the zone collapsed perfectly and the Orange were fastbreaking the other way on the regular.

Now, last night I pondered whether we were seeing a return to prominence from St. John's basketball. While some may give the definitive answer "no," I still think we have to wait a little bit to make this judgement. Judge Lavin by what he does with his recruiting class next year, and appreciate what he has been able to get out of these players that he didn't choose for this year. But Lavin made a huge strategic blunder last night going into the 2nd half. Lavin kept the press going that had slowed down SU getting its offense set, but instead of keeping his matchup zone going, he switched to a pressing man. This allowed for three things that let the Orange offense get into its groove. First: Scoop could operate as his normal self, bullying weaker guards and using exquisite crosses to easily get into the lane to make opportunities for others or get in lay-ups. Second, it freed up Rick to operate down low against the weaker St. John's bigs, and when there was a collapse, he got the ball to the open man (he finished with 3 assists). Third, his team wasn't ready to play man defense. While the man on the ball was generally focused on his job (albeit with quite a bit of handchecking), off-ball defenders were looking right at the ball the whole time. This freed up Scoop for a wide open lay-up underneath on an assist from Jackson inside the free-throw semicircle. It also helped Kris get 2 wide open backdoor dunks, an unacceptable outcome for any defense. While this was a good win, it was partially the product of some crappy strategy on St. John's part.

Highlights from the Garden
-One St. John's fan impressed us with his combination of a lack of height, a surplus of scarf length, and maybe a few too many beers. He tried to insult Boeheim, to which many kindly asked him to "kiss the ring." For some reason, he also decided to see this one out, and with 3 minutes left started calling for Boeheim to bring in subs. In the words of Omar Little, "Come at the king, you best not miss." Overall, the St. John's cheering section was a joke. I'm fairly certain Syracuse fans made up about 75% of the crowd. It's understandable to have a Wednesday night game in the Garen to get the revenue of the Syracuse alums, but it also alienates a huge chunk of your student fans who won't always be able to make the trip.
-The St. John's dance team may be overfunded. They had 2 wardrobe changes for the night so that they could give the crowd two terrible dance routines, one of which included a sequin leather jacket with a huge St. John's patch. When they were in regular uniform, they essentially just stood in place.
-Danny Schayes was in attendace, and by God, he was wearing an ugly shirt. He also made himself the most visible seven footer in the world with this jacket, which he walked through New York wearing:

Yeah, that's NBA ball jacket.
-Jim Burr was kind of tolerable tonight. He made a couple bad calls, but not on the level I remember seeing from him in the Dome growing up. The true officiating enemy is Gene Steratore, who seemed to love hearing the love from the home crowd that was outnumbered at the Garden.

In other news, Brittfarv's sister is a gourmet...of meth. (h/t Deadspin)

And Duke lost to unranked Florida State, so I'm extremely happy. Even if Dick Vitale tries to justify it to the world.

Good Mownin'...Just breathe:

Syracuse-St. John's Pre-Game

I'm not going to get hammered before I go to this game. I may have a beer, but that's about it. Being a blogger makes you look for the opportunities to get drunk on someone else's dime. I'm excited to head back to the Garden, and this will be my first time seeing the 'Cuse play in New York City. I will not be doing the doubleheader with the Johnnies women's game afterwards, since UConn's meaningless winning streak is now over.
But am I hyped to see Syracuse fans dominate the Garden.
Of course, George Vescey is drinking Lavin's Kool-Aid, and it seems like the cyanide hasn't started to take effect, as the Johnnies started their Big East season with 3 wins against West Virginia, Providence, and Georgetown, before falling to Notre Dame on Saturday. The Red Storm has 10 seniors, and Lavin is already starting the reloading with commitments from 4 top 25 swingmen according to Rivals. So is St. John's really back? This year might be a good sign, but next year will be the one that counts. Lavin will need that team to perform before big-time recruits start putting St. John's on their whittled-down lists of schools.
Syracuse may be undefeated, but the Orange may want to get their heads back in the game at the Garden. Seton Hall, even without Jeremy Hazell, was close enough on Saturday that I was scared. Even if they are slowing it down, without a real outside threat (the Pirates shot 3-26 on 3-pointers). The zone is again not going to need much extension, as St. John's shoots on 30.8% from outside. But 'Cuse needs to show some signs of life. The offense looked lost against Seton Hall, and with a tough stretch ahead against Cincinnati, Pitt, and Villanova, it's high time for Syracuse to get its shit together. And what better place than where they essentially hold a home-court advantage in the Garden. There will be tweets tonight (@themanualbuzzer), so follow along with the game on ESPNU. Good night, and go Orange!