Heart Attack Men: No. 5 Syracuse 75, No. 10 Georgetown 71
by Sean Keeley on Feb 19, 2010 10:51 AM EST
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PrintWell here's the good news about Thursday night's 75-71 win over Georgetown.
- The Orange sweep the season series from the Hoyas, something they haven't done since 2003 (oh boy).
- It was Syracuse's fourth win over a team ranked in the Top Ten at the time (North Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, Georgetown)
- Andy Rautins grabbed the conch and took back leadership duties for the Orange, scoring 26 points, including two clutch free throws to ice the win.
- The Orange led by as much as 23 points at one point.
- Syracuse led the entire game, believe it or not.
- With the win, Syracuse clinched a first-round bye in the Big East Tournament.
- At least momentarily, it puts Syracuse on top of the Big East with a 12-2 conference record.
- Free-throws! SU made 27-30 last night. That's crazy. (Note that AO and RickJack spent a lot of time off the floor)
And now the bad news.
- The Orange nearly lost the game on one of the most epic collapses in recent memory. The Hoyas' 28-9 run nearly caused Cuse Nation to implode on itself.
- Foul trouble. If you were ever curious to know what happens when both AO and Rick Jackson are in foul trouble...now you know. Scary.
- The Orange committed 10 turnovers in the 2nd half, many of which were part of Georgetown's run.
- Wes, Where Art Thou? Two points in the 2nd half. Thank God Rautins was hot but we need some more from our star.
The Orange are doing what they're supposed to do (winning), just not with the style points required of the masses if they want to be taken seriously as a No. 1 team. That might not matter to you, and it probably shouldn't. But that nagging thought that SU doesn't have a killer instinct or has something misplaced it is running through everyone's mind right now...not just ours.
Of course, there's a flip side to things here. Orange Fizz sums it up:
Let's flip this around, though. Instead of worrying that Syracuse lacks the killer instinct, how about applauding the Orange for finding ways to win no matter what? The strangest sensation in the world as an SU fan is watching a huge lead dissipate at Georgetown and still stay confident, "Don't worry, these are the games we win."
Point noted. I did remain confident down the stretch that somehow, someway, the Orange would prevail. And they did. On the road. Against No. 10 Georgetown. There's something to be said for that.
Does being in these situations make the Orange a better team or expose their fundamental flaw? Guess we won't really know until we know. You know?
- Rautins goes for season-high 26 in Orange win over Georgetown...Donna Ditota
- DOGFIGHT: Orange survives late Hoya comeback, avoids consecutive losses...Tyler Dunne, D.O.
- SU foul trouble offers opportunity for DaShonte Riley...Donna Ditota
- A lot of hoping (and some big plays at the end) allowed Onuaku and his Orange mates to smile...Bud Poliquin
- Rally killers: Syracuse thwarts Georgetown's huge comeback...Mike Waters
- SU-Georgetown Recap...Brent Axe
- Whew! Syracuse University basketball survives against Georgetown...Mike Waters
- Heartbreaker: Georgetown Loses to Cuse 75-7...Casual Hoya
- Syracuse is a Fine University...HoyaSuxa
- The Orange Sweep the Hoyas...Three Idiots
- Another Wild Finish, Another SU Win Over Hoyas...CuseOrange
- 25-2, a Hoya Sweep, and Making the Free Throws...OrangeHoops
- The Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry as it should be...Washington Post
- ESPNews Highlight Of The Night...YouTube
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I was just going to say the same thing...
Kudos, Sean, much kudos.
"Wes Johnson's your daddy and daddy's hungry, bitches!"
http://www.nunesmagician.com/
Come for the gripping sports analysis (and T-shirt giveaways). Stay for the pop-culture and literary references.
by Trapped_In_ACC_Hell on Feb 19, 2010 11:13 AM EST up reply actions
The question is...
Which SU Basketball player is Piggy?
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
by Sean Keeley on Feb 19, 2010 11:40 AM EST up reply actions
The white walk-on at the end of the bench
kind of looks like Piggy. If not him, I’m nominating Jardine, because he seems to do something to annoy the coach, the fans, and most of teammates every game.
Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!
by bigbluethruandthru on Feb 19, 2010 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
Eh...
I’d call it a step down from that Klosterman reference the other day. You set the bar pretty high there and then basically face planted into it today. Either way, good stuff…. I suppose.
(I’m biased. I hated LOTF.)
You hate LOTF?
How am I supposed to account for that? Who HATES LOTF? I can understand indifference, but, hate???
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
by Sean Keeley on Feb 19, 2010 12:28 PM EST up reply actions
I can't really say that the book was horrible
But after I was forced to watch the movie in class, every time I tried reading it I could hear all the obnoxious, high pitched children with British accents and it annoyed the f*ck out of me.
British children should never be allowed to speak. If I ever went to England, I’d probably punch a toddler in the face.
LotF was an awesome Simpsons episode
classic Ralphie quotes like “Go banana!” and “I ated the purple berries. They taste like burning!” Not to mention the monkey butlers.
Syracuse players have a lot of length.
FYI
Imagine if he had made it to the game???
http://blog.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2010/02/wishing_brad_bierman_a_speedy.html
Never heard of him, but let’s all root for a speedy recovery. Best aided by not watching this team play. :-)
On it...
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
by Sean Keeley on Feb 19, 2010 11:41 AM EST up reply actions
Hate to say it
This team is EXACTLY like every Syracuse team of the past. How many times have we seen in the past this team jump out to big leads and end up blowing them? Even the ’03 team had a history of doing it.
Oh man, last night’s Cuse was what I’ve grown to expect from a Jim Boeheim coached team. That’s not to say that we don’t deserve our ranking. In fact, I still think we’re playing better than maybe 5 teams in the nation at this point.
As it stands right now we’re 25 and FREAKING 2 right now. I just can’t wait for March to get here at this point.
Without Gerry McNamara we wouldn't have won 10 f-- games, not 10
Yep
Except the ’03 team, like this one, also had the ability to mount comebacks.
At least some of this is attributable to the zone. A team can go 2-13 from 3-pt. range, but eventually they are going to regress to the mean and get up to 7-20 or something. Similarly, a team that starts 6 for 9, is going to end up 9-24.
I almost think we are better off putting in the bench if we get up by 23. If we the lead is then blown down to 12 points, we come back with the starters who are rested. Mentally, the other team now things that the only reason they mounted the comeback was that it was against the subs.
Team just has to play smarter though. Scoop’s BBall IQ drops by 10 points every game. RJ needs to learn how to dunk and then to dunk whenever he can. C’mon!
Of course, if KJ hits 50% of his 5-foot shots, this game never gets within 10 points. Got to maximize opportunities.
That would mean we actually play some subs
with more than three minutes left in a game
Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!
by bigbluethruandthru on Feb 19, 2010 12:56 PM EST up reply actions
Made a similar point to a friend today
They were all concerned about us not being able to play a “complete” game and get far in the NCAAs. I simply pointed out that the 03 team had to rally from 17 down to beat OSU and blew almost all of an 18 point lead again Kansas. They just need to keep on winning any way they can.
Two things that are clear to me from this game and the Louisville and Uconn games 1) our offense goes our team goes. The constant that is there is the defense, granted G’Town got a lot better inside looks with Wes or Riley in the back of the zone. 2) Rautins needs to be on the floor for that offense to function, whether he is scoring or just a decoy that distracts the opponent.
they blew almost all of a pretty sizable lead
against Auburn too, if I remember correctly.
Syracuse players have a lot of length.
that was a bunch of 3's at the end of the game
like against WVU this year. techinically, the teams still made a comeback, but the late 3’s make it seem a lot closer than it really was.
No way we win
I told my brother on IM there was no way we were going to win once RJ and AO went out. How did G’town not get the ball inside down 1 with under a minute to go? A Jason Clark 3? Yikes.
We got lucky with that one but I’m still proud of the team for holding on. The momentum swing looked unstoppable even when the Hoyas were down 8.
Last shot
Also, did anyone notice that Scoop almost fouled Chris Wright on his last three attempt as time expired? Maybe he didn’t almost foul him but he certainly got too close for my comfort. Can you even imagine Boeheim’s reaction if there was an and-1 on that? It’s barely an exaggeration to say he would have killed Scoop.
Scoop and smart
Sentences rarely have those two words in them.
Yeah, I was shocked that an Orange jersey was even near the shooter.
Let him knock that one down. Don’t even attempt to block it.
I think the only reason it wasn’t called for a foul is because Wright was clearly leaning in to Scoop trying to draw the foul. But still!
In the immortal words of Beyonce
“I’m a survivor… I’m not gonna stop… I’m not gonna give up”
Don’t you dare ask why I know that.
These games (you know the ones – almost blowing the G’Town 23-pt lead, almost blowing the UConn 16-pt lead, spending 39 minutes trailing DePaul, playing close at Seton Hall and at West Virginia) are going to be helpful down the road. I have to imagine that almost all NCAA Champs come back from a sizeable deficit in at least one of their 6 games. Off the top of my head, Cuse was down big to OK State when we won, MSU was down big to us when they won, Kansas was down big to Memphis when they won…. you have to be able to play from behind, and in stressful situations. These guys can do that.
"Size matters. At least in basketball." - James Arthur Boeheim
by Bernie Fine is the Man on Feb 19, 2010 11:43 AM EST reply actions
I don't know if you guys have noticed this...
But this is happening all over college basketball. No lead is safe, not only for SU, but anywhere. WVU was up 20 on Providence the other night and Providence got it back to 3 or so. Georgetown was down 18 to UCONN at home and came back and won. It’s not just the Big East either. There have been many games that I have checked in on when someone is up 15 to 20 points and by the time I check on it again the game is tied.
Bottom line is, we won. I will take 25-2 any way it gets here. I’m not going to worry about the other shoe until it drops. I’m just going to enjoy this season, even if I have several heart attacks in the process.
Go Orange!
Well put
"Size matters. At least in basketball." - James Arthur Boeheim
by Bernie Fine is the Man on Feb 19, 2010 11:48 AM EST up reply actions
Keep Life Alert 8000 handy
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
by Sean Keeley on Feb 19, 2010 11:54 AM EST up reply actions
“Thank God Rautins was hot but we need some more from our star.”
To me it is becoming obvious that Rautins IS our star.
Go Orange(men)!
We are lost without him
He moves without the ball relentlessly.
actually i think it was our 5th win over a top ten team
4 different teams, 5 total wins (gtown was top ten each time we beat them i believe— i could be wrong though)
http://ExtendtheGame.blogspot.com
depends which poll you go by
I think they were 7th in one & 11th in the other the first time we played them.
Syracuse players have a lot of length.
You all got it twisted about Wes
You think those 5 blocks in the FIRST HALF and all the boards don’t count?
Just the intangibles of his presence are invaluable.
Our guys to get half the looks, screens, or run-outs they do if he’s not there.
The 'Cuse is in tha house, oh my God oh my God.
The title
A reference to the Beastie Boys song, “Heart Attack Man”?
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