Arinze Out, DaShonte In
by Sean Keeley on Mar 18, 2010 7:37 PM EDT
18 comments
"In the event of a loss of cabin pressure, a mask like this will fall from the panel above, pull it to your face and by doing so the oxygen supply will be activated. Secure your mask before helping others with theirs."
The worst-kept secret in the tournament was finally made official today. Arinze Onuaku will not play against Vermont and he is doubtful to play on Sunday (all assumptions implied). It's also not hard to read between the lines and see that there is a distinct possibility Onuaku won't even play at all in the NCAA Tournament.
"He has made some good progress each day," Pike said. "He’s just not ready to play yet."
Pike said a number of factors will determine when or if Onuaku will return to the basketball court for the NCAA Tournament.
"We’re looking at his function, we’re looking at his comfort level," Pike said. "He has to be safe for him to play."
Pike said the immediacy of the NCAA Tournament has not applied pressure to hasten Onuaku’s healing. SU will not rush Onuaku back to action, Pike said, if it means that the SU center might endanger himself physically.
All signs point to the fact that, even if Arinze was able to suit up next week or even the week after, he still would only be 50-75% of the player he's been all year. Not good for SU if they hope to reach the Final Four and compete with the likes of Kansas, Kentucky and others. You may now continue fretting.
Just remember, as tough as this is on you, its ten times worse for the big fella:
"This is what you work for every year – the NCAA Tournament. It’s just bad timing for me right now," he said."The hardest thing is this is my senior year, this is my team. To not be on the floor with them is tough. I’m here regardless. I’ve been talking to the players all the time. That’s what I gotta keep doing if I’m on the bench or if I’m on the floor. They gotta be able to see me and hear me out there."
So..DaShonte Riley...you staying loose? Hope so, my friend, cause one way or another you're getting some minutes over the next few days. Keep that energy high!
| DaShonte Riley might see game time |
One extremely good sign. At the 1:34 mark, everyone is room is shocked by something on TV (the Murray State finish?) and reacts. DaShonte doesn't even flinch. Kid's got focus!
0 recs |
18 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
We just need to win tomorrow
If we lose on Sunday, it will be disappointing… but at least we will not make history.
It could be worse...
we could be georgetown right now…lets just be thankful for the season we had and the position we are in now.
Ummm...
if we lose our first game, that would be much worse than Georgetown’s predicament.
Kansas is beating Lehigh by six… and Lehigh has not even shot well.
Ummm.
Im not implying a loss tomorrow would be ok. Im saying a couple of weeks ago after beating nova we were all on cloud 9 and had a great shot at a national championship. Now, without AO a championship would be difficult…However, we are still in great shape to get to the elite 8 and possibly final 4. BUT, the lack of depth will be difficult to overcome. We could be in georgetown shoes right now and not have another game to play untill november. Lets just let it all play out and see what happens.
I for one still think we are perfectly capable of winning it all.
It won’t be easy, but we’ve still got a damn good shot.
by NOLACuse on Mar 18, 2010 10:32 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
All good things come to an end
When they happen to you that is. When they happen to someone else they have a way of lasting forever
GO CUSE, BLUE, AND EAGLES!
JESUS H CHRIST
guys, come on now. the sky is not falling. i know the grey skies, cold temperatures, and long lines at the unemployment office have a way of sucking the joy out of life, but we still have a pretty damn good basketball team. even when dashonte came in against (sorry, i honestly can’t remember who it was, but it was late season and we had some foul trouble; UConn? Georgetown II?) whoever the hell it was, you could see some of his athleticism come out. 2 games of quality minutes against semi-soft competition will be great for him. as has already been said, wes is back to normal (not to mention the rest of our ballin ass team), so as long as dashonte can play reasonably we should be right in the thick of things.
LET’S DO THIS!!!!!!
BK: This guy is on fire, he is really smokin'.
KenKo: Oh yeah, Bill? What's he smokin'?
Amen.
Ty Lawson didn’t stop UNC from winning last year.
EVERYONE is beatable.
AND GEORGETOWN STILL SUCKS!
The 'Cuse is in tha house, oh my God oh my God.
Agreed
But all this talk of Elite Eight matchups is highly premature. Kansas is better than us (without AO) and Lehigh is worse than Vermont… and things were interesting for far too long in that game.
One game at a time is all that anyone needs to worry about.
Kansas isn't invincible.
Cornell should have beat them earlier this year. They can lose just as easily as we can.
Right on
We are a freakin 1 seed, lets act like it. Also, I think Boeheim isn’t worried either. Its as if he’s saying “We’re good enough to win both games this weekend without AO, so we’re not going to risk further injury by playing. If Rick and Dashonte both foul out, then we might consider playing AO.”
Confidence fellas. If we do lose this weekend, it will be because we played like garbage, not because we don’t have AO.
"You heard it out of my mouth, if we get the No. 3 seed, get your Final Four tickets." - Carmelo Anthony
by bloodyyank44 on Mar 19, 2010 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions
everyone is being so dramatic
honestly, the worst thing about them losing in the first game of the BET is that everyone here has had WAY too long a time to imagine the worst case scenario
we have the team (even w/o AO) and the coach to go very far in this tournament. And if you think Jim Boeheim will get beat by UVM again, let alone as a 16-seed, you guys haven’t been paying attention.
and then when you consider all the upsets yesterday, this team is on notice not to let their guard down. CHILL
Think about it
In 2003 look at the starting lineup…did we have a dominant scoring center? NO it was Craig freakin Forth. We just need length in the middle. Hopefully the guys around them can score the basketball more to mitigate Riley’s lack of offense.
I’m just trying to cheer myself up. :-)
agreed
But I think the fact that we have two talented big men who can score are a HUGE part of what makes this team special. The versatility of being able to play Rick and AO at the same time or having them rotate at center, is incredible. I can’t think of another SU team that was able to do that. In the end, if I had to deal will losing one of them, it would be AO. Rick is a better rebounder and FT shooter, and has gone off on some huge games. Its not to say we wont miss AO this weekend, but its not the end of the world.
"You heard it out of my mouth, if we get the No. 3 seed, get your Final Four tickets." - Carmelo Anthony
by bloodyyank44 on Mar 19, 2010 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions
In Boeheim I trust,
as do the players this year. I think these guys are more coachable than any team Syracuse has seen in a long time (probably since 2003). Devo, Harris, Donte — all great players, but didn’t really seem to listen to Boeheim, or absorb what he had to say. This team does. They know their basketball. They know their 2-3 Zone. They know their role on the court and are fine with it, no matter how many minutes that means they will play.
All that to say that Boeheim has been preparing this team all week to play without AO. While he’s being wishy-washy with the press, I’m sure he’s telling the guys the truth in practice. A week isn’t a long time, but it’s enough for these guys to re-tool their game. I have confidence they will destroy Vermont. But I also have confidence that, with or without AO, they can still beat any team in the nation.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
Related FanPosts on Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
Related FanShots on Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
