Syracuse vs. George Washington: Joseph vs. Joseph II

by Sean Keeley on Dec 9, 2011 9:00 AM EST

The No. 3 Syracuse Orange look to make it 10-0 on Saturday when they host the George Washington Colonials (4-4) in the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m.

The Colonials come into the game in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Losses to Kansas State and VCU were followed by a disappointing finish against Loyola on Wednesday. They also lost to Cal earlier in the year.

George Washington finished its 2010-11 season 17-14 overall and 10-6 in the Atlantic 10.

The game will pit brother against brother, kinda. The Colonials' new coach Mike Lonergan hails from Vermont and he's brought assistant Maurice Joseph, the brother of Kris Joseph, with him. The two faced off against one another in the NCAA Tournament a few years back and Mo will be looking for a little payback.

The Juice speaks with the folks over at GWHoops.com and finds out which player is going to strike fear into our collective hearts:

Tony Taylor is one of the top three guards in the Atlantic 10 and has been forced to shoulder the offensive load both last year and early this season. Taylor can get his shot against almost anyone and can score in a variety of ways, but can be off-put by physical defenders and is simply asked to do too much.

Syracuse is 7-1 all-time against GWU. The series dates back to the 1966-67 season.

If you're going to the game, make sure you check out the Sport Management Club at Syracuse University's seventh annual Charity Sports Auction going on in the other side of the Dome.

The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable and SNY so, rejoice. If you live outside the New York area, find a bar with DirecTV and they should be able to get SNY.

G'Orange, unless you're The Juice's Mark Porter, that is.

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It's my

undergraduate (GW ‘85) school versus my graduate (Syracuse ’90) school. I just hope GW doesn’t get embarassed.

by kd bart on Dec 9, 2011 9:34 AM EST reply actions

Strangely enough....

the only D1 schools I applied to were GW and Vermont……Luckily I went to a D3 school and thus could pick the team I wanted…..and there was no way I was going to let all those Illini fans take advantage of me.

by adselver15 on Dec 9, 2011 11:19 AM EST reply actions

Mark Porter,

SHAKING MY HEAD.

Born in '87, Orange fan since '86
I guess I made a twitter, follow @StealthTurkey

by StealthTurkey on Dec 9, 2011 11:27 AM EST reply actions

Need to bounce back

SU needs to re-establish themselves on the boards tomorrow night. A repeat of the Marshall game probably won’t cause them to lose tomorrow, but would establish a negative pattern going into Big East play, where getting killed on the boards will equal an SU loss. Simply put, SU needs to show up and play hard for 40 minutes, which is something they really haven’t done all year. They are falling into the old SU trap of putting forth greater effort against bigger name teams. If they do that against Seton Hall, they will lose. Theodore and Pope are both back, and SU couldn’t stop either last year in the Dome. Hopefully the players remember how they were humbled and don’t permit a repeat. However, the defensive rebounding must be better than it was Tuesday, and the offense needs to start clicking. There’s too much one on one stuff and not enough ball movement. SU has to break that habit of taking the first open three, and instead work the ball around, make the extra pass, and get the better look. SU also needs to run a couple of plays for Fab. If they get a big lead, I think that the freshmen need to get more playing time. I also think Rakeem needs more minutes at center, even with his struggles on Tuesday. We are going to need MCW and Rakeem by the end of the season, so hopefully they will continue to get minutes in games like this one. I for one am a bit disappointed in Baye’s play this year. I don’t see the improvement that is readily evident with Dion and Fab. He probably needed to redshirt this year, which is where DaShonte’s transfer has hurt SU. He doesn’t seem stronger than last year, and there is no evidence of any offensive game aside from putbacks and dunks. Maybe I’m being a little too negative about Baye, but I had really expected more from him this year. He’s kind of becoming irrelevant. He won’t get on the floor next year with Coleman, Rakeem and Fab all coming back.

by orangeskin on Dec 9, 2011 12:27 PM EST reply actions

About Baye

I actually find him to be the defensive reserve we need when Fab goes out. I dont know if he will ever be a real offensive threat, but for what he does and where he is now I think hes doing a good job. We dont really lose production, and get to keep some real length in the middle of that zone.

by Pinker on Dec 9, 2011 1:40 PM EST up reply actions

Here's what I think

Baye’s putbacks and dunks are exactly what we need from him. We just need a few more. Add a block or two a game, and he’s really valuable.

Agreed, they need more play calls, and more plays that include Fab. Waiters and Scoop should be better at this. Triche on the other hand should be more aggressive and explosive. Boeheim said it himself. He did some crazy crossover in the first 10 minutes of the Marshall game, I was thinking “he should do that every time.”

We still don’t have a go-to. That’s what every great team has. One guy who you give the ball to at the end of the game. Joseph doesn’t have the aggressiveness, Scoop…, Waiters could be the guy if he starts connecting a little better with the plays.

Southerland has been disappointing. I’d love to see him lock in and figure out his game. This team still doesn’t have a rhythm, probably because of the depth. Once Scoop starts figuring out who’s on the court, and running the right play for the personnel, and getting Fab involved more, I think it’ll start locking in.

by 5YearPlan on Dec 9, 2011 1:46 PM EST up reply actions