Slumpbuster (n.) - A large, unattractive, girl, most commonly with low self esteem, incorporated in sex with one that is suffering from a slump.
"incorporated in sex?" That sounds fancy. Regardless, St. John's, consider yourself that large, unattractive girl.
The Orange visit "The World's Most Famous Arena" tonight when they take on glorified A-10 program St. John's. The Johnnies are 13-14 (4-10) and are coming off a win over Seton Hall after continuing their annual tradition of embarrassing the conference on national television by losing to Duke.
Much has been made of what happened to the once might Johnnies. The big issue everyone likes to point to is the change in dorm money policy that St. John's used to be able to use to their advantage. Now, with the playing field level, it just seems to come down to "who wants to play basketball in Queens?" Sure, you get to play in MSG but then again, doesn't every Big East team in the BET anyway?
St. John's rant over. The "gauntlet" is over and Syracuse fans couldn't be happier. Despite the fact that, on paper, the Orange are still in decent shape, it was about as grueling a three week run as we've ever seen in the Big East. Now begins the second "easy" portion of the conference schedule. But don't use that word around Devo:
"Nobody's an easy team in the Big East," Devendorf said. "Anybody can beat anybody. We've got to play like we approach every game. We've got to play hard."
The Orange can't afford to take the Red Storm lightly. As much as they're not a bubble team, they need every conference win they can get. The Orange are no longer in a position to lose games they shouldn't. Critical BET seeding depends on it.
The big issue facing the Orange...Madison Square Garden itself. Despite the fact that the Johnnies aren't particularly good, they save their best for the home court:
St. John's is 4-10 in the Big East, but the Red Storm is 4-3 at home. The Johnnies have home conference wins over Notre Dame, Rutgers, South Florida and Seton Hall.
The other thing worth noting is that even though SU holds a 44-37 edge in the all-time series, St. John's owns a 21-17 advantage at Madison Square Garden. This includes the last time the two teams played there, a 64-60 Johnnies win in 2007.
If you had to sum up how SU fans feel about the game heafing in, CuseOrange does it best:
With the exceptions of Cleveland State and Providence, SU has taken care of business against lesser teams, and it’s hard to see Tuesday night being any different. The overly cautious SU fans will point out that St. John’s was a few breaks away from completing a 16-point comeback attempt at the Garden last Thursday against Duke, but the Blue Devils iced the game with free throws. This game would be a walk in the park for any team averaging 80 points per game, but knowing Syracuse, there’s always the chance this will be a two-possession game with one minute left.
There should be plenty of SU fans on hand for the game. If you're going to be in the area and have some advice for pre- and post-game hangouts for fellow SU fans, leave them in the comments below. G'Orange!