THE BIG EAST - My Votes/Picks

       I just want to start this out by saying this has been one of the most enjoyable years to watch the Big East.  There is no doubt this is the best and deepest conference in the NCAA, and I agree that setting a record of possibly having 11 teams as locks to get into the NCAA Tournament has been earned at this point.  Marquette is most likely the 11th team to get that spot in the tournament, but they deserve it with huge wins against SU, West Virginia, Notre Dame, and a monster win against UConn on the road last week.  Marquette plays everybody tough and even the best of teams in the Big East know they're in for a battle every time they match up with Darius Johnson-Odom and my favorite, Jimmy Butler.  Even West Virginia with their total lack of scoring, has been able to get solid conference W's with their hard nosed tough team defense.  How can you keep Bobby Huggins out of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Georgetown, Purdue, Cincy, and Notre Dame by 14.

       It's been said a lot this year, but it's true, as the Big East has gotten stronger and impossible to predict each night, the rest of the conferences have gotten weaker.  The PAC10, ACC, and SEC are typically solid major conferences, however, this year these 3 all don't have much to show for themselves.....here's a question for you to think about....how would DUKE do if they were in the Big East this year???  One game doesn't provide any guarantees, but they did get blown out by 15 against an unranked St. Johns team.
  Syracuse has been a roller coaster this year, but sitting at 12th in the AP and winners of 6 of their last 8 you can't complain.  Brandon Triche should get the award for Most Improved Player in the conference this year, as he's gone from a quiet role player to a flat out scorer in crunch time, almost 90% from the free throw line as well.  With opposing defenses focusing on Joseph and Jackson, Scoop and Triche have recently kept me from pulling my hair out....it's definitely a love-hate relationship with Scoop...I love ya right now pards. 

My Big East Picks:

Player of the Year: Kemba Walker  (Besides a small stretch that he struggled, he's put up big numbers throughout the year, sorry Hardy fans)  

Most Improved: Brandon Triche

Coach of the Year:  Steve Lavin no doubt (The Johnnies simply haven't been an important piece of the Big East in almost a decade, so Coaches do matter)

Sleeper in the Big East Tournament:  Cincinnati (athletic, well coached, hit 3's, and rebound with 

Who will win the Big East Tournament: St. Johns (they're ripping it up their last 10 games and flat out blowing people off the court...solid teams too.  Playing at home doesn't hurt either in the tournament)

Biggest Collapse since midseason:  What has happened to NOVA...wow, blown out last night vs. Notre Dame.


The double-double award:  BIG RICK JACKSON (One of SU's most improved players over the course of his career, right there with Demetrius Nichols and Kris Joseph)

Cockiest player who didn't do ANYTHING until this year:  Ben Hansbrough.....do you shave yet son?


Big East High Game Scorer in Big East play *Record:  Marshon Brooks with 52 points....I would say pass the ball, your team blows, but I don't know any other player on your team....keep shooting.


Don't let me shoot 3's in your face award:  Tie between Tim Abromaitis (he must use Proactive) and Ashton Gibbs (I love my set shots)


Your Season Could Be In Serious Jeopardy Award:  Georgetown (Losing Chris Wright for a couple weeks and the uncertainty of his play once he returns should scare any G-Town fan, he's their floor general and 2nd leading scorer)


Current Big East Standings:

BIG EAST	Pct	Overall	Pct
^Pittsburgh	13 - 3	.813	25 - 4	.862
^Notre Dame	13 - 4	.765	24 - 5	.828
Louisville	11 - 5	.688	22 - 7	.759
St. John's	11 - 5	.688	19 - 9	.679
Syracuse	11 - 6	.647	24 - 6	.800
Georgetown	10 - 7	.588	21 - 8	.724
Cincinnati	9 - 7	.563	22 - 7	.759
Connecticut	9 - 7	.563	21 - 7	.750
West Virginia	9 - 7	.563	18 - 10	.643
Marquette	9 - 7	.563	18 - 11	.621
Villanova	9 - 8	.529	21 - 9	.700
Seton Hall	5 - 11	.313	11 - 17	.393
Rutgers	4 - 12	.250	13 - 15	.464
Providence	3 - 13	.188	14 - 15	.483
USF	3 - 13	.188	9 - 21	.300
DePaul	1 - 15	.063	7 - 22	.241

 

The Cuse Get Rocked in the Carrier Dome

     The 5th ranked Syracuse University Men's Basketball team (13-1) lost their first game of the season, as the Pittsburgh Panthers (12-2) came into the Carrier Dome and controlled the game in the second half to beat the Orange 82-72.  Overall, The Cuse played much better in the first half than they did in the second half, however, they were only able to hold a 30-27 lead at the break even after leading by 10 at one point.  The game was very much back and forth throughout the first half, as every SU run was followed by a Panthers bucket to quiet the crowd.  Foul trouble was a big problem for the Orange in this one, as the Carrier Dome fans were kept silent throughout much of the second half as Wesley Johnson had 4 fouls, while Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson both fouled out.  The foul trouble also fed over to diminish the always consistent scoring attack of the Orange, as the only SU starter in double figures was Wesley Johnson with 19 points.  The one lone bright spot for the Cuse was the bench play, as Scoop Jardine put up 15 points and Kris Joseph added 10, as both players played a lot of minutes in this one.
      This season SU has relied on three point shooting from Rautins, Triche, and Johnson, to put together huge runs and emotionally demoralize their opponents on the offensive end.  Clutch shooting had led SU to be the top scoring team in the Big East at over 86 points per game.  However, The Cuse couldn't hit anything is this one, as the Orange were just 1 for 13 from behind the arc.  Most importantly, towards the end of the game, SU was down 15 points with only minutes remaining in the game, nonetheless, even with Andy Rautins not being in foul trouble, Rautins was sitting on the bench.  What's the deal with that Boeheim?? Therefore, it was up to players with very limited experience in a tough fought Big East battle with conference rival Pitt to try and get the job done with leaders such as Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins riding pine.  Any SU fan was desperately hoping for an SU comeback, however, between the lack of SU three pointers and the absolutely no "support" from the referrees, the game seemed to be over with even 3 minutes remaining.
       Hat's off to the Panthers today, as they played very well and deserved the win against SU.  Another point of note was the guard play from the Panthers which was stellar and totally outplayed the Orange, as Ashton Gibbs went 6 of 9 from downtown to put up 24 points, while Jermaine Dixon tossed up 21.  The three point shooting from Pitt was the difference in this one, as the Panthers went 10 of 24, to shoot a solid 41% from out deep.  Furthermore, the physical play of the Panthers was something SU had not seen as much of with their non-conference play earlier on this year.  It's clear SU has had two very tough Big East games already this year to the likes of Seton Hall and Pittsburgh, so it'll be interesting to see how SU bounces back in their next game versus another physical and very fast team in Memphis on January 6th.