THE CUSE Remains Perfect with 75-51 Victory Against St. Francis

   SU fans must be happy they saw no let down by THE CUSE today against St. Francis.  After a much tighter game Thursday against the Florida Gators, this afternoon SU proved they truly have a balanced scoring attack and were able to dominate down low.  Today, Senior Center Arinze Onuaku showed his presence in the paint with clutch shots and a fabulous left hand as he put up 14 points on 70% shooting from the floor....that a baby Arinze!  Syracuse is now 10-0 on the season for the first time since the 1999-2000 season in which they started 19-0.  You truely never know which guy is going to lead the team in scoring, as 8 players can each put up double digits if called upon to do so.  Against St. Francis, Junior forward Rick Jackson had 11 points and hauled down six rebounds.  Junior forward Wes Johnson put up 12 points with nine boards while also logging three steals, 2 assists and a game-best four blocked shots....wow, this guy gets up in the air.  Redshirt freshman Mookie Jones was the last double digit scorer with 10, as he made 3 trifectas in the game today.  I was a bit surprised to see Mookie put up the numbers he did, but he looked great doing it. 
         At this point in the season I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the high level of point guard play out of Scoooooop Jardine.  He's consistenly played and handled the ball well and it's definitely evident that the team and coaches are expecting great things from Jardine on the court each game.  I never thought of Jardine as much of a scorer, but he's even been able to do that this year, as he's averaging 8.9 points.  He's an impact player that's been a big jolt for The Cuse so far this year.  Jardine's known as a solid passer and today was no different as he dished out a game high 9 assists.  Coach Boeheim had this to say after the game about the team chemistry and particularly the team passing: 

      "We played well together. We had 24 assists again tonight -- everyone has been very unselfish, looking for each other. We work hard and we are getting better, we just have to keep improving. We played just the first part of the season and we have a long way to go. The bottom line is we have to get better."

It was a positive effort all around today as St. Francis didn't pose much of a threat against SU's size and superior skills.  The one thing I do want to see going forward, however, is for SU to get the number of turnovers down, as they had 16 on the game today.  I'm sure everyone else is greatly looking forward to SU's upcoming BIG EAST schedule, but for the time being we're all happy with SU's out of conference W's that keep wracking up.  Go Cuse, keep the train rollin'....

The Only Orange Florida Can't Squeeze

It's not uncommon that the Syracuse University Men's Basketball team starts a season 9-0, they've certainly attained that mark multiple times before. However, it's not every year that you see THE CUSE start out their season with high quality out of conference top 25 victories. Although SU's win versus Florida was by no means convincing, unlike the one over then 13th ranked California and the following night over 4th ranked UNC, the win over Florida did show us how SU can respond to adversity. SU was in control for most of the game, however, they were down 2 with less than 10 minutes left in the game. This was caused by The Cuse giving up three straight 3 pointers to the Gators and at that point in the game every SU fan must have been shaking in their boots. Nonetheless, Rautins immediately showed his leadership abilities and demanded the ball as he hit a 3 with absolutely no hesitation.... love it. After that, SU didn't give up the lead again as Wesley Johnson decided he was going to show up and prove he's the best player SU has to offer.
The one thing this team has this year is perseverence and a sense of team. They overcame a tough Florida team and really do play well together. There isn't one guy that has to take the shot when SU needs a bucket; they can go to nearly anyone on the floor and can expect something positive. Guys like Rick Jackson exemplifies this fact. Rick plays tough D, goes for nearly every board, and has through hard off-season work become a very solid offensive player...nearly shocking after his output as a Freshman. That's why Boeheim is a hall of famer, because he's able to bring the best out of players. Great game last night gentlemen, I had knots in my stomach throughout, but still an impressive showing.

SU resurgence... LeMoyne who??

It seems like years ago that the Syracuse Men's Basketball team lost to Division II LeMoyne in the Carrier Dome. I think any true and long term SU fan was thinking the same thing I did when the clocked struck zero, wow, is this what "our" team has become after losing Jonny, Devo, and Harris. Even though it was a preseason game and SU played man-to-man throughout, you know Boeheim was supremely embarrassed, and he should have. However, with all the off-season hype of recent additions like Brandon Triche and Wesley Johnson, the LeMoyne game was a very rough start to what appeared to be a long season ahead.

Boy how things have changed over the last month. Recently I can't turn on ESPN without hearing Dicky V or Steve Lavin annointing Wesley Johnson the next coming of Christ, a lil early but you gotta enjoy the SU love that has been long overdue. I must say that I do love all the hype that has followed since I watched arguably two of the best games I've ever seen SU play as they routed the extremely overrated California Golden Bears and a very young, but by all indications a legit North Carolina team. As we all know, it's very early, but so far I must say it's been the most exciting team I've seen out of SU since 2003. The defense is phenomenal and has been the staple of the whole SU turnaround since the LeMoyne game. We're all very excited for the upcoming Florida game on Thursday, as SU can once again confirm they are the real deal, and prove they are not some early season flare up that will sizzle out come Big East ball.
Wesley Johnson, Brandon Triche, Andy Rautins and company need to keep the train moving, and I'm sure the SU fans will be there every step of the way, as we always have pumping our fists throughout and looking forward to another successful SU bball team. See everybody after the Florida game.

K-Geo
Posted by K-GEO at 7:47 PM
Labels: SU- Florida coming up
1 comments:
matt said...
Nice work KG i think the biggest difference this year is D, quick enough and big enough for the zone....also Wesley is Christ so dont be confused.....I cant be more excited for a season after the low that i felt against lemoyne i now feel amazing about the season and in a fully confident way cause we got the coach we got the system and now weve got the players.....GO CUSE