The Sixers are actually looking like a legit squad. What's even better-- Ed Stefanski didn't pull the trigger on any silly trades before the deadline passed. Everything is safe, at least for this season.
Philly's put together a nice little streak as of late, winning 8 of 10 since giving up a 20 point lead in a loss to Atlanta on February 4. And they've beaten some good teams: Orlando, Dallas... ok, so just the Magic and Mavs. Anyway, during that time, Andre Miller has been OWNING the competition. His PPG is up to 19.8 for February. Through January, Miller was averaging 15.8 PPG.
Honestly, Miller's numbers for February have padded his season stats. Check out this line: 19.8 points, 8.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. The point guard is shooting 84% from the charity stripe and 57% from the floor this month. The change can't be explained, but it is absolutely for the better.
Enough on Andre Miller... now to the rest of the team. The Sixers have *skyrocketed* to third in the Atlantic division. That's basically like second place. I don't count the Celtics.
The Sixers are also in eighth place in the Eastern Conference. However, unless they finish fourth or fifth they probably won't get out of the first round. Things are just so shaken up now because it remains to be seen how much better Ben Wallace will really make the Cavaliers. I think the Sixers could play the Celtics tough because of the rivalry-- no way there would be a sweep. The Pistons would absolutely own the Sixers. But a Magic matchup would be intriguing.
Oh what a great segue. Ironically Philly beat Orlando 101-89 last night at the Wachovia Center just five days after losing to the team in Florida. The Sixers starting backcourt outscored Orlando's 52-2. I am not kidding. That is a factually accurate statistic people. Miller and Green destroyed Nelson and Evans. Granted Maurice Evans played just ten minutes in the first half. But still, that's an incredible number.
Things are on the up in Sixerland. The team is also playing as just that-- a team. Stat lines are incredible... last night, forced 20 turnovers and only had 11. Andre Miller is becoming an assist machine. The weapons are firing from all angles. Last night it was all about the guards/swingmen-- Willie Green, Andre Miller, and Andre Iguodala each scored over 20.
One more game left in February-- hopefully the Sixers can leap their way to another victory this month.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
So what happened?
Friday, February 22, 2008
LAST PLACE
- 30-17-5, 65 points, 1st in the Atlantic, 2 points up on both New Jersey and Pittsburgh
How about this? Just three points back of Ottawa now for the top spot in the conference. The Senators have been struggling (the Flyers gave them a nice pounding) and with the Flyers playing the way they are, 1st in the East is not out of the question by any means. Of course, 3rd place in the division is not out of the question either. I hope Stevens is emphasizing the importance of every game at this point to the team. February will be a critical month to set up for the final push. Capitals at home tomorrow, then a couple division games against the Rangers at home and the Penguins on the road. We need a good game tomorrow against Washington, because the next two will not be easy.
That's what I wrote on February 5th. Now we are in the basement of the division and are 10th in the conference. Funny how the sports world works. I really have nothing more to say on the matter. I'm not NHL-savvy enough to break down exactly what's going wrong with the team and how we can turn it around. I can't offer any more insight than other people. All I'm going to say is I'm still hoping we will return to form in enough time to make a serious playoff push.
-ajd
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
And Still Losing...
Sure, I could rant about how the Flyers are shooting themselves in the foot as the season nears the home stretch. I could rant about how frustrated I am that Peter Forsberg isn't healthy enough to make a return. I could rant about how we can't beat any divisional opponents. I could rant about how this team was the worst team in hockey last year, got off to a completely unexpected start this year, only to see the incredible turnaround start to slowly fade into oblivion. I could rant about how ineffecitve Danny Briere has been over the last month. I could rant about Simon Gagne's injuries. I could rant about the suddenly unstable goalie situation.
But really, what's the point? All I (or anybody) can do at this point is keep on rooting for the Flyguys to snap out of this funk and return to their early season form. Plenty of time left in the season, so here's to hoping the team wakes up starting now.
-ajd
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Still Losing
I was so caught up in the euphoria of Syracuse's win over Georgetown that I plum forgot that there was a Flyers game later in the day. Of course, once I checked ESPN.com last night, I realized that indeed there was one, and that we had lost yet again. Just terrific.
We lost to Montreal, 1-0. We failed on our power plays, including our 5-on-3 effort. We couldn't get the puck past ANOTHER backup goalie, this time Carey Price (?). We managed to play a good defensive game, and Antero Nittymaki played well, but it all went to waste. Nitty lost his concentration for a split second when Andrei Kostitsyn stunned him with a crazy goal. And that was it. It's all the Canadiens needed.
Now we've lost SIX in a row. We are officially in panic-mode, people. I don't want to hear the ol', 'oh there's plenty of time left in the season, there's no reason to panic yet' excuse. In case you're not paying attention, we are in the 6th spot in the East, but we are a meager 4 points ahead of the 12th team, the Islanders. In this new NHL where points are given out so generously because of overtime losses, a six game pointless streak for a team competing for a division title/playoff spot is inexplicable and potentially fatal. Let's face it, this team was awful last year. They weren't supposed to be this good this year. Maybe the magic is wearing off. But when you get off to the start like they did, you just expect that to be the norm for the whole season. Hopefully the Flyers will wake up tonight and split with the Canadiens. If they don't, it's possible that we'll be in the 8th spot after today.
- Nittymaki did what he had to do: .950 save%
- The once potent power play is sagging.
- Please get Forsberg a uniform.
- Should that goal for the Flyers have counted late in the 3rd? Maybe. But methinks the refs are not responsible for another loss.
- 30-23-5, 65 points, 3rd in Atlantic, 6 points behind New Jersey. 24 games left.
-ajd
Thursday, February 14, 2008
By No Means is Syracuse's Season Over
I've been checking out a lot of talk on the message boards and discussions taking place in comments on syracuse.com and what is out there is just ridiculous.
Yes, Syracuse doesn't have the greatest resume right now and will need to win some tough, hard games the rest of the year. What the majority of the rest of the world doesn't realize is, it's not how good your resume is, it's how it compared to the other teams out there.
Right now, Syracuse looks pretty darn good against a lot of teams they are competing against for the last five or so at large bids in the tournament.
Last night was a prime example of this.
Duquesne beat Dayton which put both teams at 16-7, however Duquesne is 6-4 in the A-10 and Dayton is 4-6. Both are bubble teams. Now if Duquesne finishes 9-7 in conference which is very likely with their remaining schedule and Dayton can get to 8-8, do you think they would take those teams over a Big East team that's 9-9 (and to get those nine wins they would have beaten some very good teams). The answer is no as long as Syracuse wins a game in the Big East Tournament.
Also Rhode Island lost to Temple last night 92-89. The Rams are now 6-4, for them to make the tournament over Syracuse they would need to finish at least 9-7 which could be difficult with their remaining games in the A-10. Charlotte's bubble also burst last night. They had a chance to beat Xavier last night, but couldn't a close game out. They drop to 5-4 in the A-10 and already have nine losses.
The last two nights really hurt a few SEC schools. Florida, Ole Miss, and Kentucky all took steps back. Florida lost to a terrible LSU team (a comparable loss for Syracuse to South Florida). The Gators are now 19-6, 6-4 in the SEC and have one of the worst out of conference schedules ever.
Kentucky was making a run, starting out 6-2 in the SEC, but suffered their worst loss in decades on the road in Vanderbilt. Had they finished 13-3 or 12-4 in league play would have made them an interesting case for the bubble because of their terrible start, but strong finish. The loss to Vanderbilt really throws that scenario out the window unless they dominate down the stretch.
Mississippi is this year's Clemson. Undefeated out of conference, 3-6 in conference and playing terrible. They are 17-6 in conference and if they don't get back to about 9-7 in conference which will be virtually impossible or go to the conference finals, they aren't getting in.
In the ACC, several more bubble teams are hurting the last two nights. Maryland's impressive run thus far in the conference ended with a pretty convincing loss last night at Duke. They are still 6-4 in conference and 16-9 out of conference, but have a terrible loss to American. NCST missed their chance to pick up a solid road win over BC tonight; this leaves the Wolfpack under .500 in conference including a complete embarrassment against North Carolina.
In the Big 12, Baylor has really started to fall off. After starting conference play 4-0, they've lost four of five including a bad road loss against Oklahoma State. This team has not been the same since winning in quintuple overtime at Texas A&M. What the Bears have going for them is, they have a lot of quality wins. Also in the Big 12, Oklahoma is largely considered in by a lot of "bracketologists," but they are 4-5 in conference and have lost three of their last four.
Davidson is another interesting case. They are rolling through the Southern Conference. Should they lose a game in their conference tournament after finishing their regular season slate in conference undefeated, I don't think they should be in. I commend them for going out and scheduling, UCLA, UNC, Duke, NCST, and Charlotte. People argue they should be awarded for this, and I agree with that to a point. The problem? They didn't win a single one of those games. They also went on the road to an above average MAC team in Western Michigan and lost. The NCAA Tournament at large builds are for the best teams not to win their conference tournament. How can this team be considered one of those teams when they lost every single test they had out of conference? They don't have a single quality win and don't deserve to be in the tournament should they lose their conference tournament.
In the Big East, there's really only two teams legitimately on the bubble, West Virginia and Syracuse. WVU has done enough to get in the tournament. I would be shocked if the Big East doesn't get at least seven bids. Their ability to get an eighth will come down to whether SU can win some big games down the stretch or if Seton Hall could go on an amazing run to get them back into contention.
Finally in the PAC-10, Oregon, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, and USC are all on the bubble. They are all either 6-5, 5-5, or 4-5 in the conference right now. Any team that finishes 10-8 or better in that league is in. Any team that's 9-9 won't be in unless it's Arizona because of their great strength of schedule, any team that's 8-10 isn't getting in. That conference probably gets six teams in, UCLA, Stanford, and Wazzau are almost locks at this point. Out of those five teams above on the bubble, two should get to 10-8, Arizona will probably reach 9-9 because of a tough remaining schedule, but that should get them in as long as they win a game in the PAC-10 tournament.
Update, as I wrote those, South Alabama lost to Middle Tennessee State. Before this game, South Alabama was 20-4 and had just one loss in the Sun Belt Conference. They were another team that was considered a strong bubble team if they won out and then lost their conference tournament. This second loss in the Sun Belt is very damaging to their over profile.
Also, another Atlantic-10 team on the bubble fell tonight in another game comparable to Syracuse-South Florida. Fordham (who Syracuse handled early) beat UMASS in Amherst. This drops UMASS to 15-9. In all likelyhood, UMASS will finished with 11 or 12 losses. I can't see that A-10 team getting in over a 20-13, 21-13, or 22-12 Syracuse team, SU's three most likely records that would keep them in at large contention. UMASS would fall to 4-6 in the conference also. UMASS has a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way and can only afford to lose one more game in conference.
Sixers = playoffs?
Am I getting ahead of myself? Yeah, probably. In fact definitely. But, I can't help but be excited about this nifty 5 game winning streak going into the All-Star break. And if the season ended today, we'd be the 8th seed in the East. That's pretty cool, considering what most experts predicted of us this year.
With the Flyers in struggle mode, it's nice to see the Sixers streaking toward a possible playoff push. And now since it looks like the Nets are shipping Kidd off (I don't know the details of the whole Devean George deal), they probably aren't going to get better. 3rd in the division and 8th in the conference ain't too far-fetched when you've got a bunch of equally-mediocre teams around you.
Here's to hoping we keep Andre Miller through this season and make a serious run at getting into the postseason and then losing to Boston or Detroit in the first round! You know, I hope we get in and play the Celtics in round one. If the Warriors can top Dallas, I see no reason why we can't do the same to Boston, especially given the heated rivalry where anything can happen. Good luck to the Sixers in the second half. Let's do it for Mo Cheeks.
-ajd
The Women Win Again
After starting out worst than the men did, Coach Quentin Hillsman's women's team was able to rebound literally and figuratively against Seton Hall.
The Ladies went almost eight minutes without scoring and fell behind 15-2, but like the Orange did against Marquette, they went on two big runs 9-0 and 11-0 to eventually take a 26-22 lead.
The second half the Orange exploded for 51 points on 66.7% shooting. For the game the Orange finished at a VERY impressive 55.1%. The 'Cuse also drilled their three-pointers and free throws, hitting 7 of 12 threes and 20 of 22 free throws during the game.
That's quite a turn around from the previous couple games when SU struggled to shoot even half those percentages.
The Orange used their rebounding abilities to their advantage collecting eight more rebounds than the Pirates.
Some more positives:
Erica Morrow was awesome again. She dropped 23 on the Pirates, giving her 47 points in the last two games. Maybe she should keep the pink hair for the rest of the year she's been sporting to raise awareness for breast cancer.
Fantasia Goodwin is back on track with a solid 10-12 shooting performance for 20 points.
Some negatives:
Chandrea Jones is struggling as teams focus on her. This has allowed Erica Morrow to go bonkers, but Jones needs to find better looks at the basket. She can't be shooting 5-13 against better teams and expect to win.
Turnovers once again was an issue. Six players had at least two turnovers and the Orange had 19 for the game. SU almost gave the game away to Marquette with more than two dozen turnovers and struggled again last night against SHU. Turnovers lead to easy points, something they can't afford to give to the top tier of teams in the Big East.
Overall:
The Orange are now 19-4 and 7-3 in the conference. They have an RPI of 19th. If the Orange stay on track they should be heading towards a five or maybe even a four seed in the NCAA tournament. Who would have thought on Valentine's Day the women's team would be projected as a four seed while the men are struggling to get into the tournament.
SU faces off against Notre Dame Saturday night in the Dome. The Fighting Irish enter the game with a solid 7-3 record in the Big East and 19-5 overall. The winner moves into fourth place in the Big East.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Looks like Nitology Edition II is Coming Syracuse's Way
SU just did not come prepared to play tonight in South Florida. I said they would get off to a slow start, but this was just ridiculous and unacceptable.
Despite the furious comeback late in the game by the Orange, the Bulls win it 89-78. The Orange showed heart late in the game, but the terrible turnovers and overall execution cost Syracuse too much.
Syracuse had all the size in this game, but didn't take advantage of it. Paul Harris should have been all over the Bulls. He tore apart an undersized Villanova lineup, but also played well against a huge lineup against UCONN. He should have been able to completely take over this game, but didn't.
Jim Boeheim is a great coach, a Hall of Fame coach, but USF's coach Stan Heath took him to school today. Boeheim had a week to prepare for this game, but had nothing for South Florida. The Bulls attacked the zone perfectly and then really picked apart the man to man Boeheim went to.
First half free throw shooting also helped bury this team. They shot 6 of 13 from the line in the first half which helped extend the deficit. As the 'Cuse began to fall further behind with the missed free throws and turnovers, the Orange began resorting to bad looks at the basket as soon as they got down court.
When you're down 20 with 14 minutes left, you have a size advantage, and your opponent's big men are in serious foul trouble, take the ball to the hoop every single possession. Just go to the hoop and go up strong. You should score almost half the time plus the fouls you'll pick up. The Orange could have really cut down this lead if they had done that.
Defensively, I'm not too entirely sure what to think. Overall, you have to say it was a poor effort between the constant easy opportunities off the failed press and turnovers. SU also often forced South Florida to take a long time to get off a shot, but many times late in the shot clock the Orange defense just broke down.
The press was absolutely killing Syracuse the entire second half. Yes, they forced some turnvers, but USF got so many easy baskets and drew so many fouls because they broke the press without a problem. Several times, Syracuse doubled once in the half court, but USF got a couple of wide open looks which they drilled.
Kudos to Kentrell Gransberry though. He played tough all game in foul trouble. He completely took over the game in the second half. He got USF off to a solid start with a couple early baskets and then kept South Florida rolling in the second half.
Same to Jesus Verdajo. The guy played the game of his life. For USF to win this game, they needed someone other than Dominique Jones and Kentrell Gransberry to step up, and Verdajo was that guy. When Syracuse was able to shut the two of them down, Verdajo was able to get a very good look.
Thanks Kristof! for showing up to play today. Orange nation appreciates your one rebound, three personal foul performance today during the first 35 minutse of the game. I know he had a couple big players late in the game, but his performance or lack there of during the bulk of this game really helped put SU in a massive hole. When you're playing seven players, you can't have one just absolutely not show up like this.
What this does in terms of Syracuse's NCAA tournament status:
SU didn't have a terrible loss yet this year until tonight. Standing at 16-9 with a 6-6 conference record with a remaining schedule from hell, things don't look good at all. I thought they could get in the tournament with a 9-9 conference record if they were the right nine wins. SU is now setting up to be able to get a "solid" nine wins if they can get there. To get to nine wins they would need to beat Seton Hall on the road and then pull out two games against five of the six best Big East teams. If they can get those two wins plus a win at Seton Hall they will still be alright heading into selection Sunday if they win a game in the Big East Tournament. With all that said, obviously Syracuse needed this win badly and it will hurt them dearly. This was one of those games that in no way was going to help your resume, but only hurt it.
On a side night, awesome crowd again for the Orange. There were several very noticable "Let's Go Orange" chants in the second half.
For Syracuse, they need to just do the old cliche of put it behind them and go after Georgetown. I have a feeling the Georgetown game will either be another butt kicking like tonight or Syracuse will come out and put a hurt on the Hoyas in front of the massive Dome crowd. The crowd for that game should be over 30,000. The best tickets you can buy online through SUAthletics are in section 320 and 336 near the top of those sections. Those are the second longview sections on each end of the court. If you are going to that game and don't have tickets get them ASAP or you will be sitting so far away you might as well just watch the game on the jumbo screens. For those of you going to the game, get there early. It takes awhile to get 30,000+ people onto the campus and into the Dome.
On the bright side, the women's team beat Seton Hall 81-72. More on the game after I write a paper for CFS 362: Youths, Schooling, and the Pop culture (Yes that class actually exists and yes it is a part of the education program at Syracuse).
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Syracuse Bracketology Edition VI
Syracuse is barely hanging on in the Bracket Matrix. Although they are in 28 of the 37 brackets that make up the matrix, the Orange is just the third to last team to get an at large bid. They are beating out other contenders like Oregon, Arizona State, George Mason, and North Carolina State who in my mind are ways behind Syracuse in overall resume.
- NCST stands 36th in the RPI right behind Syracuse. They are 15-8 and 4-5 in the ACC, but have a strength of schedule over 20 spots behind Syracuse. Their best win is home against free falling Miami. They have one very questionable loss at RPI 237 East Carolina.
- George Mason is 17-7 and 9-4 in the CAA. They are 59th in RPI which is a good 15 spots too low to get a bid this year. They have three solid wins, home against Dayton who's also free falling, Kansas State, and CAA conference leader VCU. They also have several questionable losses worse than NCST's. They lost at HOME to East Carolina and on the road to RPI 288 Georgia State. Any team that loses to a team 275 or worse in the RPI and is on the bubble should be passed up every single time.
- Arizona State is 72nd in the RPI, 15-7 and 5-5 in the PAC-10. They have four quality wins, two over Arizona, one at California, and against Xavier. They have two terrible losses to a bad team in Illinois and to Washington, a team Syracuse beat. ASU was also beat handily by Nebraska, Washington State, USC and UCLA blew ASU out.
- Oregon is RPI number 47, 14-9, and 5-6 in the conference. The Ducks have solid wins over Arizona, Cal, Stanford, and K-State, but lost on the road to St. Mary's, Oakland, Nebraska, and got the living daylights blown out of them at Stanford.
Syracuse has shown an ability to win on the road recently, something most of the bubbles teams above and below them have not. This suggest Syracuse should be able to win at least two of their four remaining road games (Notre Dame, Louisville, South Florida, and Seton Hall). Since the Orange have Georgetown, Pitt, and Marquette at home, they should be able to win one if not two of those games.
- The Hoops Report puts Syracuse in as an 11 seed facing off with Washington State in the first round. That would be a tough game to win since WSU is a real tough it out, grind it out kind of team, something Syracuse might have problems with because of their depth problems. The second round opponent in would likely be Michigan State. MSU is a team I personally would like to play because when Drew Neitzel struggles, the rest of the team tends to not show up. Case and point tonight. Purdue has kept Neitzel out of the game and MSU has put up 52 points heading into the final minute.
- Bracketology3 has Syracuse in as a part of their last four in along with St. Joe's, Oklahoma (another under .500 in conference), and Arizona State.
- Bracketology 101 has Syracuse in their last four out and writes this about Syracuse:
Syracuse failed in its attempt to pick up a big win against UConn this week. They have another shot at one this weekend with Georgetown coming in. After that their remaining schedule is brutal (@Louisville, @ND, Pitt, @Seton Hall, Marquette) so we don't like their chances getting to at least 10-8 in conference play, which is what it is going to take to get an at-large out of the Big East.
- Breaking Down the Bracket gets featured for the old school logo of Syracuse they have in must see TV. They write about the Orange's upcoming game against Georgetown:
While I have Syracuse in the tourney (barely) this would be a huge opportunity to solidfy a postseason berth with a win against a Georgetown squad that is just getting by in recent wins.
Overall, as long Syracuse finishes 9-9 in the Big East, with a top 40 RPI, win one game in the Big East tournament, and don't get blown out in any other their remaining games, they should get in. The other teams they are competing with for the last few at large spots are almost all under .500 in their conference with just as tough remaining schedules as Syracuse.
South Florida Preview
The last time Syracuse and South Florida met, they played a very up tempo game. Syracuse was able to turn many transition opportunities into easy scores. They recorded a 114.6 offensive rating, their third best performance in Big East play. South Florida had one of their best games in the Big East offensively also against a Syracuse team that was just beginning to come into their own defensively. The 99 rating South Florida put up was their fourth best output in conference play.
South Florida plays slower than average at a pace off 66 possessions a game which is around what Syracuse has been playing at in Big East play. The Bulls don't excel at any one part of the game, and overall they generally bad at almost every aspect of the game. South Florida doesn't rebound very well, especially defensively. On the offensive glass they will get their fair share of boards thanks to center Kentrell Gransberry.
Gransberry leads a very undersized lineup. KG is just 6'9'' and is typically undersized against most Big East centers, but he is still in the top five in the league in rebounding. Of the six players that receive the most playing time for coach Stan Heath, only two of them are taller than 6'4''. If Syracuse sticks with their big lineup of Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris, Kristof!, Donte' Greene, and Arinze Onuaku, four players from Syracuse will be taller than the Bulls' third tallest player.
Syracuse needs to rebound out of the zone well. If they can do this and hit the offensive boards hard, they should really be able to control the game. Syracuse is 18th in the county in offensive rebounding, while South Florida is 200th in defensive rebounding. The Orange will limit South Florida possessions while gaining more looks at the basket for themselves.
South Florida's size is also evident in blocks. They have one out of every eight two-point shots blocked, an extremely high rate. Syracuse is very solid at blocking shots, so seven or more blocks is definitely possible in this game for the Orange. Blocks lead to extra transition opportunities which means easier points for the Orange. We saw this against UCONN, the many Hasheem Thabeet blocks led to numerous easy baskets for the Huskies. SU hasn't been able to get out into transition as much lately, minus the Villanova game which is one of various reasons why the Orange have struggled to put up points recently.
South Florida features several young guards. Dominique Jones is one of the best freshman guards in the country you've never heard of. If he was on a better team in the Big East, he would be getting serious contention for Big East Rookie of the Year. Sophomore Chris Howard has also been solid for the Bulls in the back court. South Florida's guards are definitely the strength of this team.
South Florida will chuck up a lot of threes with little success. They shoot about 16 a game and hit just 5.5. Not a single USF Bull shoots better than 40% from three as they have seven players who shoot between 30 and 40%. Six of those players will take at least one three-pointer a game.
USF has a solid assist to turnover ratio, partly due to their strong guard play. They average 15 assists to 13.5 turnovers which is a very low amount for a team that's won only one Big East game.
Overall, the Orange should be able to take this game. South Florida hasn't had a pulse in Big East play as they've lost ten in a row since winning their opening at home against Rutgers. USF will probably play them tough for awhile, but probably fade down the stretch as they did last year in the Sun Dome.
CuseAdelphia prediction: Syracuse 78, South Florida 66.
Feel free to post your predictions.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Gosh darn it
I didn't want to come here today, to talk about a 3-game losing streak. Rather, I wanted to talk about how the Flyers had tied the Penguins for the Atlantic lead after a momentary lapse of quality games. Unfortunately, I'm not posting about that.
A 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh today means Philly is back in 3rd place alone in the division, which obviously isn't terrible because we're only 4 points back, but IS terrible because we've lost 3 in a row and we got beat by two division opponents. As I've said before, I'm OK with a little losing streak against non-division teams. But when you go on a skid against the rest of the Atlantic, it's bad and it annoys me. Especially when you get shut out AGAIN by the Rangers BACKUP and lose to a team you're competing with for the division title.
Losing to Washington at home didn't hurt too bad because that team is on a roll and looks like they may just win the lukewarm Southeast Division. But the Rangers game was very disheartening. I watched the game here in Syracuse, and once again our offense was very uninspiring against the Rangers D and Mr. Valiquette. Also, as "big momma" pointed out yesterday, our penalty kill seems to take days off when we play against a mediocre power play team. The Devils were godlike and the Rangers were also extremely effective against us. For as great as our power play is, the other end of the special teams likes to let us down at the worst times.
Today's performance against the Penguins wasn't bad, but a lame second period killed us in the end. Marty Biron didn't have his best performance, but I can't really make a judgment because I didn't see the game and I'm just interpreting what I'm reading from the AP report. But in a rhetorical sense, we can't keep losing these games to divisional opponents. Losing streaks are bound to happen over an 82-game season, but it really ticks me off to lose 5 of our last 6 against Atlantic teams. That kind of thing can't happen at this point of the season if you want to be either a division champion or taken seriously come playoff time.
- R.J. Umberger, 2 goals, very nice.
- 1/2 PK, eh.
- Daniel Briere is in a bit of a scoring funk.
- 30-20-5, 65 points, 3rd in Atlantic, 4 back of Pittsburgh, 1 back of New Jersey.
Interestingly, our fall to 6th in the conference means we would match up with the Capitals in the first round if the season were to end today. I've said all along if we don't win the division, our best bet is to finish 6th so we can go up against the Southeast champion, who probably won't be a great team. But we'll see.
Peter Forsberg is close to making a decision on his comeback. Any Flyers fan should be crossing their fingers and hoping he returns to the orange and black. If our last few games are any indication, especially the Rangers game, I don't think anybody would argue we could use the extra spark.
-ajd
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The Flyers are depressing me...
...which is why I haven't got around to posting on their last two defeats. But don't worry, I'll have stuff to say after tomorrow's clash with the Crosby-less Penguins. Let's just hope they win, otherwise it'll take me awhile to get around to writing about their recent failures.
-ajd
Friday, February 8, 2008
The Syracuse Women host Marquette Sunday
The Ladies will try to rebound from their loss at Georegtown last Saturday against Marquette in the Dome Sunday at 2 PM.
The Lady Orange are 17-4 and 5-3 in the conference while Marquette is 13-9 and 5-4 in conference.
The Golden Eagles have a few quality wins, but also have a couple puzzling losses. They lost to a terrible Oregon and an even worse Northwestern team. NU has just four wins this year, one of them being against Marquette. On the flip side, they beat SU's last opponent Georgetown at home, and also beat DePaul at home. They've also shown an ability to win on the road against a tough opponent when they beat UW-Green Bay who's 17-4 out of the Horizon League. Marquette's RPI is 75. For a complete look at their schedule, check out realtimerpi.com.
Marquette is an extremely deep team as they consistently go ten deep. Krystal Ellis leads the team in scoring at 19.1 per and is the only Golden Eagle averaging double digit points. Ellis is the team's only three point threat. She's the only player on the team to average one three-pointer per game. As a team, Marquette only shoots 26.6% from behind the arc. Look for the SU zone to try to force MU into as many three point attempts as possible.
The Golden Eagles best post player is Svetlana Kovalenko. Yes, she is Russian, and she's 6'3'', but she attended high school in Michigan. Svetlana averages 8.4 ppg and 7.9 rpg.
As a whole Marquette is a terrible shooting team, but does a lot of the intangibles well. Case and point, they shoot just 40% from the field, 27% from three, and 65% from the line. They do however out rebound their opponents by three a game and record more than 12 steals a game. As a whole, they force 22 turnovers a game.
Keys for the Orange:
- Chandra Jones can't get into foul trouble. She did against Georgetown and the Orange lost.
- Active 2-3 zone. Don't let Marquette penetrate. Force MU into three pointers, my high school church league team shoots better than them for three.
- Don't the ball over. If the Golden Eagles have any chance in this game they are going to have force upwards of 22 turnovers, their season average, to compete with the Orange.
CuseAdelphia prediction: Syracuse 76, Marquette 68. Marquette has played a lot of close Big East games and this should be another. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact the Dome crowd which has been up over 3,000 people the last two games will have on the Golden Eagles.
Syracuse's Relay For Life
Every year Syracuse University hosts a Relay for Life event during the spring. If you don't know what Relay for Life is you can check out their website here, but cliff notes version is it's a charity event to help the American Cancer Society.
If you want to help us attain our goal you can donate in the name of Otto's Army here.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
CuseAdelphia Odds and Ends
I've been terribly busy the last few days, hence no posts in awhile. Let's start with a few links.
A Daily Orange columnist free lances for Sports Illustrated about the feel good story of a walk-on the Syracuse basketball team.
The 700 Level got to talk with 76ers GM Ed Stefanski.
It's not the Quest-o-Meter, but it's still an awesome Bubble Meter.
A.J. wrote last week about bringing Chad Johnson to Philadelphia, The ADD Show writes how to bring him here.
Tennis's version of A-Rod is an Orange?
David Wright might be the smartest guy ever.
Paul Harris was so good against UCONN I wish there were five of him on the court.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Flyers (James) Thrash Atlanta
Yes, I didn't post after the Anaheim win, which was a great game. But the Flyers were able to keep it going with a solid 3-2 win over Atlanta tonight. It was also a return to form by Antero Nittymaki, who is now 8-0 against the Thrashers all time. Bold decision by John Stevens to start him after Marty Biron had won his last five decisions. Thankfully it paid off.
Mike Knuble kept his hot streak going with a power play goal right off the bat. The Flyguys had two power play goals tonight, the other coming from Mike Richards. I think it's safe to say now that we have the best power play in the league (if not then definitely top 3). The defense was also solid, allowing only 25 shots from the Thrashers.
- 17-10 on the road now this season
- 13-2-1 all time at Atlanta
- Great goal by Steve Downie to win the game in the 3rd. Awesome slap shot
- 30-17-5, 65 points, 1st in the Atlantic, 2 points up on both New Jersey and Pittsburgh
How about this? Just three points back of Ottawa now for the top spot in the conference. The Senators have been struggling (the Flyers gave them a nice pounding) and with the Flyers playing the way they are, 1st in the East is not out of the question by any means. Of course, 3rd place in the division is not out of the question either. I hope Stevens is emphasizing the importance of every game at this point to the team. February will be a critical month to set up for the final push. Capitals at home tomorrow, then a couple division games against the Rangers at home and the Penguins on the road. We need a good game tomorrow against Washington, because the next two will not be easy.
-ajd
Monday, February 4, 2008
Jib-Jab Video of the Game
The Sports Hump discovered something great at Jib-Jab with his video that can be seen here. After every Syracuse basketball game I'm going to post a video in my recap from Jib-Jab. The player riding the chair towards the end of the game gets my player of the game.
So for my Villanova Jib-Jab video, I present to you Kristof! as my player of the game for getting in the action on the offensive side of the ball, hitting a three pointer, and being a beast on the defensive end.
Flyers Bracketology Edition II
Every two weeks I'll take a look at how the Flyers stand in the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers stand at 29-17-5, good for 63 points and a one point division lead over the Penguins, two over the Devils, and three over the Rangers. This has shaped up to be one of the most competitive divisions in recent memory.
The Flyers are third in the conference in points behind Ottawa and Montreal, but would receive the second seed as a division winner. They would face the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs who they are just 1-2-1 against this year.
The Flyers are 5-2 since the first edition of Flyers Bracketology on January 18th. They have wins over the Islanders, Penguins, Senators, Kings, and Ducks with losses to the Devils and Rangers.
I'm going to breakdown how they should finish in eight categories: how they will fare at home against each Eastern division, the road against each Eastern division, and home and road against the Western conference. Remember this whole bracketology is based on projections according to how the Flyers have performed thus far.
Home against Eastern Division: The Flyers have six remaining home games against Atlantic Division teams. Against their division, the Flyers are 8-7-1 this year. Following this trend the Flyers should go about 3-2-1. They should get seven points out of six games.
Home against the Northeast Division: They have four remaining game against Northeast Division teams. Against that division, the Flyers are 5-4-2. Following this trend, the Flyers should go 2-1-1 as they've struggled at homes at times. They should get five points out of four games.
Home against the Southeast Division: They have five remaining games against Southeast Division teams. Against that division, the Flyers are a very strong 10-2-2. Look for about a 3-1-1 record in those five games resulting in seven points.
Home against the Western Conference: The Flyers have just one game at home against Western teams after beating up one the Kings and Ducks. San Jose is the Flyer's remaining opponent at home. The Sharks are a good team, but I'll chalk this one up as a win for the Flyers. That means two points in one game.
Road against Atlantic Division: They Flyers travel to Atlantic Division foes nine times the rest of the year. The Flyers are just 3-4 on the road against the Atlantic Division this year. A 4-4-1 record is probably the best bet. They would record nine points in nine games.
Road against the Northeast Division: They Flyers are on the road five times against these teams. Their record suggests a 3-1-1 finish against them for seven points in five games.
Road against the Southeast Division: The Flyers only go south one more time this year. Look for that game to be a win. That means two points in one game.
Road against the West: The Flyers are done going west for the year.
In the Flyers remaining 31 games, they should approximately tally a 17-9-5 record which will score them 39 points. The Flyers would then finish with 102 points on the year.
The Rangers, Devils, and Penguins are all playing approximately at that pace. The four teams should finish within about five points of each other at the end of the year. 102 points should be enough to win this division, but the other three teams are all capable of getting hot the rest of the way and finishing with more than 102 points.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Syracuse Bracketology Edition V
No Nitology in this title because Syracuse is moving on up in the Bracket Matrix. The Orange have now snuck into 17 of 31 brackets in the Matrix and in 12 of the last 15 updated. The 'Cuse would be a 10 seed in the tournament.
My favorite, and most wonderful bracket *note the sarcasm* is once again Basketball Predictions. He's got Syracuse in as a nine, but has some dandies in this bracket. Remember, he projects where teams are going to finish the season, not if it ended today, and UCONN apparently will finish the year as a three seed. He also has Louisville all the way down as an 11 seed.
Beating the Experts is apparently a blog written by a West Genesee High School student in Syracuse. He has Syracuse in as an eight seed if the season ended today, but had this to say about the Orange last week:
Syracuse is a true 12 seed, but could only be inserted as a 11 seed (8 Big East teams). They got the nod over a falling Villanova squad, even though Villanova holds the head-to-head matchup. Villanova is slumping at the moment and have a tough schedule ahead (including a huge "bubble" game Saturday vs. Syracuse). Syracuse is one of the last teams in even though there rotation has now shrunk to 6 players! Freshman guard Scoop Jardine has been suspended indefinitely by the University, which means Syracuse is now absent another player. It should be interesting to see if the Orange can stay afloat over the next couple weeks.
Crashing the Dance updates daily because it uses a formula to determine a team's seed. Syracuse is the ninth seed and would have a rematch with Clemson in the first round.
RPI Forecast also uses a complex formula to determine who's in and who's out. Syracuse is in as an 11 seed. Check out the detailed forecasts for where this team should finish. RPI Forecast projects a 20-11 record for the Orange before the Big East Tournament.
Other notes about the current bracket matrix: Villanova is one of the last four out, but that's only because they appear in a lot of brackets that haven't been updated at some point this weekend. 'Nova is only in two of the last 16 brackets updated.
Seton Hall is also one of the last four teams in. They only appear in 11 brackets overall and appear in five of the last 12 updated.
Big East Weekend Update
All 16 teams played Saturday and most of the eight games went according to plan.
(16-7, 6-4) Syracuse 87, (13-7, 3-6) Villanova 73. Syracuse went to Villanova and really took it the Wildcats after a slow start.
(18-2, 8-1) 6 Georgetown 73, (15-7, 5-4) Seton Hall 61. Georgetown rolls again at home against a surprisingly good SHU squad. Georgetown stands first in the conference and Seton Hall falls to a tie for 7th.
(16-4, 6-3) 16 Marquette 75, (10-12, 5-5) Cincinnati 60. The Golden Eagles get a road win in a game a lot of people thought they could lose with how well the Bearcats have played at home in the Big East.
(16-5, 6-3) UCONN 60, (17-5, 5-4) 21 Pitt 53. UCONN continues to upset teams, this one at home. UCONN has won five straight games and enters the Dome Wednesday for an old rivalry game where anything can happen.
(16-6, 6-3) Louisville 87, (10-13, 2-8) Rutgers 50. RU is back to blowing badly. 'Nuff said on this one.
(16-4, 6-2) Notre Dame 89, (9-12, 4-5) DePaul 80. DePaul is starting to head into free fall mode after starting out very strong in the Big East. On the flip side, Notre Dame is coming into their own and is in second place in the Big East with a 6-2 conference record.
(8-12, 2-7) St. John's 72, (10-12, 1-8) South Florida 58. I repeat: I was dead wrong about South Florida. I thought they could win a few games and upset some good teams. I was terribly wrong there so far. Let's hope the Orange don't let their guards down in South Florida this weekend.
(16-6, 5-4) West Virginia 77, (12-9, 3-6) Providence 65. PC is also in free fall mode. The Friars are now just 3-6 in the conference and could be looking on the outside in for the Big East tournament. Their NCAA bubble is bursting as fast as Villanova's. For West Virginia, this is a solid win that help their resume come selection Sunday.
Chad Johnson anyone?
I just saw an article on ESPN.com that a "source" has said Chad Johnson may sit out the entire 2008 season with the Cincinnati Bengals if he is not traded. I don't know how much merit there is to a "story" (rumor) like that, but let's pretend for a moment it's the truth and that Johnson will be traded in the off-season.
What would stop the Eagles from shipping a few picks to Cincinnati for this guy? Yes, I know, we don't want another T.O., we don't want more clubhouse dissension, we tried it once and it didn't work out. But if I'm not mistaken, when we brought Owens in, we immediately went to the Super Bowl. Probably not a coincidence.
A guy like Johnson would give the offense a completely new dimension, but that's obvious. What people may not believe is that McNabb will return to his franchise quarterback form if he gets a legitamate #1 WR. But if you couple Johnson with Kevin Curtis (a very solid #2), Reggie Brown, Brian Westbrook, and an O-line that can still get it done, I don't think it's crazy to say that's one of the best offenses in the NFL, if not THE best. How many other teams will be able to say they have a top 5 RB, top 10 QB (if he has the weapons he is top 10) and a top 5 WR? I would probably be able to count them on one hand.
McNabb had the best regular season of his career when T.O. first came here. His QB rating was over 100, his completion % was his highest ever, and he became the first QB in NFL history to throw more than 30 TDs while throwing fewer 10 INTs. I truly believe Chad Johnson, at his best, is very close to Owens's level. Bringing him in would bring the offense back to its glory days of just a few years back.
McNabb is aging. He doesn't have much left in him. Westbrook is in his prime. It would be disgraceful for the Eagles organization to let his golden years go by without seeing anything come of it except individual accolades. If Johnson wants to be traded this badly, GO GET HIM! You think anybody didn't want Owens when the Eagles were pursuing him? NO! When you have the opportunity to grab one of the best receivers in the game and transform your offense from above-average to superior then you do it. That's what championship caliber teams do. That's what the Patriots have done. It's not a coincidence!
I can't be any clearer about this. Now, obviously, bringing him in doesn't make everything peachy-keen. The defense is still iffy. But, really, imagine the offense firepower we would have if we got him. There shouldn't be a fan out there who doesn't want Chad Johnson. And if there is, they clearly didn't watch our receivers in action this year. Curtis was very good, but imagine how much more effective he would be as a posession receiver in the #2 spot? Seems like gold to me.
Give McNabb the weapons. Get Chad Johnson. The window of opportunity while D5 is here is closing. I guarantee you the organization will not regret it if they pull this off. I mean, really, it won't be any worse than Terrell Owens. Let's get Chad Johnson!
-ajd
Saturday, February 2, 2008
CuseAdelphia Road Trip
CSTV interview my traveling companion, Gumby. I'm in the hunting gear, he's next to me. If the video doesn't work, you can watch it here.
I went to the Villanova game and just got back to the 'Cuse about an hour ago and as you know from A.J.'s post below, Syracuse played a great game to win this one 87-73.
I don't think the score really does justice for this game. Villanova was absolutely terrible after the first eight minutes or so. They came out and hit 10 of their first 11 shots and then after that went 16-47. Syracuse didn't show up on defense for those first eight minutes. The team made some quick adjustments and from there on out, 'Nova didn't look or play like a Big East team.
'Nova is vastly undersized which is 100% their biggest problem. Paul Harris is a solid player, but there is no reason he should be scoring 28 points. He had a field day against a front court that was only a little bigger than my high school front court.
Jay Wright needs to recruit big men because if he can't get the guards that have the talent of a Allen Ray, Randy Foye, and Mike Nardi, they won't win more than about seven or eight games in the Big East.
Syracuse dominated this game on the boards and down low all game. I am loving this front line of Kristof! Arinze Onuaku, and Donte' Greene. The 2-3 zone is best when you have long arms and solid rebounders.
Kristof! is that glue guy that puts everything together and showed that today. The Badass Belgian Waffle Baller put up 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block, and three steals.
The defense in this game for Syracuse was absolutely phenomenal after the first eight minutes. I understand you need to play a full forty minutes of defense, but the effort this team gave after being down 24-13 with 11:11 to play is what defines teams. This team has shown they will not give up, they will not back down. People called them a bunch of "AAU" ballers earlier this year, but you don't hear that anymore. This team plays like a team on both offense and defense.
The Orange also stayed out of foul trouble for the most part. A.O. picked up his fourth foul with a lot of time left in the game, but Rick Jackson proved to be a solid replacement. At that point, it didn't matter who was playing center for the Orange as long as he was big. As said above, the Wildcats just didn't have the size to match the 'Cuse.
Scottie Reynolds is a joke on defense. People criticize Donte' Greene for being out of position and getting silly fouls, which I admit he does, but was better today, but man was Scottie Reynolds bad today. Reynolds picked up several just terrible fouls because he got out of position. It resulted in Reynolds spending extensive minutes on the bench when his team was struggling. Jonny Flynn took him to school with crossovers and just breaking the one man pressure in the back.
Villanova's press was extremely uneffective which is why they stopped pressing after about three minutes. They got one turnover on I think the first possession, but after that Syracuse got a several easy layups because of the size of Donte' Greene in the middle of the court.
A few bad things I saw with this game. First, the referees didn't let the boys play once again. 51 fouls is way too many. Villanova had 32 fouls and nine players with at least three fouls. I thought the game was called a little uneven, but Villanova was definitely more physical with hand checks and pushes and paid for it. But then maybe it was a payback for the first meeting between these two teams this year when it seemed all the calls were going against the Orange.
Syracuse needs to stop turning the ball over. 18 turnovers is about three too many for my liking in a game played at such a fast pace.
Lastly its time for me to go on a rant. It's time to call out Villanova basketball fans. I have never seen a fan base so out of a game than I saw tonight. It seemed like Villanova fans didn't care and didn't want to be at that game. The fans got on their feet two, maybe three times all game. The student section was quiet. 'Nova Nation couldn't have had less energy. They jumped up and down crazily during....the dance cam during ever break. They had more energy by far during the breaks than the game.
The arena itself was empty. The attendance apparently was 19,866, which is a sellout, but that's how many tickets were sold. If I had to take a guess there was maybe 13,000 people there. Maybe 13,000. There were almost complete rows of empty seats in the bottom deck. The student section was about two-thirds full. If it wasn't for the fact the upperdeck was probably half Syracuse half Villanova, the attendance would have been about 10,000.
Someone commented on LetsGoNova the other day complaining about teams bring caravans of fans into their stadiums and show their fans up. That was 100% the case today. Villanova was showed up by Syracuse fans. The Orange faithful came in droves and came to the Wachovia Center and made it the LoudHouse.
At the end of the game, there was maybe 4,000 people left and the majority were wearing Orange. The ESPN recap even mentions the Orange faithful:
The Wildcats also lost their second game in two Saturdays at the Wachovia Center, their off-campus where they were nearly invincible the last three years. This time, they were left to watch about 2,000 Orange fans wave, taunt and cheer in the waning moments.
As a CuseADELPHIA blog, with a the Adelphia standing for Philadelphia for anyone who hasn't realized that, I know Philadelphia fans are better than what they showed today. I know they are rowdy and love to make noise, so why doesn't that show in Villanova games?
Also, the Villanova student section flipped off my section of Syracuse fans near the end of the game. I mean like almost the entire student section turned around and gave us the bird. From what I've been told that was accidentally picked up on the ESPN broadcast. I'll have to watch that to see if ESPN picked up on it, or if someone could leave a message to confirm whether or not ESPN showed it.
One last note on Villanova basketball. Villanova is a basketball school. They are not a Division I-A football school which means the main sport at 'Nova is basketball. To see how far 'Nova has fallen in a few years is amazing. There's discussion now this team might not make the Big East tournament if teams like DePaul and Cincinnati don't drop off and play terrible like they were expected to.
Overall, Syracuse played a great game, Villanova did not. The Orange showed heart and determination, Villanova did not. The Cuse's fans showed up and cheered, Villanova's did not.
Cuse Returns the Favor
Last season the Orange beat the Wildcats in the Carrier Dome and lost on the road at the Wachovia Center. This year, it was the mirror image. After suffering an 81-71 defeat at the hands of the Cats on January 19, SU took today’s game 87-73. And what a game it was!
Your typical Big East lead-changing game. I stopped watching the game to get takeout in the dining hall and SU was down eleven. When I came back to my room, the Cuse lead by six. In the second half, Nova cut it to one and then the Orange went on an 8-0 run. The game was somewhat close until Boeheim's boys took complete control near the end.
This game was crucial for the Orange. Already on the outside in terms of getting an NCAA bid, SU needs every conference win it can get. Even though Nova has struggled recently, the Cats are still a good team. And this win was a big one. Especially in the freakishly close Big East, where a team can be in third place one day and eighth the next. Syracuse improves to 6-4 in conference, while Nova falls to 3-6.
Scottie Reynolds, who poured in 25 points for Nova last time the teams met, was held scoreless in the first half.
Scoop Jardine returned to the lineup for the Orange after serving an "indefinite" suspension that turned out to last just two games. Sometimes when a player breaks the rules and is punished indefinitely, he comes back fairly quickly due to his team's serious lack of depth. Case in point. Scoop and teammate Rick Jackson played their first game in Orange in their hometown of Philadelphia, just 2 miles down the road from Neumann-Goretti High School.
Paul Harris, who admitted to not giving much effort in the January 19 loss to Nova, took over this afternoon. Kristof was a presence. Onuaku was a force. Donte' and Jonny owned. If Syracuse is going to contest with teams in the Big East, the team needs this much balance every game.
Mini Box Score:
- Paul Harris scored a career high 28 points on 9-12 shooting. He went 12-16 from the charity stripe.
- Jonny Flynn: 24 points
(the original boxscore said 30 and 22 for Harris and Flynn; thanks to "anonymous" for noting the changes.)
- Donte' Greene: 17 points
- Kristof Ongenaet: 12 points (including a 3!)
- The Orange shot nearly 63% from the field.
Since these two teams played in Syracuse, the Orange has won three in a row and Nova’s dropped four. For the Wildcats, it's the longest streak since losing five straight in 03-04.
FUN FACTS:
When the NBA three is painted on the floor, players like Donte' Greene start to think that they have something to prove. They start firing from way far out.
Something that’s really been bothering me lately is the announcers’ pronunciations of names. It’s part of their job to know how to say a last name. There are plenty of sources to ask. Ongenaet is one name that has found its way into the mishaps book.
Is there a reason why the Nova head coach Jay Wright was in a team jumpsuit on the sideline instead of a suit?
The announcers LOVE to talk about the Ongenaet’s $550 taxi ride from NYC to Syracuse when they flew in from Belgium to see their son play. It’s a tidbit that seems to find its way into every Cuse broadcast.
Home Court Disadvantage: The Wildcats have dropped two straight at the Wachovia Center, which is to Nova what Madison Square Garden is to the Orange-- a second home.
The Sixers Confuse Me
Let’s face it—the Sixers are not a very good team. That’s no secret. And it’s not just their 18-29 record that shows that. It’s the team’s inconsistency. The past two games have shown an incredible wave of inconsistency.
Wednesday night Philly achieved its greatest margin of victory – 43 points – in its 12 seasons at the Core States/First Union/Wachovia Center. The Sixers beat the Bucks 112-69. Granted the Bucks are bad, plain and simple, and every team has nights when it struggles to score. But to win by 43 points feels good no matter what. The scoring distribution was incredible, with seven players in double figures but no one with more than 20.
Stat Line:
- Andre Iguodala: 18 points, 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks
- Andre Miller: 14 points, 7 assists
- Thaddeus Young: 14 points, 8 rebounds
- Sammy Dalembert: 12 points
- Rodney Carney: 12 points
- Reggie Evans: 13 points, 9 rebounds
- Willie Green: 10 points
POST – KORVER RECORD: 5-12
That brings me to the Sixers next game against the Magic—a 108-106 loss. I watched parts of the game on League Pass… the feed was terrible, so I only ended up seeing about half the game. But I watched most of the fourth quarter. Philly stuck with Orlando the whole game. It was close and for a minute there I thought Mo and Company would pull out the victory. That was partly because I couldn’t see the score properly on the tiny screen and thought the Sixers were up two when the game was actually tied.
Why was Lou Williams shooting the ball with 30 seconds left? He should know better.
Why the silly foul on Hedo Turkoglu with 2.4 seconds left? Frustrating way to lose.
Thaddeus Young is adjusting to his new starting role. I don’t really have anything else to say about the flow of that game. But the closeness of the contest made me believe for a couple hours that the Sixers were still a contender.
Stat Line:
- Andre Miller: 23 points, 11 rebounds, SIX turnovers
- Lou Williams: 20 points, 2 steals
- Thaddeus Young: 15 points
- Willie Green: 12 points
- Andre Iguodala: quiet, 11 points, six assists
- Sammy Dalembert: 10 points, 9 boards
- Reggie Evans: 9 points, 7 rebounds
It was eerily reminiscent of a similar night seven years ago. Friday February 2, 2001. The division-leading Sixers hosted the lowly Magic. The game went into double overtime, with Philly eventually prevailing. Friday February 1, 2008. The lowly Sixers host the division-leading Magic. The game should’ve gone into overtime.
NOTE TO ANNOUNCERS: LEARN HOW TO PRONOUNCE “IGUODALA.” IT’S EE-GOO-DOLLA, NOT IG-WA-DOLLA OR IG-WA-DALLA. It’s been driving me crazy for forever. Give yourselves some credibility and pronounce his name right PLEASE!!!
POST – KORVER RECORD: 5-13
Friday, February 1, 2008
Goose Egg
Losing 4-0 to the Rangers at home is never what you're looking for. But it happened, and we will move on from this bump in the road and recover. But what upsets me about this shutout is that it came not against Henrik Lundqvist, but backup Stephen Valiquette, who stopped the meager Flyers attack. But something tells me we aren't going to be shut out many more times like this for the rest of the season.
Antero Nittymaki, for the second game in a row, struggled. After giving up his 4th goal in just 22 minutes, he was pulled for Marty Biron. The last two times he has made starts he has not made it through the whole game. This is probably only a minor setback, but any questions regarding who is the #1 goalie right now should be put off. Hopefully Nitty will bounce back when he gets his next start.
It's not like the offense was much more impressive. John Stevens said afterward that Valiquette probably only had to make two hard saves all night. They just couldn't shoot the puck on net for most of the game. Let's just chalk this performance up to an isolated slip-up and expect the team to come out firing against the Ducks.
28-17-5, 61 points, 1st in Atlantic, just 1 point ahead of Pittsburgh and 2 points ahead of the Devils. The Rangers have crept within 5 points with the shutout.
The Flyers are still the 2 seed in the East through Thursday's games, but they'll be challenged on Saturday against Anaheim. Then comes Atlanta on the road and then Washington at home. Two out of the next three should be expected.
PETER FORSBERG. Just wanted to mention this...apparently, according to SI.com, a Swedish newspaper has reported that Foppa himself wants to return to the NHL, and the Flyers would be very interested in his services. I think if Paul Holmgren has the opportunity to sign him, go ahead, spend the last dollars that you have under the cap, and get him for the rest of the season. It's very possible. Of course, Holmgren will have to analyze how the team would be affected by Forsberg, but if he's healthy (and that's a HUGE if), he'd be one of the top 3 players on the team.
-ajd
Orlando Magic Scouting Report
The 76ers host the first place Orlando Magic tonight. The Magic have really cooled off since opening the season 16-4; they have gone 13-14 since then. This is first meeting between the two teams this year.
Orlando has a pretty simple offensive game plan. Give the ball to Dwight Howard and if he can't get a good look, kick it for a three. The Magic have three players averaging at least two three balls a game and six players taking at least two three pointers a game.
Hedo Turkoglu is having a fine season for the Magic. His eighth NBA season has definitely been his best. He's averaging 19.4 points per game, more than four points a game better than any previous season.
Dwight Howard has been an absolute monster and has quickly turned into one of the premier centers in the NBA. He's scoring 22 points a game, pulling down a ridiculous 15 rebounds, and blocking two and a half shots per game.
Sammy Dalembert will be over matched against Howard, but should put up a solid fight. Dalembert might be one of the few centers that might be able to contain DH12 because of his Sammy's impressive size.
Former SuperSonic Rishard Lewis is the Magic's second three point threat. He'll shoot seven threes a game and drain about 2.5. Lewis is averaging 18 points per game, down a little from his days in Seattle, but he doesn't have to carry as much of the scoring load in Orlando.
Keith Bogans out of Kentucky is the last three point threat for the Magic. Bogans has slowly turned into a solid role player after being a star for the Wildcats back in college. Bogans is averaging a lick under 10 points per game.
Philadelphia native Jameer Nelson is having another solid season for the Orlando. The St. Joe's product is averaging 11 points and six assists per game.
Even though Orlando hasn't been playing that well since mid-December, they should be able to get out of Philadelphia with a win.
Weekend Preview
What to Expect this Weekend:
- Syracuse Men's Basketball Recap against Villanova
- Syracuse Bracketology Edition V.
- Syracuse Women's Basketball Recap against Georgtown
- Syracuse Women's Basketball Bracketology Edition I.
- Syracuse Lacrosse Exhibition Recap
- Anaheim travels to Philadelphia, game starts at 7:00 Saturday
- Flyers Bracketology Edition II.
- Magic visits Philadelphia at 7:00 tonight.
- A complete recap of Big East Basketball action from the weekend.
Also if you see a guy at the Villanova game wearing orange hunting pants, an orange hunting vest and bandana/hat that's me. Come say hi to me and the other 30 Syracuse University students that will be sitting up in Section 207A.
Syracuse Women Also Hit the Road Saturday
The Women play hatred rival Georgetown Saturday at 3:00 in Georgtown. They will look to continue their three game winning streak against the struggling Hoyas. Georgetown is just 1-6 in the conference and 11-9 overall. They are way down in the RPI at 119th while Syracuse has shot all the way up to 14th.
Georgetown's only win in the conference is against an okay Seton Hall team at home. GU has a couple quality non conference wins against Towson and VCU who are right at the top of the CAA.
The Hoyas have struggled to score this year, averaging just 63 points per game and only 54 per game in conference play.
Kieraah Marlow leads the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game and rebounds at 6.9 per game. Marlow is the only member of the team that is averaging double digits for the year. Even Marlow's production has dropped in conference play. She's scoring more than three points per game less in conference play, scoring just 11.4 per game.
There's really one key for Syracuse in this game, shut down Marlow. Georgetown doesn't have any other solid scoring options which means Syracuse should roll in this game.
CuseAdelphia Prediction: Syracuse dominates Georgetown 78-46.
Syracuse travels to Villanova Saturday
Syracuse heads to Villanova Saturday to play the Wildcats in the Wachovia Center at noon. The Orange need this win for their NCAA tournament resume. The 'Cuse doesn't have a solid Big East win on their resume yet. Wins over DePaul and Providence carry some weight, but Syracuse needs to have two or three better wins than those and at least 10 wins in the conference including the Big East Tournament to have a legitimate shot to make the NCAA tournament.
With all that said, Syracuse will probably play just six players tomorrow against Villanova, a team that has lost three games in a row against doormat Rutgers, also injury-riddled Pitt, and at home against Notre Dame. The 'Cuse will try to make it three wins in a row and send Villanova to a fourth straight loss.
For everyone out there that got to watch the DePaul game on Time Warner, did anyone else pick up on the Oppenheimer funds commercial during the first commercial of a commercial break in the first half. The very first line of the commercial was something like "You can't win with just six guys on a team," and it showed six hockey players on a rink. Was Time Warner sending Syracuse a message? I just find it a really odd coincidence that this commercial which I don't think I've seen in a long while all of a sudden appears in a Syracuse game where they essentially have six players. Kudos to Time Warner if someone down there did this on purpose for having a sense of humor.
Again I digress, back to the Villanova. I think this game comes down to fouls. If this game is called tight, Syracuse loses. They don't have the depth to compete with Villanova if both teams rack up fouls. Syracuse will begin to play soft if they get into foul trouble. That will allow Villanova to score at will like they did in the second half of their first match up. Also, Syracuse needs to get Villanova’s bigs in foul trouble. They don’t have the depth or size to compete with Syracuse’s big guys if ‘Nova gets into foul trouble.
The ‘Cuse went down low to Arinze Onuaku against DePaul constantly and it resulted in lots of easy baskets. Villanova isn’t as strong in the front court as DePaul, so the Orange should look to do this again. They should also try to get Donte’ Greene looks down around the basket and get him some easy baskets early. If they can get him going, that will probably help him get into the groove and warmed up to hit the long shots he loves to take.
CuseAdelphia prediction: Syracuse 74, Villanova 69. The outcome of this game could very easily be decided in the first 10 minutes. If Syracuse can avoid those cheap, early fouls, the Orange will win this game. If with 10 minutes left in the game two players have four fouls and several others three fouls like in the first match up, ‘Nova will take over and win this one.
Syracuse Bracketology Edition IV
Syracuse is back in the field in the Bracket Matrix. They've moved back into the field as an 11 seed after winning two straight games against Providence and DePaul. Syracuse now appears in 14 of the 29 brackets produced by websites across the internet. S.U. is in 14 of the last 22 brackets updated, but none of the seven brackets that haven't been updated before Monday.
Syracuse is the eighth and final team from the Big East in the tournament according to the Bracket Matrix. Villanova and Seton Hall are on the outside looking in as two of the last four teams out. They are in 11 and 8 brackets respectively. Providence also appears in five brackets and the 11th team out of the bracket.
Shelby's Wild Ass Guesses puts Syracuse in as a nine seed, the best seed Syracuse has received in any bracket. They would play Dayton in the first round and have a match up with Kansas in the second.
Crashing the Dance uses a formula to assign teams points. Teams are then seeded according to points. Syracuse receives the last 10 seed as the 40th best team.
March Madness '08, the Syracuse bracket blog, has Syracuse in as an 11 seed. They've somehow fallen in the bracket despite winning two straight games. He also has 11 Big East teams in the tournament. I would have to severely disagree with almost his entire bracket. Pretty much every Big East team is over seeded. He has Marquette in as a three and Pitt in as a four.
The Bracket Project which runs the Bracket Matrix has Syracuse in as an 11 seed. They would play Mississippi State in the first round, a scary match up because MSU's size. The winner would play most likely Washington State in the second round, a Georgetown type team.
Basketball Predictions says Syracuse just missed the cut, but also had this to say about Syracuse after beating Providence and DePaul:
Key wins for Syracuse and UConn here. UConn is really on a tear here, and has pushed both the RPI and the Sagarin numbers inside the Top 20. Barring a huge collapse down the stretch, they'll be in the Tournament. Syracuse is not such a big slam dunk. The RPI is 36th and the Sagarin is 47th - both numbers which are right in the fat part of the bubble. The Orangemen have no bad losses, but have also struggled to get a signature win. If they make the Tournament, they will be one of those "look at the full resume" teams. They did a great job taking care of business this week, with two key wins to drive their Big East record to 5-4. They need to be a minimum of 10-8 in the Big East to get an at-large bid, and that is certainly very possible. If they continue to take care of business, and even steal an upset or two, they will get into the Tourney.
I think Syracuse should be in the tournament as a 10 or 11 seed at this point. They have an above .500 conference record and strong non-conference schedule. They have several solid wins and no terrible losses because of what Cincinnati has done in the Big East.
They would go in as the seventh or eighth team from the Big East and since at least eight teams from the Big East should get in, they would be in right now.
