Thursday, January 15, 2009

Game 15 - Syracuse

I woke up this morning with the idea in my head. The tune was overwhelming, and words were flowing off my tongue. But after more thought, I decided it was a bad idea. I mean most folk already think I'm crazy, why add more fuel to the fire? But then on my way to work (yes, I actually have a job other than blogging) something happened that changed my mind. While doing my normal flip of the radio stations to avoid talk I stumbled across the song I had stuck in my head. I probably hadn't heard it in years but for some inexplicable reason 97.1 decided to play the tune. I took it as a sign from above, or possibly below, that the world needs to hear my message. So without further adieu, I present to you "How Deep is Your Bench" performed by Jim Boeheim and written by the Bee Gees.

I watched tapes of your games before
Knew how to guard against your starting five
And the moment that you decide to use your reserves
Is the moment that we win the game

Then you put in some tall Russian guy
Takes two shots, makes them both, gets a season high
And its me you need to show

Chorus:
How deep is your bench
I really need to know
Cause we're playing Georgetown again soon
They're hard to scout
With so many new players
Who never play the same way

I feel like a fool
I was too proud to scout Jason Clark
Put my hopes in Convict Cheddar Bob
Then was embarrassed on their floor
Vaughn, Wattad, Henry Sims
Who thought they would win
Can't believe I just lost
I had Johnny Flynn
And it's me you need to show
(repeat chorus)




Game observations:
- Third straight win at home against Syracuse. First time that has happened since 1989.
- Syracuse never had a lead in this game
- 29 points from our bench. Second game in a row we have had strong bench play, will need it against Duke
- We limited our turnovers, only two in the second half. We outscored them 29 to 13 on points off turnovers
- Onuaku had as many offensive rebounds at the whole Georgetown team but...
- We shot 59% from the field, highest since Savannah St. game
- And we shot 57% from beyond the arc, highest since first round of Big East Tourney last year
- So we didn't really have many opportunities for offensive rebounds
- Sapp continued his streak of sucking. Clark actually saw more playing time than him in this game
- Summers is scaring me. Can't afford to lose him at the end of this season. He is having phenomenal Big East season
- Monroe mania is getting a bit too much. Yes he led the team in assists and rebounds. But he was dominated on the defensive end
- We won this game because we were able to hit the mid-range elbow jumpers, which effectively took away the effectiveness of the zone. Good job on preparing the team, JT3
- We had 2 technical fouls called on us, hasn't happened since Radford game last year
- They shot 44% from FT line. Rick Jackson shot a Macklin-esque 1-8 from the line
- Two turning points in the game, both by bench players. (1) Nikita's second three, after Flynn answered his first. (2) Clark's three which halted an 8-0 Cuse run to start off the second half.
- Officiating was pretty terrible
- The most alarming missed call was committed by T^3 during the T-shirt toss. The foul was so egregious that it would qualify as a penalty in three different sports: Push in back in basketball, pass interference in football and catcher interference in baseball
- I am now 0-2 in T-shirt tosses, both times I was violently fouled. The first time was when follower Long Time/First Time callously tossed me aside when Gerald Riley threw a shirt into the stands during the '03-'04 season. Neither of us ended up with the baby blue #32 Riley shirt, something I still long for
- What T^3 didn't know was that I recently did an inventory of my wardrobe and noticed that I was lacking in gray, JT3 shirts. You broke my heart Fredo, you broke my heart.
- Special thanks for referee Ed Hightower for the second acknowledgment of existence this season
- Special thanks to Johnny Flynn for the acknowledgment of existence and subsequent offer of termination. I've never made a player actually come back out from the locker room tunnel to respond to one of my comments. I merely relayed to him my harmless observation that he was just embarrassed on national television. Guess that might have hurt his feelings or something


Good talk.

1 comment:

Tim Foley said...

B^2,

It was nothing personal - just business.

A few additional thoughts:

1) Simms, in the past 2-3 games, has made some big jumps. The realization that his role isn't to shoot 3s, but is to play that middle position in the zone, block a little bit, rebound a little bit ... its having a big impact.

2) Even Wright has quietly been not playing as well as he was prior to Big East play. But think - say him and Sapp start to play better, that's a huge pickup.

3) Remember the "Monroe is Lamar Odom" comparison? Still pretty valid, though I'd say Monroe is a better passer. He is perfect for our offense.

4) To paraphrase the deranged pilot from Independence Day who sacrifices himself to kill the alien mothership: this game at Duke is a little bit of a personal vengeance experience for me as a Dukette once played with my heart/mind before saying 'not interested'. Long story short? In the words of Patrick Ewing when Jared Dudley said the Big East was overrated, "If I have a chance to dunk on them, I'm going to really hard."

Tim