Courtesy of the Big East web site - enjoy the sick spin move Kris Joseph dropped on Cal last night.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Syracuse - Cal Observations
The good news for Syracuse basketball fans, if the NCAA tournament started next week, this Orange team would be very, very dangerous. The bad news, next week is Thanksgiving. This is the only time on the blog I will ever use the words "Thanksgiving" and "bad" in the same sentence. That's a promise.
After a football season filled with injuries, defections, and disappointment, it has been an absolute pleasure to watch the first three games of the Syracuse basketball season. In tonight's 95-73 route of the Cal Bears, the Orange show cased qualities that could make them a dangerous team all year long. Namely, they displayed an active, trapping defense, excellent passing and versatility and balance on the offensive end of the floor. Oh yeah, and a guy named Scoop Jardine reminded us of why he was so highly recruited coming out of high school. He was fantastic tonight.
Here are a few quick observations:
One of my main beefs with Arinze Onuaku's game was that he didn't make quick decisions in the post. Tonight, he made quick decisions - and his team mates found him. He was efficient as hell.
Unlike earlier games this year, SU took care of the basketball, finishing the night with 11 turnovers -- while forcing 15.
Likewise, the team had 21 assists, paced by Scoop Jardine's 6. What people might not notice, Rick Jackson had 4 assists as well. Big Rick has always been a good passer in the high post, he showed that again tonight. When you've got a big man that can pass the ball out of the high post, EVERYONE gets better shots.
Obviously the story of the night was Scoop Jardine who came off the bench to score 22 points. He also added 6 assists and 4 steals and was very active on defense.
Likewise, Brandon Triche did some nice things when he was on the floor. I especially liked the way he used his strength to get to rim, and did so under control. It will be interesting to see how Triche and Jardine handle Carolina's pressure Friday night.
Speaking of the point guards. Andy Katz has a great piece on them here.
I loved how SU extended the zone to beyond the 3 point line to find Cal shooters. They can do this for a few reasons - they are big enough and long enough to cover large areas of the court, they are in good shape and can cover ground quickly, and the team is busting its collective ass on the defensive end.
Andy Rautins makes a huge difference at the top of the zone versus when Devendorf was there last year. Devo was as interested in defense as Mark Mangino is in salad.
It was only the third game of the year, but after a trying few weeks, it sure was fun. Looking forward to the match up with North Carolina Friday night. It will be a blast.
You Cannot Be Serious
Another day, another starting SU football player lost for the year. Today SU athletics announced starting MLB Derrell Smith, who had emerged as the top play maker on defense (after Arthur Jones was lost for the season) is done for the year.
For those of you counting at home, SU has 12 guys left of the roster and has lost approximately 217 players, 5 managers, 3 ball boys and a bus driver due to injury this year. I'm speechless at the news. The only thought that comes to mind has already been spoken so eloquently before -- take it away John McEnroe:
For those of you counting at home, SU has 12 guys left of the roster and has lost approximately 217 players, 5 managers, 3 ball boys and a bus driver due to injury this year. I'm speechless at the news. The only thought that comes to mind has already been spoken so eloquently before -- take it away John McEnroe:
My Response To Beat Visitor
Rutgers fans are a little full of themselves these days. After getting the crap kicked out of them by SU for years (Syracuse leads the overall series 28-10), they are reveling in their relative, recent success on the football field. After spending the better part of two decades on the losing end of 70-14 scores, I can understand why they are happy. For the past 4 years they've been the better team (FU Greg Robinson) and if I was an RU fan, I'd be happy too.
So, while their turn around has been a nice story (even if it hasn't translated into any conference championships or major bowl berths) we here at T3I cannot let posts like this go unanwered. While Beat Visitor may revel in posting a helmet to helmet hit - it gives me an excuse to post this dunk again.
So, while their turn around has been a nice story (even if it hasn't translated into any conference championships or major bowl berths) we here at T3I cannot let posts like this go unanwered. While Beat Visitor may revel in posting a helmet to helmet hit - it gives me an excuse to post this dunk again.
Getting to Know the California Golden Bears
The Syracuse Orangemen and the California Golden Bears tip it off at 7 pm tonight in MSG in the 2K Sports Coaches versus Cancer Classic. Since you probably don't know much about Cal (unless your name is Jameson Fleming) let's get to know tonight's opponent a little better.
A Golden Bear is a legend, based on some tall tales that came out of Kansas in the mid 1800s. It doesn't really seem to fit with California, then again Syracuse and Oranges aren't exactly a natural combination.
They are coached by Mike Montgomery, who was successful at Stanford, went to the Golden State Warriors and failed, and is now having success at Cal. Based on his career, you can say he's fairly comfortable in the Bay area.
California can really shoot from distance, which could pose a problem for SU.
Many Cal players have never been to NY. Here's hoping they spent a lot of time in Flashdancers last night, because I've uhhhhhh, never been there.
The game will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Sean from NunesMagician talks about the game with Cal Bears bloggers at the SBN roundtable.
And for our California readers, all none of you - tickets to Cal basketball games start at $10.
A Golden Bear is a legend, based on some tall tales that came out of Kansas in the mid 1800s. It doesn't really seem to fit with California, then again Syracuse and Oranges aren't exactly a natural combination.
They are coached by Mike Montgomery, who was successful at Stanford, went to the Golden State Warriors and failed, and is now having success at Cal. Based on his career, you can say he's fairly comfortable in the Bay area.
California can really shoot from distance, which could pose a problem for SU.
Many Cal players have never been to NY. Here's hoping they spent a lot of time in Flashdancers last night, because I've uhhhhhh, never been there.
The game will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Sean from NunesMagician talks about the game with Cal Bears bloggers at the SBN roundtable.
And for our California readers, all none of you - tickets to Cal basketball games start at $10.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Ebay Item of the Week: A Pearl of a Bargain
The Pearl holds a special place in my heart. Growing up as a Cuse fan in the '80s, he really put the Syracuse program on the national map of college hoops. His short-lived NBA career is immortalized with this week's EBay Item of the Week.
Let's take you back to the short-shorts era:
Bravo Charlie Coles, Bravo
There are very few things we love more than sports related press conference melt downs. Jim Mora had us at playoffs. Allen Iverson slayed us talking about practice. Kevin Borseth went from unknown women's coach to world class ranter based on one press conference.
I once won a round of Hugging Harold Reynold's Iron Ref competition using press conference rants as the basis of my entry. So, a big tip of the hat is order to the Axeman for posting the link to Miami of Ohio coach Charlie Coles' post-game press conference after losing to Kentucky on a John Wall shot at the end of regulation. It's an instant classic. We all need more Charlie Coles in our lives.
I once won a round of Hugging Harold Reynold's Iron Ref competition using press conference rants as the basis of my entry. So, a big tip of the hat is order to the Axeman for posting the link to Miami of Ohio coach Charlie Coles' post-game press conference after losing to Kentucky on a John Wall shot at the end of regulation. It's an instant classic. We all need more Charlie Coles in our lives.
Rutgers Fans REALLY Love Tom Savage
Memo to Syracuse fans - no matter how good you think Ryan Nassib or Charley Loeb mayturn out to be, please do not do make a video slide show like the one below, because it's pretty gay - not that there's anything wrong with that.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Gear Grinding: Stubborn Coaches Edition
It's been a rough few weeks of football in both the college and professional ranks for this idiot and that means one thing -- it's time to get some stuff off my chest. In the words of Peter Griffin, here are a few things that are really grinding my gears.
Before I tear into SU Coach Doug Marrone, let me say I think he's done a good job on the whole this year. Rebuilding the Syracuse program is a huge task and I still believe he can get the job done. That doesn't mean I have to blindly agree with every decision he makes, like....
Punting to Trent Guy. It's been three days since Syracuse crapped the bed in the final minute moments of the Louisville game and this decision still makes no sense. Marrone said they chose to kick to Guy because its up the players to stay in their lanes and make plays. Well guess what, if I'm guarding Shaq it's my responsibility to stop him, that doesn't mean I can. To that point, Guy had been Louisville's only weapon and giving him another chance to make a play did not seem advisable to anyone. Hell, Steve Kragthorpe - who isn't exactly Urban Meyer -- was shocked when it happened.
While it's up to players to execute the game game plan and meet their responsibilities, it's up to coaches to adjust the game plans based on what they are seeing on the field. Marrone did not do that. Besides, you cannot tell me that Rob Long is incapable of successfully kicking the ball out of bounds. After all the punting he's had to do since he set foot on campus, he's had more experience punting a football than any human on the planet. He's put his foot on more balls than a dominatrix. I have faith he could have booted it out of bounds. That was a dumb, costly decision.
While we're here, I understand the offense is riddled with injuries, lacks play makers and has no depth, but if I see one more third down play that calls for the ball to go 2 yards when 5 are needed, I'm going to punch someone. The complete lack of aggressiveness is shameful.
I understand game plans that call for a heavy dose of running (the rbs are the team's strength) and while it drives me nuts to see constant punts on 4th and 1, at least that makes sense (see Belichick, Bill). But, running bubble screens, draws and 2 yard swing passes on 3rd down DO NOT. It's happened way too many times this year. Besides, the whole world knows this team isn't going vertical, these play calls couldn't fool Rich Kotite. Take the damn panties off and try and beat someone.
Finally, the decision to stick with Greg Paulus doesn't really wash either. If Paulus gives the team the best chance to win, as Marrone has said, then why is Nassib playing at all? The last time I checked this quarterback platoon wasn't lighting up the win column. The implication that Ryan Nassib can't handle the entire playbook is a crock. He was the starter before Paulus arrived - did he suddenly get dumber? Did a full season of practice make him forget plays? Does Paulus just look prettier throwing INTs? It's time to play Nassib and see what he can do, because the team isn't winning with Greg.
Switching to Andy Reid (his record over the last five years is 40-36-1) in the San Diego game yesterday the Eagles had first and goal at the one. Brian Westbrook was healthy at this point, as was McNabb. What's Reid do? He gives the ball to Leonard Weaver, calls for a pass that went incomplete to the tight end, and follows up by giving the immortal Eldra Buckley a carry that got stuffed. Think about that - you need one yard and decide Weaver, an incomplete pass, and Elda Buckley are your best options. That is so ludicrous it's stunning.
Before I tear into SU Coach Doug Marrone, let me say I think he's done a good job on the whole this year. Rebuilding the Syracuse program is a huge task and I still believe he can get the job done. That doesn't mean I have to blindly agree with every decision he makes, like....
Punting to Trent Guy. It's been three days since Syracuse crapped the bed in the final minute moments of the Louisville game and this decision still makes no sense. Marrone said they chose to kick to Guy because its up the players to stay in their lanes and make plays. Well guess what, if I'm guarding Shaq it's my responsibility to stop him, that doesn't mean I can. To that point, Guy had been Louisville's only weapon and giving him another chance to make a play did not seem advisable to anyone. Hell, Steve Kragthorpe - who isn't exactly Urban Meyer -- was shocked when it happened.
While it's up to players to execute the game game plan and meet their responsibilities, it's up to coaches to adjust the game plans based on what they are seeing on the field. Marrone did not do that. Besides, you cannot tell me that Rob Long is incapable of successfully kicking the ball out of bounds. After all the punting he's had to do since he set foot on campus, he's had more experience punting a football than any human on the planet. He's put his foot on more balls than a dominatrix. I have faith he could have booted it out of bounds. That was a dumb, costly decision.
While we're here, I understand the offense is riddled with injuries, lacks play makers and has no depth, but if I see one more third down play that calls for the ball to go 2 yards when 5 are needed, I'm going to punch someone. The complete lack of aggressiveness is shameful.
I understand game plans that call for a heavy dose of running (the rbs are the team's strength) and while it drives me nuts to see constant punts on 4th and 1, at least that makes sense (see Belichick, Bill). But, running bubble screens, draws and 2 yard swing passes on 3rd down DO NOT. It's happened way too many times this year. Besides, the whole world knows this team isn't going vertical, these play calls couldn't fool Rich Kotite. Take the damn panties off and try and beat someone.
Finally, the decision to stick with Greg Paulus doesn't really wash either. If Paulus gives the team the best chance to win, as Marrone has said, then why is Nassib playing at all? The last time I checked this quarterback platoon wasn't lighting up the win column. The implication that Ryan Nassib can't handle the entire playbook is a crock. He was the starter before Paulus arrived - did he suddenly get dumber? Did a full season of practice make him forget plays? Does Paulus just look prettier throwing INTs? It's time to play Nassib and see what he can do, because the team isn't winning with Greg.
Switching to Andy Reid (his record over the last five years is 40-36-1) in the San Diego game yesterday the Eagles had first and goal at the one. Brian Westbrook was healthy at this point, as was McNabb. What's Reid do? He gives the ball to Leonard Weaver, calls for a pass that went incomplete to the tight end, and follows up by giving the immortal Eldra Buckley a carry that got stuffed. Think about that - you need one yard and decide Weaver, an incomplete pass, and Elda Buckley are your best options. That is so ludicrous it's stunning.
Also grinding my gears are the Cleveland Browns. I feel for their fans, but the ineptness of this team is horrible for the league. The team is so blazingly incompetent that Monday Night Football was rendered impossible to watch tonight. That is a crime against society, and for that crime I sentence Eric Mangini to 10 years of being locked in a cell with Jon Gruden listening to Chuckie talk non-stop.
And that's what really grinds my gears. I feel better. For now.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
T3I Remembers: V-G Day, One Year Later
November 16, 2008. Orange Nation celebrated V-G Day as Greg Robinson was shown the door. The Little Enginge that couldn't, couldn't any more.
T3I Classic takes you back:
Greg Robinson Weekly
"Greg Robinson working on being fired for the second time in two years." ~ Pat Forde, ESPN
"Greg Robinson...the man who sent Syracuse back to the leather helmet era." ~ The Only Colors
"It will be interesting to see what happens with first year coordinator Greg Robinson, who hasn't had the desired effect on this unit." ~Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Syracuse Football is Not Fun
I told myself I'd wait 24 hours before writing about the awful 10-9 loss Syracuse suffered at the hands of the Louisville Cardinals today. However, it rained all day here in Albany and I'm sitting around the house and can't quite shake the blues of yet another loss. Writing this post might be cathartic. Or it may not.
I usually post some observations after every game, but for this one, I'm gonna take a pass. There's nothing new to observe anyway - the offense is conservative and toothless, the special teams are increasingly inept, the O-line isn't very good, the receivers without Mike Williams are bad, Paulus is Paulus, Delone Carter runs hard, and the defense is better, but still struggles against the pass. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Syracuse is now 3-7 and 0-5 in the Big East. Barring some crazy turn of events (like the entire Rutgers and UConn teams coming down with the swine flu) this team will finish the year 3-9 and winless in the Big East.
As a fan, it can't get much worse than that. We've witnessed five years of complete and utter futility. We've seen a grand total of three Big East wins in those five years. We've been treated to Saturday after Saturday of losses that have come in all shapes and sizes. It simply isn't fun.
In fact, it's been brutal. Syracuse is averaging 2.6 wins per year over the last five. The worst part about all of it is that as fans, there's nothing we can do about it.
This year started with high hopes and peaked with a thrilling win over Northwestern. Unfortunately that happened in game three. Since then, the season quickly morphed into another disaster. The wins over Maine and Akron were sloppy and uninspiring. The losses to WVA, South Florida, Cincinnati and Pitt were ugly, turnover marred affairs. And the loss today, in addition to being heartbreaking and infuriating, was boring.
Sports are supposed to be fun. Being a fan is supposed to be fun. We try and have fun on this site -- but it's hard when you care so much about something that is continually the opposite of fun. Being a Syracuse football fan right now is as enjoyable as being a prisoner serving life in jail. We don't have a lot of hope.
Make no mistake about it, Syracuse University does not owe its fans a thing. By the same token, the fans don't owe the University anything either. While Syracuse is a fickle sports town, the fans of this program have been fed a steady diet of crap for five years.
I expect the Dome will be pretty empty next week against Rutgers and I really can't blame people for not going. You can only advertise wine and deliver piss for so long. Syracuse fans need some fun and we have no idea when the football program will provide it again - but it's been too long.
I usually post some observations after every game, but for this one, I'm gonna take a pass. There's nothing new to observe anyway - the offense is conservative and toothless, the special teams are increasingly inept, the O-line isn't very good, the receivers without Mike Williams are bad, Paulus is Paulus, Delone Carter runs hard, and the defense is better, but still struggles against the pass. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Syracuse is now 3-7 and 0-5 in the Big East. Barring some crazy turn of events (like the entire Rutgers and UConn teams coming down with the swine flu) this team will finish the year 3-9 and winless in the Big East.
As a fan, it can't get much worse than that. We've witnessed five years of complete and utter futility. We've seen a grand total of three Big East wins in those five years. We've been treated to Saturday after Saturday of losses that have come in all shapes and sizes. It simply isn't fun.
In fact, it's been brutal. Syracuse is averaging 2.6 wins per year over the last five. The worst part about all of it is that as fans, there's nothing we can do about it.
This year started with high hopes and peaked with a thrilling win over Northwestern. Unfortunately that happened in game three. Since then, the season quickly morphed into another disaster. The wins over Maine and Akron were sloppy and uninspiring. The losses to WVA, South Florida, Cincinnati and Pitt were ugly, turnover marred affairs. And the loss today, in addition to being heartbreaking and infuriating, was boring.
Sports are supposed to be fun. Being a fan is supposed to be fun. We try and have fun on this site -- but it's hard when you care so much about something that is continually the opposite of fun. Being a Syracuse football fan right now is as enjoyable as being a prisoner serving life in jail. We don't have a lot of hope.
Make no mistake about it, Syracuse University does not owe its fans a thing. By the same token, the fans don't owe the University anything either. While Syracuse is a fickle sports town, the fans of this program have been fed a steady diet of crap for five years.
I expect the Dome will be pretty empty next week against Rutgers and I really can't blame people for not going. You can only advertise wine and deliver piss for so long. Syracuse fans need some fun and we have no idea when the football program will provide it again - but it's been too long.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Syracuse - Louisville Prediction
Watching Howard Schnellenberger smoke a pipe may be more interesting than this game
The battle to avoid the bottom of the Big East kicks off at high noon tomorrow in Fast Food Pizza stadium, with the Syracuse Orange taking on the Louisville Cardinals. Both teams are winless in the Big East and the game represents each team's best chance to get at least on conference win this year (you can forget about beating Rutgers after the ass-beating they administered to USF last night).
The Syracuse Orange came into the season lacking depth, having seen nearly 20 players leave the program after not fitting in with Doug Marrone's vision for what Syracuse football will become. To make matters worse, injuries and more defections have decimated what's left of the SU roster. Right now the Greendale Community College football team has more healthy players than SU.
Louisville came into the season with low expectations, mainly because the fan base had lost faith with coach Steve Kragthorpe and to date, Krags has met those low expectations. Likewise, the Cardinals have been bitten by the injury bug and are struggling with the same record as the Orange.
Basically, both teams stink right now. Neither team moves the ball very effectively and while the Orange has been decent at stopping the run, teams can throw at will on them. Neither team can score -- in Big East play, SU averages 12.5 ppg, whereas Louisville averages a little over 13.
This game is not going to be pretty, and outside of small pockets in Kentucky and Central New York, it isn't going to be watched. For Steve Kragthorpe there are two positives, his wily silver-haired nemesis Greg Robinson is gone and his team is at home. That's enough for Steve to get his first - and most likely last - win versus the Orange.
Final Score
Louisville 6
Syracuse 3
The Syracuse Orange came into the season lacking depth, having seen nearly 20 players leave the program after not fitting in with Doug Marrone's vision for what Syracuse football will become. To make matters worse, injuries and more defections have decimated what's left of the SU roster. Right now the Greendale Community College football team has more healthy players than SU.
Louisville came into the season with low expectations, mainly because the fan base had lost faith with coach Steve Kragthorpe and to date, Krags has met those low expectations. Likewise, the Cardinals have been bitten by the injury bug and are struggling with the same record as the Orange.
Basically, both teams stink right now. Neither team moves the ball very effectively and while the Orange has been decent at stopping the run, teams can throw at will on them. Neither team can score -- in Big East play, SU averages 12.5 ppg, whereas Louisville averages a little over 13.
This game is not going to be pretty, and outside of small pockets in Kentucky and Central New York, it isn't going to be watched. For Steve Kragthorpe there are two positives, his wily silver-haired nemesis Greg Robinson is gone and his team is at home. That's enough for Steve to get his first - and most likely last - win versus the Orange.
Final Score
Louisville 6
Syracuse 3
The Captain's Fantasy - Week 10
Due to the Yankees winning the World Series, I felt compelled to take a break from the fantasy column to bask in their glory. I have a work with 3 Phillies fans in my office, I said nothing to them during the series, but after the series, let's just say they all received "suspicious" voice mails from Hideki Matsui. Something about how Ryan Howard should give up baseball and do something that God intended someone with a nose like that to do..... like dig for truffles in France. (With a poor Japanese accent of course). GOOD TIMES!
So this week instead of the sit/start format, we're gonna change it up a bit. Playoffs are right around the corner, now is the time to start planning waiver wire/trade pickups that will help you get through the playoffs.
Every year someone goes rolling into the playoffs with an ungodly record only to get booted in the next to last round. THIS IS DUE TO POOR PLANNING FOLKS. Winning teams start resting studs to save them for the playoff push. Now is the time to start thinking the same.
What I look for is strength of schedule for upcoming match ups. Look for running backs that have a steady dose of KC/OAK/SD/CLE/DET/TB/NE (yup new England is in there). These teams give up the most yards per carry in the league. Researching who is playing who week to week gets important here.
Look for receivers that get DET/TEN/ARI/KC/STL/CIN/JAX/MIA/ATL On average these teams give up in excess of 240 yard passing per game. If you have decent (and I'm not even talking Peyton, Drew, Tom) QB as a starter, they are going to get their yards.
As far as TEs go, be happy with a guy who gets you, 5-8 pts per game. TEs that consistently do that are already taken and won't be found on waivers. Just get someone who doesn't throw the bagel at you during playoff weeks.
That's it, no picks this week, just strategy. Good luck in your leagues this week.
The Captain
So this week instead of the sit/start format, we're gonna change it up a bit. Playoffs are right around the corner, now is the time to start planning waiver wire/trade pickups that will help you get through the playoffs.
Every year someone goes rolling into the playoffs with an ungodly record only to get booted in the next to last round. THIS IS DUE TO POOR PLANNING FOLKS. Winning teams start resting studs to save them for the playoff push. Now is the time to start thinking the same.
What I look for is strength of schedule for upcoming match ups. Look for running backs that have a steady dose of KC/OAK/SD/CLE/DET/TB/NE (yup new England is in there). These teams give up the most yards per carry in the league. Researching who is playing who week to week gets important here.
Look for receivers that get DET/TEN/ARI/KC/STL/CIN/JAX/MIA/ATL On average these teams give up in excess of 240 yard passing per game. If you have decent (and I'm not even talking Peyton, Drew, Tom) QB as a starter, they are going to get their yards.
As far as TEs go, be happy with a guy who gets you, 5-8 pts per game. TEs that consistently do that are already taken and won't be found on waivers. Just get someone who doesn't throw the bagel at you during playoff weeks.
That's it, no picks this week, just strategy. Good luck in your leagues this week.
The Captain
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