Louisville completed an inexplicable sweep of the Syracuse Orange yesterday in the Cardinals' last game at Freedom Hall (more on that in the second). The Orange finished the regular season 28-1 against the rest of the country and 0-2 against Louisville. A guy no one had ever heard of named Kyle Kuric sank the Orange with 22 second half points. To put that in perspective, it took Kuric 10 games to score his first 22 points this season.
In the team's first match up this year little used reserve guard Mike Marra scored a career high 12 points to help beat SU. In this game, little used reserve guard Kyle Kuric scored a career high 22. When something like that happens twice in one season, all you can really do is shake your head and move on.
What you shouldn't do is over react like a blow hard sports talk radio host JT the Brick, who tweeted that that the game was a "Brutal loss for Syracuse. Showed major flaws. Live and die by 3 point shot. Pitino outcoached the 2-3 Zone. Cuse better win Big East tourney." I mean that statement is so dumb it makes no sense to break it down point by point, but guys like "the Brick" get paid to make outrageous statements and get people fired up, so consider that a job well done.
What we should do is fans is chalk it up as a loss to a team fighting for it's post-season life in front of a fired up crowd in the last game in an iconic arena. To put it mildly, the chips were stacked against the Orange.
Make no mistake about it, every loss sucks, and this was no different, but at the end of the day it meant nothing for the Orange. They went into the game in first place in the Big East. After the game they are first place in the Big East. Prior to the game they were a projected number one seed in the NCAA tournament. After the game they are still a projected number one seed. They went in as the top seed in the Big East Tournament, after the game - they are the top seed in the Big East Tournament.
Here are a couple of quick observations on the game and then we can all move on.
- Did Pitino look more like an usher at a sports arena or a moving theater employee in that hideous red jacket? I really can't decide, feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.
- The one hole in Wes Johnson's game is the ability to beat guys off the dribble. He was more effective against Louisville but didn't finish around the rim.
- Speaking of which - how many shots around the rim did SU miss? In the second half the blew a ton and the ball seemed greased, as SU couldn't corral any defensive rebounds.
- I know it was Louisville's last game in Freedom Hall and it's an iconic college basketball venue - but Jesus H. Christ, you would have thought they were closing the White House or something. The amount of fawning over the place was ridiculous especially given the fact that THEY AREN'T CLOSING THE BUILDING!!! Louisville is just moving to a new arena. Theoretically they could go back and play a game there any time they want. You would have thought the place was Yankee stadium or something.....if you know, they kept Yankee Stadium open.
- Kris Joseph has a knee injury (not a good sign at this point in the season) and when you combine that with getting clocked in the face, he had his least productive game of the year. That definitely hurt the Orange on a day when Andy Rautins was ice cold.
- Scoop Jardine on the other hand, played his best game as an Orangemen. He has been getting better as the season progresses. If you remember he did the same thing his freshman year - he got better down the stretch. It's fun watching his game and confidence evolve.
- I'm glad Louisville isn't on the schedule again. Give credit to Rick Pitino and his team - he gets them up for Syracuse games and they deliver. Plus I can't handle Rick's wardrobe.
1 comments:
If Pitino wore clear shoes with gold fishes in them he would 've been certified "pimpesque"
Either that , or he was going to a job at the local cineplex for an interview for head usher.
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