Syracuse's Dion Waiters' tremendous open court breakaway dunk was the exclamation point on a 95-70 rout of St. John's at Madison Square Garden Saturday afternoon.
Waiters followed up one crowd-pleasing Orange dunk after another by stuffing the ball through the rim with his right hand over his head while the St. John's defenders could only watch and admire.
The sophomore guard then glared at the roaring crowd of 19,979 before heading back on defense as his teammates rejoiced.
The Red Storm were manhandled all afternoon on their supposed home court. The Garden stands seemed to have been flooded by orange and anyone in red seemed shell shocked during the Syracuse onslaught.
After Waiters powerful slam gave 'Cuse a 70-46 lead, cheers of "Let's Go Orange" filled the arena with 9:16 left in the game.
Second-ranked Syracuse (23-1, 10-1) was just too physical for the younger, undermanned and smaller St. John's (10-13, 4-7) team.
The win gave Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim his 879th win tying him with Dean Smith on the all-time victories list.
The Red Storm got off to a 5-0 lead and hung tough with the much bigger Orangemen but couldn't keep up with the deeper and taller visitors.
Syracuse took control of the game with about eight minutes to go and lead by as much as 59-31 after a dunk by seven-footer Fab Melo with 13 minutes remaining in the Big East match-up.
Melo—back from a three-game academic suspension— finished the game with a career high 14 points.
The home-town Johnnies fans are probably saying " 'Cuse me Waiters, there seems to be some fly in my hoop."
Showing posts with label Syracuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Syracuse. Show all posts
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Thursday, October 20, 2011
UConn, Syracuse Tie For 1st In Big East Coaches' Poll
It had to be one of the most awkward Big East media days in memory. The coaches picked both national champion Connecticut and soon-to-be-gone Syracuse as the best teams in the upcoming season. However, the real topic hanging on everyone's tongue at Wednesday's annual event was conference expansion and realignment.
Most of the talk centered around Syracuse and Pittsburgh's announcements that they were leaving the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and the TCU team which ran away.
TCU was slated to join the Big East but is now headed for the Big 12 before the Big East could do anything about it. Big East commissioner John Marinatto announced at the conference he was looking to bring in schools to make up for the defections and prevent any others from leaving.
There has been a lot of talk-- some by the governor of Connecticut-- that UConn would also be interested in joining the ACC. Marinatto would have none of it.
"In the past five years, we've had the best basketball league in the country," he said. "We had [a record] 11 teams in the NCAA tournament last year and, on paper today, nine of them would be in it again."
Opinions about the defectors and the effect they will have on the league were at a fever pitch at the Manhattan gathering.
"My problem is not them leaving," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino-- in a statement dripping with irony. "My problem is you did it in 36-48 hours. Don't run away with a girl after one date to get married in Las Vegas when you've been dating someone else for three or four years. You've been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect."
Pitino, as you will recall, is the same man who almost threw away his career by cheating on his wife of thirty years for a 15-second fling with a woman who later tried to extort $10 million from him.
Last September, Pitino also compared Pitt's move to the ACC to Sal Tessio betraying the Corleone family in "The Godfather." Funny, because rumors have been swirling about the Cardinals jumping ship as well.
Pitino's poorly-chosen analogy, along with Pitt and Syracuse wearing track shoes and ready to bolt aside, there were plenty of other topics at hand including the upcoming season and the coaches' pre-season picks.
Connecticut, which closed out their season with an 11-game winning streak by winning the Big East tournament and the national championship will have to do it without All-America guard Kemba Walker, the heart and soul of the team.
Head coach Jim Calhoun has three returning starters-- including sophomore guard Jerry Lamb, a pre-season first-team pick-- and junior Alex Oriakhi, a second-team selection. Freshman center, 6-foot-11 Andre Drummond was chosen pre-season rookie-of-the-year.
Syracuse, which had five first place votes-- two less than UConn-- has senior Kris Joseph, a first-team selection, and second-teamer junior Scoop Jardine returning to the court.
Asked if he thinks the team will be treated differently during road games because of the school's decision to leave the Big East, Boeheim was philosophical.
"Nobody has ever cheered for us on the road," he said. "We never get a lot of cheers."
Louisville, which got three first place votes, was third followed by Pittsburgh.
Pitt's senior guard Ashton Gibbs was selected pre-season player of the year after leading the conference in scoring (16.8) and 3-point shooting (49%) last season.
Cincinnati was fifth followed by Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, South Florida, Providence and DePaul. In addition to Gibbs, Lamb and Joseph, the pre-season first team included seniors Darius Johnson-Odom of Marquette and grad-student Tim Abromaitis of Notre Dame.
Next year's coaches' poll might be without some familiar teams but not if Marinatto has his way. The commissioner said he will not let Syracuse or Pitt out of their contracts, which requires them to stay in the league for two more years.
Georgetown coach John Thompson III got sentimental about the Big East's fracturing conference.
"When I think of the Big East, I think of Georgetown-Syracuse, Georgetown-St. John's, " he said.
So do a lot of fans.
Most of the talk centered around Syracuse and Pittsburgh's announcements that they were leaving the Big East to join the Atlantic Coast Conference and the TCU team which ran away.
TCU was slated to join the Big East but is now headed for the Big 12 before the Big East could do anything about it. Big East commissioner John Marinatto announced at the conference he was looking to bring in schools to make up for the defections and prevent any others from leaving.
There has been a lot of talk-- some by the governor of Connecticut-- that UConn would also be interested in joining the ACC. Marinatto would have none of it.
"In the past five years, we've had the best basketball league in the country," he said. "We had [a record] 11 teams in the NCAA tournament last year and, on paper today, nine of them would be in it again."
Opinions about the defectors and the effect they will have on the league were at a fever pitch at the Manhattan gathering.
"My problem is not them leaving," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino-- in a statement dripping with irony. "My problem is you did it in 36-48 hours. Don't run away with a girl after one date to get married in Las Vegas when you've been dating someone else for three or four years. You've been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect."
Pitino, as you will recall, is the same man who almost threw away his career by cheating on his wife of thirty years for a 15-second fling with a woman who later tried to extort $10 million from him.
Last September, Pitino also compared Pitt's move to the ACC to Sal Tessio betraying the Corleone family in "The Godfather." Funny, because rumors have been swirling about the Cardinals jumping ship as well.
Pitino's poorly-chosen analogy, along with Pitt and Syracuse wearing track shoes and ready to bolt aside, there were plenty of other topics at hand including the upcoming season and the coaches' pre-season picks.
Connecticut, which closed out their season with an 11-game winning streak by winning the Big East tournament and the national championship will have to do it without All-America guard Kemba Walker, the heart and soul of the team.
Head coach Jim Calhoun has three returning starters-- including sophomore guard Jerry Lamb, a pre-season first-team pick-- and junior Alex Oriakhi, a second-team selection. Freshman center, 6-foot-11 Andre Drummond was chosen pre-season rookie-of-the-year.
Syracuse, which had five first place votes-- two less than UConn-- has senior Kris Joseph, a first-team selection, and second-teamer junior Scoop Jardine returning to the court.
Asked if he thinks the team will be treated differently during road games because of the school's decision to leave the Big East, Boeheim was philosophical.
"Nobody has ever cheered for us on the road," he said. "We never get a lot of cheers."
Louisville, which got three first place votes, was third followed by Pittsburgh.
Pitt's senior guard Ashton Gibbs was selected pre-season player of the year after leading the conference in scoring (16.8) and 3-point shooting (49%) last season.
Cincinnati was fifth followed by Marquette, West Virginia, Villanova, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Rutgers, St. John's, Seton Hall, South Florida, Providence and DePaul. In addition to Gibbs, Lamb and Joseph, the pre-season first team included seniors Darius Johnson-Odom of Marquette and grad-student Tim Abromaitis of Notre Dame.
Next year's coaches' poll might be without some familiar teams but not if Marinatto has his way. The commissioner said he will not let Syracuse or Pitt out of their contracts, which requires them to stay in the league for two more years.
Georgetown coach John Thompson III got sentimental about the Big East's fracturing conference.
"When I think of the Big East, I think of Georgetown-Syracuse, Georgetown-St. John's, " he said.
So do a lot of fans.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Red Storm Will Dance Without D.J.
The St. John's basketball team lost more than the game to Syracuse yesterday, they lost D.J. Kennedy, an intricate part of the rags-to-riches Red Storm team. The numbers 1.7 on the time clock may be forever forged in the minds of the St. John's players, after their controversial win over Rutgers the day before, but 14:25 is a number they would like to erase from their minds--it is the moment their star player went down.
Kennedy crumpled to the floor under the basket, only 5:35 into the game, clutching his right knee after going up for a rebound in St. John's quarterfinal match-up against Syracuse. An MRI later showed a torn ACL. His collegiate basketball career was now over. and the Red Storm's NCAA tournament chances diminished.
Not so fast say the other players. While the loss of Kennedy will probably drop the Red Storm from a probable #4 seed in the NCAA's to a #5 or 6, the eight remaining seniors say the same resiliency which carried this team throughout the season will continue into the Big Dance.
This is an experienced squad which turned it around this year. They worked hard towards playing in their first NCAA tournament and erasing the tag 'Never Made it to the Big Dance' from their bios. The remaining seniors endured a brutal 2011 schedule and a four year wait which must have seemed like an eternity. Now it's show time.
St. John's head coach Steve Lavin--who inherited this once-wayward team-- realizes the loss of Kennedy--who he calls "The Glue"-- is a big blow to the Johnnies' chances in the NCAA's, but is counting on the team to not let up.
"They've accomplished some very special things, and then we're not satisfied," said Lavin. "So I don't underestimate this group's ability to continue to find ways to win. I think we'll have to recalibrate, 'cause the loss of D.J. Kennedy is devastating...but the will and spirit of this group is strong that I have confidence we'll make a run of it."
If yesterday's 79-73 loss is any indication, Lavin should be confident. No. 18 St. John's (21-11) went toe-to-toe with No. 11 Syracuse (26-6) until the waning moments. The whole team picked up the slack after Kennedy went down.
Kennedy, who was the team's third leading scorer and best rebounder, leaves big shoes to fill and senior Sean Evans was more than a capable replacement. Evans scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against a bigger Syracuse team. Dwight Hardy, Paris Horne and Justin Brownlee all chipped in with double-digit points but they know the road will be bumpier without Kennedy.
"I feel like we can win it all, that's how I feel being the competitor I am," said Justin Burrell. "It'll be a lot tougher, but I think we can do it."
The Johnnies have been on a magical ride this season. The senior-laden team plays an aggressive physical brand of basketball. They are a machine filled with interchangeable parts who know how to share the ball and the glory. Now, one of those parts will be hobbling on the sidelines, cheering them on. These guys know they have come too far over four years to let up now.
And for St. John's fans, nine years seems like forever since they had a vested interest in Selection Sunday or actually penciled the name 'St. John's' in on their bracket sheets.
Put it this way, the last time a St. John's team danced, Justin Timberlake was in a boy band and they listened to him on a Walkman.
Not so fast say the other players. While the loss of Kennedy will probably drop the Red Storm from a probable #4 seed in the NCAA's to a #5 or 6, the eight remaining seniors say the same resiliency which carried this team throughout the season will continue into the Big Dance.
This is an experienced squad which turned it around this year. They worked hard towards playing in their first NCAA tournament and erasing the tag 'Never Made it to the Big Dance' from their bios. The remaining seniors endured a brutal 2011 schedule and a four year wait which must have seemed like an eternity. Now it's show time.
St. John's head coach Steve Lavin--who inherited this once-wayward team-- realizes the loss of Kennedy--who he calls "The Glue"-- is a big blow to the Johnnies' chances in the NCAA's, but is counting on the team to not let up.
"They've accomplished some very special things, and then we're not satisfied," said Lavin. "So I don't underestimate this group's ability to continue to find ways to win. I think we'll have to recalibrate, 'cause the loss of D.J. Kennedy is devastating...but the will and spirit of this group is strong that I have confidence we'll make a run of it."
If yesterday's 79-73 loss is any indication, Lavin should be confident. No. 18 St. John's (21-11) went toe-to-toe with No. 11 Syracuse (26-6) until the waning moments. The whole team picked up the slack after Kennedy went down.
Kennedy, who was the team's third leading scorer and best rebounder, leaves big shoes to fill and senior Sean Evans was more than a capable replacement. Evans scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against a bigger Syracuse team. Dwight Hardy, Paris Horne and Justin Brownlee all chipped in with double-digit points but they know the road will be bumpier without Kennedy.
"I feel like we can win it all, that's how I feel being the competitor I am," said Justin Burrell. "It'll be a lot tougher, but I think we can do it."
The Johnnies have been on a magical ride this season. The senior-laden team plays an aggressive physical brand of basketball. They are a machine filled with interchangeable parts who know how to share the ball and the glory. Now, one of those parts will be hobbling on the sidelines, cheering them on. These guys know they have come too far over four years to let up now.
And for St. John's fans, nine years seems like forever since they had a vested interest in Selection Sunday or actually penciled the name 'St. John's' in on their bracket sheets.
Put it this way, the last time a St. John's team danced, Justin Timberlake was in a boy band and they listened to him on a Walkman.
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