Syracuse pounds Rutgers, Squeaks by West Virginia

Another good week for the Orange, with 2 Big East wins. On Wednesday, they beat Rutgers 81-65 in the first of their 3-game road trip. Rautins led the attack with 23 points, Jardine and Trische contributed 12 points, and Wes Johnson added a double-double with 11pts and 10 rebounds. Syracuse was 9-22 from beyond the arc.

The Orange then continued southward as they took on West Virginia on Saturday. Syracuse ended up squeaking one out in the end to the tune of 72-71. They gave up a 12 point lead in the last couple minutes.

Trische led scoring with 16, Johnson had 13 and Rautins had 12. Johnson was just coming off of an illness which kept him out of practice on Thursday and Friday. West Virginia also did a VERY good job defending him in the second half. I'd be surprised if he could even breathe.

I had the opportunity to watch this game, and I must say, both teams played awesome until the last couple minutes. Syracuse had a 10 point lead with 1:21 to go in the game, and Boeheim switched to his clock-kill offense, where they don't shoot, even open shots. A large number of turnovers and stupid plays put the Mountaineers within 6 with :52 on the clock.

This is where I got confused. In the last 2 minutes, West Virginia inbounded the ball at least a dozen times. Each time, Syracuse allowed them to roll the ball up to half court with NO CHALLENGE. No one stepped up, no one even came up to half-court, let alone a press. West Virginia had at least 4 3-second possessions where they rolled the ball up, picked up at half-court, and shot a long 3-pointer.

Once they did that twice, I'm sure every member of the Orange fan-base was screaming at the television. What was Boeheim thinking? Why would you allow them to save so much time in the last minute?? If they had pressed down to the ball, the game would have been over at 68-60.

Something else that bothered me was that they were giving West Virginia open 3's. Push out a little bit, extend the zone. Make them shoot a 30 footer if they want to take a 3. The WV 3-point shooters were hot in the last 2 minutes, and were given shots.

Syracuse needs to realize that they can't just hit the brakes in a slow-down offense. They need to take shots when they have them. Too many times they gave up a sure-fire shot to run clock. I'm shocked that Syracuse was able to hang on for the win. The end of that game also showed a huge weakness for the Orange.

Free throws.

Too many missed shots from the charity stripe. Make those, and there's another 6 points on the board.

Too close for my taste. Next up is Notre Dame on Monday to finish out their road trip. The Orange are back in the Loud House on Saturday vs. Marquette.

Ole'! Cuse Tames the Bulls

The #7/7 Orange took care of the South Florida Bulls tonight, winning the game 82-65 in the Loud House. Wes Johnson paved the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds, continuing his domination of the NCAA basketball scene.

The win is a solid in-conference rebound from their 10 point loss to Pitt. The big men underneath seems to be leading this team in each game. Johnson and Jackson each had double digit points along with Johnson's 19.

It's nice to see 6 of Rautin's points came off of 3-pointers. Maybe he's starting to find his stroke again.

Syracuse is back in action at Rutgers on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on the Big East Network.

With Kansas losing tonight, Syracuse will possibly jump a spot tomorrow when the polls come out. It will be interesting to see who takes over the #1 spot.

Appalling Sportsnation Blunder

I'm sitting here watching Sportsnation on ESPN, a show that I have come to enjoy lately. Today they had Marcellus Wiley, a former NFL DE for the Chargers and he provided some good banter and a fresh voice.

During the show, they covered a story about a high school basketball game between Houston Yates and Houston Lee, in which Yates won by a score of 170-35. The kids on Lee, during the third quarter, started a fight with Yates out of frustration of the score.

Now, as a coach, I have to completely disagree with the actions of the Lee team. Constantly we have to encourage sportsmanship through all wins and losses, no matter what the score. I also have to disagree with the decision making on the Yates sideline by keeping their starters in for the second half, even though the halftime score was 100-12. There is no reason for your starters to be in during that situation. Give your bench some blow.

HOWEVER: During the Sportsnation broadcast they were debating on whether or not it was "right" for the Lee team to start the fight. Wiley admonished the actions by the Lee team, stating that sportsmanship must be maintained, no matter the situation.

Michelle, on the other hand, made the argument that she would INDEED start a fight! What is she smoking? Do the executives at ESPN not realize that this is a growing problem in sports? We have watched the level of sportsmanship diminish this past decade or so. You have athletes gouging eyes, pulling guns on each other, brawling on the field, and kids and the general public are watching this first hand. They're starting to translate these same actions on their own fields!

This epidemic is a hard fought battle for coaches. We feel the need to instill the same values that our coaches had instilled on to us. After you hit a guy, legally, help him up. Shake the other team's hand no matter how intense the game. We are trying to build young men and women to be positive contributors to society. Athletics is a fantastic way to teach them values. Unsportsmanlike behavior is frowned upon by many coaches, but should be by the entire sports community.

The golden rule reads, "Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you." This applies to everything in life.

I believe that ESPN and Sportsnation need to apologize to the viewing audience for promoting Houston Lee's actions. This was a gross oversite by the producers of the show.

3 Ranked teams this season

Syracuse currently has 3 ranked teams in it's Division 1 athletics program.

The Men's basketball team is ranked #5/5 nationally.
The Women's basketball team is ranked #23.
The Women's hockey team is ranked #10. It is the first national ranking for the ice hockey team in program history.

Syracuse has always held it's athletic programs very highly, but their commitment to excellence has been ramped up the last few years. With the addition of Doug Marrone to the football team, hopefully they can find their way back to the upper echelon of FBS football.

Other ranked programs from the past year include: Cross Country (5), Field Hockey (8), Men's Lacrosse (1), Women's Lacrosse (8).

Hopefully that list continues to grow.