We know you’re wondering (Pro Wrapup 2010)

July 26, 2010 – 7:21 pm

Derelict. Derelict in our duties. That is the only phrase that can describe what has happened here at Cuse Country. There has been a ridiculous span of time that has passed since we last checked in with former Orangemen around the globe. Entire seasons were played during that time. While we did recently give you a peek into the NBA Summer League, where Rautins, Johnson, Flynn, Harris, Nichols, Watkins, and Greene were all on various rosters, there is still a lot of unfinished business to be told from the 2009-10 seasons.

NBA

Every Cuse alum in the NBA whose team made the playoffs was bounced in the first round. Carmelo, Warrick, Etan Thomas. The big news right now is contracts. As you probably heard, Hakim Warrick signed a 4-year contract with Phoenix to replace the departed Amare Stoudemire. Melo has been offered a 3-year, $65 million extension by the Nuggets, but he has yet to sign it. There is a lot of speculation that he will instead play out his deal this year and test free agency next summer, looking to get out of Denver where it seems that they will never be able to put a championship-caliber team around him. On the other hand, there are serious collective bargaining issues facing the NBA after this season, and when summer 2011 rolls around, it might be impossible for Anthony to get even close to the money that Denver is currently offering. The other Cuse free agents out there are Etan Thomas and Jason Hart. Etan’s name has been tossed around in speculationary form by bloggers and such whose teams need a couple more big bodies, but he has not signed a deal yet; Hart is also still hoping to land somewhere.

NEW ZEALAND

Eric Devendorf’s championship-winning season in New Zealand was well-chronicled by Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, so we will direct you to that fantastic site for all the details. What he overlooked was the season that Josh Pace had down there in Kiwiland. Pace’s Hawks were eliminated in the playoffs by Devendorf’s Saints by a score of 98-92 in the semifinals, despite Pace’s 30 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds. Devo had 22 points and 6 assists of his own in that game. For the season, Pace averaged 22 points, 4 assists, and 5 rebounds per game, with a high of 38 points (14/15 shooting) back on May 21. Devendorf averaged 24 points in 7 games for the Waikato Pistons, before moving to the Wellington Saints where he averaged 23 points in 9 games.

JAPAN

Ryan Blackwell’s Osaka Evessa finished first in the West division this past season with a 34-18 record. They made it all the way to the finals but lost a squeaker, 84-56, to Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix. Blackwell ended the season averaging around 12 points and 6 rebounds per game for Osaka, including a 19-point, 10-rebound effort on May 4 as the regular season wound down. He had 9 points and 7 boards in the championship game. But the biggest news was that recently Ryan was hired to be Osaka’s next head coach. As for Terrence Roberts, he had 18 points and 8 rebounds in his final game for Saitama on May 1, and averaged nearly 12 points and 8 rebounds for the season. It’s unclear why he did not play in his team’s final three games.

EUROPE

Elvir Ovcina’s season in Germany ended with him averaging 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds for the year. His German squad did not make the playoffs, and in fact were really terrible all year, finishing with a record of 10-24. Kristof Ongenaet did not get into another game for his Italian League team. For the year he appeared in four games, totaling 28 minutes played, 4 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 fouls.

We already saw how Demetris Nichols did this NBA summer. But he also helped his French team to the league semifinals. After scoring only 14 points combined in the team’s last three games of the season, he turned it up for the playoffs. He had 11 points in their first quarterfinal game, a two-point win. He had only four points in the second game of the quarters but it was a blowout win for his side so no big deal. The semifinals went the full three games. Nichols had 15 points and 6 rebounds in game 1, and 13 & 5 in game 2. But he came up short in the deciding game, with only 4 points on 1-6 shooting.

In the last update I said this:

Matt Gorman and the Sheffield Sharks are headed for a postseason showdown. They finished in the #2 position in the standings. They, along with #1 Newcastle, are clearly head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league, and I expect those two teams will meet for the championship.

The famed Cuse Country Jinx has reared its ugly head again, because both Sheffield and Newcastle were bounced in the semifinals. Gorman had 23 points in Sheffield’s quarterfinal win (no box score handy). In the first game of the semis, he had 14 points and 8 rebounds in a three-point win. In the second game, he had 12 points and 5 boards in an eleven-point loss. And that was all she wrote, because they decide the two-game series on aggregate score difference rather than playing a third, deciding game. European basketball - catch the fever!

Oh, and the team that Sheffield lost to is the Glagow Rocks. Honest:

Apparently rocks in Scotland spontaneously catch fire.

Preston Shumpert also failed in his quest for another Turkish League championship. His team, Efes Pilsen, made it all the way to the finals where they fell in six games to Fenerbahce Ulker. He had 15 points in the first game of the quarters and 13 points in the second, shooting a perfect 3-3 from deep to continue his amazing shooting season. He missed his team’s first semifinal game but was back for the second; he only had five points in that game but his team won and moved on. The finals went six games, and Efes lost 4-2. Preston did not play his best ball in this series. He averaged just 5.5 points per game in the finals, and shot 6/19 from long range after being a 56% 3-point shooter over the course of the season.

The final tally for the former Orangemen: 10 playoff appearances (including 2 by Josh Pace), and 7 of those got to the semifinals or beyond. Four players made it to their league’s finals and two came home with championships - Devendorf in New Zealand and Pace in the ABA. Not a bad set of results all told.

That more or less concludes our Orangemen Professionals coverage for the 2009-10 basketball season. We’ll keep you up to date sporadically during the summer on player movements, and get back into full gear once NBA training camp and various European leagues begin in October.

By Josh | Posted in Andy Rautins, Carmelo Anthony, Demetris Nichols, Donte Greene, Elvir Ovcina, Eric Devendorf, Etan Thomas, Former Orangemen, Hakim Warrick, Jason Hart, Jonny Flynn, Josh Pace, Kristof Ongenaet, Matt Gorman, Mookie Watkins, Paul Harris, Preston Shumpert, Ryan Blackwell, Terrence Roberts, Wesley Johnson, syracuse | Comments (0)

NBA Summer League Update

July 16, 2010 – 12:39 pm

The three-week-long festival of essentially pickup basketball that is the NBA Summer League experience is winding to a close. The two sessions (first Orlando, then Vegas) have been dotted with Orange this summer. No fewer than seven former Syracuse stars have appeared on at least one Summer League roster. I bet you won’t guess which one just had a double-double though.

We’ll start at the top, with the #4 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Wesley “Crusher” Johnson. Wes had a reasonably good debut with the Timberwolves on Monday, scoring 10 points on 4-7 shooting (including 1-2 from deep). Surprisingly, he only grabbed one rebound. The general mood was that he began the game playing tentative, if not quite invisible, but picked it up as the game wore on. Unfortunately, Wes left that game early with a tight hamstring, and sat out their second game (yesterday) for precautionary reasons. No word yet on whether he will play in tonight’s contest or in any games the rest of the week. Jonny Flynn is also on the Wolves’ summer roster, but he’s been out with a hip injury. It’s the same injury that caused him to miss the final game of last season, and it sounds like it will keep him out of all the summer league action but he expects to be ready before the official start of training camp in the fall.

The other draftee from SU this season has not been hindered by injury, but hasn’t quite found his shooting stroke. Andy Rautins has played three games for the Knicks’ summer entry, starting all three. His first game was by far his best. He had 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 steals, shooting 3-8 from deep and 4-11 overall in 30 minutes of game time. The second game he played 25 minutes but tallied only 3 points (1-6 shooting from deep) and 1 assist. His minutes dropped off in the third game; he played only 13 of them. He had another three points (1-4 shooting) and 3 rebounds. He also avoided the turnover bug in the third game, after committing two turnovers in each of the first two games. Meanwhile Landry Fields, the guy the Knicks chose immediately after Andy, is tearing up the summer league. New York has two more games this weekend.

So that’s three guys; who else is out there?

Donte Greene, for one. He’s becoming a key member of the Kings as his game grows, and was undoubtedly encouraged by their front office to participate in this summer’s festivities (even though he’s entering his third year in the league, and most summer league players are rookies or have only one year of NBA time). Donte has played in three games for the Kings, tallying double-digit points each time. Overall he has averaged 13.7 ppg and 2.7 rpg, and is shooting over 55% from the floor in about 20 minutes per game. The Kings have two more games left too.

Paul Harris played for Utah’s entry in the Orlando summer league session last week. He didn’t have the greatest camp, but he did improve as the week went on. Most important, probably, was that he was back playing competitive ball after missing the entire season last year due to injury. In Paul’s first four games he played a total of 27 minutes and scored a total of three points, with one rebound in each game. But in the last game of the session he played 12 minutes and scored 6 points (on 3-4 shooting) with 3 rebounds and a steal. He didn’t get invited to the Vegas session, but may have done enough to end up in someone’s training camp. At the very least I expect he will make a D-League team this fall.

Then there are Demetris Nichols and Darryl Watkins, both of whom have participated in both summer league sessions, with different teams. Nichols was Harris’ teammate with the Jazz in Orlando, and had a better time of it than Paul did. He played in four games for them, starting one, and averaged 5 points in 11.5 minutes per contest, shooting 40% from deep and 44% overall. Then he moved on to Vegas where he hooked up with the Portland Trailblazers’ entry. He’s played in two games for them so far, playing 19 minutes per game and averaging 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds, and shooting 50% from deep (3-6) overall. He was held out of their most recent game, as they decided to play only 8 players in last night’s contest. Strange for a summer league game but when you are an organization that fires your GM immediately before the NBA Draft and then lets him run your draft anyway, you don’t necessarily have the best long-term strategy.

Finally, Mookie Watkins. Things are suddenly looking up for the Mookster. He was on the Pacers in Orlando, but didn’t make much of an impression. He averaged 1.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game for them over 4 games, shooting a ridiculously poor 18% from the field. He hoped for a fresh start when he got to Vegas to play for the Mavericks, but in his first game with the team he only saw 4 minutes of action, scoring 2 points (both from the line). That prompted a change. Mook jumped ship and switched his allegiance to the Spurs, who needed some size on the floor with DeJuan Blair out injured. (You may recall that Watkins was in training camp with the Spurs two years ago, but cut shortly before the season opened.) In his first game with San Antonio, he had 6 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes, impressing the staff enough to get a bit more court time. The second game he had 5 points and 5 rebounds in 25 minutes; on the downside, he also committed seven(!) fouls. But his most recent game was his most impressive. Mookie dropped a double-double on the summer league Lakers with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes. He was 3-7 from the floor and 4-6 from the line, and also contributed one steal and one assist. And he cut his fouls down to only six.

From the looks of it, Nichols and Watkins have done enough to earn an invite to a training camp somewhere. Whether they have enough to make a roster is questionable, but there is always that chance that they will hit the right combination of circumstances and make it. The ridiculous amount of player movement in this NBA offseason means a lot of uncertainty but we’ll keep you posted on where they end up in October.

By Josh | Posted in Andy Rautins, Demetris Nichols, Donte Greene, Jonny Flynn, Mookie Watkins, NBA, Paul Harris, Wesley Johnson | Comments (1)

Draft Thoughts

June 25, 2010 – 1:50 am

It’s been a quiet month in Cuse Country, and frankly it’s going to continue to be quiet over the summer, most likely. I do owe you news on the overseas guys, which hopefully will come early next week before the holiday. But for tonight we are focused on two fine Orange gentlemen who are about to get paid.

The top few picks of this year’s NBA Draft were known well in advance of the event itself. The Washington Post has been running stories about John Wall since at least Sunday. The Sixers, therefore, knew beyond a shadow that they’d be grabbing Evan Turner. And although rumors had arisen a couple days ago that the Nets might take Wes Johnson, this afternoon reports came across the wire that New Jersey had decided on Derrick Favors after all. Which left Wes to simply leap into the waiting arms of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had been coveting his services all along. And he did.

The Wes Johnson stories just about write themselves, and you’ve read them all, so we won’t go over that same ground here. And the Wes-plus-Jonny Minnesota angle has also been played all over the media. Assuming no further trades (which are not out of the question, especially if Rubio decides to come play for Minny which could make Jonny expendable) the main thing this accomplishes is that I have one less NBA team than I otherwise might have whose boxscores I need to check. It’s the SU fan’s perspective that I’m interested in.

I’m actually a little disappointed Wes didn’t go to New Jersey. Their franchise is, I believe, moving in a much better direction. They have a new billionaire owner who is going to put a lot of money into the team (supposedly) and should soon be moving to Brooklyn. Plus they play on the YES network which would keep Wes on the televisions of Central New York nightly. Minnesota on the other hand is like NBA purgatory. Since they lost Kevin Garnett they have been consistently awful. They get little media exposure — Wes’ Broadway smile is going to go to waste out there. I don’t know enough about the triangle offense that Rambis has installed to say whether Wes will fit in it properly; I do know that Jonny does not fit in it properly. The T-Wolves are approaching Clippers territory, and it’s too bad that they keep snapping up SU’s best and brightest. Two of the most talented players to come through the program — and two of the most genial personalities too. Jonny and Wes are the smilingest guys we’ve had recently (I guess to counterbalance Arinze) and in the right media market would be lighting up the cameras. Oh well.

As for Andy Rautins, first of all, holy crap. Picked at #38, about 20 spots higher than he had been projected in mock drafts (if he was projected at all). Picked ahead of talents such as DaSean Butler and Kevin Eubanks Devin Ebanks of WVU, Willie Warren from Oklahoma (who was projected near the lottery after his freshman year last year but returned to school), and even the undrafted Scottie Reynolds. Not to mention a bunch of serviceable big men (cough Harangody cough) who are often favored in the later rounds. Incredible.

What is even better for Andy is the team that picked him. The freaking Knicks! Talk about being on TV in CNY every night. Madison Square. And that’s all great. But here is the absolute best thing about being picked by the Knicks:

THEY ONLY HAVE FOUR PLAYERS ON THEIR ROSTER RIGHT NOW.

I’m completely serious. Here is the Knicks roster currently under contract for next season:

Danilo Gallinari
Wilson Chandler
Toney Douglas
Eddy Curry (who doesn’t ever play and is simply taking up salary cap space until next year)

They have options on a couple bench guys (Bill Walker and JR Giddens), but that’s about it. They could make an offer to Sergio Rodriguez to make him a restricted free agent. But they won’t, because they are hunting for big-time free agents, particularly the one who rhymes with JeLon Brames, and need the cap space. But no matter who they are, or are not, able to sign when free agency gets going next month, they are going to need 15 players eventually. This is the best type of situation for a second-round pick. Second-rounders, as you know, do not get guaranteed contracts. So if you get picked in the second round, you hope to be chosen by a team that needs players. And the Knicks fit that description better than any team in recent memory. Furthermore, New York didn’t even have a first-round pick this year — Andy was the first player they drafted. They then took Stanford forward Landry Fields with the very next pick — and that was it.

All this boils down to the fact that Andy Rautins is all but assured to make the Knicks’ roster this season. They will of course have a flood of non-roster invitees to their summer league and training camp, but the fact that they picked Andy, and picked him so highly, shows that they really feel good about his chances of making an impact next season. He’ll be their top rookie in camp. He’s going to get the main chunk of the media attention this week; I bet his photo is on the front page of Knicks.com already. (Update: it is.) Until the actual free-agent period gets underway, he’s the story. I can’t imagine a better result for Andy, once you consider that there was no way he’d go in the first round. In fact, if he hadn’t gotten drafted I’d be in this space right now suggesting that he get into camp with the Knicks if at all possible. New York is the land of opportunity this season. And, seeing as how the Knicks are the #1 NBA team in CNY, from the local fan’s perspective this is awesome news as well. We’ll be watching him on MSG all winter long.

Let’s hope they don’t trade him to the Kings or some shit.

By Josh | Posted in Andy Rautins, NBA, Wesley Johnson | Comments (3)

Glenn Sekunda, we hardly knew ye

April 27, 2010 – 4:00 pm

One of the recently-awarded prizes for the Cuse Country “Pick With Your Heart” NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge (or CCPWYHNCAATBC for short) was a game program from the February 1, 1992 matchup between SU and Seton Hall. The program’s cover features Michael Edwards, which is awesome enough by itself. But the interior is a treasure trove of early ’90s nostalgia, from the full-page color Jreck Subs ad featuring head shots of assistant coaches Bernie Fine and Wayne Morgan to the perforated page of basketball cards of Adrian Autry and Dave “Gus” Siock (2 cards each). Not to mention tons of ads for businesses that don’t exist anymore (Galveston’s Restaurant anyone?). But my favorite part of this program is the feature “Orange Gallery” story on freshman forward Glenn Sekunda.

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By Josh | Posted in Former Orangemen, In the Media, Interviews, Jim Boeheim | Comments (2)

2010 S.O.B. Awards - Best Crowd Sign/Prop

April 23, 2010 – 3:10 pm

Thank you, Glaude. And may I say, your unflagging efforts towards exposing and eradicating the Hoya Menace are sincerely appreciated. Orange Nation owes you a debt of gratitude and of honor for all that you do.

Now, on to the 2010 Syracuse Orange Blogger Award for Best Crowd Sign or Prop. This year saw a veritable cornucopia of fan-created visual aids that enhanced the Carrier Dome experience for all involved. Yet when the dust settled on the season, there were three in particular that stood out in the minds of the voters. Your nominees are:
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By Josh | Posted in syracuse | Comments (2)

2010 S.O.B. Awards - Best Player Quote

April 22, 2010 – 4:18 pm

Thanks, Idiots. If this had been the Oscars, we’d have interspersed performances of each of those nominated songs throughout the awards presentation. As it stands, though, I think we were better off having them all in one place — it’s easier to impose a quarantine that way.

Cuse Country is proud to present the 2010 SOB for Best Player Quote. We’ve got a fine field of nominees this season. As the world evolves, so has this category. A couple of years ago, the only sources of player quotes were postgame press conferences and news interviews. My, how times have changed. This year’s field includes some of these “traditional-style” quotes, but also some that were delivered via newfangled social media, and one that was delivered completely nonverbally. Today’s winning quote will go on to face “ITS NOT QUITTING IF YOUR NOT WANTED ITS MOVING ON REMEMBER THAT!!!!” in a steel-cage deathmatch as part of Syracuse University’s graduation weekend festivities this May.

Without further ado, here are the nominees:
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By Josh | Posted in Andy Rautins, In the Media, Interviews, Kris Joseph, Mookie Jones, Orange Blogosphere, Scoop Jardine, syracuse | Comments (1)

Pro Update 4-22-10 (Playoff primer edition)

April 22, 2010 – 10:02 am

Happy Earth Day everybody! We will celebrate by spanning the globe, checking in on SU alums playing ball far and near, all while leaving a minuscule carbon footprint. (Because my laptop runs on wishes and moonbeams.) This edition features a Matt Gorman resurgence in England, Terrence Roberts speaking out in Japan, and Preston Shumpert setting the nets on fire in Turkey. But, as usual, we start in the NBA.
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By Josh | Posted in Carmelo Anthony, Demetris Nichols, Donte Greene, Elvir Ovcina, Eric Devendorf, Etan Thomas, Former Orangemen, Hakim Warrick, Jonny Flynn, Josh Pace, Kristof Ongenaet, Matt Gorman, NBA, Preston Shumpert, Ryan Blackwell, Terrence Roberts, syracuse | Comments (2)

Godspeed, Wesley. Godspeed.

April 12, 2010 – 3:15 pm

Wes Johnson made official this afternoon what 99% of the universe expected. He’s declared for the NBA draft where he is a consensus top-ten pick, with an excellent chance of cracking the top five. Thanks Wes for one of the more memorable seasons in recent SU history. This year, with its unique story arc, will go down in Orange lore despite its untimely demise. Wes, too, occupies a unique position in the annals of Syracuse basketball. From the rumors that leaked out of practices the year he sat out, to his explosion onto the national scene at Madison Square Garden (coinciding with the team’s vault from nowhere into the top ten), to his playing through severe pain, to his triumphant return to form against Villanova, to Big East POY and 1st-team All-America honors. His play this year exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic SU fans. And his joyful, humble personality both on and off the court were a blast of cool fresh air over the landscape of a sport too often dominated by adolescent egos. I think I speak for everyone when I wish him nothing but success in the pros and beyond.

I haven’t wanted to look towards next season, but now that Wes has made it official I think it’s fair (C J Fair) to do so. The team loses three starters for the second straight season, and there is definitely a lot of uncertainty at this stage about how the team will look next season. I think the only 100% guaranteed starters are Rick Jackson and Kris Joseph. But does Rick stay at the 4, with another big man like Riley or Fab Melo manning the middle? Or does he move to the center spot, with Kris as the power forward and someone like Mookie Jones or C J Fair starting at small forward? In the backcourt, Triche is probably 95% to start based on this year, even though Scoop was playing better than Brandon by the end of the season. There is a small chance that JB could move Scoop into a starting role based on offseason and preseason practices. More likely is that they form the starting backcourt. But if Mookie ups his game, he could end up as the starting SG; Dion Waiters will also challenge for that spot. In either circumstance Scoop could remain the supersub. But based on the leadership role that Jardine seemed to be growing into this season, I’d bet he gets a starting nod one way or another. Then there is the question of where James Southerland fits into all this. We know he can shoot, and he is long and athletic, but he seemed lost on the court last season. Can he make the jump to prime time? Finally, there is still an outside chance that Brandon Knight could decide to come to SU (small but nonzero chance) and tangle up this whole scenario.

Whatever happens, only four players are returning who have seen much real game action. So there will be some rawness out there on display. And we know Boeheim is only going to play guys that he thinks are ready. So there is playing time available for whoever can step up and prove to the boss that he is prepared to contribute. Mookie, Waiters, and Riley probably have the best shot at it right now, but a lot can happen over the course of a summer.

I was about to say I’m excited for next season, but “excited” is too strong a word at the moment. Let’s say “tantalized”.

By Josh | Posted in Recruits, Wesley Johnson, syracuse | Comments (2)

“Pick With Your Heart” Results

April 6, 2010 – 1:39 pm

There are no losers here, only a bunch of people who didn’t win anything. And a few who did. Let’s go to the videotape!

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By Josh | Posted in Bracket Challenge, syracuse | Comments (0)

No-win scenario

April 5, 2010 – 5:01 pm

Talk about a gratuitous kick in the neck. A rooting interest in tonight’s NCAA tournament championship game is hard to maintain for a Syracuse fan. On the one hand, you have Duke. Everyone hates Duke. Duke is like communism. There are a few crazies out there who fall under its spell and become devotees, and spend their days supporting it and advocating for it, and smugly telling the rest of the country how awesome it is and how it makes them so much better than the rest of us. And the rest of us pretty much automatically hate it. (In this scenario, Dick Vitale = Fidel Castro: adherent to the cause that simply will not go away no matter how much we wish it.) Hating Duke is an American pastime, like drinking crappy light beer or gorging yourself at the Cheesecake Factory. Everyone does it. It’s in our blood. This season, they had a puff bracket with very little stiff competition on their way to the Final Four. They had very weak 2 and 4 seeds in their region; Baylor was not the weakest of the 3 seeds but they weren’t exactly world-beaters either. It was as if the selection committee laid out the blue carpet for Duke. Everyone recognized it as soon as the brackets were released. It feels like they didn’t really earn their spot in Indy. Plus, among college hoop coaches past and present, Coach K is second only to Steve Lappas in his resemblance to a rodent. (Though Lappas had the rat look down pat, while Kzyzyzyzyski is more of a ferret.) So it’s exceedingly difficult to root for them.

On the other side, we have Butler, for whom approximately 98% of the nation will be rooting. It’s an easy sell. Smallest school ever to make it to the finals, the underdoggiest possible team playing against traditional powerhouse where it seems even the walk-ons are McDonalds All-Americans. The whole hometown story. It’s a great story and it’s probably mostly responsible for the great ratings that this Final Four got over the weekend. And were circumstances different, I would be wholeheartedly on the side of the Bulldogs as they go for history. But as they have continued to advance in the tournament, I have not been able to stop thinking that it should have been us. It should be the Orange fans who were unable to sleep last night, brimming with anticipation. It should be Boeheim’s crew gearing up to face the Blue Menace in a few hours. We had it in our hands. We controlled our own destiny and we let those punks from Indianapolis muscle it away from us. You can say that the fact that Butler has advanced this far lessens the sting of losing to them, because it validates them as a high-quality team. But I don’t see it that way. I see them as having usurped Syracuse’s rightful place in the championship. I am 100% certain, for example, that we would have beaten them had Onuaku been healthy. 100% certain. The pace and flow of that game was tailor-made for his bruising skill set. So when I look at Butler, all I see are missed opportunities and lost chances. So it’s exceedingly hard for me to root for them either.

I’ve been going back and forth on this ever since Saturday’s results. If WVU had won, there is no way I’d be in this quandary. They’d be the obvious choice over either Butler or MSU, for conference pride and all that. MSU, while I’m still bitter about 2001, I’m not so upset that I wouldn’t have taken them over Duke in a heartbeat. But this is a tough matchup for SU fans to swallow. One of these teams is going to be the champs, and it’ll piss me off either way.

So, after much-soul searching, I’ve decided that at 9:20 PM tonight when the game tips off, I will be rooting for Jack Bauer and CTU. And being thankful that it’s baseball season.

By Josh | Posted in NCAA Tournament | Comments (0)