Why, why, why?!!!

Ok, first off, it's finals week and I haven't been able to watch any of the games (no coverage, not because finals are more important), so I haven't been able to dissect the games.

Now to the important stuff. Devo's gone. Done for the year. You already know this. Syracuse.com broke that he is eligible for a medical redshirt this year, which is about the best news we can get at this point.

What this means for the team:

• Donte Greene, here's your chance to carry us big fella. You are now our only perimeter player who can consistently create your own shot (and if you think he's a power forward you're kidding yourself). Donte really has to step it up now, and carry this team through scoring droughts.
• The defense needs to step it up. We're losing 17-18 points per game, and we need to make them up on the defensive end. We need to focus in the zone, keep it moving, put the pressure on the opposition. We give up too many easy shots that now must be contested.
• We need an outside shooter. Fly Jonny's opening night aside, I don't trust his jumper at all. I haven't seen enough of Scoop to know about his shooting. Harris is improved, but not a threat. Basically, I'm hoping Justin Thomas can shoot. At this point I have no idea, but right now Donte is our best shooter with Devo and Rautins out.

Fortunately, we had a dominating win over ETSU and the easiest part of our schedule coming up. We need to use these games to perfect the zone and get Thomas acclimated to playing for a big time program, if he is going to get as many minutes as are reported, which is likely with the loss of Devendorf and apparently Josh Wright (too bad Mike Jones left because of lack of playing time, this would have been his chance).

One thing I would like to see is a big lineup with Harris at the two and Greene at the three, with Onuaku and Jackson down low (not my idea, thanks Axeman). I like Harris' toughness at the top, and the length on the bottom. However, putting Onuaku (doubtful) or Jackson on the wing could cause problems, as they may not be quick enough to play there.

At least we have a few games to try things out. Just gotta take care of business.

Let's Go Cuse.

Syracuse @ Virginia Recap

Ok folks, sorry about the long layoff (last two weeks of the semester=work, work, work. But aside from that college is great). The boys looked good in the win over Virginia. Key points:

• Donte Greene showed his inside scoring ability when we needed it. Down the stretch he hit an open three, but drove to the hoop or backed his guy down on a couple of occasions. Complete package, this kid. 20 pts, 10 reb, 3 blocks.
• Fly Jonny Flynn looked a little out of control in the first half, but had a great second half. He's shooting way too much from the outside though, and from way too far away. But he only really forced one shot in the second half and looked great.
• Onuaku was quiet tonight, didn't hear his name too much.
• This team actually looked like they gave a crap on defense. Devendorf and Flynn were harassing Virginia's guards all night. Great hustle and we looked much better than we had in games past. Also helped that Virginia could not figure out how to work the zone.
• Kristof Ongenaet runs like the skinny kid in Superbad (watch the first 14 seconds, you'll get the gist). I wish I was kidding.
• One bad mistake: Harris gets a rebound near the end of the game, in a situation where Virginia needs to foul, and he HOLDS THE BALL!!! Sure enough, he misses the front end of the one-and-one. Fortunately, we hung on, but he needs to pass the ball to Devo or Flynn in that situation.
• Sean Singletary missed his first five free throws, after starting the season 45-48. We won by two.

We played well, but got a little lucky as well. He makes one more free throw and he doesn't have to intentionally miss at the end (if you believe that the game would have unfolded in the exact same way, which I doubt).

But, all in all we had a good game, still need a little work though. Fortunately, this is a big road win, improving our non-conference schedule.

Eat it Gottdweeb.