J-Fly, Devo, and a little too close for comfort

Jonny Flynn is the man. Period. This team saw a 14 first half lead knocked down to four. And J-Fly (the nickname is a work in progress, leave any ideas in the comments section) stepped it up. He buried three straight threes (one of which I had to answer the door. Who the hell collects canned goods when Syracuse is on?) and took a charge to spark a Syracuse run. They held onto that lead and won 97-89. Closer than it should have been, but better than losing like we have in previous seasons.



Back to Mr. Flynn, he finished with a game high 28 points and 9 assists, the 28 points breaking Melo's previous record for a freshman debut by one. But he stepped up when we needed him to, and that is better than any record. He made the big run and also had a huge assist to Onuaku for a jam to slow another Siena run.



The other player who really stood out in this game was Flynn's high school teammate, The Incredible Hulk (sorry, but the in depiction on the right Harris's muscles are a little small) had 14 points and 15 boards, tying his career high for rebounds. Just keep bangin' big guy.

Good night for the centers, Onuaku had 12 and 6, staying out of foul trouble. Arinze was also named male scholar athlete of the week. Rick Jackson was also impressive in his little playing time, scoring 8 points. He made easy layups, which I haven't seen a big guy for Syracuse do since, oh wait, that's right NEVER. Not too shabby for one of the "other" freshman.

And then there's Devendorf. Devo, Devo, Devo, what are you doing to me? Nice stat line (19 pts, 4 reb, 6 dimes) but so many huh? plays. After a steal when he was the only defender who could get back, Devendorf stopped to jaw at the ref. Another play he threw the ball away, and then jumped as the ballhandler approached him and the guy ran right by him. Let's put it together Eric, any day now.

Now I'll get to Donte Greene, who looks a little like how Greg Oden must have looked when he was 6. Solid game for Greene, 14 and 7 with 5 blocks, but not outstanding. He seemed very reliant on his jumper from beyond the arc. I want to see him post up a little more, or drive to the basket. Don't get one-dimensional on us Donte.

Problems. One big one, turnovers. Flynn had five and Harris had 6, the only blemishes on their sparkling evenings. I'm going to chalk this up to it being the season opener and these guys (meaning the team in general) are a little rusty. But if this keeps up we'll have a problem.

Let's give Siena some credit here too, they can play. They have some great shooters and they know what they're doing at all times. They made a second run in the second half after Paul Harris busted Kenny Hasbrouck's (Siena's leading scorer) nose hustling for a loose ball. Not to mention the fact that they outscored us by 6 in the second half. So a hat tip goes to the Saints here.



Overall, a good night for the Cuse. Bring the turnovers down a little and we'll have a great season.

Let's Go Cuse.