James Boeheim - Continuing the Legacy(CH2k8)

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:32 AM

Good News/Bad News

*Phone ringing*

"Hey, dad." I could tell it was him before he even said a word. Ever since I was a kid I could tell something was wrong when he didn't say anything for a couple seconds. "What's wrong?"

The next 10 seconds of my life all came at once, a shock. He told me he was diagnosed with cancer again, and that he was forced to retire. When your dad is Jim Boeheim, you don't expect to hear him retiring. He's been around basketball his whole life, more importantly Syracuse. He played there, assisted there, and head coached there. He couldn't possibly be leaving, could he?

"Son, I can't imagine what you're feeling. I don't even know what I'm feeling. But listen: I told the A.D. to give you a shot. I've got great assistant coaches, but I want you to take my place."

This was just as shocking. I had a job as a high school coach right now, we weren't too good this past year, but naturally I had picked up some tactics from my dad.

I gave him my best wishes and gratitude, and returned to the TV. The Mets were playing the Marlins on opening day. I called mom to see how she was doing, and went to bed.

I couldn't sleep though. Sure it was horrible that my dad had been diagnosed with cancer again, after fighting it earlier in his life, but coaching at Syracuse? THE Syracuse? That history, those great players, all my responsibility, at age 32?

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:33 AM

It's Official

2 weeks later, as I was watching sportscenter, the little rundown screen on the right said BOEHEIM. I was intrigued at this, but of course I knew what it was about, my dad. After the Giants-Athletics highlight, the anchor drew a serious look on his face.

For some reason, I wasn't paying my full attention. Only certain words raced through my mind. Jim Boeheim...cancer...retire...replacement. The screen cut to Andy Katz, who dissected in every which way who could be his replacement. My name wasn't mentioned.

I turned the TV off and headed to work. I loved being a Coach for a living. I get paid to do what I love? My day consisted of scheming, drinking coffee, and more scheming. What's not to love?

_____

A couple days later, my dad was holding a press conference at the Dome. He was saying good bye, and thanking all the people who helped him overcome his problems over the years. But then he got into me again. Apparently the A.D. had given him permission to pick his own replacement, as a sort of "thank you Jim for all that you've done."

James Boeheim, head coach of the University of Syracuse Men's Basketball team. Nice ring to it, eh?

I hadn't slept in weeks, and...nothing changed tonight. Thoughts, dreams, swept through my brain.

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:34 AM

The team

Syracuse Orange
2007-2008

ROSTER (some players have been edited)

PG Johnny Flynn 77 ovr, 6', Freshman
SG Eric Devendorf 84 ovr, 6'4'', Junior, COF
SF Paul Harris 84 ovr, 6'5'', Sophmore
PF Donte Greene 76 ovr, 6'11'', Freshman
C Arinze Onuaku 71 ovr, 6'9'', Sophmore
6 SG Andy Rautins 70 ovr, 6'5'', Junior
7 SG Scoop Jardine 72 ovr, 6'1'', Freshman
8 PF Rick Jackson 69 ovr, 6'9'', Freshman
9 PG Josh Wright 70 ovr, 6'2'', Senior
10 PF Kristof Ongeutou 67 ovr, 6'8'', Junior
11 C Sean Williams 61 ovr, 6'11'', Freshman Redshirt
12 C Devin Brennan-McBride 59 ovr, 6'9'', Sophmore

Analysis: Bench goes 8 men deep, not much depth this year and a very young team, so Devendorf will have to be the leader. Paul Harris improved his jump shot over the summer and will need to play well. Johnny Flynn and Donte Greene form one of the most feared freshmen duos in the nation, as they are both excellent shooters and very athletic. Onuaku is the rock down low, as he'll have to be a brick wall in the center of the 2-3 defense.
Rautins is the shooter on the team, with an 87 3pt rating, and we could use him in some key situations. Jardine, the freshman, is athletic and also a very good shooter. Rick Jackson is the final man in the roation, and he's a good inside threat who will be subbing Onuaku out for some breathers.

SCHEDULE
Pre-season NIT
vs. Siena
vs Fordham
vs UMass
vs Tulane
@ Virginia
vs Rhode Island
vs E. Tennessee St.
vs Colgate
vs Cornell
vs Northeastern
vs St. Johns
vs USF
@ Cincinnati
@ West Virginia
vs Rutgers
vs Villanova
@ Georgetown
vs Providence
@ DePaul
@ Villanova
vs UCONN
@ USF
vs Georgetown
@ Louisville
@ Notre Dame
vs Pitt
@ Seton Hall
vs Marquette

Pre-Season Ranking: 17th
Other Big East teams: 5th Louisville, 6th Georgetown, 9 Marquette, 14 Pitt

BIG EAST INFORMATION

Best Player: Roy Hibbert, C, Georgetown, Senior, 89 ovr

Best Freshman: Johnny Flynn, PG, Syracuse, FR, 77 ovr
Best Shooter: Ronald Ramon, PG, Pitt, Senior, 79 ovr, 90 3pt
Best Playmaker: Levance Fields, PG, Pitt, Junior, 83 ovr, 92 HAND and PASS
Best Pro Propect: Roy Hibbert
Best Defender: Roy Hibbert

Further reading: http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/new/conferences/big_east

Projected finish: 3rd in Big East, 24-6

Predicted Big East standings:
1.

2.

3.

4.
5.

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:35 AM

First game

Oh man, this day couldn't come sooner. With recruiting and practicing all summer with the team, everything flew by. I don't see how my dad could do this for 30+ years. I'll admit, I threw up, but who doesn't? Sure it's Siena, but they're experienced and a pretty good team, especially at shooting.

5 minutes to tip off

Everything that's happened these past few months has been going through my head, I couldn't even give my guys a speach or anything. I just told them to go out and play for Jim. He called me earlier today to wish me luck, but I wished him more luck.

Everyone has been asking me who's starting, if there are any "underdog upsets." No. I play the guys who work the hardest and who want to be out there. I have Johnny (Flynn) running the point, and Devendorf of course and Harris, then Donte playing power forward and Onuaku holding us down in the middle.

I think I need a breath mint...

------------------------------------------------------------

ORANGE BASKETBALL BLOG
By Mike Brown

Pre-Season NIT vs. (1-0) Siena Saints
Carrier Dome

Orange 8, Saints 2
2 minutes into the game and Devendorf has 6 points, 4 on fast breaks. The Orange defense is forcing bad shots and turnovers and outrunning Siena to take a quick lead.

-

Orange 16, Saints 2
Siena just called their second time out with 8 minutes remaining. Devendorf glided towards the basket again, for his 10th points! Greene hit a fadeaway jumper from 16 feet away to extend the lead even more.

-

Orange 29, Saints 12
Siena has got some points by slowing down the pace of the game and getting it inside to their big men, but Syracuse keeps answering back with Greene and Harris leading the way (each with 6 points). 4 minutes left, and Rautins came in for Devendorf, Jardine came in for Harris, and Ongeutou subbed in for Greene.

-

HALFTIME Orange 43, Saints 23
The Player of the Half is easily Donte Greene. He's everything as advertised and then some. Greene has 11 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist in 10 minutes. Devendorf added 10 points, and Rautins has 7 points off the bench. The Orange are shooting nearly 70% from the floor, and are 8/8 from the charity stripe. The Saints are outmanned and have been outrebounded 13-4.

-

Orange 61, Saints 36
After the subs got some time, Flynn came out and and ran the length of the floor for an easy layup past the defenders. Syracuse continutes to dominate and now is slowing things down with 7 minutes remaining.

-

Orange 73, Saints 40
The crowd just exploded after Paul Harris slammed one home on a fast break. Syracuse is just dominating in every facet.

-

Final: Orange 85, Siena 54
Syracuse was on their game tonight, as everyone played extremely well. Transition defense could be a problem, but other than that there were no blatant problems. James Boeheim had a great debut with the Orange, and the win was well deserved.

Stats
FG %: Orange 70, Siena 44
3pt: Orange 8/12, Siena 3/13
Assists: Orange 17, Siena 16
Turnovers: Orange 3, Siena 2
Rebounds: Orange 27, Siena 9
Blocks: Orange 3, Siena 1
Fast break points: Orange 15, Siena 2

Players
Johnny Flynn: 5 points, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers
Eric Devendorf: 26 points, 1 rebound, 1 ast, 1 turnover
Paul Harris: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist
Donte Greene: 20 points, 2 rebounds, 5 ast, 1 steal, 1 block
Arinze Onuaku: 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 ast, 2 blocks
Andy Rautins: 9 points, 2 ast
Rick Jackson: 4 points, 4 rebounds

Next game: Tomorrow against 1-0 Saint Joseph's, continuing the NIT Tip Off

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:36 AM

11/13/07

Orange Basketball Blog
By Mike Brown

November 13, 2007
The Carrier Dome
vs. (1-0) Saint Joeseph's (81 overall, 85 shooting)

FRESHMEN TEAR IT UP IN SECOND HALF AFTER SLOW START

Orange 6, Hawks 8
6 minutes into the game Syracuse isn't doing so hot. They're turning ball over in their own half (3 turnovers) and not converting on their shots (shooting 30% from the field). Someone needs to step up on offense and get this crowd going.

-

Orange 14, Hawks 17
Again the Cuse can't hit a shot, and are getting killed on the inside post. There's 3 minutes left in the half, in what seems to be an extremely low scoring game. Saint Joe's PG Darrin Govens is dribbling right by Flynn and feeding Ahmad Nivins with great passes, and he's not missing. James Boeheim seems to have undermined the Hawks, as they're a very experienced and well-balanced team. Let's see if they can get their act together before half.

-

Orange 22, Hawks 20
The Dome has just exploded. Syracuse subbed in the starters, and boy were they ready to play finally. Paul Harris forced a bad three pointer on defense, Onuaku got the rebound, outletted to Harris, who outran the Saint Joe's players to the hoop and jammed one that nearly broke the glass. On the other end, the Hawks tried to catch Syracuse off guard by running up the court, but Onuaku held down the paint, jumped the passing lane, passed it up court to Devendorf, who took off from both feet and one handed it home. The commentators couldn't even be heard over the noise, and the PA guy didn't even bother with saying who scored. This game with a minute and thirty to play.

-

HALFTIME Orange 28, Hawks 25
What an eventful last minute of play. Following Devendorf's charismatic dunk, Rivera ran down court for the Hawks and hit a floater from the foul line, getting fouled in the process (he would make the And1). Down at the other end, Donte Greene attempted a flashy dunk but was fouled (and would make both free throws). The Orange then forced a stop, and Johnny Flynn and Devendorf had a 2 on 1 fast break opportunity. Flynn had a pretty no look pass to Devendorf, who layed it in for the deuce. Saint Joes would hit 2 more free throws, and Paul Harris posted up and hit a fadeaway at the buzzer.

Overall, a low scoring half, but Syracuse started to improve towards the end. They're 0-4 from three, and that needs to change. Outrebounding the Hawks 12-8 never hurts, and 8 fast break points compared to Saint Joe's 0 is what's keeping the Orange in this game.

Devendorf has 10 points and 3 assists, and Flynn adds 3 more assists. Donte Greene has 9 points, and Arinze Onuaku has 5 boards for Cuse. SG Tasheed Carr is the Hawks' leading scorer with 8.

-

Orange 39, Hawks 33
With 7:22 remaining in the half, Paul Harris has officially caught fire. The last few times down the court, Flynn has been penetrating and kicking out to Harris (who has 10 points), stacking his assists as hen ow has 7. Tasheed Carr is still managing to get open for Saint Joe's though, and as long as he's on his game with 14 points, the Hawks have a shot.

-

Orange 49, Hawks 37
Carr has cooled off, but Syracuse hasn't. 2 minutes later and Saint Joe's has called their third time out, as Flynn just got his 11th assist on an alley-oop-1-handed-lay-up by Paul Harris. Devendorf hit 2 straight threes, and oh yeah, the defense is pretty good too.

-

Orange 54, Hawks 37
Normally I woulnd'nt update this quickly, but Donte Greene just had the play of the game. Syracuse was slowing the game down, working it around the perimeter, until Rick Jackson was fed the ball in the post. He was double teamed, and fed the ball to a wide open Donte Greene who was standing under the basket. Greene and his amazing athletic ability, leaped up in the air, slammed it with one hand over the approaching center, AND was fouled. What a player.

-

Orange 61, Hawks 41
As time is winding down with less than 3 minute remaining, Donte Greene and Johnny Flynn and the rest of the starters just left the court. They sat down on the bench to a roar of cheers and standing ovations, and it was well deserved. Greene had THREE STRAIGHT and 1 shots, all but securing Syracuse's second win.

-

Final: Orange 66, Hawks 45
Well, a fantastic showing by the Orange once again. Sure it took them a half to warm up, but the defense came to play. A well balanced attack by James Boeheim's team led to this victory. The Orange were forced to abandon the 2-3 zone early on because of the great perimeter shooters of Saint Joes, but their man-to-man defense played excellent.

Stats
FG%: Orange 60, Hawks 43
3pt%: Orange 30, Hawks 24
Assists: Orange 19, Hawks 12
Turnovers: Orange 7, Hawks 8
Rebounds: Orange 24, Hawks 15
Points in the paint: Orange 38, Hawks 16
Fast break points: Orange 14, Hawks 0
Second chance points: Orange 10, Hawks 2

Players
Johnny Flynn: 7 points, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers
Eric Devendorf: 18 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists
Paul Harris: 12 points, 2 steals
Donte Greene (POTG): 18 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal
Arinze Onuaku: 2 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks
Rick Jackson: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

Carr: 18 points, 1 steal, 4-8 from three for Saint Joes

Next: Fordham (2-1)
The Orange will also advance further in the NIT, as they'll play the winner of the Washington - High Point game.

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:36 AM

11/16/07

Orange Basketball Blog
By Mike Waters

November 16, 2007
The Carrier Dome
vs. Fordham Rams (2-1)

'Cuse escapes a trap game against Rams

Syracuse went into tonight expecting a pretty easy victory. They found out they were going to play Washington in the next round of the pre-NIT, and even James Boeheim admitted he was looking forward to it. "Fordham is a very good team, and we underestimated them greatly. SG Stout is a great player and really hurt us with his all around ability. They had a ton of depth on the bench and loads of experience, which are two things we don't have."

Usually the Orange are used to running teams up and down the court, but with their bench, Fordham wasn't afraid to run with the big boys from Upstate New York.

Paul Harris led the way for Cuse in the early minutes, scoring 15 points in the first half, as the Orange took a 41-32 lead at the break.

The Rams wouldn't go down without a fight though. Stout and his mate, PF Bethel, teamed up to play some 2-man basketball. Fordham fought back and eventually took a 1 point lead with 3 minutes remaining, but Syracuse's big man Arinze Onuaku led the Orange back to the lead and never looked back. Turnovers eventually killed the Ram, and Syracuse prevailed, 83-77.

Stats
Rebounds: Orange 31, Rams 26
Assists: Orange 16, Rams 19
Steals: Orange 11, Rams 8
Blocks: Orange 4, Rams 2
Turnovers: Orange 12, Rams 18
FG: Orange 28-62, Rams 30-60

Players:
Johnny Flynn: 12 ponits, 5 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers
Eric Devendorf: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers
Paul Harris (POTG): 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 5 turnovers
Donte Greene: 8 points: 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks
Arinze Onuaku: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block
Andy Rautins: 5 points
Scoop Jardine: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Rick Jackson: 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block
SG Stout: 14 points, 2 steals
SF S. Greene: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
PF Bethel: 14 points

Next: Now the Orange can look forward to their semi-final NIT game against Washington. The Huskies are 2-0 and 83 overall. Luckily, their star PF Jon Brockman (82 ovr) is injured. SG Joel Smith (78 ovr) will have to be the leader, and fellow SG Ryan Appleby is the shooter on the team (89 3pt).

Appleby is averaging 14.5 PPG, as is Brockman, who also adds 9 RPG.

The other semi-final matchup in the tournament is #13 Texas A&M against UW-Green Bay, who upset Ohio State in the first round.

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:37 AM

Around the NCAA: Nov 19-26

This Week's Games of the Week:
3-0 Syracuse vs. 2-0 Washington
2-0 Michigan State @ 3-0 Maryland

Syracuse's schedule for the week
Nov. 21: Washington (NIT)
Nov. 22: NIT Championship/Consolation game

Top 25 (schedule given for top 3 and big east teams)

UNC (2) 2-0 W @ Davidson, W vs Iona
Memphis (3) 4-0 W vs. Tennessee Martin, Richmond, OU, UCONN
Kansas (1) 2-0 W vs. ULM, W vs. UMKC
Michigan State (--) 2-0
Louisville (--) 2-0 W vs. Hartford, W @ Jackson St
Marquette (9) 2-0 W vs. IUPUI, W vs. Utah Valley St
Duke (10) 1-0
UCLA (7) 2-1
Oregon (15) 4-0
Georgetown (6) 1-1 L vs. William & Mary, W vs. Michigan
Tennessee (8) 1-1
Syracuse (17) 3-0
Texas A&M (16) 3-0
Texas (19) 2-0
Illinois (22) 2-0
Clemson (23) 3-0
Indiana (21) 1-0
Arkansas (--) 4-0
Pittsbrugh (14) 2-1 W vs. NC A&T, L vs. Saint Louis, W vs. Miss Valley State
Wisconsin (11) 3-1
Villanova (NR) 1-0 W vs. Stony Brook
Kentucky (12) 1-1
Stanford (NR) 5-0
Maryland (25) 3-0
Florida St (20) 3-2

**chestnutz6** · 11-23-2007, 01:38 AM

Injury Report

Breaking News

(November 19th) Eric Devendorf hurt his hand in practice the other day, and is listed as day to day. Coach Boeheim has stated he doesn't want to take any risks, and will be out for at least 11 days. That means he'll be missing the Washington game and whoever they play following the win/loss, and the UMASS game on the 28th most likely.

Andy Rautins will take Devendorf's spot. The sharpshooter has played well, but don't expect him to play the whole game like Devendorf would sometimes do. Scoop Jardine and Josh Wright will be playing more in Devendorf's absence.

**superjames1992** · 11-27-2007, 07:54 PM

Re: ~~James Boeheim - Continuing the Legacy~~(CH2k8)

Nice start. I am following Chestnut!

**RAZRr1275** · 11-27-2007, 08:51 PM

Re: ~~James Boeheim - Continuing the Legacy~~(CH2k8)

I'm following. And does choops actually have it so that a guy can get hurt in practice?

**chestnutz6** · 11-29-2007, 07:00 PM

Re: ~~James Boeheim - Continuing the Legacy~~(CH2k8)

I'm not sure, probably. I just checked one day and he was hurt in the middle of the week.

Orange Basketball Blog
By Mike Brown

NIT Tip-Off, Semifinals
Carnesecca Arena (St. John's Red Storm)
(3-0) #12 Syracuse Orange vs. (2-0) Washington Huskies

Orange 11, Huskies 4
With 9 minutes remaining in the half, Syracuse has taken a quick lead. Washington has really slowed down the pace of the game, and James Boeheim really doesn't like that. 'Cuse doesn't have much of an offense going on, just Paul Harris, who has been hacked twice and made all 4 free throws, adding to his 8 points and 3 rebounds just 3 minutes into the game. The Huskies have missed a lot of shots and can't get the putbacks to go.

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Orange 18, Huskies 9
Boeheim has switched to a Box and 1 defense, with Paul Harris guarding the Husky sharshooter Appleby. Donte Greene has started to take over, as he just had an and 1 post move to extend the lead with 6 minutes left. The Husky trio of Quincy Pondexter, Ryan Appleby, and injured Jon Brockman will have to step up if Washington wants to pull the upset.

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Orange 27, Huskies 17
Washington's shooters have finally hit some shots, and surprisingly Appleby isn't in the line up when it all happened. Paul Harris continus to dominate with nearly half of Syracuse's points (13) and 4 boards. The inside guys for 'Cuse have stepped it up, as they need to with Devendorf out.

-

Halftime: Orange 37, Huskies 34
Washington has staged a comeback, on the back of Ryan Appleby. Appleby has 17 points on 3/4 shooting from three. Syracuse has their own star though, Paul Harris, who has 13 points and 4 rebounds. Arinze Onuaku has done well in the paint, with 8 points and 4 boards. If the Orange want to pull this game out, they'll have to turn the level of the pace on 10, and get ready to run.

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Orange 49, Huskies 48
With 8 minutes left, we have a doozy of a game going on. Washington tied the game up early on, and took the lead soon after. Since then, it's been going back and forth between the two teams, as Syracuse has really upped the tempo of the game. The Orange are lucky to have Onuaku, as he has had many second chance points for 'Cuse. 14 points, and 4 offensive rebounds (all but 1 came in these last 4 minutes, and 7 total rebounds) have helped Syracuse stay in the game.

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Orange 56, Huskies 54
The 'Cuse just had the play of the game. Appleby took a three, but had two guys in his face and it clanked out of the rim. Pondexter snatched the rebound, but his shot hit off the side of the backboard. Brockman got that rebound, but Onuaku/Greene blocked him. Andy Rautins got the rebound, ran upcourt, crossed a man over, and took it to the hoop with two guys in his face, slamming it home. The Huskies were forced to call a time out.

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Orange 69, Huskies 67
The back and forth game has continued. The Huskies took their biggest lead of the game after Appleby hit consecutive threes to go up 4. Syracuse clawed their way back though, with Donte Greene leading the way. He hit 1/2 free throws, stole the outlet pass following his missed free throws, threw it up to Rick Jackson who slammed it home, and now he's doing it on the defensive end, with two huge blocks, giving Syracuse the momentum back. Following his second block, Johnny Flynn took it up the court, pulled up from the free throw line and hit it while getting fouled to give 'Cuse an 8-2 run.

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Orange 74, Huskies 76
With less than a minute remaining, Quincy Pondexter was fouled after making a shot to tie the game at 74. He missed the free throw, but Jon Brockman got the board and put it back up to take the lead late late in the game.

-

Orange 79, Huskies 76
Seconds later, Donte Greene posted up, and the Huskies found him a threat so they double teamed him. Greene layed it off to Paul Harris, who was open in the corner for a three, and the sophmore sensation wouldn't disappoint, making the score 77-76. With 30 seconds remaining on the other end, Harris bit on the pump fake by Appleby, and Appleby drove to the basket from the corner, BUT MISSED THE LAY UP! Greene grabbed the rebound, and the Huskies are forced to foul.
Flynn missed the opening end of the 1 and 1, but fortunately who else, but Arinze Onuaku was there for the rebound. Could the 49 rated free throw shooter hit his 2 shots? Yes, the man who carried the Orange on his back all second half managed to

-

Final: Orange 81, Huskies 76
Appleby had a shot to tie the game with 16 seconds left, but Scoop Jardine got in his way and Greene got the rebound. The youngster was pressured though, and missed the free throw. Onuaku wasn't there for the rebound, and Washington had another chance. Appleby would miss another three, and Onuaku got the rebound and made his free throws to close out the game.

Syracuse escaped a very close one tonight in the absence of their leader, Eric Devendorf. Sophmore Paul Harris stepped up though, with the clutchest shot of his young career. Arinze Onuaku earned player of the game honors, carrying his team in the second half and not having a bad statistical day either. All Syracuse starters were in double digit scoring. Appleby was honed in all day, but was able to come away with 31 points. Harris stepped up his defense on him late in the game, as did the rest of the Orange. Once this team gets going, they're going to be hard to stop.

Stats
Orange, Huskies
FG%: 60, 53
3pt: 6/13, 8/19
Assists: 18, 17
Fouls: 6, 13
Total rebounds: 23, 24
Offensive rebounds: 9, 11
Blocks: 3, 2
Points in the paint: 38, 36
Second chance points, 15, 15
Fast break points: 8 ,2

Players
Johnny Flynn: 13 points, 5 assists, 1 turnover
Andy Rautins: 11 points, 1 rebound ,2 assists, 1 steal, 3/7 from three
Paul Harris: 16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2/3 from three
Donte Greene: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1/2 three
Arinze Onuaku: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Rick Jackson: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Justin Dentman: 5 points, 9 assists, 2 turnovers
Ryan Appleby: 31 points, 3 reounds, 7/12 from three
Quincy Pondexter: 18 points, 4 rebounds
Jon Brockman: 6 points, 7 rebounds

Next: Wisconsin-Green Bay upset #13 Texas A&M in the other semi-final, so Syracuse will be playing the 5-0 Horizon league team. The PG Fletcher scored 18 points and had 6 assists against the Aggies, so Flynn will have to guard him well.

**chestnutz6** · 11-29-2007, 07:01 PM

Re: ~~James Boeheim - Continuing the Legacy~~(CH2k8)

Orange Basketball Blog
By Mike Brown

NIT Tip-Off, Championship
Carnesecca Arena (St. Johns)
(4-0) Syracuse Orange vs. (5-0) UW-Green Bay Phoenix

Orange 4, Phoenix 13
Syracuse has come out slow tonight, and the great Green Bay shooters have capitalized with 3 threes. The Phoenix have their own 2-3 defense going, and it's stifling the Orange. 9 minutes remaining.

-

Orange 12, Phoenix 16
Syracuse has started to come back, as the defense stepped up and Onuaku just had an and 1. Troy Cotton, the 87 rated 3pt shooter, is killing the Orange with 11 points already. Looks as though Coach Boeheim has put Paul Harris on him instead of Andy Rautins now.

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Orange 19, Phoenix 23
The Phoenix can't miss a three right now, and every time 'Cuse makes a run, they answer right back. With three minutes to go, let's see if the Orange youngsters can turn it on before half.

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Half: Orange 27, Phoenix 27
Syracuse has finally tied the game up, but in order to win the game they're going to need to shoot better from beyond the arc (1/5). The defense is doing great though, forcing 6 turnovers. Donte Greene leads 'Cuse with 9 points and 3 rebounds and a block, and Onuaku has 7 points. Cotton is shooting 3/3 from three, but fortunately he hasn't scored since the first few minutes (11 points). Andy Rautins is doing horrendous today, with plenty of missed, open threes. Let's see how the Orange can hold off against this underrated Phoenix squad.

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Orange 35, Phoenix 33
'Cuse has finally taken the lead, but are not able to extend it any further than 2. Rautins still has only 4 points on 2-9 shooting and is 0-5 from three, and just missed a WIDE open jumper from the corner. One thing is for certain, Green Bay is not going down without a fight against this big time school.

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Orange 43, Phoenix 40
Paul Harris just hit a three to put the Orange up by that amount. Rautins finally made one when he was wide open, but again, the Phoenix keep answering back and chugging along. Something's gotta give any minute. 5 minutes remaining.

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Orange 53, Phoenix 48
All Andy needed was a spark. Rautins now has 13 points, 9 of those coming in the last couple minutes. He's hit 3 straight threes, and the Orange are starting to pull away with just under three minutes remaining.

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Orange 55, Phoenix 50
58 seconds to go in this one, Orange ball, and it's going to come down to the wire. Look for Green Bay to go to their main man, Cotton, and look for 'Cuse to go to the stud Donte Greene here.

-

Final: Orange 60, Phoenix 53
Green Bay didn't stand a chance against these composed young'ns. "I'm proud of my team. Even though they're inexperienced, they showed me a lot today, after they held on to win two straight very close, important games. We'll celebrate this championship tonight, but it's called NIT Season Tip-Off for a reason, and we have a lot of basketball to play the rest of the year," Coach Boeheim said after the game.

Syracuse showed they can win a low scoring game too, and not win by just outscoring their opponents with their talent. Turnovers killed the Phoenix today, as they finished with 8, as opposed to the Orange, who took care of the ball with only 2 turnovers. Free throw shooting needs to improve down the stretch if 'Cuse wants to go deep into March, as they missed 5 of their 14. Still, a win is a win, and a championship is a championship. The Orange improve to 5-0, and I don't see them losing until conference play starts.

Stats
Orange, Phoenix
FG%: 49, 50
3pt: 5/14, 8/17
Assists: 14, 17
Rebounds: 22, 20
Offensive rebounds: 8, 2
Steals: 8, 2
Blocks: 4, 1
Points in the paint: 30, 14
Bench points: 4, 14
Second chance points: 8, 3

Players
Johnny Flynn: 5 points, 4 assists, 1 block, 0 turnovers
Andy Rautins: 13 points, 4 steals, 3/8 from three
Paul Harris: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Donte Greene (POTG): 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Arinze Onuaku: 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Rick Jackson: 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Rahmon Fletcher: 7 points, 5 assists, 4 turnovers
Troy Cotton: 21 points, 3 assists, 5/8 from three

Next: The Orange will take on 78 rated UMass, who's 1-4 currently. Massachusetts is led by senior SF Gary Forbes (78 ovr), who is averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds a game.

Note: I bumped up the difficulty from all conference for the game, and it showed. I might make halves 13 minutes.

**chestnutz6** · 11-29-2007, 07:01 PM

Week In review: Nov 19-25

Player of the week
Bo McCalebb (New Orlenas) 31 points, 8 rebounds

Games of the week (this past week)
UCLA (3-2) 79, MSU (4-0) 88
Louisville (5-0) 97, UNC (4-1) 85

Top 25

Memphis (2) 5-0 W vs. Arkansas St
Kansas (3) 4-0 W vs. Northern Arizona, W vs. Arizona
North Carolina (1) 4-1 W vs. S Carolina St., W vs. Old Dominion, L vs. Louisville
Louisville (5) 5-0 W @ UNLV, W @ BYU, W @ UNC
Michigan St (4) 4-0
Duke (7) 5-0
Oregon (9) 6-0
Indiana (17) 4-0
Clemson (16) 4-0
Georgetown (--) 2-1 W @ Ball St.
Arkansas (18) 5-0
UCLA (8) 3-2
Tennessee (11) 3-2
Marquette (6) 3-2 W vs Alabama A&M, L vs. LSU, L vs. #20 Illinois
Stanford (23) 7-0
Syracuse (12) 5-0 W vs. Washington, W vs. UW Green Bay
West Virginia (--) 3-0 W @ #13 Tennessee, W @ #21 Texas
Texas A&M (13) 4-1
Wisconsin (20) 4-1
Illinois (15) 4-1
Texas (14) 3-1
Florida St (25) 5-2
Georgia Tech (NR) 4-1
UConn (NR) 4-1 W vs. Gardner-Webb
California (NR) 3-0

Coach Boeheim had this to say about Syracuse's ranking. "Are you serious? We win the NIT Tip Off and we DROP 4 spots!!?? It's propostrous, it really is. Good thing rankings never meant anything to my father, and they don't to me."

Big East Leaders
Points
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame - 23.4
Roy Hibbert, Georgetown - 20
Randall Hanke, Providence - 19.3
7. Donte Greene, Syracuse - 15.2

Rebounds
Jeff Adrien, UConn - 9.8
Hasheem Thabeet, UConn - 9.8
Aris Williams, USF - 9.3

Assists
Geoff McDermott, Providence - 7.3
Dominic James, Marquette - 7.2
Eugene Harvey, Seton Hall - 7.2

3pt shooting (made 3pt shots)
Jamar Nutter, Seton Hall - 12
Jerry Smith, Louisville - 11
Kyle McAlarney, Notre Dame - 10

Syracuse leaders
Points
Donte Greene - 15.2
Paul Harris - 15.0
Eric Devendorf - 10
Arinze Onuaku - 9.2
Johnny Flynn - 8.4
Andy Rautins - 8.2

Rebounds
Onuaku - 7.6
Harris - 5.8
Greene/Rick Jackson - 3.8
Kristof Onguetou - 2.3
Devendorf - 1.2

Assists
Flynn - 5.8
Greene - 2.4
Devendorf/Harris - 1.6

Orange games this week
11/28 vs. Massachusetts (1-4)
12/1 vs. Tulane (1-3)

**chestnutz6** · 11-29-2007, 07:02 PM

11/28

(1-4) UMass Minutemen @ (5-0) Syracuse Orange
November 28, 2007
Carrier Dome

Takin' Care of Business in the Dome

Syracuse came into the game pretty cocky, believing they had an easy win on their hands. But Gary Forbes and the Minutemen wouldn't roll over that easily.

'Cuse came out of the gates fresh off their NIT Tip Off championship, and took an early lead. They went into the half up 38-31 after UMass clawed their way back at the end.

In the second half it was all Orange all the time, as they won the half easily, 48-32. "I'm still a little concerned about the defense, but the offense has been working together fantastically without Eric (Devendorf, who may return in time for the Tulane game on Saturday the first)," said Coach Boeheim.

Unfortunately for 'Cuse, another injury occured. Freshman stud Donte' Greene hurt his hip early in the game, and despite playing through the pain will have to be out for 12 days at least. Paul Harris may move up to PF and once Devendorf returns, Rautins willtake over at SF. Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine will get more playing time.

Final: 86-63

Stats
Orange, Minutemen
Rebounds: 41, 31
Assists: 12, 11
Steals: 10, 7
Blocks: 8, 3
Turnovers: 14, 21
3pt: 10/20, 5/16

Players
Johnny Flynn: 20 points, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 3/6 from three, 22 min
Andy Rautins: 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3/6 from three, 28 min
Paul Harris (POTG): 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 25 min
Donte' Greene: 5 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 33 min
Arinze Onuaku: 3 points, 10rebounds, 4 blocks, 26 min
Scoop Jardine: 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Rick Jackson: 7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
Gary Forbes: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 33 min

Next: December 1st against 1-3 Tulane. The Green Wave have a high powered offense that scores 78.5 PPG (Cuse scores 77 per game) and gets nearly 35 boards a game. Their star PF David Gomez is a bit injured (16 PPG, 8 RPG), as is their second best scorer, sophmore PG Kevin Sims (11.5 PPG, 6 APG).

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