Syracuse Pre-Game Discussion

[SFHoya99]

My take:

Hoya Prospectus

I feel better about this game after the Providence game, but it is still an awful matchup.

[HoyasAreHungry]

kind of dumb to say but here especially against a zone oriented cuse team....shoot the ball well and we win bottom line

[guru]

this is a tough matchup for the Hoyas. The Orangemen have given us trouble since the JT3 era began, and they have a big body in Onuaku that has the potential to dominate the boards, and a couple of good shooters and scorers. We'll have to play better and shoot MUCH better than we have lately to get a very important win.

[KHoyaNYC]

I don't see this as an "awful" matchup. Cuse probably rebounds a little better than us, Flynn is always a major danger to take over a game, and of course they play zone D. But that's about it. On rebounding we've improved the last two games and I think we can keep that reasonably even. Flynn is an X factor but I think we have a good shot to contain him with Sapp/Wright etc. Finally, I don't buy that we can't break down a zone. We crushed UCONN's zone (admittedly different than Cuse's) and, in the second half of the Providence game, Greg ate Providence's zone alive. Greg can kill this zone if we execute well.

I also think this a great opportunity to break out of our shooting slump. If Syracuse dares us to shoot over the zone, we shouldn't be shy about pulling the trigger. We have good shooters. And once we extend that zone, Monroe will be all the better to do the damage he is capable of.

[SirSaxa]

Wright will have a big challenge vs. Flynn.
'Cuse is good. Top 10 team.
We are at home.
We need Jason and Henry to continue contributing.
This could be a really good, close, exciting game.
We'll see how far our team has come, and how far we still have to go.

[royski]

Greg's been spectacular this season, but he can really start to make his mark as a truly great Hoya if he comes up big in this one. As JTIII said, the Duke win was nice, but Cuse was nicer. It's Georgetown-Syracuse. That's what it's all about. We have to defend our court.

[MassHoya]

Royski is right. GU- Syracuse is the big one, home or away, in the regular season, whether we play Duke or not, whether we are 11-3 or 3-11. Everyone has to step up. The youngins need to know how important this is. Rebounding is improving and we are due for a good shooting game, so we should be able to crush them. Harris is as much a concern as Flynn, though.

GO HOYAS!!! BEAT SUcks!!!

[Hoya50]

i really think the hoyas caught a scheduling break by having to play providence prior to su. providence played zone almost exclusively against the hoyas and naturally that's what they're going to see on wednesday. i haven't seen su play yet. to those that have, how aggressive has the su zone looked to you? i think boeheim modifies the intensity of the zone based on the personnel of his squad.

with the recent play of clark and sims, i'm optimistic that the hoyas can put together a solid game and beat the orange on wednesday.

[williambraskyiii]

When the polls come out tomorrow, Syracuse should be a consensus Top 10 team. Georgetown, having gone 1-1 for the week, shouldn't drop past 13-14 in either poll. If my very brief research is correct, this will be the highest ranked showdown between these two teams since January of 2001 when it was 13th ranked Georgetown losing at the Carrier Dome to 8th ranked Syracuse. For a home game, it goes back further than that since the February 2001 game at MCI Center was between 21st ranked GU and 17th ranked Syracuse (a 72-61 victory for GU).

Suffice it to say, by the numbers this is shaping up to be the most highly touted matchup between two traditional and bitter rivals in a very long time...and it is at our HOUSE! I hope that the crowd is very loud and energetic because this is what college basketball is all about...there is NO more hated rival on this Board, or in the gtown community at large, than Syracuse and the recent events involving their program further illuminate a crystal clear good vs. evil scenario. I want our fellas to beat the pi$$ out of them.

GO HOYAS!

[daytonahoya31]

This is a tough matchup, a very tough matchup.

I think Flynn is the best point guard in the country. There isn't a PG in college basketball that's more explosive than him, and the most dangerous part about him, this season, is that he's become unselfish and he's making his teammates better players. Last season he was shooting everything and we only had to guard against his scoring. Now, he's become multi-faceted.

I've been saying all along that Chris is the second best PG in the Big East. This is his most difficult matchup this season, and Flynn is the best player we've faced this season. It's that simple.

Harris is a tough matchup because of the way he hits the boards. He's playing the best ball of his career. Onuwaku we know. He's a beast and Rautins is a lights out shooter.

We have to score points to win this game, a ton of them, like 80 of them. I really believe that. I think we can, partly because I think Greg will help us shred their zone. But we have to shoot well, we have to rebound and get the stops we can get. We have to take care of the ball.

The Cuse is a confident, brash team right now. They were dunking all over Rutgers, hanging on the rim, talking trash, staring them down when they hit the floor. We have to bring them down to earth.

But make no mistake. I think, pure talent wise, that this is the most talented team in the league.

[lichoya68]

agree this is a BRUTAL matchup i think one of the worst .. REMEMBER that last year rautins out.. now theyve got three from the slugger and rautins. onuwaku like he shut down all our bigs alot this summer in kenner flynn might be the best point guard in the big east and harris is tremendously talented and this year has been much more consistant. we need an A+ game for this on nothing less. it is cuse we need to beat them good vs. evil microphone hitters vs. calm jt3 and i wont even mention the one game suspended thug who didnot even complete his community service for LAST years violation.. GOOD MUST TRIUMPH wright must make right AND BY THE WAY THE FROSH OUR SWEET FROSH weve got good and plenty of talent all around mr. GREGORY monroe,, MR. OH HENRY and MR. CLARK SO quesss what after the proveidence game we now have our frosh the yougins HAVE arrived and we will need em for the cuse and they are THE THREE MUSKETEERS. YUP SWEET CANDY GREAT YOUNGINS THE THREE MUSKETEERS go hoyas go musketeers.

[GUJook97]

Agree with everything that has said, especially the point that this is going to be really fun game to go to. Love the middle of the week battle, with the students back, with two highly ranked teams.

[vcjack]

I would love for Henry's new streak to continue on Wednesday, although I'm sure Cuse's zone is more physical than ND's or Provy's. If our outside shots aren't falling, the Greg/Henry combo will be our best zone busting strategy.


I will also put the number of confiscated Devendorf related signs at 50, anyone want to bet the over/under?

[hoyaddict]

With regards to Devendorf, I am encouraging all of my female friends to attend the game with make-up created black eyes. For the game itself, SUcks zone is one of the best we'll face and has given us trouble for years. We made progress against Providence's zone running the office through Greg as the free throw line and I would love to see that same game plan.

[RBHoya]

From what I hear on Saturday night Cuse fans "took over" the RAC and proceeded to act like.... well, like themselves I guess. Devendorf was dancing all over the court, talking smack to Rutgers fans... Apparently the assault incident and the subsequent lenient punishment haven't caused him to tone down his antics at all (a surprise to nobody), and in fact the Orange fans seem to respond more to him now than ever before.

I definitely can't bear to see the same happen at our place on Wednesday. I am sure they will have lots of fans in the building, they always do. But I REALLY hope we can win the game and shut them up. Won't be easy, but Monroe seems like a good fit to bust up the zone from the high post.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Syracuse is always a hard matchup due to their zone, but obviously the providence game was encouraging. We will need to shoot better form three to win this game though. The other main worry for me in onuwaku. He's very strong and physical and could easily push around our bigs and get them into foul trouble.

We have to beat the cuse at home. End of story.

[FLHoya]

Jan 11, 2009 16:21:28 GMT -5 daytonahoya31 said:

I think Flynn is the best point guard in the country. There isn't a PG in college basketball that's more explosive than him

Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and say this qualifies as explosive:



Yikes.

Interestingly, you'll also get a flavor from the clip of what RBHoya talks about...as it begins with the announcers alluding to something a Cuse player did to set off the RU fans and ends with ample shots of Cuse fans celebrating (and jeebus, why not after THAT).

Interesting that this will rate highly on the best matchups at Verizon Center in terms of rankings. Last weekend when we played Pitt I couldn't come up with another example of us playing a team at home while we both were in the Top 10.

Let's say Cuse is around 8 or so and we're in the 12-15 range. That puts it in favorable territory with IIRC the 2007 Pitt game (8 vs. 12) and 2008 Louisville game (11 vs. 12). At the very least, I think it'll add something in terms of "on paper" prestige that hasn't been there for a DC-based GU-Cuse game since that 2001 contest. And it's on a Wednesday night? Something ain't right.

It'll be a battle too. Without any scientific basis or analysis behind this claim, I imagine this will be extremely close--I'd say a one possession game either way.

[CTHoya08]

Their uniforms really are hideous.

[smittydakid]

First time poster. i really love this site. Just found out about it this year. Being a long time Hoya fan, Cuse always gives us trouble. We will have to pass real well to find holes in that d. G-town frustrates me so much cause i think they over pass, but if they hit there shots everything else will fall into place.

[saxamaphone]

From what I've seen of them, Onuaku is much improved over last year. He's nowhere as good a Blair, he'll be a load on the glass.

Make shots, spread the zone, crash the boards.

You can't spell sucks without SU.