I have to hand it to those Syracuse bloggers Orange Hoops and Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician. Sometimes I get tired of reading about the intricacies of the 2-3 zone, and I just want to know about who the Orangemen really are. What keeps Paul Harris up at night? What does Josh Pace like to eat? You know…the important things.

• On Wednesday, Orange Hoops stalked the crap out of the Syracuse roster on Myspace. They find the profiles of Josh Pace, Paul Harris, and Arinze Onuaku among others. By the way, Paul Harris’s favorite TV show is Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
• On Thursday, Orange Hoops pulls out the trump card — Craig Forth’s Myspace page. Mr. Forth is married now and, lo and behold, Orange Hoops also presents the blog he and his wife share (yes, including wedding pictures). I’ve already contacted Craig to get a restraining order on that blogger Jer over at Orange Hoops.
• This is a Youtube gem from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician. I also went to school in upstate New York, so I understand how bored these kids get in the winter. But you know, I’m sure glad I went to college when there was no Youtube. Otherwise, there’d be somebody laughing his ass off at me…

  I don’t know about that fingering on the keyboard, though. What do the piano players in the audience think? Is it accurate…or is he bullshitting us?

Categories: donald, Syracuse
3 Comments »

So here’s where we are right now, Pitt and Georgetown look real good, as does Louisville. Notre Dame and Marquette have been dueling for that last bye for weeks now, and the best news here, is that they’ll be meeting in South Bend this weekend. And the rest, well that’s a mess. We’re sure about Seton Hall, USF, Rutgers and Cincinnati ending their seasons a little early, but teams 6-12 are a total mess, but hopefully, I can shed some light onto what will happen over the next week and a half.

After Sunday March 4th, the standings will be:

1. Georgetown
2. Louisville
3. Pittsburgh
4. Notre Dame
5. Marquette
6. Providence
7. West Virginia
8. DePaul
9. Syracuse
10. Villanova
11. Connecticut
12. St. John’s
13. Seton Hall
14. USF
15. Rutgers
16. Cincinnati

Now, here’s how it’ll happen:

First off, the top of the league. Pitt at Georgetown this Saturday. I can’t wait. This game is clearly the game of the year so far in the conference. I realize that Pitt has been the frontrunners all year, but I think they may actually need this game a little more than the Hoyas. Their closing schedule is very difficult and includes a trip to Marquette, and also a home game against West Virginia. And I’ve seen enough Pitt-WVU games to know that this one is usually a toss up, no matter what the strength of the teams. Example-Last March, the Garden, I watched Pitt dismantle West Virginia even though the ‘Neers were the favorites. It’s a rivalry, you get the idea.

A slightly easier path lies ahead for the Hoyas. First off, they have Pitt at home. The rest of their schedule reads @ Cincinnati (tonight), @ Syracuse, and UConn at home. They should score fairly easy victories over Cincy and UConn which would get them to 12 wins. Then a victory over Pitt at home would give them 13, which is the best Pitt could do considering the G’town loss, and the tie-breaker would then go to the Hoyas. So even if they lose to the Orangemen in the dome (I saw one SU-G’town game live in the dome in 97, and after that game I’d never pick the Hoyas in that dome again), a victory over Pitt would get them that #1 seed. By the way, I saw Donovan McNabb dunk in that game. I liked it, but not as much as Mister D did.

Then we have Louisville. They’re sitting pretty with a 9-4 record and SHU, UConn and SJU left on their schedule. By the way, if Pitt drops 2, and the Cards run the table, Louisville will be your #2 seed, and the Panthers will drop to third. And that’s what is going to happen.

Finishing fourth will be Notre Dame, followed by Marquette in 5th. The Golden Eagles have gone in the tank the last few weeks, and now sit in serious trouble with ND and Pitt left on their schedule. They’ll be in the NCAAs, but they won’t do anything there. Backing into the tournament the way they are, is not the way to finish a season. Perhaps they’re still a year a way from seriously contending in this conference. I think they can beat Pitt, because I don’t like the way Pitt is playing either, but they won’t beat the Irish. Notre Dame will beat Marquette and Rutgers and finish in 4th.

After the Golden Eagles, I have Syracuse, West Virginia, DePaul, Providence and Villanova all projected to finish approximately 9-7 or 8-8. I’ve got the Friars finishing 6th because they have the eaisest remaining schedule, and I could definitely see them winning their final three and finishing 10-6. At worst, a 9-7 finish for PC.

Following them in 7th place will be the Mountaineers. WVU is currently 8-6, and they’ll likely finish 9-7 and that would put them into a tie with DePaul, who will also finish 9-7. However, WVU already beat the Blue Demons, and would have the tiebreaker for a 7th place finish.

Did I say Providence had the easiest schedule? Yea, that was a lie. DePaul has Cincy and USF at home. They’ll win both. And I believe that leaves the Cuse at #9. Wow! They’re 8-5, are they really going to lose their last 3? Maybe. They’ll lose at Providence, and they’ll drop at least one to either Villanova or Georgetown. They could lose both, as the Orangemen have a tough finish to their schedule.

At #10 I have the Wildcats. NCAA locks? RPI says so. Somebody tell that guy he’s crazy. After Nova beats Rutgers, they have a game at UConn, which I believe they can lose, and also a home date with Syracuse. They’ll be 7-7 after the Rutgers win, and I certainly don’t see them winning their final two. They’ll finish 8-8, or maybe even 7-9. Don’t worry though Nova fans, you’ll make the tournament as an 11-seed and get beat in the first round.

The final two teams to make the Big East will be UConn at #11 and St. John’s at #12. They’ll both likely finish with 6-10 records and since the Huskies beat the Red Storm earlier this year, they get the 11th spot.

Making the NCAAs will be Georgetown, Louisville, Pitt, Notre Dame, Marquette, Providence, Villanova and either DePaul, Syracuse or West Virginia, depending on who does the best in the Garden. Yea, we’ll get 8, but not 9.

So there you go, no need to watch the next two weeks of hoops. Come March 4th, we talk about how the Irish are going to beat 3 consecutive top 25 teams to win the Big East Tournament.

Categories: Big Willie Style, Commentary
13 Comments »

• Feisty, tenacious defense. Bodies hitting the floor, elbows being thrown. Lots of fouls (54 to be exact). That’s what comes to mind when I think of Marquette vs. Villanova. And pretty much, that’s what we got — the play below pretty much sums up what happens when the Golden Eagles play the Wildcats:
  

• I like Dominic James. Sometimes he dribbles too much and doesn’t know where he’s going, but he’s got a ton of heart. And ups. Check this out:
  
• Is it pronounced Dominique, as in Dominique Wilkins…or is it
  Dominic, as in the kid in Kindergarten Cop (Random trivia: the actor who played Dominic was actually two actors — twins!)? Jay Bilas repeatedly called him Dominique, but I think it’s the latter. Any Marquette fans know the truth?
• I was right about Villanova being a good offensive rebounding team from the other night. Here are the stats. They rank 11th in the country, according to stats-wizard Ken Pomeroy.
• Last year, I thought Nardi was the heady one amongst Foye, Ray, and Lowry. He was the one wiling to run the pick and roll with Sheridan, instead of taking wild forays into the lane. This year he seems to have lost his head. I chastised him last game for making some bad plays. This game was better. But still, take a look at this clip (there was 26 seconds left on the shot clock).
  
• Weak, Grey’s anatomy-watching men take charges. Real men (i.e. Marquette’s Wesley Matthews) flop.
• So, is Villanova in or out? I think they’re in, despite the two close losses.

More on this game from our impartial Big East friends:

• Villanova viewpoint
• Cracked sidewalks
• Let’sGoNova

Categories: Commentary, donald, Marquette, Villanova
3 Comments »

While sitting on my couch watching the NBA All-star game and thinking about how MuWarrior92 of Cracked Sidewalks is living it up in Vegas, I realized…wow, there are a lot of Big East players in this game. So I ran the stats..and (drumroll please)…

More conclusive evidence that the Big East is the best conference in the land. The stats are:

1. Big East (6): Caron Butler, Richard Hamilton, Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen, Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson.
2. ACC (5): Chris Bosh, Vince Carter, Carlos Boozer, Tim Duncan, Josh Howard.
3. The World (4): Dirk Nowitzki, Mehmet Okur, Tony Parker, Yao Ming
4. Pac-10 (2): Gilbert Arenas, Jason Kidd
5. Big 12 (1): Chauncey Billups
6. Mountain West Conference (1): Shawn Marion
7. West Coast Conference (1): Steve Nash
8. SEC (1): Shaquille O’Neal

And…of course, the college to go to if you want to go the pros…is the School of Hard Knocks (i.e. no college whatsoever) with seven All-stars: Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Jermaine O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudemire.

Categories: Commentary, donald
2 Comments »

Props go to Ryan Parker on this one. We don’t know who you are, but we like you.

Categories: Big Willie Style, Commentary
3 Comments »