Watching the overtime session of the G’town/UNC matchup, I was giddy, literally on the edge of my seat, cheering and gesturing at every missed UNC shot, every clutch G’town rebound, every cutaway to a bewildered Roy Williams.  Up two…four…six…seven…  Georgetown was putting the finishing touches on an astounding and improbable comback, and I felt privilaged to have borne witness to this display of top-notch basketball, especially after having witnessed the first 34 minutes of pure agony.  My stomach had started at “unsettled,” crescendoed to “churning,” and after the third minute of overtime, was suddenly feeling relieved.  Final buzzer.

And then I thought: “What the HELL am I doing!?”

You see, I was brought up as a Syracuse fan.  Throughout my childhood, I was taught the same principles every young fan of the Orange(men) was taught:

• Rooting for Georgetown under any circumstances is unacceptable (even against Pitt).
• John Thompson is an evil, horrible person who abuses current players and recruits kids from prison–which, by the way, is where he belongs.
• Georgetown plays dirty while their coach intimidates the refs, who actually don’t need to be intimidated, because JT pays them off.

For goodness’ sakes, I almost used all of my allowance money on a t-shirt I saw at Manny’s that read: “Friends Don’t Let Friends Root for Georgetown,” which had a picture of the Hoya mascot’s mutilated corpse after an apparent car crash (I opted instead for the John Wallace jersey…probably a wise investment in retrospect.  The #44 is as versatile as it is storied.).

I even traveled to the Carrier Dome just so I could heckle the Hoyas.  Sure enough, the fans helped instigate a Technical Foul on that abusive SOB, JTII.  And at the time I believed he deserved two or three of them, followed by a police escort to the locker room.

And now look at me.  I’m cheering them on like they were my alma mater.

The thing is, it’s almost impossible not to like this current Hoya team.  The old Georgetown teams ruled the Big East by intimidation.  Their defense was relentless and physical.  Their offense was anything but pretty.  Players like Ewing, Iverson, Page, Mourning, Williams, et al. absolutely dominated people, and they did it with a mean streak.  They were eminently despicable.  Basically, they were easy to hate.

This team?  They share the ball.  Their passing is precise.  They play a brand of basketball that’s eye-pleasing and effective.  Hibbert, Green, and Wallace act like hard-working, upstanding players rather than me-first street-ballers.  They play smart defense.  And probably most importantly, there’s a different overall feeling to this team: instead of intimidating teams with physical brutality, they intimidate intellectually, making other teams look bad with backscreens and cuts to the hoop that produce open lay-ups. 

I mean, imagine if the New York Yankees cut their payroll in half, re-tooled their lineup with guys who were more blue collar and less primadona, and were taken out of Steinbrenner’s hands and placed in Rudy Giuliani’s hands.  It would be tough not to respect them, right?  Even as a Sox fan?  Seriously, they’d go from “I hate those damn Yankees” to “Well, they’re finally on an even playing field, and their players are real competitors.  I kinda like that team.”

That’s what’s happened to Georgetown.  Once upon a time, they were the Yankees, (or perhaps a better analogy, the Pistons of the early 90s).  And now?  They’re the Oakland A’s.  Likeable.  Hard-working.  Some might say overachieving.  Always fun to watch.

So, I suppose this is a sign that I’ve matured as a sports fan.  I don’t necessarily need to despise a team based on what color they wear or what a historic rivalry dictates.  I can now accept that the makeup of teams can change, and that a program can be dynamic…one season they’re punks…the next, they’ve got chemistry and inspire you to root for them.  Does it mean I’m soft?  Does it mean I’m a turncoat?

I don’t think so.

I want to see good basketball, and I want to see the Big East succeed.  And Georgetown couldn’t have done a better job of representing the conference this year.  So consider me a fan of the Hoyas.

Until they show up at the Carrier Dome.  Then I will hate them.

Categories: Commentary, Georgetown, Mister D, Postseason, Syracuse
4 Comments »

The selection committee sent a message to Syracuse yesterday.  We here at Big East Hoops were able to intercept the message using tactics we’d rather not divulge lest we incriminate ourselves.  The following is a verbatim transcript of the message:

Dear Coach Boeheim,

We regret to inform you that your team has not been selected to participate in this year’s NCAA tournament.  While we see you as a worthy candidate, this year’s class of teams was extraordinarily talented, and ultimately we did not have a spot for your squad.

However, we did have a spot for Arkansas.  Have you seen them play?  I mean, damn, they went 7-9 in the SEC West, competing twice a week against the likes of Mississippi, Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, and LSU.  Talk about a tough conference, ya know!?  And even though they lost to every team I just mentioned (with the exception of Alabama), they were able to beat those teams in the conference tournament, along with Vanderbilt and NIT beast South Carolina, on their way to the conference tournament final, where they proved once and for all that they were nowhere close to the top team in the SEC.

Oh…and I almost forgot about Texas Tech.  That Bob Knight is quite a character!  I love it when he yells at the refs and stuff.  So, like, despite losing 7 of their last 13 games to teams like Missou, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Baylor, and getting absolutely ripped by Texas (by 29) and Kansas State (by 21), we let them into the field of 65, because…well…losing to Texas by 29 is kind of equivalent to losing to Villanova by 3.  You see what I’m saying?  Yeah, we use sound logic here in the Selection Committee.  I particularly love saying buzzwords like “body of work” and then I throw in some French words like “repetiore” and “cache” to sound, you know, like we know what the heck we’re talking about.

So basically, we’re sorry we have to say goodbye to you this year, but we do want to congratulate you and your players on a fine season, and remind you that we don’t respect the fact that you are Syracuse and that you have a tremendously rich history in college basketball, we couldn’t care less that you went 10-6 in the Big East and that no 10-6 team in Big East history has ever been left out of the tournament, we don’t find your strong performance at the end of the season all that impressive (even with your wins over Marquette, G’town, and ‘Nova), we don’t acknowledge that you have a veteran squad with three senior starters, we will choose to ignore your decent showing at the Big East Tournament, and we would really, really like you to play in a more difficult conference.

Oh, and if you could go on the road for more of your out-of-conference games, that’d be great.   Doing this will make us like you better…for reasons that we can’t really explain all that well.

Cheers, and good luck motivating the guys for the NIT!

-The Selection Committee (consisting of representatives from Ohio St., UCLA, George Mason, Utah, University of California-Riverside, Kent State, Virginia, Princeton, The Horizon League, and the SEC)

Categories: Commentary, Mister D, Postseason, Syracuse
4 Comments »

About three days ago Syracuse was down and out. They were on their way to Providence and their fans were ready to see their team fall to the ranks of the NIT. I doubted them as well, thinking the Friars would take that game, but Nichols’ shot saved the game for the Cuse. I had a feeling about this one against G’town in the Dome, and those of you who read my post from last week know that. Still, though, the Orangemen impressed me. I don’t care if Georgetown is on big game hangover, you can’t play that way in the Dome, especially if you are the Hoyas. Like I’ve said before, I’ve been in the Carrier Dome for a Syracuse-Georgetown game, and after watching that 1997 contest, I said I’d never bet against Cuse over Gtown in that dome again. Once again, Cuse is in the House.

Syracuse is in the NCAA Tournament. I don’t care if they lose to Nova next week and lose to St. John’s in the first round of the BET. They’re in. And for weeks we’ve heard how Villanova is a lock. Watch over the next two or three days on ESPN, and you’ll see all these experts start to change their flavor. “Villanova now needs to beat Syracuse,” they’ll say. The Big East has their top 6 in, and it’ll be up to someone else at MSG to step up and get it done. And you know what, I think if Nova beats the Orange, they may lock down spot number 7, but still, you’ll see the experts start to change their tune about the Wildcats over the next couple of days. And it’s about time, because BigEastHoops.com has been calling that one for weeks now.

Categories: Big Willie Style, Commentary, Syracuse
5 Comments »

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 »

I can’t say I’m not disappointed in the season my beloved Orange(men) have put together this year. In fact, I’m bummed. This was supposed to be a fantastic year for them. They’re a team that starts three seniors (Roberts, Nichols, Watkins), has a top freshman in the country (Harris), and a junior point guard (Wright). They should be better. If they were a stock, they’d be rated “Underperforming.” If they were an NFL quarterback, they’d be Daunte Culpepper. If they were a supermodel, they’d be Tyra Banks.

The Cuse are 17-8 overall, 6-5 in the Big East. They have an underwhelming two quality wins (at Marquette, vs. Villanova). Add to that some lousy losses to Drexel, St. John’s, and UConn, and you have an eminently unspectacular bubble team, likely doomed to the NIT unless they can win four out of their next five and make it at least one round deep at MSG. Don’t hold your breath, Orange(men) faithful.

So, why? Why is this happening? What the hell is going on?

I have no idea, but here are a few possibilities:

• The Big Dog Dilemma. Demetris Nichols is the best player on Cuse, and should probably be First Team All Big East. He can score from anywhere, and will probably be a decent NBA player due to his extensive skill set. Therefore, get him the damn ball! His teammates should be passing the ball to him like every time down the floor…no excuses. Every team has a go-to guy, and Demetris fills that role. His teammates need to be less selfish, allowing him the opportunity to carry the team.
• Same old, same old. Boeheim is perhaps becoming way too predictable. I know, he’s a Hall of Fame coach, and I love the man more than most of my relatives. But by now teams know exactly how he calls a game, exactly what’s coming on defense and offense, and therefore they can adjust. I don’t think mean to speak ill of Coach B., but it’s a possibility, right?
• The Wright Stuff? Josh Wright is a good point guard, but sadly he’s not as good as he thinks he is. Gerry Mac was a great point guard because he understood that guys like Roberts and Watkins needed the ball in space. Gerry delivered on-the-money passes, and consistently found guys at the right time during a play. Wright still forces things…he’s not yet a great leader, and when he gets flustered, he tends to make bad decisions that make the team worse.
• Mother Nature. It snowed a lot in Syracuse. This must have something to do with their mediocre showing this year. Don’t ask me how.
• Diaper Dandy…sort of. Paul Harris was supposed to be the best player Syracuse has seen in a long time. However, his progression has been slow this season, and he clearly needs more time to develop and play quality team-oriented basketball.
• KarmMelo. First, Carmelo gets suspended for the sucker-punch. Then he teams up with a Georgetown alum. Bad karma all around.
• Eric-tile Dysfunction. Devendorf takes too many ill-advised shots. This is an objective, measureable, and indisputable fact. At least half of his FG attempts should go to Nichols, or to a spot-up shooter like Rautins. Sorry, Eric, but I think Coach Boeheim benched you for this exact reason. Now, please do not hurt me for the ED comment.

I suppose their performance could be chalked up to a combination of these factors. All in all, it’s been disappointing. I think everyone who follows Big East basketball would agree that this is a good team that should be much better than its record would suggest.
Of course, they’ll probably squeak into the Big East tournament, win the damn thing, lock up a 5 seed in the NCAA Tourney, and then lose to the 12 seed. Gotta love the Cuse.

Categories: Commentary, Mister D, Syracuse
3 Comments »