Love the Jayhawks but they, or anyone else for that matter, must play through the Big East in March to win a national championship. Picasner's "blood on the floor" prediction was right on the money and, as expected, it was Andy Rautins, who picked up everyone else on the floor defensively, that absorbed and shook off hacks, shoves, and elbows to lead both of the SU teams that played tonight. The team that built a 23 point lead and the team that lost it.
Torrid Orange shooting (read Rautins with 26) and a stingy zone - up 23. Serious foul trouble, Onuaku and Jackson both on the bench with 4 personals, Rautins getting a short blow - Georgetown off on a huge run. Give the zebras a hand for aiding and abetting. Live in the lane, drag your pivot foot in the post, change your pivot foot down on the baseline, or plow through a Syracuse defender - all were good to go in the run for the Hoyas. With all that help it was a surprise that Greg Monroe only scored 20.
Once again Scoop Jardine's play sent Jim Boeheim's blood pressure into near-earth orbit leaving him little choice but to play Brandon Triche for 34 minutes. Triche responded with a decent effort although the Hoya guards all to easily penetrated the Triche - Johnson side of the SU zone or got open looks from 3 on ball reversals. Wes Johnson is still having problems scoring the ball and defending in the zone but, again, was solid on the boards and had 5 blocks.
What new did we learn tonight? We already knew the Orange are road warriors, that Jardine is an obsessive-compulsive dribbler, that the SU defense falls apart and the offense is clueless without Rautins on the floor, that Deshante Riley had only appeared in 1 previous Big East game for good reason, that Rick Jackson is one of the most underrated players in the league, and that scowling John Thompson's (senior) soul has been occupied by the Grim reaper, and that SU may be the best team in the country playing 5 on 5. What we did learn is that they, like everyone else, can't handle stretches of 5 on 8. And, oh, 27 - 30 from the line. Who were those guys?
Snowboarding and the women's downhill last night: After listening to the non-stop running commentary of repetitive drivel during both events I hereby publicly retract every negative comment I've ever made about the motor-mouth I love to hate, the Flaming Bald Eagle, Dick Vitale. Compared to the NBC analysts who did everything possible to distract us from thoroughly enjoying the spectacular performance of White in a half pipe and the gutty run of Lindsey Vonn in the down hill, Mr. Vitale shall henceforth be known as Taciturn Dick - although I turned off the sound on Taciturn Dick tonight. Just after he commented that he didn't see how SU could possibly blow their opportunity for a No. 1 seed in the tournament, they showed us all. Of course, Dick has never been a slave to facts or unable to make mindless overstatements. I wonder if anyone in Philadelphia was listening. We'll find out on the 27th.
And to Mr. P -
What story lines? Who plays left? Who cares?
Mountains out of molehills? Picasner's incessant Damon - Boras updates have already earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Drivel in a Not Widely Read Blog. How could I challenge such an experienced Mountaineer?
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