Syracuse vs. Oklahoma

Oklahoma 84 Syracuse 71
The game wasn't even that close, a complete embarrassment for Syracuse.
The reason Syracuse lost this game is because they had a horrible shooting night and played no defense. I don't blame Flynn's injury, the rout was already underway. I don't even blame Boeheim but it's so frustrating to see a team get killed because the opponent is just tearing up the 2-3 zone, and this coach who is supposedly so great, will never ever ever ever ever try something else. What if he had gone to man at the beginning of the second half? Would they have lost by 30? If so, big deal. Oklahoma was tearing up the zone, it wasn't working, but the great Boeheim stuck with it.

The sad part about this is I really like this team. They just weren't good enough to beat top teams, they lost to UConn, Pitt and Louisville, but they were getting better and had no seniors among their key guys. But Flynn is definitely leaving and Paul Harris will probably leave too because Boeheim hates him and rides him so hard. That's one of the worst parts about college basketball today from a fan's perspective, you don't get to enjoy the good players because they leave too soon.

:30 left
Oklahoma had 14 offensive rebounds, 8 by Griffin.

1:29 left
Great game by Flynn. He's a near perfect point guard, but don't believe that guard play wins in the tournament. Good big men will beat good little guys every time.

2:07 left
I would have chosen Spaghetti Jimmy too. How cute is that?

2:07 left
They made a brief run but now they're not even trying. They are letting Oklahoma get every rebound and loose ball. I won't say they don't have heart because they've shown they do. But they definitely quit on this one.

4:47 left
That chick behind Griffin's parents has big tits. I wonder if Griffin is banging her.

7:53 left
I love Jonny Flynn but why does he keep trying to dunk? I remember at least three times this year he missed like that.

10:19 left
23 point deficit, 10 minutes to go. That's what they call insurmountable. Oklahoma has made 9 of 16 3s.

15:43 left
Too bad Louisville is demolishing Arizona or they'd switch games and we wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

15:43 left
Devendorf gets layups block far too often.
Oklahoma is shooting 86% on their last 14 attempts. I guess that 2-3 zone isn't confusing them.

16:56 left
Oklahoma is socring every single time they have the ball. Any other coach might try changing up the defense but Boeheim is in the Hall of Fame. he must know what he's doing.

18:10 left
Great halftime speech and adjustments from the Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim.

18:21 left
After Flynn cut it to one at 18-17, Oklahoma went on a 28-9 run.

20:00 left
SU is going to need to play its best second half of the season to win this game. And they might have to do it without Jonny Flynn who busted his ass when he got run over by Blake Griffin. Discretion is the better part of valor Jonny.

Halftime
About as bad a first half as you could possibly imagine for Syracuse. They played good defense for a while then Oklahoma picked apart the zone. And the shooting was just awful. 0 for 10 from 3, they will not win like that.
Unless they somehow get hot I have very little hope for a comeback.

:53 left
We do not need Jonny Flynn trying to take charges on Blake Griffin.

1:59 left
What a save by Andy ruatins. If he's not hitting shots he needs to find other ways to contribute.

2:40 left
Jonny Flynn and Rick Jackson are the only guys playing well and trying to do anything. Arinze Onuaku is playing terribly. He keeps turning the ball over, he refuses to take it up strong. What happened to that guy?

3:26 left
Syracuse is 0 for 8 from 3-point land. They have no chance to win if that keeps up.

5:13 left
Oklahoma just got about 5 shots on that possession. SU cannot allow that, though I think a foul should have been called when Flynn ran into that guy.

5:54 left
Is anyone else experiencing problems with the signal? My picture keeps shaking and there's like static at the top of the screen.

6:55 left
Jonny Flynn starting to percolate. Great play by him. He recognized the mismatch, drove it twice then got some room for his jump shot. Three straight baskets by him. Beautiful, heady leadership from Flynn. Btw, I was so furious at Sports Illustrated for their regional cover gimmick because I got the one with Levance Fields. Thankfully someone at work gets it but never reads it so I stole one with Flynn on the cover.

9:50 left
You cannot save the ball under your opponents' basket. Terrible play.

10:15 left
Syracuse picked a bad team to into a teamwide shooting slump. They couldn't make any progress with Griffin on the bench because they missed everything.

11:57 left
Rarely do you see a guy wear a long sleeve shirt under his jersey. Wouldn't you think he gets a little sweaty?

14:37 left
Nightmare start for the Orange. Most possessions they aren't even getting a shot off. And when they do they miss it. This team cannot afford to get far behind.

15:37 left
Jackson and Onuaku can't catch. They've dropped passes, rebounds everything. If they don't start playing better on offense, Syracuse is going to get killed. They need to make Griffin play some defense, wear him down at worst and get him in foul trouble at best.

16:54 left
Two awful possessions, one by each team. A lazy Devendorf gets blocked from behind, then Blake Griffin knocks his own guy over.

17:15 left
Great pass and strong dunk. First basket, we can sit down and stop clapping now.

19:00 left
One minute, 2 possessions, 2 turnovers, 1 3-pointer allowed.

19:36 left
"Here's a look at Jim Boeheim." Not even 30 seconds and we get our first stupid face.

It's Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg calling this game. I hope to hear Clark say "the Orange need to squeeze the Orange." Or maybe he can say Andy Rautins has a "game like a baby's bottom -- soft but explosive."

In the tournament they say good guard play usually wins out. Syracuse has a definite advantage in that category. Willie Warren is good but Jonny Flynn is better. And with Devendorf playing in control, he gives Syracuse a dimension Oklahoma does not have.
But the problem for Syracuse will be Blake Griffin. SU has to adjust the zone a little bit to match up with him. They can't wait for him to catch the ball in close position before defending him. They also have to be very conscious of him or he will get 10 offensive rebounds. SU consistently allows opponents 20 offensive rebounds, if that happens tonight, they will lose.

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