Sunday, March 24, 2013
Tournament Thoughts: Syracuse vs. California
They keep talking about all the Cal fans who are making the short trip to San Jose. But I definitely heard a sizable contingent of people doing the stupid Syracuse stand and clap til the first basket thing.
When Baye Moussa Keita catches the ball down low his first instinct is to do a pump fake. Go up strong!
Incredibly sloppy game. Tons of turnovers in the first half, horrible shooting in the second half. Tons of fouls also.
James Southerland has to learn to play better interior defense without fouling. He's lazy and late a lot of times and makes up for it by fouling. And Boeheim again left him in with 3 and he picked up his 4th, same as happened against Louisville in the Big East final which set up their huge run.
Putting Southerland on the bench takes away a major weapon on offense and it makes it harder for everyone else to drive, or cut. On defense though, I think Southerland plays better defense when he's in foul trouble because he doesn't reach or grab.
Syracuse should have won this game by 20, or could have lost it. They didn't play their best and Cal played even worse. And it's also very troubling how Syracuse consistently blows leads. Stupid turnovers, foul trouble and bad free throw shooting. This one didn't get really close, but it certainly could have. SU made 2 bad turnovers late, but both times Cal gave it right back.
Maybe my inexplicable love for James Southerland clouds my thoughts about this team, but I love CJ Fair. He is a great player and really won this game for us. He is great playing the zone, and the reason his rebounds are so good, especially for someone his size, is because he is always in the right position, crashing the boards, boxing out when the shot goes up. I love the dimension Southerland provides, Michael Carter-Williams has the most potential, and Brandon Triche is the team leader, but CJ Fair is the best player on this team.
So now comes the winner of Indiana-Temple. I know Temple already beat us this season on our pseudo-home floor at MSG but I would much prefer a rematch to a game against Indiana. I just don't see any way the zone can contain Oladipo and Zeller.
And I'm glad we put to rest the myth of the home court. There were certainly some Cal fans in the crowd, but that didn't make the slightest bit of difference.
I don't recall seeing Mrs. Boeheim on camera once that entire game. She must be pretty jealous of Amanda Marcum Enfield.
I've got school spirit.
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