1st Half
6:49 - I tune in to “CitrusTV” for the ‘Cuse Countdown pre-game show, put on by Syracuse University students. Going to Ithaca, I honestly have to say, I wasn’t all that impressed. It was a good show, but coming from Newhouse I guess I might have been looking for something more mind-blowing. Three observations:
- The host is absolutely frightening. He looks downright devilish whenever he waits for a package to begin, and has a very orangey skin color going on. Skin that dark, in Syracuse, during December? Someone has obviously been hitting up Total Tan.
- One of the color analysts looks EXACTLY like my good buddy from Cornell, Dan Discenza. (Him and the SU guy are compared at the top). It's Danny D and SU pre-game color guy lookalike day!) Back when my high school was featured in MTV’s Made, I along with my friend Conor (a dirty Notre Dame fan) made t-shirts with the phrase “Danny D Not Guilty” It looks like this is Danny D’s second stint on television. Ironically, I am also seeing him for the first time during the game Syracuse plays Cornell. I am convinced this is really him.
- The pre-game show exits with the popular Dr. Dre song Xplosive. That audio director must have been sleeping in the same place that the team did for the first half, because he forgets to lower the sound when Kurupt’s lyrics begin. I won’t get into specifics, but let’s just say one is a four-letter word beginning with “S,” while the other was a five-letter word beginning with “N.” Yeah… Let’s just say that I don’t think the Syracuse producers will be too happy with the individual running the audio board at the end of the telecast.
7:02 – Live from the Carrier Dome, it’s Mark Larson and Danny Liedka with the call from courtside! Dan is actually my friend Marc’s uncle, so that’s kind of cool. He is also the mayor of East Syracuse. I am just full of fun facts tonight.
7:03 – NO! Paul has the cornrows back in place. It’s a shame he didn’t go all out with the Dr. J look.
7:06 – Cornell is starting a freshman tonight at point guard, as the starter is injured. If Jonny Flynn doesn’t eat this guy alive and control the game from the opening minute, then I don’t know anything about sports.
7:07 – Cornell Center Jeff Foote is generously listed at 245 pounds, but he is 7 feet tall. Arinze weighs 275 but is only 6’9. Should be an interesting battle in the post – look for Arinze to muscle him around. This would be an appropriate time to state that I had a conversation with Jeff Foote last year at an Ithaca party. Warrants mentioning.
7:09 – Cornell comes out in zone and forces Paul to throw up an off-balance shot the first possession. Ryan Wittman, Cornell’s all-time leader in 3-point percentage, hits a deep one on their first possession. Hopefully that doesn’t keep up.
7:10 – Jonny’s on the board. Cease the clapping.
7:11 – And one for Cornell. Danny Liedka gives us this gem: “This is a very smart team. They go to Cornell, they’re smart for a reason.” I loved that.
7:11 – Paul gets a dunk from a Jonny pass, 6-4 Cornell. Arinze gets a rebound and collides with someone knocking him to the floor, leading Danny to drop another one: “I don’t know if Tyler’s a physics major, but if u go up and challenge Onuaku, you’re probably gonna lose.” He’s on his A-game tonight!
7:12 – Cornell hits another 3, making it 9-4. Is anyone really worried yet though? We might need to put the clamps down with a quick switch to man to man. SU calls timeout and Rick is already subbed in for Arinze.
7:15 – Joseph is in and immediately scores off a turnover on a 2-on-1 fast break with Devendorf. Nice.
7: 16 – Nice up and under by Jeff Foote. He’s pretty coordinated but his legs look like Twizzlers.
7:16 – Pull up 3 by Jonny, making it 13-9 Cornell. He’s got 5, which takes us to the first media timeout.
7:21 – Cornell hits their 4th three on a ridiculous bounce that hit the rim at least 3 times, and Syracuse is losing 20-9. What the hell are they doing right now? It looks like we’re going to have to overcome yet another early deficit.
7:24 – 25-9 Cornell after a 16-3 run. This is getting a little out of hand, and there could be trouble if we don’t stop the run right now.
7:28 – Syracuse answers with a Rautins 3 and some free throws by Devendorf. 27-16. We can deal with this.
7:32 – Syracuse is playing ridiculously sloppy and keeps throwing up unwarranted 3 pointers. Why are we playing like we’re Cornell and they’re Syracuse? BODY THEM UP! YOU ARE BIG EAST ATHLETES! THEY ARE IN THE IVY LEAGUE!
7: 36 – Slowly getting back in it again. 33-24 Cornell after 2 free throws from Paul Harris. Those FTs would have been a dunk if Andy Rautins passed the ball up earlier on the fast break. Single digits.
7:37 – Paul is taking over. 33-28 Cornell after 4 quick points. “It’s turning out to be a good hair day!” Danny Liedka exclaims!
7:40 – Paul rebounds and pushes the ball up the court quickly, where Arinze is fouled on a lay-up attempt. Arinze, very Shaq-like from the line, misses both. His free throw and shooting percentages should be flipped.
7:43 – Random question: what is Andy Rautins attempting to accomplish with his hair? My partner in crime tonight, Jeff Benz, made the comparison between Andy and English Premier League footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Their hair is exactly the same! From now on we are only referring to him as Cristiano Rautins.
7:45 – Suddenly, Syracuse can’t score and Cornell has regained control. The score sits at 35-29. Jim is not going to be a happy camper in the locker room at half time.
7:48 – Wittman has 4 threes in the first half as the score is stretched to 38-29. His stroke is very reminiscent of a former CNY high school star, Cicero-North Syracuse’s Dan Benz. Both could really shoot a three ball.
7:50 – With 1:55 remaining in the first half, Devendorf makes 2 free throws and the score sits at 40-32. They can’t seem to get it under 7 or 8.
7:53 – The Orange are within 6 as Devendorf hits 2 more free throws. Less then a minute to go in the half. Cue the full court press!
7:56 – Rautins tries a skyyy high three from around half court at the buzzer that almost falls. Cornell leads by 5, 40-35. In the words of the real Danny D, “No reason to ever be down against Cornell when their team’s combined weight is prolly less than Onuaku’s.” I completely agree. He goes to Cornell, so he would know.
What a rollercoaster ride of a first half. Let’s take a look at some key points:
- For one, we obviously came out of the gate flatter then Kate Bosworth. The guys were still taking their pre-game nap or something. How were we ever down 22-9 at one point? It should have been the other way around.
- Jonny is playing well, as anticipated. He was really the only one who seemed to be ready from the start, as he has 13 points at half. I look for him to finish with around 23 or 24, and to keep leading the charge.
- Where’s Arinze? The announcers are talking about how badly Jeff Foote is outplaying him. That is a sad statement, and it just can’t happen.
What’s my guess? I think SU pulls out a routine victory as they come out for the 2nd half with their heads on straight. Something tells me that Jimmy is gonna take care of that inspiration in the locker room. We’ll see shortly.
2nd Half
8:12 – Syracuse starts with the ball and Arinze immediately hits a hook shot and gets fouled, 18 seconds in. Hits the free throw. Syracuse down 2 points, 40-38. Do you think they might have told everyone to get him the damn ball?
8:13 – BULL-SHOT! Kristof swoops in with a monster block on a jump hook that was probably goaltending. Regardless, that’s how they do it in Belgium, boys.
8:17 – The Orange inexcusably get out-hustled by Foote for a loose ball, after a desperation heave by Wittman to beat the shot clock. Liedka says of Foote, “Remember when you were playing wiffleball and someone hit it over a neighbor’s fence because no one could reach it? He could reach it.” Yes he could. Foote follows that up with a huge dunk inside to make it 42-38 Cornell.
8:20 – The game is tied! Steal by Rick Jackson, who throws it up for Jonny, who calmly throws down a two handed dunk. Why am I getting so excited to pull into a tie with Cornell? I don’t know.
8:21 – Devendorf makes a nice lefty lay-up to give SU their first lead, and Wittman answers right back with a three.
8:23 – Phenomenal lefty lay-up in transition by Jonny Flynn, who for no reason proceeds to scream for 5 seconds after the play. Liedka gushes about his body control, commenting that Cornell attempted drawing a charge but he maneuvered right by them.
8:26 – Wittman hits his 6th (!) three to give Cornell a 48-46 lead. Devendorf follows that with a charge. Great.
8:28 – Wittman hits his 7th(!!) three, which gives him his career high in that department. What the hell?
8:30 – Arinze hits an easy lay-up, a long Cornell rebound goes to Kris Joseph, and then Jonny Flynn takes over. He gets the ball on the sideline, takes off, and dunks two handed with some FORCE. Very nice play.
8:33 – Rautins hits a three and ties the game at 53. Both squads trade a couple buckets, making the score 57-57. Cornell is not backing down whatsoever.
8:46 – Huge run by Syracuse as they eventually push the lead to 11 with 7:30 to go. They finally remembered who they were, and what team they were playing!
8:47 – Two more threes by Wittman, who is quickly closing in on the Carrier Dome record for threes. He is unconscious right now.
8:48 – Jonny answers with a three of his own to give Syracuse an 8-point lead again.
8:50 – ANOTHER three for Cornell, and the Orange answers with Onuaku running over everyone down low for a lay-up. How does Arinze not have 30 by now? What happened to giving him the ball every time down the floor in the second half?
8:51 – Nice lefty lay-in on a drive to the hoop by Flynn. 77-69 SU with under four to go.
8:53 – Jeff Foot’s face now resembles a boxer after 10 rounds. His cheeks are so big that they’re frightening and his lip looks a little fat too. Big East centers beware, Arinze is a very large and physical man to guard.
8:57 – Devendorf scores his 14th point on a nice drive through the lane through the left side for an and one, which followed a lay-up by him on the previous possession. He knocks down the accompanying free throw to make it 82-71 Orange.
9:00 – Cornell hits their 13th three of the night, only 3 shy of the Carrier Dome record. They foul Syracuse the next time down, and it looks like they’re going to turn it into a free throw contest.
9:04 – Cristiano Rautins is intentionally fouled, and hits 1 of 2 free throws. Arinze is fouled right after that and also splits a pair, making it 86-74.
9:05 – Aaand Arinze just air-balled a free throw. Really gotta work on those. There was a terrific exchange that showed Devendorf in the background when he appeared to be asking Arinze if he just shot an air ball. Arinze turned around for a second, then looked forward again with a dead serious face as the ball came back to him for his second shot. Instantly, you see Devendorf start cracking up in the background of the shot. I can only wish to know the exchange of words that just happened between those two.
9:07 – Wittman adds another 2 to give him 33 for the night. Great performance by him. The game ends after that with SU winning, 88-78. Cornell hit 13 threes, 9 by Wittman alone. The Big Red battled the Orange all night. You certainly have to give them credit for their play. Boeheim moves into a tie for tenth on the all-time career wins list.
9:09 – Danny Liedka is courtside with Jonny Flynn after the game, after yet another great performance. Jonny attributes Cornell’s hot start to what the team evidently calls “Dome-phobia,” meaning other teams come in and shoot the lights out to start but inevitably cool down. Well alright, then. Let’s ease up on allowing “Dome-phobia” by the time January rolls around, okay?
So, Syracuse obviously made that a lot harder than they needed to, leaving room for Cornell to stay with them the entire game. At the end of the day, it’s safe to say that we all knew Syracuse was going to come back; it was just a matter of when. They took longer to complete the “when” than any of us would like.
Cornell shot the lights out, making 45% of their threes with Wittman making 9. He upped his career high just a game after setting it with 33 points total. Overall, it was a very impressive showing by the Big Red. They should do major damage in the Ivy League this year, showing why they were picked to finish first in the preseason.
As for the Orange, the entire team sans Jonny Flynn was sleepwalking in that first half. Speaking of Mr. Flynn, he finished with 24 points and 6 assists, and played an excellent game even with his 6 turnovers. Paul Harris had another strong game with 21 and 9. Onuaku rose from his slumber in the 2nd half to score 12 on perfect 5-5 shooting. I think his goal is to shoot above 85% for the year. Stay tuned for more of that story.
From a fan’s standpoint, as bad and sloppy as Syracuse played this game, you can’t take the lack of intensity too seriously. They’re coming off an emotional week and it’s nice for them to get a few easy games in a row. You’d like them to keep coming with that edge they had at Colgate, but you’re being unrealistic if you expect potency such as that game in and game out.
An interesting note from a substitution standpoint is that Mookie Jones didn’t play once again. That kind of makes you wonder what it is with him that just isn’t panning out so far. Is he not performing in practice? Why doesn’t Boeheim trust him? If he can’t crack the rotation against Cornell, will he even play the rest of the year? Regardless, it’s certainly an interesting subplot to continue to follow throughout the year.
If you liked, disliked, or were even indifferent about the diary, write your comments below. That’s all I have from the first ever Saltine Diary tonight. Syracuse is on a 10-day break in the action, so hopefully when they take the floor against the mighty Long Beach State 49ers they’ll bring their A-game! Try to contain yourselves from missing basketball too much, and dive right into the thick of the new SU football coach search. Talk to you soon.
- Jake the Snake
Boy, that escalated quickly!
