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****THE OFFICIAL SYRACUSE VS UNC 2K CLASSIC FINALS THREAD****


gangreenman

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UNC is turnover prone and guess what Syracuse does best...

Good matchup there for Cuse, and I expect us to out-run UNC and force turnovers for 40 minutes. Syracuse wins 80-75.

Go Orange.

Now off to bed, I'll be checking in tomorrow for sure.

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Cuse's two-headed PG effective vs. Cal

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By Andy Katz

ESPN.com

Archive

NEW YORK -- You're not going to get a statement here that Syracuse is better off without point guard Jonny Flynn.

Flynn was one of those gate receipt kind of guards. His gutty performance in the six-overtime Big East tournament thriller against Connecticut last season was the sort of game fans of the sport covet. Go watch Flynn and you were sure to see a show.

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Jim O'Connor/US Presswire

Brandon Triche started at the point Thursday and is one of two replacements for Jonny Flynn.

"Offensively, you knew what you were going to get with Jonny -- pick and roll, get in the lane and score," SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins said of Flynn, who averaged a team-high 17.4 points per game and was drafted sixth overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But, and here is where the argument begins, the Orange might actually be better defensively in the absence of the generously listed 6-foot Flynn. What the Orange did in Thursday night's 95-73 win over Pac-10 favorite Cal was show how much longer and more disruptive the new-look point guards are this season.

Six-foot-4 freshman Brandon Triche and 6-2 Scoop Jardine, a third-year sophomore who was out last season with a stress fracture, have a length and reach at the top of the Syracuse zone that has jump-started a renewed sense of purpose defensively.

The easy thing to do is focus on the offensive production in this 2K Sports Classic semifinal. Jardine scored 22 points and had 6 assists, 1 turnover and 4 steals. Triche, who started, scored 9 points with 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 2 steals.

"You have to question us with [Flynn] being the No. 6 player in the draft last year," Triche said. "But me and Scoop have confidence in our game, and we can be equally as good as Jonny statwise. That's what happened. [Jardine] had 22 and I had nine, and that's 31. Jonny wasn't averaging 31, so we kind of did better than he did."

Neither is as electrifying as Flynn, who could turn on a dime and finish without hesitation. He had the toughness, the grit and the determination to finish plays and will his team to wins.

The Orange were a bit of an unknown this season without him, let alone with the departure of Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris, who also left early for professional ball. We knew Cuse was solid inside with Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku, had a shooter in senior Andy Rautins, and had a hyped star in Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson. The biggest question was at point.

It's extremely early, but perhaps the doubt was unfounded.

"They're interchangeable," Rautins said of the two-headed point guard. "It's great having them on the court at any given time."

Rautins said there was no confidence vacuum for the players when it was clear Flynn was gone.

Nevertheless, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim isn't ready to anoint either of them without seeing more improvement.

"We've still got a long ways to go, and we've got to get them to get the ball to our big guys better over the next few weeks," Boeheim said. "Scoop watched Jonny a lot in practice last year and really figured some things out."

Still, Jardine knew there were questions about whether he could take on the leadership role.

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Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points and played solid D against 12th-ranked California.

Before tipoff, Flynn sent a text message to Jardine.

"It really helped me out," Jardine said. "He said 'Let's Goooooo.' I wrote him back and said, 'I got you.' And he said, 'Go show them what you've got.' I played against him for two years. I knew that if I was backing up Jonny or Brandon like I'm doing now, I had to lose weight and work on my shot. Coach Boeheim and Coach Hop didn't lose faith in me. I've got to give them credit for sticking with me.

"It's tough to lose the three guys we did, but people don't know what you've got until you show them."

What the country saw in Syracuse's dismantling of a depleted Cal team that was without its top two rebounders, injured Theo Robertson and Harper Kamp, was an Orange team that is long enough, athletic enough and productive enough to contend for the Big East title.

Yes, even after losing an exhibition game to Le Moyne (are we over that yet, America?) -- a game in which Boeheim experimented with playing man-to-man.

"Had I done that [against Cal], we would have lost by 30," Boeheim said.

"It did start our season, losing that game," Rautins said. "We had a cloud that we didn't deserve to have. We weren't the Sweet 16 team. It motivated us. We had to find an identity of being a hardworking, zone defensive team that can translate that into offense."

That's what the Orange were Thursday night, led by the combination of Jardine and Triche -- not better than Flynn, but certainly more than capable of giving Syracuse production, confidence and competence at the position.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=4672729

Combined 31 points, 8 assists, 5 rebs and 3 turnovers between the 2 PG's vs California...

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We have a young team that is in the midst of an impossible sretch of games. They'll be up and down. If the heels play as well as they can they'll win but we'll see.

Cal was w/o one of their best players last night so SU is stepping up in class tonight. Should be a great game and hopefully the good guys win.

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15463_1264703062469_1376520986_31291594_751757_n.jpg

I love the misleading headline. Carolina was cruisng for about 38 minutes, very late OSU knocked down some 3's and Carolina missed some FTs and they act like it was a back and forth game all night. The heels led by about 15 or more most of the game.

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I love the misleading headline. Carolina was cruisng for about 38 minutes, very late OSU knocked down some 3's and Carolina missed some FTs and they act like it was a back and forth game all night. The heels led by about 15 or more most of the game.

haha

and the headline omits the fact Cal was missing players ..

hometown papers,,haha

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It's been a while since we last played. We almost met in the regional Final last year but OU beat SU to prevent that. In 1987 the teams met in the East region Final at the Meadowlands where SU upset the top seeded Heels. A few months later the teams met in the 1987 tip off classic(to kick off the '87-'88 season) and the Heels got a little revenge(not really, I'd rather win the game in March) by knokcing off the top ranked Orangemen. The article below disucsses the tip off classic:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066791/index.htm

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write-up from UNC board:

Previewing Syracuse

Jardine

By Greg Barnes

Inside Carolina

Posted Nov 20, 2009

The Tar Heels passed their first real test of the season Thursday and now face a tougher matchup in Friday's title game of the 2K Sports Classic -- Syracuse. Tip-off at Madison Square Garden is scheduled for around 7:15 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.

North Carolina (4-0) vs. Syracuse (3-0)

New York, N.Y. - Madison Square Garden

7:15, ESPN2 (Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Bob Knight, Doris Burke)

Quotables

"I think we have a good chance of being a very good basketball team. I just want it to come sooner than it is coming to us." -- UNC coach Roy Williams

"Everybody is so unselfish. Everybody is going within the offense. And we have a great identity as a hard-working defensive team." -- Syracuse guard Andy Rautins

PREGAME NOTES

Season to Date: An exhibition loss to LeMoyne on Nov. 3 raised serious concerns, but blowout wins over Albany and Robert Morris followed and just over two weeks later that preseason loss seemed a distant memory as the Orange dismantled California in Thursday's 2K Sports Classic semifinal. Point guard Scoop Jardine led the way against Cal, posting 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

The Zone: The zone defense is a staple of head coach Jim Boeheim's program. With size and length extending out to the perimeter, passing lanes and open shots can be tough to find - and California's small lineup built around outside shooting was the perfect matchup for Syracuse. "Our zone is designed to be effective against three-point shots," Boeheim noted postgame.

Impact Transfer: Jardine captured the MSG spotlight on Thursday, but Syracuse's most versatile - and arguably most dangerous - weapon is Wesley Johnson, who transferred in from Iowa State. An athletic and long 6-7 forward, Johnson is a tough matchup on either end of the floor. He leads the Orange in points (14.7), rebounds (7.3), steals (3.3) and blocks (3.0)

Series History: UNC leads the all-time series with Syracuse 4-2, with the last meeting being a 96-93 overtime win for No. 1 UNC over No. 3 Syracuse in Nov. 21, 1987.

Projected Starters:

11 Scoop Jardine (6-2, 190, So.)

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haha

and the headline omits the fact Cal was missing players ..

hometown papers,,haha

Haha, that was a screenshot of ESPN.COM last night, not exactly hometown papers.

The point is though Syracuse took command of the game early and never looked back, winning by double digits for almost the entire contest and finishing with a 95-73 victory. UNC dominated the 1st half and most of the game until it mattered most--crunchtime. In the last 10 mins of the game they saw a 19 point lead evapporate into a 2 point game and a bail-out call away from being tied and probably going to OT. Missing 4 of 7 FTs in the last minute or so and again turning the ball over frequently is not something that good teams do.

Syracuse took the lead and never looked back, UNC's sloppy play allowed for Ohio St to mount a huge comeback and almost steal the game.

I think that was what the headline was indicating, and I think it is justified.

Looking forward to a good game tonight!

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write-up from UNC board:

Previewing Syracuse

Jardine

By Greg Barnes

Inside Carolina

Posted Nov 20, 2009

The Tar Heels passed their first real test of the season Thursday and now face a tougher matchup in Friday's title game of the 2K Sports Classic -- Syracuse. Tip-off at Madison Square Garden is scheduled for around 7:15 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.

North Carolina (4-0) vs. Syracuse (3-0)

New York, N.Y. - Madison Square Garden

7:15, ESPN2 (Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Bob Knight, Doris Burke)

Quotables

"I think we have a good chance of being a very good basketball team. I just want it to come sooner than it is coming to us." -- UNC coach Roy Williams

"Everybody is so unselfish. Everybody is going within the offense. And we have a great identity as a hard-working defensive team." -- Syracuse guard Andy Rautins

PREGAME NOTES

Season to Date: An exhibition loss to LeMoyne on Nov. 3 raised serious concerns, but blowout wins over Albany and Robert Morris followed and just over two weeks later that preseason loss seemed a distant memory as the Orange dismantled California in Thursday's 2K Sports Classic semifinal. Point guard Scoop Jardine led the way against Cal, posting 22 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

The Zone: The zone defense is a staple of head coach Jim Boeheim's program. With size and length extending out to the perimeter, passing lanes and open shots can be tough to find - and California's small lineup built around outside shooting was the perfect matchup for Syracuse. "Our zone is designed to be effective against three-point shots," Boeheim noted postgame.

Impact Transfer: Jardine captured the MSG spotlight on Thursday, but Syracuse's most versatile - and arguably most dangerous - weapon is Wesley Johnson, who transferred in from Iowa State. An athletic and long 6-7 forward, Johnson is a tough matchup on either end of the floor. He leads the Orange in points (14.7), rebounds (7.3), steals (3.3) and blocks (3.0)

Series History: UNC leads the all-time series with Syracuse 4-2, with the last meeting being a 96-93 overtime win for No. 1 UNC over No. 3 Syracuse in Nov. 21, 1987.

Projected Starters:

11 Scoop Jardine (6-2, 190, So.)

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Pretty good write-up... Going into the season everyone assumed Syracuse was going to be by far the weak link in this tournament.... Now Vegas has them as 1.5 favorites in the championship game against the #4 team in the nation. Funny how Jim Boeheim's teams just seem to sneak up on people when everyone is expecting a down year.

Beware of the Dolphins:Nuts:

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Haha, that was a screenshot of ESPN.COM last night, not exactly hometown papers.

The point is though Syracuse took command of the game early and never looked back, winning by double digits for almost the entire contest and finishing with a 95-73 victory. UNC dominated the 1st half and most of the game until it mattered most--crunchtime. In the last 10 mins of the game they saw a 19 point lead evapporate into a 2 point game and a bail-out call away from being tied and probably going to OT. Missing 4 of 7 FTs in the last minute or so and again turning the ball over frequently is not something that good teams do.

Syracuse took the lead and never looked back, UNC's sloppy play allowed for Ohio St to mount a huge comeback and almost steal the game.

I think that was what the headline was indicating, and I think it is justified.

Looking forward to a good game tonight!

What bail out call? OSU was fouling intentionally.

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Pretty good write-up... Going into the season everyone assumed Syracuse was going to be by far the weak link in this tournament.... Now Vegas has them as 1.5 favorites in the championship game against the #4 team in the nation. Funny how Jim Boeheim's teams just seem to sneak up on people when everyone is expecting a down year.

SU is always better w/ lower expectations and they always underachieve w/ high expectations.

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Haha, that was a screenshot of ESPN.COM last night, not exactly hometown papers.

The point is though Syracuse took command of the game early and never looked back, winning by double digits for almost the entire contest and finishing with a 95-73 victory. UNC dominated the 1st half and most of the game until it mattered most--crunchtime. In the last 10 mins of the game they saw a 19 point lead evapporate into a 2 point game and a bail-out call away from being tied and probably going to OT. Missing 4 of 7 FTs in the last minute or so and again turning the ball over frequently is not something that good teams do.

Syracuse took the lead and never looked back, UNC's sloppy play allowed for Ohio St to mount a huge comeback and almost steal the game.

I think that was what the headline was indicating, and I think it is justified.

Looking forward to a good game tonight!

i think he was mentioning UNC was up huge on a great team and the article didnt mention cal was without a great starter..

good luck and u r rightfully a 1 pt favorite over our youngins..

hopefully we can learn from playin u guys tonite so we can be better prepared for our real season in march :D

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