One night after a Syracuse debut record 28 points against a scrappy senior-laden squad from Siena, freshman Jonny Flynn struggled for much of the first half, was held scoreless until late in the 2nd, but rose up and drained a 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left in a tie game to give Syracuse a 72-69 win over a scrappy senior-laden St. Joseph's squad that was in the postseason NIT a year ago (along with Syracuse in what is still the greatest "left out of the tourney" debacle in the history of the NCAAs), in this year's pre-season NIT. And yes, Syracuse was at home. And yes, St. Joe's and Siena weren't ranked. But no, that doesn't mean they aren't good teams. And that doesn't mean a Syracuse squad that played the entire 2nd half with 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores, and 1 junior on the court shouldn't be incredibly proud to have beaten one of the pre-season Atlantic 10 favorites. It's on to New York, for a date with (probably) defending national runner-up Ohio State next Wednesday night. And maybe, just maybe, a little respect for the early season scheduling of Jim Boeheim (which is, and always has been, light years ahead of UConn, Pitt, and Georgetown's early season scheduling, and yet somehow always gets trashed by the idiots at ESPN who resent their many colleagues in sports reporting who went to the venerable university). Can you tell I'm still a little bitter about last year's tournament snub? Six months hasn't negated my anger.
Anyway, back to the game. St. Joe's jumped out to a 10-0 lead as Syracuse turned the ball over their first two possessions and struggled to find any rhythm on offense. A free throw with 15:00 left was their first point. But when the second wave of subs entered the game in the form of Philly high school teammates and freshmen Sccop Jardine and Rick Jackson, the defensive intensity stepped up - especially Jackson - and forced several St. Joe's turnovers that led to fast break buckets, including a couple jumpers, by Eric Devendorf. The Orange offensive output became unstoppable and they pulled out to a decent lead despite a flurry of 3-pointers by St. Joe's, especially sophomore Govens, who hit I think 5 straight threes. Syracuse held a 33-30 lead at the half.
After another briefly slow start, Syracuse put on another run of strong defense and offense and pulled out to a pretty big lead again. But after a horrendous call by that short, old fuck of a referee (Tim Higgins?) on a blatant flop on an out-0f-bounds play, St. Joe's went on a little run of their own that tied the game when freshman Donte Green (I think) was called for an intentional foul on a turnover and Pat Calathes made both free throws. The Orange recovered again, though, and in a tight game late in the second half, it became the Jonny Flynn show once more.
Donte Green was the best freshman on the night (18 pts, 8 reb, 3 three-pointers), Eric Devendorf carried the offense in the first half (12 pts. overall), and Paul Harris was the best Orange player overall with a near triple-double and some dominant play at times (18 pts, 13 reb, 8 assts), but it was Flynn who took over with around 6 minutes to play. On back-to-back possessions, he was handling the ball and dribbled his way out of double teams to find open teammates for layups that gave Syracuse a lead. Later, with a 65-62 lead and under 2 to play, Flynn was again doubled and dribbled through it for the foul, and promptly swished both free throws - his first foul shots (and points) - of the game. Harris suffered a defensive lapse on the ensuing possession, allowing a wide open Govins to bang home his 6th 3 pointer to pull the game to 67-65 and then Flynn missed a rushed shot with the shot clock running down (but not nearly out - that was a freshman panic move) to allow a breakaway that would have tied the game. But Devendorf got back to slightly disrupt the shot and Govins missed a layup, with Devo getting fouled on the rebound. He could only make one free throw, though, and the score was 68-65.
St. Joe's attempted a deep three to tie, missed it badly, but the rebound escaped to Calathes, who put in the follow up and was fouled. He made the free throw to tie the game 68-68. Boeheim called a time out, and while I'm sure he didn't draw it up this way, Flynn brought the ball up the court, got double teamed near the half court line, but swung through it again, this time using a high screen by Arinze Onuaku, and the defenders inexplicably followed Arinze, leaving Flynn alone at the top of the key. He was deep - a good 3 or 4 feet past the line, but he was wide open, lifted up, and swished home his first field goal of the game. 71-68. 5.3 seconds to go. A freshman. What fucking pressure? Boeheim chose to foul on the next possession, and on the missed second free throw, Green and Harris worked together for the box out, leaving Harris with the rebound and the game in hand (although Paul did miss another free throw, allowing a long heave and desperation three by Calathes for the tie, but it barely hit rim). Game over. Syracuse freshmen 2-0. Well done.
Onauku was an offensive force inside (17 pts) and solid on defense. Green was the best player on the court at times (although he inexplicably disappeared in the last 10 minutes of the second half). Harris was the glue and the grit and is easily the best rebounder his size that I have seen since - I don't know, Charles Barkley. He is just wonderful. Devo didn't do much in the second half - and missed a crucial wide open three - but he had a decent game and was good on D. But again, it was Jonny Flynn who won the game. Welcome to Syracuse, young man. See you in Madison Square Garden next week.
He was a thing of raging beauty.
Posted by: Wayne | November 14, 2007 at 06:53 PM