Swimming in Orange

On the eve of the Big East Championship Tournament at MSG, I am anxiously anticipating the Cuse's game tomorrow against Pitt. After the epic meltdown 2 weeks ago at the Dome, the boys should be eager to prove that those scrubs from western Pennsylvania pulled off the fluke win of the year. The Orange are playing their best basketball of the year right now. The Belgian Blur, Kristof Ongenaet, is a one-man wrecking crew. Jimmy B's squad is finally rounding into form after incorporating 6 new players into a 7 man playing rotation this season. It is understandable that this team has taken some lumps over the course of a rugged Big East schedule, but the freshmen aren't playing like they are rookies anymore, and the rest of the league better be nervous about the prospect of facing the boys from upstate at the garden this week/ weekend. (I need to track down a tv at work tomorrow and steal away for 2 hours around noon.)

I now present to you the forecast for next year's squad written by my marvelous friend Loren Sutton. The man is an SU grad and the biggest SU fans I know. He rightly believes that if things pan out as they should, next years squad will be one for the story books. Note: this review of the squad was written a few weeks ago, before the emergence of the ongenaet turning into the new Stormin' Matt Gorman and Greene realizing he was indeed 6-11.

First.... I'm excited for this team to find some consistency. Perhaps with some luck they can work their way into one of the last spots. Next year's team will be unreal... every weakness of this year's team (lack of depth, experience) will be next year's strengths. The second team would be one of the better teams in the Big East on their own.
The Starters...
1) Jonny Flynn - will be one of the best PGs in the country, there's nothing on the basketball court that he can't do and if he's allowed to rest for a couple minutes a game he might be even better
2) Eric Devendorf - will have two years left with 3 years experience, hopefully will be much more mature and will let Flynn create his opportunities for him and play well within the offense if he spends some time perfecting his shot combined with his ability to get to the rim anytime he wants will be an unbelievable force playing off the ball
3) Paul Harris - lose a little bit by moving him off the 2 where he and Flynn are having so much success right now especially on defense...but with the depth can give Devo rest and switch to defensive mode by putting Harris at the top of the zone...plus Devendorf is big enough where he might be able to play underneath on the zone
4) Donte Greene - if Bernie Fine can help him bulk up and develop a little inside game will be an unstoppable force on the college level, too tall to stop the shot, too quick to stop underneath, needs to develop patience with his shot so he doesn't continue to jack up bad shots when he's off a little...but the confidence to keep shooting even when he is off is great
5) Arinze Onuaku - by next year could develop into one of the more dominant big men in the league...you know he's a hard worker and won't be satisfied with his results this year and will come back next year even better...possibly a 15 and 10 guy if he gets the minutes and his presence alone is so intimidating and one of the sweetest jump baby hooks in the game
The Bench
6) Andy Rautins - healthy and lethal, ready to come in and light it up whenever he's needed and won't have the ego to be bitter about losing what would have been a starting role for him...one of the more underrated weapons on the team last year, if Flynn, Devendorf, Greene and Rautins are on the floor together there is no way to stop it you can't cover 4 excellent shooters 7) Scoop Jardine - wasn't supposed to play very much this year but the injuries have allowed him to get time and he's developing nicely...still needs some patience and work on his shot but he's going to be solid in spelling Flynn for a little bit
8) Rick Jackson - also wasn't supposed to play much this year still very raw, you can see that he still gets nervous at times and makes some mistakes simply because he gets a little timid...has shown some real brilliance at times though, especially at the end of the Georgetown game after Onuaku fouled out...not having the threat of coming out seemed to give him the confidence to play full tilt made some nice blocks and had some strong rebounds...shows great athleticism for a guy at 6'8" and putting him on the floor with Scoop there is some real chemistry there
9) Kristof Ongennaut - scrappy and hard working...can come for 10 minutes a game and add an instant energy boost, plays great fundamental like a typical European and if he works

on getting a little bit of a shot going can be a real catalyst for the team
10) Kris Joseph - big, versatile small forward freshmen won't get much time but will be competent back up if needed and will learn a lot with all the great SFs in front of him

And none of this even includes Sean Williams the ridiculous, raw and maybe a little crazy 6'11" center with a 7'5" wingspan. it's going to be a great year...even if Greene does happen to leave they'll be unbelievable and I hope we can get 3 years out of Flynn...if he stays that long his name is going in the rafters next to Douglas and Washington without a doubt.

(UPDATE: Cuse played Nova, not Pitt, today at the garden and got absolutely smoked. I missed the game and i'm kind of glad I did...)