I doubt diaried is actually a word.At any rate - after the past two days, I'm feeling inspired heading into this championship game, so I'm going to take a page out the Bill Simmons' book of things to write and keep a running diary of the game tonight. You obviously know the story heading into the title game, so let's just get to it.
8:40 - A friend of the blog, John, makes a good point. There has been an "epic 1-seed fail" in each the Pac-10, Big 12, Big Ten, and ACC tournaments. This is a trend that appears to be working in Syracuse's favor.
Yes, I know the SEC is not on that list even though they apply. The point of the exercise was to note major conference 1-seed troubles, not mid-majors.
8:44 - Rece Davis reminds us that Jonny Flynn has played 147 of a possible 155 minutes so far in the Big East tournament. More importantly, he is ten minutes shy of the record for minutes played in a Big East tournament. Even more importantly, did you know that Darryl Watkins is the current record holder? This is mind boggling to me.
8:54 - Six minutes to tip off! I'm giddy right now. All day I've had this feeling that this is Syracuse's game to lose. I don't care if Louisville went 16-2 in conference this season and beat Syracuse in the Dome. The team we've been watching this week has been entirely different than that team we saw for most of the regular season conference schedule.
8:59 - Hubert Davis picks Syracuse. Digger Phelps picks Louisville. I knew I liked Hubert more.
9:01 - John: "that L sign is fucking [stupid]." I agree.
9:03 - Jay Bilas is talking about how great Louisville's press has been lately. Seems like the last thing a tired team like Syracuse needs is to face a good full court press. This could be trouble.
9:07 - We get to see player intros! That's pretty sweet. So much for that 9:00 PM tip ESPN was promising us. I'm over it.
9:11 - Jonny Flynn is the greatest human on this planet. That's all I have to say.
9:12 - Tipoff!
9:13 - DEVO! Two threes already. He came to play.
9:16 - Nine unanswered for Louisville. So much for that great start. This full court press is definitely going to be an issue tonight. Poor ball-handling team vs. very good defensive team...meh.
9:22 - ESPN has been glorifying the wrong player all week...what have they been thinking? Kristof is the real hero!
9:23 - Make that Rick Jackson. Six straight points for Agent Double Zero.
9:24 - Jonny Flynn is on the bench! Watkins is definitely paying off Boeheim to help preserve his record.
9:28 - Well, the press is doing its job so far for Louisville for the most part.
9:30 - ESPN runs the following stat: "Syracuse outscored 7-2 while Flynn was on the bench." I vote they don't bench him again this game. He can rest tomorrow.
9:31 - Dan Shulman apparently thinks all foreign white people look the same, given his inability to tell the difference between Kristof and Rautins.
9:35 - Under 8:00 media time out and it's a three point game. I don't think we could be asking for much more right now.
9:38 - Andy RRRRRRAUTINS! And for the 137th time in the past four days, Jay Bilas tells us how impressed he is with how quickly Andy Rautins can set his feet.
9:42 - TIME OUT LOUISVILLE! Eric Devendorf has to be under strong consideration for tournament MVP, right? I imagine if Syracuse wins they'll probably give it to Jonny Flynn, which is completely fine obviously, but Devo has an argument.
9:47 - G-MAC!
9:50 - Oh shit. I hope Kristof is okay.
9:51 - He's up and walking off. Thank God. That was extremely painful to watch, can't imagine how it felt to actually experience it.
9:53 - Arinze Onuaku should never be allowed to touch the ball unless he is standing right next to the basket.
9:55 - Syracuse ahead 38-30 at the half. Kristof is okay. Syracuse is clearly outplaying the Big East regular season champions. I couldn't be happier right now.
9:56 - Poetry in Moten text message: "ACCEPTABLE FIRST 20 MINUTES." I couldn't have said it better myself.
9:58 - Joe Lunardi thinks Memphis has passed UConn in the world of number one seeds. Joe Lunardi is WRONG. All of the teams that should have been considered as possible teams to crack the UNC/Pitt/UConn/Louisville grouping of four have lost already. Memphis should not have been considered. Weird that they would be completely average against real competition in November and December, then awesome against a completely overmatched conference since that time. Let's get real here.
10:07 - The College Gameday crew is discussing the Big Ten...and how unimpressive they are. Rece Davis notes that they have done "good things" on paper, but really, it's all been against each other. Thank you for finally realizing what most college basketball fans have known all season. It is going to be a travesty when the Big Ten has more teams in the tournament than the Big East. It is going to be hilarious when most of them don't escape the first weekend.
10:11 - Ahhh these Sonic commercials are killing me. It would be great if there was a Sonic anywhere near me so I could actually eat there. (Googles Sonic locations.) The closest one is 67 miles away. Thanks a lot, Sonic.
10:13 - And we're back! The second half is under way...
10:14 - ...and it took 11 seconds of game time for a foul to get called on Syracuse.
10:17 - Kristof is back! Hooray! (If I had told you in December that we would be excited to have Kristof enter a game, would you have laughed in my face or laughed really hard in my face?)
10:18 - And Louisville has already come back and tied the game.
10:19 - I may have to retract my previous statement about being excited to have Kristof back after that ridiculous play.
10:23 - Kristof to Jackson! That has been one popular play tonight.
10:24 - Under 16 media time out. Tie game. Obviously every Syracuse fan on the planet is thinking overtime right now.
10:25 - Winner comment from John on this topic: "...and you know Cuse would have insane swagger if it does. They'd just be like you know what? Yeah. Let's do this shit." Hell yes!
10:29 - No call on a Louisville travel. Thanks refs.
10:30 - Wow. Four shots at a 3 on one trip, three of them by Rautins, and they come away with nothing? Louisville lucked out there.
10:31 - Another lazy pass, another steal, Louisville extends run to 20-3. Ugh. Time out 'Cuse.
10:34 - Justin Thomas sighting!
10:35 - Syracuse has to do something here. Let's get it to single digits before the under 12 time out.
10:36 - Well, it's still at 11, but Kristof is going to the line when we come back. Dan Shulman has been waiting for a game and a half to go into a break asking the question "is it finally all weighing down on the Orange?" I say they have one good run at this thing left in them.
10:39 - Come back from media time out and Flynn is still on the bench? I guess the question the could begin floating out there now: at what point does Boeheim think about resting guys for tournament purposes if they can't get this game closer?
10:41 - Flynn back in the game. No more bench for him I say!
10:43 - Devo misses fast break layup, Flynn can't handle the follow. That was a big missed opportunity there.
10:46 - Under 8:00 media time out, Louisville up 10, Rick Jackson heading to the line when we get back. I just feel like Syracuse has come way too far to go down without a fight - I still hold to my 10:36 comment that they have one good run at this thing left in them.
10:52 - PRETTY PLAY BY KRISTOF! Great spin move, makes the basket and the foul.
10:52 - Too bad they suck at free throws.
10:53 - Great ball movement followed by a Rick Jackson missed layup. Come on!
10:55 - They are all gassed right now. I'm not sure they have enough energy to make a run right now.
10:57 - Boeheim uses their last time out, Louisville up 10. Even though they are out of time outs, they desperately needed a short rest here.
10:58 - Wow, Syracuse has only shot 28% in the second half. They have looked ice cold all 17 minutes so far, so I believe it.
11:03 - Devo just set the record for most points in a Big East tournament! There's a bright spot in this late deficit at least.
11:04 - Flynn hits a jumper to cut the lead to 7...
11:05 - You have to call the travel there!!! God dammit. That would have been a huge momentum swing if Syracuse got that call there.
11:08 - Why are they fouling already? I thought they had that trap set up well.
11:08 - Oh. Because Louisville is a weak free throw shooting team too.
11:09 - Boeheim pulls Flynn/Devo/Rautins for a standing O. Good move there.
11:13 - Louisville 76, Syracuse 66. That was still a hell of a week for Syracuse.
11:14 - Despite losing, Jonny Flynn was named tournament MVP. Awesome, well deserved.
Final thoughts: It would have been nice to win that game, but you could really tell during the whole second half that the past few days had finally caught up to them. You know what, though? For NCAA tournament purposes, I think a loss was better. They proved this week that they are a team to be reckoned with, and now they are going to come out with a chip on their shoulder next week. I've believed all season that this team can roll with any team in the nation, and now they are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time. I can't imagine they will come out and do anything but play inspired basketball when the tourney comes around. Of course I could always be wrong and they'll just get upset in the first round (let's not forget, this is still Syracuse we are talking about).
