SU MAKING THE NCAA SELECTION COMMITTEE LOOK GOOD
FIRST THREE-GAME WIN STREAK FOR ORANGE SINCE JANUARY
Maybe Jim Boeheim will coach a grandson at Syracuse someday?
Boeheim’s 42nd season at his alma mater already is one of his best.
The Sweet 16 isn’t a bad accomplishment for an offensively-challenged team that at one point this season didn’t look like a cinch to win 16 games and many people (hand raised) felt was fortunate to make the 68-team field.
Sunday’s improbable 55-53 win over Michigan State Sunday capped a three-game winning streak for SU in this NCAA Tournament. It is SU’s first three-game winning streak since Pittsburgh January 16, Boston College January 24 and Pittsburgh again January 27...
These three victims were tougher – Arizona State, Texas Christian and Michigan State. SU was the underdog in each game.
A quick check of the box score makes one wonder how SU won on Sunday:
55 points scored.
Outrebounded 51-30.
Three assists – for the entire game.
Made only 15 of 42 field goals
Took only 8 three-pointers and made ONE!
Frank Howard fouled out before crunch time. SOS to former walk-on Braedon Bayer. He didn’t give Michigan State headaches. He didn’t do anything great. But he didn’t do anything wrong. Good for him.
Tyus Battle had another poor shooting game (4-for-15). He’s 13-for-40 from the field in the Tournament and obviously tired. But he seems to make a timely bucket in every game. He played all 40 minutes again Sunday. He always does. He looked weary, but he continues to, well, battle.
SU’s 2017-18 season’s resume’:
Mostly ugly offense. Beautiful defense.
No depth. Five gritty guys play most of the minutes.
An iron-man backcourt. Battle and Howard rank 1-2 among the 351 NCAA Division I teams in minutes played this season.
One star freshman (Oshae Brissett has the look of a future NBA lottery pick) and another freshman (Marek Dolezaj) just finding his way.
A 7-foot-2 center (Paschal Chukwu) with limitations but an unsung hero at the back end of the zone. He really does movers well for a player so tall and his mere presence frustrates opponents.
I’m sure Michigan coach Tom Izzo and his team’s fans will note the disparity in foul shots (Syracuse 24-for-31...Michigan State 11 for 16). I thought the game officials let a lot of physical stuff go. They could’ve called many more fouls on both teams. Considering that the arena in Detroit was mostly pro-Spartans, the zebras did a good job.
These Orange have come a long way in the short amount of time since they were a controversial pick to make the 68-team NCAA field.
The last team in will be among the last 16 teams out.
HOW SWEET IT IS FOR THIS UNLIKELY NCAA FIELD OF 16
Seeds of the 16 survivors in the men’s NCLAA Tournament:
1 – Kansas and Villanova
2 – Duke and Purdue
3 – Michigan and Texas Tech
4 – Gonzaga
5 – Clemson, Kentucky, West Virginia
7 – Nevada and Texas A&M
9 – Florida State and Kansas State
11 – Loyola IL and Syracuse.
Here’s the Sweet 16 schedule and odds:
Thursday
7:07 p.m. – 7-seed Nevada (-2 ½) vs. 11-seed Loyola, IL
7:37 – 3-seed Michigan (-3) vs. 7-seed Texas A&M
9:37 – 5-seed Kentucky (-6) vs, 9-seed Kansas State
9:59 – 4-seed Gonzaga (-5 ½) vs. 9-seed Florida State
Friday
7:07 p.m. – 4-ssed Kansas (-4) vs. 5-seed Clemson
7:27 – 1-seed Villanova (-5 ½) vs. 5-seed West Virginia
9:37 – 2-seed Duke (-11 ½) vs. 11-seed Syracuse. The over/under (combined points by both teams) is 133. Duke is averaging 84.9 points per game this season (6th in the nation).
9:57 – 2-seed Purdue (-1 ½) vs. 3-seed Texas Tech.
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THE RETRIEVERS SHOCKED THESE TWO TEAMS THE MOST
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County shocked the college basketball world last Friday night by crushing the 20 ½-point favored Virginia Cavaliers 74-54 in the first round of the men’s NCAA Tournament.
By now we all know that it was the first time in the 33-year history of the current format that a No. 16 seed defeated a No. 1 seed (0-for-135 going in). The Cavaliers were the top seed in the entire 68-team field.
No teams were more shocked by UMBC’s astonishing victory than Albany and Vermont.
On January 21, host Albany demolished the Retrievers 83-39. It was sort of like the Great Danes versus the chihuahuas.
UMBC was as awful in the first half of that game – they didn’t score a point in a span of 8:45 and trailed 36-12 at halftime – as they were awesome in the second half against Virginia (outscored the Cavaliers 53-33 after a 21-21 tie at halftime; the 53 points came on 35 possessions). UMBC dropped to 13-8 with the loss in Albany.
Vermont swept UMBC during the regular season – 71-56 at home January 6 and 81-53 on the road February 3.
But in the America East Championship game March 10, the Retrievers rallied from a late nine-point deficit to win 65-62 at Vermont on a buzzer-beater from the top of the key by Jairus Lyles.
UMBC’s 10 regular-season losses were to Vermont (twice), Albany, SMU, Arizona (103-78), Colgate (93-88), Army/West Point (81-70), Towson, Maryland (66-45), and Stony Brook.
LOFTY PROJECTIONS FOR THE YANKEES
USA Today Sports Weekly’s Fantasy Extra current issue features player projections for the 2018 Major League Baseball season.
Here are the projections for the New York Yankees:
C – Gary Sanchez -- .276 batting average; 34 HRs; 92 RBI
1B – Greg Bird -- .239; 26 HRs; 75 RBI
2B – Neil Walker -- .268; 18 HRs; 51 RBI
SS – Didi Gregorious -- .271; 19 HRs; 73 RBI
3B – Brandon Drury -- .270; 13 HRs; 56 RBI
OF – Giancarlo Stanton -- .275; 54 HRs; 122 RBI
OF Aaron Judge -- .256; 46 HRs; 102 RBI
OF Brett Gardner -- .263; 14 HRs; 54 RBI.
The list of American League designated hitters includes no Yankees.
The eight Yankees with projections had a total of 224 HRs. That total did not include Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clint Frazier, Ronaldo Torreyes and possible recalls Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres.
The Yankees record for home runs in a season is 245 in 2012. They did not have Stanton or Judge in the lineup. The MBL record is 264 by the 1997 Seattle Mariners.
K-HAWKS AND BANDITS COULD BE HEADED FOR A SHOWDOWN IN SEASON-FINALE
The Rochester Knighthawks and host Buffalo Bandits will play in the National Lacrosse League’s regular-season finale April 28 in what could determine the playoff hopes of one or both teams in the hotly-contested Eastern Division. If the game means anything, the crowd should be 15,000 plus.
Here are the updated East standings (top three teams in the 18-game season will qualify for the playoffs): New England Black Wolves 6-5...Toronto Rock 6-6...Buffalo Bandits 6-6...Knighthawks 6-7...Georgia Swarm 5-7.
The Knighthawks dropped an important game Saturday night – 14-13 at Calgary before a crowd of 15,070.
The Roughnecks led 10-5 at halftime, 14-9 in the fourth quarter and held off a late charge by Rochester. For the K-hawks, rookie Austin Shanks had 3 goals and four assists, Kyle Jackson 3 goals and 4 assists and Cody Jamieson 0 goals and 6 assists. Rookie Jake Withers was 20-10 on faceoffs.
The remaining five games for Rochester: at Saskatchewan Saturday (the league-best Rush will be ready after losing 16-11 in Rochester February 17)...home vs. Colorado Mammoth March 31...at Toronto Rock Friday, April 13...home vs. New England Black Wolves April 21...at Buffalo Bandits April 28.
RED WINGS SHOULD BE TOUGH VS. RIGHT-HANDERS
The Rochester Red Wings figure to open this International League season loaded with left-handed hitters – including outfielders Jake Cave and Nick Buss, first basemen Brock Stassi and Andy Wilkins, and infielder Nick Gordon.
Cave, 25 years old, was acquired by Minnesota from the Yankees last week fo 19-year-old pitching prospect Luis Gil. Last season, in 72 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (International League), he batted .324 (90-for-297), 13 doubles, 3 triples, 15 HRs and 38 RBI.
Buss, 31, won the Pacific Coast League batting title last season with El Paso: .348 (123-for-353), with 19 doubles, 8 triples, 11 HRs and 55 RBI.
Strassi, 28, was the Eastern League Most Valuable Player for Reading: .300 (140-for-466), with 76 runs, 32 doubles, 1 triple, 15 HRs and 90 RBI.
Gordon, 22, was the fifth overall pick in the 2014 entry draft and received a $3,851,000 signing bonus. Last season at Chattanooga (AA Southern League) he batted .270 (190-for-519), with 80 runs, 29 doubles, 8 triples, 9 HRs and 66 RBI.
Stassi, Gordon and another probable Red Wing -- right-handed hitting outfielder Ryan LaMarre -- have been impressive in spring training with the Twins:
LaMarre -- .500 batting average (14-for-28), 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 HRs, 10 RBI in 16 games
Stassi -- .429 batting average (9-for-21), 1 double, 3 RBI in 12 games
Gordon -- .409 batting average (9-for-22), 1 double, 2 triples, 1 RBI in 13 games.
Wilkins, 29, led the International League with 30 HRs for Charlotte in 2014 and hit .254 with 15 doubles, 12 HRs and 44 RBI in 61 games for Chattanooga (AA Southern League) last season.
COMPARED TO OTHERS, JOSE ALTUVE IS A $$ BARGAIN
I don’t know why any baseball player makes more money than the NFL’s top quarterbacks, but if any baseball player is worth $30 million per season, I was happy to see Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve join the exclusive club last week:
Zack Greinke (Arizona) $34.4 million average annual salary)
David Price (Boston) $31 million
Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) $31 million
Clayton Kershaw (LA Dodgers) $30.7 million
Jose Altuve (Houston) $30.2 million
Max Scherzer (Washington) $30 million.
Greinke, Price, Kershaw and Scherzer are pitchers. They work one game out of five. They’re bigger injury risks than position players. With the possible exception of Kershaw, they don’t attract a lot of extra fans.
Altuve is relatively young at 27. He’s the sparkplug of the reigning world champions. He can hit, field and run. He’s durable. He’s immensely popular among Astros fans and baseball fans in general.
What more could you want from a player?
THE BIGGEST CONTRAST BETWEEN TYROD AND AJ
I assume AJ McCarron will be the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills Week 1 this NFL season.
I’m sure Bills fans will be pleased when McCarron connects on the mid-range passes Tyrod Taylor had so much trouble with. But be prepared for the big contrast – running the football.
Tyrod can run like a thoroughbred. McCarron moves like a plowhorse.
Check out McCarron’s career rushing numbers:
At Alabama – 119 carries for minus-50 yards (average minus-0.4)
With Cincinnati (in limited action) – 14 carries for 31 yards (including one run for 15 yards).
Buffalo’s passing numbers will improve this season but the Bills aren’t going to battling for the rushing title again.
ON THIS DATE IN SPORTS...
March 19 – 43 years ago (1975), Pennsylvania became the first state to allow girls to compete with boys in high school sports...37 years ago (1981), the Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 14-4...27 years ago (1991), NFL owners stripped Phoenix of the 1993 Super Bowl due to Arizona failing to recognize Martin Luther King Day.
March 20 – 121 years ago (1897), Pennsylvania beat Yale 32-10 in the first known intercollegiate basketball game...45 years ago (1973), Roberto Clemente was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame 11 weeks after his death in a plane crash on a mercy mission...29 years ago (1989), Major League Baseball announced Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose was under investigation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Monday, March 19
EJ Manuel (28)...Clayton Kershaw (30)...Ahmad Bradshaw (32)...Hedo Turkoglu (39)...David Ross (41)...Andre Miller (42)...Rick Mirer (48)...Tyrone Hill (50)...Scott May (64). Bruce Willis (63), Harvey Weinstein (66) and Glenn Close (71) are invited to the birthday party. Ms. Close will not be asked to be seated next to Mr. Weinstein...Wyatt Earp was born on this date 170 years ago (1848) and died in 1929 at age 80. Legend says he never was wounded in all of his gun battles.
Tuesday, March 20
Justin Faulk (26)...Brad Hand (28)...Danny Garcia (30)...Marcus Vick (32)...Jamal Crawford (38)...Mookie Blaylock (51)...Chris Hoiles (53)...Leo Rautins (58)...pro wrestler Sting (59)...Charlie Simmer (64)...Bobby Orr (70)...Pat Riley (73)...Barron Trump (12) and Spike Lee (61) are invited to the birthday party.