#127 R.P.I. Syracuse @ #113 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball remains @home riding a whopping four, that’s (4) game winning streak! A Sweet-16 days since we took our last L. Our best streak since we opened for 2o21-2o22 business at 15-winning-days-in-a-row.

The Hokies now host the Syracuse Orangemen on Saturday nite at 6 Post-Meridiem. The Orange arrives as a pretty well-evened team. What with their 13 up against 11 down overall record. This includes a near-perfectly .5oo or 7-6 marker in inter-league play. As ‘Cuse must sojourn 571-miles So-by-So-West in a game that both teams need, and frankly in a contest that the other-orange prolly post-seasoning needs a bit mo’. Nonetheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, rights? So, read on… to finds, out!

Syracuse Head Coach: James Arthur Boeheim: Age=77, 994*–419 (.703)*** overall and at Syracuse, alike. Jimmy -of course- enjoys the Dean of 2-3 Zoning reputation and for playing
old-school early Big East big-ball down-low.

$2,695,375.oo (with: $130,000 every time Syracuse qualifies for the NCAA Tournament.
He also gets $77,000 in insurance/vehicle allowance and $40,000 in deferred
compensation | i.e. a steal at this level)

Baller Boeheim was a walk-on 6′3″ Pt.Guard with the freshman basketball team at Syracuse. By his Sr. year, he was the team captain and a teammate of all-American and future Mayor (of Detroit) Dave Bing. Dave was his freshman roommate, and Dave is only in the Basketball Hall of fame himself for his work with the Detroit Pistons. The pair led Coach Fred Lewis’s Orange to a 22–6 overall win-loss record that earned the team’s second-ever N.C.A.A. tournament berth. After graduating from Syracuse, Boeheim played professional basketball with the Scranton Miners of the American Basketball League, during which he won two A.B.L. championships.

Coach Boeheim has only guided the Orange to nine Big East regular-season championships, five Big East Tournament championships, 28 NC2A Tournament appearances, and one National Championship (2oo3 with ‘Melo Anthony). He only has 13 conference titles, six National Coach of the Year awards, and four Conference Coach of the Year awards. He is only a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Basketball Hall of Fame as well. He has only won six International Gold Medals three of which are Olympic. He sucks; fire him, now! Nevertheless, coach B was forced to vacate a backbreaking 1o1 total wins from the 2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007, 2010–2011, and 2011–2012 seasons due to recruiting violations. He is also down eight schollies over the next year and was suspended for the first nine games of 2016.

Boeheim had prostate cancer in 2oo1, and subsequently became a major fund-raiser for Coaches vs. Cancer, he and his wife also inaugurated the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation to help kids from Central New York; God Bless.

Coach Boeheim had previously stated that he would retire in April 2018. However, in March 2o17 he extended his contract to beyond the 2o17-18 season.

*(yes, Jimmy’s win total wears an asterisk for his (alleged) brushes/scrapes with the KayCee (Kansas City) suits rulebook(s), quite plural).

Boeheim and his wife, Juli, have three children together: Jimmy and twins, Buddy and Jamie;
he has a daughter, Elizabeth, with his ex-wife Elaine.

Quickie 2–3 tutorial:
The zone-defense concept was invented due to a leaky basketball gym roof vs. … freakin’ w.v.u. back in 1914 during WWI! (Of all the things!?!)

strengths: The 2-3 is a zone is designed to: force outside shots, hide weak(er) man defenders, slow/control the tempo and allow fewer offensive shots, period.

weaknesses: The 2-3 zone defense is (in theory) … susceptible to 3-point shooting (due to packing/sagging) the key) and to High-Post/wing shooting mid-range or 3-ball shots in particular. It is also known to be a so-so rebounding set (surprisingly); due to defending a spot on the floor and not blocking out a man naturalistically. Although it slows a game it is not a good D to play when giving chase on the scoreboard accordingly. And the degree of difficulty° or learning-curve effects effectively takes a minute or three to gel and get the timing/spacing of the 2-3 zone down pat.

Syracuse at a glance:

• 25th in 3-point shooting percentage O!!
• 34h in Assist:Turnover ratio!!
• 38th fewest fouls ‘whistled’ against!
• 73rd most FT-makes.
• 81st in Swats.
• 31oth in Scoring D allowed! (Although: 28th in Scoring O inflicted; i.e., a VERY high tempo team this campaign).
• (now) 2 injuries listed (Coach God twice bless!).

Returning Starters=1 (some list 2).

Syracuse Strengths:

• 1st-string All-A.c.c. and The A.c.c.’s Top Shooter per Lindy’s would be… one #35, Jackson Thomas “Buddy” Boeheim. Who is a 6′6″, 2o5 lb. Sr. year Wing. This Bud’ was only the 2017 All-Central New York Player of the Year after helping the Red Rams to a 21-4 record, and the Section III Class A title two years back. His twin sister, Jamie, is also Juniorific over on the basketball team at Rochester. And oh yes… he might just have the nepotistic swagg to fetch some good seat(s) for his ‘mum’ via asking his pops to ask the… coach. Little Bo’ is primacy in scoring at a now improved 19.1 ppg, and he hit a nifty 41.1% of his 3’s last year although down to 34.7% this season. This with a rather useful: 3.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.3 spg, and nearly 26 mo’ lbs. in tow over the last two off-seasons. And oh yes… the team-beta of nearly ≅90% free-throwing counts as well. The tag here says Buddy needs to expand or round out his offensive game to become more than just a pure shooter. It also says he gets cradle hoops (with a family tree I.V. poured into him) and he is a good setter-upper. As this Boeheim has blossomed and his scoring output was up by 230% last campaign. So, pure shooter or not, this kid has the makings of becoming a high-caliber straight weapon from the outside come 2022-’23. With the potential to be an export or overseas, Pro’. He has expanded his game to add a little off the dribble-scoring punch this time around. (Albeit off a very high almost ‘palming’ looking dribble at that). Has a Twin sis and an Older sis’ as well. Same as his big-bro’ down below… put up good H.S. digits at the N.Y. single-A level. Pretty keen scholastic rebounder to boot. Eye’d venture he must have a nose for the ball or some nepotistic hoops I’s and Q’s onboard. Only 349th nationally per Rivals— who does like mo’ than one: “A” for high school competition purposes. Could surpass (pardon the antonym) 200-3-point-attempts in this game, as this is a triune or trifecta happy kid to be sure.
• Joseph Girard III is a 6′1″, 19o lb., lifer back-up utility G for the Orange. Who is your starting One or Pt.Guard1/Qb1, now. For it… JG3 nets you: 13.6 ppg on 2.9 rpg while pacing you with a serviceable 4.4 apg and a downright handsy 1.8 spg. The third-season Girard III is one of those gym-rat self-made kids who comes to practice early, often, and late. He also (somehow) cut over 5-lbs. that he mighta been best off to keeps. He also sports a whopping three that’s (3) New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class B state titles blings! And he sports them in: football (2016, 2018) and basketball (2019). Girard III was second to “no, no, no, no, noooooo-body” in New York scoring. Nearly averaging 40 ppg in High School play with a career-high of 69 scholastic points if you need ’em. A pure blowtorch of offensive output in senior prom terms. Thus, Girard III was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, and The Basketball Coaches Association of New York picked him as its Mr. Basketball. Which is a lotta production for the mere 221st (247Sports) ranked kid in the country. Some do knock his shot selection (34.4% total and 36.3% from 3-point land… last year); tho’ this kid can flat out put the biscuit in the basket when he gets it going on. As this year he is netting you a Most Improved flavored: 41.0% overall, the team FTA lead at 91.8%, and a gotta guard him 42.9% from deep. That’s pretty dang tight in my book.

  

• Jimmy Boeheim, 6′8″, 226 lb., Cornell grad-transfer… surname seems, familiar… hmmmmm… anywho…  being a Cornell Dean’s List member and Ivy Leaguer with a strip of .edu Latinized wallpaper to show for it does not suck. Oldest bro’ fam’-member of the next generation. Did I mention the Ivy: magna cum laude, B.S., yets? wow! Good H.S. baller in upstate N.Y. Had outburst moments in the scholastic post-seasoning, won a lotta single-A regional thingys for his small school, just missed on State(s). Two years back… (Ivy bailed their 2o21 season in full), led Cornel in scoring (16.7 ppg.), rebounding (5.6 rpg.), and 3-pointers (31). Good all-’round baller. Experienced and smarts both at max’. Does have a history of numerous dings if not dents. Only played mo’ than 26 Big Red (Bear) games, once. This year legacy Jimmy B’ is getting you: 13.5 ppg with 5.9 rpg and 1.4 apg. Appears to have another year of eligibility after this… as he went A+ Ivy.edu in ONLY 3.5-seasons of schooling! wow again.  Nabbed 8 total Cornell Dean’s Lists awards. w0w! 38% when dialing long-distance this year is solid enough… tho’ 43.5% on roadie FTA’s and 58.4% free-throwing overall is just confounding to ‘splain?!? (His little bro’ nearly doubles his FT-percentage, alone!) On tape, there is a certain Meatballs ‘spaz’ element to his swagg. He’s a Koufax who goes orthodox or right quite a bit and frankly? It shows. Still yet, this is a good overall baller, just gots that one (FTA’s) hole in his otherwise pretty shapely game. Might still be a fringe overseas guy if he really wants it… time=tell. And that’s pretty dang good for a one, that’s (1) or single * recruit that all the nationals soured on for whatever reason(s)?
• Cole Swider, is a: 6′9″, 22o lb., Forwarding SF/PF ‘tweener of sorts by way of: Villanova. Springy, elongated, lengthy Three or Four on breaking tape. Really good lift on his J; very hard to get at his shot. Will dunk on you and go at the rack. Gets you: 13.2 ppg with the team blue-ribbon 6.8 rpg on 1.4 apg and 1.1 spg. This Cole-field is a pretty crafty shooter…  what with: 44% from the floor, 88% from the FT-line, and 4o% from 3-point-land. Does run a bit hawt-n-cold… tabulating right at double-digits of scoring or lowercase 20’s in production. The better version of Swider could be your in-game barometer all by his ownself. That squarely struck… Cole’s scoring is up +231% and is rebounding is up another +242% since ‘Nova. That’s pretty super betterment in my book and/or coaching the, verb. Does seem to ball better vs. BIGer names so there is that as well. Might be a mini-me ‘gamer’ for it. 2o16-17 Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior does not suck. And neither did his 34th overall in the Class of 2o18 by ESPN. As this was a high-20-something(s) scholastic blow-torch typea scorer. Kid sis’ still runs hoops for ‘Nova. Good, solid, overall hoopster, right on the fringe exported career cusp.

‘Cuse Weaknesses:

• Depth! Fatigue, S&C, endurance… call it what you will… the starters are pretty dang sharp. Every bit as they are pretty dang, tired at the end of 40-minutes. Of which the Top-5 ‘Cuse scorers average at least 33.9 mpg!
• …similar, -and yes, Eye knows- this is still a tallish team, granted. Although a buncha length and 2-3 Zoning experience just left Will’s Jiffy-Pop building.
• Did Eye mention the lack of depth and/or associated lack of sub’ production here? WWII’s New London, Connecticut this is not.
• …oddball enough, nobody here ever won a H.S. or Prep’ School or whatever Championship. Regional/Confernce=yes. State=Nope. You typically see several P5, Major Conference guys per squad with at least one bling on their résumé at this, (A.c.c.), level. Strange…
• The textbook coaching sewing circle vibes say that this years ‘Cuse lacks “athleticism“, in particular in the frontcourt.
• As 2 frontcourters departed, along with another 2 part-time starters which took ~45 ppg and ~20 rpg out the door with them. This team has college experience, it is just that they are collegiately inexperienced, together.

Orange Bench: (depth=1 maybe 2… as nobody nets you ≥2.3 ppg here (less the C), no joke!)

Parttime starter, Third-year, 6′11″, (now ~15 lbs. to) 23o lb. true-C by way of Amsterdam, NLD, (1 rpg, 1 bpg, 1.4 ppg on 43% shooting) Jesse Edwards has a history of bum ankle turns | St.Philip bless). Tho’… look what his two better wheels are doing this year? 12.0 ppg with 6.6 rpg and the team lead with 2.8 bpg! All on a nifty twine-ticking 69% overall! wow… ‘nother Most Improved (league wise on this scaling) candidate right here men. His older brother (Kenneth) is a star out at Nor.Iowa so the family tree blossoms round-balls here. Jesse is said to be a skillful low-post baller with legit low-post moves and yet another metrics-based tough match-up for us in the key. Does look stronger in the film-room, arms in particular. Does not seem to love physical play just the same. Has international experiences in Italian and Netherlands play alike. Is a Dutch-boy import technically. Technically sound Five with really good footwork/low-post training. Curious kid if he can keep this pace of upward mobility, up? As he keeps a Ric Flair streak in his ‘fro and you needs to be keepin’ it real to be keepin’ dat! (UPDATE: …then, sadly I heard this one Thursday nite… OUT. Edwards is sidelined for the remainder of the 2021-22 season due to a fractured left wrist. Goodness, St.Julia bless!)

Yet another towering ‘Cuse Center is second-year Frank Anselem (6′10″, (now) 215 lb.) by way of Lagos Nigeria. (St.Corona bless!!! Viral-testing/tracing causality last year here… expensed Frankie some developmental time/reps last time we saw him). As he still seems a bit raw to me. Also, raw would-be Frank’s 2.5 ppg and 2.4 rpg in limited caddying minutes thus far. Did make the ‘Cuse Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, so there is that. Ranked about 190th or so by most services nationally. He finished H.S., then finished an Academy season, and then finished a Prep’ season to boot. Older mo’ mature kid for it for whatever reason(s). The kid can leap, has pogo sticks for legs. Even glides a bit here-n-there in the air. Kinda has a micro-Larry Nance vibe to him for it. Be really interesting if/when Anselem ever puts all these vertical scaling testing results on-court together.

P/F-Center combo’, 6′10″, 216 lb. Natinga, So.Sudanese John Bol Ajak had (self)-elected to use his r-shirt season and has NO stats accordingly as a rookie or nugget year baller last season. The now r-Sophomoric J.B.A., who is an artist on the side— is said to be less than artistic and downright “raw” on O, although a pure Windex-wiper and defender, and this typically makes for a good anchoring middle man in Jimmy’s 2-3 (match-up) zone. And he is supposed to be still trying to: “bulk up” to get physically ready for the stateside game. And he found one lb. in doing so. 0.4 ppg and 1.1 rpg later and this year we find at a mutually disappointing and declining 33% then, down to 25% now from the floor. As there is a lotta ‘moo’ left in this kid’s offensive steak. Bloody raw. Sanguine. Very. Not to mention that in H.S. poooooor Ajak, back in 2017-18, he was slowed for most of the season by an Achilles injury. Yikes, and Coach God Help! 480th guy from 247Sports in the nation. Tho’ ESPN and others did have him as a **** latent (upgraded) quad-star guy. Had mid-range scoring and upper-range rebounding/defending scholastic digits to his name. Project… who may or may not project beyond part-time rim-protector in collegiate terms. Time=tell here as well… (UPDATE: St.Nikēphóros bless! As poor Ajak is going through the league’s COVID-19 protocol, he will miss an undetermined length of time. Dangnation…)

Chaz Owens (6′5″, 2o5 lb.) was out indefinitely per an: “unspecified injury” with no exact date of return. Then he came back. Out also were his: 0.5 ppg and 0.3 rpg. God Bless. “Yes” he is related… as His father was one of the nation’s top recruits when he selected Syracuse in 1988. Poppa-bear: Billy Owens was a two-time All-American and the BIG EAST Conference Player of the Year in 1990-91. He was the third overall pick in the NBA Draft by Sacramento and spent 10 seasons in the N.b.a. Chaz was just named to the Fall Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (3.0-or-better grade-point-average)— cuse.edu props! Chaz, however, was ranked 2,113th in the nation and 77th in the Keystone state of Pa. (kinda a curious Legacy take here…) And oh yes… he has balled at: Wissahickon, the Shipley School, the Scotland Campus and you and I combined have, not. (m.s. mid-script… all of which are Keystone or Pa., State places/schools B.T.W.).

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Oranges who could peel-out @Tech=.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

…not to be too R.A.T.T. taken with either team’s mild to moderate resurgence of late.

As the balance of the 2o21-2o22 evidence says that at least one fulcrum is gonna tetter and/or totter some mo’. Before the 2o22 madness or regular season Marches on Eye mean.

---

That said… Syracuse has carved four winning notches in a row in their 2o21-2o22 belt. (Beating four straight rather beatable A.c.c. companions).

Virginia Tech has also recently notched a quadratic maker on the old scoreboard bed-post of late as well.

Ergo, therefore, to Whit… thus making this one an amalgam of one of my pet sayings… this one is not two ships passing in the nite, so much as this one is…

…two side-by-side tethered ships just now getting up to Flank, speed.

Which ship closes 2o22 business speedier, however, remains to be, seen?

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for a 9-point medium-sized Orange-crush VomiTing in this one here. Per capita, this works out to a mere 1.2 version of ‘Cuse. The outlying part was… these roundball round-robins were all over the place. Literally. Some games were seeming in sync and some experienced really large dispersion diagrams or variance in textbook terms. Not so much a canceling effect as it was literally a printer running outta, ink. (The empirically harhsing part was… there was NO Venn Diagram overlap in each team’s recent quadratic or 4-game winning streak— this really hurts here). As each club played 4-differing opposing squads. So, take this one with an Orange grain of NaCl or salt, either way…

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee is up +2% in shooting percentage margin (virtually only on O itself); with V.P.I. up a decent-looking +6% in 3-point percentage margin (⅔^rds of which was on a bit better shooting) and Vah.Tech was technically up a nominal looking +1 carom in Windex Wipes on rebounding margin for the duration. (Neither team is bad, both teams however were nearly at backboarding equilibrium here).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… crazily enuff… these two are even-steven in shooting percentage margin (VeeTee blistering hot on +7% better at nearly 55% of late on O, and yet ‘cuse really clamping down on –7% less allowed on D); yet, even mo’ brazenly enuff, the Orange are now up a useful +5% in 3-point percentage margin (with VeeTee 3-point strokin’ it on O and yet the Orange are choking it out on D even mo’), and in rebounding margin we nearly enter the Theater of the Absurd and Dr. Falco over in Williams Hall (English Minor here…)… as here both teams are negative of late… it is just that the Orange are less negative in |absolute value| terms leading to them being up +3 boards off the fiberglass in the last fortnight of play.

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

DIAL ‘CUSE fo’ …ASSISTANCE:
Syracuse ranks second in the A.c.c. with 15.2 assists per game led by Joseph Girard III averaging 4.4.

COACH RAY STEVENS… “The Streak!”
Virginia Tech has shot at least 50 percent from the field in five straight games for the first time in school history! Aluma was one of the hot shooters in the most recent win, going 7 of 1o from the field en route to 18 points in a 74-47 rout of Pitt.

GOING, GOING, GONE!
Syracuse knocked off Virginia Tech 78-6o in the only meeting last season, although 66 of the Orange’s points in that one were scored by players who will not be on the court Saturday.

Nobody is up mo’ than a few 10^ths of a % at the charity stripe for the year.
VeeTee is a .727 host; whereas ‘Cuse is .375 as a guest.
VeeTee is actually +1 in R&R for this one here.

The Call...

No.82 Net Ranking Syracuse no.44 Net Ranking Virginia Tech:

So, with both teams on the upswing vs. less than epic competition in the last couple of weeks, the (to be determined) actually weaker team is prolly due to give {sic: in} here.

And this just in… a.c.c.ording to sourcing, rain is still rumored to be, ‘wet’.

That attempt at comedy completed… methinks that this is *the* “Tell-Tale” kinda game in which we and Coach E.A. Poe find out just who has post-season, Heart.

As one of these two is due to do more than just show some late-season signs and move on to some post-season love. Whereas the other one is due to ‘bounce’ in horse-racing terms
and come back down to, Atlantic Coastal, Earth.

–oOo–

The ‘whispers’ close to Syracuse says that… Coach Jimmy has been bemoaning his O behind the scenes. Tho’ his D seems relatively scenic with his hard to deal with 2-3 baseline centric Zone.

As Chris Coleman of TSL.com has recently instructed you… the VeeTee O be nettin’ better and yet the VeeTee D and not so much.

That would seem to me to say that now is a good time for a hot-shooting Mike Young and Co. to challenge the vaunted twenty-three-zone from distance. As you do NOT wanna face this whacky zoning which forces you to lob them up from long range when experiencing a chilly streak or being an ice-queen gone distancing totally, frigid.

(Not to mention you’d prefer your chances to win a long-range shootout @home —all (other) things being equal).

This plus the regrettable sudden ‘Cuse roster depletion moved me off of a slight Syracuse nod to even; or, even to a slight Vah.Tech nod itself.

…that fairly said, Eye really toyed with the ‘Cuse upset pick here… as their starters seem better to me than our starters do. Or, at least mo’ on Point, mo’ feelin’ their flow and catching their sexxy. Eye just hope we out-depth them per se here… as this one could be a real offensive treat between two offensively peaking teams.

The true caveat was… ‘Cuse is noticeably better on D than our Air Coryell or
80’s Denver McNuggets approach to things of late.

(As our best D has been our best, O).

O… no???

🦃 = 🏀 = 🍊

 

(55% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=8o, Syracuse=76 (overtime)

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**