A Bit of Rest for the Weary

After a rough week for SU the team stopped their first losing streak of the season at 2, winning by 2 at the Comcast Center last night.  As my partner Ted told you all in his post after the Duke loss, it is not time to panic yet.  That statement still stands.  Now even though my heart palpitations just stopped about an hour ago because of yet ANOTHER close game, the team had some positives that they can build on after such a dreadful last few games.

CJ was back to his old ways
last night at Maryland
Photo Credit: ESPN

First thing to build on is CJ Fair played like CJ Fair.  That is something that the wonderful fans of the Syracuse Orange have been devoid of for the last few weeks.  CJ has made a few big plays here and there but last night he was back and doing CJish type things again.  He started the game off with 10 points in the first 14 minutes, scoring once on back to back plays as we have grown accustomed to seeing.  He also made a step back 3 in crunch time as the shot clock was running down.  And he finished the last 4 minutes with 4 fouls, playing smart, fundamental, Boeheimian basketball.

Another thing that we can find a bit of hope in is the fact that SU won without Jerami Grant.  Grant has been one of the shining stars this season and has taken a permanent spot in the starting lineup.  He tweaked his back in the Duke game and only played 13 minutes last night.  So it proved that SU can beat a mediocre team without one of our best players, which sounds a bit stupid but until about 3rd round of the ACC tourney and the Sweet 16 of the NCAAs, SU will be playing mediocre teams.  My point being SU still has that grind it out mentality and can win when the cards aren't exactly in their favor.  Speaking of cards another one that hasn't been in the SU's favor lately is Trevor Cooney's shooting.  He started off hot last night but went ice cold until his fade away at the end of the game.

The other two things we can take away from last night's game is that SU led by double digits at one point and they get some much needed rest. While the team did give us all another heart attack last night with their 11th game decided by 6 points or less, they did show spurts of ability to blow a team out...while it didn't last long, it was there at one point. I think. Sorta. Maybe I just want it to happen so bad that I'm delusional. Anyways, I digress. What we can all agree on is the fact that this Monday-Saturday rest time will be much needed.  The team can finally regroup, get Grant's back checked, rest Baye's knee a bit more, and all around figure themselves out a bit.

All I know is that something tells me that this game vs. Virginia will be epic.  With first place in the ACC on the line against a team that has already beaten Pitt, UNC, and Notre Dame twice, the game has the makings of something big.  Hopefully the positives will outweigh the negatives this Saturday night.

Keep the Orange juices flowin'!

-Your Orange Foreign Corespondent
  Ron