Ohio State vs Syracuse

Another fun game! Yes, basketball is supposed to be fun, I'm talking to you coaches! Stop ruining the game by turning it into an ugly blend of football, wrestling, arm wrestling, ultimate fighting, and slugsketball :)

Syracuse played another *cough* neutral *cough* game at MSG, and despite their loss and growing pains, they have shown, once again, a lot of promise. Of course promises are just that, and it takes a lot of hard work to turn potential into gains. But this team does have a lot of potential. And you could see why Izzo was so interested in getting Devendork (not a typo), the guy is crazy, he apparently enjoys taking charges, the more painful the better. It is quite interesting how each year Syracuse manages to find itself on a pre-season tournament at MSG :-)

I jumped on the Thad Matta Express when his Xavier team "lost" to Duke in the 2004 Elite 8. If the jerseys said anything but Duke, Xavier would have been to the Final Four. If you are not convinced, get the tape or the DVD and witness the preferential treatment Duke got on the 50-50 calls! If Matta was able to get to the Elite 8 at Xavier and the Sweet 16 with Butler, and get an utterly despondent post Jim O'Brien team without any post-season hopes to perform as they did, you bet he's gonna have a very good season with this talented lot. I don't think people realize how good his second team is, let alone his starting five.

While we know of Butler, small Othella (Othello Hunter), Lighty, and Terwilliger, the incoming freshmen are only going to get better, not just Dribbler (not a typo) and the anti-Oden (Koufos), but also Evan Turner, space-eater Dallas Lauderdale, once-over-rated Eric Wallace, and the mysterious PJ Hill.