February 14th, 2009: Syracuse at St. John's

Syracuse Orange 79, St. John's Red Storm 78

Happy Valentine's Day! Britney Murphy has big brass ones, but Nicole Michael and the Syracuse Orange are bigger in less metaphorical ways.


I maintain, and I suspect that I always will, that a one-point loss is more disheartening, more demoralizing, and more frustrating thay any number of blowouts will ever be. I know in my heart that we really had no chance of winning this game, and that we shouldn't have been as close as we were, but it still drives me up the wall.

Epic fail: Monique McLean was not with the team, and isn't going to be for a long time. Which brings us down to 10 players, only four of them guards, three of whom start. Slim pickings. Not amused.

Hillsman reminds me of a teeny tiny Charles Barkley. That's not a sight I really want to see. His team doesn't have *that* much size, but they used what they had effectively, especially when it came to Nicole Michael- because she's so long-limbed, she was able to reach over our posts and snag rebounds, and when she didn't snag them, she was able to bat them to her teammates. They absolutely kicked the shit out of us on the glass. It wasn't the second chances that killed us- it was the third and fourth chances that got us. Morrow didn't have a great shooting game, but she hit the shots when she needed to. Chandrea Jones went off like a firecracker in the first half- for a while it was her and Kelly going toe-to-toe. She quieted down in the second, but by that point, 'Cuse had gotten their city girls going. What's up with Tasha Harris and the sleeves? Just curious. They got decent bench play out of Troya Berry, who was helpful when Jones got into foul trouble- they could go to a bigger lineup and really drive us up the wall. Gobuty hit a critical shot to help put the kibosh on one of our comeback tries.

Without McLean, we had to start Britney Murphy, who's normally the first guard off the bench. She's a freshman, and there were times during the game when she looked like she was in over her head- but gun-to-the-head time, she showed that she has brass ones like church bells- the three shots she hit were all big ones: one right at the half to put us up four, one to cut Syracuse's lead under double figures, and one with 2.6 left that put us within one and made a win at least theoretically possible (until Syracuse went long and the ball went right to Michael). She needs to not be so tentative when it's not gun-to-the-head time, though. Kelly was red-hot from downtown in the first half, but 'Cuse got on her in the second. Joy tried, God knows Joy tried, but Michael and Murray really exposed how unsuccessful a slender six-footer is going to be at the four in the Big East- she got pushed around and beat up a LOT. Da'Shena Stevens is missing. Goddamn UConn fans must have kidnapped her and replaced her with a Pod Person that doesn't know how to shoot free throws; airballing one free throw is barely acceptable for a post player with a dicey release, but airballing two is completely not on. Fess up, Husky Hardcores- which one of you took her, and what do you want for ransom? Sky had a decent game- not great, and she and Britney both showed that they're not ready to be primary offensive options yet. The two shot clock violations proved that- we just don't know what to do without someone to take the shot, and with Pod!Da'Shena and no Monique, we don't have someone who'll take the shot. Coco continued the trend of not completely sucking, although she committed some very stupid fouls. We can't afford stupid fouls right now. Kristin came up big off the bench. I've always liked her. She has a steady hand and a quirky jump shot that looks like she's throwing every ounce of her soul into it. Recee was critical off the bench too- with Joy and Da'Shena both being ineffective, she had to step up and throw down with the Syracuse posts. Doing so literally, however, was not really necessary- she and Erica Morrow got into it near the end of the game, though from the looks of it, Morrow started it by taking a shot at Recee's masked face. Antagonizing 6'1" of Texas badass=FAIL.

Guess who's back from knee surgery? Lisa Mattingly! Guess who didn't miss her? Me! The refereeing got pretty tight near the end of the game, and she had a lot to do with it. I felt bad for Darryl Humphrey, being stuck with her and Mrs. Enterline. We got the benefit of a lot of borderline calls, though, I'll say that. When I'm making the sign for three seconds at Joy, yeah, not such great refereeing.

Decent crowd, though the sheer number of city girls on 'Cuse's roster might have something to do with that. Very cheesy Valentine-themed contests. I think they're desperate to find fans, though, given that I was offered the seat upgrade for the fourth time this season. Trust me, guys, you don't want my mouth down there.

I think some of the band may have been missing. The sound was lacking something. (Okay, it was also lacking competence, but what else is new?)

I honestly don't know what to say anymore, I really don't.

Photos will be in the SJU album by tomorrow morning. I've got some other red-and-white plans first.