Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMBB | Orange begins tough stretch of games against Richmond
By Kyle Austin
Posted: 11/17/08, 10:39 PM EST Section: Sports
"It's good, we're young," Harris said Sunday. "Bring them on. It's good to keep playing. Sometimes you don't' want to want practice all the time, you want to play games. I'm glad we have a game in two days."
As for Richmond, longtime Syracuse fans will remember the Spiders well. In the 1991 NCAA Tournament, 15th-seeded Richmond knocked off second-seeded Syracuse, marking the first time a seed that low had ever won a Tournament game. SU has won the latest two matchups, the last one coming in the 2002 NIT. Tuesday marks the fourth meeting.
This year's Richmond squad utilizes a Princeton-style offense, which features numerous backdoor plays and screens that can catch a defense off guard. That provides an opportunity for the Orange to focus on its defense, an area it struggled with in last season, but showed improvement on in the opener.
"This is really going to be a test, it's going to show how sturdy we are on our defensive principles," point guard Jonny Flynn said after Sunday's game. "If we have a player in the passing lane like we did tonight too much, they're just going to go right backdoor. We just have to be sound defensively and it'll be a good game for us."
After playing two exhibitions and an opener against a Division II school, it's difficult to predict how Syracuse will fare against tough competition - which it will see plenty of in the Big East. But thanks to the upcoming schedule, that will all change soon.
"The level of competition will be good from here on out," Boeheim said.
kbaustin@syr.edu
As for Richmond, longtime Syracuse fans will remember the Spiders well. In the 1991 NCAA Tournament, 15th-seeded Richmond knocked off second-seeded Syracuse, marking the first time a seed that low had ever won a Tournament game. SU has won the latest two matchups, the last one coming in the 2002 NIT. Tuesday marks the fourth meeting.
This year's Richmond squad utilizes a Princeton-style offense, which features numerous backdoor plays and screens that can catch a defense off guard. That provides an opportunity for the Orange to focus on its defense, an area it struggled with in last season, but showed improvement on in the opener.
"This is really going to be a test, it's going to show how sturdy we are on our defensive principles," point guard Jonny Flynn said after Sunday's game. "If we have a player in the passing lane like we did tonight too much, they're just going to go right backdoor. We just have to be sound defensively and it'll be a good game for us."
After playing two exhibitions and an opener against a Division II school, it's difficult to predict how Syracuse will fare against tough competition - which it will see plenty of in the Big East. But thanks to the upcoming schedule, that will all change soon.
"The level of competition will be good from here on out," Boeheim said.
kbaustin@syr.edu
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