All week long, it seemed the media was trying its hardest to will Cornell to an upset win over Kentucky. But by the end of the first night of Sweet Sixteen action, Butler was the underdog stealing the headlines. While Cornell had a good 3-4 minutes of magic in their pocket before John Wall and the Army of Blueness proceeded to trample them, Butler neutralized No. 1 seed Syracuse’s athletic advantage and picked apart the infamous 2-3 zone in a monumental upset … Isn’t Gordon Hayward (17 pts, 5 rebs, 2 stls) overdue for the “next Larry Bird” hype that guys like Keith Van Horn, Wally Szczerbiak and Adam Morrison typically get around this time? Read More »

Jonny Flynn just tweeted the following about the big Syracuse/Butler upset:

For everybody solely placing the blame on 1 individual player #youreajoke it was jus 1 of the games where Butler was the better team tonight

We’re assuming that Jonny is referring to messages he’s getting on Twitter about the stretch run (and misses) from Scoop Jardin and/or the ZERO field goal attempts from Wesley Johnson in the last six minutes.

So who’s really to blame for the ‘Cuse collapse, if anybody? Read More »

What’s up everyone? Yeah, your boy CGF is back…and I have to get some stuff off my chest. Last night Pat informed me of his favorite Duke Blue Devils of the past 25 years list and like a lot of you guys, I am in shock. I know, I know it’s a “favorite” list but still no Jay Will or C-Booz?!?

With that said, I needed to get in on this being that I am huge Syracuse Orange fan. ‘The ‘Cuse has always been my team, growing up in New York I used to go to St. John’s and LIU games with my uncle. For some reason I never felt like a fan. There were players I though were nasty like Felipe Lopez and Mike Campbell, but I never really rooted for their respective programs. Even when Syracuse had tough seasons, the Orangemen (no the Orange) were always my squad.

Here are my Top 10 players of the last 25 years: Read More »

It’s Championship Week in college basketball, otherwise known as the week of tournaments before THE Tournament. And honestly, it seems this year people only really care about two conference tourneys: the Big East and the Big 12 … and maybe the ACC based on history and hype.

Yesterday I previewed the Pac-10 as a tune-up, but now it’s onto the real heavyweights. First up: the Big East. Read More »

From Pearl Washington to Gerry McNamara, Syracuse has a rich tradition of point guards. After the latest great one, Jonny Flynn, moved on to the NBA in 2009, Brandon Triche was handed the keys to the palace. What he does with them could find the Orange celebrating their second national championship in 2010.

Coming off last Thursday’s win at Georgetown, the Orange (25-2, 12-2 Big East) are ranked in the Top-5 nationally. The freshman Triche has started every game, averaging 9.0 points and 3.1 assists, but his production and PT has been spotty over the last couple of weeks. Earlier in the season, Triche was featured in Dime #55: Read More »

That’s right, the start of the college hoops season is just one week away and you know what that means: it’s time to unleash the mother effing fury! For the past seven months, I’ve been bottling up a vicious mixture of excitement and rage, just waiting for the moment to release my emotions onto the rest of the world. Well that time has come. Your boy Matty D is back to give you a look at the top teams in the country and to separate the champs from the chumps. Read More »

The Ricky Rubio song-and-dance has turned into the Michael Myers of the NBA offseason; it just won’t stay down. Last week, Rubio was reportedly going to sign a six-year contract with Regal FC Barcelona (Spain) — where he’d be teammates with J.C. Navarro, Terrence Morris, Fran Vasquez, and the immortal Boniface N’Dong — that had a reasonable buyout option in 2011. Bad news for the Wolves, right? Not so fast. The Barcelona deal isn’t official yet, and in the meantime, Minnesota GM David Kahn has flown to Spain AGAIN trying to work something out. At this point, Kahn might as well buy a condo out there and sublease it when he’s not busy trying to convince Rubio to come to America. Read More »

Like we’ve said before, the offseason is prime time for supreme optimism and high expectations. In Chicago, you’ve got a lot of people pegging the Bulls as a Top-5 team in the East. And from Derrick Rose specifically, he’s gunning for the likes of Chris Paul, Tony Parker and Chauncey Billups sooner than you might have expected — not to mention eyeing the crowns atop Kobe and LeBron‘s respective heads. Asked in a Chicago Sun-Times interview about his Year 2 goals, Rose said, “To be the best player in the League at my position, and hopefully be the best player in the NBA. There’s no point of playing basketball if you don’t want to be the best — or doing anything if you don’t want to be the best.” Read More »