Dec. 14, 2008

Greetings from Syracuse, New York!!

I am sitting courtside at the Carrier Dome, the site of what are arguably the two biggest wins in Cleveland State basketball history.

It was March of 1986 when Kevin Mackey and the Run-N-Stun Vikings invaded the dome for the NCAA Tournament first round and shocked the world, becoming the first No 14 seed to defeat a No. 3 seed when the knocked off Indiana, 83-79.

Almost overnight, Mouse McFadden, Clinton Ransey, Clinton Smith and the rest of the gang became national sensations. When they beat St. Joseph's, 75-69, two days later to advance to the Sweet 16, the Cinderella era of the NCAA Tournament was started.

It has been almost 23 years since that weekend, but the Vikings return to the dome for the first time to take on Syracuse on Monday night. With Syracuse ranked in the top 16 nationally in both polls (and they should go up some more when the polls come out tomorrow), a win on Monday night would certainly rank up with the exploits of the NCAA squad.

This is an interesting building. Since it is used for both football and basketball, basketball games are played to one end of the stadium, playing from what would be one football sideline to the other. A large set of stands - seating probably 4,000-5,000 - are erected for basketball games over what would be about the 50-yard line area.

The rest of the stands for basketball come from the configuration for football, giving Syracuse about 33,000 seats for hoops. The bubble air-supported ceiling - much like the Krenzler dome only much, much larger - gives the building a uniquely high ceiling. When the coaches bark out orders, you can hear the echo.

In the one corner of the field is the retired football jersey #44 which was worn by three of Syracuse's most prominent players, Jim Brown, Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis and Floyd Little, who went on to a long career with the Denver Broncos. With Brown being widely accepted as the best running back in NFL history and the story of Davis' promising career cut short because of Leukemia, I can't help but think that this is a Cleveland kind of building.

As I type this, Trevon Harmon and CSU strength and conditioning coach Derek Millender are in a car headed to Syracuse after Harmon was declared eligible to play earlier today. He should arrive in town just before midnight tonight and take part in the pre-game practice on Monday morning.

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The trip from Poughkeepsie to Syracuse was an uneventful one today but spirits were high following last night's blowout win over Marist.

The way the Vikings broke down Marist reminded me of how they played during the trip to Spain. We ran when we could, defended hard and generally dominated the Red Foxes. You can really see the benefits that we have gained by playing four games against potential post-season teams already this year.

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The big topic of discussion on the bus today was the dunk (?) by Joe Latas late in the Marist game.

By definition, it was probably a dunk (it was credited as such on the play-by-play) but it also could have easily been goaltending and a technical foul.

The play unfolded with Jeremy Montgomery in possession at the top of the key. Montgomery and Latas have teamed up on a couple of baskets this season with Montgomery driving the lane and dishing off to the 6-11 Latas on the blocks for the easy layup.

This basket was no different except somewhere between catching the pass and dunking it, Latas lost control of the ball going up. I didn't get to see the replay, but I do know that 1) Latas made a dunking motion 2) the ball went in the basket 3) Latas hung on the rim as the ball went through it and 4) the ball went in off the backboard.

I think it was No. 4 that made everybody talk about the dunk because rarely, do you call glass on a dunk.

On a serious note, the play Latas made is one of the reasons why he is here. Although he is still learning some of the things he needs to know to play significant minutes, Latas definitely knows what to with the ball when he gets it. He is shooting .583 for the season (7-12) which is a good sign for the future beause few Horizon League schools have a big-body center like Latas who is skilled enough offensively to routinely score in the lane.

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If something happens once, it is an oddity. Twice, it is interesting. By the time something happens five or six times, it becomes a trend which means that Gary Waters has the Vikings playing defense as well as it has ever been played at CSU.

The Marist game marked the fifth straight contest that CSU held its opponent to under 40-percent shooting and the sixth straight game that the Vikings allowed fewer than 60 points.

You have to go back to the start of the 1963-64 season to find a similar stretch where it held its opponents to under 60 points.

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Bus Driver Story of the Day:

When I told Marist SID Mike Ferraro during shoot-around about our bus driver, he sympathized with me because the Red Foxes have a regular driver who does some crazy things.

When I saw Mike later in the day, he said, "You didn't tell me that your driver was Victor. He's our driver!" Hmmmm. Interesting.

Victor offered inspiration to the Vikings before the game by telling them that if they didn't beat Marist, that they would have to walk to Syracuse.

I'm glad we won because he is just crazy enough to have tried it.

That's all I have for now. Practice is ending and we are off to the Dinosaur Barbecue for dinner.

Email me at CSUSID@gmail.com if you have any questions or topics that you want covered. I will try to write on Tuesday.