It's time for another Q&A/ Mailbag!
Now that we've seen the preseason games, are you ready to update your SU basketball depth chart?
(C.B. Chicago)
Probably. SU threw just about every lineup imaginable out on the floor against Lemoyne. At one point I thought Bernie Fine was going to come in at small forward. It's pretty clear that we may see some "small ball" lineups this season and a Flynn/Devendorf/Rautins/Harris/Onuaku unit is a very real possibility at times. It also looked like Kris Joseph will get some minutes at the shooting guard, small forward, power forward and the P.A. announcer spots this season. The lineups that featured Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson on the floor at the same time have been interesting but haven't really given them the kind of rebounding dominance you'd expect. It's also pretty hard to test that type of lineup against a small D-2 school so don't count it out yet. Here's my new look at the SU lineup -
PG - Flynn
SG - Devendorf
SF - Harris
PF - Ongenaet
C - Onuaku
Rautins, Jackson and Joseph look like the first subs off the bench with Mookie Jones as the 9th man.
Harris at the four? Really?
(Most SU Fans)
It sounds a little crazy at first but it might not be such a wild concept. He might not have the height but he's built like a mini-Hulk and isn't going to get pushed around by too many power forwards. Harris is very comfortable playing in the paint and some opposing "4"s might have trouble with his drive to the basket. (Note: I'm probably not as sold on this as I sound but I'm trying to give it a chance.)
Is Randy Edsall from UCONN the favorite for the football job? What about your Skip Holtz bandwagon?
(J.F. Syracuse)
I'll be honest - I don't see how SU could get Randy Edsall. The Post Standard is reporting that he's the favorite and that he's reportedly "Very interested". Dave Rahme and Donnie Webb are outstanding reporters and have the best sources in town so I'm trying to take this seriously but it just doesn't make sense to me. UCONN is a state funded school with tons of public money invested in facilities, support staff and coaches. It's a program that's (somewhat) on the rise and drawing in good recruits. Why would he want to go to a small private school that has nowhere near the funding or facilities that UCONN has? It's like Google's CEO announcing that he's leaving to take the top job at Pets.com
I can only see four ways this would ever happen.
1. SU is about to go crazy and absolutely break the bank to get him. Since SU is a relatively small school, I don't know where the money for this would come from but maybe Dr. Gross is going to take SU's endowment to Vegas and bet it on a single hand of blackjack. It doesn't really make sense on either side but crazier things have happened.
2. There's trouble at the UCONN ranch. Maybe Edsall knows something about the future of the Husky program that we don't and it's a good time to get off the ship. This seems pretty doubtful too.
3. Edsall is trying to use SU to get his own deal with UCONN renegotiated and he's going with a "Fistful of Dollars" method of playing both sides against each other. At the end of the process he goes to the highest bidder. This still seems unlikely.
4. Nancy Cantor has kidnapped his family and says she will return them only after Edsall delivers an SU appearance in a BCS Bowl game.
Let's see what happens. Donnie Webb and Dave Rahme have forgotten more about SU Football than I'll ever know so the story has legitimacy. If you're an SU fan, Edsall would be a great pick. He knows the program, has built a program from scratch and recruits well in the northeast - a skill set that would be perfect for the state of disaster SU is in currently.
I still like Skip Holtz and think he'd be a great option as well. Maybe we should slow the Holtz bandwagon down until we see how the Edsall situation plays out though.
At one point during the UCONN game the announcers were talking about the coaching situation at SU and the camera cut to a shot of G-Rob pouring gatorade down his throat for like twenty seconds. It was like something out of a Will Ferrell movie. I think we were only moments away from the announcers screaming "OH MY GOD! HE'S DROWNING HIMSELF!"
("The Kid" from Madison County)
G-Rob can get a little worked up during the game. Or a lot worked up. Some coaches are from the Tom Coughlin "I can turn you to stone with my glare" school of sideline coaching and some are from the Chris Farley "Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker" school. G-Rob can be a little of the best of both but nobody's better for a wild, red faced, throwing the headset tantrum over a meaningless illegal procedure call.
What's the deal with the hookah bar run by the SU football players? That seems like something you'd be all over!
(Most of my SU friends)
When I first heard about it a hookah bar on Marshall street and who was running it - about a hundred potential jokes flooded my head and I had to sit down. 99% of those jokes could not be published for the following reasons.
1. Wherever the "family friendly" line is - most of the jokes ran past it like they played for the Akron Zips.
2. It just didn't seem like the right time to pile on the SU football program. Even though I just took a cheap shot in the line above. Don't come here looking for consistency.
3. I've seen some of those guys who are really hungry and looking for the Insomniac Cookies store to deliver warm baked goods at 4:00AM. Even though they're generally really mellow and chill - I don't want any of them to come after me. Not that any of those guys would be hanging around a hookah bar run by SU football players. In fact, I bet that's the last place those guys would want to be. Let's just move on before I get in trouble or their paranoia really kicks in.
Dude - How can I find out if I have any college eligibility left?
(Woody Harrelson, Amy Winehouse and The Caterpillar from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland")
That's just ridiculous. I can't believe that someone would try to imply that there's anything shady about a hookah bar. It's no different than a McDonald's franchise or pizza place but without the cholesterol and fatty foods. Maybe we should all just expand our minds and get free man.
adunbar@wstm.com
