Cuse Conquers the Hall

When the undefeated Syracuse Orange came down to the Rock in Newark NJ to face one of the hardest working teams in college basketball you knew you were in for a battle and that’s exactly what we got.

I got an opportunity to sit in press row to take in the game and wanted to share a bit of the experience with you.

The crowd appeared a little late arriving especially in the expensive seats but it’s probably because they were enjoying the great amenities at Rock, which really is a first class arena. Waiting for the game I got to enjoy(?) the seton hall band. Their ensemble seemed a little small quite possibly because its holiday break, however their bass drummer didn’t seem to realize that fact and was wailing away. Unfortunate for me as I was about 10 feet away from him.

The crowd despite being in NJ had a heavy component of Syracuse fans as games played by the Orange in the NY/NJ area always do. It was probably a 60-40 split Seton Hall to Syracuse fans with plenty of Orange shirts sitting next to Juice the Orange shirts.

Some interesting people in the crowd included a scout for the Knicks as well as Leon Washington of the Jets. Have to wonder if the Knicks are planning on making some trades since Zeke traded away their first round pick this year (sorry Knicks fans).

The game got started and it was a sloppy contest throughout with Syracuse turning it over 24 times during the game. Seton Hall jumped out to a 12 point first half lead with 4:35 to go. The Orange were able to go to their bench and got a great contribution from little used Mookie Jones as well as Scoop Jardine to tie the score at the half. Seton Hall wasn’t discouraged and again jumped out to a lead behind the effort of Herb Pope and Jeremy Hazell. However after being read the riot act by Beoheim in a timeout with 12:54 to go in the half SU came out with some fire and a few Sportscenter worthy dunks by Kris Josephs and Wes Johnson later the Orange would take the lead for good.

After the game I assumed Beoheim would be more upset about the sloppy play of his team, but he said every game in the league is going to be tough and this is what you expect. Similarly I expected Bobby Gonzalez to be more upset that only Pope and Hazell had been able to contribute anything but instead he was more worried about missed opportunities on touches inside and overall shooting percentage.

Overall it was a great time. Syracuse is clearly a top 5 team in the country and arguably top 3. Seton hall after tough losses to the #5 and #6 teams in the country within 3 days should be able to give every team they face hell this year. It was the largest crowd to see college basketball at The Rock and hopefully Seton Hall fans will continue to come out to support their tough, energetic team throughout the season.

Live From the Rock

Can also be seen on Armchairgm

Last night I was able to get a press pass for the Seton Hall versus Depaul men’s basketball game at the new Prudential Center aka the Rock in Newark NJ. While Newark is not the nicest area and I wouldn’t advise walking around aimlessly at night, the area surrounding the arena seemed very safe and it’s actually not a bad area with the NJ Performing Arts Center right next door (essentially). It was a bit of a run around to get the credential but when I finally got to the place to get my credential they were very friendly and helpful.

Now I could give a recap of the game, but being that it was Seton Hall versus Depaul I don’t think to many people are particularly interested (even if the game did end up being exciting coming down to the wire.) Instead I will focus on the atmosphere of the game and the arena. I got into my courtside seat about a half hour before the game. To my left underneath the basket was the student section and the Seton Hall band, always a great part of college basketball and Seton Halls band didn’t disappoint. In all honesty though, I could have used a little more cowbell.

The crowd was a little late getting into their seats and initially I assumed they just didn’t come as this isn’t exactly the biggest of rivalry games. However it seemed they were just a little late getting into their seats, which is understandable given the amount of things to do in the arena. There’s a bar, a “Belvidere” lounge overlooking the court, games, balloon making and face painting. I was very impressed by the amount they had going on for the kids. I was also impressed by the overall arena. It’s structurally impressive on the outside, but inside the amount of screens and quality of the video scoreboards and screens were top notch. The place basically puts the Izod center to shame.

Before the game Seton Hall was lead out by the cheerleaders and the Pirate. The cheerleaders while not the worst I’ve seen made me long for the Pac-10. The Pirate while agile was not quite the best costume I’ve seen. The game started and it was clear neither team was quite ready for the big time. Coach Bobby Gonzalez is a very energetic coach and coaches his team well, but they’ve got some work to do before they’re going to challenge the upper half of the Big East. I think Gonzalez was a good hire out of Manhattan and with some of the young talent they have like 6-11 freshman Mike Davis they could make some noise next year.

It’s overall a great place to go and I definitely suggest checking out the Prudential Center for either a Seton Hall game or a hockey game. I’m going to be back there in a couple weeks for Seton Hall versus Syracuse a sold out game and it should be a lot of fun even if I think Syracuse is going to destroy the Pirates (which despite living in the same town as Seton Hall I’m ok with since I grew up a Syracuse fan.)