Talking Syracuse with Brian Harrison

It’s Syracuse day. That means it’s time to talk to everyone’s favorite Syracuse writer named Brian, Orange 44’s Brian Harrison. He’s great. Tweet him insulting things before the game, during the game and after the game. Here we talk Syracuse, free throw shooting, Chopped, announce teams, and what Brian did in law school. I can smell your interest from here. Questions in bold.

Don’t know if you know this or not, but Syracuse lost for the first time this year on Saturday. Can you give a quick recap?

Notre Dame shot the ball really well. Syracuse got off to a slow start and never could get on a big enough run in the second half to take the lead. Not having Fab Melo in the middle on defense did hurt as well. And Tim Higgins still doesn’t know the difference between a block and a charge. Either way, Syracuse was going to lose at some point and everything went right for Notre Dame and not much did for Syracuse.

Fab Melo didn’t make the trip. What is Syracuse losing?

A big defensive presence in the middle of the zone. Seven feet cannot be ignored. He also blocks shots. And obviously his offense has improved miles from last season. Really, it’s the defense and the new ability to draw charges.

Kris Joseph is the ‘star’ player for the second year in a row. How has his game evolved?

He can create his own shot more, using a fade away, and he has also improved his drive and kick ability. Other than that he is just as dynamic of a player now as he was last year and when he came in off the bench and was Sixth Man of the Year. He needs to improve his dribbling though.

Speaking of evolving, Dion Waiters has become the man. What has been key in his step up?

Jim Boeheim. It was simple in that he got Waiters to buy into his role as a key bench player and the first option to come into a game for an instant offensive spark. By simple, I mean it took some convincing, but he is a veteran coach and got a player to not only stay but be productive.

What happened to Scoop Jardine at the foul line? 54%?

I’ve said for years you have no excuse missing free throws when you are a guard. Especially a shooting guard. Now Scoop is a point guard, but either way he should be making at least 80%. Why he’s missing them now… I have no idea.

Syracuse runs at least 8 deep. Is there any combination that you don’t trust on the court?

There honestly are no combinations that I don’t trust. I prefer a bigger lineup over the smaller, quick lineup that they sometimes run with Fab out and Christmas or Keita in the middle, but that is just a preference and not as potent of an offensive or rebounding threat as the team could be.

You’ve been unbelievably accurate picking final scores of Cincinnati/Syracuse games. What’s the call for tonight?

This is a tough one. I definitely like Syracuse to win just because I think the pressure of being #1 will be gone and the will just not have as bad of  a night offensively as they did in South Bend. Syracuse has played well against Cincinnati as of late, and they are still playing 8-9 players that can score over the six dependable scorers that Cincy runs. I’m still picking Syracuse because of history and the fact that they will play better offensively in this game than Saturday. I’ll take the Orange by 8.

Bilas/Raftery/Sean are the best announce team going, right?

Easy question. Clearly yes. And they are simply masterful when they get to New York for the Big East Tournament. But they are the reason Big Monday is what it is. And honestly it will be one of the biggest things I will miss when Syracuse heads to the ACC. Mike Patrick needs to just retire.

Could you not lose your shit if you were a contestant on Chopped and they were overly critical of your dish for a very cheap reason and you got chopped over some stupid jerk who’s fish was a little raw?

I would keep it cool on camera, but I would be absolutely belligerent outside or in my car after the fact. Those judges are really unpredictable on those shows. But it’s not like we can taste the food so I guess you just have to trust them.

How did you start watching cooking competition shows? I remember I started watching Chopped because 90 episodes in a row came on one day.

I think it honestly started when I was in law school and had BBC America and first was exposed to Gordon Ramsay with Kitchen Nightmares. Then when Hell’s Kitchen started I watched that and it branched out to Top Chef and all the stuff on the food network. Chopped is really solid. I still like all the Ramsay shows. And Restaurant Impossible I really enjoy as of late as well.

Giant thanks to Brian. Ever since I’ve been doing the blog, he’s been a person who supports it. He’s always up for anything, including 50,000 word conversations about Hell’s Kitchen. He’s great. Support him. Thanks again, Brian.