Good News Saturday

Three quality wins in a row. After road wins against Marquette and Rutgers, Cuse came home and treated the biggest crowd of the season, not to mention a CBS Saturday audience, to a convincing 11 point win over Nova. This was particularly impressive considering that Devendorf hardly scored, and that Cuse had 20 turnovers. That deficiency was more than offset by good shooting – 55% from the field; over 50% from 3-point range; and 75% from the stripe. Josh Wright has been on my nerves all season, and today was no exception, but I’ll give him props for good free throw shooting. He and D-Nic are over 80% and Devendorf isn’t far behind. That makes it tough for Orange opponents to come back late in games; and even though they had a few misses, which kept Cuse from pushing to a twenty point lead, they hit enough foul shots late to keep the margin in double figures.

One thing appeared clear today; the Orange had been at a disadvantage without a healthy Mookie and Terrance in the lineup at the same time. First Mookie got busted in the nose, and had to wear a mask for a month. The Terrance sprained his knee and missed around three games. In the middle of all that, Cuse went on a little slump, dropping close games to some good opponents. But this past week, for the first time since early in the year, both big guys have been healthy. Today both of them hit double figures, and Terrance had 14 boards. With D-Nic at the small forward, if they all stay healthy, this is a good front line.

Another encouraging sign was seven assists from Eric D. Cuse misses having a good point guard, but if Eric can handle the point guard duties, that’s a huge benefit. Especially because he can get into the lane; so if big men double up on him to prevent him from scoring, he can dish. Shades of Billy E, our last good point guard. And let’s not forget the defense. After holding Marquette and Rutgers under 60, they held Nova and Sumpter to 64. With the shooters we have this year, those defensive numbers will be very effective.

The game was even more enjoyable with a glass of Highland Park 15. When the 15 was released, early reviews were not terribly encouraging, and so I stayed away. But tastings.com loves it, and Mr. Jackson gives it good marks, albeit not as good as the 18, or even the 12. In any event, I gave it a try, and I’m pleased to report that I was not at all disappointed. On the contrary, very impressed – especially for this modest price (under $50). I think it’s smoother and richer than the 12, and can’t quite figure out why it scores any lower than the other. HP remains one of my very favorites, and this malt has a very satisfying combination of flavor and smoothness.

So that’s the plan for the rest of the winter – good shooting, strong defense, and great malts. If we can just cut down on the turnovers, this season might do deep into March.