Best 4 year stretch in Program History...

[HakAttack]

We're entering a renaissance of the late 80's of SU hoops and a golden age on the cusp of dominance.

These last four years have been the best in program history. 119-26, with two 30 win seasons, and two other 25+ win seasons. Two Big East Regular season championships, two Sweet 16s and one Elite 8. More times ranked #1 than any other stretch in our program's history. It goes on and on.

However, I made this comparison to a friend yesterday. We're truly the Atlanta Braves of the college basketball world...sustained consistent excellence but never sustained dominance. For all of their consecutive Division Titles, the Braves only had one World Series to show for it. And for all of our 20-win seasons, we still only have one NC to show for it.

Now with the amazing stretch this program has enjoyed over the last four years, SU should be ready to vault into that group of dominant programs that includes Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, etc. Our recruiting is rolling, our national exposure has never been higher, the sky's the limit.

I truly believe the best is yet to come for this program, with or without JB. Legendary coaches (Rupp, Smith, Knight, etc) come and go, but what JB's lasting legacy will be is that he's now created a program that is truly running itself, and has nowhere to go but up, to a seat at the inner circle as THE ELITE college basketball program on the East Coast, and among the major players in the game.

We're right on the cusp of true dominance, and it's a hell of an exciting time to be a Syracuse Basketball fan! LET'S GO ORANGE!!

 

[Ghost]

Totally agree.

 

[PauliePeppas]

Yup, all you can ask for is to be legit contenders every year and thats where were headed, i see this orogram getting better and better every year

 

[stuckinbig11]

We need Warren Spahn.

 

[Upstate]

Need more guys playing in the NBA, but that will come in the next 3-5 years. A lot to like about these times.

 

[Rocco]

Totally agreed. With the way things are shaking on the recruiting front, a NC is right around the corner.

 

[mantonio]

The only concern here:

The University must find a way to diffuse the scandal bombs from evil media vampires who are trying to suck the life blood out of this program.

Right Now, Syracuse is like an emerging legend with a life threatening disease...

 

[CorduroyG]

we need to make the final 4 more consistently to be mentioned in the same breath as those schools. or at least more than once a decade. oh look kansas and kentucky are there again. actually we just need our starting center to not get hurt/suspended right before the tourny

Sent from my SCH-R720 using Tapatalk

 

[heresjohnny88]

Recruiting has changed everything. The fact that we're in a decent position to land the #1 recruit in the country says a lot about what we are as a program right now. Can you imagine if 10 years ago I told you that a guy like DC2 would be a potential "afterthought" recruit?

 

[otto123]

Totally agreed. With the way things are shaking on the recruiting front, a NC is right around the corner.

We should have already won a title with the teams we've had the last 3-4 years

 

[OrangeBlood]

We're entering a renaissance of the late 80's of SU hoops and a golden age on the cusp of dominance.

These last four years have been the best in program history. 119-26, with two 30 win seasons, and two other 25+ win seasons. Two Big East Regular season championships, two Sweet 16s and one Elite 8. More times ranked #1 than any other stretch in our program's history. It goes on and on.

However, I made this comparison to a friend yesterday. We're truly the Atlanta Braves of the college basketball world...sustained consistent excellence but never sustained dominance. For all of their consecutive Division Titles, the Braves only had one World Series to show for it. And for all of our 20-win seasons, we still only have one NC to show for it.

Now with the amazing stretch this program has enjoyed over the last four years, SU should be ready to vault into that group of dominant programs that includes Duke, UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, etc. Our recruiting is rolling, our national exposure has never been higher, the sky's the limit.

I truly believe the best is yet to come for this program, with or without JB. Legendary coaches (Rupp, Smith, Knight, etc) come and go, but what JB's lasting legacy will be is that he's now created a program that is truly running itself, and has nowhere to go but up, to a seat at the inner circle as THE ELITE college basketball program on the East Coast, and among the major players in the game.

We're right on the cusp of true dominance, and it's a hell of an exciting time to be a Syracuse Basketball fan! LET'S GO ORANGE!!

Great Post! completely agree.

 

[bnoro]

The only concern here:

The University must find a way to diffuse the scandal bombs from evil media vampires who are trying to suck the life blood out of this program.

Right Now, Syracuse is like an emerging legend with a life threatening disease...

Are you serious when you type these things? I feel like you have to be laughing when you write things like this.

 

[mantonio]

We should have already won a title with the teams we've had the last 3-4 years

This would be true if we didn't have this series of unfortunate events leading up to the tournament.

Does Syracuse win a title in 2003 without Carmelo or GMAC?

I think we tried to rationalize why we could still win without AO in 2010 or Melo in 2012, & we are fooling ourselves.

Beyond Melo's personal stats, he allowed other players to get better shots at the basket on offense, & permitted his teammates to focus more on their own defense, instead of worrying about double teaming the opponent's big guys because we had limited bulk on the blocks. This allowed for more steals & fast break opportunities, which we ran to perfection.

The good news is, we are due for a few unfettered stretches of good fortune, where our phenoms will be in the game for the long haul, & we can hoist another trophy or two...

 

[Rocco]

We should have already won a title with the teams we've had the last 3-4 years

You can also say that about 5-6 other teams that haven't been able to win one in that same time span. Obviously isn't easy to win it all.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I think people are severely under rating the impact of having a hall of fame caliber coach on the sideline.

 

[OttoMets]

I think people are severely under rating the impact of having a hall of fame caliber coach on the sideline.

Ditto. Boeheim's not perfect; the December-to-March development (or lack thereof) of his teams is troubling (among other things). But he's special and he's very likely better than anyone who's going to succeed him.

 

[mantonio]

Ditto. Boeheim's not perfect; the December-to-March development (or lack thereof) of his teams is troubling (among other things). But he's special and he's very likely better than anyone who's going to succeed him.

I believe he is likely better than his successors, but those who follow him will be more likely to win more championships due to getting in better talent throughout the years.

Thanks to Boeheim, Syracuse has come to the place where they are truly a selector school for basketball talent. Any decent coach should be able to grab a title every 10 years or less, at the very least.

 

[OttoMets]

I believe he is likely better than his successors, but those who follow him will be more likely to win more championships due to getting in better talent throughout the years.

That's a real possibility. If it does play out that way, I hope it doesn't end like it did for Bruce Weber.

 

[obliterata]

To me, the golden age of SU basketball, and still the best 4 year stretch, is when DC was here.

Coleman era: 11-4 NCAA record...1 E8...1 FF (played in the championship game)
last 4 years: 8-4 NCAA record.....1 E8

Of course, 2 of the last 4 years we lost our starting center before the tournament and that likely affected the tourney results but we've got to go with what DID happen.

The future does looks good, hopefully it will translate to deep runs in the NCAAs.

 

[HakAttack]

I'm not underestimating JB by any stretch. Rather, it's his prolonged success here that has this program on the cusp of being a long-term ELITE program.

I'm pointing out that this is happening towards the end of JB's tenure here BECAUSE he's had the success that he has had over so many years. Much like how well Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp left UNC and UK when they stepped down. Their programs had already become ELITE, and the beat went on. With the overwhelming success of the past four years, SU basketball is in an incredible position to move forward into an ELITE group DESPITE losing a legendary coach and one of the best this game has ever known.

That's an incredible thing to say about the state this program's moving towards.

 

[orange2win]

I believe he is likely better than his successors, but those who follow him will be more likely to win more championships due to getting in better talent throughout the years.

Thanks to Boeheim, Syracuse has come to the place where they are truly a selector school for basketball talent. Any decent coach should be able to grab a title every 10 years or less, at the very least.

 

[CusefanATL]

as an obvious die hard cuse fan and a braves fan for life...

i can only say ugh.

 

[HakAttack]

as an obvious die hard cuse fan and a braves fan for life...

i can only say ugh.

Ugh...because you can't really disagree with that assessment. Enjoy Chipper Jones this year. Mets fans will be glad to see him gone!

 

[CusefanATL]

Ugh...because you can't really disagree with that assessment. Enjoy Chipper Jones this year. Mets fans will be glad to see him gone!

unfortunately, i cant at all...

 

[HakAttack]

unfortunately, i cant at all...

And there's nothing wrong with that. Sustained consistency is nothing to sneer at.