Excited!

[Sgt Cuse]

Anyone else excited about the direction JB has chosen for this season? Prior to the start I think the consensus among the board (and population in general) was the main 5 would be KJ2, TC, MG, TR, and Dc2/Chino. Not too glamorous. I think this thought is kind of reflected in the lackluster season ticket sales. But JB decided to make some radical changes.

The first move was MG to the point. I had hoped it might occur, mainly because I had so little hope in the status quo 5 outlined above. No one saw the Lydon to center move. Of course it is risky. But after 3 games you can already see the potential. Certainly there are weaknesses but there are exciting possibilities as well. Could be the best SU 3 pt shooting team ever.

There have been posts calling JB lazy, complacent, and set in his ways because of his substitution patterns. Yet, they are glossing over the fact that JB has rolled the dice in a big way. Many in the past have stated they would take a few early season losses for an improving team. That may very well happen.

Risky? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Who else is on board?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Everyone will be on board when we beat UConn Thursday.

 

[tee1222]

Anyone else excited about the direction JB has chosen for this season? Prior to the start I think the consensus among the board (and population in general) was the main 5 would be KJ2, TC, MG, TR, and Dc2/Chino. Not too glamorous. I think this thought is kind of reflected in the lackluster season ticket sales. But JB decided to make some radical changes.

The first move was MG to the point. I had hoped it might occur, mainly because I had so little hope in the status quo 5 outlined above. No one saw the Lydon to center move. Of course it is risky. But after 3 games you can already see the potential. Certainly there are weaknesses but there are exciting possibilities as well. Could be the best SU 3 pt shooting team ever.

There have been posts calling JB lazy, complacent, and set in his ways because of his substitution patterns. Yet, they are glossing over the fact that JB has rolled the dice in a big way. Many in the past have stated they would take a few early season losses for an improving team. That may very well happen.

Risky? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Who else is on board?

I'm on board. Not only that, but I love lamp.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I think many fans are honestly expecting a disappointing year and the early returns are only upholding that belief. Only the die-hard optimists are able to find the silver lining coming from behind to beat St Bonaventure and holding off Elon. It's as if football has been so bad that we're switching off the part of our brain that would normally tell us to crap our pants about the basketball situation.

I think we're all looking past Charlotte and I don't know why we're just assuming that's an automatic win since we've been in rock fights with 2 really bad teams to open the season. Honestly I'm scared that we're going to be embarrassed in this upcoming tournament in one form or another and could easily see us coming out of there with 2 or 3 losses. This board will not be full of rotten drunken thanksgiving posts if we barely edge past Charlotte and then get trounced in the Thursday matchup. That being said I hope and pray that we're all pleasantly surprised and that we can A) be competitive against UConn/Michigan and B) find a way to win that Thursday game. Anything beyond that would be gravy.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I think many fans are honestly expecting a disappointing year and the early returns are only upholding that belief. Only the die-hard optimists are able to find the silver lining coming from behind to beat St Bonaventure and holding off Elon.

I think we're all looking past Charlotte and I don't know why we're just assuming that's an automatic win since we've been in rock fights with 2 really bad teams to open the season. Honestly I'm scared that we're going to be embarrassed in this upcoming tournament in one form or another and could easily see us coming out of there with 2 or 3 losses. I hope that we're all pleasantly surprised and that we can A) be competitive against UConn/Michigan and B) find a way to win that Thursday game. Anything beyond that would be gravy.

Honestly, I'm not that concerned with the season yet, because JB isn't that concerned yet. His own words on Saturday were "he thinks the team WILL get better". FWIW look around college basketball, especially in the ACC. Everyone is losing to Mid-Majors. You need to see what happens this week before having any thought what this team could be IMO.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Honestly, I'm not that concerned with the season yet, because JB isn't that concerned yet. His own words on Saturday were "he thinks the team WILL get better". FWIW look around college basketball, especially in the ACC. Everyone is losing to Mid-Majors. You need to see what happens this week before having any thought what this team could be IMO.

The problem is, more often than not, what we see in November is generally a good indication of what type of year we're facing. I don't recall too many seasons where we were a drastically improved team in February and March.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The problem is, more often than not, what we see in November is generally a good indication of what type of year we're facing. I don't recall too many seasons where we were a drastically improved team in February and March.

Well we lost to Memphis in 02-03 and won the National Title. The next year we lost to Charlotte the first game and made the Sweet 16. We lost to Cleveland St. one year and made the Sweet 16. We've had years we were undefeated and we couldn't make it out of the first weekend. I think you are panicking because you remember last year. Again, I'm not concerned because I listened to what JB had to say. Last year he basically said we stunk. This year he hasn't said that.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Anyone else excited about the direction JB has chosen for this season? Prior to the start I think the consensus among the board (and population in general) was the main 5 would be KJ2, TC, MG, TR, and Dc2/Chino. Not too glamorous. I think this thought is kind of reflected in the lackluster season ticket sales. But JB decided to make some radical changes.

The first move was MG to the point. I had hoped it might occur, mainly because I had so little hope in the status quo 5 outlined above. No one saw the Lydon to center move. Of course it is risky. But after 3 games you can already see the potential. Certainly there are weaknesses but there are exciting possibilities as well. Could be the best SU 3 pt shooting team ever.

There have been posts calling JB lazy, complacent, and set in his ways because of his substitution patterns. Yet, they are glossing over the fact that JB has rolled the dice in a big way. Many in the past have stated they would take a few early season losses for an improving team. That may very well happen.

Risky? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Who else is on board?

Nobody who watched last year thought Joseph would be the starting PG this year.
Calling this the best 3 Pt shooting team in SU history is damning with feint praise, at best, and there is not a lot of evidence to suggest that, in game situations, SU is anything better than an average shooting team.
I am hopeful, as always, but certainly not optimistic. I just don't think we will compete with the good teams this year. Hope I am wrong.

 

[Brooky03]

I'm on board. Not only that, but I love lamp.

Do you really love lamp, or are you just saying that because you saw it?

 

[billsin01]

Well we lost to Memphis in 02-03 and won the National Title. The next year we lost to Charlotte the first game and made the Sweet 16. We lost to Cleveland St. one year and made the Sweet 16. We've had years we were undefeated and we couldn't make it out of the first weekend. I think you are panicking because you remember last year. Again, I'm not concerned because I listened to what JB had to say. Last year he basically said we stunk. This year he hasn't said that.

It's not entirely unprecedented for JB teams to improve during the season. Not the norm, per se, but not entirely unprecedented either. The '96 team is obviously the glowing example but we got a lot better by the end of the season in '01-'02 (even though it ended in the NIT) and set the stage for the run to the title the following year. We also played our best basketball in the year MCW led the team to the brink of the final four -- a team that was good but had serious warts all year long, played is best basketball in March, which was cool to see.

I'm not sure I'm super optimistic with this group overall, but I do hunk they'll improve as we go along.

 

[billsin01]

Nobody who watched last year thought Joseph would be the starting PG this year.
Calling this the best 3 Pt shooting team in SU history is damning with feint praise, at best, and there is not a lot of evidence to suggest that, in game situations, SU is anything better than an average shooting team.
I am hopeful, as always, but certainly not optimistic. I just don't think we will compete with the good teams this year. Hope I am wrong.

I don't think we'll beat good teams but I was worried that this year would be a. Abject disaster. I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be pretty competitive overall and at least be in the discussion for the NCAA tourney late. That's much better than I was thinking preseason.

 

[pearl31]

I don't think we'll beat good teams

so we won't beat a single "good" team?

 

[Cusefan0307]

It's not entirely unprecedented for JB teams to improve during the season. Not the norm, per se, but not entirely unprecedented either. The '96 team is obviously the glowing example but we got a lot better by the end of the season in '01-'02 (even though it ended in the NIT) and set the stage for the run to the title the following year. We also played our best basketball in the year MCW led the team to the brink of the final four -- a team that was good but had serious warts all year long, played is best basketball in March, which was cool to see.

I'm not sure I'm super optimistic with this group overall, but I do hunk they'll improve as we go along.

01-02 we were ranked in the top ten heading into February. That was the team with Deshaun and Shumpert that imploded down the stretch, which has been well documented here.

 

[cusetown1]

so we won't beat a single "good" team?

This is my reaction while reading some our fellow "fans" posts.

 

[billsin01]

01-02 we were ranked in the top ten heading into February. That was the team with Deshaun and Shumpert that imploded down the stretch, which has been well documented here.

Oops. Sorry, strike that from the record. I always think of that team as a team that transformed once shump got injured and discovered Pace and Warrick at the end. Went through a 4-9 stretch beginning in Jan and hadn't beaten anyone since the MSU/Wake wins in the great Alaska shootout, iirc. So I always feel like they were brutal for a long time but figured some things out in time to make a decent NIT run.

Regardless, you're right -- they don't fit in this discussion.

 

[billsin01]

so we won't beat a single "good" team?

Well how are you defining good? I think top 25 teams and teams in the top 4 of the acc will give us fits. I don't think that makes this team awful and they certainly could improve/pull off an upset or two. But do you think they're going to be beating the uva/duke/unc crowd? I don't see that right now.

 

[billsin01]

This is my reaction while reading some our fellow "fans" posts.

I like this vid but do you think this team will be beating the upper echelon acc teams and other top 25 type opponents? I just haven't seen evidence of that yet.

 

[dasher]

I think many fans are honestly expecting a disappointing year and the early returns are only upholding that belief. Only the die-hard optimists are able to find the silver lining coming from behind to beat St Bonaventure and holding off Elon. It's as if football has been so bad that we're switching off the part of our brain that would normally tell us to crap our pants about the basketball situation.

I think we're all looking past Charlotte and I don't know why we're just assuming that's an automatic win since we've been in rock fights with 2 really bad teams to open the season. Honestly I'm scared that we're going to be embarrassed in this upcoming tournament in one form or another and could easily see us coming out of there with 2 or 3 losses. This board will not be full of rotten drunken thanksgiving posts if we barely edge past Charlotte and then get trounced in the Thursday matchup. That being said I hope and pray that we're all pleasantly surprised and that we can A) be competitive against UConn/Michigan and B) find a way to win that Thursday game. Anything beyond that would be gravy.

I remember one year we got off to a rocky start and barely beat Princeton. Up next was Arizona. I was pretty sure we would get toasted. We won. Beat them the next year at Arizona as well. It's a tough business picking one game as a barometer of future games. We haven't been impressive to say the least. But it is early and we have room to improve.

 

[pearl31]

Well how are you defining good? I think top 25 teams and teams in the top 4 of the acc will give us fits. I don't think that makes this team awful and they certainly could improve/pull off an upset or two. But do you think they're going to be beating the uva/duke/unc crowd? I don't see that right now.

so you're just predicting we won't beat NC, Duke and Virginia? OK, yeah, that's a pretty safe thing to say right now based on what we've seen. I think there are a handful of other "good" (read: NCAA-tourney worthy) teams in the ACC, though, and I think we'll have several wins over "good" teams by March.

 

[billsin01]

so you're just predicting we won't beat NC, Duke and Virginia? OK, yeah, that's a pretty safe thing to say right now based on what we've seen. I think there are a handful of other "good" (read: NCAA-tourney worthy) teams in the ACC, though, and I think we'll have several wins over "good" teams by March.

That's fine. I see this team struggling with NCAA tourney teams. If you're going with the broad definition of anyone in the running for the NCAA tourney, then yes we'll beat some of them is guess but I would say the top 4-5 in the acc and top 25ish teams will give us issues all year. I also would t rule out losing to a 'bad' team or two. I worry about our ability to score consistently and wonder about our depth as we get deep into January/feb

 

[cusetown1]

I like this vid but do you think this team will be beating the upper echelon acc teams and other top 25 type opponents? I just haven't seen evidence of that yet.

Yes I do think we will have some top 25 wins.

 

[tee1222]

Do you really love lamp, or are you just saying that because you saw it?

Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I don't think we'll beat good teams but I was worried that this year would be a. Abject disaster. I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll be pretty competitive overall and at least be in the discussion for the NCAA tourney late. That's much better than I was thinking preseason.

I think this captures a lot of my joy. I had "Abject disaster" expectations with the expected lineup. Now I have much more hope.

I think a lineup constructed of shooters runs a higher risk to losing to lesser schools but increases the possibilities of upsets.

I think because we have so much change there is greater room for improvement than if we started with a more veteran traditional squad.

 

[721Comstock]

Nobody who watched last year thought Joseph would be the starting PG this year.
Calling this the best 3 Pt shooting team in SU history is damning with feint praise, at best, and there is not a lot of evidence to suggest that, in game situations, SU is anything better than an average shooting team.
I am hopeful, as always, but certainly not optimistic. I just don't think we will compete with the good teams this year. Hope I am wrong.

The 2010 team that likely would have been NC's if not for AO's leg (pours yet another one out for the season that should have been),
shot 39% from 3 as a team.
Which includes KJo's bricktastic 9-41, and Southy's 7-24.
Andrius, Wes, and Robo-Triche all shot better than 40% (as did Mookie, and not just in his mind), and Scoop shot 39%.

So, it's not like we've never had a good-shooting team, or it's been decades since we last had one.

 

[billsin01]

Yes I do think we will have some top 25 wins.

Yeah I don't see that from the first three games. Could be wrong -- hope I'm wrong. But I don't feel like my opinion is all that crazy for a team that right now has 5 players in the rotation despite playing three pretty bad teams.