Would it have been in SU's best interest to have started like 20-5 instead of 25-0?

[Lawrinson14]

Let's face it, this year was a bust. A horrific end of season collapse, 1 and out in the tournament, etc.

Which got me thinking...would it have been better for the team to start the year something like 20-5 instead of 20-0?

-We would not have been ranked in the top 10, let alone #1
-Tyler and Grant would not have gotten the pub that they received.
-Tyler and Grant would likely be back next year.
-We couldn't do much worse than 1 and out in the tournament.

 

[NineOneSeven]

No. You play to win. In the "moment" of each of those games, you play to win.

Hindsight is 20/20, for everything in life. Things can't be predicted too often.

Or we start out 20-5, lose in the first round, and lose Ennis and Grant anyway.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Donte Greene's team started 16-9 and didn't even make the tournament .. .and that didn't stop him from leaving.

Ennis and Grant were gone either way.

 

[bcuse19]

You play to win every game. We had a chance to win every one of those first 25 games, why would we not capitalize on that? You want your players to want to win, and go out there and make those winning plays every game.

Changing the rotation around and giving some guys more rest is another question though, and maybe that causes more losses. But there is no way to say that just losing 5 more would have helped us in the long run.

 

[sufandu]

Maybe. I don't think 5 early losses guarantees either of them stay. I think if the 5 losses came because JB was developing his bench and they did indeed develop (not a certainty), then it would have been worth it. I think some coaches coach more for the end of the season than JB and that can be beneficial. The comparison to Greene isn't entirely accurate because he already had NBA skills that could have led to him being a star, as opposed to just athletic ability with very little skill like Grant.

 

[strumpfasaurus]

I think it would have only been better in the fans eyes in terms of expectations. Had we started 20-5 instead of 25-0 we wouldn't have viewed the end of the season as a historic collapse filled with disappointment, but instead a team that just wasn't that talented to begin with.

 

[gilardino]

yeah, losing games is a good thing

blah to uconn

 

[SUFan44]

Donte Greene's team started 16-9 and didn't even make the tournament .. .and that didn't stop him from leaving.

Ennis and Grant were gone either way.

I don't know that this is necessarily true.

 

[djcon57]

I don't know think it would have been great if we LOST the games, but we should have played our bench more, yes.

 

[obliterata]

Let's face it, this year was a bust. A horrific end of season collapse, 1 and out in the tournament, etc.

Which got me thinking...would it have been better for the team to start the year something like 20-5 instead of 20-0?

-We would not have been ranked in the top 10, let alone #1
-Tyler and Grant would not have gotten the pub that they received.
-Tyler and Grant would likely be back next year.
-We couldn't do much worse than 1 and out in the tournament.

If the team went 20-5 instead of 25-0 it really wouldn't have made that much difference. The regular season would've been less enjoyable but we still would've made the NCAAT with then probably the same results on and off the court.

I'll tell you what would've been better for the team, having a legit backup point guard at the start of the season. Gbinije, Patterson, and Cooney didn't play the position in high school and weren't great backup PG options.

Unfortunately, it looks like next season we'll be dealing with the same situation.

 

[orangefan13]

your record going into march means nothing. Yes the team was tired and alittle banged up.
But in the end it was lack of jumpshooting and inconsistancy of isolation that killed us.

Post the same thing every year.....
Inconsistancy is always the culprit. When your scoring leaders have bad games in march you lose.

1.Gmac, Nichols, and warrick have been through it,against vermont their numbers were terrible that game. 10 turnovers for warrick alone. Gerry was like 2-8 from 3.

2.devendorf,rautins went through it shot awfull against Oklahoma. Flynn had a ok game. Not saying our defense was good but our offense wasn't.

3. Dion, triche, and fair went through it we lost fab melo against osu . scoop had a good game and the freethrows were awfull but the halfcourt offense was not good that day)

Rautins, Scoop, Wes, and joseph went through it against butler. Yes, our chemistry was screwed when we lost ao and that forced jackson into the high post where he didn't belong.

And now Fair, Grant, and Cooney went through it. Ennis was ok at best. We made two jumpshots all game, 2.

In 2003 Gerry, Warrick, and Melo even went through it during the first half against oklahoma state. We had somewhere around 20 points at halftime if I remember correctly.

And you would see the same thing with other teams, heck look at duke 2 of the last 3 years. Uconn won as a sleeper the last few years because guys like napier,boatright, kemba, and lamb stepped up when the pressure was toughest.

Ennis and grant were on the nba radar big time all year. Grant on massive athletic potential like a andre drummond, and Ennis has already showed the ability to lead a team while scoring.

 

[Delmar]

However you start, the best way to finish the season is with a six game winning streak.

 

[Eric15]

I don't know think it would have been great if we LOST the games, but we should have played our bench more, yes.

I agree - if we had lost a few games in November due to Roberson and maybe Patterson/BJ getting solid bench minutes, I think that would have ultimately paid dividends later in the season.

 

[rhcuse]

Losing 5 games over the course of the season may have gotten them a 2-seed I stead of a 3 by avoiding the big collapse. One or two early losses can be forgotten or discounted.

 

[Jasoncuse]

In hindsight, in order to potentially keep Ennis and/or Grant, sure. I wouldn't have enjoyed it as it happened though.

I still think much of Ennis (and Grant's) hype came from that start. What if we lose to Miami, Duke, maybe another and he doesn't hit that shot against Pitt? I think that Pitt shot alone shot him up more than anything else. But that's all in the past now. Oh well. I enjoyed those moments and just wish we had more.

 

[Ryand877]

I agree - if we had lost a few games in November due to Roberson and maybe Patterson/BJ getting solid bench minutes, I think that would have ultimately paid dividends later in the season.

Exactly, but Boeheim always has the win now attitude IMO. That is exactly why those guys didn't play in those early season games, because he thought they decreased our chances of winning those games at that time. May have ended up costing us in the end though. It is a tough choice. Its tough for a coach to say during a close game, I better bench player X so player Y gets some time to develop his game. You never want to intentionally decrease your chances to win a game, but then again not doing it this year probably ended up costing us to at least some degree. I'm not sure what the right answer is honestly.

 

[Trueblue25]

I hope people now realize the importance of championships.

We're entering the age of 1 and dones. In this age, winning 30 games and no ring doesn't mean diddly. You play to win every game in March.

 

[rrlbees]

I hope people now realize the importance of championships. We're entering the age of 1 and dones. In this age, winning 30 games and no ring doesn't mean diddly. You play to win every game in March.

Speak for yourself. And yes, I am sure we all value championships.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I think if the season started 20-5 we would've been a bubble/NIT team. The flaws were still the flaws and would've been exposed in due time. Not enough players, playmakers, etc. on the bench probably ready to contribute this past season besides Roberson and he can't shoot threes...yet.

 

[dasher]

I hope people now realize the importance of championships.

We're entering the age of 1 and dones. In this age, winning 30 games and no ring doesn't mean diddly. You play to win every game in March.

so you are saying that when in March, win. Quick, call jb.

 

[Trueblue25]

so you are saying that when in March, win. Quick, call jb.

Glad you spelled March right, I've seen it spelt N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r too many times.

 

[dasher]

Glad you spelled March right, I've seen it spelt N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r too many times.

I'm sure you weren't one of the people that were obsessing over Buffalo and MSG. Wins were kind of important at that point.

 

[rrlbees]

Glad you spelled March right, I've seen it spelt N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r too many times.

Since you're about 19, I'd say you haven't seen it too much. While not winning a NC, we've done pretty good in March 2 of the last 3 years.

 

[AZOrange]

I hope people now realize the importance of championships. We're entering the age of 1 and dones. In this age, winning 30 games and no ring doesn't mean diddly. You play to win every game in March.

Carmelo was here over a decade ago. The age of one and domes started long ago ( and Ennis is our first since Greene)

 

[Dave85]

Let's face it, this year was a bust. A horrific end of season collapse, 1 and out in the tournament, etc.

Which got me thinking...would it have been better for the team to start the year something like 20-5 instead of 20-0?

-We would not have been ranked in the top 10, let alone #1
-Tyler and Grant would not have gotten the pub that they received.
-Tyler and Grant would likely be back next year.
-We couldn't do much worse than 1 and out in the tournament.

That's interested. Especially if they were not a top 10 team most of the year.