14-6 after 20 games is ....

[Elkeed44]

14-6 after 20 games is tied with the 2017-18 season for our best record since the magical 25-0 start in 2013-14. This club keeps getting better every week and its time people realize it!!

 

[two3zone]

Wonderful start, things are definitely coming together. Very happy for Red.

 

[Scott11]

The team is not perfect. But we aren’t losing to garbage programs. The kids are completely invested. Red isn’t missing anything as evidenced by the comments he makes at the press conferences. We have two great recruits coming in. We aren’t playing only one type of Defense that is arguably outdated and plays into the hands of less athletic opponents.

This program is undoubtably on the rise.

 

[Goin' Deep]

Agree in that we have improved//are improving.
But CUSE does have a "ceiling".
To me it seems we can't hang with teams having talented "BIGS"
or teams with stout athletic defenses.
While I have a hard time thinking there are 60 teams "better" than we are,
Cuse started the season waaaay back in the pack. And without a signature win
or a 24-9 record(may need both), can CUSE make the cut and go dancing?

 

[cusefan88]

I think what I find the most encouraging is that the team generally bounces back after these losses. The mentality is good.

Biggest issue that is fixable is focus. Most of the losses it was close enough until a 7-8min stretch when things fall apart.

Figure out how to stay sharp for longer.

 

[kcsu]

Great start for Red and the guys. Add the incoming frosh, get 74 healthy, Carey continues to improve, Chance is back and the others become Juniors we will be back.
This year is solid and I'm sure JB and JW are pleased with how the transition is going.

 

[Orangezoo]

I think what I find the most encouraging is that the team generally bounces back after these losses. The mentality is good.

Biggest issue that is fixable is focus. Most of the losses it was close enough until a 7-8min stretch when things fall apart.

Figure out how to stay sharp for longer.

JJ and Judah need to be 33 a game every night at least is one thing that I think is key. We see how with matchups we get up and down points wise from Benny, Bell and Maliq( who is consistent in other areas always). Q does his thing but points are also up and down.

After that it’s bonus if we get production from Taylor and Cuffe.

 

[MikeSU02]

Haven’t lost to a Bryant or Colgate either.

Red is still learning as a HC and he’s still digging out from where we were.

Recors is solid considering where we were and who we have.

The biggest thing for me is that JJ is turning it around mid season. I think not having a true starting five will keep us capped on our ceiling, but this team is solid and I’m happy where we are with an incomplete team.

 

[orangepassion]

An improvement-We haven't even won 20 games in 5 years

2013–14	Jim Boeheim	28–6	14–4	2nd	NCAA Division I Third Round
2014–15	Jim Boeheim	18–13	9–9	8th	Ineligible
2015–16	Jim Boeheim Mike Hopkins	23–14[Note G]	9–9[Note G]	9th	NCAA Division I Final Four
2016–17	Jim Boeheim	19–15	10–8	T–7th	NIT Second Round
2017–18	Jim Boeheim	23–14	8–10	T–10th	NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen
2018–19	Jim Boeheim	20–14	10–8	6th	NCAA Division I First Round
2019–20	Jim Boeheim	18–14	10–10	T–6th	No postseason held
2020–21	Jim Boeheim	18–10	9–7	8th	NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen
2021–22	Jim Boeheim	16–17	9–11	9th
2022–23	Jim Boeheim	17–15	10–10	T–8th

List of Syracuse Orange men's basketball seasons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[007]

Haven’t lost to a Bryant or Colgate either.

Red is still learning as a HC and he’s still digging out from where we were.

Recors is solid considering where we were and who we have.

The biggest thing for me is that JJ is turning it around mid season. I think not having a true starting five will keep us capped on our ceiling, but this team is solid and I’m happy where we are with an incomplete team.

Good post. Red is doing an impressive job given the construction of the roster. The biggest thing for me so far is the improvement of the overall team defense. One example is the development of Brown's aggressive hedging and recovery during on ball screens. Last night was the best I've seen from him all season.

Even with limitations defending dribble penetration, this team can get after you in the half court. Defending high end teams with aggressive bigs who can score, or multiple guys that can take you off the dribble, will continue to be a major challenge - as it is for most teams.

 

[jdubs30]

The development of several guys is obvious as well - I felt like the last few years we rarely saw our guys get better from December to February

 

[orangenauburn]

Six games upcoming where 5-1 is possible and should be the goal, no worse than 4-2.

And with 11 games remaining could see team going anywhere from 7-4 to 9-2.

Also don't see this team bowing out in first round of ACCT

 

[Newhouser]

We are getting better. Obviously since the FSU game when Red should have been canned and the whole team sent packing. We are a good team that is inconsistent, has a slim margin for error, and lacks upper level talent. Red is doing great.

 

[sugrad68]

I truly like the way the team has played thus far. Team is much more fun to watch than in recent years. Loss to FSU was disappointing but the way team bounced back yesterday was fantastic. The large margins of loss in our other 5 losses was the other downer in the season, and certainly the reason our Net Ranking is so low. ESPN has us as underdogs in 6 of our next 7 games including BC on Tuesday so I would love to get off on the right track and beat the Eagles handily.

 

[kirbivore]

Six games upcoming where 5-1 is possible and should be the goal, no worse than 4-2.

And with 11 games remaining could see team going anywhere from 7-4 to 9-2.

Also don't see this team bowing out in first round of ACCT

Just win enough to stay out of that GD Noon 8/9 matchup and far away from UNC. The Heels are the only team in this league SU has zero chance against.

 

[Nicknack]

Six games upcoming where 5-1 is possible and should be the goal, no worse than 4-2.

And with 11 games remaining could see team going anywhere from 7-4 to 9-2.

Also don't see this team bowing out in first round of ACCT

Yeah, 4-2 over the next six games is a must. Then win 4 of our last 5 to finish with a 13-7 record.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

14-6 after 20 games is tied with the 2017-18 season for our best record since the magical 25-0 start in 2013-14. This club keeps getting better every week and its time people realize it!!

I was going to start a new thread, but I’ll put it here. Any doubts/concerns any one had (me included) about Red as coach: teaching/game plan/in game/etc., should be gone. If our new recruits are the standard, and not the outlier, we are back.
Judah - game one to now: wow. What a different player. He has bought into the floor leader role, which is his ticket to being a pro. He still has hero ball stretches, but you don’t want to totally kill that off. (Late game when he penetrated, then backed it out, showed great growth.) He just needs a consistent outside shot.

JJ is rounding into form. No panic by the staff when he struggled. Some fans wanted him benched.

Benny: what a coaching job. From disgruntled to contributor, with no wavering or capitulation on his role by the coaches.

Chris Bell making an effort on D and rebounding, then backing down a smaller guy for a mid-range.

He has been dealt a tough hand at center. Brown is the savior there, but I thought Carey acquitted himself well . He is a freshman in eligibility and missed two years. Aware enough to avoid a shot clock violation, and played pretty good position defense especially on Burns, who is a tough guard. (I have long been bullish on Carey. I would love to get some input from insiders how the staff projects Carey and Patterson.)

His use of Q reminds me a bit of how GS uses Green: guard 4 spots, handle the ball, facilitate.
It’s a total LOVE/hate with how he plays.

They just gotta get JT and Cuffe going.

And these guys all get after it on defense. They usually don’t foul too much, or at least are getting better at that. More bodies on the floor in 20 games than the last 3 years.

I hope he can keep his staff together for one more year as they integrate the two freshmen.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Agree in that we have improved//are improving.
But CUSE does have a "ceiling".
To me it seems we can't hang with teams having talented "BIGS"
or teams with stout athletic defenses.
While I have a hard time thinking there are 60 teams "better" than we are,
Cuse started the season waaaay back in the pack. And without a signature win
or a 24-9 record(may need both), can CUSE make the cut and go dancing?

yeah I agree 1000%

a few profiles of teams that this current squad has simply zero answers for...a lot of the players on the team are totally taken out of the game when they someone bigger and more athletic, it seems (FSU, UNC, Tenn). thats the current achilles. they also struggle with vey well coached and well skilled teams like UVA and Duke.

meanwhile, all other types of teams, they pretty much dominate. It's weird.

really need to find a way vs the UNC, FSU, etc type teams...to make it a ballgame at least...those teams they have lost to are good...but they arent wipe em off the floor good. not even close to that, imo.

my personal opinion on raising the ceiling is that it all comes down to PG play and ball movement on offense...and then finding a way to defend the paint better on defense.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Their defense in the first half last night was super. The back guys are really dropping into the lane when Brown hedges hard out top. The back guys gave Brown time to recover and they still closed out on the shooters. It seems like teams don’t realize until late they should drive the ball. The last 5-6 minutes was NCS just going by us off the dribble. It’s more focus that talent. We let up a little when we get a lead. Hubert Davis said they game planned to keep us off the line and not turn it over to get in transition. He’s correct. Getting to the line is a big part of our offense.

 

[Nicknack]

I was going to start a new thread, but I’ll put it here. Any doubts/concerns any one had (me included) about Red as coach: teaching/game plan/in game/etc., should be gone. If our new recruits are the standard, and not the outlier, we are back.
Judah - game one to now: wow. What a different player. He has bought into the floor leader role, which is his ticket to being a pro. He still has hero ball stretches, but you don’t want to totally kill that off. (Late game when he penetrated, then backed it out, showed great growth.) He just needs a consistent outside shot.

JJ is rounding into form. No panic by the staff when he struggled. Some fans wanted him benched.

Benny: what a coaching job. From disgruntled to contributor, with no wavering or capitulation on his role by the coaches.

Chris Bell making an effort on D and rebounding, then backing down a smaller guy for a mid-range.

He has been dealt a tough hand at center. Brown is the savior there, but I thought Carey acquitted himself well . He is a freshman in eligibility and missed two years. Aware enough to avoid a shot clock violation, and played pretty good position defense especially on Burns, who is a tough guard. (I have long been bullish on Carey. I would love to get some input from insiders how the staff projects Carey and Patterson.)

His use of Q reminds me a bit of how GS uses Green: guard 4 spots, handle the ball, facilitate.
It’s a total LOVE/hate with how he plays.

They just gotta get JT and Cuffe going.

And these guys all get after it on defense. They usually don’t foul too much, or at least are getting better at that. More bodies on the floor in 20 games than the last 3 years.

I hope he can keep his staff together for one more year as they integrate the two freshmen.

Good post. I agree about needing to get JT and Cuffe going. Jury is out on JT, he's regressing. I think Cuffe will eventually be a solid player for us, just maybe not this year.

 

[orangepassion]

We are getting better. Obviously since the FSU game when Red should have been canned and the whole team sent packing. We are a good team that is inconsistent, has a slim margin for error, and lacks upper level talent. Red is doing great.

I feel we have been very consistent. Have beaten all the average, below/above average teams and been blown out by the top teams. Even against some of the better teams (Duke/FSU), we have held all our own for about 25-30 minutes, but didn't even enough talent to maintain it.

 

[Niastri]

I feel we have been very consistent. Have beaten all the average, below/above average teams and been blow out by the top teams. Even against of the better teams (Duke/FSU), we have held all our own for about 25-30 minutes, but didn't even enough talent to maintain it.

I think this is true of every loss, excluding UNC.

They were clearly in the game for the most part, but the opponent pulled away at the end to make it look worse than it was. Beating every peer team and lower (maybe except FSU, who isn't clearly better imo) is pretty good. Definitely the opposite of inconsistent. Every team has bad plays in every game, but they've actually been very consistent in their results.

Regarding UNC, that game was ugly from the opening tip, but even then, they "narrowed" the deficit to 18 in the second half after being down 27 late in the first half. They showed some fight in spite of being embarrassed.

No other game was that kind of embarrassing.

 

[Sherman20]

An improvement-We haven't even won 20 games in 5 years

2013–14	Jim Boeheim	28–6	14–4	2nd	NCAA Division I Third Round
2014–15	Jim Boeheim	18–13	9–9	8th	Ineligible
2015–16	Jim Boeheim Mike Hopkins	23–14[Note G]	9–9[Note G]	9th	NCAA Division I Final Four
2016–17	Jim Boeheim	19–15	10–8	T–7th	NIT Second Round
2017–18	Jim Boeheim	23–14	8–10	T–10th	NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen
2018–19	Jim Boeheim	20–14	10–8	6th	NCAA Division I First Round
2019–20	Jim Boeheim	18–14	10–10	T–6th	No postseason held
2020–21	Jim Boeheim	18–10	9–7	8th	NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen
2021–22	Jim Boeheim	16–17	9–11	9th
2022–23	Jim Boeheim	17–15	10–10	T–8th

List of Syracuse Orange men's basketball seasons - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

One caveat on 2020-21 is that was the Covid shortened season so we played several less non conference games that year. We probably would have had 20 wins if not for that.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Any realistic fan would be elated with that record prior to the season

 

[Cuse181]

The defense is finally starting to catch on, the switching has become much better and you can tell that when the guards are scoring they play much better defense. The offense is still really stagnant and relies way too much on making shots versus running plays. That is what causes the team to get into deep holes against good opponents. Because of that, I don’t blame the talent (or apparent lack there of) as much as a lack of scheme in big games. GT, BC, ND, they’ve all played top teams far better than Syracuse without Syracuse's talent, so there’s still something missing.