A tale of two basketball programs (aka, a study in contrasts)

[AcAndAc]

This^^^^

Goal = Mediocrity with the least amount of money re-invested into the program as possible.

We're not mediocre, but historically bad, however.

Since we're running it back, "bad" is also acceptable if it can save a few $$.

We'll see how those savings look this time next year.

This. This is part of what annoys FSU/Clemson. The private schools are pocketing money and crying poor...

 

[JeffCuse]

the upcoming basketball season is looking a whole hell of a lot like Dino Babers' 2023 campaign

hit these benchmarks or thanks for all that you've done for the Orange

I just wish the benchmarks were made public. A LOT of the public furor would be quelled if everyone knew there was a firm mandate and what it was. Because without that, the goalposts can just be moved again with no accountability.

 

[Hopkins16]

There's a lot of truth to what you post.

Syracuse and the administration need to decide -- quickly -- what type of program they want to have moving forward. Because the way the last coaching change was made isn't going to cut it in P4 basketball. We are literally one of the WORST teams in the major conferences [as evidenced by abysmal KenPom and NET ratings]. Our rotations make no sense. Our players don't improve -- they regress. We can't play defense to save our lives.

All indicative of poor coaching.

This isn't going to cut it. SU needs to decide if we want to be BC or a team challenging for top 4 in the conference every year. The approach needs to follow suit, just as it did for Arizona. They bounced back QUICKLY even after a major scandal, because they hired a coach / staff who [while more unproven that I'd like to see for OUR situation] knew what they are doing.

Beyond a handful of posters, I doubt that anyone sees our staff in the same light. And for the record, this is a really down year for the ACC -- a year where we should have accidentally gotten to 20 wins. On top of that, we had a favorable schedule that was heavily loaded with the bottom teams in the conference. Even so, we posted a terrible record, and couldn't beat anybody [we might have gotten 1 win] above us in the conference standings, which is damning given how down the ACC outside of 2 or 3 teams.

Anyone who watches college basketball outside of just our games can see the difference. Teams at all levels play hard, get after it defensively, and have a structured offensive concept that their players execute properly. Not us.

In 10 years, we've gone from being ranked #1, to not even being ranked in the top 25 for years on end, to being a marginal bubble team, to not even being an NCAA qualifying team for an extended period of years, to being one of the worst teams in major conference P4 basketball. Sad, really.

Watching our team and a few others play horribly for years and get to stay in the P4 makes me wish at times that we had a relegation system comparable to the Premier League.

 

[SwagSocks]

yup! Need to cut bait now.

Btw I remember this past offseason the talk from insiders was “ It was a miracle the team won 19 games last year. Dysfunctional team and head cases. You have no idea what was going on. Red now has his guys, this team is deep and will play fast on offense and up in your face defense”.

This season has been a disaster. Even if Freeman was healthy, how many more wins does Cuse have? Barley beat LeMoyne and Youngstown St with him.

Now looking back on everything…my questions are 1) Can Red lead a locker room? 2) Can Red evaluate talent? And 3) Can Red develop players?

I don’t know if the answer is yes to any of these. More and more I think about it, Judah was the reason we won games last year. And Chris Bell being unconscious from 3 in a few games

 

[JDubbin]

I’m more of a “ Are you kidding me” kind of guy.

My wife will tell you my go to phrase/word during games is “unbelievable” for just about anything that happens… uttered more this season than the last 15 years combined I think