Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="domestu, post: 962194, member: 1089"] Nice post Cheriehoop. This may not be the most talented team Syracuse has ever had but with three games remaining in the regular season this team could end up with the best regular season record of Jim Boeheim's career. We have set a new record for the most consecutive wins in school history, been ranked first or second in the polls for most of the year, played in the best college basketball game of the season on February 1 against Duke, and pulled out a number of exciting last-second victories. That buzzer beater at Pitt is one of the most memorable endings this year and Ennis' shot ranks up there with any finish I've seen at a SU game. And talk about exciting games that go down to the wire. It seems to me that we have been involved in more close conference games this season than any I can recall. Remember when people used to complain about fans leaving a Big East game with six minutes remaining? It has really been a great year for Syracuse basketball fans. Much of the media criticism of this team revolves around our perceived weaknesses and the fact that we are not as impressive as the great college teams of the past. Well, in this era of constant player turnover through early departures to the NBA and transfers, we are just not seeing college basketball teams that are as talented as the ones that once dominated the game. Since we no longer have two or three teams that stand out above everyone else, much of the media focus heads into analyzing the top schools and it is easy to find more weaknesses in the top programs than there used to be. There is no question that the level of play in college hoops has been greatly affected by these non-stop player changes and it is most notable when you look at the strength of the nation's best teams. The days when you could predict that two or three elite teams would make it to the Final Four are over. Two 4 seeds and an 8 seed made it to Atlanta last year and mid-majors have been advancing to the final weekend of the tournament on a regular basis. The media looks at today's top teams and it is easy to find things to criticize because they all have weaknesses. The steady turnover of personnel has really changed the makeup of the elite college programs. We had BE Sixth Man of the Year award winners Kris Joseph and Dion Waiters coming off the bench in recent years and this year Boeheim has a bench that may not score any points. We also don't have many good perimeter shooters and are going to make fewer 3-pointers than any SU squad since the 2007-2008 NIT team. All of the elite college programs are having to deal with these sort of problems now and Syracuse fans should appreciate the job that our players and coaches have done overcoming their liabilities this season. Look how long it took Carolina to get into synch as a team and the up-and-downs that teams in the Big Ten have struggled through. You mentioned all of the players that we lost from last year. A lot of the top-ranked schools like Duke, Kentucky, Arizona and Carolina have had to rebuild from similar turnovers. As far as injuries go, we have been fortunate not to lose any key players for an extended period of time like Michigan State, Michigan and Arizona. When you factor in everything that is happening in college hoops, it is great to be a Syracuse fan. How sweet it is! Go Cuse! [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?