Anyone willing to admit

[GooseMutt]

Our worst years are above .500.

Participation trophies for everyone. We are proud of this?

 

[GooseMutt]

Without question. Though it may not be just a Cuse problem. Not really any tough teams around these days. Whole generation is and will be like that with few exceptions.

I want to watch rabid dogs play not divas

 

[Madbiker]

I mean...we haven’t had a “Syracuse” record since 2014. So yeah.

Feel like some of the complaining on here is kinda weird timing though...we’ve got a promising group of freshmen this year with our biggest recruit in years coming next year. I truly think we’re on our way back.

Does anyone know what happened with Dior? Was he paid off by another school? Going to play overseas for some $$? All the "Cuse is back" love went out the window suddenly.

 

[chugg21]

Our worst years are above .500.

Thats not exactly difficult when you have 8-10 home non-conf games against unranked teams and in the top .1% of resources available to use.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Does anyone know what happened with Dior? Was he paid off by another school? Going to play overseas for some $$? All the "Cuse is back" love went out the window suddenly.

Too much time spent at LeBrons house. Would you want to live in a dorm after that?

 

[Halfmooncuse]

We are one decent center from being an elite team.

 

[tptcuse]

We are one decent center from being an elite team.

Like the one that is recovering, hopefully.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Like the one that is recovering, hopefully.

I like Sid a lot, and think his defense will be really good, but he’s not great on offense.

 

[tptcuse]

I like Sid a lot, and he think his defense will be really good, but he’s not great on offense.

Would love to see what he can do with the passing being about ten times better so far this year.

 

[Orangezoo]

I like Sid a lot, and he think his defense will be really good, but he’s not great on offense.

Good news is he is serviceable and we have good passers including Marek. His rebounding is so much better than Marek in the middle too.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Good news is he is serviceable and we have good passers including Marek. His rebounding is so much better than Marek in the middle too.

Yup. Such a trade off though. Him on the floor likely means Griff or Quincy on the bench, and they’ve been so important on both ends of the floor.

 

[BillSU]

That we aren’t what we use to be. I think back to the days of Dion Triche Rautins Fair Rak etc when we were a legitimate powerhouse that the nation would always tune in to watch us because we were entertaining and unpredictable. Feels like those days are long gone. Apologize for coming off as Debbie downer but it’s how I feel. I have 4 Villanova grads in my nucleus family and I’m suffering.

GooseMutt, I hope you and the nation were able to watch our game @BC today. It reminded me of some of the GREAT games of the past. The OFFENSE, zone and D were all ON. You win 101 - 63 today and you see a Syracuse team, IMO, that could be special, but this was one game - let's see what the team looks like down the road. JAB coached very well and received balanced scoring from almost every starter and more. This was the game and team I was hoping for coming back from a poor showing at the RAC. They looked hungry for a win and they got it in spades. I doubt we're going to shoot like this throughout the schedule. They're young with lots of room to learn and grow. If we can play this way with this talent we could be a very good team in a difficult year filled with illness and rules. Buddy didn't miss a beat. It is a joyful moment!

 

[721Comstock]

Thats not exactly difficult when you have 8-10 home non-conf games against unranked teams and in the top .1% of resources available to use.

And yet - numerous programs cannot do that on the regular.

And HOF coaches take a ton of losses in a given season now and again - O HAI ROY!!

Yet ours never does.
And never has.

If it was so easy, everybody would do it.

 

[Sherman20]

I like Sid a lot, and think his defense will be really good, but he’s not great on offense.

Offense isn’t our problem at all. We’ll be a top 20-25 team in offensive efficiency again. We need Sid for his rebounding and defense, especially against bigger, stronger and more physical teams.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yeah he was the number 1 or 2 recruit depending on JR Reid and dominated.
I forgot him.

I think Terry Mills was #2. Reid was #1. DC was, in retrospect, under rated, even as a McD AA. I watched the McD game. When I saw DC grab a rebound, use a behind the back dribble at half court to beat a smaller guy, then give a great pass for a lay up, I know we had the best player in the country.

 

[OttoMets]

Very true and that's unfortunate. It not only lessens the quality of the game, it lessens the impression these players have on the fanbase and community. Four year players are special in my mind.

Across the board (not just in terms of SU's appeal).

That is, if Randolph Childress or Tim Duncan is on Wake, I've seen that guy play against our team 6 or so times over the last three years and I'm excited to see the matchups this season. In 2021, when I've literally never heard of a single guy on Wake's roster, I don't care.

 

[chugg21]

And yet - numerous programs cannot do that on the regular.

And HOF coaches take a ton of losses in a given season now and again - O HAI ROY!!

Yet ours never does.
And never has.

If it was so easy, everybody would do it.

I'm confused. .500 is a garbage season for a school in our class with our resources. Being proud to never be terrible but ok with being mediocre for multiple years is such a loser mindset that I can't get behind. I expect to not be on the bubble for 5 straight seasons. We're not Iowa State.

 

[OttoMets]

Just to play a little add on...and maybe be even more blunt...and people can say all they want about the money they made but here is what happened to Syracuse Basketball:

Jerami Grant - Came in expected to be a 4 year player, should have stayed 3, left one year too early as his long NBA development timeline supports.
Tyler Ennis - Expected 4 years, should have stayed 4 years, left 3 years too early. I loved Ennis, but he still does not have one single NBA level skill.
Chris McCullough - Expected 1. Should have stayed 2 at least, his leaving after 1/2 season injured shocked me.
Malachi Richardson - Expected 2 or 3. Should have stayed 2. Can you imagine his FF level play for an entire season?
Tyler Lydon - Expected 4. Should have stayed 3 if not 4. Like Marek he got stuck at the 5 when he expected to play some 3. Developed faster than expected but could have been 1st team AA.
Oshae Brissett - Expected 4. Should have stayed 3. Would have been dominant last year.
Tyus Battle - Expected 2. Probably should have stayed 4 to learn PG. Doesn't really belong but felt relative.
Darius Bazley - Expected 1, should have come for one. Hmmm Bazley and/or Brissett on last years team?!?!?

Again, this is not about the money its about the Syracuse program. And I know other programs have guys that leave. But most of those are guys that were always expected to leave. The only guys above with close to those expectations were McCullough and Bazely. But that group above missed out on possibly 9 All American Seasons in the past 6 years (All conference at least). Memories that none of them have now that most of their NBA careers are over still in their 20's. Imagine adding 1.5 All Americans to each SU teams the last 6 years? And why is it that so many SU players have over achieved once they got to campus? I see Woody as the next in that regard.

I would add Carter-Williams to that. Obviously there were a lot of factors at play, but that's what started the cascading nightmare of guard play.

The staff loved him, but they thought he'd be at least a three-year guy. Whatever, he did nice things as a sophomore, so it's obvious why he jumped. His play was uneven, but he had some great moments.

But then instead of having Carter-Williams as a junior, playing alongside Cooney with Ennis getting heavy reserve minutes at both positions, Ennis got the limelight in 2014 and -- instead of being the four-year guy the staff anticipated -- bolted right away.

Which left the team with a totally unprepared Kaleb Joseph starting (rather than coming along with Ennis) on a suddenly very thin and limited team in 2015 and then washing out.

I can't blame the staff for not having backup plans here. Everything spiraled out of control pretty quickly.

 

[CapitalO]

That we aren’t what we use to be. I think back to the days of Dion Triche Rautins Fair Rak etc when we were a legitimate powerhouse that the nation would always tune in to watch us because we were entertaining and unpredictable. Feels like those days are long gone. Apologize for coming off as Debbie downer but it’s how I feel. I have 4 Villanova grads in my nucleus family and I’m suffering.

It runs in cycles for many teams in many sports look at former basketball powers Indiana and UCLA. and former football powers Nebraska - Florida ST - Tenn. One big problem we have had with our hoops team is every time we get a bigtime recruits they stay for only 1 or 2 years and bolt to the (NBA ) a or ( G ) league, parity is really being spread out in college sports which is actually a good thing lacrosse is another sport that has more parity now than ever.

 

[djorange1989]

It runs in cycles for many teams in many sports look at former basketball powers Indiana and UCLA. and former football powers Nebraska - Florida ST - Tenn. One big problem we have had with our hoops team is every time we get a bigtime recruits they stay for only 1 or 2 years and bolt to the (NBA ) a or ( G ) league, parity is really being spread out in college sports which is actually a good thing lacrosse is another sport that has more parity now than ever.

a lot of teams lose big time recruits after a year or two, I guess the difference is some teams reload with more studs and we haven’t been able to do that. Really like the team we have now, however

 

[CapitalO]

a lot of teams lose big time recruits after a year or two, I guess the difference is some teams reload with more studs and we haven’t been able to do that. Really like the team we have now, however

Yes I also think when we lost Hopkins we took a couple of steps backwards.

 

[eatmatsroe]

yeah but they arent .

it sucks watching a team that always needs a year or two more to develop that will never ever get that time...

the level of play in the sport is so low...

maybe they oughta just drastically cut the number of teams in division one to stop the dilution of talent...cut the bottom 100-200 teams out and level of play would jump back up...

cinderalla stories are one of the best things about the sport but the last 5 years of \ncaa have gotten pathetic, imo..just from a pure basketball fan perspective.

i realize it is all about money but theres gotta be a way to fix this.

every key player will be back back except for he possibility of md and bs. and both have the option to stay.

even if we lose one they will still be an exceptional team

imagine his dude alternating dunks with newton and quincy

how could SU not relive their past glory and athletic teams

 

[DBCooper]

I'm confused. .500 is a garbage season for a school in our class with our resources. Being proud to never be terrible but ok with being mediocre for multiple years is such a loser mindset that I can't get behind. I expect to not be on the bubble for 5 straight seasons. We're not Iowa State.

You certainly are confused. You don't seem to be able to grasp the concept that two different things can both be true. That you can desire to improve upon our performances in recent years, and also proud of the fact that we haven't had a losing season in 50 years. In the five seasons you mentioned we appeared in the Sweet Sixteen twice - once reaching the Final Four. That's not a bad floor. I question your assessment of who has a loser mindset.

 

[20plus]

every key player will be back back except for he possibility of md and bs. and both have the option to stay.

even if we lose one they will still be an exceptional team

imagine his dude alternating dunks with newton and quincy

how could SU not relive their past glory and athletic teams

He makes it look Extremely easy like another 5 star forward from 2002

 

[CardiacCuse]

every key player will be back back except for he possibility of md and bs. and both have the option to stay.

even if we lose one they will still be an exceptional team

imagine his dude alternating dunks with newton and quincy

how could SU not relive their past glory and athletic teams

Things are looking up lately for SU but i still think the sport overall has been suffering compared to the way it was a couple decades ago before the one and dones.