At this point

[jdubs30]

We scored 71 points on 61 possessions last night. That should be a win.

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JB is going down with his guys for better or worse. I didn't think for a second Cooney was gonna get any run in the 2H unless there was foul trouble. ​

I think JB just holds out hope Triche will get hot like he did vs. Louisville; he can carry us if he's being aggressive and making shots. Unfortunately he's been awful in our losses lately. Cooney impressed me last night, but if we wanted to make a run at the end we needed Triche and MCW in there.

 

[Knicks411]

I think JB just holds out hope Triche will get hot like he did vs. Louisville; he can carry us if he's being aggressive and making shots. Unfortunately he's been awful in our losses lately. Cooney impressed me last night, but if we wanted to make a run at the end we needed Triche and MCW in there.

Yeah I'm not saying play him at the end, but give him a few minutes so at least MCW and Triche get a blow.

Also, Cooney did some nice things. A couple of times he ran off the curls, pump faked, and got in the lane to make a dish. I don't remember seeing much of that from him before.

 

[jdubs30]

Yeah I'm not saying play him at the end, but give him a few minutes so at least MCW and Triche get a blow.

Also, Cooney did some nice things. A couple of times he ran off the curls, pump faked, and got in the lane to make a dish. I don't remember seeing much of that from him before.

Agreed. He's being a bit more aggressive and showing he has the talent. He was a liability 2 months ago, he's not anymore.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

We can't win in this conference because every team is a Butler clone and it sucks, get me the F out of here. This conference is garbage and has about 5 teams you can watch and point to as "the reason college basketball is a joke." We're athletic, long and fast, but not big or physical.

Yeah, I'm interested to see if things really do end up being more aesthetically pleasing in the ACC, or if I just think the grass is greener on the other side.

 

[jimsonjunction]

In my opinion, the real problem with our play of late is discipline. It takes discipline to pass up a shot in search of a better one. You simply have to work the ball around enough so that you can get into the paint...get layups or draw fouls. The guards are pretty much in charge of that and the coach needs to hold them accountable as well.

On the other side of the ball, we need to turn our defense into offense. All really good SU teams supplement their scoring with 5-10 easy points in transition and we haven't had that lately. Would like to see us more aggressive looking for steals and run-outs.

 

[MGP]

This is a unique year for us. It's been a long time since we were neither in the position of striving for a top seed in the NCAAs nor sweating out the bubble. We know we're in, we're becoming resigned to the fact that we will be a so-so seed. Might make for more fun and less pressure and expectations. Let's hope so. For those of you saying we are not a really good team, I say compared to what? The amazing teams we've had the last few years? We are still a pretty good team (and easily could've won last night) - solid top 15 or 20 - nothing to slouch about. I hate lowering expectations because as a program, I think our goal is to compete for a Nat. Championship every year. I still think we can this year, flaws and all. I'm just going to enjoy the rest of the ride and hope they can become more consistent down the stretch.

 

[RichmondCuse]

Yeah, I'm interested to see if things really do end up being more aesthetically pleasing in the ACC, or if I just think the grass is greener on the other side.

I agree with many that have said they're anxious to get out of the Big East and move to the ACC, which "generally" plays a more fitting style of basketball (not all the teams do). However, shouldn't we be worried that it's going to just flip the tables in the other direction? Currently, we have to grind through our regular season with hopes of turning it on in March when we get to play teams we match up better against. But once we move to the ACC, isn't it possible that we'll become a team that looks great in the regular season but then routinely gets upset by one of these more physical teams that know how to attack our zone come tournament time?

 

[br801]

I remember last year we basically toyed with Louisville in the regular season finale. I remember thinking how Louisville was primed for a quick post season because Siva was playing the bad Siva role and they were a mess. Well that turned into a BET title and a FF bid. It can happen.

Of course it can happen. The talent is there to make a run and JB hasn't suddenly forgotten how to coach. Anyone paying attention knows there's often a thin line between victory and defeat at this level.

Unless I'm missing something, this team has not been embarrassed in any of these losses. Despite the issues with shooting and the half court offense, this team brings it defensively every night, and that will keep them in the game against anyone. This ride is far from over.

 

[RichmondCuse]

Unless I'm missing something, this team has not been embarrassed in any of these losses. .

Personally I though the performance against Georgetown in front of 35K+ was very embarrassing. They didn't even score 50.

 

[Marsh01]

Of course it can happen. The talent is there to make a run and JB hasn't suddenly forgotten how to coach. Anyone paying attention knows there's often a thin line between victory and defeat at this level.

Unless I'm missing something, this team has not been embarrassed in any of these losses. Despite the issues with shooting and the half court offense, this team brings it defensively every night, and that will keep them in the game against anyone. This ride is far from over.

Thats why I am holding out hope. Each loss we have is a loss where we had a chance to win the game in the last few minutes. Even Gtown we were only down 6 points with a few minutes left.

 

[br801]

Personally I though the performance against Georgetown in front of 35K+ was very embarrassing. They didn't even score 50.

They were in with a chance late in the game against Georgetown. To me, that doesn't constitute being embarrassed. I would call that loss (considering the magnitude of game and the hype surrounding it) disappointing.

 

[RichmondCuse]

They were in with a chance late in the game against Georgetown. To me, that doesn't constitute being embarrassed. I would call that loss (considering the magnitude of game and the hype surrounding it) disappointing.

I think the players would disagree with you. At least, I hope to God they were embarrassed by their play on Saturday. If not, then there is really no hope for them.

 

[asj410]

I'm just glad I didn't fork over hundreds of dollars to witness that game in person.

 

[CorduroyG]

we're due a few breaks in the tournament. 2009 we get 2 seed oklahoma in sweet 16, 2010 we lose AO, 2011 we get a freakin big east team who we already lost to in 2nd round, last year we lose fab. and even then i said ohio st is the only team in our bracket that scares me, and of course they make it to elite 8 and beat us. maybe this is the year we get a 5 seed and the 4 seed in our bracket loses in the 1st round, and the 1 seed loses in the 2nd round, our bracket blows up and we get a favorable road to final 4. stuff like that happens every year to teams but never us, we're due for some tourny breaks dammit!!

 

[CorduroyG]

the gtown game was embarassing. 46 points? come on

 

[br801]

I think the players would disagree with you. At least, I hope to God they were embarrassed by their play on Saturday. If not, then there is really no hope for them.

I'm talking about the loss as an observer and fan, not from the perspective of a player. Of course they were probably embarrassed and upset with their performance. But I didn't see a team that quit playing or got run out of the buiding by 30 points -- that would have been an embarrassment.

 

[OttoMets]

In my opinion, the real problem with our play of late is discipline. It takes discipline to pass up a shot in search of a better one. You simply have to work the ball around enough so that you can get into the paint...get layups or draw fouls. The guards are pretty much in charge of that and the coach needs to hold them accountable as well.
...

Yeah, this is why our zone offense has been poor. Not shooting, and not offensive rebounding.

And we were humming along for 30-odd minutes last night under the guards reverted back to sloppy play, we went into a long scoreless streak, and no one on the bench was able to get the right players to make the right decisions.

 

[Madbiker]

I'd like to see the stats though of BE play taking the non conference games out of it. Thankfully we have good rebounding guards which is what is skewing the numbers a bit. I wish it was more front court heavy.

Generally we do have good rebounding guards. But not last night. MCW had zero and BT had 2. They didn't help out on the boards last night. I think the last 10 minutes Gardner was so dominant that our guys just looked like they wanted no part of the scrum.

 

[UConn76]

Yeah, I'm interested to see if things really do end up being more aesthetically pleasing in the ACC, or if I just think the grass is greener on the other side.

Very interesting theory of wanting to leave the BE because you feel SU doesn't match up well. That's the whole beauty of college basketball and the tourney..All about matchups. You can't count on every game for SU being like the NBA All-Star game.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Very interesting theory of wanting to leave the BE because you feel SU doesn't match up well. That's the whole beauty of college basketball and the tourney..All about matchups. You can't count on every game for SU being like the NBA All-Star game.

For me it's not really a match up thing though. It's a style thing. College basketball is trending towards ugly. The Big East is leading that trend.

When I watch ACC games for the most part I see fast pace, high scoring contests. That's more fun to watch. Will I see more of that next season as a Syracuse fan following a new entrant to the ACC?

Oh, and .

 

[Opus]

No way no day Syracuse does anything during March. Now come on Orange prove me wrong so someone can bring this thread back to life and mock me in early April.

 

[orangecuse]

For me it's not really a match up thing though. It's a style thing. College basketball is trending towards ugly. The Big East is leading that trend.

When I watch ACC games for the most part I see fast pace, high scoring contests. That's more fun to watch. Will I see more of that next season as a Syracuse fan following a new entrant to the ACC?

Oh, and .

Maybe, but being down here in ACC country and seeing some of those UM, WF, VPI, FSU, Clemson games on the ACC/Raycom Sports Network have been just painful to watch. :noidea:

 

[kirbivore]

No on the bubble question. We would drop like a stone as far as our seed goes but that's about it.

1995 Orangemen come to mind. Stumbled into the NCAA's as a 7 seed after a final 10 game stretch with a record of 3-7, starting on Feb 5th at Kentucky and culminating in a maddening 1st round BET loss to Providence. Even after all they still had defending champ Arkansas dead to rights. Only a bonehead play stopped them that day. It's not crazy that this team could go on a March run.

 

[kirbivore]

That was what I thought in '08 (was it '08?) when we had a terrible year-end slump and lost an afternoon game in the BET to 'Nova and we got shafted by the committee. If we lose to DePaul I am done with this team this year.

I remember a scenario like this in 1997. That team had started to come out of a year end slump, suffered a bad loss to Pitt in the last regular season game, dropped to the 8 seed and lost to #1 Nova in the early afternoon session of the BET. I was more pissed at Burgan for getting suspended than I was at the NCAA that year.

 

[kirbivore]

we're due a few breaks in the tournament. 2009 we get 2 seed oklahoma in sweet 16, 2010 we lose AO, 2011 we get a freakin big east team who we already lost to in 2nd round, last year we lose fab. and even then i said ohio st is the only team in our bracket that scares me, and of course they make it to elite 8 and beat us. maybe this is the year we get a 5 seed and the 4 seed in our bracket loses in the 1st round, and the 1 seed loses in the 2nd round, our bracket blows up and we get a favorable road to final 4. stuff like that happens every year to teams but never us, we're due for some tourny breaks dammit!!

how soon we forget 1996. Road to final four went 13, 12, 8, 2