Athlon Preview-Ranked 12th

[cbcuse3]

In the ACC...I considered throwing it away as soon as I got home from Publix and opened it. This went to print pre-White but post Thompson/Gillon. What a joke and sign of disrespect for the Hall of Famer and his squad. Even at that time we were closer to 12th nationally than 12th in the ACC.

 

[Col. Bleep]

In the ACC...I considered throwing it away as soon as I got home from Publix and opened it. This went to print pre-White but post Thompson/Gillon. What a joke and sign of disrespect for the Hall of Famer and his squad. Even at that time we were closer to 12th nationally than 12th in the ACC.

Next time go to Wegman's.
They have fresher product.

 

[cbcuse3]

They aren't as far south as Miami yet

 

[Briancuse]

This has to be a mistake, even if you hate Syracuse and thought the worst case scenario for this team you would put them 8th or 9th.

 

[Cowtown]

Patience lads, patience. This is bulletin board material.

 

[Delmar]

In the ACC...I considered throwing it away as soon as I got home from Publix and opened it. This went to print pre-White but post Thompson/Gillon. What a joke and sign of disrespect for the Hall of Famer and his squad. Even at that time we were closer to 12th nationally than 12th in the ACC.

I never buy it. I read it at the news stand until I start getting dirty looks from the cashier. It's wildly inaccurate always.

 

[Briancuse]

Patience lads, patience. This is bulletin board material.

It is, but I mean 12th, how can anyone with a brain look at this roster and pick them to finish 12th?

 

[Cowtown]

It is, but I mean 12th, how can anyone with a brain look at this roster and pick them to finish 12th?

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

 

[Briancuse]

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

But the teams being put ahead of us had worse records, and aren't bringing in the caliber of players that we are.

 

[OrangeDW]

In the ACC...I considered throwing it away as soon as I got home from Publix and opened it. This went to print pre-White but post Thompson/Gillon. What a joke and sign of disrespect for the Hall of Famer and his squad. Even at that time we were closer to 12th nationally than 12th in the ACC.

What is wrong with these people? Boeheim started Billy Celluck and still won 25 games.

 

[OrangeDW]

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

Everybody loses players in college hoops now though. We're Syracuse...we'll bring in good players every year and we have a hall of fame coach who will never in his life finish 12th in the league.

 

[pfister1]

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

Agreed. We have a lot of question marks even for those of us who follow the program. For folks that are only checking in to prepare previews there are huge question marks ??? around this team.

Who are our returning players? Roberson, Coleman, Lydon and Howard.... We all really like Lydon, but is there a star among the group? Is Lydon (or one of the incoming guys) capable of being an alpha?
Who is the point guard, a little used sophomore who was pretty ineffective when used late year or a relatively unknown 5th year transfer. Is either ready?
Where are the points/offense coming from?
We may have to rely heavily on Tyus Battle, is he up to the challenge?
Recent successful Cuse teams have been built on defense. We have approx. one returning guy (Roberson) that has really solid experience in the zone at the position he is likely to play this season?
We are deep That can also be a negative...how will this team fit together and will JB be able to find the right formula and keep everyone happy?

I choose to be very optimistic, believe in JBs ability to bring things together and think that most of the questions will be answered positively, but it isn't unfair that others might not have such an outlook.

 

[HoustonCuse]

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

You make some valid points, but even ignoring orange colored glasses - there is not legitimate reason for a Boeheim coached Syracuse team to be picked 12th in any conference. It would represent, by quite a bit, the worst season/team in his career. What's the worst he has done, ever? 9th? And that was last year, a season in which he was suspended for 9 games and we had 6.5 legit players. Even if we didn't get Gillon and White, picking Syracuse 12th in the conference is tantamount to trolling. It's just not defensible by any reality and is disputed by 40 years of performance.

 

[Brooky03]

Word to the wise when ranking Syracuse basektball in the preseason: Rank the team as if it was a normal program, then move them up 2 spots for Jim Boeheim, then move them up another 2 spots because it's **king Syracuse. That should give you a reasonable projection.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Word to the wise when ranking Syracuse basektball in the preseason: Rank the team as if it was a normal program, then move them up 2 spots for Jim Boeheim, then move them up another 2 spots because it's **king Syracuse. That should give you a reasonable projection.

So eighth?

 

[Ringostar57]

Athlon is the new teflon of sports "journalism"

 

[Jack Hall]

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

SUs only accomplishment was not simply the FF. Another notable accomplishment was the Bahamas Title. It parallels Kembas final season, they were 9-9 in reg season
But their win over uk in Maui gave a hint that they were capable of a big march run

 

[Jack Hall]

This was mentioned in another thread. I mean, think about it. 23-14, 9-9 including 3-8 away, 0-1 in the ACCT, and we lost three players including both guards. The only thing we did all year was the final four run, and our three of our four most dominant players in that have left. Besides that, the only friend we have anywhere near the ACC is Coach K. Besides, it makes it all the better when we get 'em! Remember October 2002 when we weren't ranked?

Another fair question, if K is such a good friend to SU, what did he do exactly to mitigate the ncaa punishment? Now maybe he did do something, but thats a story i would actually like to hear because i see no evidence he did anything except make some lip service after the fact

The single most powerful guy in college basketball, you really think emmert didnt consult him at least informally? Who knows

 

[Cowtown]

Another fair question, if K is such a good friend to SU, what did he do exactly to mitigate the ncaa punishment? Now maybe he did do something, but thats a story i would actually like to hear because i see no evidence he did anything except make some lip service after the fact

The single most powerful guy in college basketball, you really think emmert didnt consult him at least informally? Who knows

Why would anyone think the NCAA even consulted K on SU/JB's suspension? And if they had, it would have forced K into a conflict of interest, and he would have declined to comment, IMHO.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I'm sure if it got out K was trying to influence the NCAA it would be recieved well.

 

[Jack Hall]

Why would anyone think the NCAA even consulted K on SU/JB's suspension? And if they had, it would have possibly forced K into a conflict of interest, and he would have declined to comment, IMHO.

im sure K has NO say whatsover into seeding or location (or for that matter reffing) in the ncaa tourney because that would be a coi! Lol but seriously you may very well be correct, just a little bit skeptical ...

 

[Jack Hall]

Why would anyone think the NCAA even consulted K on SU/JB's suspension? And if they had, it would have forced K into a conflict of interest, and he would have declined to comment, IMHO.

And i hope you keep in mind this same upstanding guy didnt even manage to shake all our players hands after we beat them in cameron indoor last season. And then managed to say "amazing" when asked about the officiating that led to our win. Boy that was showing SU a lot of respect!

 

[Brooky03]

So eighth?

More reasonable than 12th. I wouldn't expect them to be well-versed enough to rank us correctly (around 4th). Add in White, and 6th is probably what they should have come up with.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Another fair question, if K is such a good friend to SU, what did he do exactly to mitigate the ncaa punishment? Now maybe he did do something, but thats a story i would actually like to hear because i see no evidence he did anything except make some lip service after the fact

The single most powerful guy in college basketball, you really think emmert didnt consult him at least informally? Who knows

This seems off base. I don't think the NCAA would or should consult K about Syracuse or anybody else. You are wildly overestimating his influence in my opinion.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I'm at least reasonably optimistic that we could lose 4 starters for the season due to injury and still finish 11th or better.