Burn it all down. This is rock bottom

[OrangeDW]

Ummmm, too late as that ship has sailed.

Yup. We’re starting from scratch. The sooner the better.

 

[Scooch]

He should be told tomorrow morning that this is the end. Take a victory lap this season. But it’s over.

The program as we knew it is dead.

Every freshman aside from Mintz can’t contribute meaningfully this season. It’s not at all surprising, but it’s a recruiting calamity. Again.

Bring in someone from the outside.

It’s been an amazing era, but it has to end.

 

[the villager]

ITS TIME ITS TIME ITS TIME ! As one of the JB advocates you speak of it hurt watching NO box and one or triangle and two to attempt to stop the bleeding. Looked like was as disinterested as I became .TOGOGOGO!!!

 

[cuseguy]

WOW...this thread is going wild!! Second game of the season with 7 new players, losing top 3 players from last year. Let's fire the coach, bench players, players to portal, etc?? I suggest we get a few more games under our belt before we rush to all these conclusions. Last week you wanted to bench Benny and this week you are praising him! If we do not build from this loss then all you are saying has some truth, but we will not know until several more games are played. You have to admit a good shooting Colgate team was no match for our young, yet to be set defensively, and total lack of experience under fire fire team. I would hope we can improve, get to the NCAAs and play Colgate again if they and we can get there.

My guess is 2-4 in another week. Don’t be surprised.

 

[Sherman20]

There is no coming back from getting blown out by Colgate two years in a row, and there is not one conceivable advantage that Colgate athletics has over Syracuse. This should not be happening.

Boeheim has become atrocious at roster building in this day and age. I can’t explain what his thinking is anymore, other than he’s infatuated with his own (perceived) brilliance as a coach. Refusing to bring in a high level scoring transfer forward, as Autry and Griff were urging, is coaching malpractice. Relying on multiple freshman as key players is just the height of insanity. Other than Mintz, these freshman aren’t ready for prime time. Pathetic.

 

[NorSyr66]

As a student here, I COULDN’T CARE LESS about the history of this program. Why should I care what Jim did twenty years ago?!! Embarrassing level of complacency by the AD.

I hear you and understand what you are saying. I am entirely on the other end of the spectrum. I watched JB play in high school. I have a longer runway for JB and the Syracuse program. Yes, I am disappointed in tonight's game but hopefully JB will build on it to bring this young team around. I like the room he is giving Benny to get going, Mintz needs room also. Joe has 3+ years experience and he still can not defend. As the year unfolds, if the team does not improve, then I agree it may be time for some changes. Good luck at Syracuse. LGO

 

[NorSyr66]

My guess is 2-4 in another week. Don’t be surprised.

Wow...3 more losses? That would be a surprise to me!

 

[NorSyr66]

I mean….I’d polish it up for the big wigs. But I like to give the real nitty gritty to the common folk.

I like this....I am as common as they come! I am done poking! Have a good one. See you after next game.

 

[Sherman20]

If we came out man and denied him the ball, and got after it…I think we win by 8-10.

We basically didn’t even try on defense.

Agreed. It made zero sense to zone a three point shooting team like Colgate the whole game. Didn’t we learn from last year? JB is stuck in his ways. The team should just start to ignore him and play man to man. What is he going to do? Bench the whole team?

Also, Joe Girard has to be the most godawful zone defender we’ve ever had. He constantly gets sucked into the paint (for what reason, I have no idea) and then can’t close out on the three point shooters.

 

[orangecuse]

In between a pessimist and an optimist you will find a realist.

Not here you won’t. The ‘usual suspects’ also deem the realists pessimists.

 

[Sherman20]

They got wide open threes against the man defense too. Once Mintz got beat back door, the man was over.

They did. But JB NEVER went back to it. That’s insane. You have to give it another shot.

 

[OrangeDW]

Agreed. It made zero sense to zone a three point shooting team like Colgate the whole game. Didn’t we learn from last year? JB is stuck in his ways. The team should just start to ignore him and play man to man. What is he going to do? Bench the whole team?

Also, Joe Girard had to be the most godawful zone defender we’ve ever had. He constantly gets sucked into the paint (for what, I have no idea) and then can’t close out on the three point shooters.

I don’t understand what we were hoping to accomplish? Hope they miss? They freakin shredded us, while we sat back and took it. Beyond pathetic.

I haven’t seen enough of Joe in man to man to know if he makes me want to puke, but 3+ years of his zone defense surely makes me want to puke. That’s not an exaggeration. It’s so disgusting I want to throw up. He doesn’t even try on a lot of possessions.

 

[NorSyr66]

Agreed. It made zero sense to zone a three point shooting team like Colgate the whole game. Didn’t we learn from last year? JB is stuck in his ways. The team should just start to ignore him and play man to man. What is he going to do? Bench the whole team?

Also, Joe Girard had to be the most godawful zone defender we’ve ever had. He constantly gets sucked into the paint (for what, I have no idea) and then can’t close out on the three point shooters.

Totally agree except for the "ignore him". I am not sure our m2m is at a point it would have made a difference. Let's face it, this team has zero chemistry at this point. Offensively or defensively. Definitely Joe continues to hurt us defensively. Can we/should we give up his 3 pt scoring for his "no defense"? At least against a team like Colgate - YES!!!

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I hear you and understand what you are saying. I am entirely on the other end of the spectrum. I watched JB play in high school. I have a longer runway for JB and the Syracuse program. Yes, I am disappointed in tonight's game but hopefully JB will build on it to bring this young team around. I like the room he is giving Benny to get going, Mintz needs room also. Joe has 3+ years experience and he still can not defend. As the year unfolds, if the team does not improve, then I agree it may be time for some changes. Good luck at Syracuse. LGO

As it seems that you are close to JB in age, it appears you also struggle with facing the reality of the current poor state of the program and have difficulty accepting the end of the Boeheim era.

It’s easier if you just accept the Boeheim era has already ended. The successful years are never returning. We’re just living in some weird transition period where a guy refuses to acknowledge his time has passed and he’s doing far more damage to the program by sticking around.

 

[djcon57]

As a student here, I COULDN’T CARE LESS about the history of this program. Why should I care what Jim did twenty years ago?!! Embarrassing level of complacency by the AD.

Thank you for this post. Some folks here really need to read this.

 

[Sherman20]

Settle down folks. You are looking at a senior dominant team against a team that JB is building with 7 new players. Yes we have Jesse and Joe but Joe was and still is a huge defensive liability that burns us with solid three point shooters. especially from beyond the arc. I can guarantee you will not see a repeat next year. Of course Colgate may not schedule us or demand we play in Hamilton. I honestly think there is a lot for JB to build on tonight. Remember the lose to LeMoyne several years back helped develop a very good team

I’m not giving up completely but this was (yet another) train wreck in a long line of them these past few years. Why didn’t we go after any top transfers? This roster needs a high-level SF who can attack the glass and knock down three-point shots, not three freshman at the position who aren’t ready for prime time.

 

[cuseguy]

I’m not giving up completely but this was (yet another) train wreck in a long line of them these past few years. Why didn’t we go after any top transfers? This roster needs a high-level SF who can attack the glass and knock down three-point shots, not three freshman at the position who aren’t ready for prime time.

So true. But so many — including JB — ensured us we’d be fine with these young forwards. Saw this coming last winter.

 

[JDubbin]

I have never, in my whole life being around basketball, seen a situation where a team (Colgate) trots out a big oaf of a dude who simply will not shoot the ball or look to score. At all. Refuses to... whether he's guarded or not. Bro just wants to pass from the free throw line.

Even more mind numbing & hard to understand... team (Syracuse) defense with players HELPING/DROPPING off of 3 point shooters to guard him, which then leaves wide open 3's to a high percentage shooting team. You don't even need to guard this man. HE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE BASKET. But nah, let's just help side guard anyway.

I don't really care what the Coach tells you, just stick with the shooters on the perimeter & leave that guy one-on-one with Jesse. Sheesh, I'm still shook by how ludicrous it is.

 

[Cuse99&01]

They did. But JB NEVER went back to it. That’s insane. You gave to give it another shot.

JBs mindset - Back door layup was the last straw for man to man defense. One wide open 3 after another against a very porous zone….let’s keep doing it. Makes sense

 

[Sherman20]

I don't see this ending well at all. JB feels the program is HIS, not the school's. I think the more heat he feels, the more he will dig in and want to keep on going. And he has very, very powerful allies. They will help him keep going long after someone should have put a stop to it. The pieces are setup for an endgame that will see the program left in tatters in JB left feeling resentful and wronged. Sad, really.

If things don’t improve this year, we need an AD with big cahones like Tom Jurich had at Louisville in canning the legendary Denny Crum in order to hire Rick Pitino. You don’t think Crum (as the architect of that program with two national titles) had powerful allies at Louisville that Jurich had to deal with and overcome? Unfortunately, I don’t know if there’s any obvious high level successors like Pitino waiting in the wings for us to hire. We need to find the next Eric Musselman or Nate Oates.

Ex-Louisville AD Tom Jurich says ending Denny Crum’s tenure was his hardest moment

Former Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said that forcing Denny Crum into retirement was the right decision, but the hardest one he made.

www.courier-journal.com

ESPN.com - ncb - Jurich seeking Crum's retirement

www.espn.com

 

[Cuse99&01]

I have never, in my whole life being around basketball, seen a situation where a team (Colgate) trots out a big oaf of a dude who simply will not shoot the ball or look to score. At all. Refuses to... whether he's guarded or not. Bro just wants to pass from the free throw line.

Even more mind numbing & hard to understand... team (Syracuse) defense with players HELPING/DROPPING off of 3 point shooters to guard him, which then leaves wide open 3's to a high percentage shooting team. You don't even need to guard this man. HE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE BASKET. But nah, let's just help side guard anyway.

I don't really care what the Coach tells you, just stick with the shooters on the perimeter & leave that guy one-on-one with Jesse. Sheesh, I'm still shook by how ludicrous it is.

JB opened up his post game press conference by saying their defense wasn’t that bad tonight. What game was he watching?

 

[Sherman20]

I have never, in my whole life being around basketball, seen a situation where a team (Colgate) trots out a big oaf of a dude who simply will not shoot the ball or look to score. At all. Refuses to... whether he's guarded or not. Bro just wants to pass from the free throw line.

Even more mind numbing & hard to understand... team (Syracuse) defense with players HELPING/DROPPING off of 3 point shooters to guard him, which then leaves wide open 3's to a high percentage shooting team. You don't even need to guard this man. HE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE BASKET. But nah, let's just help side guard anyway.

I don't really care what the Coach tells you, just stick with the shooters on the perimeter & leave that guy one-on-one with Jesse. Sheesh, I'm still shook by how ludicrous it is.

This this this. ^^^^
I was screaming at the TV for the guards to stop trying to “bother” the big oaf in the post and stay on the three-point shooters. Joe is always getting sucked into the paint for no reason. It’s not like they’re putting any actual pressure on the man in the high post.

 

[CuseBlock]

Thank you for this post. Some folks here really need to read this.

I’m also so tired of hearing about the Carmelo team. That was TWENTY years ago. Until I got here, I’d never seen a fan base hold onto teams twenty and thirty years ago more than Syracuse fans do. I’m glad you all got to experience that, but I really just want to win.

 

[We Are Syracuse]

What are chances Wildhack hires in-house? It HAS to be zero percent right?

 

[JDubbin]

JB opened up his post game press conference by saying their defense wasn’t that bad tonight. What game was he watching?

I mean our favorite big guy 55 Woodward DID score 0 points tonight (along with 6 rebounds & SEVEN assists), so there's that