Changing Expectations

[Lukeyloo]

It’s upsetting to see the state of SU basketball these days. Every year for the past 9 seasons there have been incrementally lowered expectations and people have come to accept it. First it was “we’re right on the edge of being ranked” . Then it was “we’ll be a lower seed in the tournament, but we can make some noise!” . Which then turned to “just be on the bubble”. The latest has been “will this be a winning season?” .

I know this is coming off as a reactionary post from the Virginia loss and some might say “who cares, they’re a top 25 team and we only lost by 7” . To that I would counter that that game was never really in doubt, being down 20+ at one point. I remember when fans believed SU had a chance, if not expected, a win against anyone. Those days are long gone and it isn’t changing until something changes.

 

[Cuse1055]

We are at the stage of apathy. As you said, I miss the feeling of expecting to go into every game and win no matter who the opponent was or where the game was being played.

 

[NYCCuse826]

What were the expectations this year? This is a serious question because the basketball forum is filled with anger.

I saw the roster this year and knew nothing of note would be accomplished this season. What I wanted to see was the youth develop so that they could take a step towards next season where they'd be able to be competitive on a nightly basis. Unfortunately many of them haven't and some look like they're not ready to play at this level which is another topic for another thread. Mind you, that's not a Syracuse only problem.

 

[SUMJF]

What were the expectations this year? This is a serious question because the basketball forum is filled with anger.

I saw the roster this year and knew nothing of note would be accomplished this season. What I wanted to see was the youth develop so that they could take a step towards next season where they'd be able to be competitive on a nightly basis. Unfortunately many of them haven't and some look like they're not ready to play at this level which is another topic for another thread. Mind you, that's not a Syracuse only problem.

I would say that having a rebuild season after having a losing season preceded by all the seasons we had where weren’t contending within the ACC has caused the frustration to buildup.

A rebuild season is something we should have done after 2015-2016 final four. Not after what transpired from 2016-2022.

This season has gone as expected for anyone with scintilla of intelligence. The problem is next season isn’t going to be much better unless by miracle Joe and Jesse stay and our freshman all stay. Who expects that?

 

[Cusefan0307]

We have lost two games against teams that can’t handle pressure at all because we came out and sat In the zone and let them dictate tempo. Pittsburgh was the other game.

We are regularly down 7-10 points halfway through the first half because we start the wrong players.

The only adjustment made this season is scrapping the man to man experiment early in the season to go full zone.

JB has resorted to mostly his worst tendencies.

 

[Lukeyloo]

What were the expectations this year?

I can only speak for myself, but I didn’t have high expectations and that’s exactly the problem. Season after season we’re becoming accustomed to expecting less and less from the basketball program.

 

[Trueblue25]

The national perception of our programs gone.

Attendance at home games is visibly deteriorating.

the only positives right now is somewhat increased funding for athletic infrastructure but at a certain point its hard to care as a fan.

Im happy Jim’s getting to go out on his own terms, but it’s inarguably destroying what he himself built. You wonder what the point of paying people in the AD and University is when they’re supposed to act as guard rails for exactly this reason.

But in the end how fans feel does not matter

 

[AlaskaSU]

The ACC is 3 things:
1. Financial stability.
2. Lifeline for the football team.
3. Death to basketball recruiting.

 

[orangecuse]

"Changing Expectations?" How about "The Changed Expectations." What we see today and have for nearly a decade now is the status quo and the established normal of Syracuse Basketball nowadays. The "new normal" tag no longer is applicable anymore do to the extended period of time this has been going on for.

Yesterday's result was simply 'business as usual.'

 

[NYCCuse826]

The national perception of our programs gone.

Attendance at home games is visibly deteriorating.

the only positives right now is somewhat increased funding for athletic infrastructure but at a certain point its hard to care as a fan.

Im happy Jim’s getting to go out on his own terms, but it’s inarguably destroying what he himself built. You wonder what the point of paying people in the AD and University is when they’re supposed to act as guard rails for exactly this reason.

But in the end how fans feel does not matter

College programs go through cycles. Alabama Football was a below average program with anomaly years from 1997 to 2007.

 

[Cuse1055]

I can only speak for myself, but I didn’t have high expectations and that’s exactly the problem. Season after season we’re becoming accustomed to expecting less and less from the basketball program.

This x100

 

[Trueblue25]

College programs go through cycles. Alabama Football was a below average program with anomaly years from 1997 to 2007.

Bama had what? Several national championships before that period?

 

[two3zone]

College programs go through cycles. Alabama Football was a below average program with anomaly years from 1997 to 2007.

Oh good, we should dominate the next decade starting next year then. Consider me pumped up.

 

[Red Holzman]

This thread is a good barometer for where many fans are at this stage of the program's decline.
Once driven to the apathy stage, you become mostly numb regarding the stuff that raised your BP.
A sad state of affairs, but I'm finally over that and happier now. Comfortably Numb.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

What were the expectations this year? This is a serious question because the basketball forum is filled with anger.

I saw the roster this year and knew nothing of note would be accomplished this season. What I wanted to see was the youth develop so that they could take a step towards next season where they'd be able to be competitive on a nightly basis. Unfortunately many of them haven't and some look like they're not ready to play at this level which is another topic for another thread. Mind you, that's not a Syracuse only problem.

SU basketball will be stuck in a state of purgatory until JB retires. There’s no excitement about the future or expectations because the future is completely unknown.

 

[Ghost]

This was my expectation starting in the Fall 2018 about where we would be today - so things are still going well enough I suppose. At least to the extent the program is meeting my expectations. I was an early adjuster.

 

[miamicuse]

JB's expectation is we make the tournament.

IMO ceiling is first four, floor is 0.5.

Had to adjust expectation to stay healthy, but doesn't make one happy to have to adjust it.

Having games bumped off from ESPNU to ESPNews was not a good sign.

Why zone all the time? No idea. JB being stubborn or M2M requires a lot of opponent scouting and practice accordingly and he has no time for that?

 

[OrangeDW]

Buddy Boeheim being good enough to be a good player for SU is weirdly what screwed us, big picture wise.

If JB left after the disappointment of ‘17 or the underdog sweet 16 run in ‘18, we still would’ve had some stature as a program to salvage and maintain. At that point we were a good program coming off a down 4 year stretch that still included a final four and sweet 16. Hire the right guy and we’re rolling right now.

Once Buddy got here, we were locked into 4 more years and now we’re talking 8 down years. Almost a decade. Now we’re just a nonfactor program that was good a long time ago.

 

[djcon57]

I expected bubble as the ceiling.

there were folks on the board who though the floor was the tourney.

 

[Tango32]

For me outside of liking football more, the FB program is easier to root for despite being traditionally poor performing compared to Bball because they can at least sell hope. The FB program has continued to try different things, switch up coaching personnel, change defenses, different approaches on O, and tons of portal pounding.

The Bball program needs to find a way to at least sell some hope if we're going to be held hostage by JB. It's just so stale

 

[miamicuse]

I expected bubble as the ceiling.

there were folks on the board who though the floor was the tourney.

Can you blame them if JB declared at the preseason presser that "we will make the tournament"? Now he didn't say if he meant the NIT.

 

[hoopsupstate]

Wildhack has to be as critical of the basketball program as he is of the football program. He needs to look at everything. It’s about time he addresses the basketball program at the end of the year like he does for football and the press has the nads to ask tough questions.

 

[NineOneSeven]

The ACC is 3 things:
1. Financial stability.
2. Lifeline for the football team.
3. Death to basketball recruiting.

You are really invested in this point.

 

[MikeSU02]

It’s upsetting to see the state of SU basketball these days. Every year for the past 9 seasons there have been incrementally lowered expectations and people have come to accept it. First it was “we’re right on the edge of being ranked” . Then it was “we’ll be a lower seed in the tournament, but we can make some noise!” . Which then turned to “just be on the bubble”. The latest has been “will this be a winning season?” .

I know this is coming off as a reactionary post from the Virginia loss and some might say “who cares, they’re a top 25 team and we only lost by 7” . To that I would counter that that game was never really in doubt, being down 20+ at one point. I remember when fans believed SU had a chance, if not expected, a win against anyone. Those days are long gone and it isn’t changing until something changes.

I thought bubble team was our upside this year.

I don’t think we have a top level coaching staff, our talent level is eh.

Is what it is. It’s accepted by the school, so what should I expect. We have no 2023 recruits right now.

I’m just not sure what SU is expecting to occur each year without changes (and I’m not even saying JB, necessarily).

 

[STEVEHOLT]

We have lost two games against teams that can’t handle pressure at all because we came out and sat In the zone and let them dictate tempo. Pittsburgh was the other game.

We are regularly down 7-10 points halfway through the first half because we start the wrong players.

The only adjustment made this season is scrapping the man to man experiment early in the season to go full zone.

JB has resorted to mostly his worst tendencies.

We do this every year. Coach says next years team is going to be able to play some man D, this years team can’t. Next year comes and the team ends up playing exclusively zone (with truck monkey in desperation) and the cycle begins again as we forget history. This team will never play man D other than in a couple cupcake games early on as long as the coach remains.