Does it seem to others like we have more than our fair share of bad luck?

[thebigeast44]

To win in the Tournament, you have to be good and lucky. It seems like we've had more than our fair share of bad luck over the years.

Just 3 examples of seasons that had the potential to end in championships:

1988 - Sherman Douglas gets the flu and we lose to Rhode Island.

2010 - AO gets hurt and is out for the Tournament.

2012 - Fab decides not to do his homework and is out for the Tournament. This one may not be classified as bad luck but it seriously impacted our season.

I could go on and on but you get the point. The old cliche says you make your own luck etc. And Dickie V mentioned something along those lines tonight. There is a bit of truth to that but people often take it too far.

With just a bit more luck or a bounce here or there, we easily could be a team with multiple championships. Let's hope we get luckier in years to come.

Let's Go Orange!

 

[thebigeast44]

We could also talk about numerous in game close calls etc. From Keith Smart hitting the shot, the 35 footer in the Vermont game, to the 3 that Dayton hit tonight that was one of the worst 3's I've ever seen go in. Multiple moments that if they had gone the other way, would have meant a very different outcome and reputation for our program.

Now of course, other teams have had similar moments and we've had some things go our way as well. It just seems that in the cosmic order of things, the basketball gods could help us out a bit more in the future

 

[kuethstheman]

Other smaller doses of bad luck: three of our notorious losses include extremely lucky threes by the other team down the stretch of the game. Butler, NCSU, and now Dayton. How do you shoot a 25foot shot that hits all iron, stops dead, and drops in the basket?

 

[Jasonrob44]

In the case of Fab a few years ago... correct me if im wrong in saying this, and I actually am partly because the player does have to do his part, but doesn't some of the blame for Fabs ineligiblity fall on the staff for not staying on top of that, and making sure his getting his academics in order?

 

[tptcuse]

All teams have bad luck and we have had our fair share. However, this was one of the most predictable ways to lose in my 35 plus years watching the Cuse. We lost for the same reason we lost every other game. Nobody could hit anything.

 

[OttoMets]

Michigan had some dreadful luck with their lottery pick center missing half their season with an injury. Somehow they've recovered and ended up playing like a top-ten team in March.

Syracuse needs to make its own luck. With the talent and ostensible coaching advantages we possess, there's never a reason for an SU team with four healthy starters to lose to Rhode Island or Butler.

 

[jdubs30]

To win in the Tournament, you have to be good and lucky. It seems like we've had more than our fair share of bad luck over the years.

Just 3 examples of seasons that had the potential to end in championships:

1988 - Sherman Douglas gets the flu and we lose to Rhode Island.

2010 - AO gets hurt and is out for the Tournament.

2012 - Fab decides not to do his homework and is out for the Tournament. This one may not be classified as bad luck but it seriously impacted our season.

I could go on and on but you get the point. The old cliche says you make your own luck etc. And Dickie V mentioned something along those lines tonight. There is a bit of truth to that but people often take it too far.

With just a bit more luck or a bounce here or there, we easily could be a team with multiple championships. Let's hope we get luckier in years to come.

Let's Go Orange!

I think every team has stuff like this happen. We just happen to know more about us because, well, we're Syracuse fans.

 

[doc05]

Michigan had some dreadful luck with their lottery pick center missing half their season with an injury. Somehow they've recovered and ended up playing like a top-ten team in March.

Syracuse needs to make its own luck. With the talent and ostensible coaching advantages we possess, there's never a reason for an SU team with four healthy starters to lose to Rhode Island or Butler.

Absolutely spot on.

Rhode Island was ridiculous whether Sherm was sick or not - he played, along with Thompson, Coleman, and Seikaly - you can't lose to Rhode Island there. That was a sickening game to watch. Minny in 90 was terrible as well - they were good, but not Syracuse good. No need to even mention Richmond, Vermont etc.

 

[strumpfasaurus]

The only really unlucky one was the AO thing. That just flat out sucked. The Fab thing is magnified because of what happened with AO two years before that.

 

[MadNY3]

Luck...I wish we had better luck shooting the ball into an 18" cylinder.

 

[orangecuse]

Other smaller doses of bad luck: three of our notorious losses include extremely lucky threes by the other team down the stretch of the game. Butler, NCSU, and now Dayton. How do you shoot a 25foot shot that hits all iron, stops dead, and drops in the basket?

Indeed, that was just a brutal moment...afterwards, on TBS, I believe it was Steve Smith say something along the lines of, when that happens...just go home.

 

[Oakland]

Don't forget Gbinijes shoe:

http://syracusefan.com/threads/gbinijes-shoe.72959/

To win in the Tournament, you have to be good and lucky. It seems like we've had more than our fair share of bad luck over the years.

Just 3 examples of seasons that had the potential to end in championships:

1988 - Sherman Douglas gets the flu and we lose to Rhode Island.

2010 - AO gets hurt and is out for the Tournament.

2012 - Fab decides not to do his homework and is out for the Tournament. This one may not be classified as bad luck but it seriously impacted our season.

I could go on and on but you get the point. The old cliche says you make your own luck etc. And Dickie V mentioned something along those lines tonight. There is a bit of truth to that but people often take it too far.

With just a bit more luck or a bounce here or there, we easily could be a team with multiple championships. Let's hope we get luckier in years to come.

Let's Go Orange!

 

[SyracuseTD]

In the case of Fab a few years ago... correct me if im wrong in saying this, and I actually am partly because the player does have to do his part, but doesn't some of the blame for Fabs ineligiblity fall on the staff for not staying on top of that, and making sure his getting his academics in order?

I would argue that its Fab's responsibility. He is an adult, and therefore should know it is his responsibility to himself and his team to do a little bit of homework.

 

[midloviking]

Gbinijes shoe

Good name for a new bar

 

[PeteCalvin]

As Syracuse fans we all became used to the dreaded Jan-Feb swoon. We would start like gangbusters and then inevitably run into a brick wall for two weeks and lose like 5 of 7. Usually we would gather ourselves for the last two weeks of the season and right the ship. Those swoons were filled with What losses, but many were tough rivalry road games, etc. then 2003 came along. That team was "swoon proof" because it could score at will. We lost at Pitt, but got right back up and ran off another string of wins. Lost on a lucky three at RU, but got back up again and won some tough road games. Since then, we have only had a couple of seasons of what I would call swoons. We had two terrible NIT years where we simply lost games off and on all season. But the Wes Johnson team, the AO teams also avoided the patented SU swoons. The last two seasons the swoons came back, but they happened much later in the season. I hope this isn't a trend. I hope we get back to consistency.

When you watch SU sports over the last 30 years you expect the What losses in football, the swoon in basketball, and Final Four runs in Lax. Now in lax it's the "season ending injury of the year" and lack of a face off guy.

If only one of Grant and Ennis come back next season, it will be a good year.

 

[Oakland]

Clemson used to be known for 16-0 starts and then missing the NCAA. We started 25-0 and whiffed in the 2nd round. It wasn't a swoon this season, it was a rich man's Clemson crash. Seems to me that injuries may be a root cause that most are overlooking.

As Syracuse fans we all became used to the dreaded Jan-Feb swoon. We would start like gangbusters and then inevitably run into a brick wall for two weeks and lose like 5 of 7. Usually we would gather ourselves for the last two weeks of the season and right the ship. Those swoons were filled with What losses, but many were tough rivalry road games, etc. then 2003 came along. That team was "swoon proof" because it could score at will. We lost at Pitt, but got right back up and ran off another string of wins. Lost on a lucky three at RU, but got back up again and won some tough road games. Since then, we have only had a couple of seasons of what I would call swoons. We had two terrible NIT years where we simply lost games off and on all season. But the Wes Johnson team, the AO teams also avoided the patented SU swoons. The last two seasons the swoons came back, but they happened much later in the season. I hope this isn't a trend. I hope we get back to consistency.

When you watch SU sports over the last 30 years you expect the What losses in football, the swoon in basketball, and Final Four runs in Lax. Now in lax it's the "season ending injury of the year" and lack of a face off guy.

If only one of Grant and Ennis come back next season, it will be a good year.

 

[sufandu]

We've had some bad luck, but this year was not one of those years. Sometimes you make your own luck and sometimes you win inspite of bad luck. Louisville watched a player snap his leg in two last year and still won it all. We can't blame our finish on luck this year.

 

[OrangeDW]

Other smaller doses of bad luck: three of our notorious losses include extremely lucky threes by the other team down the stretch of the game. Butler, NCSU, and now Dayton. How do you shoot a 25foot shot that hits all iron, stops dead, and drops in the basket?

Add Umass's center banking in a 3 at the shot clock buzzer off an inbounds pass...after they screwed up who the ball went off of(should've been SU ball).

And the Vermont 30 footer at the shot clock buzzer. Any time those fluky 3's fall against us late in the game, we lose.

 

[BuffOrange]

It's definitely both. More than our share in the last 10yrs. But yes we definitely remember them more than other teams because we're fans. It's maybe a 7 or 8 on the bad luck scale instead of the 10 we think it is, or a 4 that Duke fans think.

Heard an interesting interview with Gary Williams on CBS radio last week. He was remembering all his crushing losses in the tournament. A turnover & buzzer shot loss to Memphis when he was at BC (that was '85, so could've been 4 BEAST teams in the F4), another one vs Mich. St in '03, the officiating in the '01 Duke game which apparently provoked the NCAA to make some changes in their crews...
It's unbelievable how something like this tournament can have a 99% chance of ending in disappointment and yet it's still so awesome. Is anything else in life like that?