for any of the know it all fans that post.

[20Plus]

Why don't you all go back a year and read your own post. How bad we sucked all of last year.

Though we only had one game that we got blown out and that was Louisville on the road.

How we weren't going to make the tournament and all who dared to try to analyze the chances were delusional.

Remember this theory any team plays five games above, five games below their head, and the rest of the year they are who they are.

I was in the garden for the Temple game and heard many suppose fans saying that we wouldn't make the NIT. And those fans had good seats and post on this board sadly I know who some are.

Why don't you go recount Wisconsin.

 

[pearl31]

yows

 

[skurey]

We barely made the tournament and were terrible almost the whole year. Yes the journey to the final four was fun and trumps all at the end of the day we weren't a good basketball team last season. This season is still TBD.

 

[MattOB]

Look at the some of the recent champions. Villanova lost by 23 to Oklahoma early last year and then beat them by 44 in March, Duke's first two losses were back to back losses against NC State and Miami, Connecticut lost to Houston early and then they beat em by 37 later in the season. Everyone on here is acting like we lost to a team as bad as Wagner or Northeastern (Uconn). It's very early.

Also, I gotta say I'm interested in seeing how South Carolina does the rest of the season, maybe they'll be a real good team.

 

[20Plus]

We barely made the tournament and were terrible almost the whole year. Yes the journey to the final four was fun and trumps all at the end of the day we weren't a good basketball team last season. This season is still TBD.

If you think we were terrible all of last year I can't help you. When you lose your coach and the very first game he comes back and you compete with the team in the title game for 37.5 minutes you're fine

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Look at the some of the recent champions. Villanova lost by 23 to Oklahoma early last year and then beat them by 44 in March, Duke's first two losses were back to back losses against NC State and Miami, Connecticut lost to Houston early and then they beat em by 37 later in the season. Everyone on here is acting like we lost to a team as bad as Wagner or Northeastern (Uconn). It's very early.

Also, I gotta say I'm interested in seeing how South Carolina does the rest of the season, maybe they'll be a real good team.

Our team historically has never played well when going up against a more physical team. People need to withhold the sky is falling posts until we get through the next three games.

 

[MattOB]

Our team historically has never played well when going up against a more physical team. People need to withhold the sky is falling posts until we get through the next three games.

Every team has bad matchups

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Every team has bad matchups

Yup, South Carolina will probably fizzle out like Pitt, but against us they are World Champs.

 

[MattOB]

This season is still TBD.

As is every season

 

[Flacusian]

Most fans who are passionate about their team have a propensity to let the "E" get over the "I". That being emotion over intellect. Speaking for myself I know that I am certainly not an exception to this phenomena. Having said that, it's not unnatural to overreact when our team gets thumped early on in the season.

Out of the gate, and especially this year, there are numerous aspects about our team that are unknowable and unquantified. Having seen the first couple of cupcake games it's easy to get overexcited about the prospects for each of the players and the team in general. It's been a long time since, at seasons start, we've appeared to have depth going 8 or 9 deep on the team. It's also easy to understand people getting overly excited by what we witnessed the first 4 or so games with respect to scoring. We've been starved as far as having a team take the floor that could put points up on the board and having more than 1 or 2 shooters on the team. By most accounts it seemed as though things would be different this year as we rained 3's down on our early opponents and not just from one player but from pretty much the entire team save for one or two.

And then we run into a well coached / poor match up/ team that magnifies our weaknesses while capitalizing on the inexperience of this group playing together on the heels of losing it's 3 biggest scorers. In the end I have to believe, as some here have pointed out, that in the long run this game will perhaps pay handsome dividends toward the goal of developing this team by identifying it's weaknesses and assimilating a strategy to adapt in such a manner that we improve on those areas.

It's deflating to have high ( and yes, perhaps unrealistic) expectations of the team only to have a humbling reality check dealt to us. Anyone who is a long time follower of college basketball knows there is an ebb and flow to the season for every team and that many times success is just failure turned inside out. Just as fans can have a tendency to see things through Orange colored glasses, when hardship knocks at the door they can be prone to having the pendulum swing far in the other direction and think that the team has been exposed and is destined for the NIT at best.

But... I'm a Syracuse Basketball Fan. Big TIME. I don't claim to be an expert about the fine points of the game and the minutiae of offensive and defensive play. As a big time fan I operate more often than not on an emotional level rather than an intellectual one. It's the ability of the game to profoundly affect me on a scale that defies reason that I find the most compelling aspect of fandom. When Syracuse Basketball is on a roll... my life seems to... well, just be a lot more enjoyable.

I guess where all this is heading is this. I don't think there is anything wrong with being unrealistic about expectations of the team or being unrealistic about the expectations of the team for the season. I think the "fanshaming" for people who are really excited about the team and make what by most accounts are crazy statements about the prospects for the upcoming season is on the borderline of being mean spirited at times. If someone is so excited about the team that they boast that they think the team won't lose a game all year... more power to them. Those things have a way of correcting themselves without someone being called out for being hyper hyped up about the team. Ain't nothing wrong with having your head in the clouds when it comes to being a fan. I can't help but think of our good friend Mantonio who was the most positive Pro Syracuse fan to ever post on this board and how some here badgered him for his optimism. Wow... that certainly isn't in the spirit of a fan board IMHO. We don't see him around anymore and that's a shame.

I still think we are going to be crazy good by the end of the season. Nobody is going to convince me otherwise. At least nobody outside of the team itself. I also don't think there is anything inherently wrong with people overreacting to the team and vacillating wildly with the twists and turns of each game. It's all part of being a fan and as fans we are all quite different. I derive a sense of amusement from the sky is falling proponents when they are in full bloom after a game like Saturday. It's well chronicled how many teams that seemed to have no shot whatsoever made some amazing runs at seasons end. College basketball is a funny game. Sometimes all the shots are falling and other times there is a seeming lid on the basket. One of the things I like best about this board is the wide variety of perceptions that are offered up for the players, the coaches, the opposition, the strategies we employ or don't employ. I actually like being able to come on here and see someone who is so up with the team that they are predicting a final 4 before the season has even begun to unfold. It's all good. Bottom line is we don't really have a certain sense of exactly how this team will coalesce and the season unfold. That's why we play the games. I value coming on here and reading General's posts. He gives me a perspective of the team and the games that I don't have even the most remote possibility of perceiving. I also enjoy the posts from people like Blue Curtain and a host of others who advance the most outrageous propositions. They are all fans... and should all be welcome here as long as they support Syracuse Basketball and enjoy being a fan.

 

[hungrychuck]

Look at the some of the recent champions. Villanova lost by 23 to Oklahoma early last year and then beat them by 44 in March, Duke's first two losses were back to back losses against NC State and Miami, Connecticut lost to Houston early and then they beat em by 37 later in the season. Everyone on here is acting like we lost to a team as bad as Wagner or Northeastern (Uconn). It's very early.

Also, I gotta say I'm interested in seeing how South Carolina does the rest of the season, maybe they'll be a real good team.

I think South Carolina may prove to be a very good team, but the team they are now is relatively close to what they're going to be.

In contrast, I don't think we're even close to the team we're going to be later in the season.

Our cake is half-baked at best.

 

[MattOB]

I think South Carolina may prove to be a very good team, but the team they are now is relatively close to what they're going to be.

In contrast, I don't think we're even close to the team we're going to be later in the season.

Our cake is half-baked at best.

South Carolina seems like a team that might peak at lets say about 18th in the rankings? That's my prediction

 

[HoustonCuse]

I think South Carolina may prove to be a very good team, but the team they are now is relatively close to what they're going to be.

In contrast, I don't think we're even close to the team we're going to be later in the season.

Our cake is half-baked at best.

What is this based upon? I agree that SC might be a better team than people thought, but where do you come up with the stuff about them peaking or having no room for growth? Unless you follow them very closely there is no way you would know this.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

I was in the garden for the Temple game and heard many suppose fans saying that we wouldn't make the NIT.

You must've been awfully lonely. The rest I agree with. Lots of season left & all our new parts will continue to gel & figure out/ grow into their respective roles.

 

[Dave85]

Why don't you all go back a year and read your own post. How bad we sucked all of last year.

Though we only had one game that we got blown out and that was Louisville on the road.

How we weren't going to make the tournament and all who dared to try to analyze the chances were delusional.

Remember this theory any team plays five games above, five games below their head, and the rest of the year they are who they are.

I was in the garden for the Temple game and heard many suppose fans saying that we wouldn't make the NIT. And those fans had good seats and post on this board sadly I know who some are.

Why don't you go recount Wisconsin.

Stop criticizing Cooney.

 

[realorange]

Yup, South Carolina will probably fizzle out like Pitt, but against us they are World Champs.

They will not fizzle out with the team and coach they have.

 

[Dave85]

Most fans who are passionate about their team have a propensity to let the "E" get over the "I". That being emotion over intellect. Speaking for myself I know that I am certainly not an exception to this phenomena. Having said that, it's not unnatural to overreact when our team gets thumped early on in the season.

Out of the gate, and especially this year, there are numerous aspects about our team that are unknowable and unquantified. Having seen the first couple of cupcake games it's easy to get overexcited about the prospects for each of the players and the team in general. It's been a long time since, at seasons start, we've appeared to have depth going 8 or 9 deep on the team. It's also easy to understand people getting overly excited by what we witnessed the first 4 or so games with respect to scoring. We've been starved as far as having a team take the floor that could put points up on the board and having more than 1 or 2 shooters on the team. By most accounts it seemed as though things would be different this year as we rained 3's down on our early opponents and not just from one player but from pretty much the entire team save for one or two.

And then we run into a well coached / poor match up/ team that magnifies our weaknesses while capitalizing on the inexperience of this group playing together on the heels of losing it's 3 biggest scorers. In the end I have to believe, as some here have pointed out, that in the long run this game will perhaps pay handsome dividends toward the goal of developing this team by identifying it's weaknesses and assimilating a strategy to adapt in such a manner that we improve on those areas.

It's deflating to have high ( and yes, perhaps unrealistic) expectations of the team only to have a humbling reality check dealt to us. Anyone who is a long time follower of college basketball knows there is an ebb and flow to the season for every team and that many times success is just failure turned inside out. Just as fans can have a tendency to see things through Orange colored glasses, when hardship knocks at the door they can be prone to having the pendulum swing far in the other direction and think that the team has been exposed and is destined for the NIT at best.

But... I'm a Syracuse Basketball Fan. Big TIME. I don't claim to be an expert about the fine points of the game and the minutiae of offensive and defensive play. As a big time fan I operate more often than not on an emotional level rather than an intellectual one. It's the ability of the game to profoundly affect me on a scale that defies reason that I find the most compelling aspect of fandom. When Syracuse Basketball is on a roll... my life seems to... well, just be a lot more enjoyable.

I guess where all this is heading is this. I don't think there is anything wrong with being unrealistic about expectations of the team or being unrealistic about the expectations of the team for the season. I think the "fanshaming" for people who are really excited about the team and make what by most accounts are crazy statements about the prospects for the upcoming season is on the borderline of being mean spirited at times. If someone is so excited about the team that they boast that they think the team won't lose a game all year... more power to them. Those things have a way of correcting themselves without someone being called out for being hyper hyped up about the team. Ain't nothing wrong with having your head in the clouds when it comes to being a fan. I can't help but think of our good friend Mantonio who was the most positive Pro Syracuse fan to ever post on this board and how some here badgered him for his optimism. Wow... that certainly isn't in the spirit of a fan board IMHO. We don't see him around anymore and that's a shame.

I still think we are going to be crazy good by the end of the season. Nobody is going to convince me otherwise. At least nobody outside of the team itself. I also don't think there is anything inherently wrong with people overreacting to the team and vacillating wildly with the twists and turns of each game. It's all part of being a fan and as fans we are all quite different. I derive a sense of amusement from the sky is falling proponents when they are in full bloom after a game like Saturday. It's well chronicled how many teams that seemed to have no shot whatsoever made some amazing runs at seasons end. College basketball is a funny game. Sometimes all the shots are falling and other times there is a seeming lid on the basket. One of the things I like best about this board is the wide variety of perceptions that are offered up for the players, the coaches, the opposition, the strategies we employ or don't employ. I actually like being able to come on here and see someone who is so up with the team that they are predicting a final 4 before the season has even begun to unfold. It's all good. Bottom line is we don't really have a certain sense of exactly how this team will coalesce and the season unfold. That's why we play the games. I value coming on here and reading General's posts. He gives me a perspective of the team and the games that I don't have even the most remote possibility of perceiving. I also enjoy the posts from people like Blue Curtain and a host of others who advance the most outrageous propositions. They are all fans... and should all be welcome here as long as they support Syracuse Basketball and enjoy being a fan.

I think an interesting question will be how many games do we win when AW3 shoots 1 for 5 from 3 ? In other words, does AW3 have to have a good shooting night for us to beat any good teams will be interesting to find out.

 

[Dave85]

They will not fizzle out with the team and coach they have.

I hope they have a good season so the loss is not a bad one.

 

[hungrychuck]

What is this based upon? I agree that SC might be a better team than people thought, but where do you come up with the stuff about them peaking or having no room for growth? Unless you follow them very closely there is no way you would know this.

I didn't say they had NO room for growth, just not as much as we do.

I do know they didn't lose their top three scorers from last year's team. I do know they're not trying to work three transfers into key roles. And I know they were led by a senior point guard who's in his fourth year with the program, and it showed.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

If you think we were terrible all of last year I can't help you. When you lose your coach and the very first game he comes back and you compete with the team in the title game for 37.5 minutes you're fine

You're kinda cherrypicking results to fit your own narrative, as well. 37.5 minutes of good can be canceled out by St Johns. Where did we finish in the conference? If Louisville didn't have a hooker problem, would we have been in the tournament at all? And, we didn't "lose" our coach. Under our coach's watch, we got penalized. For the second time. I would not call JB a victim in the matter, even though i do believe the penalty did not fit the offense. Either way, it was of his own doing. We had the same conference record last year as the year before. So, it's not as if we can really claim that we suffered so much from JB being out. And we have yet to win an ACC tournament game.

"Terrible?" No. Up to (what should be) our standards? Again, no. That's the thing about tournaments, though—neither of those two games/scores is predictive of advancing once you're in. But, yeah, if i had to assess how good of a team we actually were last year, it would not have been "Final Four Team." But, i don't need simple answers.

It's cool that you have indiscriminate 'love' for the program. But, it doesn't make anyone a 'bad fan' for feeling deeply when we lose. The day before the game, people here were talking about us as if we were a super team. So much talent, so much depth. TV dudes said JB said this was his "best team(?)." You'll have to forgive folks for not feeling super cheery after we got socked in the mouth by a non-premier team (who did play premier defense).

It's not over. These are real feelings after an impactful day. The only thing wrong is expecting everyone to feel the same way.

 

[Cusefan0307]

You're kinda cherrypicking results to fit your own narrative, as well. 37.5 minutes of good can be canceled out by St Johns. Where did we finish in the conference? If Louisville didn't have a hooker problem, would we have been in the tournament at all? And, we didn't "lose" our coach. Under our coach's watch, we got penalized. For the second time. I would not call JB a victim in the matter, even though i do believe the penalty did not fit the offense. Either way, it was of his own doing. We had the same conference record last year as the year before. So, it's not as if we can really claim that we suffered so much from JB being out. And we have yet to win an ACC tournament game.

"Terrible?" No. Up to (what should be) our standards? Again, no. That's the thing about tournaments, though—neither of those two games/scores is predictive of advancing once you're in. But, yeah, if i had to assess how good of a team we actually were last year, it would not have been "Final Four Team." But, i don't need simple answers.

It's cool that you have indiscriminate 'love' for the program. But, it doesn't make anyone a 'bad fan' for feeling deeply when we lose. The day before the game, people here were talking about us as if we were a super team. So much talent, so much depth. TV dudes said JB said this was his "best team(?)." You'll have to forgive folks for not feeling super cheery after we got socked in the mouth by a non-premier team (who did play premier defense).

It's not over. These are real feelings after an impactful day. The only thing wrong is expecting everyone to feel the same way.

Made this post on another thread, but advanced metric wise we have had 7 worse teams this millenium than last year.

Not sure Louisville mattered because we weren't the last team in anyway.

This is a tough schedule and there will be some losses.

 

[MattOB]

What is this based upon? I agree that SC might be a better team than people thought, but where do you come up with the stuff about them peaking or having no room for growth? Unless you follow them very closely there is no way you would know this.

To be fair I'm the one who said where they would peak. And I was just joking, It was an uneducated guess and I wasn't really being serious

 

[Day2]

The game will slow down after Wisconsin, especially for Howard and Gillon.