Frank Howard Suspended

[bpo57]

Basically I would rather have the ability to gauge whether tonight is "good Frank" or "bad Frank" than not have Frank at all. Maybe tonight would be a game where he's lazy and slow and his shot is off (in that case, pull him and let Buddy play), but what if he's lighting it up like he did against Duke. In that case, perhaps he plays 35 minutes. I just want to have options and the flexibility to determine who has the hot-hand.

The future is very bright for Buddy, but at this point in his young career there have still been games against athletic teams where he was just overwhelmed (e.g. at NC State and at Va Tech)

The problem is we've seen a whole helluva lot more bad Frank than good Frank this year. I'm relieved we won't be experiencing the bad Frank. He played very well against Duke last week but that was an outlier. He also played with much more effort and was much more assertive on the offensive end than he had all year but that's an indictment in and of itself. Where was that all year long? I'd rather ride with guys I know are going to be locked in mentally and emotionally. That's always a crap shoot with Frank. Won't miss the side to side dribbling either.

 

[CardiacCuse]

He didn’t play until garbage time against Va Tech. How’s that being overwhelmed? Is Duke not athletic? Played pretty well there.

I guess I disagree with your basketball takes a lot in general, but we have had way too much success in the tourney over the years for people to have zero expectations. Also this is Baylor, Not UNC and last I looked they haven’t beat anyone good in a while either.

buddy had good moments but didnt play well enough for the team to win.

battle and howard can and have beaten duke. battle and buddy havent. not sure they can.

how many big wins have happened with buddy playing a lot?

the ceiling of the team is just higher with frank...doesnt mean the floor is high though.

carey's defense is an issue too...he doesnt know how to rotate and limit 3s...which is crucial for the overall defense.

A huge loss not to have frank. period.

 

[Bayside44]

The Frank Howard hate is not a good look. Lots of people drawing conclusions about his character based on nothing. Lots of people levying personal attacks because he isn't as good at basketball as they'd hoped.

Pretty disgusting. I hope this thread gets nuked.

Edit: there has been valid criticism, too, but it's outweighed by the tabloid level garbage being spewed.

Based on nothing? He failed a drug test before the NCAA tournament - that's something.

 

[Bayside44]

A little concerned about the NCAA lining up with pitchforks and torches citing a “lack of institutional control.”

After how they’ve screwed us in the past, does anyone think they’re not licking their lips?

No. We're not playing him, this is institutional control.

 

[MGP]

Only with our drama-filled 'Cuse can a gameday thread for the first round of the NCAA Tournament get buried amongst the latest scandal - At times it's a trying lot to be Orange...

 

[CUSEMODE]

Here is my perspective after sleeping off all the scotch I drank reading about this depressing Frank news all night. I think Frank had a decent career at Cuse (1 FF and 1 S16). He poured out his heart on the court last year and you could see that. He looked like he worked his butt off during the off-season to have a career year and set him up nicely next year for pro ball overseas. So I definitely feel for the kid. He is a college student that maybe smoked a little weed. He is supposedly an 'amateur athlete' and a 'college student first'. If that in fact is the case, college kids do dumb things, I know I made plenty during my 4 years on the Hill. Go randomly test 10 college kids on campus and I bet 8 of them fail for weed. Weed and college are like peanut butter and jelly.

That being said, I do think our team is better offensively without him. I do feel like our top of the zone D will be less effective without our senior PG that has gelled well with Battle. JB would have only played a 7 man rotation anyways if we make a deep run in the post season. So if Frank was playing, we wouldn't see Jalen and we wouldn't have seen Buddy as much. Taking all these factors into consideration, I feel like its a wash.

I do still believe we can make a deep run. And if we do not, the silver lining is that Jalen will be better prepared with tourney experience for next year. We weren't winning it all with or without Frank lets be honest.

I do still feel for the kid, wish him the best, and I hope he learns from this and has a successful career overseas. I cannot wait to watch him play on Boeheim's Army in a couple of years.

Go Orange! Let's get this party started!

 

[Cusefan0307]

buddy had good moments but didnt play well enough for the team to win.

battle and howard can and have beaten duke. battle and buddy havent. not sure they can.

how many big wins have happened with buddy playing a lot?

the ceiling of the team is just higher with frank...doesnt mean the floor is high though.

carey's defense is an issue too...he doesnt know how to rotate and limit 3s...which is crucial for the overall defense.

A huge loss not to have frank. period.

Uhh Louisville. He played 31 Minutes.

His ACC stats were better than Franks.

 

[RF2044]

Here is my perspective after sleeping off all the scotch I drank reading about this depressing Frank news all night. I think Frank had a decent career at Cuse (1 FF and 1 S16). He poured out his heart on the court last year and you could see that. He looked like he worked his butt off during the off-season to have a career year and set him up nicely next year for pro ball overseas. So I definitely feel for the kid. He is a college student that maybe smoked a little weed. He is supposedly an 'amateur athlete' and a 'college student first'. If that in fact is the case, college kids do dumb things, I know I made plenty during my 4 years on the Hill. Go randomly test 10 college kids on campus and I bet 8 of them fail for weed. Weed and college are like peanut butter and jelly.

That being said, I do think our team is better offensively without him. I do feel like our top of the zone D will be less effective without our senior PG that has gelled well with Battle. JB would have only played a 7 man rotation anyways if we make a deep run in the post season. So if Frank was playing, we wouldn't see Jalen and we wouldn't have seen Buddy as much. Taking all these factors into consideration, I feel like its a wash.

I do still believe we can make a deep run. And if we do not, the silver lining is that Jalen will be better prepared with tourney experience for next year. We weren't winning it all with or without Frank lets be honest.

I do still feel for the kid, wish him the best, and I hope he learns from this and has a successful career overseas. I cannot wait to watch him play on Boeheim's Army in a couple of years.

Go Orange! Let's get this party started!

Good post overall, but I completely disagree with the bolded part.

This is a senior. A multi-year starter. "Smoked a little weed" leading up to the NCAA tournament is a massive mistake, and a huge lapse of judgement, and piss-poor leadership.

I couldn't care less about 10 random kids -- I do care about the starting guard on a team that won three games in the NCAA tournament last year, who knows that he is going to be subjected to mandatory drug testing. With apologies, I can't chalk that up to "college students will be college students."

Unfortunately, this will be Frank's long term legacy in our program's history, which is unfortunate.

 

[690West]

Seth Greenberg with some next level irony just now. When asked why we'll miss him tremendously? "Frank Howard is a good decision maker"

 

[MaxwellCuse]

Seth Greenberg with some next level irony just now. When asked why we'll miss him tremendously? "Frank Howard is a good decision maker"

Seth's a funny guy. Really, this whole year has been such an unpleasant experience outside of Buddy's development and the Duke win.

 

[Nicknack]

Random thoughts after digesting all of this...

• Wish we had Frank tonight so very disappointed
• Feel bad for him to end his career like this. What a disappointment.
• Disappointed in him based on what I know (which only comes from this thread)
• Still very optimistic about winning tonight
• This could give Jalen a positive jolt where he knows he will get minutes and not pulled immediately
• Playing 18 holes this afternoon to start what will be excessive drinking I'm sure
• Will be very hungover tomorrow

 

[Ajflood12]

Seth Greenberg with some next level irony just now. When asked why we'll miss him tremendously? "Frank Howard is a good decision maker"

almost wonder if these idiots even think about what they are saying or if it is stock PG talking points/answers. I laughed out loud on that one.

 

[Brooky03]

Based on nothing? He failed a drug test before the NCAA tournament - that's something.

As if that's where the hate is coming from lol

 

[OttoinGrotto]

He'd be a tragic figure if this is PED related.

 

[Orangello]

Franklin my lad get thee away

 

[cuse10]

The problem is we've seen a whole helluva lot more bad Frank than good Frank this year. I'm relieved we won't be experiencing the bad Frank. He played very well against Duke last week but that was an outlier. He also played with much more effort and was much more assertive on the offensive end than he had all year but that's an indictment in and of itself. Where was that all year long? I'd rather ride with guys I know are going to be locked in mentally and emotionally. That's always a crap shoot with Frank. Won't miss the side to side dribbling either.

Like he said, he finally felt comfortable playing again and was right back to where he had been before he got hurt. Who knows the year he has and this team has if he was healthy. Last week was likely a glimpse of how effective he could have been during the regular season and the tournament. We'll never know now.

 

[Cusefan0307]

almost wonder if these idiots even think about what they are saying or if it is stock PG talking points/answers. I laughed out loud on that one.

National Analysts don't watch us as much as you think they do.

 

[AZOrange]

He'd be a tragic figure if this is PED related.

Heard it’s not weed fwiw

 

[buffalorange]

Clearly an intentional trip
CLEARLY

Have to agree. I believe the team took a trip to Salt Lake City deliberately.

 

[Cusefan0307]

He'd be a tragic figure if this is PED related.

This is Frank's 3rd time in the tourney. He's never been busted for drugs before.

I tend to think it is PED related based upon his early season injury. Would not surprise me at all if he took something to give him a boost as he was not healing as fast as he wanted to.

 

[TacoTime75]

I remember Alonzo Trier was suspended for PED use and then played very shortly thereafter. Mind you, not the model program to compare to, but still.

 

[Ajflood12]

National Analysts don't watch us as much as you think they do.

It isn't even them watching us...a guy gets popped for this the day before his last tourney and your quote is good decision maker? That isn't even a game analysis.

 

[lskul60]

So, after reading this entire thread, here's what I've got...

After team practice, Frank and another un-named player (likely a walk-on) stole a scooter from a nearby Mormon Tabernacle parking lot and embarked on a petty crime spree. There were no witnesses, but they were caught on CCTV. Only Frank could be positively identified. He was subsequently picked up by the local constabulary for questioning.

Team officials were called to the police station and, due to the innocuous nature of the offenses, asked what they wanted to do about Frank. They indicated they would like to handle things internally to avoid a scandal, and the police agreed.

After a meeting - in an effort at damage-control - the team and the school decided to use a little known clause in the school's drug testing policy, wherein they could use a positive drug test from a random player from a random season within the past 15 years, to remove Frank from the team for "between 1 minute and the rest of his natural life."

The coach and the entire team were advised of this at the last possible minute, and were also informed that Frank had been suspended, "through absolutely no fault of his own," so the other players could still feel good about "winning one for Frank."

False information was quickly disseminated to various "social influencers," frequent forum posters, and Twitter users in order to "confuse the masses."

you forgot to mention the gun.

although it now appears that it was a toy ray gun, made from a 3D printer, using technology developed by the russians, which will be outlined in delayed in Mueller's report, that will be released to coincide with JB's 2nd successive trip to the Sweet 16.

or, am I missing something?

 

[AZOrange]

If we win Frank will play again

 

[Brooky03]

I remember Alonzo Trier was suspended for PED use and then played very shortly thereafter. Mind you, not the model program to compare to, but still.

It just has to be out of his system. Once they're confident it won't show up in the NCAA's test, he could play (assuming the school's policy for punishment is carried out prior)