Have your expectations changed since October?

[slidingdown]

I have actually downgraded my expectations at this point.

I'd have thought we'd've won the national championship by now. C'mon, Jimmy, what are you waiting for?!? Just call up Arizona and say "Let's do this!"

 

[RF2044]

I posted a 7 loss season in the Iggy thread. I see 3-5 tops right now. I love this team and it has been an amazing ride but the college basketball game is crazy and nobody knows when shocking losses or losing streaks will come out.

I think we've lost with better teams, I love this team but I honestly wouldn't be disappointed with an elite 8 finish. We do have holes that have been exposed against inferior teams multiple times that kept us close, that's the only thing that makes me nervous.

I would. What "holes" do we have that are so egregious?

 

[moqui]

Absolutely. We had a good foundation that I hoped could become a very good team if the backcourt played well.

Fourteen weeks later, it turns out we have the best player in the nation leading that backcourt. And, consequently, we probably have the best team in the nation (I hedge with "probably" because our schedule hasn't had a lot of tests yet, especially away from home).

 

[Trueblue25]

I don't think, as long as Rakeem can continue to improve, that we have one reason not to fully expect to make it to the Championship.

 

[MSOrange]

My expectations are definitely higher. When you look at it before the season, we had a point guard that hadn't played at this level before, a shooting guard that was moving from a backup to a starting positions where he had to produce, Jeremi was moving to a new role as a starter, even CJ had a new role as a go-to man this year. The only one who was coming back to a somewhat similar role was Rakeem. I wasn't sure how all those parts would mesh together so my expectations weren't quite as high as maybe some others. I was thinking Sweet 16 would probably be the limit.

Now that we see what we have and how they have handled the new roles, I would be disappointed if we didn't make Texas and really disappointed if we didn't make at least Elite 8. We have had some slip ups where we haven't played well which could come back to bite us in a tournament setting. But so far, the guys have responded well each time and pulled out every game.

 

[cusetown1]

I picked us to win it all in the prediction thread but I am much more convinced now than I was then that we can do it.

Music to my ears.

 

[mark79]

No way any of us could project Tyler Ennis playing the way he has. He is moving up fast in a very short list of Syracuse's best all-time point guards.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Honestly, I feel this team hasn't been playing well of late. Cooney is in a slump worse than his frosh year - he's shooting 24% from three over the past 6 or 7 games. I think our defense is still struggling with shooters. In all honesty - Pitt had some very quality shots in the waning moments of the game Saturday - very good looks. They just missed them.

That said - there is reason to think this team will get better from here: I think Trevor can finish out the season in the 37-39% shooting range from 3. That means he's going to come out of his slump soon and since we've been winning without much from deep - we will cruise in games where he is hot. Christmas is really getting a lot better on offense. H'es really impressed me lately. Also Mike G has been more assertive on offense and backed it up with results. So I see us making nice progress toward getting even better.

 

[Orangezoo]

Mine haven't changed all that much other than going from thinking elite 8 or Final four as expected to getting JB's 2nd title as an expectation. I feel this year we should seal the deal as being in the blue blood conversation in being a dominant force in both the regular season and the post season. With 2 teams in the past 5 years that were dominant yet torn up right before the tourney and both having been great contenders to win it all, I think its time. And those are my expectations.

 

[ROCuse]

...I see us making nice progress toward getting even better...

I think this is the key. We have areas to improve on and we need to keep getting better, because that's what teams that make a deep run in March do. /Teams like Kansas and Duke seem to be playing much better than a month ago.

 

[Dave85]

My expectations are always that we will win every game.

The fan in me says they are going to win every game. But playing Duke and Pitt at home are going to be really tough games. Realistically 29-2 at least going into the ACC tournament. Maybe even 28-3. still a #1 seed regardless.

 

[cusetown1]

The fan in me says they are going to win every game. But playing Duke and Pitt at home are going to be really tough games. Realistically 29-2 at least going into the ACC tournament. Maybe even 28-3. still a #1 seed regardless.

You mean 37-3?

 

[CusefanATL]

a little bit, yeah.

Ennis AND cooney are the biggest reasons why. I questioned if Cooney would get much PT and pegged Gbinje as the easy starter. I was way off on both of them.

Rak is slowly starting to turn it on, but I had bigger hopes for he and Coleman as a 2 headed Center.

Im not all that surprised that we are 18-0 though. and we arent really running through teams. so i dont think we are "clearly the #2 team in the country" when it comes to predicting future success.

We deserve the #2 ranking based on the season so far.

I hope the difference b/w the 2 makes sense.

 

[Alsacs]

The tournament is all about matchups. If we are a 1 seed I would say I expect Final Four or bust. I will never expect a National Championship as those games are usually toss-ups unless your UConn and you get an #8 seed in the Championship game. If we get Buffalo/MSG then I expect 4 wins unless we have an injury or a team completely outplays in the Elite 8/Sweet 16.

 

[RF2044]

The tournament is all about matchups. If we are a 1 seed I would say I expect Final Four or bust. I will never expect a National Championship as those games are usually toss-ups unless your UConn and you get an #8 seed in the Championship game. If we get Buffalo/MSG then I expect 4 wins unless we have an injury or a team completely outplays in the Elite 8/Sweet 16.

Good post.

 

[Oakland]

Is this a trick question?

Back then I thought we would have a decent team and a good overall year. In fact, if I recall, on a thread about this way back when I projected us to be 2nd or 3rd in the ACC and lose in the ACC Tournament Championship Game and get a 2 or 3 seed in the big dance.

At this point my expectations are a little higher. I now anticipate us finishing 1st or 2nd in the ACC and possibly winning the tournament. Given where the ACC tournament is being played, we definitely will not have the fans on our side which will make it tough.

For the NCAA’s I see us as a solid #2 seed. This is based on the current overall ranking of the ACC. However, if we win the ACC regular season and the ACC Tournament, and maybe only have two or three losses, we could get a #1 seed.

This optimism is based on the unexpected high level of play from our backcourt.

 

[ORRange]

My expectations have changed. In "Iggy's thread" I said we would win the championship with 4 overall losses. On Dec.19th my post "Meh ACC" I said we would roll through the ACC with 4 possible road losses. Now, I believe that we might only lose to Va. and Pitt in league play but I really think we'll only lose once. We will only be a dog to the winner of the upcoming Pitt/Duke game and maybe in the FF to Kansas (if they keep playing well). The reason for such optimism is the way we close out games. We can win at crunch time like no other SU team I've ever seen. And of course the reason for that is Ennis. He is a perfect fit for this team and the most important player on any team. Jabari and McDermott are a distant 2nd and 3rd. I knew Tyler was great coming in, but...imagine if he stays in school ...he could bypass Sherman in my eyes.