I don't understand the bashing of JB and Wildhack

[CNY in Miami]

Like everyone on this board I am really disappointed in this season. But I really have a tough time understanding how this board has become nothing but a place to complain about JB and JW.

Since JW has been there SU has turned a tired looking facility into one of the best college stadium's in the country. The new Lally center is going to be a big boost to recruiting. The AD has a bit more to do than just hire and fire coaches.

The bashing of JB over the past two seasons is ridiculous, the entire country has been impacted by the Covid pandemic the past two years, why wouldn't we expect it to impact the the quality of play of everyone of our sports teams? This is not a bad team, it took them a while to figure out how to play together, but they fought every minute of every game this season and is capable of beating every team in the ACC except for Duke. IF JB is such a bad coach how did Jesse become such a force from his freshman season to his sophomore season? If we didn't loose him to the injury I believe we would have 3-4 more wins this year. Joe may not be the player that many thought he would, he was recruited by Duke and many other top programs, he decided on SU, he makes some mistakes but damn he plays hard and makes a lot of 3 pointers and I believe he will kick ass next year.

What really bothers me are people saying JB should retire because of his age, I listen to him speak and I don't see that he has lost any of his mental faculties, he appears to be in very good physical condition and he loves to coach. Why should he retire? We have one of our best recruiting classes in years coming in, Jesse should be coming back, next year will be another great year of SU basketball and I love that SU has one of the greatest of all time as its leader.

 

[djcon57]

If we didn't loose him to the injury I believe we would have 3-4 more wins this year.

would you say maybe even a tourney bid?

 

[pearl31]

the past two years

Respectfully, if you think the subpar seasons are just two you are mistaken.
In 8 years in the ACC, Syracuse has finished higher than 6th place only once.
Since 2013-14, Syracuse has not been seeded better than 9th in the NCAA tournament.
That would be fine for a school that doesn't have a legacy of achievement in basketball and an established standard, but for Syracuse that 8-year span is absolutely unacceptable. And those results are solely the responsibility of the head coach.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I could make a list of posters on this board that I totally ignore. They know who they are.

 

[CuseMan4]

JW has had mixed results throughout his tenure so far for various reasons. As of now I give him a passing grade for sure. But the real test will come when he has to find a replacement for JB, find a new womens basketball coach and if/when he has to find a new football coach. He knocked it out of the park with the lax hires and helping Dino this off-season so he has a good track record there so far. He has done a nice job with faciltiy upgrades, fundraising, etc…and nice to see a womens athlete finally get her jersey retired (and hopefully the next Cuse WBB basketball coach).

On the other hand, he handled the Womens Basketball scandal horribly. He also handled Scanlon and the lax scandal horribly. Both made the athletic program look pretty bad.

As for JB. It’s not just the last 2 seasons. This program has been stale/on the decline since Hop left and even a couple so/so seasons before he left. That falls on JB and his coaching has left a lot to be desired. Eventually Wildhack has to ask himself are we okay just being a bubble team or worse each season. Before the Hop left most seasons we were wondering if we were gonna be the 1,2 or 3 seed in the NCAA tourney…now we are wondering if we are gonna even finish .500?? It’s pretty obvious things are not going well with the program if you don’t have your orange colored glasses on and they’ll continue to go that way until JB leaves unfortunately. To be honest that 2017 team had the makings to be a really good team and a final four team…and we didn’t even make the NCAAs. I think that’s when everything really started going south and that’s also the year Hop left.

 

[pearl31]

And, I don't understand how longtime fans of the program can't see this protracted span of malaise as seriously problematic.

 

[RF2044]

Like everyone on this board I am really disappointed in this season. But I really have a tough time understanding how this board has become nothing but a place to complain about JB and JW.

Since JW has been there SU has turned a tired looking facility into one of the best college stadium's in the country. The new Lally center is going to be a big boost to recruiting. The AD has a bit more to do than just hire and fire coaches.

The bashing of JB over the past two seasons is ridiculous, the entire country has been impacted by the Covid pandemic the past two years, why wouldn't we expect it to impact the the quality of play of everyone of our sports teams? This is not a bad team, it took them a while to figure out how to play together, but they fought every minute of every game this season and is capable of beating every team in the ACC except for Duke. IF JB is such a bad coach how did Jesse become such a force from his freshman season to his sophomore season? If we didn't loose him to the injury I believe we would have 3-4 more wins this year. Joe may not be the player that many thought he would, he was recruited by Duke and many other top programs, he decided on SU, he makes some mistakes but damn he plays hard and makes a lot of 3 pointers and I believe he will kick ass next year.

What really bothers me are people saying JB should retire because of his age, I listen to him speak and I don't see that he has lost any of his mental faculties, he appears to be in very good physical condition and he loves to coach. Why should he retire? We have one of our best recruiting classes in years coming in, Jesse should be coming back, next year will be another great year of SU basketball and I love that SU has one of the greatest of all time as its leader.

This is a results driven profession.

Over the last 8 seasons, JB's win percentage [overall] is 59%, and hovering closer to 50% in ACC conference play.

Prior to that, his winning percentage was 74%.

That's a tangible decline in performance over an extended period of time -- not a one-year blip. THAT's why a growing segment of the fanbase is expressing concern.

 

[newmexicuse]

He should retire because the game has passed him by and he has not adjusted, which is the primary reason our program has been on a slow and steady decline for almost ten straight years. That is not to mention an overall decline in recruiting and plenty of roster construction issues. If Jesse was healthy we would not have three to four more wins, maybe one or two.

I respect Joe for getting the most from his talent, but bottom line, he is an undersized player of at best average athleticism that is put into a role that he is not really suited for, no way does he kick ass next year, maybe some incremental improvement.

It is very pre-mature to say that next year will be a great one for Cuse hoops. A team headed by presumably Jesse, Joe, Benny, and freshman will struggle against ACC caliber competition. It would probably take two starting caliber portal players plus a major leap by Benny for a team with that composition to go dancing.

 

[tbonezone]

Like everyone on this board I am really disappointed in this season. But I really have a tough time understanding how this board has become nothing but a place to complain about JB and JW.

Since JW has been there SU has turned a tired looking facility into one of the best college stadium's in the country. The new Lally center is going to be a big boost to recruiting. The AD has a bit more to do than just hire and fire coaches.

The bashing of JB over the past two seasons is ridiculous, the entire country has been impacted by the Covid pandemic the past two years, why wouldn't we expect it to impact the the quality of play of everyone of our sports teams? This is not a bad team, it took them a while to figure out how to play together, but they fought every minute of every game this season and is capable of beating every team in the ACC except for Duke. IF JB is such a bad coach how did Jesse become such a force from his freshman season to his sophomore season? If we didn't loose him to the injury I believe we would have 3-4 more wins this year. Joe may not be the player that many thought he would, he was recruited by Duke and many other top programs, he decided on SU, he makes some mistakes but damn he plays hard and makes a lot of 3 pointers and I believe he will kick ass next year.

What really bothers me are people saying JB should retire because of his age, I listen to him speak and I don't see that he has lost any of his mental faculties, he appears to be in very good physical condition and he loves to coach. Why should he retire? We have one of our best recruiting classes in years coming in, Jesse should be coming back, next year will be another great year of SU basketball and I love that SU has one of the greatest of all time as its leader.

and i don't understand why people move over into the passing lane and blow by me honking their horns and giving me the finger when i'm driving 50mph down rte 81.
the upper maximum limit is 55 still is it not ? or have they changed it ? i'm old.

 

[OrangeDW]

This is a results driven profession.

Over the last 8 seasons, JB's win percentage [overall] is 59%, and hovering closer to 50% in ACC conference play.

Prior to that, his winning percentage was 74%.

That's a tangible decline in performance over an extended period of time -- not a one-year blip. THAT's why a growing segment of the fanbase is expressing concern.

Yup. The numbers are the numbers.

Some think they’re good enough, many don’t.

 

[RF2044]

And, I don't understand how longtime fans of the program can't see this protracted span of malaise as seriously problematic.

Or why expectations have shifted to rationalize how this is an acceptable level of performance.

 

[DilemaCuse]

Like everyone on this board I am really disappointed in this season. But I really have a tough time understanding how this board has become nothing but a place to complain about JB and JW.

Since JW has been there SU has turned a tired looking facility into one of the best college stadium's in the country. The new Lally center is going to be a big boost to recruiting. The AD has a bit more to do than just hire and fire coaches.

The bashing of JB over the past two seasons is ridiculous, the entire country has been impacted by the Covid pandemic the past two years, why wouldn't we expect it to impact the the quality of play of everyone of our sports teams? This is not a bad team, it took them a while to figure out how to play together, but they fought every minute of every game this season and is capable of beating every team in the ACC except for Duke. IF JB is such a bad coach how did Jesse become such a force from his freshman season to his sophomore season? If we didn't loose him to the injury I believe we would have 3-4 more wins this year. Joe may not be the player that many thought he would, he was recruited by Duke and many other top programs, he decided on SU, he makes some mistakes but damn he plays hard and makes a lot of 3 pointers and I believe he will kick ass next year.

What really bothers me are people saying JB should retire because of his age, I listen to him speak and I don't see that he has lost any of his mental faculties, he appears to be in very good physical condition and he loves to coach. Why should he retire? We have one of our best recruiting classes in years coming in, Jesse should be coming back, next year will be another great year of SU basketball and I love that SU has one of the greatest of all time as its leader.

The bashing is because if you claim to be serious about winning, a .590 winning percentage over the last 8 years is just not good enough when you consider the history and resources of the program. Its that simple, hes not winning enough games.

 

[Fly Rodder]

And, I don't understand how longtime fans of the program can't see this protracted span of malaise as seriously problematic.

I mean "don't understand"? Seems pretty obvious to me.

In the "modern JAB era" (say post 1970), Syracuse has had 7 seasons of 14 losses or more. One was 07-08 when SU lost the two shooting guards and had to rely on two freshman to shoulder the load. The other 6 have come in the last 8 seasons and the other two recent seasons had 13 and 10 losses (in a shortened season). Of JAB's career, six of his worst ten seasons by W% have been in the last 8 seasons.

 

[RF2044]

I mean "don't understand"? Seems pretty obvious to me.

In the "modern JAB era" (say post 1970), Syracuse has had 7 seasons of 14 losses or more. One was 07-08 when SU lost the two shooting guards and had to rely on two freshman to shoulder the load. They also lost to LeMoyne in the preseason. The other 6 have come in the last 8 seasons and the other two recent seasons had 13 and 10 losses (in a shortened season). Of JAB's career, six of his worst ten seasons by W% have been in the last 8 seasons.

Sobering.

6 out of his 7 worst seasons have come in the last 8 years. I guess that dispels the "there is no extended decline" argument.

 

[djcon57]

Since 2013-14, Syracuse has not been seeded better than 9th in the NCAA tournament.

can anyone think of any other alleged basketball power house that this is true for?

 

[Funk Doc]

And, I don't understand how longtime fans of the program can't see this protracted span of malaise as seriously problematic.

Because facts(data) don't matter...only feelings! Right?

 

[Cuse44]

Give credit for Jesse’s improvements to Grif - if I’m a betting man based on what I’ve seen JB spends about ZERO time on individual coaching and skills. Maybe he reviews film with them but doubt it. JB is a game coach and a little during scrimmages - about it at this point

 

[tbonezone]

plus the program has lost it's star power. there's no future NBA stars on the court.
i'd pay to watch louie and bouie. i'd pay to watch DC ,rony, sherm and stevie.
i'll pay to watch a pearl or carmelo execute their magic. these dudes. MEH !

 

[Owens guy]

I think this offseason Syracuse will announce that next season will be JB's last season.

JW will tell JB that next season should be his last season and JB will reluctantly agree with Juli's input. This will allow JW time to select the next head coach without having to select a interim current assistant if JB retired right before or during a season.

JB will not want an announced farewell season but it will give fans a chance to show him how much he is appreciated over a last season and it will lessen the pressure and complaints from Syracuse fans who will know a the coaching change is coming soon.

 

[DilemaCuse]

can anyone think of any other alleged basketball power house that this is true for?

A comp would be Indiana, no tournament since 2016 as a 5 seed, 15 as a 10, 13 as 1 (loss to SU) etc

 

[Cusefan0307]

JB should retire because he’s not getting the job done. Period.

 

[tbonezone]

yeah right. i also heard he was leaving when the boys left. that's clearly not the case either.

 

[UD1954]

Every job has a expiration date no matter how successful you've been in it... Boehiem's expiration date has passed and the longer he stays the harder it'll be on his successor.

 

[jdubs30]

Sobering.

6 out of his 7 worst seasons have come in the last 8 years. I guess that dispels the "there is no extended decline" argument.

Those NCAA tournament runs do hide a lot. It’s usually the thing you remember most about the season when you look back on one.

 

[RF2044]

Those NCAA tournament runs do hide a lot. It’s usually the thing you remember most about the season when you look back on one.

Right.

In 2018, after we lost in the first round of the ACC tournament, it seemed like we might fallen off the bubble. But somehow we snuck in, then went on to beat a heavily favored Michigan State team in the 2nd round, and that's the lasting memory of the season.

Also important to note that we avoided NIT outcomes in 2014 --when we self-imposed a post-season ban during what was shaping up as a subpar season -- AND in 2020 [when we weren't that good, but the season got cancelled due to COVID] which also helped mask the decline of the last 8 years.