Is this another sign that this could be a special season?

[pfister1]

Syracuse held its four Canadian opponents to an average of 47.5 points and 25.8 percent field-goal shooting. The two best teams, Carleton and Ottawa, tried to attack the zone from 3-point range. The Ravens and Gee-Gees combined to go 19-for-84 (22.6 percent) from beyond the arc.
"Defensively, we were very good,'' Boeheim said. "We were active. The teams we've played move the ball and we've gotten a lot of good practice with our defense. We've seen a lot of things and really adjusted pretty well to them. We forced people to take tough shots.'' (from Mike Waters 5 things that Syracuse learned... article.)


When was the last time we saw a quote from JB applauding the defense prior to the end of the OOC season? Many of the reviews here were that the defense didn't look that great, JB seems to think otherwise.

Seems like a very good sign/indicator to me.

 

[Shermthegeneral]

I wouldn't say a "special" season. This is a very young core and will have its share of ups and downs. The past couple seasons you could argue that but I think this team might struggle to score without a lot of experience at the guard positions. I'd be happy with 24-8 or 23-9

 

[HoustonCuse]

Ottawa especially was a complete joke with how they attacked the zone. I don't think they took a 2-pt attempt in the second half. Carleton was similar. I attribute that to their lack of athleticism and size - they could get nothing inside and the refs were allowing some "spirited" play for most of this tour - so we didn't risk fouling on every play and our bigs just swatted away in there (Xmas still fouled out of one game!). I'm encouraged by coach's comments, but I'm not sure they mean a great deal at this point.

 

[rosconey]

this could be a too young and dumb to realize they cant win them all- so they do-

this has to be the most loaded team talent wise i can remember- solid depth everyplace

 

[dasher]

I wouldn't say a "special" season. This is a very young core and will have its share of ups and downs. The past couple seasons you could argue that but I think this team might struggle to score without a lot of experience at the guard positions. I'd be happy with 24-8 or 23-9

not me. We have two outstanding forwards. Elite. 3 centers. a terrific point guard. 9 losses would be too many.

 

[texascpa]

If JB says we played good defensively, then we did.

 

[gilardino]

I wouldn't say a "special" season. This is a very young core and will have its share of ups and downs. The past couple seasons you could argue that but I think this team might struggle to score without a lot of experience at the guard positions. I'd be happy with 24-8 or 23-9

u r nuts, this team will not lose 9 games, get a clue

 

[sususpicious]

u r nuts, this team will not lose 9 games, get a clue

 

[sususpicious]

Agreed, but with a caveat: as long as Ennis doesn't get hurt. He goes down, then we may be happy with 9 losses.

 

[jdubs30]

He also might have meant "very good considering it's August".

 

[jekelish]

u r nuts, this team will not lose 9 games, get a clue

Seems overly harsh to be telling someone to "get a clue" based on four games against Canadian teams, at least two of which would have a tough time against good D3 teams in the US.

 

[gilardino]

Seems overly harsh to be telling someone to "get a clue" based on four games against Canadian teams, at least two of which would have a tough time against good D3 teams in the US.

No its not harsh, tell me 2 better forwards than CJ and Grant in the country. the problem with some cuse fans are they are always negative, and think the worse. our program has been at an all time high, and there is no way we are losing 9 games. again, our fan base can be very fickle and negative, no need for those fans. anyone saying 9 losses needs a clue

 

[Moontan]

When you play Canadian exhibitions, throw the records & stats out the window.

These games are good to see team/player strengths and weaknesses as well as which player combinations appear to work best. Seriously, though, stats such as winning margin should be be discarded. To base season predictions on such stats is just silly.

 

[edowd26]

No its not harsh, tell me 2 better forwards than CJ and Grant in the country. the problem with some cuse fans are they are always negative, and think the worse. our program has been at an all time high, and there is no way we are losing 9 games. again, our fan base can be very fickle and negative, no need for those fans. anyone saying 9 losses needs a clue

We had 10 last year. Tougher schedule this year. Its not out of the realm of possibilities. We could lose anywhere between 2 and 10. We gotta see how the team grows together. A lot of new faces filling big shoes.

 

[jekelish]

No its not harsh, tell me 2 better forwards than CJ and Grant in the country. the problem with some cuse fans are they are always negative, and think the worse. our program has been at an all time high, and there is no way we are losing 9 games. again, our fan base can be very fickle and negative, no need for those fans. anyone saying 9 losses needs a clue

So anyone who isn't saying "THIS IS THE GREATEST TEAM EVER CHAMPIONSHIP HERE WE COME" more or less is negative? Really?

Taking a step back and having a slightly different view of the team is negative? You are of course aware of the fact that we just had a Final Four team with 10 losses, right? So why is saying 9 losses, which is exactly what we had last year going into the tournament, is negative? Calm down, dude.

 

[Shermthegeneral]

u r nuts, this team will not lose 9 games, get a clue

LOL! Wow, I've been reading this board for years now and just recently thought we should have a small Bio section which give other board members a little insight into who is making a post I.e. when they first started following SU, favorite team, bball experience if any...

gilardino, I don't know your history as a fan but with a statement like that it sounds like you've only been an SU fan for a very short amount of time. In the past 4 years SU has done very well, but if you look at the past 20 years, SU has had 12 seasons with 9 or more loses. Even last years team ended up with 10 loses. I've been an SU fan for almost 30 years now. As I Said before, With a very young backcourt, it's very realistic to see 8-9 loses this year especially with such a tough schedule. In 2 of the 3 years that SU started a true freshman at PG, they had 13 loses (Hart 96-97) and 14 loses (Flynn 07-08) and didn't make the NCAA's either year. The one year we did do well was the 02-03 year with GMac and Melo which was a special team.
I hope I'm wrong or "Nuts" as you put it, but I think I know SU and I have statistics to back up what I know.

 

[gilardino]

LOL! Wow, I've been reading this board for years now and just recently thought we should have a small Bio section which give other board members a little insight into who is making a post I.e. when they first started following SU, favorite team, bball experience if any...

gilardino, I don't know your history as a fan but with a statement like that it sounds like you've only been an SU fan for a very short amount of time. In the past 4 years SU has done very well, but if you look at the past 20 years, SU has had 12 seasons with 9 or more loses. Even last years team ended up with 10 loses. I've been an SU fan for almost 30 years now. As I Said before, With a very young backcourt, it's very realistic to see 8-9 loses this year especially with such a tough schedule. In 2 of the 3 years that SU started a true freshman at PG, they had 13 loses (Hart 96-97) and 14 loses (Flynn 07-08) and didn't make the NCAA's either year. The one year we did do well was the 02-03 year with GMac and Melo which was a special team.
I hope I'm wrong or "Nuts" as you put it, but I think I know SU and I have statistics to back up what I know.

take no offense, I have been a fan for many many years, went to manley as a kid, ask anyone who knows me, you will not find a bigger fan than me, been to road games, ncaa tourneys, final fours, etc. I am friends with former players, you name it. Well aware of hart and well aware of flynn, who did they have?? no cj fair, a guy named the pearl started as a freshman in 83-84, not to bad of a season, and in 02-03, a guy named g mac(freshman) started, turned out well , at least I think it did.