Last 5 years. No team has made more Final Fours than Cuse

[RandygoCuse]

I just think it's fan human nature to always want a little bit more. I can remember years where people were concerned about the prospect of falling to a 4 or 5 seed and running into a 4 or 5 in the second game.

I think fans are more anxious than usual. We've been on the bubble the past three years. This year isn't looking much better. And we still have yet to win an ACC tournament game. Yes, some will always want more wins, but I think most are rightfully concerned as this is the worst the program has looked in a while.

 

[CorduroyG]

2015 bubble (probabtion but that was a bubble team probabtion or not)
2016 bubble
2017 bubble
2018 bubble most likely



2009-2014 was a great run, but last 4 years have been extremely mediocre (with 1 unforgettable tourny run mixed in). you know what im sick of? going into a season hoping we can be .500 in conference. and having zero confidence any time we play a road game in acc. thats not syracuse basketball, im sick of not expecting to win every game. like the virginia game, my thoughts are basically "lets not get blown out". ughhhhhh

 

[OrangeXtreme]

2015 bubble (probabtion but that was a bubble team probabtion or not)
2016 bubble
2017 bubble
2018 bubble most likely

2009-2014 was a great run, but last 4 years have been extremely mediocre (with 1 unforgettable tourny run mixed in). you know what im sick of? going into a season hoping we can be .500 in conference. and having zero confidence any time we play a road game in acc. thats not syracuse basketball, im sick of not expecting to win every game. like the virginia game, my thoughts are basically "lets not get blown out". ughhhhhh

If someone kicked you in the balls, you'd walk funny for a few days.

When the NCAA kicks you in the balls, it hurts for years.

 

[br801]

I think fans are more anxious than usual. We've been on the bubble the past three years. This year isn't looking much better. And we still have yet to win an ACC tournament game. Yes, some will always want more wins, but I think most are rightfully concerned as this is the worst the program has looked in a while.

You believe the program looks worse today than it did a year ago after losing the ACC opener to BC? Go back and read some of threads from that time.

 

[Jasoncuse]

It's fun to cherish the past and remember the great moments. But the future, that's what we're all worried about. Our 2013 FF means absolutely nothing right now.

 

[Jasoncuse]

You believe the program looks worse today than it did a year ago after losing the ACC opener to BC? Go back and read some of threads from that time.

I think it's a completely different situation, but you can draw some parallels.

Last year's team didn't look like it gave a crap at that point. It was embarrassing in that way to watch this team just get run over by bad teams.

This year's team plays it's butt off for the most part, but the talent (offensively) and strength just aren't there and it looks like it'll be real tough to compete in this conference with this lineup going forward. Last year's team had the offensive potential to pull off upsets and did; this year, I'm not sure it's possible to beat anybody clearly better than us.

 

[br801]

It's fun to cherish the past and remember the great moments. But the future, that's what we're all worried about. Our 2013 FF means absolutely nothing right now.

To say nothing of the 2016 Final Four, which I'm not sure even happened.

 

[RandygoCuse]

You believe the program looks worse today than it did a year ago after losing the ACC opener to BC? Go back and read some of threads from that time.

I meant these past four years in general. I don't know which of those years we were the worst, but even if we are performing better than we were last year, I still don't think we've made much progress.

 

[HoustonCuse]

It's fun to cherish the past and remember the great moments. But the future, that's what we're all worried about. Our 2013 FF means absolutely nothing right now.

I understand not wanting to live in the past, but what you are suggesting isn't valid. By this logic, a 2018 Final Four means nothing because in a few months it will be history and nobody cares about that. In that case I don't get why we are all paying attention to this thing.

 

[two3zone]

I love people that are fans of Syracuse basketball but not of JAB. They must be pining for Roy Danforth to return.

I love both, but there are a few things I haven't liked about JB the past 3-4 years. I'll always respect him for what he's done here but he isn't without faults.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I love both, but there are a few things I haven't liked about JB the past 3-4 years. I'll always respect him for what he's done here but he isn't without faults.

Agreed, he shouldn't be held beyond reproach. I honestly think though that a lot of what I personally don't love about him is simply his communication style that conveys the wrong things.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Agreed, he shouldn't be held beyond reproach. I honestly think though that a lot of what I personally don't love about him is simply his communication style that conveys the wrong things.

I would love to be able to sit down with him and have an honest conversation about how he and the staff approach building a roster. Not the media JB, but the guy that actually does the work. That guy is who I would love to talk with.

 

[Eric15]

The 2016 Final Four run was incredible. We earned that banner and it can never be taken away from us. I was on the verge of hyperventilation during Malachi's out-of-his-mind scoring.

However, if you're evaluating the strength of our program over the past 3-4 years, it isn't relevant. We lost 14 games that season and received an unbelievably fortunate turn of events to get us to the Final Four. We have to be able to compartmentalize (a) being excited about that Final Four and (b) thoughtfully evaluating the program.

A magical run over a couple weeks does not wipe out 4 years of mediocrity.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I understand not wanting to live in the past, but what you are suggesting isn't valid. By this logic, a 2018 Final Four means nothing because in a few months it will be history and nobody cares about that. In that case I don't get why we are all paying attention to this thing.

I mean in terms of where the program is now and going forward...Of course it means something to us as fans. It means a lot.

 

[themole]

1 seed but failed to make FF in 2010, 2012 = OH NO WE ARE DOOOOMED

4 or 10 seed and make the FF but get Shaky Potatoes at the wrong exact time in 2013, 2016 = OH NO WE ARE DOOOMED

 

[two3zone]

1 seed but failed to make FF in 2010, 2012 = OH NO WE ARE DOOOOMED

Never heard this once.

 

[littlereg]

The thing is each coach has flaws in different aspects, until we have a talented roster again we won’t be able to tell if JB’s haven’t gotten bigger or worse.

 

[RandygoCuse]

Never heard this once.

Agreed - even if our tournament doesn't live up to our regular season, I feel like when we have a strong season, there is something to build on for the future. We aren't going to make the final four every year, but if we are consistently winning (both in and out of conference), we have opportunities for postseason success.

 

[FrancoPizza]

If someone kicked you in the balls, you'd walk funny for a few days.

When the NCAA kicks you in the balls, it hurts for years.

When JB flips the bird to the NCAA, they kick you with metal cleats.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Never heard this once.

I admit in 2010 I was off my rocker pizzed off and upset. At the time, I wasn't sure I'd live to see another Final Four. Boeheim's Sweet 16 record was so pitiful at that time, I had no respect at all for Butler, the Suplex, all of it. I definitely felt like it was the end of the world. Goes to show how unpredictable all of this is.

 

[two3zone]

Agreed - even if our tournament doesn't live up to our regular season, I feel like when we have a strong season, there is something to build on for the future. We aren't going to make the final four every year, but if we are consistently winning (both in and out of conference), we have opportunities for postseason success.

2003 was my favorite season for sure. But outside of that 2010 and 2012 were right there. 25-0 and was getting there until the massive collapse.

 

[cuse2013]

The 2016 Final Four run was incredible. We earned that banner and it can never be taken away from us. I was on the verge of hyperventilation during Malachi's out-of-his-mind scoring.

However, if you're evaluating the strength of our program over the past 3-4 years, it isn't relevant. We lost 14 games that season and received an unbelievably fortunate turn of events to get us to the Final Four.

A magical run over a couple weeks does not wipe out 4 years of mediocrity.

This seems to be a popular narrative about the 2015-16 season, yet no one brings this up to discuss 2012-13 when we made the final four (and lost TEN games)

 

[Alsacs]

This seems to be a popular narrative about the 2015-16 season, yet no one brings this up to discuss 2012-13 when we made the final four (and lost TEN games)

2013 team was legit.
It was top 10 a long time.
It was the first team to beat a number 1 team on the road in college basketball in 2 years.
We had a bad stretch but that team was eaten up by a tough Big East stretch.
If we had a better offense that team could have cut down the nets as the 2013 team played the best D ever.

 

[OttoMets]

This seems to be a popular narrative about the 2015-16 season, yet no one brings this up to discuss 2012-13 when we made the final four (and lost TEN games)

Different degrees of "not a top-four team." 2013 was flawed, had some ugly wins and brutal losses, but they held their own against very good teams during the regular season (and got revenge on Georgetown after the two debacles at the end of the year). They probably were the worst team we fielded in four or five seasons, so it was kind of a kick in the nuts that they got to the Final Four while the much better 2010 and 2012 teams were left wondering what could have been. But that was a decent team.

2016 was considerably worse in terms of talent and performance against peers.

 

[Alsacs]

Different degrees of "not a top-four team." 2013 was flawed, had some ugly wins and brutal losses, but they held their own against very good teams during the regular season (and got revenge on Georgetown after the two debacles at the end of the year). They probably were the worst team we fielded in four or five seasons, so it was kind of a kick in the nuts that they got to the Final Four while the much better 2010 and 2012 teams were left wondering what could have been. But that was a decent team.

2016 was considerably worse in terms of talent and performance against peers.

2013 was picked by some to make the Final Four.(I specifically remember Jerry Palm having us as a Final Four team when the brackets are were announced).
It was weaker team than 2012 but MCW and Triche up top made the zone insane.
We were destroying inferior teams.
We just lost games because of our offense.
2013 wasn’t a fluke.