My Take | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

My Take

I think the road games may be just a bit bizarre for teams with the Covid restrictions with traveling. Va lax took a bus here. Just a thought.
I think you are right. The traveling is completely different, and the conviviality must be restricted to some extent. I remember more than one player over the years stating that he feeds off the antagonistic crowds. So, the travel is more wearing and without crowds, it’s hard to get energy.
 
No joke intended... This board has been hard to read this year at times because of all the negativity.

In the end we had an ok regular season, ending with a winning record again and a winning conference record. The team was limited by a number of factors, not least of which was Sidibe getting injured again. In the end, we came out ok.

But if you read the board, it's like we managed a losing record with Babe Ruth and Gehrig.
I see...Unfortunately, I agree with you.

The problem is that SU fans are not used to "ok", especially when "ok" has lasted longer than any other "down" period since JB took over.

SU fans expect conference championships and protected tourney seeds as their birthright. And we have not seen those expectations fulfilled in over half a decade.

The board has always had a few consistently negative posters, regardless of the level of program success.

However, with each passing year of unmet expectations, the chorus of unhappy posters grows.

Some of the points are legitimate. Recruiting is not at the level it used to be as an example.

Some are more speculative and may, or may not, have some merit. Kadary and Jesse getting more playing time earlier in the season as examples. These examples are based upon the way the two players are playing today and not the players they were 2, 3 & 4 months ago. My default is to side with the guy who sees them play every day versus the keyboard jockey but nobody is right 100% of the time. So, who knows?

The remainder, and unfortunately there are just way too many that fall in this category, are just expressions of abject stupidity. Any idea that nepotism is involved in Buddy's playing time or that any poster on this board would have the hubris to truly believe that he/she could go toe to toe with JB on basketball as examples.

A return to 2008-2014 is really the only thing that will make this board a more pleasant place to be.
 
I see...Unfortunately, I agree with you.

The problem is that SU fans are not used to "ok", especially when "ok" has lasted longer than any other "down" period since JB took over.

SU fans expect conference championships and protected tourney seeds as their birthright. And we have not seen those expectations fulfilled in over half a decade.

The board has always had a few consistently negative posters, regardless of the level of program success.

However, with each passing year of unmet expectations, the chorus of unhappy posters grows.

Some of the points are legitimate. Recruiting is not at the level it used to be as an example.

Some are more speculative and may, or may not, have some merit. Kadary and Jesse getting more playing time earlier in the season as examples. These examples are based upon the way the two players are playing today and not the players they were 2, 3 & 4 months ago. My default is to side with the guy who sees them play every day versus the keyboard jockey but nobody is right 100% of the time. So, who knows?

The remainder, and unfortunately there are just way too many that fall in this category, are just expressions of abject stupidity. Any idea that nepotism is involved in Buddy's playing time or that any poster on this board would have the hubris to truly believe that he/she could go toe to toe with JB on basketball as examples.

A return to 2008-2014 is really the only thing that will make this board a more pleasant place to be.
The breaking point for some is the negativity after a win.
 
the range of negativity of some posters probably correlates directly to the scale of expectations.
if as a fan you happen set a rather low bar for success and have somewhat lower expectations for the team's overall performance you would likely be happier with any effort or results we put forth.
if on the other hand you enjoy the team you support enjoying some modicum of success in their endeavors and some national recognition as one of the better programs in the NCAA would would likely feel compelled to say WHAT the happened?
 
Yeah - even though we're sure we see what our HOF coach can't see; even though our HOF coach says things that make us cringe; even though we can see the talent level isn't what it once was -
We're 15-8 overall, 9-7 in the ACC and 13-1 at home!
There's a little cause for celebration there somewhere.
A week ago we we out of the tournament and now we’re in the bubble, that’s something to celebrate about year after year?
 
I see...Unfortunately, I agree with you.

The problem is that SU fans are not used to "ok", especially when "ok" has lasted longer than any other "down" period since JB took over.

SU fans expect conference championships and protected tourney seeds as their birthright. And we have not seen those expectations fulfilled in over half a decade.

The board has always had a few consistently negative posters, regardless of the level of program success.

However, with each passing year of unmet expectations, the chorus of unhappy posters grows.

Some of the points are legitimate. Recruiting is not at the level it used to be as an example.

Some are more speculative and may, or may not, have some merit. Kadary and Jesse getting more playing time earlier in the season as examples. These examples are based upon the way the two players are playing today and not the players they were 2, 3 & 4 months ago. My default is to side with the guy who sees them play every day versus the keyboard jockey but nobody is right 100% of the time. So, who knows?

The remainder, and unfortunately there are just way too many that fall in this category, are just expressions of abject stupidity. Any idea that nepotism is involved in Buddy's playing time or that any poster on this board would have the hubris to truly believe that he/she could go toe to toe with JB on basketball as examples.

A return to 2008-2014 is really the only thing that will make this board a more pleasant place to be.
I have said if the fanbase accepts what we have become then I will shut up. A lot of the fanbase doesn’t accept that and thus if we want to pretend we are an elite program then what has happened deserves the reactions we get.

However if we aspire to be a team that is good and actually is top 10 in basketball revenue and top 10 in basketball resources then criticism goes with that.

The fact is we have the oldest HC in the P5. We don’t change much in the program year after year playing style wise, preparation wise.
We are the most predictable program in P5 basketball.

Again if the fanbase accepts being middle of the ACC then fine.

The highest we have finished in the ACC standings since 2014 was tied for 6th 2 years ago.

We consistently been in 8-11 range the last 7 years.

I want to address other parts of your post but it won’t matter you are locked in your thoughts.

Why aren’t we recruiting more guards? In the class of 2021 we offered only one guard. In the class of 2022 we lost our top commit and we lost our top SG target who is from NYS to Ohio State.

If fans want to accept we are medicore now then I am sure you would get less negativity and be fine with more apathy for a fanbase that has been pretty loyal.

AC Milan used to be a giant in Serie A did their fanbase accept their downfall while shuting up? How many seasons in a row did they miss Champions League? Syracuse fans never expect to be Juventus aka Duke/UNC but we expect to be AC Milan which is a big fish that competed before their downfall. We don’t expect to be Lazio a middle of the tier club that can win cups but not compete at the top.(Yes I get European soccer)

Syracuse fans dont expect final fours every season or top 4 seeds every season. How about actually getting thru one regular season in 7 years finishing top 4. That isn’t a lot to ask with resources we have.
 
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I have said if the fanbase accepts what we have become then I will shut up. A lot of the fanbase doesn’t accept that and thus if we want to pretend we are an elite program then what has happened deserves the reactions we get.

However if we aspire to be a team that is good and actually is top 10 in basketball revenue and top 10 in basketball resources then criticism goes with that.

The fact is we have the oldest HC in the P5. We don’t change much in the program year after year playing style wise, preparation wise.
We are the most predictable program in P5 basketball.

Again if the fanbase accepts being middle of the ACC then fine.

The highest we have finished in the ACC standings since 2014 was tied for 6th 2 years ago.

We consistently been in 8-11 range the last 7 years.

I want to address other parts of your post but it won’t matter you are locked in your thoughts.

Why aren’t we recruiting more guards? In the class of 2021 we offered only one guard. In the class of 2022 we lost our top commit and we lost our top SG target who is from NYS to Ohio State.

If fans want to accept we are medicore now then I am sure you would get less negativity and be fine with more apathy for a fanbase that has been pretty loyal.

AC Milan used to be a giant in Serie A did their fanbase accept their downfall while shuting up? How many seasons in a row did they miss Champions League? Syracuse fans never expect to be Juventus aka Duke/UNC but we expect to be AC Milan which is a big fish that competed before their downfall. We don’t expect to be Lazio a middle of the tier club that can win cups but not compete at the top.(Yes I get European soccer)

Syracuse fans dont expect final fours every season or top 4 seeds every season. How about actually getting thru one regular season in 7 years finishing top 4. That isn’t a lot to ask with resources we have.
I am not "settling" for mediocrity. I am probably not as upset about it as you, and others, are but I, too, long for the days of 2008-2014.

Where you and I differ is in the reasons why we are "mediocre" by our historical standards (although, to be clear, most other programs would kill for our level of "mediocrity".)

You blame it on both coaching and recruiting. I agree with you on recruiting. Has to be better or we will never see 2008-2014, or 1985-1991, again unless our recruiting improves significantly.

I disagree with you on coaching. In fact, one of the things about having a less innately talented team is to see how it improves, or doesn't, throughout the year.

This year's team is night and day from earlier in the season and is playing, by far, its best ball.

Last year's team was playing its best ball at the end of the season.

The 2019 team is more difficult to evaluate because it struggled down the stretch but 4 of its last 7 games were also against top 5 teams and, of course, we had the FH fiasco going into the tourney.

The 2018 team was clearly playing its best basketball at the end of the season.

IMO, the 2017 team is an example of team that never found its footing, mostly because JB could simply not get them to play any defense.

The 2016 was obviously playing its best ball at the end of the season.

Regardless of whether the right moves are made in any particular game, the trend in most of these seasons has been upward and that is coaching.

So someone, you or otherwise, is going to have to make some much more compelling arguments, than what has been made thus far, to convince me that JB is no longer a top coach.

There are very few individuals on this board who criticize with anything more than sweeping generalizations.

You want my attention? Support your criticisms with solid evidence or at least solid reasoning. Very little of that on this board.

Those who criticize also have a higher burden of proof. After all, you are telling the world that you know more about how to make the program successful than a guy who has devoted his entire professional life to coaching and has done so with a level of success that few other coaches have been able to emulate. That is a tough ask.

BTW, making statements like, "We are the most predictable program in P5 basketball." doesn't help your cause. Unless you have spent, not just this season, but the last few seasons watching every single P5 program's games, you have absolutely no basis for making this statement. It comes across as an idiotic statement.
 

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