No more bubble talk please

[CousCuse]

The team went flat when JJ took that fall. That and the missed free throws against an improving BC put the game in the loss column.

 

[UpstateSM]

I mean they're a losing team so I'd rather have ours.

Sorry for asking

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Agree with you, but Taylor needs to be gone, and if Bell stays he needs to come off the bench and not be playing 20+ Minutes a game.
Now if in the off-season Bell works on playing defense, rebounding, and passing the ball. Then we have a different story.

Bell averages 24 minutes a game, so he's barely outside of the range you mentioned.

He has very, very interesting splits. In wins, he averages just under 12 points a game, and shoots 48% from 2 and 42% from three. In losses, he scores just under 8 points a game, shoots 32% from 2, and 29% from 3 (yikes).

If anything, it seems like it's pretty important to get him going if we want to win.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Sorry for asking

You're forgiven.

 

[phil77]

We just dont have many players on this team that could be counted on rotation pieces for a top 25 team let alone start for them. Is that Reds fault? Yes to some extent he isn't new to the staff or program.

That is why when we play up in competition we get blown out on a regular basis we just have nobody on that level skill wise outside of a couple of players.

 

[Dinkyspond]

ACCT champions !

Win 5 days in a row. Fat chance.

 

[FrancoPizza]

lol. People need to stop looking backwards. JB struggled for several years at the tail end of a 47-year career that generally ranged from really good to outstanding. For a lifer like that, it typically gets a little ugly at the end. I mean, the only reason you have expectations is because of the guy you’re complaining about.

The bottom line is we struggled the past few years and now Red is trying to dig us out of it. Is he the guy to do it? Jury is out. If you love Red, that’s cool but there are questions to be answered. If you hate Red and felt it should have been a national search? Eh, maybe but, again, it was always staying in-house (so the point is moot) and while there are some legit concerns we’ve got to be a bit patient, regardless of who we hire.

It’s not that difficult to understand … yet everyone starts crying every time something doesn’t go according to plan.

Before the portal and transfer era, yes, we’d have to be patient. But even then one really great recruiting class could flip the story overnight.

Red and staff need to show they can shake this roster up in a good way or he will be on the hot seat in year 3. Season ticket holders who don’t like their new seat locations may decide renewing isn’t worth it anymore.

 

[Millhouse]

Overreaction after a loss time!

How is that an overreaction?

 

[billsin01]

Before the portal and transfer era, yes, we’d have to be patient. But even then one really great recruiting class could flip the story overnight.

Red and staff need to show they can shake this roster up in a good way or he maybe on the hot seat in year 3.

Absolutely. He’s not going to get five years of middling results. Couldn’t agree more.

I also think it’s fair to say that Red, in addition to some questions on his strategy/philosophy, made some odd personnel choices. The concerted effort to bring Benny back was something I questioned at the time. Same for Taylor and Bell who just didn’t feel like players who were going to play big roles on a team in the top 25. McLeod always seemed like an odd system fit, Cuffe and Westry are intriguing but big gambles on the injury front.

But it’s not easy to turn things around completely and install a completely different defensive system in a few months. The Edwards defection certainly appears to have surprised as well.

I don’t know, just feel like this team could have genuinely been a disaster but this far they’ve been decent and fairly entertaining. I’m not overly hyped about the future with Red but I do think he deserves a couple seasons before folks are writing him off. That’s sports talk radio nonsense. He may well struggle here and prove to be a bad hire, but anyone claiming they unequivocally know this at this point is nuts.

 

[tbonezone]

hey it's still January . our championship team never entered the rankings til mid january. ok i'll grant
you we're not a top seed. and probably not a 2 or 3 . but you still gotta believe. why if yeti's had wings...

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Maybe I’m just a minority opinion here, but do people really think we have been any good in last 10 years? Why is everyone like shocked still that this is kinda what this team is and has been? Have not amassed 23 wins since 2013. And have not won more than 20 games in 7 of those years. What is everyone honestly expecting?

And as far as Red is concerned, they haven’t gotten worse. They might not be a good team this year, but they certainly aren’t any worse than last 5 years

This team is better than the last two teams JAB rolled out but it’s still not up to our expectations. I think it’s fair to say we bottomed out under JAB the last two tears and are at the very beginning of a rise back to Syracuse basketball standards. However, we’re probably a bit impatient because of the prolonged state of mediocrity we’ve been stuck in over the past decade.

 

[dollarbill44]

Maybe I’m just a minority opinion here, but do people really think we have been any good in last 10 years? Why is everyone like shocked still that this is kinda what this team is and has been? Have not amassed 23 wins since 2013.

Except 2014 (28), 2015 (23) and 2017 (23). Maybe you mean regular season, not final record.
I get the point that the program has trended downward since the 2013 FF team with some pretty bad basketball.
It's deflating.

 

[Bulldog04]

Except 2014 (28), 2015 (23) and 2017 (23). Maybe you mean regular season, not final record.
I get the point that the program has trended downward since the 2013 FF team with some pretty bad basketball.
It's deflating.

Yes was talking regular season

 

[AlaskaSU]

Masked by some tourney runs as double digit seeds. Been an argument on here for a while. Some people say the only thing that matters is the tournament, which I don’t agree with. Since the Ennis team fell apart at the end we’ve been on a steady decline. It started with recruiting misses and slowly snowballed into what we are now. A mere shell of a former great program. Every year for the past few seasons it’s been “well next year we should be better.” The program is kind of in a danger zone right now. I look at the parallels to the football program which was a powerhouse for 2 decades and then essentially became irrelevant for 2 decades.

This was inevitable when we went south to the ACC.

 

[two3zone]

Amazing thread. I’m excited to read it.

 

[kcsu]

What? The talent on this team is no better than our record. If that. Red has done fine with this group. Do I wish he would play different rotations? Yes. But Popovich would be doing no better with this group. We need better players and over the next couple of years, I think we will get them. If we don't, we will get another coach

Spot on.

 

[CuseBlood44]

Overreaction after a loss time!

Except it’s not. Anyone who has been following the NET and bracketology knows the ACC is getting no respect and we don’t have enough Q1 wins. Cuse yet again finds themselves in need of an ACC tourney upset to have a shot

 

[CuseBlood44]

Maybe I’m just a minority opinion here, but do people really think we have been any good in last 10 years? Why is everyone like shocked still that this is kinda what this team is and has been? Have not amassed 23 wins since 2013. And have not won more than 20 games in 7 of those years. What is everyone honestly expecting?

And as far as Red is concerned, they haven’t gotten worse. They might not be a good team this year, but they certainly aren’t any worse than last 5 years

Everyone thought getting out of the zone and getting a new coach plus one more year of development from the freshman would turn this into a fringe top 25 team. I’m not saying it should’ve been necessarily, but the talent is there. Yes Jesse and Joe were huge losses in hindsight, but this team has been super immature all year and inconsistent

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Everyone thought getting out of the zone and getting a new coach plus one more year of development from the freshman would turn this into a fringe top 25 team. I’m not saying it should’ve been necessarily, but the talent is there. Yes Jesse and Joe were huge losses in hindsight, but this team has been super immature all year and inconsistent

Here’s the real problem, we’ve only had a couple of guys improve since last year (Q and Maliq). Judah is basically the same. Bell is basically the same. JT has regressed. Hima regressed. Carey is a project that isn’t there yet and may not ever get there. Then you add in all of the transfers, of which none has been a difference maker, and you end up with a team that hasn’t made a leap forward (yet).

It will be interesting to see what Red does in the offseason to reshape the roster. There’s some talent coming in, but it’s clear more work has to be done. Red can’t roll into 2024-25 without a couple more subtractions and additions.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Except 2014 (28), 2015 (23) and 2017 (23). Maybe you mean regular season, not final record.
I get the point that the program has trended downward since the 2013 FF team with some pretty bad basketball.
It's deflating.

We have been a bubble team or out for every year except one since 2015 to the present. The 2019 Tyus Battle-Frank Howard was the only team solidly in, and they were an 8 seed. We lost to Baylor, Frank got suspended. That is 10 years of mediocrity. The Final 4 and Sweet 16 years have masked it.

 

[blust2i3d4]

Any realistic shot at making the tourny went out the window tonite. This is the definition of an nit team.

We can still have the NIT bubble talk. It is still a post season tournament. Winning NIT will revamp the program and good for next year.

 

[orangecuse]

One of the most insane things I’ve read in a game thread.

I don't do game threads, and never really have. However, my understanding of game threads is that this is the one & only place here where one is allowed to say "insane" heat of the moment type things and not be, ridiculed, judged, etc. Kind of a no holds bar type deal, and, hence, why they also go away so quickly afterwards?

 

[orangecuse]

Maybe I’m just a minority opinion here, but do people really think we have been any good in last 10 years? Why is everyone like shocked still that this is kinda what this team is and has been? Have not amassed 23 wins since 2013. And have not won more than 20 games in 7 of those years. What is everyone honestly expecting?

And as far as Red is concerned, they haven’t gotten worse. They might not be a good team this year, but they certainly aren’t any worse than last 5 years

There has been so much denial, etc. from when the sanctions hit even to now. Our .500 conference record, other than that inaugural year has been exactly this. Where, if I recall correctly, took us 4 years to win our first ACC tournament game; where to this day we have yet to win consecutive conference tourney games, never getting to a conference tourney semi-final, let alone a final. And, where come January, we haven't been ranked in the regular season since 2014.

This is, and has been our new normal for some time now. Unfortunately, those 'glory days' where we were accustomed of throwing that speed ball past most opponents is, and has been, way in the rear view, as difficult as that is to still swallow for some.

 

[hungrychuck]

Everyone thought getting out of the zone and getting a new coach plus one more year of development from the freshman would turn this into a fringe top 25 team. I’m not saying it should’ve been necessarily, but the talent is there. Yes Jesse and Joe were huge losses in hindsight, but this team has been super immature all year and inconsistent

“Everyone?”

Certainly not everyone. I’ve seen saying how you react to a game like last night is largely a matter of managing expectations.

Personally felt NIT was the most likely scenario for this year, and that’s how it’s working out. That will be an upgrade, btw, from where we were in the last two years.

JB didn’t bottom the program overnight and it’s not going to be fixed overnight. This is a multi-year rebuild. There is no reason at this time for calls for Red’s head. That’s talk-radio loon stuff.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Our team has improved, especially on D, but so have other teams. We have never had such unproductive starting forwards.