OK, it's been long enough

[DonLightfoot]

We haven't had any kind of national relevance since the sweet sixteen in 2018 in my opinion. Not even making the tournament recently is an embarrassment for this program.

There is an opportunity in Maui to do something about this. I really like how coach Red is handling the team and I'm confident the next few years will be better than the last few, although not sure it will happen in the near term with some stiff competition in Maui. I would be ecstatic if we could win a couple of games or even one for that matter. I just want to see the energy and hustle that we put forward in the second half versus Colgate and just show that we can be competitive with some of these top teams. That would bid well for the rest of the season.

I may be wrong, but I don't think we've ever lost a game over there so maybe there's some karma hanging around. Not overly optimistic about our chances, but excited to see how we do. LGO

 

[Cuse181]

Maui Invitational - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You are correct, Syracuse is 10-0 in the tournament. That is wild

 

[Cusefan0307]

I get what you're saying, but we went to the Sweet 16 in 2021.

 

[Brooky03]

I’m staying as optimistic as I can. It’s cautious optimism. We won’t be able to beat any teams in Maui with size/athleticism; they all have that. Gotta start making shots and giving consistent, high effort on defense.

 

[OptimusOtto]

Would gladly settle for 1-2 without playing Chaminade. Neutral court win over one of Tennessee/Gonzaga/Purdue is a signature resume win and can change our perception quickly.

 

[kingtidge]

Any win in Maui will be a positive based on what we've seen thus far.

 

[DanielA]

Would gladly settle for 1-2 without playing Chaminade. Neutral court win over one of Tennessee/Gonzaga/Purdue is a signature resume win and can change our perception quickly.

If we lose the first two games we play chaminade

 

[OptimusOtto]

If we lose the first two games we play chaminade

Right I’m saying if we find a way to win against one of those first 3 who cares if we lose to Kansas/UCLA/Marquette

 

[0.2 YNdeeR]

I’m staying as optimistic as I can. It’s cautious optimism. We won’t be able to beat any teams in Maui with size/athleticism; they all have that. Gotta start making shots and giving consistent, high effort on defense.

Agree. We can beat lesser teams with high energy D and transition buckets. But I can't see us putting game pressure on a top-10 team with a developing M2M D and weak jump-shooting (with little or no help from the bench).

 

[MikeSU02]

I get what you're saying, but we went to the Sweet 16 in 2021.

The Buddy Boeheim flamethrower show.

 

[MikeSU02]

I know it's like 0.1% chance, but god I would love to rip through Maui and win it. Keep the streak alive.

I know it's likely not going to happen, but I'll say this... While this team clearly has flaws and needs time to grow together, we beat Tennessee in an upset... then we're the irrational confidence team with a potential AA in Judah (he has work to do to get to that level, I know, I know).

All of a sudden, the narrative would be about us and not any dumb Purdue or Zags team or whoever.

Anyway, welcome to my irrational confidence post of the day.

 

[andyw715]

I get what you're saying, but we went to the Sweet 16 in 2021.

It seems soooo long ago.

 

[Todd23]

It seems soooo long ago.

I just had to look up who SU played during that run and didn't recall any of the three opponents. Shows how insignificant that run was.

 

[BigNastyJon]

I just had to look up who SU played during that run and didn't recall any of the three opponents. Shows how insignificant that run was.

San Diego State
West Virginia
Houston (we had a problem)

Is that right?

 

[andyw715]

San Diego State
West Virginia
Houston (we had a problem)

Is that right?

Yeah now I remember...we scored like 40 points v Houston...ewww Buddy ran outta buckets

 

[Cusefan0307]

Yeah now I remember...we scored like 40 points v Houston...ewww Buddy ran outta buckets

It was a close game until about 7 minutes to go and then we ran out of gas.

 

[DonLightfoot]

I get what you're saying, but we went to the Sweet 16 in 2021.

Oops, my bad

 

[81South]

I am looking forward to playing good teams in Hawaii. The team has a chance to go out and show the country what they have.

Feast Week….one of the best weeks of the year!

 

[dasher]

If we lose the first two games we play chaminade

Well, not if they win a game. Which they have done in the past

 

[Eric15]

0-3 which includes a loss to Chaminade: an unacceptable catastrophe
0-3 without a loss to Chaminade or 1-2 including win vs. Chaminade: disappointing, but not a disaster if we play competitively
2-1: would probably mean two wins vs. teams other than Chaminade, would be absolutely incredible, and would likely vault us into the Top 25.
3-0: you could make a very reasonable argument that we should be ranked #1.

 

[Cuse House]

I’m usually very optimistic about our chances and I am to a degree about this tournament. I can see us being competitive but falling short in the first two games. If I had to put money on it, I would believe that is the most likely scenario. I think if this tournament was played in January, I’d like our chances more. Young team with a lot to improve upon. We will get there by seasons end.

 

[tbonezone]