Sagarin predictions for Maui

[tee1222]

The best part is they had to play away, Rupp was already booked!

Kentucky:
Best,
tee

 

[bballbeadle]

Am I alone in never understanding all the love for Gonzaga every year? Got to no.1 at the end of the year based on beating a bunch of Big 12 schools early in the year, and then taking 3 months off. They are never tough, never play any D...I was surprised they even came back to make it a game vs Wichita State.

I feel the same about Arizona, too. Maybe this year we shall be proven wrong.

 

[CusefanATL]

Are you saying New York City does not have a renown basketball culture? Regardless, my comment was St Francis played a very good game against the Orange on Monday night. That team came to play. They played hard. And their coach did a good job preparing them to bust our 2-3 zone. You are only ever as good as your competition. I thought St Francis played very well in my humble opinion.

NBA players from NYC: http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/birthplaces.cgi?country=US&state=NY

no, i was not.

I was saying that just because a team is located in NYC does not mean that they are good. I will be very surprised if Saint Francis NY does much damage in the NCAA tournament this year.

 

[PoppyHart]

Wow, surprised about the Minny spread. I thought they were lambs to the slaughter. Perhaps we should have requested Dayton.

We "should" win this event given our talent and track record in early season tournaments where games are one on top of another. At the very least we need to reach Gonzaga and avoid a schedule killing Chaminade.

 

[Orangezoo]

no, i was not.

I was saying that just because a team is located in NYC does not mean that they are good. I will be very surprised if Saint Francis NY does much damage in the NCAA tournament this year.

What does them doing damage in the NCAA tournament have to do with anything relative to them having some good players and playing our young team to a close game and near upset?

 

[690West]

Wow, surprised about the Minny spread. I thought they were lambs to the slaughter.

.

I agree and I'm sure that line won't spend more than a minute at -4 if that indeed is the open.

 

[DoctorBombay]

This year EVERY game will be tough.
The Zags have a cakewalk into the championship game, IMO- but neither Minn or Cal will be easy for us...not at this stage, at least not yet.
Different story come march.

 

[CusefanATL]

What does them doing damage in the NCAA tournament have to do with anything relative to them having some good players and playing our young team to a close game and near upset?

we are struggling so far through 4 games.

just getting a little tired of hearing all of the different excuses.

it started with Cornell when I read quite a few "they are severely underrated in the Ivy this year" They have promptly gone 0-3 since then losing to loyola, binghamton (1 of the worst teams in the nation last year), and louisville by 45.

We have struggled vs Conrnell, Fordham, Colgate, and SFNY. If you asked me prior to the year, i would have said we would be them by an avg of 30+... not the 15 that we currently are (along with struggling mightily for extensive periods of times in all 4). At some point it is a trend.

I dont see many people predicting stumbling blocks to overcome in the preseason predictions that are now commonly talked about "we are so young, this was expected"

http://syracusefan.com/threads/6th-annual-iggy-awards-its-now-time-for-your-entries.60541/

 

[Dave85]

no, i was not.

I was saying that just because a team is located in NYC does not mean that they are good. I will be very surprised if Saint Francis NY does much damage in the NCAA tournament this year.

I agree with you St Francis in the NCAA tournament is unlikely. But you have to admit on Monday night St Francis played really well. My point is NYC teams have players who can play. I would not have expected the kind of performance we saw from St Francis with a team like Monmouth University. I know you are only as good as your competition. But Monmouth University has got to be the creamiest of the cream-puffs ever!!

 

[Orangezoo]

we are struggling so far through 4 games.

just getting a little tired of hearing all of the different excuses.

it started with Cornell when I read quite a few "they are severely underrated in the Ivy this year" They have promptly gone 0-3 since then losing to loyola, binghamton (1 of the worst teams in the nation last year), and louisville by 45.

We have struggled vs Conrnell, Fordham, Colgate, and SFNY. If you asked me prior to the year, i would have said we would be them by an avg of 30+... not the 15 that we currently are (along with struggling mightily for extensive periods of times in all 4). At some point it is a trend.

I dont see many people predicting stumbling blocks to overcome in the preseason predictions that are now commonly talked about "we are so young, this was expected"

http://syracusefan.com/threads/6th-annual-iggy-awards-its-now-time-for-your-entries.60541/

Well we haven't beat each of them by 30. And we have shown our flaws. I get that constitutes struggle in your eyes. I think you have to get beyond the names and look at the issues that are really there. A lot of those issues are specific to chemistry, poor decision making by young players and finally just lack of experience. Add to that how well ennis looked up to the cornell game and there was not a lot of concern being raised. Now we are seeing where the weaknesses are and the issues are something that can be corrected. How long it takes will likely determine the extent the team's so called struggles.

As for the other teams being better than expected you can't really say at this point as we can only use the eye test. Cressler from Cornell played well the end of last year and came out on fire against us. Fordham made a bunch of tough shots to stay in reach. Colgate put 3 6'10 guys out there who can shoot the 3 and already played an ACC team tough ( who cares if it was wake). St Francis all the same beat miami at miami. These teams had confidence and experience and that alone early in the year against a team who has some things to work through is enough to create some nervous moments. Not excuses just realities. Of the teams we have played st francis by far looked the best from how they executed on both sides and how hard they fought. 10 games from now we might win by 25. Instead we learn that no team is just going to lay down.

After Maui we will know more. The potential on paper has a ways to go - I don't think anyone is denying that fact.

 

[cusetown1]

Well we haven't beat each of them by 30. And we have shown our flaws. I get that constitutes struggle in your eyes. I think you have to get beyond the names and look at the issues that are really there. A lot of those issues are specific to chemistry, poor decision making by young players and finally just lack of experience. Add to that how well ennis looked up to the cornell game and there was not a lot of concern being raised. Now we are seeing where the weaknesses are and the issues are something that can be corrected. How long it takes will likely determine the extent the team's so called struggles.

As for the other teams being better than expected you can't really say at this point as we can only use the eye test. Cressler from Cornell played well the end of last year and came out on fire against us. Fordham made a bunch of tough shots to stay in reach. Colgate put 3 6'10 guys out there who can shoot the 3 and already played an ACC team tough ( who cares if it was wake). St Francis all the same beat miami at miami. These teams had confidence and experience and that alone early in the year against a team who has some things to work through is enough to create some nervous moments. Not excuses just realities. Of the teams we have played st francis by far looked the best from how they executed on both sides and how hard they fought. 10 games from now we might win by 25. Instead we learn that no team is just going to lay down.

After Maui we will know more. The potential on paper has a ways to go - I don't think anyone is denying that fact.

I think the word "excuses" could only a valid explanation if we lost. We did not lose, no excuse has to be made. Deep thoughts...

 

[CusefanATL]

Well we haven't beat each of them by 30. And we have shown our flaws. I get that constitutes struggle in your eyes. I think you have to get beyond the names and look at the issues that are really there. A lot of those issues are specific to chemistry, poor decision making by young players and finally just lack of experience. Add to that how well ennis looked up to the cornell game and there was not a lot of concern being raised. Now we are seeing where the weaknesses are and the issues are something that can be corrected. How long it takes will likely determine the extent the team's so called struggles.

As for the other teams being better than expected you can't really say at this point as we can only use the eye test. Cressler from Cornell played well the end of last year and came out on fire against us. Fordham made a bunch of tough shots to stay in reach. Colgate put 3 6'10 guys out there who can shoot the 3 and already played an ACC team tough ( who cares if it was wake). St Francis all the same beat miami at miami. These teams had confidence and experience and that alone early in the year against a team who has some things to work through is enough to create some nervous moments. Not excuses just realities. Of the teams we have played st francis by far looked the best from how they executed on both sides and how hard they fought. 10 games from now we might win by 25. Instead we learn that no team is just going to lay down.

After Maui we will know more. The potential on paper has a ways to go - I don't think anyone is denying that fact.

1st paragraph: we are a pretty experienced team... we have 6 returning guys with decent experience. I agree with you that there wasnt a lot of concern to be raised prior to the cornell game (thats my point... all of a sudden now others are saying these are expected roadblocks) - the other posters disagree with us. And they also seem to disagree that there is any concern warranted now (look at the 'I am worried' thread)

2nd paragraph: i would be OK with this response if it only happened to 1 or even 2 teams. It has happened to all 4 'cupcakes' we have played.

3rd paragraph: you should read the 'i am worried' thread.

 

[Orangezoo]

1st paragraph: we are a pretty experienced team... we have 6 returning guys with decent experience. I agree with you that there wasnt a lot of concern to be raised prior to the cornell game (thats my point... all of a sudden now others are saying these are expected roadblocks) - the other posters disagree with us. And they also seem to disagree that there is any concern warranted now (look at the 'I am worried' thread)

2nd paragraph: i would be OK with this response if it only happened to 1 or even 2 teams. It has happened to all 4 'cupcakes' we have played.

3rd paragraph: you should read the 'i am worried' thread.

We are not an experienced team. We are a young team with some experience. We have little to no experience in the role of ball handler/decision maker. We could have six sr centers/pfs along with nothing but freshman or 1st year redshirts in the backcourt and it is still an inexperienced team. Also - its a team that has not played together long. That is why we went to canada in the first place and despite many practices you can still see there is a comfort curve there.

I don't know what you mean by if it only happened to 1 or 2 teams. We were in no risk of losing to Fordham or Colgate. The final score just wasn't 30 points. Honestly after a couple minutes into the cornell game 2nd half.. no risk of losing either. So essentially we were facing a possible loss for 1 game ( st francis) and a first half.

 

[690West]

Update: Wow. Sagarin is getting wacky this morning. Minnesota was favored last night by 17, wins by 22, and now they are 3 point favorites over Syracuse on Monday? Gonna be a great game.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Too early in the season to rely on the tempo free and predictor stuff. I have a lot of confidence going into this tournament for a couple reasons:
1. Rarely does SU not look like world beaters in November tournaments (against UK in Alaska is the last dud I remember in what 1997?)
2. Ennis is not going to be a problem. He is as smart a freshman as we've had - I see him absorbing the lessons he's learning quickly and improving every game out.

 

[690West]

Too early in the season to rely on the tempo free and predictor stuff.

Agree 100%, just havin some fun with it.

 

[CusefanATL]

Too early in the season to rely on the tempo free and predictor stuff. I have a lot of confidence going into this tournament for a couple reasons:
1. Rarely does SU not look like world beaters in November tournaments (against UK in Alaska is the last dud I remember in what 1997?)
2. Ennis is not going to be a problem. He is as smart a freshman as we've had - I see him absorbing the lessons he's learning quickly and improving every game out.

wasnt it umass 96 in alaska?

 

[HoustonCuse]

The game I remember was Kentucky in Alaska. Pretty sure it was a rematch of the championship game from the year before, Jason Hart's first game. We got crushed.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

Best. Non-Syracuse. Game. Ever. Even though I didn't watch it.

Tee,
I hate Kentucky and loved this game as well, but I have to admit that I loved the G'town A$$ whopping at the hands of Florida Gulf Coast last March more.

 

[pearl31]

we are struggling so far through 4 games.

just getting a little tired of hearing all of the different excuses.

it started with Cornell when I read quite a few "they are severely underrated in the Ivy this year" They have promptly gone 0-3 since then losing to loyola, binghamton (1 of the worst teams in the nation last year), and louisville by 45.

We have struggled vs Conrnell, Fordham, Colgate, and SFNY. If you asked me prior to the year, i would have said we would be them by an avg of 30+... not the 15 that we currently are (along with struggling mightily for extensive periods of times in all 4). At some point it is a trend.

I dont see many people predicting stumbling blocks to overcome in the preseason predictions that are now commonly talked about "we are so young, this was expected"

http://syracusefan.com/threads/6th-annual-iggy-awards-its-now-time-for-your-entries.60541/

Do you pay attention at all to the other teams currently playing games? Does it occur to you that certain almighty, anointed teams (i.e. Mich St, Duke) are struggling at home against overmatched opponents? What is your agenda here? The consummate pragmatic SU fan? Kudos, you play your role masterfully.

Just getting tired of hearing all of the selective Syracuse-should-be-playing-perfectly alarmist nonsense.

 

[tee1222]

Tee,
I hate Kentucky and loved this game as well, but I have to admit that I loved the G'town A$$ whopping at the hands of Florida Gulf Coast last March more.

Dunka on a Hoya! You're right, that game was fantastic and I got to watch that one...most likely with tears of joy.

 

[bevosu]

In defense of CusefanATL this team has looked very disappointing so far imo. A lot of the disappointment can be blamed on typical pre-season optimism. Nothing wrong with being optimistic, but the way the team has played hasn't measured up to that pre-season optimism...yet.

Ennis hasn't looked like the floor general that I expected...granted it's very early. The team shows signs of being another poor shooting team with a weaker perimeter defense than last year,

I wouldn't put a dime on the line betting they'll beat Minnesota.

But...I've been around long enough to know that early season cupcake games with blah showings more often than not result in the SU basketball team playing tough when they are challenged against better competition.

Next week should give us some insight into just where this team is. The potential is there. If they're not going to be a fast break force defensive turnover team they better start shooting better from more than 3 feet away from the basket..and making a higher percentage of their bunnies wouldn't hurt.

They're halfcourt offense has been ugly.

 

[Knicks411]

Pomeroy is going to have us as a one point dog vs Minnesota, for whatever its worth.

 

[cusetown1]

Are we going to pull the upset over minn or what?

 

[SUfaninAZ]

T