So now that we've lost

[sufandu]

4 of our last 5, two of which were to crap teams, is it ok for me express concern?

 

[Trueblue25]

Cooney's potatoes have been mashed

 

[OrangeDW]

No, you see, because LAST year we scored 37 against GTown and lost 4 of 5 and....

if I hear that said out loud, I may swing. Just a heads up.

 

[BuffOrange]

Yes, I think it's ok to do so & maintain "real fan" status now.
You only lose real fan status when you dare to express concern after eeking by a crappy team. Because ya know, good teams always win close games.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

4 of our last 5, two of which were to crap teams, is it ok for me express concern?

Things that were unacceptable to bring up 3 days ago:
1) We're not getting a 1 seed
2) This team's ceiling is the Sweet 16
3) This team could potentially lose to a double digit seed in the first round of the NCAA tourney
4) UVA will get a 1 seed (not to do with SU, but still a point many disagreed with)

Do people really think these things aren't unrealistic given tonight's performance?

 

[OrangeDW]

Things that were unacceptable to bring up 3 days ago:
1) We're not getting a 1 seed
2) This team's ceiling is the Sweet 16
3) This team could potentially lose to a double digit seed in the first round of the NCAA tourney
4) UVA will get a 1 seed (not to do with SU, but still a point many disagreed with)

Do people really think these things aren't unrealistic given tonight's performance?

If we don't get a healthy Grant back, which I'm getting really worried about by the way, I think some of those are longshots. We might not win another game without Grant. At FSU is a tougher game than tonight. First ACC Tourney game won't be any easier than NC State or Maryland or G Tech...50/50 at best, at this point. Same thing with round 1 of the NCAA's.

No Grant = no optimism from me whatsoever.

 

[Briancuse]

No, you see, because LAST year we scored 37 against GTown and lost 4 of 5 and...

if I hear that said out loud, I may swing. Just a heads up.

Last years team didn't lose to two teams with a losing record at home.

 

[tptcuse]

Things that were unacceptable to bring up 3 days ago: 1) We're not getting a 1 seed 2) This team's ceiling is the Sweet 16 3) This team could potentially lose to a double digit seed in the first round of the NCAA tourney 4) UVA will get a 1 seed (not to do with SU, but still a point many disagreed with) Do people really think these things aren't unrealistic given tonight's performance?

Just because people may disagree, doesn't mean it can't be brought up.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Just because people may disagree, doesn't mean it can't be brought up.

Disagreeing and being wrong are not mutually exclusive.

 

[OrangeDW]

Last years team didn't lose to two teams with a losing record at home.

You may have missed my point. I think we're in agreement here.

 

[Bayside44]

It would be more helpful if you said what they were.

Grant ain't playing. Missing a stud hurts a team.

 

[kuethstheman]

Just because people may disagree, doesn't mean it can't be brought up.

Right. They just can't be brought up without getting some nasty responses.

 

[tptcuse]

Disagreeing and being wrong are not mutually exclusive.

True. Being concerned and being supportive are also not mutually exclusive.

 

[tptcuse]

Right. They just can't be brought up without getting some nasty responses.

Positive responses also get some nasty responses.

 

[HurleyForHeisman]

2005 Started 21-2, then lost 3 out of 4.
2006 Started 15-2, then lost 5 out of 6.
2007 Started 15-4, then lost 4 out of 5.
2008 Started 12-3, then lost 4 out of 5, followed shortly by losing 5 out of 6.
2009 Started 16-1, then lost 5 out of 6.
2010 A legitimate excellent team that never had a bad stretch.
2011 Started 18-0, then lost 4 straight.
2012 A legitimate excellent team that never had a bad stretch.
2013 Started 20-3, then lost 4 out of 5.
2014 Started 25-0, then lost 4 out of 5.

There's an obvious pattern here. A combination of easy early schedule plus limited rotation spells doom at the end of the regular season. 8 out of the last 10 years have been the same. This year, for the first time, I looked at this pattern and tempered my expectations. As last year showed, the NCAA tournament is a crap shoot, but I expect a result more like 2011 than 2013.

 

[cuseguy]

No Grant is no excuse for losing to Ga. Tech at home. None.

Sweet 16 is our new Final 4.

I should have seen this coming back in November when we struggled to beat a really bad Cornell team.

 

[orangezen]

without Grant we may not win another game ...

 

[cuseguy]

without Grant we may not win another game ...

With Grant we may not win another game.

 

[pearl31]

I should have seen this coming back in November when we struggled to beat a really bad Cornell team.

I mean, I agree with the basic point of your post, but the quoted part here is ridiculous. Should you have seen it coming when we blitzed Nova (possible 1 seed) in December? Or when we played lights out offensively in beating Duke (possible 1 seed)?

 

[Trueblue25]

Lets all collectively grow a pair. We've been here before.

 

[Briancuse]

Lets all collectively grow a pair. We've been here before.

When was the last time we lost to two teams with a losing record at home?

 

[CaptainJ]

without Grant we may not win another game ...

We may not win another game with a Grant that isn't at 100% either. Anything less than 100% is very subjective, and having struggled with back problems, I know how integral it is to the rest of the body. As others have said though, having Grant out is NOT a valid reason to lose to the Yellowjackets at home during a crucial stretch run. We were still favored by 15.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Lets all collectively grow a pair. We've been here before.

I don't care about the fans growing a pair, I care about the team growing a pair. They've been playing like a junior high girls team lately.

 

[Trueblue25]

When was the last time we lost to two teams with a losing record at home?

If I've learned one thing as a Syracuse athletics fan it's that nothing is a given. Sure we layer two T Rex sized eggs. But there's reasons for that. We were up too high after the Duke game, got knocked down a few levels, got injured, got knocked down a few more and now here we are...hopefully rock bottom.

If our coach is as good as we all believe him to be, and if these players are truly the athletics and team players we think they are... then we'll have it figured out when it matters.

We're Syracuse University, we should be ready and healthy for the dance.

 

[CaptainJ]

Lets all collectively grow a pair. We've been here before.

We are collectively growing a bigger pair than we've had ALL SEASON and expressing the concerns that others have poo pooed and made us out to be negative Nancies if we dared utter them.

Do I think we can turn things around? Sure. But it's going to take my mind and heart some time to rationalize that with the mountain of data at hand suggests otherwise. Trust me, I will try my man but it aint happening right now.