So raise your hand if..

[SoBeCuse]

I'm not saying they are a fluke. What I am saying is our rectruits have been consistently rated higher. Either Barnes has been awesome at spotting guys that have been flying under the radar or he done a great job developing them. Regardless, given a HOF coach, our history, and our facilities we should be seeing similar results. It's not like we have a bunch of freshman just figuring it out. We have experience at every position. Even with our experienced PG working his way back after an injury, we should have enough experience and talent at all the other positions to beat UConn and not squeek it out against Georgetown.

Not sure how talented SU is frankly. Not a good team last year except for a week or so and even then the offense was a disaster. Again, not much out of the C position. Not much physicality either. Pace is slow. Zone lets teams hang around and/or dictate. All the ISO and dribble drives for a bunch of lanky and not the fastest guys who probably won’t get drafted. Tyus has a chance but we seem far too reliant on him to come up big putting mediocre teams away. Hughes is a good player but lots of good teams have a bunch of Hughes-types. Brissett struggles finishing. Regression from some players. Nothing from Buddy. Some poorly timed injuries. Training wheels on Carey. That’s a start of some of the issues.

 

[pearl31]

That’s a start of some of the issues.

this is why we just love your lens so very much.

someone's cranky cuz USC suuuuucks this year

 

[SoBeCuse]

this is why we just love your lens so very much.

someone's cranky cuz USC suuuuucks this year

Haha. They do suck indeed. But, I don’t think I’m wrong re: my post. Precisely why I picked Cornell, GTown, UConn, etc. to cover. We can squeak out these games but not good enough to really separate and dispose of these teams properly.

 

[pearl31]

Haha. They do suck indeed. But, I don’t think I’m wrong re: my post.

Wrong? Yeah, probably. I would like to see you perform this same ultra-harsh analysis on any number of other "good" teams around the country.
Have you watched, say, Nevada play yet? N.Carolina? Purdue? W.Virginia? Kansas State?

 

[OrangeDW]

That's fair. Those guys also had multiple attempts. Durant had one. Honest question, who else was on that team? Was he the whole thing?

Pretty sure they had DJ Augustin and that Abrams’ kid who was a big time 3 point shooter. They were young. 2 freshmen and a soph I believe.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Wrong? Yeah, probably. I would like to see you perform this same ultra-harsh analysis on any number of other "good" teams around the country.
Have you watched, say, Nevada play yet? N.Carolina? Purdue? W.Virginia? Kansas State?

Harsh? It seems pretty honest to me. At least from what I see out there. Speculation on NBA potential but I see what I see on the court. But, yes, I actually have seen all of those teams play this year except for WVU. Would we be favored in any of those matchups? Doubtful.

 

[pearl31]

Harsh? It seems pretty honest to me. At least from what I see out there. Speculation on NBA potential but I see what I see on the court. But, yes, I actually have seen all of those teams play this year except for WVU. Would we be favored in any of those matchups? Doubtful.

Wow, then. You see things interestingly I guess. We shall see come Feb/March.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Here are some other "fine" coach's NCAAT records.

Gregg Marshall: 11-14
Kelvin Sampson: 13-15
Mike Brey: 13-14
Mark Gottfried: 10-11
Dana Altman: 13-13
Jamie Dixon: 12-12
Matt Painter: 12-11
Steve Alford: 11-11
Tom Crean: 11-9
Lon Kruger: 20-18

I only included coaches with at least 20 games and who were less than 3 games over .500 in aggregate. If "all you really need to say" about the guy is that he keeps this company then I'd say he's done pretty darn well for himself.

Bold = Final Four (2* for Kruger)
Italics = Elite Eight appearance

That Marshall record......Yikes.

 

[OrangeDW]

Not sure how talented SU is frankly. Not a good team last year except for a week or so and even then the offense was a disaster. Again, not much out of the C position. Not much physicality either. Pace is slow. Zone lets teams hang around and/or dictate. All the ISO and dribble drives for a bunch of lanky and not the fastest guys who probably won’t get drafted. Tyus has a chance but we seem far too reliant on him to come up big putting mediocre teams away. Hughes is a good player but lots of good teams have a bunch of Hughes-types. Brissett struggles finishing. Regression from some players. Nothing from Buddy. Some poorly timed injuries. Training wheels on Carey. That’s a start of some of the issues.

I would mostly agree as far as looking at high level individual talent. Though I still think the pieces are there for this to be a very good college team. If a couple key guys play better, and there’s reason to think they can, and the chemistry on both ends really comes together the way it often does - this team could still become very good.

That said, we had a long string of first round picks - and I don’t see one here. I don’t think there’s anyone at this point that I think is a lock to play in the NBA and there’s only a few guys with a chance. In our 2009-14 run we had Flynn, Johnson, Waiters, Grant, Melo - super athletic studs. They were on a different level athletically than our guys now.

* Carey may be the exception, but he’s only a freshman and pretty raw still. Tyus is a very good college player and a solid athlete who is always in great shape, but those kinds of guys I named above were a notch above athletically IMO.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Wow, then. You see things interestingly I guess. We shall see come Feb/March.

Yep. Wake me up when we are a Top 4 seed and start playing exciting basketball.

 

[pearl31]

Yep. Wake me up when we are a Top 4 seed and start playing exciting basketball.

ahhh so it's about exciting, got it.

(if that's the case, maybe you should REwatch some of those teams I listed and you claim to have watched play )

 

[SoBeCuse]

ahhh so it's about exciting, got it.

(if that's the case, maybe you should REwatch some of those teams I listed and you claim to have watched play )

I don’t care about those other teams. They are better than us however and I stand by it, regardless of their style. They play better ball, have more fundamentals, move the ball, fewer W-the-F plays, better shooters, competence in the paint, etc. What’s wrong with wanting an exciting style of play again?

 

[realorange]

All of this hand wringing about what we do or don't have for a team.

With key players still getting to the level of play they are capable, they are still 2-3 weeks away from showing what they really can do.

Be patient and do your judgement then.

 

[SoBeCuse]

All of this hand wringing about what we do or don't have for a team.

With key players still getting to the level of play they are capable, they are still 2-3 weeks away from showing what they really can do.

Be patient and do your judgement then.

Fair enough.

 

[PoppyHart]

That Marshall record...Yikes.

In his defense several losses were of the 1 vs. 16 variety while at Winthrop and he did not have the luxury of facing a Tony Bennett-coached team.

 

[moqui]

Psychological impact is BS. The last time we had a post season ban we won the Big East tournament.

first of all, they lost that game by 33 points.

second of all, they were allowed to play in the bet. the 2015 squad had a full post season ban, not even a conference tourney to look forward too.

the psychology was real

 

[pearl31]

They are better than us however and I stand by it, regardless of their style

and with this I now know for certain:
you're either being contrarian/hyperbolic as hell just cuz it's fun for you an a Syracuse fan forum or you truly don't know what the hell you're looking at.
either way, you're a hoot

 

[721Comstock]

That's fair. Those guys also had multiple attempts. Durant had one. Honest question, who else was on that team? Was he the whole thing?

DJ Augustin, plus 2 other guys who played some Pro ball, Damion James & Dexter Pittman.
Augustin was 9th pick in NBA draft, James 24th, Pittman 32nd.

Not just the KD show, by any means.

Rick Barnes could not make the Sweet Sixteen with FOUR future NBA players, including a HOF lock.

 

[PoppyHart]

DJ Augustin, plus 2 other guys who played some Pro ball, Damion James & Dexter Pittman.
Augustin was 9th pick in NBA draft, James 24th, Pittman 32nd.

Not just the KD show, by any means.

Rick Barnes could not make the Sweet Sixteen with FOUR future NBA players, including a HOF lock.

Coach K couldn't make it out of the 1st round in 2012 with 8 future NBA players, or in 2014 with 5 future NBA players.

 

[OrangeDW]

Coach K couldn't make it out of the 1st round in 2012 with 8 future NBA players, or in 2014 with 5 future NBA players.

Yeah but “Jim Boheim didn’t even win da nAshional title with Derek Coleman. N he needed Carmello Anthony ta win it all.”

 

[PoppyHart]

Yeah but “Jim Boheim didn’t even win da nAshional title with Derek Coleman. N he needed Carmello Anthony ta win it all.”

You had me until I noticed how you spelled Boeheim. No idiot would ever spell it the way you did.

 

[FrancoPizza]

ahhh so it's about exciting, got it.

is it a crime to cherish sports as entertainment? We haven’t played a fun brand of ball in 5+ years.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Yep. Wake me up when we are a Top 4 seed and start playing exciting basketball.

Going to Sweet 16’s, Elite 8’s, and Final 4’s, all while disposing of 1 Seeds along the way, seems mighty “exciting” to me.
I don’t care if we win every game 15-13...who gives a good rats azz as long as we advance in March!?
Take your “exciting b-ball in November” mantra and put it where the sun don’t shine.
I’ll take a good showing in March as my benchmark. Grow the f’k up, already! Sheesh. JMHO

 

[sugrad68]

Not sure how talented SU is frankly. Not a good team last year except for a week or so and even then the offense was a disaster. Again, not much out of the C position. Not much physicality either. Pace is slow. Zone lets teams hang around and/or dictate. All the ISO and dribble drives for a bunch of lanky and not the fastest guys who probably won’t get drafted. Tyus has a chance but we seem far too reliant on him to come up big putting mediocre teams away. Hughes is a good player but lots of good teams have a bunch of Hughes-types. Brissett struggles finishing. Regression from some players. Nothing from Buddy. Some poorly timed injuries. Training wheels on Carey. That’s a start of some of the issues.

Usually I agree 100% with most of your posts but in this case I think you are far too negative on this year's team. Howard has given the team little due to his injury. Brissett was a rebounding force against Gtown, much like last year, although his offensive game has not yet improved. Hughes gives the team a 3-point shooter better than any player on the team and opens up the floor for the other players. Battle is not forcing shots because he knows he has other options on the team. I'll take 8 points a game from Chukwu any game. Would like more rebounds though. Dolezaj drew that charging foul on Saturday which was HUGE. Once Carey learns the college game he will be better than Howard. I love his attitude/competitiveness.

So I think this team has great upside. But you never know which SU team you'll get -- the first half team against GTown or the 2nd half team against GTown.

 

[NineOneSeven]

All of this hand wringing about what we do or don't have for a team.

With key players still getting to the level of play they are capable, they are still 2-3 weeks away from showing what they really can do.

Be patient and do your judgement then.

Will it be allowed or no?