So raise your hand if..

[OrangeMojo]

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

Wow - grow the f’k up because he wants to watch fun basketball and not tedious rock fights?

You realize that winning games and being fun to watch aren’t mutually exclusive, right? There’s nothing wrong with not being enamored with this current version of SU “offense” and wanting to see the team get back to a point where they’re not routinely in 55-51 root canals.

My favorite offenses to watch of all-time were coached by Jim Boeheim - I really hope that his end goal is to get back to having one of those types of teams once again.

 

[SoBeCuse]

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.

I respect your opinion. My position is mostly this...how much have we truly improved? It was a dumpster fire of an offense most of last season for a myriad of reasons. The team squeaked into the Tourney and did an admirable job. Defense first and foremost. How much better are/will we be? We see lots of the same bad habits, plodding, etc. I guess it is fair to truly make an accurate assessment in a couple of weeks.

 

[SoBeCuse]

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

Better just ignore then. The eyes don’t lie. We’ll see moving forward.

 

[sugrad68]

I respect your opinion. My position is mostly this...how much have we truly improved? It was a dumpster fire of an offense most of last season for a myriad of reasons. The team squeaked into the Tourney and did an admirable job. Defense first and foremost. How much better are/will we be? We see lots of the same bad habits, plodding, etc. I guess it is fair to truly make an accurate assessment in a couple of weeks.

Hughes makes a huge difference on this year's team -- 4 shooters instead of 3. In the last 2 games the number of assists to baskets ratio has been better than last year. Until GTown went 2-3 zone the offense was flowing well in the 2nd half. Howard not being 100% has had a negative impact on the team and Carey at times playing like the Freshman he is has not helped.

I agree with you that we will be able to make a more accurate assessment of the team in a few weeks.

 

[AZOrange]

Wow - grow the f’k up because he wants to watch fun basketball and not tedious rock fights?

You realize that winning games and being fun to watch aren’t mutually exclusive, right? There’s nothing wrong with not being enamored with this current version of SU “offense” and wanting to see the team get back to a point where they’re not routinely in 55-51 root canals.

My favorite offenses to watch of all-time were coached by Jim Boeheim - I really hope that his end goal is to get back to having one of those types of teams once again.

Hindsight is always 20/20 but those SU teams had plenty of woeful offensive nights and lulls during games.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Hughes makes a huge difference on this year's team -- 4 shooters instead of 3. In the last 2 games the number of assists to baskets ratio has been better than last year. Until GTown went 2-3 zone the offense was flowing well in the 2nd half. Howard not being 100% has had a negative impact on the team and Carey at times playing like the Freshman he is has not helped.

I agree with you that we will be able to make a more accurate assessment of the team in a few weeks.

No doubt. Howard is what he is. A slow PG, regardless of the style JB chooses to play. Still plays east-west far too much for my liking even when 100%. He’s a good passer and was hoping he would be off the ball some if Carey was more advanced than he is now. Howard can be a capable 3pt shooter. But, sigh, the team is mostly inept without Howard at PG and that is not good.

I like Hughes but he’s a typical good college P5 swingman/2G. Some people were projecting an All-American or Wes Johnson type of guy but I think his game is a little overhyped because we were so godawful offensively last year. I like him though...especially for this offense.

Centers will prob be a fail all year. Some occasional bright spots. Marek you never know. Prob better suited for a zone. Not a guy one should ‘count on’ IMO. He’s a WD-40 role/bench player. Fine. Some games against beefier frontlines he just won’t be able to compete. Those are just some of the reasons for my position but we’ll see. LGO!

 

[sufandu]

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

My fault. I was mixing it up with 1992. I still think you overestimate the negative impact of the post season ban. That 1993 team overachieved to make the Big East final after being unranked the last half of the season. The 2014-15 team had more incentive to play hard during the regular season because that was all they had. I just don't think high level athletes are that weak minded. They're too competitive.

The self imposed ban was announced on February 4th that year. We already had 7 losses at that point including one by 14 points to a Cal team that finished 17-15 and had a losing record in the Pac 12, and we had fallen out of the rankings as of the week of 11/24. We also had losses to a Clemson team that finished 16-15 and finished 9th in the conference with a losing conference record and an average Miami team that spent a total of 5 weeks ranked that year, mostly at the beginning of the season.

We just weren't very good that year.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Wow - grow the f’k up because he wants to watch fun basketball and not tedious rock fights?

You realize that winning games and being fun to watch aren’t mutually exclusive, right? There’s nothing wrong with not being enamored with this current version of SU “offense” and wanting to see the team get back to a point where they’re not routinely in 55-51 root canals.

My favorite offenses to watch of all-time were coached by Jim Boeheim - I really hope that his end goal is to get back to having one of those types of teams once again.

Look, I get the point, and I do apologize to SoBeCuse for the enflamed language...hard day yesterday.
Its just that I get tried of the incessant whining, in December no less, when we still have the majority of the season to finish.
Like it or not, MCBB is ALL about March. And yes, the run-n-gun Orangemen of Sherm Douglas were great. But I don't think JB gets enough credit for adapting to his personnel, year after year.
"Exciting" bball is great and all, but not while getting ousted by some mid-major in the 2nd Round. Remember Richmond, Vermont, Butler, & Dayton recently? Those teams won tons of regular-season games, and lost in "exciting" fashion.
I'm not saying I didn't love those teams, but personally...its all about the Dance. Style points mean absolutely zilch to me. If we're the last boring team in, and make the Final 4...I'll take that outcome over any other. Don't care HOW they win...just win, baby! (Shoutout to SU's own Al Davis)

 

[SoBeCuse]

Look, I get the point, and I do apologize to SoBeCuse for the enflamed language...hard day yesterday.
Its just that I get tried of the incessant whining, in December no less, when we still have the majority of the season to finish.
Like it or not, MCBB is ALL about March. And yes, the run=n-gun Orangemen of Sherm Douglas were great. But I don't think JB gets enough credit for adapting to his personnel, year after year.
"Exciting" bball is great and all, but not while getting ousted by some mid-major in the 2nd Round. Remember Richmond, Vermont, Butler, & Dayton recently? Those teams won tons of regular-season games, and lost in "exciting" fashion.
I'm not saying I didn't love those teams, but personally...its all about the Dance. Style points mean absolutely zilch to me. If we're the last boring team in, and make the Final 4...I'll take that outcome over any other. Don't care HOW they win...just win, baby! (Shoutout to SU's own Al Davis)

The Dayton team loss was dying a slow death Jan/Feb on but I get your point. That’s certainly one way to look at it. I probably need to take a TO from the board, ha.

 

[sufandu]

Look, I get the point, and I do apologize to SoBeCuse for the enflamed language...hard day yesterday.
Its just that I get tried of the incessant whining, in December no less, when we still have the majority of the season to finish.
Like it or not, MCBB is ALL about March. And yes, the run=n-gun Orangemen of Sherm Douglas were great. But I don't think JB gets enough credit for adapting to his personnel, year after year.
"Exciting" bball is great and all, but not while getting ousted by some mid-major in the 2nd Round. Remember Richmond, Vermont, Butler, & Dayton recently? Those teams won tons of regular-season games, and lost in "exciting" fashion.
I'm not saying I didn't love those teams, but personally...its all about the Dance. Style points mean absolutely zilch to me. If we're the last boring team in, and make the Final 4...I'll take that outcome over any other. Don't care HOW they win...just win, baby! (Shoutout to SU's own Al Davis)

I guess that is personal preference. If it were all about March for me I wouldn't bother watching the regular season the same way I watch almost no NFL until the playoffs. Successful regular seasons are just as exciting for me as the tournament and JB even said the regular season is a better barometer for how good a team is than the tournament. It almost sounds like you're saying it should be an either/or situation. That's not the case. There is a reason that when you look at the history of the tourney the highest seeds have the best track record. The only time we made the final four seeded lower than 4 was our most recent one, so our best tournament success has typically come after a good regular season. The regular season matters.

 

[Cusefan0307]

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.

You’d be wrong. We would be favored against a K State and WVU on a neutral court. Purdue at home.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I guess that is personal preference. If it were all about March for me I wouldn't bother watching the regular season the same way I watch almost no NFL until the playoffs. Successful regular seasons are just as exciting for me as the tournament and JB even said the regular season is a better barometer for how good a team is than the tournament. It almost sounds like you're saying it should be an either/or situation. That's not the case. There is a reason that when you look at the history of the tourney the highest seeds have the best track record. The only time we made the final four seeded lower than 4 was our most recent one, so our best tournament success has typically come after a good regular season. The regular season matters.

Agreed- and it doesn't have to be an either/or situation. I bet you dollars to donuts JB would prefer to run-n-gun...he's done it before and would love to do it again. But again, he's dealing with the cards he's been dealt in terms of personnel. Last year's team COULDN'T run much, they went 6 deep!
This year, all 3 PG's got hurt and the team is taking a little while to finally gel. I think it'll happen, so I'm not gonna get bent outta shape losing to UConn/Oregon in Nov., or having an ugly, tight rivalry game vs GTown 2 weeks later.
I'm hoping that by March, when it'll matter so much more, that the team will be peaking and we can do some real damage. Its not that I don't value the regular season, its that I know we're in the first course of a 4 course meal...so why fill up on bread while I'm waiting for the entree? Capiche?

 

[Cusefan0307]

Here’s the problem. The same people that complain now were the same people complaining when we won around 30 games from 09-13. The difference was then people complained about JB losing in the tourney early or before the FF. Now it’s the opposite. We are better in the tournament than the regular season and those posters are still complaining.

I dug up threads on this a few weeks ago and I got called out for digging this stuff up because it upset posters that their opinion has now changed.

I’ve stayed away from the bs on the b-ball board the pst couple weeks because it’s turned into a bunch of insufferables repeating the same opinion over and over drowning out any opinion they don’t agree with. Maybe if posters showed some consistency from year to year and era go era ya’ll wouldn’t get called out when your opinion is disagreed with.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Here’s the problem. The same people that complain now were the same people complaining when we won around 30 games from 09-13. The difference was then people complained about JB losing in the tourney early or before the FF. Now it’s the opposite. We are better in the tournament Thant the regular season and those posters are still complaining.

I dug up threads on this a few weeks ago and I got called out for digging this stuff up because it upset posters that their opinion has now changed.

I’ve stayed away from the bs on the b-ball board the pst couple weeks because it’s turned into a bunch of insufferables repeating the same opinion over and over drowning out any opinion they don’t agree with. Maybe if posters showed some consistency from year to year and era go era ya’ll wouldn’t get called out when your opinion is disagreed with.

Is that true?

 

[djcon57]

Here’s the problem. The same people that complain now were the same people complaining when we won around 30 games from 09-13. The difference was then people complained about JB losing in the tourney early or before the FF. Now it’s the opposite. We are better in the tournament than the regular season and those posters are still complaining.

I dug up threads on this a few weeks ago and I got called out for digging this stuff up because it upset posters that their opinion has now changed.

I’ve stayed away from the bs on the b-ball board the pst couple weeks because it’s turned into a bunch of insufferables repeating the same opinion over and over drowning out any opinion they don’t agree with. Maybe if posters showed some consistency from year to year and era go era ya’ll wouldn’t get called out when your opinion is disagreed with.

I’m not disagreeing per se but are you sure you’ve stayed away from the b-ball board? You have posts and likes literally every day for like a month. Seems like you are using some hyperbole

 

[Cusefan0307]

Is that true?

I’m not disagreeing per se but are you sure you’ve stayed away from the b-ball board? You have posts and likes literally every day for like a month. Seems like you are using some hyperbole

Fair enough. I meant the bickering since Georgetown. Not the board in general.

 

[SoBeCuse]

You’d be wrong. We would be favored against a K State and WVU on a neutral court. Purdue at home.

You know this for certain?

 

[pearl31]

You know this for certain?

kenpom certain. but of course that can't touch a SoBe certain

 

[sufandu]

Here’s the problem. The same people that complain now were the same people complaining when we won around 30 games from 09-13. The difference was then people complained about JB losing in the tourney early or before the FF. Now it’s the opposite. We are better in the tournament than the regular season and those posters are still complaining.

I dug up threads on this a few weeks ago and I got called out for digging this stuff up because it upset posters that their opinion has now changed.

I’ve stayed away from the bs on the b-ball board the pst couple weeks because it’s turned into a bunch of insufferables repeating the same opinion over and over drowning out any opinion they don’t agree with. Maybe if posters showed some consistency from year to year and era go era ya’ll wouldn’t get called out when your opinion is disagreed with.

People want both. There was a lot of talk back then about whether we were a blue blood. Blue bloods have both regular season and postseason success.

 

[SoBeCuse]

kenpom certain. but of course that can't touch a SoBe certain

Oooh, snap.

 

[dasher]

People want both. There was a lot of talk back then about whether we were a blue blood. Blue bloods have both regular season and postseason success.

I read somewhere that we are 5th or 6th in all time wins. Would that count as regular season wins?

 

[sufandu]

I read somewhere that we are 5th or 6th in all time wins. Would that count as regular season wins?

Yeah. That wasn't the point of my response. The poster I responded to said people complained about our early tourney losses when we had regular season success. And now people complain about our lack of regular season success compared to our recent tourney success. I was pointing out that the established blue bloods frequently have both and that at the time there was frequent discussion that we should be considered a blue blood. Wanting both regular season and post season success simultaneously coincides with the blue blood discussion.

 

[dasher]

Yeah. That wasn't the point of my response. The poster I responded to said people complained about our early tourney losses when we had regular season success. And now people complain about our lack of regular season compared to our recent tourney success. I was pointing out that the established blue bloods frequent have both and that at the time there was frequent discussion that we should be considerwd a blue blood. Wanting both regular season and post season success simultaneously coincides with the blue blood discussion.

We are a strange school in that regard. We seem to be either or.

 

[orange79]

Oooh, snap.

Actually, I kinda like it.

"I'm so certain, I'm SoBe certain!"

 

[sufandu]

We are a strange school in that regard. We seem to be either or.

And really it may be more perception than reality. That has really only been the case our last two tournament appearances which are mixed in with missing the tournament entirely. As I said in an earlier post, all of our previous final four runs were as a 4 seed or higher. And really some of the recent upsets we suffered were still good runs. The last two times we were 1 seeds we made the elite 8 and were missing key players both times.

I would take a 2009-10 season, when both regular season and post season are considered, over anything we have had since. That was a fun year with electric offense, really good defense, and a lot of W's.