So say Edwards gets hurt again

[TinyManInside]

I think he believes he can get to the tournament with this team.

We, as fans, need to adjust our expectations as I mentioned months ago. Best case scenarios until Jim steps away will be bubble teams.

Could this team without any more portal pickups be a bubble team? MAYBE.
Could it also be a complete disaster? MAYBE
Will we be a top 25 team all year and a high seed? No. If you are expecting it that this point, it's on you. And trust me, I was where you might be. No reason to pee into the wind.

FWIW, it's not what I want and I'm not trying to say it's ok. It's just what it is until JB steps down.

The problem is that every added year of this MAYBE weakens the brand, and makes coming back to perennial top-25 status that much steeper of a hill to climb.

 

[RF2044]

The problem is that every added year of this MAYBE weakens the brand, and makes coming back to perennial top-25 status that much steeper of a hill to climb.

This is the main reason why an internal hire, handing the reigns to an unproven commodity, makes zero strategic sense.

If we were humming along at 22-8, then it would make sense. You give the successor 2-3 years to see if they can sustain that level of play, and if not make a move before things deteriorate too far.

Problem is, things have already deteriorated to an unacceptable level. We don't have the 2-3 year buffer / cushion to gamble on an unproven commodity and cross our fingers to see what happens.

JB hanging on too long, and the consistent downward trend in program performance, has whittled away that margin for error, unfortunately.

 

[kcsu]

It wont matter.

 

[dasher]

This is the main reason why an internal hire, handing the reigns to an unproven commodity, makes zero strategic sense.

If we were humming along at 22-8, then it would make sense. You give the successor 2-3 years to see if they can sustain that level of play, and if not make a move before things deteriorate too far.

Problem is, things have already deteriorated to an unacceptable level. We don't have the 2-3 year buffer / cushion to gamble on an unproven commodity and cross our fingers to see what happens.

JB hanging on too long, and the consistent downward trend in program performance, has whittled away that margin for error, unfortunately.

It's even more than that. We have become both predictable and stale. Staying in house isn't going to change that. I know jb is the boss but I would love to hear,and I haven't, that at least one coach told JB that they thought we needed another forward. It's possible that one did, I'll grant that, but none of us have heard anything like that.

 

[dasher]

It wont matter.

I am confidant that no current coach has been told that they have the job.

 

[AZOrange]

Well, I've been a Bon Jovi fan since my youth. And, I went to their concert here in Charlotte just over a week or so ago. Unfortunately, this concert/JBJ's vocals nowadays pains me similar to the state that SU hoops does.

Apparently, just as JB believes...JBJ still believes he can sing live too. I mean, '100,000,000 Bon Jovi fans can't be wrong.'

After watching this I am reminded of Springsteen’s greatness…

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Why do we do this to ourselves?

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Why do we do this to ourselves?

In my case it's because I'm a moron with a well-documented history of making poor decisions with my time.

 

[UBandCuse]

Been saying this on other transfer posts and I hate being a pessimist but the truth at hand is we have lost a backup center who barely was able to squeak by when our only real C went down with injury AND we lost Swiders scoring and shooting ability beyond the arc. The unfortunate part was we only have one scholarship left to fill two areas we badly need help in.

With no one else being mentioned and us being heavily involved in Ballard, one can assume that they are prioritizing replacing Frank. On paper that would be 4 Centers on paper (JBA, Carey, jesse, and replacement backup). We don’t know if Carey will be fully healthy or able to perform after a year off. We don’t know if JBA will be healthy and if he is what can even be reasonably expected of him. We know Jesse had a wrist injury and that when he went down, our two other options on the roster struggled a lot. While it isn’t a knee injury, a wrist injury for a C isn’t exactly a walk in the park either due to their involvement/physicality of the game and healing times. So I can see why the staff is focusing on replacing Frank. Replacing him with Ballard wasn’t a good idea and I’m very happy we missed out on him. All the best to Q at Wichita St.

What we also know is that we lost pretty much every scorer/perimeter threat besides Joe. I don’t lump Benny into that category yet but I’m he’ll be there. Now, in order to replace the scoring and the shooting, we are relying on the freshman coming in who are ready and Benny/Joe. That is what really concerns me. We get a backup C, great. But Jesse goes down and it’s a player similar to Ballard tasked to step up, and we haven’t added any proven scorers to help the freshmen then I think it could really ugly.

My stance all along is to find an upperclassman 4 with length who is a decent 3 point threat. They replace the scoring and with their length can help out at C. That might allow Carey to get some mins this year when Jesse is sitting so that we can develop him quicker. If Jesse goes down in that scenario, at least you still have scoring and Carey might be more ready to step up since he benefited from not RS’ing.

With SU not being involved with any C’s in 2023 and jesse presumably gone next year, they must be really high on Carey.

 

[goofnoff]

When Jesse was hurt last year you had to know the season was over. Jesse became our difference maker. What happens when he fouls out? We need a backup center so we can rest him, and save his fouls.

 

[Giants1973]

When Jesse was hurt last year you had to know the season was over. Jesse became our difference maker. What happens when he fouls out? We need a backup center so we can rest him, and save his fouls.

We going to have jon bol, Carey and brown for that.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Are we certain this is his last year?

Really wish we had someone here with connections to JW. Nobody knows what he’s thinking, what his patience limit is, etc. Have they even discussed a final end date? All this ‘maybe’ stuff is torture.

 

[Giants1973]

We going to have jon bol, Carey and brown for that.

Why dislike?

 

[djcon57]

The problem is that every added year of this MAYBE weakens the brand, and makes coming back to perennial top-25 status that much steeper of a hill to climb.

No doubt.

But until Jim leaves this is what we got. No use in stamping our feet. I’m just trying to come to grips with the reality. He’s not leaving.

 

[RF2044]

It wont matter.

It matters a helluva lot.

Many posters believe that Hop being the successor is a fait accompli, but there's an alternative that prediction doesn't account for. What if there's a rift between JB and Hop, and JB isn't supportive of Hop getting the job anymore? Because then it's Red / GMac versus the external field -- and keeping things in-house gets a helluva lot less attractive.

I think the above scenario is a lot closer to what's bubbling beneath the surface than some realize.

 

[miamicuse]

Having a backup center is not just to step in for Jesse when he is on foul trouble, or if he gets an injury, it is also needed to prevent Jesse from an injury...centers take a lot of pounding, the knees especially, and if they are playing 35 minutes a game, on back to back nights without the rest and recovery time, that's when you are more injury prone.

 

[Jasoncuse]

I'm sorry, who cares if kids transfer because they are sitting behind guys that are better than them? It isn't worth a losing team to get guys experience. We were never that kind of program. And we shouldn't be now. This staff should be hitting the road trying to get us in with a quality portal forward. We aren't but we should be. We have a question mark with Benny and a complete unknown at the other forward.

Absolutely.

This isn't 10, 15, 25 years ago. You can't afford to let kids develop, especially when that'll be the majority of the team that needs it. Especially when you're 78 years old. Especially when you don't play the bench to get them experience/development anyhow. Especially coming off the first losing season since before the moon landing. Especially when the program has been reduced to mediocrity at best over the past decade. Especially when others programs we used to be considered contemporaries with have fully adjusted to the current age, while we haven't. Especially when the fanbase is restless, to be kind.

Whether or not there are ruminations happening behind the scenes doesn't matter all that much when the product on the floor and the lack of movement to improve is front and center. Thinking the current squad has any chance to compete for anything more than a 9-12 seed is asinine, and even that is likely a stretch with how bad our wing production, defense and rebounding could be.

 

[FrancoPizza]

No doubt.

But until Jim leaves this is what we got. No use in stamping our feet. I’m just trying to come to grips with the reality. He’s not leaving.

Don’t stamp your feet. But DO email John Wildhack with your concerns and keep it constructive.

 

[rrlbees]

Don’t stamp your feet. But DO email John Wildhack with your concerns and keep it constructive.

Won’t do a thing. John listens to fans and responds to many emails. But he’s not going to listen to fans, nor should it, when it comes to staffing or hiring practices. How did it work out with all the Babers complaints?

 

[kcsu]

Won’t do a thing. John listens to fans and responds to many emails. But he’s not going to listen to fans, nor should it, when it comes to staffing or hiring practices. How did it work out with all the Babers complaints?

Who knows, but i have to think it did help him direct Dino in a direction that was needed. JW press conference outlined changes he expected and many if not all of them were apparent to boosters and fans.

 

[djcon57]

Don’t stamp your feet. But DO email John Wildhack with your concerns and keep it constructive.

Emails are nice. Doesnt matter. Only way anything would be done would be drop in attendance or money coming in. I don't want our fans to go away as we've seen with football its hard to get them back.

So, my point stands, get to the tourney and we'll go from there. Continue to having losing seasons, I would expect the drop to happen regardless of what I think/hope.

 

[rrlbees]

Who knows, but i have to think it did help him direct Dino in a direction that was needed. JW press conference outlined changes he expected and many if not all of them were apparent to boosters and fans.

Yea by opening the checkbook which Babers couldn’t do. Point is, many fans including probably 3/4!here wanted Babers gone. Many expressed that opinion to JW. Didn’t happen.’

 

[FrancoPizza]

Won’t do a thing. John listens to fans and responds to many emails. But he’s not going to listen to fans, nor should it, when it comes to staffing or hiring practices. How did it work out with all the Babers complaints?

It doesn’t hurt to spend 10 minutes writing a well-thought email. He needs to hear the fan frustration or at least appreciate that frustration is mounting. There has to be a correlation to ticket sales here, even if they don’t publish the numbers.

 

[ORANGE OATH]

What is true for football is, or will be equally true for basketball, empty seats promote change.
When attendance falls, then and only then does SU act .

 

[kcsu]

Yea by opening the checkbook which Babers couldn’t do. Point is, many fans including probably 3/4!here wanted Babers gone. Many expressed that opinion to JW. Didn’t happen.’

It didnt happen primarily because of the buyout.