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Message: [QUOTE="Flacusian, post: 2234841, member: 264"] Much truth to what you have said here...BUT, after several seasons where we ostensibly had a shot at winning it all many fans were entertaining the notion that we were, in fact, nudging our way into Blue Blood territory. The injury to Arinze and then the Fab Melo conflagration followed by the culmination of the 10 year witch hunt and NCAA and subsequent sanctions was then followed by the unexpected and untimely departures of some kids who we assumed would have a little bit of a longer tenure on the hill. The atmosphere of uncertainty with JB supposedly retiring and now the departure of Hop added yet another component of anti-recruiting ju-ju. All of this in my opinion has led to emergence of fan-fatigue... and the perennial conjecture that "we are on the precipice of having a great team". When you consider how things unfolded last year it's no wonder that many fans are entertaining unprecedented levels of doubt and questioning the future of the program. Many die hard fans sat on the edge of our seats waiting out the Andrew White sweepstakes and lest we not forget how many here were heralding last years team (JB included in this posse) as perhaps the best to ever take the floor for the Orange. We all know how that turned out. But hey, happens and I think we all get that. More importantly, what I'm speaking to is the fan fatigue which has set in and a general malaise which has arisen as we watch the program whiff on top player after top player. Missing out on top 50 guys happens all the time. I get that. But when viewed in conjunction with all of the things I have mentioned above it takes on a different complexion. Simply said, it would be less than truthful to say that we haven't lost some of the shine that the program once had. There is no denying the fact that we have been unable to get the top kids to put on Orange. There is really no disputing that. It is a fact and as hard as it is to swallow... in the end... it's fact. Many will counter with the fact that we have never had a steady flow of top 50 kids and JB has a rep for doing more with diamonds in the rough who have flown under the radar and JB has a knack for finding. Again, all true but at the same time we more often than not had one really good kid coming in with each class. Any honest self appraisal of the team and the program would also have to acknowledge the fact that the mystique that was once associated with the Dome is not what it once was. Programs which enjoy new venues with a more intimate setting can land big time kids by also providing them with enhanced living facilities with all the creature comforts wanted by the coddled to players of the current day. The successful programs of the next decade will put effort into making their programs the kind of place that kids want to go to where they can be lavished with a ridiculous level of amenities and a place that seemingly " all the other good kids want to go there too". With the break up of the Big East and the emergence of super luxury digs for players at other places Syracuse is faced with the problem of putting some shine back into the prospect of playing at Syracuse. The old paradigm no longer works. Do kids want to come play in a cavernous domed football facility with a blue curtain and an aged curmudgeon coach who can be acerbic and grumpy and... well, downright nasty during pressers, and for a team which has struggled to win a post season conference game and has failed to make the dance recently? I love JB and respect all that he has accomplished both on and off the court. There can be no understating his importance to the program and college basketball in general but I have mixed feelings that perhaps we have missed the opportunity to get a jump start in remolding the program so as to be competitive in what has become a very much changed college basketball landscape. Hop may not have been the answer but he would have been the natural answer to bridging and honoring the tradition of the programs past while also looking toward a new more youthful and invigorated future and put a face of enthusiasm which might attract today's top recruits. In the end... you have got to have good players. Top level players. There is a lot which goes into the formula for building and maintaining a successful program. But without a steady diet of at least a few top level players... you are playing for runner up and "only if" status. Face it. Top players attract more top players. And when you ain't gettin' any. well,...then you ain't gettin' any. And we all know how much that sucks. [/QUOTE]

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