the sky is falling...OH,OH!

[IthacaMatt]

To be fair , a ten point lead ain’t squat when you beg teams to shoot 3’s against you and then don’t defend them . Gtown went on a streak of missing and then the streak regressed to the mean

You know, I watched the game, too. I don't think the defense was that bad against the three. It's been far worse against other teams recently. I think a pretty good percentage of Georgetown's threes from the wings or the top of the key were contested.

Where they got most of the open looks was from the corners, and unfortunately that's the open space against the 1-3-1, just like the foul line is the open space against the 2-3.

Every defense has a weakness. Every defense takes something away, but creates other opportunities for the offense. That's just how it is.

 

[Sherman20]

Symir - 25
Joe - 32
Buddy - 32
Frank - 25
Jesse - 32

Cole - 20
Jimmy - 20
Benny -14

We don’t have any horses to ride for 35-40, on a game in and game out basis.

Let’s just get to the point where Benny and Symir can play 10-15 quality mins a night. We not even there yet. Jimmy and Cole need to play more than 20mpg if we have any shot at winning. But they both need to be more consistent—and improve their defense.

 

[AZOrange]

To be fair , a ten point lead ain’t squat when you beg teams to shoot 3’s against you and then don’t defend them . Gtown went on a streak of missing and then the streak regressed to the mean

See a trend?

 

[OrangeDW]

Let’s just get to the point where Benny and Symir can play 10-15 quality mins a night. We not even there yet. Jimmy and Cole need to play more than 20mpg if we have any shot at winning. But they both need to be more consistent—and improve their defense.

They can’t. Which is why they can’t be out there 36-40 minutes.

Symir looked like he could’ve played 10-15 quality minutes yesterday. That second half made zero sense.

 

[Orange Barrel]

He’s doing well at Temple

What happened to Battle's brother? Is he any good?

He's out for the season. Broke his foot last week. He was having an AAC POY type year.

Khalif Battle

 

[tptcuse]

I was at the game and was pretty upset afterwards and didn't even want to read the board. We didn't look that bad. Two years ago we looked like we didn't belong in the gym in the games we lost. The problem has been the difficult schedule and the lack of bench play. It was baffling that Frank was the only bench player in the second half. Made zero sense. (Also, the refs were terrible, but whatever on that.)

 

[TinyManInside]

I’m just here for the hydroxyl groups in the post title

Post. Of. The. Year.

 

[brian williams]

 

[OrangeDW]

View attachment 211806

Disgusting.

 

[bozophobe]

Nope - that’s absurd - this isn’t some family business. He’s accumulated generational wealth, achieved national fame and got a wife much hotter than he ever would’ve dreamed possible - he’s already been rewarded enough.

He’s had 8 years to adapt and get the program back where he once had it, but instead he continues to drive it lower - it’s enough.

I was being sarcasmical. Spoofing all the "earned the right" takes and whatnot.

 

[UpstateSM]

Even the staunchest JB defenders I know couldn’t defend him after the second half yesterday. Symir and Benny not seeing the court was just gross.

There is no way we lose that game if we get even five minutes of Symir and Joe in the backcourt. We were a completely different team in the first half when they were on the court together. Really unbelievable.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Wow, it’s Carmelo, Wallace, Grant, Moten, Seikaly, Bing, Bouie, Coleman, Waiters, Douglas, Washington, Owens, and Thomas.

You seem to be under the illusion that JB has the ability to bring players of this quality to the dome anymore. He does not. He's tried a couple times recently and they said yes, but backed out of the commitment. To quote our old friend Rick Pitino, Carmelo Anthony "is not walking through that door, folks."

 

[OttoinGrotto]

View attachment 211806

Gonna be mighty challenging for JB to salvage a ho hum regular season with a tourney run if we don't make the tourney.

 

[OrangeDW]

1980s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 3
1990s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 5
2000’s: 7 tourneys, average seed - 4
2010-14: 5 tourneys, average seed -2
2015-21: 4 tourneys, average seed - 10

The sky has BEEN falling.

We had mediocre stretches for like 2-3 years at a time before. 1981-82. And 2006-08. And we followed those with some of our best stretches ever.

We mostly all thought we’d be really good in 2017. But ok, too many new guys. Parts didn’t fit. But 2019! Pretty much everybody back from a surprise sweet 16 run. This was our year to get back to being top 25 all year and getting like a normal SU 4 seed or something. Nope.

And now we’re in year friggin 8 of this cycle! High school kids don’t remember us being good. They don’t remember us being #1 or clashing with Duke in the Dome for a heavily hyped heavyweight title fight.

 

[Dave]

How many times have the negative posts blown up in the face of doubters? The face of college basketball is ever changing. Look at the wxperiences of those schools for whom recruiting is like being first in line at a cafeteria, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina. I am not sure if I trust anyone to navigate lineup deficits and the challenges of pipelines and the demand for attention and playing time as much as our coach. Guarantee that he pulls the iron out of the fire? Nope. Him against the unknown? Him against (dare I say it) the west coast dude for whom so many here have an unnatural affection. I go with JAB. It is because of his success that we have become accustomed to success. He and the dome MADE us? Remember, a coach used Syracuse as a stepping stone to TULANE!!

 

[Hopkins16]

I'm always disappointed when we lose, although I really didn't expect this to be a winning season after all the transfers. What we have now are guys that work hard, compete and are doing what they can with their limited abilities and major flaws. The Villanova and Georgetown games are great examples of the limitations and flaws of this team and where an experienced Guerrier, blossoming Braswell and a potentially pro level guard like Richmond would have made this a very well balanced team. With our current team, we will win some of the games that we should win while losing some that will be baffling (Colgate), compete and fall short against good teams, and we might pull off a surprise win or two. It will be a rollercoaster season ending most likely with an NIT bid, and a very small chance of sneaking into the tournament. In the past, losses like yesterday's would infuriate me, but I have accepted what this team is. I've also accepted the fact that we will not turn a corner until our hall of fame coach retires. His handling of players, minutes, substitutions or lack of, favoritism etc. is baffling and undermines team success.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Remember, a coach used Syracuse as a stepping stone to TULANE!!

Seriously? Most of the folks that post on this site were born after this occurred LAST CENTURY in 1976. How is that possibly relevant to coaching in 2021?

 

[Orange Barrel]

1980s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 3
1990s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 5
2000’s: 7 tourneys, average seed - 4
2010-14: 5 tourneys, average seed -2
2015-21: 4 tourneys, average seed - 10

1980s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 3
1990s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 5
2000’s: 7 tourneys, average seed - 4
2010's: 9 tourneys, average seed -4.5

Not arguing any of your points. But if you're doing decades, do decades.

 

[OrangeDW]

1980s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 3
1990s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 5
2000’s: 7 tourneys, average seed - 4
2010's: 9 tourneys, average seed -4.5

Not arguing any of your points. But if you're doing decades, do decades.

But the major fall off was in the middle of a decade. Last decade. And we’re in year 3 of a new decade. Meaning it’s been almost a decade since we were really good. Made sense to divide it at the fall off point, to me.

We never had a fall off point in the 80s, 90s, or 00s.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

1980s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 3
1990s: 8 tourneys, average seed - 5
2000’s: 7 tourneys, average seed - 4
2010's: 9 tourneys, average seed -4.5

Not arguing any of your points. But if you're doing decades, do decades.

2010s ended, can't include the last few years. Decade wise 2010s were normal but the first half of the decade was great and the end was our worst.

From 1977-2014 JB was higher than a 7 seed ONCE (an 8 seed). Since then he has been an 8 seed, a 10 seed, and an 11 seed 2x. His average seed was a 3.6 seed. The last 8 years has been nearly 3x higher than his avg.

 

[Dave]

Seriously? Most of the folks that post on this site were born after this occurred LAST CENTURY in 1976. How is that possibly relevant to coaching in 2021?

Seriously!? It is relevant because that man changed the entire trajectory of a program. How often does that happen? We were not who we became when he took the reins. He was instrumental in CREATING the expectations we want him and the program to live up to. It was his recruiting and use of generally “second tier” players which made what we understand to be SU hoops. You can’t win at a high level with a zone defense. That was said last century. Who changed that truism? When did it become that a launch into the unknown was a preferred choice. Youth and lack of perspective doesn’t have to be a handicap. Be better and assume better of others.
That is all.

 

[Orangefan1]

Reality Check:

UConn out recruited us and have two players we wanted equals top 15 team
Rutgers just beat Purdue
GTown which lost on ton of talent just beat us…then there is us.
Nova ranked in top ten


One thing I notice is teams always play up for us because of who we are we always get their best effort and will continue to do so they will always give us their best shot and at least we have that going for us

 

[UD1954]

There are those that would argue that Boeheim IS Syracuse basketball so you’re either all in or all out

That's the problem ...he thinks he is

 

[MikeSU02]

I consider myself both...to a point. It's always about the program first, but JB has been at the helm long enough to garner respect. Am I prepared to see him go? Absolutely. Everything has a shelf-life, and a program reset would not be a bad thing after this year..

They don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but there has to be a hierarchy in terms of what dictates the future of the program, ya know?

Which, btw, I don’t think you are disagreeing with. I believe we’re in agreement here.

 

[Eric15]

Over the past few years, it feels like a plurality of our fanbase has gotten comfortable with the concept of "it's fine what we do in the regular season as long as we make the tourney because teams arent familiar with our zone." The problem with that is that you actually have to make the tourney first. We have been on the right side of some positive variation with sneaking in the tourney recently and it looks like it's about to come back to bite us.