Time to be honest this program is a shell of what it once was

[JeremyCuse]

You can talk about sanctions, you can talk about losing Bazley to the G leauge or WNBA or wherever he went (a major blow of course) the toughness of the ACC, or JBs age, bottom line this program is in major trouble. A few tourney runs including a miraculous final 4 run a few years ago have overshadowed the slow decline of the overall program. This year alone we have lost to a team that lost to Marshall and Fla Atlantic, a Uconn team that has lost to any team with a pulse, and now a G. Tech team that lost to Gardner Freeking Webb. SU always had the occasional WTFF loss under JB but this has reached a whole new level. Every year now were wondering how the bubble will fair this year and what side we will end up on. What happened to getting #3 or 4 seeds or god forbid the #1 seed a few years ago.

This team simply doesn't have the talent of the majority of teams in the JB era. We have a blackhole at Center and are stuck playing Dolezaj who weights 150 lbs at the position and we can't even keep him on the floor because he commits a foul every 3 minutes. A forward in Oshae who can't shoot the 3 or finish around the rim, zero guards who can drive (Frank), a turnover machine in Carey and Buddy who is clearly overmatched at this point but is still seeing minutes because the rest of the team is so bad and because honestly his dads the coach. Even Battle has been up and down at best (down the last two games badly) and the hitch in his shot looks as bad as ever.

Watching UVA and Duke today they all had guards and forwards who could handle the ball, drive and shoot and competent play at the 5.. We struggle to have 1 guy who can do that. We were 7 for 32 from 3 late in the game tonight. Why the hell are we shooting that many, where is JB, where is some semblance of an offense? Where is is the half decent big man 5 years since Rak? Its one thing to lose a tough game its another to be down 16 to Georgia Freeking Tech. I dont know what the answer is but based on next years recruiting class it doesn't appear major help is on the way unless Guerrier and Girard are lights out from the start, especially Girard as this team needs shooting in the worst way. No one is a bigger fan of JB then me but this staff at minimum needs some sort of shake up in the off-season because this is completely unacceptable. I feel like were watching Providencve or Seton Hall from the mid 2000s, we used to make fun of those awful teams on this board. Its beyond frustrating now to watch this team on a weekly basis.

 

[Brooky03]

Embrace the suck

 

[4evaOrange]

Man what the hell happened today? I didn’t catch all the game but most of the second half but it sure didn’t look like GT did anything on D just looked like the stats read that we shot piss poor...

 

[Alsacs]

The worst part is I don't think we will see any changes till Buddy graduates and JB retires.

 

[Chip]

It was time to be honest about this awhile ago.

Tonight was just another chapter toward the end of a long book where I don't think I'm going to like the ending.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

The worst part is I don't think we will see any changes till Buddy graduates and JB is retires.

Hoping Buddy takes a high credit load, summer and night classes... follows Battle's program, and graduates in three years.

 

[orangecuse]

The worst part is I don't think we will see any changes till Buddy graduates and JB is retires.

Nope, we are stuck in mediocrity. We are not a feared conference team, and haven't been for our entire ACC duration. Our new normal, unfortunately, is a middling middle of the pack/.500 team where other middle of the pack teams look at Syracuse as a very good opportunity to get a W on the schedule.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Anyone with a brain who isn’t using serious bias and understands this game we call basketball can see that there are serious issues present.

 

[MikeDamone]

Nothing comes easy on offense because we can't shoot, our pg play is terrible and we have no low post threat. It's that simple

 

[OrangeDW]

Hoping Buddy takes a high credit load, summer and night classes... follows Battle's program, and graduates in three years.

I mean...the kid made it here on his own merits right? Who says the Dad HAS to coach him the whole time?

 

[JeremyCuse]

The worst part is I don't think we will see any changes till Buddy graduates and JB retires.

Its a pretty big indictment when the highlight of the night is Buddy Boehiem making back to back 3's. No offense to Buddy but the fact he's seeing major minutes tells you how bad things are right now.

 

[Alsacs]

I mean...the kid made it here on his own merits right? Who says the Dad HAS to coach him the whole time?

JB isn't retiring and going to become the father of a player on the team.
It is frustrating but JB is coaching Buddy while he is at SU.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I mean...the kid made it here on his own merits right? Who says the Dad HAS to coach him the whole time?

I like Buddy, he can be a major contributor in his Jr and Sr years but hes essentially a glorified walk on at this point. He has trouble make a simple pass and after his back to back 3s didn't make another shot. Duke and UVA fans are laughing at what were putting out there at times.

 

[OrangeDW]

JB isn't retiring and going to become the father of a player on the team.
It is frustrating but JB is coaching Buddy while he is at SU.

I fear an uglier ending than that, and would be cringing the whole time if it happens.

 

[Flacusian]

Sadly, much, if not all of what you say is truthful. It's not just that this team is flawed... as you allude, we do not have the talent and worse, our offense is absolutely horrific, predictable, inefficient and boring to watch. One has to wonder what the current state of affairs would be had JB turned over the reins of the program to Hop who waited patiently for more than a decade for his turn and was instrumental in bringing in much of the talent that sustained the program during that period.

Sometimes it's difficult to see things for what they are when you are tied to the program at the heart. But my heart is broken from watching another team which struggles to score and at times has looked lost on a level that frankly we are not accustomed to seeing at Syracuse. It's been particularly difficult since the past 2 seasons were anticipated to produce good teams. This team is not good. It just isn't. And likely for a myriad reasons. But in JB's own words. "We are who we are". And who we are is the team that JB recruited, coached and puts out on the floor every night. Tonight was hard to watch. And we play Duke on Monday. God help us.

 

[JoeySimz]

Its a pretty big indictment when the highlight of the night is Buddy Boehiem making back to back 3's. No offense to Buddy but the fact he's seeing major minutes tells you how bad things are right now.

Well, JB certainly wasn’t playing Buddy bc Buddy is so great. His other options are Frank and Jalen and on this night they may have been worse. The indictment is how lost we look on offense, imo.

 

[OrangeDW]

I like Buddy, he can be a major contributor in his Jr and Sr years but hes essentially a glorified walk on at this point. He has trouble make a simple pass and after his back to back 3s didn't make another shot. Duke and UVA fans are laughing at what were putting out there at times.

He’s pretty slow. I’m thinking he’ll be Marius Janulis, at this point. Which is fine.

 

[Cowtown]

Good grief that was difficult to watch. Thank God for beer.

 

[Alsacs]

I fear an uglier ending than that, and would be cringing the whole time if it happens.

It won't end ugly post-Hopkins. The AD gave JB the keys. The problem is JB is so freaking content with the status quo. He doesn't change and it hurts the program.

 

[CuseMan4]

Listen I’m a huge Boeheim fan and will always be cause he has done so much for this program...damn he basically is this program. But say what you want, it’s becoming more and more obvious it’s time for him to step aside. It should have happened when Hop was here to take over and to be honest the longer he stays the more damage he is doing. It honestly is painful to write that and it’s not an overreaction to one game, this season was suppose to be special and has been anything such. The year of Gillon and White was suppose to be special and we didn’t even make the tourney. I love JB but it’s just obvious the game has bypassed him.

I don’t think the regular season changes much but I hope we make the tourney and make yet another great run to overshadow all of this.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Man what the hell happened today? I didn’t catch all the game but most of the second half but it sure didn’t look like GT did anything on D just looked like the stats read that we shot piss poor...

Our guards were horrific.

Jeremy is absolutely right about Battle and his shot hitch.

 

[OrangeDW]

Our guards were horrific.

Jeremy is absolutely right about Battle and his shot hitch.

He shoots like me when I was 7 and trying to replicate Jordan’s game winner against the Cavs in the ‘89 playoffs.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Hughes must be hurting at the end right?

Not understanding what JB was doing at the end. Frank was pretty awful tonight, but at least he hit a couple threes. He has to be out there. Same for Hughes. Carey isn't close to making a three and also is terrible at driving, or was tonight. Battle should have been driving or sitting.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Our guards were horrific.

Jeremy is absolutely right about Battle and his shot hitch.

Its gotten to the point I feel like I'm watching a CYO game or something with that hitch. He has regressed along with Oshae from last year. Its surprising when he makes a 3 at this point.

 

[NorSyr66]

Wow...not sure where to start. I guess it is good I am visiting my daughter and grand daughter (5yrs old) since it put a BIG cap on my choice swear words and yelling. Yet I still sit here wondering if the game is really over and did I actually watch that accident happen. This is not the first time we seen them play like this. When they get down and are missing, the ball becomes a "hot potato" and nobody wants it nor nobody wants to shoot. Where is their confidence? Where is the senior leadership? Where are the take charge guys? At that point they are in a hole and keep digging deeper. All we do at this point is move on.

On the brighter side we actually seem to play better on the road this year so let's regroup for Monday night at Cameron. Keep our fingers crossed that Chewy is available or it could be a real long night watching Zion bounce dunks off our heads.