Tired of All the Red Bashing...

[kcsu]

There is really good news for Cuse BB fans. Come mid March we won't have to read the tea leaves or call California Psychics to aleve the anxiety that every year brings about us making the big dance. The final nail was hammered today

Today's nail wasn't needed

 

[pwong]

Try harder, please

 

[Cuseball]

Today's nail wasn't needed

Agreed the nail was already in the coffin. The dirt was already shoveled. This was just someone vomiting on the grave

 

[Cstate]

I absolutely loved seeing our team fighting, clawing all the back and taking a 6 point lead……but then the wheels fell off. I played college hockey and baseball, so I definitely don’t know the X’s and O’s of the game as many on here do, but I know just enough to know that this isn’t working out.

 

[atlanticuse]

Guys, let's not be to hasty...

It's only year 2.

Of how many?
Asking for a friend.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

I absolutely loved seeing our team fighting, clawing all the back and taking a 6 point lead……but then the wheels fell off. I played college hockey and baseball, so I definitely don’t know the X’s and O’s of the game as many on here do, but I know just enough to know that this isn’t working out.

Todays humble brag winner is a lock

 

[Red2003]

All of our players are competitive, they all try hard despite what you and others say. Sometimes people are not good enough in their walks of life to meet everyone's expectations; unlike many of the critics on this board who apparently are A+ overachievers.

Trying Hard is not enough and this is business. It's not amateur anymore, these guys are not kids and are well paid.

We watched a backup Corner in the biggest game of the football season Strip the ball, Scoop and Score with a Torn MCL. Made the difference in a very close game.

 

[orangecuse]

Try harder, please
View attachment 248291

I doubt "try harder" is the answer since 100% is all one is capable of offering. As another SU alum and former head coach once said; "Don't confuse effort with execution."

 

[djcon57]

All of our players are competitive, they all try hard despite what you and others say. Sometimes people are not good enough in their walks of life to meet everyone's expectations; unlike many of the critics on this board who apparently are A+ overachievers.

I think your comment covers guys like Carlos and Davis for sure. They are doing the best they can.

I simply don’t believe a guy like Bell tries hard. I watch him repeatedly stand there watching rebounds. I do think he THINKS he’s trying hard.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I simply don’t believe a guy like Bell tries hard. I watch him repeatedly stand there watching rebounds. I do think he THINKS he’s trying hard.

If I was Bell's position coach, I would be very frustrated. Some people are proactive or reactive and I think Bell is neither.

Obviously, the kid has certain talents, but right now he can't play his way out of a bag.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

If I was Bell's position coach, I would be very frustrated. Some people are proactive or reactive and I think Bell is neither.

Obviously, the kid has certain talents, but right now he can't play his way out of a bag.

Being able to go through a cold spell and not completely lose your self is just as much a skill as shooting or dribbling. People try to separate these non-physical attributes out from the overall skill set. You can’t.

 

[pwong]

If I was Bell's position coach, I would be very frustrated. Some people are proactive or reactive and I think Bell is neither.

Obviously, the kid has certain talents, but right now he can't play his way out of a bag.

Last year Straughn was his position coach, this year is Griff.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Being able to go through a cold spell and not completely lose your self is just as much a skill as shooting or dribbling. People try to separate these non-physical attributes out from the overall skill set. You can’t.

In 9 minutes vs Wake, he threw up one missed shot, had two turnovers and one more steal than a dead man.

I like Bell, but if he can't figure out ways to contribute why even give him 9 minutes.

 

[Cusefan69]

Of how many?
Asking for a friend.

 

[CnyTarheel]

All of our players are competitive, they all try hard despite what you and others say. Sometimes people are not good enough in their walks of life to meet everyone's expectations; unlike many of the critics on this board who apparently are A+ overachievers.

Absurd take IMHO... if you really think they try hard then you are not watching any games.. Just ONE example.. When your opponents center and power forward is constantly beating your entire team down the floor in transition game after game.. they are not hustling/caring. Has nothing to do with my walk in life, I'm a fan who cares, has had season tickets for years and donates to the program.. If you wanna defend this type of play and coaching that's going on well thats your right and enjoy cuse having records of 10-23 for years to come..

 

[ar inj]

"We just aren’t a good basketball team. Other than _________ and usually _______, the other team’s player is always more athletic than ours. The opposing player is always faster, quicker, taller, jumps higher, and shoots better it seems. We can’t get a rebound to end a possession. There’s often no identifiable offense. The defense is poor. We’re just not a good team. We are what our record says."

Could have been posted here, but the above is a recent post from the UNC message board after losing to Louisville. Why post it here? I guess I wanted to stop wallowing in the misery that this board has become (not the posters' fault) and be just a little happy reading about other's basketball misery.

The ACC sure ain't what it use to be.

 

[Sherman20]

Kadary
Javon Small
Deivon Smith
Aidan Mahaney
DJ Wagner
Pop Isaacs
Elijah Hawkins
AJ Hoggard
Posh Alexander
Kerr Kriisa
Boopie Miller
Ty'Laur Johnson
Miro Little
Zhuric Phelps
Jamarii Thomas


Those are all PGs or CGs (Leffew was listed as CG) who were uncommitted at the time Leffew pledged to Georgia on 4/27/24. We took Carlos three days before that.

Posh could’ve been a nice addition. Really great defensive player. But he’s the backup PG behind another guy (Malachi Smith, from the Bronx!) at Dayton, and his overall stats are down this year, though his assist numbers are good. Unfortunately, He’s a poor outside shooter. I think a lot of these portal guys are struggling to adjust to their new teams and higher levels of competition. I hope Klein helps improve our portal players and evaluations this offseason—if Red even gets another year.

 

[Sbucketball]

Here's an interesting question for everyone to mull over as they try to figure out if we have a coaching problem, talent problem, or both: If we swapped coaches each game but the players remained the same, would our record be better or worse?

 

[Fly Rodder]

The ACC sure ain't what it use to be.

According to the latest from Bart Torvik's rankings (easier to filter than KP, but pretty much similar), the worst ten high major college basketball teams:

(Overall rank 109) Providence​

(114) Washington​

(119) Miami (ACC) - no coach​

(122) California (ACC) new to ACC, 2nd year for Mark Madsen​

(126) Minnesota​

(141) Virginia Tech (ACC) - 6th season for Mike Young, two NCAA berths, 45-37 ACC record​

(147) Syracuse (ACC) - 2nd season for Red, no NCAA berths, 11-11 ACC record​

(166) Boston College (ACC) - 4th season for Earl Grant, no NCAA berths, 24-36 ACC Record​

(172) Seton Hall​

​

ETA: current projected teams in the NCAAs by conference: SEC (13), B10 (12), B12 (9), ACC (3).​

 

[Sherman20]

This opinion is why the program will never get back to where it was, people like this fan will keep going to games and the people in power will be happy taking their money. Uconn fired Kevin Ollie after a couple down years because they didn't want their program to go where cuse is now.

I’m confused by some of these comments. First: We’ll never get back to where we were? Why not? This is an absurd take. Lots of storied programs suffer through a failed in-house coach after the legend retires, and then turn things around with the next guy. (I was hoping Cuse could be like Michigan State with Izzo and Purdue with Painter. I think both are similar programs to Syracuse.)

JB only retired less than two years ago. It’s not like Red has been head coach for four years now.

It was very difficult to force out JB once Buddy came aboard and proved to be a good player. Despite acknowledging his high basketball acumen, a lot of fans on this board wanted JB gone 5 years ago, but he had alot of allies at the university from his DECADES (40+ years!) of success, and Buddy was on the roster at that point. It was hard to force him out in that situation. They should have made him stick to the original retirement timeline after Hop bolted for Washington, but again he had major allies amongst some influential boosters. And Wildhack should have forced him out one year earlier after the failed Boeheim brothers show in 2022, but he was finally able to make the move in 2023. It appears that staying in house and hiring Red was a mistake—and alot of people on here argued that we should do a national search—but many fans were also hopeful that Red would turn out to be a great hire, and there were some early positive signs last season. What would you have done differently? Barring a total turnaround, I think letting him go after this season makes sense—and I think it will happen despite Kiyan and Melo coming onboard.

 

[djcon57]

It was very difficult to force out JB once Buddy came aboard and proved to be a good player.

Which is why they had a detailed and documented plan for him to leave before Buddy came in.

To avoid exactly what happened.

 

[FloridaCuse]

I’m confused by some of these comments. First: We’ll never get back to where we were? Why not? This is an absurd take. Lots of storied programs suffer through a failed in-house coach after the legend retires, and then turn things around with the next guy. (I was hoping Cuse could be like Michigan State with Izzo and Purdue with Painter. I think both are similar programs to Syracuse.)

JB only retired less than two years ago. It’s not like Red has been head coach for four years now. What did you expect, especially with the sport changing so dramatically with NIL?

It was very difficult to force out JB once Buddy came aboard and proved to be a good player. Despite acknowledging his high basketball acumen, a lot of fans on this board wanted JB gone 5 years ago, but he had alot of allies at the university from his DECADES (40+ years!) of success, and Buddy was on the roster at that point. It was hard to force him out in that situation. Wildhack should have forced him out one year earlier after the failed Boeheim brothers show in 2022, but he was finally able to make the move in 2023. It appears that staying in house and hiring Red was a mistake—and alot of people on here argued that we should do a national search—but many fans were also hopeful that Red would turn out to be a great hire, and there were some early positive signs last season. What would you have done differently? Barring a total turnaround, I think letting him go after this season makes sense—and I think it will happen despite Kiyan and Melo coming onboard.

ADJW may have been able to do it in 2023 because of some perceived or real concerning activities by some friends or boosters of the program and the fear, real or perceived, that some oversight organization might sniff around.

 

[Sherman20]

Which is why they had a detailed and documented plan for him to leave before Buddy came in.

To avoid exactly what happened.

Agreed. But I added this to my comment: They should have made him stick to the original retirement timeline after Hop bolted for Washington, but again he had major allies amongst some influential boosters.
You needed an AD with big cajones who wasn’t afraid to anger some stakeholders (like Jurich at Louisville firing Crum…of course he had Pitino waiting in the wings to soften the blow), and Wildhack clearly isn’t that guy. Plus JB had gotten the team to the Final Four in 2016, and I think that gave him some credibility and another reprieve.

 

[Sherman20]

ADJW may have been able to do it in 2023 because of some perceived or real concerning activities by some friends or boosters of the program and the fear, real or perceived, that some oversight organization might sniff around.

You’re referring to Weitsman? But wouldn’t Red also be implicated in that as part of the staff?