UConn and Michigan State are over achievers in the Tournament

[thebigeast44]

And kudos to them. They are the only 2 programs to have less McDonald's AA'S than Syracuse, to have more Final 4's during JB'S tenure. Every other program who has achieved more than us in the Tournament has had more McD's than us.

My point being is that we can give credit to those 2 programs without denigrating ours. Tom Izzo and Jim Calhoun are both HOF caliber coaches and Ollie did a fine job this year. And if UConn wins, they will become only the 2nd team ever to win a championship without a McDonald's AA on their roster since the McD game began.

JB has done a HOF job himself during his career. IMHO, based on the talent we have had, he has achieved a great deal over the years. He simply has not over achieved to the degree of UConn and Michigan State - nor have any other programs out there. To make Final 4's and win championships, you have to be good and lucky. We've been good the last 5 years and with a bit more luck, we might have had another final 4 or title to go along with the FF4 we made last year. Hopefully, we get some luck when we're good enough to contend again. Let's Go Orange!

 

[OrlandoCuse]

UConn and Michigan State have had far fewer players than SU jump to the NBA in the last decade.

 

[Eric15]

UConn and Michigan State have had far fewer players than SU jump to the NBA in the last decade.

This is off the top of my head, I may be missing a couple….

SU: Melo, Donte, Flynn, Dion, Wes, MCW, Ennis, Grant = 8 guys
UConn: Okafor, Gordon, Villanueva, Gay, Marcus Williams, Thabeet, Boone, Kemba, Jeremy Lamb, Drummond = 10 guys

 

[OrlandoCuse]

This is off the top of my head, I may be missing a couple….

SU: Melo, Donte, Flynn, Dion, Wes, MCW, Ennis, Grant = 8 guys
UConn: Okafor, Gordon, Villanueva, Gay, Marcus Williams, Thabeet, Boone, Kemba, Jeremy Lamb, Drummond = 10 guys

You're right, UConn has had their fair share. I was thinking of "guys leaving too soon" (when they had eligibility left). Many of UConn's guys played 3 years. Wasn't Okafor a senior?

We also lost Devo and Harris with eligibility left.

 

[Cuse117]

okafor was a 3rd year player but had graduated already

 

[jdubs30]

This is off the top of my head, I may be missing a couple….

SU: Melo, Donte, Flynn, Dion, Wes, MCW, Ennis, Grant = 8 guys
UConn: Okafor, Gordon, Villanueva, Gay, Marcus Williams, Thabeet, Boone, Kemba, Jeremy Lamb, Drummond = 10 guys

Off the top of my head, all our guys were underclassemn except Wes; all of UConn guys were upperclassemn except Drummond, Gay (maybe Lamb).

Would we have another title if guys like Dion, MCW, Flynn and Melo stayed 1 more year?

 

[jec1521]

Would we have another title if guys like Dion, MCW, Flynn and Melo stayed 1 more year?

I keep hearing this. But in all honesty, going by our track record the last 40 years, probably not.

 

[jdubs30]

I keep hearing this. But in all honesty, going by our track record the last 40 years, probably not.

Well my point was; looking at that list that was posted, most of those UConn guys were juniors when they declared; most of our guys were freshman or sophomores. Give us 1 more years with most of those dudes and I think we'd have a better resume.

Would if Napier and Kemba left as underclassmen? (I know they didn't have that option, but I'm just saying)

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I keep hearing this. But in all honesty, going by our track record the last 40 years, probably not.

Well, in an idealistic fantasy world, this year's team could have been a backcourt of MCW and Dion with Melo holding down the fort at center. Yes, they all had scheduled eligibility for this year had they not left school
(or flunked out).

 

[NineOneSeven]

Well, in an idealistic fantasy world, this year's team could have been a backcourt of MCW and Dion with Melo holding down the fort at center. Yes, they all had scheduled eligibility for this year had they not left school
(or flunked out).

Go take a look at what kentucky's team would look like with that same stipulation

 

[Coach Orange]

Unless a roster is loaded with McDonald's All-Americans (Kentucky) or contains arguably the best talent playing at the college level in over a decade (Carmelo), it's talented players who possess developed skills and experience that win games in March. UConn, Wisconsin, and Florida all have talented players with experience on their roster.

On the surface, we looked like that type of team this year. A senior, a junior, a redshirt sophomore, a sophomore and a freshman starting, with a senior, a sophomore, and a redshirt sophomore coming off of the bench. We really weren't that type of team, though. BMK never developed an offensive game, and Christmas has only developed marginal offensive skills in his time here. Furthermore, our two redshirt sophomore guards had little real court time in previous seasons, and their inexperience showed at various points throughout the year. DCII's injury took some of our depth with it, too.

The result was a second-round loss to a deeper, more experienced team (four seniors, two of whom are fifth-year players, and two juniors, one of whom is a redshirt after transferring from Ohio State).

The bummer is that we will likely face the same scenario next season--lots of talent, but lots of inexperience and unrefined skills. Christmas has a ton of work to do this summer if he is to be a consistent offensive weapon. Cooney and Silent G will have this past season to draw on; hopefully, they will both continue to add skills to their arsenal. However, if Grant should depart, Roberson and McCullough will face baptism by fire--will their skills and basketball knowledge be ready for that? If Coleman redshirts (and even if he doesn't, really), the backup center will be a question mark, as will depth at guard beyond G. There's no guarantee that Joseph steps in and runs the team at a high level from day one, either.

Ultimately, there are too many "what-ifs" there to assume a deep tournament run. McCullough would have to be a Carmelo-level talent with Carmelo-level impact for us to have any real title hopes. That's asking an awful lot of the young man.

Perhaps we, as fans, should hope that most of these talented players are forced to stay in school (aka they are not "draftable commodities") and develop their skills over time, even if it means next season is a good, but not great, year. It would be especially beneficial if we could keep a point guard (Joseph?) who could control the game in March and April. Coleman redshirting to get healthy, get in shape, and work on his skills would help, too. If some of these things happen, we might have a strong opportunity for another Final Four visit in a season or two.

It wasn't an accident that one of our best campaigns in the Boeheim era came with two fifth-year seniors and two juniors starting, three of whom developed their skills greatly during their time here and the fourth being a top-10 draft pick, with a third-year sophomore guard and a solid sophomore forward coming off the bench.

What could have been if one knee had held up through April…

 

[Madbiker]

Unless a roster is loaded with McDonald's All-Americans (Kentucky) or contains arguably the best talent playing at the college level in over a decade (Carmelo), it's talented players who possess developed skills and experience that win games in March. UConn, Wisconsin, and Florida all have talented players with experience on their roster.

On the surface, we looked like that type of team this year. A senior, a junior, a redshirt sophomore, a sophomore and a freshman starting, with a senior, a sophomore, and a redshirt sophomore coming off of the bench. We really weren't that type of team, though. BMK never developed an offensive game, and Christmas has only developed marginal offensive skills in his time here. Furthermore, our two redshirt sophomore guards had little real court time in previous seasons, and their inexperience showed at various points throughout the year. DCII's injury took some of our depth with it, too.

The result was a second-round loss to a deeper, more experienced team (four seniors, two of whom are fifth-year players, and two juniors, one of whom is a redshirt after transferring from Ohio State).

The bummer is that we will likely face the same scenario next season--lots of talent, but lots of inexperience and unrefined skills. Christmas has a ton of work to do this summer if he is to be a consistent offensive weapon. Cooney and Silent G will have this past season to draw on; hopefully, they will both continue to add skills to their arsenal. However, if Grant should depart, Roberson and McCullough will face baptism by fire--will their skills and basketball knowledge be ready for that? If Coleman redshirts (and even if he doesn't, really), the backup center will be a question mark, as will depth at guard beyond G. There's no guarantee that Joseph steps in and runs the team at a high level from day one, either.

Ultimately, there are too many "what-ifs" there to assume a deep tournament run. McCullough would have to be a Carmelo-level talent with Carmelo-level impact for us to have any real title hopes. That's asking an awful lot of the young man.

Perhaps we, as fans, should hope that most of these talented players are forced to stay in school (aka they are not "draftable commodities") and develop their skills over time, even if it means next season is a good, but not great, year. It would be especially beneficial if we could keep a point guard (Joseph?) who could control the game in March and April. Coleman redshirting to get healthy, get in shape, and work on his skills would help, too. If some of these things happen, we might have a strong opportunity for another Final Four visit in a season or two.

It wasn't an accident that one of our best campaigns in the Boeheim era came with two fifth-year seniors and two juniors starting, three of whom developed their skills greatly during their time here and the fourth being a top-10 draft pick, with a third-year sophomore guard and a solid sophomore forward coming off the bench.

What could have been if one knee had held up through April…

Winning teams also have bench depth. All of the FF teams have guys plural that come off the bench and can score. SU didn't have that component this year and probably won't next year either because of the unexpected early departures. The staff has to have contingency plans. This same thing happens to all the elite teams (Duke, UNC, Kansas, etc). You just have to recruit better and not have a bench full of guys not ready to play...next star up.

 

[PeteCalvin]

You need players with a solid fundamental base, not just athletes. Players who have high Bball IQs and can shoot, create, etc. UConn is doing so well this year because they have TWO points on the floor that are quick enough to break you down AND will hurt you from three if you play the drive. Their other guys are good enough to score here and there and grab rebounds, but they go as Napier and Boat go. UK is probably the worst matchup for this Husky team because they have the athletes, scoring and the depth to deal with Napier and Boatright. UConn has no one who can guard Randle either.

I give them a ton of credit for being in the title game. They took Florida out of their comfort zone. The fact that UF lost to UConn twice this season just shows that they did not match up well against them. That's how the tournament goes. It's about match-ups. We had great match-ups, but we couldn't score enough to take advantage of them. UConn is a better scoring team than we were, and Napier is on fire right now. Our guys were far from, like squeezing water from a stone.

As well as UConn is playing right now, I just think that UK is the hotter team, the more talented team, and the deeper team. And they seem to be the team of destiny. Seriously, how many games are they going to pull out at the end?

And if UK wins, most of their roster will bolt, further complicating Jerami Grant's prospects, so you know who I'm cheering for, and why.