Usually I don't care about ratings this early...

[SaltineWarrior]

...but I noticed a certain swagger has emerged with this team. Perhaps its due to the situation surrounding Fine. Maybe because they are now rated #1. Perhaps because the team rose to #1 and has had a few in the media question their ranking. Or perhaps because the team is learning how good they really can become as the year goes on. The VT and Stanford games gave them some confidence; Marshall and Florida had to give them confidence too. That Marshall team is better than their uniform would suggest. SU took it too them.

Waiters is clearly a different player from last year. Melo is a different player too. Even Joseph seems to be operating at a slightly elevated level (we need him to lead this team). Sutherland needed a good game against good competition so last night was great for him. Scoop is making less bone-head plays and Triche (given the right matchup) can be a very calming force.

I am quietly confident about this team and want to see how this plays out in the league and in March.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

...but I noticed a certain swagger has emerged with this team. Perhaps its due to the situation surrounding Fine. Maybe because they are now rated #1. Perhaps because the team rose to #1 and has had a few in the media question their ranking. Or perhaps because the team is learning how good they really can become as the year goes on. The VT and Stanford games gave them some confidence; Marshall and Florida had to give them confidence too. That Marshall team is better than their uniform would suggest. SU took it too them.

Waiters is clearly a different player from last year. Melo is a different player too. Even Joseph seems to be operating at a slightly elevated level (we need him to lead this team). Sutherland needed a good game against good competition so last night was great for him. Scoop is making less bone-head plays and Triche (given the right matchup) can be a very calming force.

I am quietly confident about this team and want to see how this plays out in the league and in March.

Never underestimate the power of feeling like it's "us against the world." SU has gotten pummeled in the media, and I think that does create that mentality. The team gets closer, and feels like everyone is their enemy. I think you see this team going through that right now.

 

[Marty's Hero]

...but I noticed a certain swagger has emerged with this team. Perhaps its due to the situation surrounding Fine. Maybe because they are now rated #1. Perhaps because the team rose to #1 and has had a few in the media question their ranking. Or perhaps because the team is learning how good they really can become as the year goes on. The VT and Stanford games gave them some confidence; Marshall and Florida had to give them confidence too. That Marshall team is better than their uniform would suggest. SU took it too them.

Waiters is clearly a different player from last year. Melo is a different player too. Even Joseph seems to be operating at a slightly elevated level (we need him to lead this team). Sutherland needed a good game against good competition so last night was great for him. Scoop is making less bone-head plays and Triche (given the right matchup) can be a very calming force.

I am quietly confident about this team and want to see how this plays out in the league and in March.

A agree 100% with your second paragraph. When I was in school, a much respected econ professor in Maxwell said that a rich man’s problem is recognizing a huge short-term gain and having to pay the individual tax rate vs. the long-term capital gains rate at the end of the year.

I guess our “tax problem” is the emergence of waiters and fab. How ready do you think we will be if these guys move on? How much of a risk is losing these guys in the next year? I think it is unlikely Fab goes, but he has shown over the past few games that he does have a few post moves, and he has a lot of potential. On the guards, we are loaded at guard right now and it’s great. However, we could get thin relatively quickly with the loss of scoop and DW at guard, KJ at forward and potentially Fab at center.

With the guards, I (like everyone here) am stoked about Cooney and MCW, but you never know how Cooney will react in his first year. Though he should be a contributor given he will be in his second year in the program.

The point of the rambling, is for some reason I had thought next year would be our best chance for a deep run, and boy that has proven to be wrong. I think Dion and Fab are really 1 year ahead of where I thought they would be at this point. As a result, we couldn’t ask for a better chance at a deep run than the one we are looking at right now.

Like the tax example, the best part is simply how fortunate we are to have this problem. Tons of credit goes to JB and the fan base for making this such an attractive place to play.

 

[NKR1978]

There is so much to like about this team. I really believe it has answers to almost every question that will be thrown at it. I really am excited to see how they handle Marquette, Pitt and Louisville though.

 

[cuserulesall]

Never underestimate the power of feeling like it's "us against the world." SU has gotten pummeled in the media, and I think that does create that mentality. The team gets closer, and feels like everyone is their enemy. I think you see this team going through that right now.

No doubt , this team has an us against the world mentality . Could very well carry Cuse to a fantastic run !