Wanted: Positive Thinkers

[AirForceOrange]

Not posters who think Boeheim should be fired, even though no one on this board knows all the facts!!

Not posters who think we will have wins vacated and our official records from 2011/2012 might get changed.

Not posters who are saying all kinds of negative things about Fab. We do not know why he has been suspended and therefore there is no reason to wish ill will against the kid. Even then, when he did play for SU he put everything into it, lost weight in the off-season, was the BE Defensive Player of the Year. Let's thank him for the effort he gave to get the team where they are today, not what MIGHT happen without him.

Not posters who will post negative comments about a player when they have one bad game. These kids work hard and it shows by how well they have done this year.

Not posters who don't think this team has definitely become a TEAM!!

So, please post here if you have positive things to say and are willing to wait until all facts come out before judging people and also willing to wait to see how this team does without Melo. Otherwise go to the other dozens of negative thinking threads and post there!!

I am a Syracuse Fan through the good AND the bad times!!

 

[texascpa]

I'm here.

Here's my positive thought: XMas played Center exclusively in the UConn game and came away with 5 boards, 2 blocks and a bucket in 8 minutes. This against a frontcourt that many believe will match up well with Kentucky. He has a chance to shine, and I think he will.

 

[AirForceOrange]

Tex, I agree. When playing the 4 this year to spell KJo, he seemed out of sorts, but when he played the 5 he seemed a lot more comfortable. He may give up some size, but the kids has the skills to at least do well enough to alleviate the pain of the loss of Fab. I am not saying he will completely fill Fab's shoes, but I think (and am hoping) he has been waiting/wanting to show what he can do and now is the time. Carpe Diem!!

 

[dollarbill44]

I'm going all in, starting tomorrow. I have purged any disappointment with Melo not playing and I am fully supporting the team we will put on the court tomorrow and the coaching staff.

People can hate me all they want for this, but that's who I am. I don't turn tail and run from my teams when things go down. For the record, I am a lifelong fan of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, Washington Capitals and Syracuse University. I know a thing or two about perseverance and disappointment.

 

[Cuseregular]

here ya go

http://syracusefan.com/threads/i-think-theyre-going-to-be-ok-heres-why.21376/

Go Big O!SUball:E

Hows that?

 

[texascpa]

I'm going all in, starting tomorrow. I have purged any disappointment with Melo not playing and I am fully supporting the team we will put on the court tomorrow and the coaching staff.

People can hate me all they want for this, but that's who I am. I don't turn tail and run from my teams when things go down. For the record, I am a lifelong fan of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, Washington Capitals and Syracuse University. I know a thing or two about perseverance and disappointment.

Man, the late eighties, early nineties must have been hell for you.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

I'm here.

Here's my positive thought: XMas played Center exclusively in the UConn game and came away with 5 boards, 2 blocks and a bucket in 8 minutes. This against a frontcourt that many believe will match up well with Kentucky. He has a chance to shine, and I think he will.

That's a good positive thought and I agree. It's Rak's time to shine and BMK's time to step up with some solid, high-energy relief.

Here's another positive thought -- SU's administration needs to go on the PR offensive. SU did nothing wrong that I can see regarding the Melo brain fart. SU was proactive. SU needs to get out in front of this and the other crap and not allow the media and the haters to define Syracuse University to the nation.

 

[mark79]

Yesterday is gone and nothing can be done to change it. Every boxer gets knocked down. Its those that have the courage and will to get up that can become great. OK, that's my silly little think positive for the day... Looking forward to tomorrow!

 

[AirForceOrange]

In the words of Buster Olney: "And today will be better than yesterday."

 

[Bonz44]

Everyone is acting like we replacing Fab with some scrub walk-on...He is being replaced by McDonald's All American and the #2 center in last year's class...Possibly pulls the team together further...We all we got...

 

[MELOKEITH]

count me in!

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I've got these potential positives for you:

1. Possible positive Motivation and energy levels. This event could help increase focus. Us vs Them type thing. The Underdog role. Increase the focus of the team to show they were more than just Melo.

2. Increases the Likability Index (LI) of the team. Replaces a player with issues with a McD that had been riding the pine (high LI). Something about a team playing through adversity that is easy to root for.

3. Allows for a possible unlikely breakout candidate. SWC had earlier posted how many of the teams that SU had before that went deep had an unlikely character come out of nowhere to perform in the NCAAT. We now have another candidate in Rak. There is a known weakness of rebounding in this team and Rak has the potential to be that answer. It would be great to watch him rise to prominence with a run in the tourney. And then we would have all offseason to discuss him with DC2 (and hopefully Noel) next year.

4. Decreased expectation levels by the fans and media. It had been anything outside of a FF was going to be considered a disappointment by many. Expectations levels were getting out of hand. This helps put the value of a FF run back into proper prospective. The team goes from an overacheiving team to an underdog. Always fun to be the underdog.

 

[LennX6]

My positive has to do with karma. This team has taken so many gut punches this year and are still right there. It has to end up with a championship. There is a book to be written for this season. The script has been written, it just has to play out.

 

[br801]

Count me in. I've had the good fortune to witness the entire Boeheim era (beginning as an SU student at Manley) and my family and I cherish the many incredible moments this program has provided over the years. The players and coaches have always had my full support and recent events will sure as hell not change that.

Although I don't post much, I do read this message board almost daily and believe it is a tremendous resource with many great contributors. I'm all for open discourse, but I am not a fan of posters who rush to judgement, present rumors and gossip as fact, and direct personal attacks at players and coaches.

That said, this year's team still has the pieces to make a nice run and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Go Orange!

 

[br801]

I've got these potential positives for you:

1. Possible positive Motivation and energy levels. This event could help increase focus. Us vs Them type thing. The Underdog role. Increase the focus of the team to show they were more than just Melo.

2. Increases the Likability Index (LI) of the team. Replaces a player with issues with a McD that had been riding the pine (high LI). Something about a team playing through adversity that is easy to root for.

3. Allows for a possible unlikely breakout candidate. SWC had earlier posted how many of the teams that SU had before that went deep had an unlikely character come out of nowhere to perform in the NCAAT. We now have another candidate in Rak. There is a known weakness of rebounding in this team and Rak has the potential to be that answer. It would be great to watch him rise to prominence with a run in the tourney. And then we would have all offseason to discuss him with DC2 (and hopefully Noel) next year.

4. Decreased expectation levels by the fans and media. It had been anything outside of a FF was going to be considered a disappointment by many. Expectations levels were getting out of hand. This helps put the value of a FF run back into proper prospective. The team goes from an overacheiving team to an underdog. Always fun to be the underdog.

Rak is fundamentally a better defensive rebounder than Fab and should really help in that regard. Sure, he's not the same shot blocking presence, but he's very athletic in his own right and will only improve with more experience. If he can avoid getting moved around in the block by physical post players and stay out of foul trouble, we'll be all right. And next year I expect Rak will make a quantum leap forward and even give us some offense.

As to your last point, it's hard to believe a team could be ranked #1 or 2 most of the year, go 31-2 in a power conference, be a no-brainer 1 seed and still be an underdog that most of the country is expecting to lose, but here we are. Amazing.

 

[Carmelohnoudidnt]

As a uconn fan who also cheers for cuse due to my better half... I would like to add some positivity. Cuse has had too good a season to let something like this distract. The players you still have will be focused, they've already stayed focused while the program dealt with things that had nothing to do with them.

For me, the team is still very deep and talented. And you guys also have a pretty decent draw. Who knows you might see something special from christmas? Never know. Regardless, i still see cuse in the final four.

Once you get there, anything can happen. That was the case with melo. And that is the case without.

Best of luck. I'll be rooting for JB

 

[br801]

As a uconn fan who also cheers for cuse due to my better half... I would like to add some positivity. Cuse has had too good a season to let something like this distract. The players you still have will be focused, they've already stayed focused while the program dealt with things that had nothing to do with them.

For me, the team is still very deep and talented. And you guys also have a pretty decent draw. Who knows you might see something special from christmas? Never know. Regardless, i still see cuse in the final four.

Once you get there, anything can happen. That was the case with melo. And that is the case without.

Best of luck. I'll be rooting for JB

Thanks for chiming in. Bizarre season all round. Figures a UConn fan would make one of the more reasoned posts I've seen in the last few days. Good luck to you guys too. Those three SU-UConn street fights this year told me a lot about both teams. Hope you get a shot at taking out UK because you clearly have the horses to stay with them.

 

[Marsh01]

Fan club president...present.

 

[mantonio]

People are also forgetting, there is no team THAT much better than the top 5, & Syracuse is in that top 5, with or without Melo.

Ignore the moron media, who try to propagate the false gospel of Kentucky's supremacy. I still think UCONN will get there & vanquish the Mildcats in a blue blood bath...

 

[CaptainJ]

I am on board. Oddly, most of the season I thought people were climbing on with bandwagon mentality, and that our light schedule(compared with most years) might ultimately be exposed come post season. However, with all the turmoil this team has had to endure, I now think something magical and memorable is about to start. I think the miraculous(or at least improbable) nature of it will make it that much more special to the die-hard SU fans than if we were expected to win. The time to get ready for unfinished business isn't when next season's t-shirts are ready to be sold, the time is now!!

 

[CuseLegacy]

My father, who loved his Orange, instilled some very good lessons.
1)You ALWAYS support your team, no matter what.
2) Never, ever stop watching a game until it is over because things can happen in the last minutes.
This team has given us a fantastic ride this year, the least we can do is to continue to support them. And the game isn't over. It hasn't even been played yet.
So sit down, shut up, support your team and watch the games.
LGO

 

[OrangeZone]

Your father got it right!

 

[mark79]

Nice post Legacy! Your father was a very wise man.

 

[chlywtr]

all.in

 

[br801]

My father, who loved his Orange, instilled some very good lessons.
1)You ALWAYS support your team, no matter what.
2) Never, ever stop watching a game until it is over because things can happen in the last minutes.
This team has given us a fantastic ride this year, the least we can do is to continue to support them. And the game isn't over. It hasn't even been played yet.
So sit down, shut up, support your team and watch the games.
LGO

Nice. Your father knew his stuff. Not sure I can do the "shut up" part though.