We better not take MTSU lightly

[CaptainJ]

Wonder which pair will make more during their respective careers?

Depends if they end up like your namesake or not, which is why I'm shocked that good one came from you! Also depends if the other 2 are closers, like in Glengarry Glen Ross or not!

 

[Briancuse]

More MTSU fan insight. This guy sounds like he posts here.

Ok so he saw us lose to Miami the day after new years, without Boeheim, and is convinced lol.

 

[rrlbees]

Is it possible that watching too many games on TV during a two-day period can induce AMNESIA. Because I'm starting to think that some of our fans are suffering from AMNESIA in which they have forgotten about the previous four months and can only remember this afternoon. (Although they do have faint glimpses of the Glory Days) We have all suffered through the ups and downs of this season. We limped into the end of the season and got off the bubble somehow. (I still don't understand how after losing four of our last five games and getting knocked out of the ACC tourney in the first round). But I'll take it. We then went on to upset a higher seeded team in a game in which the opponent set a record for missed lay-ups. We watched our next opponent beat a 2 Seed (MSU). And some of us are now licking our chops assuming that this next game will be easy and that our entrance into the Sweet 16 is all but inevitable. It has to be AMNESIA. Well, we certainly couldn't have asked for a better situation. As I was watching MSU vs. MTSU, I was thinking, "Wow. This is working out a whole lot better than I ever thought it would". But for fans of this particular SU team to scoff at the idea that MTSU, a 15 seed, can beat us seems crazy to me. If MTSU was unimpressed with MSU, I don't think they are too worried about a 19 win SU team.

You should try to enjoy today's victory for at least 1 night.

 

[pearl31]

Ok so he saw us lose to Miami the day after new years, without Boeheim, and is convinced lol.

and they're a better team than Miami!

 

[721Comstock]

Ok so he saw us lose to Miami the day after new years, without Boeheim, and is convinced lol.

AT Miami, without Boeheim. Oh, and Kaleb Joseph played 7 mins in that game.


Here's the title of the recap on ESPN:
No. 13 Miami pulls away late to beat Syracuse 64-51

Oh, and BTW, that game was tied with 5 minutes to go in the 2nd half.

Not sure what MTSU is going to take away from how we played AT #13 Miami, when it was actually a tight game up until the last 3 minutes when the wheels fell off for us.

MTSU isn't ranked, won't be playing at home, and doesn't have a fraction of Miami's size, skill, or coaching.
But other than that, it's very informative for their chances against us.

 

[Dave85]

are u kidding me? the idea of taking them lightly is a construct so far in the abstract that until you mentioned it, it never crossed my mind.

they're more likely to take us lightly than we are them

They will probably be favored to win.

 

[Dave85]

We have two future first round picks on our roster. They have two future insurance executives on theirs.

If we keep going G could go first round in my humble opinion!

 

[Nicknack]

What's this thread about again? Perhaps AMNESIA. I don't remember.

EDIT: I just realized this is post 777. You only have that once in your life and I intend to use it fully towards an SU win on Sunday. Therefore, I'm going dark until our next win.

EDIT II: There has only been ONE 15 seed to ever make the sweet 16. That would be Florida Gulf Coast in 2013. Not saying it can't happen tomorrow but there is a reason that only one team has ever done it. We got this.

 

[two3zone]

More MTSU fan insight. This guy sounds like he posts here.

These guys are something special. What is their forum name?

 

[two3zone]

And to the Cuse fans stalking our forums (yes, I read your forums too, so don't act surprised) -- it would be a mistake to think you are so unbelievably more talented than MT. Not much separation. Skill-wise, the separation you believe is there does not really exist when the effort is equalized. Do you think Sparty's talent helped them against us? They're a better defensive team than Cuse and we all see how that turned out. All of the "Jim Boeheim wasn't coaching" blah blah blah excuses for Cuse's losses this year do not matter. The fact of the matter is, the defense you play is not impenetrable. It can be done and with the right combination, it can lead to a win as it often does. When is the last time Syracuse won a national championship? Case in point. Have the right mindset, good matchups, and execute and you can win. It's not that hard. We have a great shot to win and I think we can, and will. I will be the first to say we didn't do what we needed to do if we don't win, but I think this team has the right combination to pull it off.

lol

 

[Shark58]

I think the U may have played against our zone a few more times than MTSU has, of course MTSU has all those championships so they have that going for them

 

[NYCSUGrad]

News Flash!

We aren't that good either. We lost 5 of our last 6 games. This is the second game we have won since the middle of February.

The Dayton coach was right in his comments at half time. If they had been able to hit their layups, the halftime score would have been UD 34 - SU 20.

You keep dwelling on the 5 out of the last 6 losses. HOWEVER, 2 of the teams are in the tourney (and we played Pittsburgh twice in that time) and if Louisville hadn't self imposed a ban it would certainly have been a tournament team too. So we lost to one non tourney worthy team. Moreover, the last three losses were on the road or a neutral site, by 5 or fewer points. and just by one in the Pitt ACC tourney loss. So, were they all bad losses? No.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You can't even say I'm taking Middle Tenn whatever lightly. They don't even rate lightly. I've never heard of them and never thought of them. Heck, I didn't even know the state of Tennessee has a middle, let alone that there's a school there. They beat Michigan State. Great. I don't care. Things I've scraped off of my shoe merit more attention and concern. And I don't even mean for me personally. I mean every member of this board cares more about things I scrape off of my shoe than this team. Middle Tenn is just another team in our way. Someday, they'll look back on the privilege that it was to receive a beat down from us as we marched to glory.

 

[pulaski74]

Yes, but in all these other cases the 15 Seed wasn't playing another upset winner. In this case that upset winner would be SU, the almost uninvited.

And of course, you are claiming to know the difference between a 15 seed and a 13 seed.

So, the jist I'm getting from some is we would be better off if msu would have won. Good grief, we beat dayton soundly, and now we are playing a 15 seed. Doesn't get much better. Some people like to stay negative in case we lose. We should win this game. If we don't, we don't.

 

[longislandcuse]

If MTSU plays like they did against MSU it will be a tough game to win. There's no doubt about that.

If we play like we did against Dayton in the second half, we win, no matter what they're doing.

One thing in our favor is, based off one game, they don't seem like a grind it out defensive team. If we guard the 3 point line (Cooney, looking at you), we should be fine.

 

[orangenirvana]

"And to the Cuse fans stalking our forums (yes, I read your forums too, so don't act surprised) -- it would be a mistake to think you are so unbelievably more talented than MT. Not much separation. Skill-wise, the separation you believe is there does not really exist when the effort is equalized. Do you think Sparty's talent helped them against us? They're a better defensive team than Cuse and we all see how that turned out. All of the "Jim Boeheim wasn't coaching" blah blah blah excuses for Cuse's losses this year do not matter. The fact of the matter is, the defense you play is not impenetrable. It can be done and with the right combination, it can lead to a win as it often does. When is the last time Syracuse won a national championship? Case in point. Have the right mindset, good matchups, and execute and you can win. It's not that hard. We have a great shot to win and I think we can, and will. I will be the first to say we didn't do what we needed to do if we don't win, but I think this team has the right combination to pull it off."

The SU fans who watched Middle Tennessee yesterday and think this SU team is "so unbelievably more talented than MT" are few and far between. It's obvious MT has absolute studs and frankly this is one of the worst SU teams in the Boeheim Era.

I have no issue with Middle Tennessee fans thinking they're going to win tomorrow. What I find funny are those who think MTSU can shoot Syracuse out of the zone. Your players could be shooting 90% from 3 and SU won't switch to man to man. We play zone - that's it.

The reason SU fans are so giddy about playing Middle Tennessee is because Syracuse's chances of beating Michigan State were somewhere between 0 and 0.1%. They were the absolute worst matchup imaginable for this SU team. Even if beating Middle Tennessee is a 50/50 or 25/75 proposition, that's still significantly better odds than what it would be against MSU.

And I have no idea what point he was trying to make with "When is the last time Syracuse won a national championship?"

 

[TheCusian]

This isn't hard. It's not about taking them lightly. Every team you play in the second round is a good team. It's about who would be tougher. Given their body of work, coaching, and talent - it's clear that we have better odds of winning vs Middle Tenn State than Michigan State. That's not in doubt. At. All.

 

[cusetown1]

And I have no idea what point he was trying to make with "When is the last time Syracuse won a national championship?"

Shirley a man with that much basketball knowledge would know what Google is.

 

[weepeel]

Just contain that dude who looks like Kenneth faried...and control the boards...

This is one time Syracuse fans should appreciate our zone.

 

[Scooch]

I'm not taking a school seriously that calls itself Middle.

Now if they were Central? Then I'd be worried.

But, Middle? Hell no.

How lightly would we take Top Carolina or Bottom Cal?

Come on.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Cinderella teams scare me. That is all.

I agree. Just remember Butler.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I agree. Just remember Butler.

4 or 5 seed Butler?

 

[JarHeadJim]

 

[two3zone]

4 or 5 seed Butler?

The Butler with Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayword on it?

 

[Townie72]

The committee doesn't take how you finished the season into account anymore. Perhaps you don't remember the change because of AMNESIA.

Our worst loss of the season was against St. John's, but Hopkins was the coach, not Boeheim. You probably forgot due to AMNESIA.

Our worst loss with Boeheim at the helm was on the road against Florida State. Every other loss was against a tournament team or a team that would have been a tournament team if not for a self-imposed probation. How could you not know that? Oh yeah, AMNESIA.

We're better than our record and our seed. Never mind what could happen. We should win on Sunday, I think that's all anyone is saying.

We are better than our record?

Parcells says, accurately I think, that you are what your record says you are.

Welcome to the new world of college basketball parity. Maybe that parity hasn't spread to the top 2 seeds, but once you get to 3 and 4 and 5, the differences between teams is a lot less than it used to be.

Meanwhile the unwashed masses are still tied to the structured hierarchy of past years. They go through their brackets picking the higher seeds mindlessly, and by the Round of 32, their brackets are hopeless broken.

Any SU fan that sits down to watch that game tomorrow with an air of smug confidence, better have some Roll Aids handy just in case.